Thunderstorms, Sci-fi, Chai Tea & 12 other facts to know.

01 Feb 2012 1 Comment

by calhouner in Hello February Tags: 15 facts, blog challenge, books, bugs, chai tea, coffee mugs, Facebook, field of sunflowers, learning russian, missionary, scarfs, thunderstorms, Ukraine

Today is the first of February, which also means the first day of no facebook, no tv and movies, and the first day of this blog challenge.  So here it goes, day number 1 (introduce myself, a recent photo, and 15 interesting facts):

I’m Lindsey, a recently turned 22-year-old who is living in Ukraine as a missionary.  I have been here for over seven months.  Now for 15 interesting facts about myself:

1.  I’ve lived alone for the past two months, which is the first time in my life.  And it has been in a foreign country too.

2.  I absolutely love taking photos, of anything and everything.  I have always wanted to hop in a car, drive, and stop to just take photos.

3.  I am currently learning Russian, which is way harder than Spanish.

4.  I enjoy a good book, I mean a really good book, a cup of tea or hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a blanket on a rainy, snowy, or very cold day.

5.  During thunderstorms, really bad thunderstorms, I always light a candle.  I do this if the power goes out, and I don’t have anything with me that produces light.  The candle is already burning and I can find my way to it.

6.  I hate tornadoes, and any weather that may produce one.  So, growing up in Iowa, tornado alley, didn’t help my fear of these.  I still get scared when I hear about a tornado that may come.  The fact that everything you have could be gone so quickly, even people, just scares me.

7.  I’m a missionary in Ukraine.  If you would ask me why Ukraine, I may have a hard time telling you why.  There is just something about this place that kept drawing me back in the period of three years.  I would describe it as beauty among the broken.  You can see old brick buildings next to new glass ones, a poor village right next to a field of sunflowers, and a bustling, lost, dark city with so much beauty.  And of course, the people here need Jesus, just like every city, town and country does.

8.  I like sci-fi.  I mean really, really like sci-fi.  The main reason is due to that my dad and I would watch sci-fi tv shows and movies together.  I have to admit that I have seen every X-File episode there is, and every Star Trek movie.  And I’m okay with admitting that.  I also enjoy the sci-fi and fantasy books.  You can call me a nerd, if enjoying sci-fi makes me one.

9.  When I was younger, I hated any kind of bugs.  There was a song that my parents used to play for me called ‘I Hate Bugs.’  Now, bugs don’t bother me as much, but sometimes I just wish they weren’t around.  Ladybugs, for some reason, just freak me out; spiders I’m not too fond of but can handle; and flies, during the hot summer drive me crazy.

10.  I love scarfs.  They can be for a coat or for an outfit, most of the time I’m wearing one.  This is one of my “give-into-buy-me” when I go shopping.  Especially if they are plain and simple, or have peace signs on them.  And being in a country where wearing scarfs is common, it’s wonderful to wear them.  And I have only bought one since being here for seven months.  I’d say that is good.

11.  I’m not a purse person.  I don’t like to carry a purse most of the time.  I’d rather have an over the shoulder bag or no purse at all.  I don’t carry much in my purse, so that could be why I don’t like them too much.  I am getting better at using them though, but I’d still rather not have them or have a shoulder bag.

12.  I enjoy a good chai tea latte, or flavored coffee.  I tend to have coffee every morning during my quiet time with God, and add so much to it that it might not be considered coffee anymore.  I haven’t had a chai tea latte in a while, and am looking forward to having one.  The funny thing about chai tea in Ukraine is that the word чай, pronounced chai, is the word for tea.  So when I say I like chai tea, people here think I am saying tea tea, but I am not.  Then I have to explain what chai is, which is hard.

13.  I am the youngest of three kids.  Both of my siblings are married, and got married within about a year or so of each other.  I guess I missed the memo of marriage.

14.  I have an obsession with coffee cups.  I don’t know why, but they entice me, like the scarfs.  I love big ones, small ones, weird shaped ones, ones with sweet designs.  If you want to make me happy, a coffee mug will work.

15.  I killed a fish.  This was an accident.  I was leaving for Montana in a few months, and wanted my parents to have something to take care of while I was gone.  So I bought a fish, put it in water, and then saw that it kept swimming to the top.  Apparently, I shocked it with water too many times.  I never had a fish of my own, my brother did.  I didn’t know about the room temp. water.  So, I woke up after the second or third day of having the fish, after naming it Charlie too, and found that it was dead.  Walmart was nice and gave me my money back.  Sadly, my parents didn’t have a fish to take care of.