MESA, Ariz. — As Russia ravages Ukraine with bombs and missiles, many Arizonans are worried about their friends and relatives living in the Eastern European country.
Jeremiah Tenney of Mesa is one of them. Tenney spent five months in 2013 as a volunteer English teacher. Tenney lived with a host family in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
“For me, it’s like a second home. Part of my heart is still there,” Tenney said. “I went to their kids’ birthday parties, their friends’ birthday parties. I spent time in really small apartments with all different types of people from all walks of life.”
Tenney describes Ukrainians “like pineapples.”
“They can be a little bit rough and hard on the outside but once you open them up they are really sweet,” Tenney said. “I think that comes as part of their history, as what has happened to them as a people, as a nation. They’ve had to put up this front, put up a guard.”
Tenney is keeping in touch with friends in Kyiv who are staying in their homes and not sure where to go.
“They are scared. They feel like they’ve already had to fight for their country and for their independence before. They just want to be their own country,” Tenney said.
Tenney’s host dad was a Russian immigrant to Ukraine – a reflection of the fact many Ukrainian residents have ties to the country now bombing them.
For Tenney, watching the missile strikes on television has been heartbreaking.
“The first video I saw it honestly brought me to tears. Just because I know how much they love their country and how much they want to be independent and free,” Tenney said.
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