Monday, July 21, 2014
Back-fill
Just a heads up, I have returned from my mission. I didn't have internet access to write the last few posts I would like to have written and so I will write them and then talk about my return. They should be up in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Kiev
Before coming to Ukraine, I always pronounced the capital as "Key-ehv". When I arrived I discovered, much to my dismay, that this is not in fact the case. It's much more subtle and I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's sort of like "Key-yv".
Anyway, I recently had to opportunity to travel to this great city and while I didn't do exactly what I wanted to do, I had a good time.
To get there, I took a train. It left at 3:30 am and was going to take me switfly to Kiev. I got to the station via a taxi t 2:30 and proceeded to wait the hour by standing around. I decided that since 3:30 isn't TOO terribly late I would just stay up and sleep on the train. This would turn out to be a mistake as my train was delayed until 5:20. I walked around for a while, read some of my Bible, even bout something to drink. Delayed again. This time 6:40. So, I went to get something to eat because obviously I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon and I was hungry. I come back from getting food and wait, only to find that it had been subsequently delayed again to 7:30.
I had seen trains come and go. I watched the sunrise over the train yard. People who had morning trains came and went before I did.
Finally, my train arrived and I got on board. For the next few hours I was woken up by various people wanting to know if I was on the train safe and sound. By the last phone call I was about ready to tak ethe battery out of my phone and in retrospect, that might have been a good idea.
Greg had arrived earlier than I because of a mix up of trains. He actually took the wrong train, which in a way was good because he wasn't delayed like I was. He and our host, Sergei, met me at the train station. Pastor Sergei then proceeded to show us a few of the major sights in Kiev before taking us to his home for the night.
There are a few photos from the infamous Maidan square. This is the location of the riots that happened a few months ago. It's hard to see from the picture, but the bridge has pictures of people who died in the conflicts hanging as a memorial. It is a sad place to visit. Now it seems to be more of a tourist scene than anything else though I was warned about pickpockets.
Below are some photos of just a few of the pieces of military equipment at the "Museum of the Great Patriotic War". That's what they call the second world war. Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me, but it is interesting to see the difference. The jets are different types of MiG's, hint: they get more advanced with pointy-ness.
Finally, and most importantly, at the museum was the statue of the motherland. I'm told that it stands talled than the statue of liberty. I would say that this probably has something to do with the sword, but that's not the point. I don't know if we could go up the statue, but if I could've I would've.
The rest of the weekend was spent simply. Friday night was spent at the Kiev ELC Friday Night speaking club. On Saturday we went to church, then Greg left. On Sunday, I went to the woods with my host and two of his friends. We had a campfire and a lunch. It was nice. Then I returned back to Dnepropetrovsk, this time there weren't any train troubles.
Anyway, I recently had to opportunity to travel to this great city and while I didn't do exactly what I wanted to do, I had a good time.
To get there, I took a train. It left at 3:30 am and was going to take me switfly to Kiev. I got to the station via a taxi t 2:30 and proceeded to wait the hour by standing around. I decided that since 3:30 isn't TOO terribly late I would just stay up and sleep on the train. This would turn out to be a mistake as my train was delayed until 5:20. I walked around for a while, read some of my Bible, even bout something to drink. Delayed again. This time 6:40. So, I went to get something to eat because obviously I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon and I was hungry. I come back from getting food and wait, only to find that it had been subsequently delayed again to 7:30.
I had seen trains come and go. I watched the sunrise over the train yard. People who had morning trains came and went before I did.
Finally, my train arrived and I got on board. For the next few hours I was woken up by various people wanting to know if I was on the train safe and sound. By the last phone call I was about ready to tak ethe battery out of my phone and in retrospect, that might have been a good idea.
Greg had arrived earlier than I because of a mix up of trains. He actually took the wrong train, which in a way was good because he wasn't delayed like I was. He and our host, Sergei, met me at the train station. Pastor Sergei then proceeded to show us a few of the major sights in Kiev before taking us to his home for the night.
There are a few photos from the infamous Maidan square. This is the location of the riots that happened a few months ago. It's hard to see from the picture, but the bridge has pictures of people who died in the conflicts hanging as a memorial. It is a sad place to visit. Now it seems to be more of a tourist scene than anything else though I was warned about pickpockets.
