I Made It!

...somehow.  There were moments when I had serious doubts.  Verbal eloquence is beyond me at the moment, so to avoid sentences here are several lists to describe my trip:
Lowlights list:

• Saying goodbye to my mom and Chris at the airport :'(
• Upon check-in at SFO, finding out I might not be let into Ukraine without a return ticket
• Forgetting to print and bring my work contract
• Having to pay overweight for my plump luggage
• Going back through security before each of three flights
• Almost having my knitting needles confiscated at the Warsaw airport.... Worst. Moment. Ever.
• My program guide arriving 45 minutes late, which I wouldn't mind if I didn't worry I'd be stranded

Highlights list:

• Sleeping on the long flight from Chicago to Warsaw
• Hearing a lot of Russian
• A little boy who rolled his r's so beautifully while speaking Russian
• First babushka sighting
• Sitting next to a Lithuanian on one flight
• Chicago accents
• Being let into Ukraine even without a return ticket
• Not losing my luggage at Kiev

 Other list:

• So many fur coats
• How TSA handles security for women wearing religious headscarves
• The high heels Ukrainian women wear in the snow...
• The very different type of physical contact between people in Eastern Europe

Picture list:

• Keeping distracted during the first layover..........

• Poland!  Seen from the plane

• My first sight of Ukraine, from the plane during taxi.  That's all snow!

These are just some impressions and experiences that I may expand on later.  It's exciting to be here, although I miss everyone at home terribly. :'(  I wish I could be in multiple places at once!