2 months

May 19, 2011 –

It is now been nearly 2 months since I’ve arrived in Ukraine.  I sit outside of the hotel that we are having today’s training at.  It’s the same hotel that we stayed during our arrival retreat two months ago.  It feels weird.  It’s the same place but I don’t have any of the same feelings.  When we first arrived those 2 months ago, which really seems like ages ago, I felt how the city looked.  I felt dark, alone, bleak, scared.  When we arrived the potholes in the street were filled with last nights rain, the clouds had this permanent grayness that didn’t allow any sun to shine through, the trees looked naked without any leaves on them.  And here I was in a new country looking outside not knowing anything.  I felt I was like the tree.  Naked, exposed, vulnerable, and helpless.  And now 2 months have passed by and I sit outside in the same spot feeling different.  I still feel the way the city looks.  But now the gray is replaced with blue skies, the streets are filled with people, and the trees that were once naked are filled with life.  The city is filled with life and I no longer feel alone.  I no longer feel naked, exposed, vulnerable, and helpless.  Like the tree I have grown, I am now filled with life.