Below are some photos of just a few of the pieces of military equipment at the "Museum of the Great Patriotic War". That's what they call the second world war. Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me, but it is interesting to see the difference. The jets are different types of MiG's, hint: they get more advanced with pointy-ness.
Finally, and most importantly, at the museum was the statue of the motherland. I'm told that it stands talled than the statue of liberty. I would say that this probably has something to do with the sword, but that's not the point. I don't know if we could go up the statue, but if I could've I would've.
The rest of the weekend was spent simply. Friday night was spent at the Kiev ELC Friday Night speaking club. On Saturday we went to church, then Greg left. On Sunday, I went to the woods with my host and two of his friends. We had a campfire and a lunch. It was nice. Then I returned back to Dnepropetrovsk, this time there weren't any train troubles.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
April showers bring May flowers
I am surprised to see that in truth, April truly does bring rain. I've never really paid attention to WHEN it rained. Ukraine has a different climate than I am used to. The last two weeks or so have had some small modicum of rain most everyday. Today was no different.
I was sitting in my classroom after class and I glanced up to see a few teens standing by the gate of the church. I could tell they'd just been to our small gym under the church and they were playing around. After a few minutes they left, but I kept looking out the window. It was bright and sunny yet the clouds were dark. Music came from a few doors down the street as someone had what looked like a bar-be-Que, obviously because of Easter. I went outside and stood there, feeling the weather. It didn't feel hot or cold, an odd temperature in between. The humidity made me sweat just a little. From the stairs outside the ELC I could tell that the air was thick with moisture, not quite noticeable up close but clearly evident on the horizon. After a few minutes I went back inside. With the windows open it was just as muggy as outside, but it was too late to close them.
I resumed doing nothing important on the internet for a while before the music stopped. There was a palpable change in the humidity. Within seconds what I imagine had started as a soft dribble (giving the neighbors a chance to get inside) turned into an absolute downpour. I was excited. In a matter of moments, dry ground manifested puddles and the road began to shape-shift. I stood on the balcony-like path connecting the stairway to the ELC under the cover of the metal awning holding my arms out in the rain. The cool water was amazing. The release of the water made in considerably cooler and more pleasant to be in. After just a few minutes the rain had finished its transformation of the roadway into a tiny river, large enough for a team of mice to go rafting on, if they so desired.
Within the hour the rain stopped. The air felt fresh, clean, cool. The puddles dried up, and the sun shone on.
I was sitting in my classroom after class and I glanced up to see a few teens standing by the gate of the church. I could tell they'd just been to our small gym under the church and they were playing around. After a few minutes they left, but I kept looking out the window. It was bright and sunny yet the clouds were dark. Music came from a few doors down the street as someone had what looked like a bar-be-Que, obviously because of Easter. I went outside and stood there, feeling the weather. It didn't feel hot or cold, an odd temperature in between. The humidity made me sweat just a little. From the stairs outside the ELC I could tell that the air was thick with moisture, not quite noticeable up close but clearly evident on the horizon. After a few minutes I went back inside. With the windows open it was just as muggy as outside, but it was too late to close them.
I resumed doing nothing important on the internet for a while before the music stopped. There was a palpable change in the humidity. Within seconds what I imagine had started as a soft dribble (giving the neighbors a chance to get inside) turned into an absolute downpour. I was excited. In a matter of moments, dry ground manifested puddles and the road began to shape-shift. I stood on the balcony-like path connecting the stairway to the ELC under the cover of the metal awning holding my arms out in the rain. The cool water was amazing. The release of the water made in considerably cooler and more pleasant to be in. After just a few minutes the rain had finished its transformation of the roadway into a tiny river, large enough for a team of mice to go rafting on, if they so desired.
Within the hour the rain stopped. The air felt fresh, clean, cool. The puddles dried up, and the sun shone on.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Karl
I am in a bit of a spiritual dry spot and I don't want to talk about it with the people here. I'm not one to ask for help and this is by no means a call for help, really just an expression of my thoughts and one way that I decided to deal with them. The other day I was feeling a bit restless so I tried to call a fellow missionary, Greg. He was busy so I had to find something else to do, which isn't a lot at midnight. One thought led to another and I decided to go for a walk.
If I were living in an apartment building, this would be simple. The problem is that I am living in the church, which is surrounded by a fence and locked at night. Now, there is a guard whose job is to lock and unlock stuff and make sure stuff is safe from vandalism and theft, but he was asleep and I didn't know how to explain my intentions in Russian. So, I hopped the fence...
I walked for about 20 minutes and went into a store and went around looking at different food. I grabbed a cheap chocolate bar, looked through some packaged meats (tried translating them over the phone with Greg) decided I didn't know what I'd be eating, and bought an orange instead. At check out I didn't even need to speak, I just stood there while the night shift cashier rung me up. I handed her the money and left. Normally I am against littering, but orange peels are biodegradable, so is it really littering? I think not. I ate my orange on my way back to the church and not far away from the store I saw a figure approaching me. He was crossing the street and stopped in the middle of the road, evaluating my presence. I stopped to consider the possible danger that I was in. At almost 1 am, I hadn't alerted anyone to my plans but Greg and if I died, no one would know for a while. Then, after sizing me up and deciding I wasn't a threat, Karl started to approach me in a very non-aggressive way. When we got to me, I said hello, bent down, and started petting him.
That's right, Karl is a dog. I don't know what other people call him, but I named him Karl. His fur was matted and coarse, not dirty but certainly not clean. He didn't smell bad and he had this cute little face. I don't know his breed (I'm not familiar with dog breeds, they're basically all "dog" to me). I started to walk back to the church and after 10 or 20 feet I turned around and said "Karl, you coming?" He was sitting where I left him and when I spoke to him he started to follow me happily. I would stop and pet him every now and then on my way back to the church and he'd happily limp along after me. I tried to look at his hurt foot once or twice but it wasn't until we were just around the corner from the church that he let me look. He had a gash of some kind that I couldn't do anything about. If it had been a thorn I would've pulled it out, but a gash? That's out of my hands.
When I finally hopped the fence and got to my door, I'd spent an hour and a half outside the compound, most of which with Karl. I entered the church and closed the door and I heard him whining as I climbed the stairs to my room. With his whining I seriously considered sleeping outside, it wasn't that cold. But I needed to call Greg and my phone was dead, so I called it a night.
I am glad that I met the little doggy. He made me a lot happier, at least for the night.
If I were living in an apartment building, this would be simple. The problem is that I am living in the church, which is surrounded by a fence and locked at night. Now, there is a guard whose job is to lock and unlock stuff and make sure stuff is safe from vandalism and theft, but he was asleep and I didn't know how to explain my intentions in Russian. So, I hopped the fence...
I walked for about 20 minutes and went into a store and went around looking at different food. I grabbed a cheap chocolate bar, looked through some packaged meats (tried translating them over the phone with Greg) decided I didn't know what I'd be eating, and bought an orange instead. At check out I didn't even need to speak, I just stood there while the night shift cashier rung me up. I handed her the money and left. Normally I am against littering, but orange peels are biodegradable, so is it really littering? I think not. I ate my orange on my way back to the church and not far away from the store I saw a figure approaching me. He was crossing the street and stopped in the middle of the road, evaluating my presence. I stopped to consider the possible danger that I was in. At almost 1 am, I hadn't alerted anyone to my plans but Greg and if I died, no one would know for a while. Then, after sizing me up and deciding I wasn't a threat, Karl started to approach me in a very non-aggressive way. When we got to me, I said hello, bent down, and started petting him.
That's right, Karl is a dog. I don't know what other people call him, but I named him Karl. His fur was matted and coarse, not dirty but certainly not clean. He didn't smell bad and he had this cute little face. I don't know his breed (I'm not familiar with dog breeds, they're basically all "dog" to me). I started to walk back to the church and after 10 or 20 feet I turned around and said "Karl, you coming?" He was sitting where I left him and when I spoke to him he started to follow me happily. I would stop and pet him every now and then on my way back to the church and he'd happily limp along after me. I tried to look at his hurt foot once or twice but it wasn't until we were just around the corner from the church that he let me look. He had a gash of some kind that I couldn't do anything about. If it had been a thorn I would've pulled it out, but a gash? That's out of my hands.
When I finally hopped the fence and got to my door, I'd spent an hour and a half outside the compound, most of which with Karl. I entered the church and closed the door and I heard him whining as I climbed the stairs to my room. With his whining I seriously considered sleeping outside, it wasn't that cold. But I needed to call Greg and my phone was dead, so I called it a night.
I am glad that I met the little doggy. He made me a lot happier, at least for the night.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Humor
There is a chapter about humor in one of the upper level books and I learned something. Knock-knock jokes are not a thing here in Ukraine. I was shocked and so I tried to tell one to a student. It went something like this:
Me: "Wait, you really don't have knock-knock jokes?"
Her: "No"
Me: "Awe, great! So it goes like this, I say, 'Knock-knock', and you say, 'Who's there?'. Then I say, 'something', and you say, 'something who?'. Finally, I say the punch line. Wanna try it?"
pause... pause... pause...
Her: "okay?"
Me: "GREAT!!! So... Knock knock."
Her: "Who's there?"
Me: "Banana."
Her: "Banana who?"
Me: "Knock knock."
Her: "Knock knock who?"
Me: "No no, after 'knock knock' you say 'who's there, remember?" She nods understanding and I say, "knock knock"
Her: "What's there?... Who! Who's there?"
Me: "Banana."
Her: "Who Banana who?"
Me: "Knock knock"
Her: "I'm confused... who's there?"
Me: "Orange."
Her: "Orange who?"
Me: "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"
*blank stare*
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why you should tell an easier knock knock joke for someone's first knock knock joke experience. I know it may not be the funniest thing now, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I don't remember all of the mistakes, but these are the few I remember for sure, I do know that there were a few more.
Me: "Wait, you really don't have knock-knock jokes?"
Her: "No"
Me: "Awe, great! So it goes like this, I say, 'Knock-knock', and you say, 'Who's there?'. Then I say, 'something', and you say, 'something who?'. Finally, I say the punch line. Wanna try it?"
pause... pause... pause...
Her: "okay?"
Me: "GREAT!!! So... Knock knock."
Her: "Who's there?"
Me: "Banana."
Her: "Banana who?"
Me: "Knock knock."
Her: "Knock knock who?"
Me: "No no, after 'knock knock' you say 'who's there, remember?" She nods understanding and I say, "knock knock"
Her: "What's there?... Who! Who's there?"
Me: "Banana."
Her: "Who Banana who?"
Me: "Knock knock"
Her: "I'm confused... who's there?"
Me: "Orange."
Her: "Orange who?"
Me: "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"
*blank stare*
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why you should tell an easier knock knock joke for someone's first knock knock joke experience. I know it may not be the funniest thing now, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I don't remember all of the mistakes, but these are the few I remember for sure, I do know that there were a few more.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Untitled
I have been struggling to put these thoughts into words. Well, concise words anyway. I'll let you in on a secret, I can ramble sometimes.
I have been thinking about my time here and I feel very UN-missionary-like. No, that is not UN like United Nations, that is UN as in "opposite of". Why do I feel like the opposite of a missionary? Well, I'm not on the classic mission trip. I am not in the back country teaching the gospel through a translator. I am not healing people with medical problems. I am not even building a bridge, city, or orphanage somewhere. I live in a church, teach English in the evenings, and my mornings are mostly free. With so much free time, rather than spend it getting closer with God, completing weekly tasks early, or studying Russian which I claim to want to learn, I get distracted. I have the internet. The internet is a wonderful tool to find information and ides, to connect with people thousands of miles away, to get ideas and inspiration. The internet is also filled with games, memes, and more, all meant to distract you from daily life.
I wondered why God would send me thousands of miles away from home if He was just going to have me teach English. I thought I was going to be doing more "important" things here. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying teaching, it can be quite a challenge.
Greg, my fellow missionary from WWU, said something like, "God is training me in everyday life". I agree with him wholeheartedly. In everyday life, I struggle with internet, I struggle with motivation, with maintaining a daily devotional and prayer life. God is not training me to be extraordinary, but to be ordinary. It is a tough thing to realize because our egos want us to be someone big, someone special. The truth is that I need to be trained to be ordinary before I should expect God to train me for anything else.
I have been thinking about my time here and I feel very UN-missionary-like. No, that is not UN like United Nations, that is UN as in "opposite of". Why do I feel like the opposite of a missionary? Well, I'm not on the classic mission trip. I am not in the back country teaching the gospel through a translator. I am not healing people with medical problems. I am not even building a bridge, city, or orphanage somewhere. I live in a church, teach English in the evenings, and my mornings are mostly free. With so much free time, rather than spend it getting closer with God, completing weekly tasks early, or studying Russian which I claim to want to learn, I get distracted. I have the internet. The internet is a wonderful tool to find information and ides, to connect with people thousands of miles away, to get ideas and inspiration. The internet is also filled with games, memes, and more, all meant to distract you from daily life.
I wondered why God would send me thousands of miles away from home if He was just going to have me teach English. I thought I was going to be doing more "important" things here. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying teaching, it can be quite a challenge.
Greg, my fellow missionary from WWU, said something like, "God is training me in everyday life". I agree with him wholeheartedly. In everyday life, I struggle with internet, I struggle with motivation, with maintaining a daily devotional and prayer life. God is not training me to be extraordinary, but to be ordinary. It is a tough thing to realize because our egos want us to be someone big, someone special. The truth is that I need to be trained to be ordinary before I should expect God to train me for anything else.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Division vs. Long Division
There is something that has been bothering me. Sometimes, when people talk about a difficult thing to learn, they reference long division. It is such a stigma that I always assumed I had never learned this dreadful skill and felt a little ashamed to admit it, and thus joined in dissent at its terribleness. It occurred to me one day (today) while I was on the internet that I could look it up and finally learn this devilish math.
I hoped on over to Google with a simple click of my mouse, and the internet decided to slow down. Perfect timing. I tabbed over and started reading an article I'd been interested in but hadn't read. A couple minutes later I remembered my hunt for answers and went back to my Google tab. When I saw the search results, I was perplexed. On the page before me was something quite simple. It was a series of Google-images depicting simple division. Don't worry about going and doing your own search, here is an example:
I wasn't sure why Google had messes up. This was simple division! Where was the LONG division I had searched for? I decided Wikipedia would help and opened the link. We all know that Wikipedia is filled with lies, so we should go to YouTube for a second opinion, right? THAT is when I learned that there is apparently a NEW way to do long division. If you haven't heard of it yet, you should go check it out. For those of you who were unable to learn the original way, the new way is just as accurate, but it takes longer. For those of you asking why you need long division, I refer you to Dr. Thompson's story of the Motorcycle Mathematicians.
I hoped on over to Google with a simple click of my mouse, and the internet decided to slow down. Perfect timing. I tabbed over and started reading an article I'd been interested in but hadn't read. A couple minutes later I remembered my hunt for answers and went back to my Google tab. When I saw the search results, I was perplexed. On the page before me was something quite simple. It was a series of Google-images depicting simple division. Don't worry about going and doing your own search, here is an example:
I wasn't sure why Google had messes up. This was simple division! Where was the LONG division I had searched for? I decided Wikipedia would help and opened the link. We all know that Wikipedia is filled with lies, so we should go to YouTube for a second opinion, right? THAT is when I learned that there is apparently a NEW way to do long division. If you haven't heard of it yet, you should go check it out. For those of you who were unable to learn the original way, the new way is just as accurate, but it takes longer. For those of you asking why you need long division, I refer you to Dr. Thompson's story of the Motorcycle Mathematicians.
Monday, January 13, 2014
барвинок (periwinkle)
Holidays are often times of great Joy and great Sadness. There are many reasons why and I couldn't possibly fathom all of them, but I will say that one of the joys is family. In America we celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th of December and here in Ukraine it is more common to celebrate it on the 7th of January. I have spent few Christmas' away from home and those that I was away from home on I was visiting my mother in Illinois. This last Christmas (both the 25th and 7th) I wasn't at home again, but this time (as you already know) I was in Ukraine. So, what did I do for the 25th? I had class and opened 2 packages from home. One was a birthday/Christmas gift to me from me, a nook. I was very excited to have received it in time for my trip to барвинок, the Sanatorium I visited with Greg. After the Christmas party the ELC held on the 29th, I was free to hang out with Greg who had come to do just that.
On the 31st, he and I loaded up onto a train bound for Lvov and joined his caretakers family. I don't know if I have mentioned this or note, but Greg and I seem to be precious cargo for the Ukrainians and have basically been assigned caretakers. I have Maria, my boss at the ELC, who helps me with official government stuff, Friday Nights, and more. Greg has Lyena, a woman in her late 20's who is relatively new to teaching English who helps Greg in the same ways. Without these women, we would just be two bumbling idiots wandering around Ukraine, but that is beside the point. We boarded the train here in Dnepropetrovsk and joined Lyena, her husband Ruslan, and their son Misha. After several hours we were in Lvov and after some scurrying around and asking for directions, we were on a bus to a tiny town to the south of Lvov named Nova Rosdil. There we were picked up by a van from барвинок.
It was quite beautiful there though no snow. I had been told to expect snow and while my expectations were not met, I was not disappointed. I won't go through all of the details of the trip because, after all, I was there for 9 days, but I will hit some highlights.
There was a frozen lake nearby and Greg walked all the way around it and I walked most of the way around it plus some screwing around on the ice. At first we were not sure that it would hold people, but then we saw some dudes ice fishing so I figured it'd be fine and went to go play on the ice while Greg started his long trek. When we got close to the end we met some fishermen and they offered us one of their fish but it was so tiny and we had no way of cooking it, and Greg is a veghead, so we said no.
The food was amazing everyday that we were there. I took a lot of photos. I am apparently obsessed with Borscht and I am somehow at peace with that, probably because it's at least a little true. They had amazing spreads, vege cutlets, soups, and more. They love poppy seeds by the way. And as long as we are on the subject of food, one GREAT trend I've noticed in Ukraine is the consumption of raw onions and or garlic. I have encountered the onion part before when I worked in an orchard and this super old mexican guy ate them like apples, but the garlic was a little newer for me. I was not and am not disgusted by it and in fact, I am very happy that it is acceptable to do so because the taste is just wonderful.
Since it is an Adventist Sanitarium (I don't know the difference between sanitarium and sanatorium, whichever is meant for physical health improvement) there was no meat... or dairy... But it wasn't really a problem for me.
Greg and I showed up a few days before everyone else did and basically got to explore the surrounding woods, take naps, read, got a massage or two and even tried a dry sauna (it was very tiny, two people MAX). When people did show up, the schedule changed. The idea was that this was a sort of a 10 day boot camp to help people learn and jumpstart a healthy life style while showing them that Adventists aren't crazy and softening their opinions of the SDA church (not doctrine was preached, just the need for God and the demonstration of His love through service to the customers). The basic schedule was something like, wake up at 6, morning exercises and 620, drink tea at 7, morning worship/inspiration at 710, breakfast at 8, then a walk, then some medical procedures, lectures, etc. throughout the day and in bed by 10pm. They even served the meals in a healthy way, meaning Breakfast was BIG, Lunch was ample, and Dinner was light. I wish that I was able to understand Russian though because some of the classes would have been interesting. One was eye exercises, another back exercises, and the last one I liked was cooking, but with a translator it is difficult to get everything... o well
One of the days we went to Lvov and saw many churches and I nearly lost my beanie. It was actually a very distressing moment for me because we had climbed a hill to get a view of nigh time Lvov and somewhere along the way I'd love the beanie that had been crocheted for me by a friend. After a quick prayer I tried to put my worries out of my mind and on the way back down we found it! Someone had been kind enough to place it in a tree so that it'd be easier to see and not get stepped on. I know that you can rationalize it, and I know that it is small, but it was a good reminder that God does care.
The train ride back was uneventful, I rode alone. At first there was a beautiful young Ukrainian lawyer who spoke pretty good English to talk to, but she was gone after about an hour or two at Chernobyl and I was left to go to bed the only English speaker around. I read and at some food, but there really weren't any highlights other than the sauna-like conditions of sleeping on the top bunk.
All in all, I would say that it was a successful and exciting trip. If I could do it over I'd change little, and the things I'd change wouldn't be big.
On the 31st, he and I loaded up onto a train bound for Lvov and joined his caretakers family. I don't know if I have mentioned this or note, but Greg and I seem to be precious cargo for the Ukrainians and have basically been assigned caretakers. I have Maria, my boss at the ELC, who helps me with official government stuff, Friday Nights, and more. Greg has Lyena, a woman in her late 20's who is relatively new to teaching English who helps Greg in the same ways. Without these women, we would just be two bumbling idiots wandering around Ukraine, but that is beside the point. We boarded the train here in Dnepropetrovsk and joined Lyena, her husband Ruslan, and their son Misha. After several hours we were in Lvov and after some scurrying around and asking for directions, we were on a bus to a tiny town to the south of Lvov named Nova Rosdil. There we were picked up by a van from барвинок.
It was quite beautiful there though no snow. I had been told to expect snow and while my expectations were not met, I was not disappointed. I won't go through all of the details of the trip because, after all, I was there for 9 days, but I will hit some highlights.
There was a frozen lake nearby and Greg walked all the way around it and I walked most of the way around it plus some screwing around on the ice. At first we were not sure that it would hold people, but then we saw some dudes ice fishing so I figured it'd be fine and went to go play on the ice while Greg started his long trek. When we got close to the end we met some fishermen and they offered us one of their fish but it was so tiny and we had no way of cooking it, and Greg is a veghead, so we said no.
The food was amazing everyday that we were there. I took a lot of photos. I am apparently obsessed with Borscht and I am somehow at peace with that, probably because it's at least a little true. They had amazing spreads, vege cutlets, soups, and more. They love poppy seeds by the way. And as long as we are on the subject of food, one GREAT trend I've noticed in Ukraine is the consumption of raw onions and or garlic. I have encountered the onion part before when I worked in an orchard and this super old mexican guy ate them like apples, but the garlic was a little newer for me. I was not and am not disgusted by it and in fact, I am very happy that it is acceptable to do so because the taste is just wonderful.
Since it is an Adventist Sanitarium (I don't know the difference between sanitarium and sanatorium, whichever is meant for physical health improvement) there was no meat... or dairy... But it wasn't really a problem for me.
Greg and I showed up a few days before everyone else did and basically got to explore the surrounding woods, take naps, read, got a massage or two and even tried a dry sauna (it was very tiny, two people MAX). When people did show up, the schedule changed. The idea was that this was a sort of a 10 day boot camp to help people learn and jumpstart a healthy life style while showing them that Adventists aren't crazy and softening their opinions of the SDA church (not doctrine was preached, just the need for God and the demonstration of His love through service to the customers). The basic schedule was something like, wake up at 6, morning exercises and 620, drink tea at 7, morning worship/inspiration at 710, breakfast at 8, then a walk, then some medical procedures, lectures, etc. throughout the day and in bed by 10pm. They even served the meals in a healthy way, meaning Breakfast was BIG, Lunch was ample, and Dinner was light. I wish that I was able to understand Russian though because some of the classes would have been interesting. One was eye exercises, another back exercises, and the last one I liked was cooking, but with a translator it is difficult to get everything... o well
One of the days we went to Lvov and saw many churches and I nearly lost my beanie. It was actually a very distressing moment for me because we had climbed a hill to get a view of nigh time Lvov and somewhere along the way I'd love the beanie that had been crocheted for me by a friend. After a quick prayer I tried to put my worries out of my mind and on the way back down we found it! Someone had been kind enough to place it in a tree so that it'd be easier to see and not get stepped on. I know that you can rationalize it, and I know that it is small, but it was a good reminder that God does care.
The train ride back was uneventful, I rode alone. At first there was a beautiful young Ukrainian lawyer who spoke pretty good English to talk to, but she was gone after about an hour or two at Chernobyl and I was left to go to bed the only English speaker around. I read and at some food, but there really weren't any highlights other than the sauna-like conditions of sleeping on the top bunk.
All in all, I would say that it was a successful and exciting trip. If I could do it over I'd change little, and the things I'd change wouldn't be big.
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