I've just gotten back from the Chaslivtsi orphanage where we spent a couple of hours in an informal setting with the children. Many of you know that I also teach English, and one of my students came to the orphanage with us. Her first impressions were that it's dirty, and the kids are crazy, which is a pretty normal first impression.

In the first picture above, we are in our normal Thursday afternoon club. I help out with the fine arts club, which is right now learning a song. Later we will learn skits. There were four of us leaders in that room, and about 8 children, and let me tell you, we had our hands full!!! But they are all lovely kids, and I'm glad that we get to be a part of their lives.

The second picture is one of me and my roommates. That's right! look at how artistic I am!!!!

The third picture is how we have meetings...over food! I think these are the greatest meetings I've ever gone to!

In my English class, we are working on describing things. So, I took an idea used by the YWAM SBS, and used balloons, yarn, and markers to have the students design themselves, and then describe each other according to the balloons. Let me tell you, some of those students are incredible talented, artistic with those three components. I was so impressed!

In other news, tomorrow we are going to our new orphanage, and we're excited for that. We have two hours with a young group of kids that seem well-behaved. We have a great Bible story and songs and crafts prepared for them. And the three of us are going to try to sing a song in Ukrainian. Last time, when we were first meeting them, we sang Old MacDonald...they got a kick out of all of the animal noises I can make.

Anyway, that's what's new, but I guess it's not a lot new. I just wanted to be able to send y'all some pictures.

So, have a lovely day!!!!!!

Life in Uzhgorod

Well, it seems like forever since we came to Uzhgorod.
Most people might think that being transplanted from the States to Ukraine would be a huge change. I think the bigger change is transplanting from Kyiv to Uzhgorod.
Uzhgorod is a much smaller city. The city is not as technologically advanced, so even having water all the time is a luxury that we don't have. And we've called about getting internet in our apartment, however, no one would talk to us.

However, we were blessed to get a great apartment, a spacious 3-roomer, very clean, not expensive at all. On nice days, most anything is in walking distance.

I am currently teaching English with Cornerstone, Uzhgorod. In fact, my class begins in half an hour. The three of us are also going to two different orphanages at the moment, one with Cornerstone, and one with a different group. It's strange that each orphanage has a distinct feel to it. This new orphanage takes an hour by car to get to, and has had a lot of work done to it recently. the kids are well kept and well managed, and excited to see us.

The other orphanage we go to is more run down, the children are dirtier, and much harder to manage in a group.

But we are excited to work with both groups of kids.

I keep forgetting to bring my camera and cable with me when i check email, so that i can put pictures up on the blog. I'll try to remember to do that next time.

So, this is short and sweet!

I hope you all have a great day! i'm already tired. really, who wants to learn english on a friday night when there are so many other things to do??? :)

After 1 Week

The picture above is me with two of my favorite people in Ukraine: Tanya and Markus. The two of them came to the airport to pick me up. We then came back to the apartment where Tanya cooked us lunch. What a gal!

I wrote in the last blog things I'd forgotten about Ukraine. Here's one more: Only in Ukraine will you see outside in the freezing cold, an older, completely naked woman in the Dnipro River, breaking away ice from a little water hole, to have her morning splash, which keeps her healthy. Only in Ukraine.

Since I've been here, my home phone didn't work, my cell phone needed to be unlocked, and I had only the Internet. Right now, my home phone still doesn't work, but my cell phone has been unlocked and is working fabulously after a slight brain fart (there had been money on my account, and I tried calling people...but I needed to add more money to the account, because it had been frozen while I was gone...took me 3 days to figure that one out!), and the Internet has been shut off.

The internet thing actually really got to me for a little bit. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it allowed me to be more intentional to go somewhere to use the internet than to just have it at home and get sucked into the endless hours of procrastination and wasted time. Once I looked at it that way, I've actually enjoyed not having it.

We are set to leave for Uzhgorod on Monday at 4am pst, which is actually 2pm here in Kyiv. We get in at 7am the next morning, and then we will start looking for apartments. We almost had one, but it was bigger than we needed, and out of our price range! We are looking forward to meeting the DTS outreach team there. They are already hard at work, and we will be joining them and exploring the endless possibilities there.

Welcome BACK to Ukraine!

Normally when I've left Ukraine, it's been to a nearby country for up to 2 and a half months. This time, I was gone back to the motherland for 4 whole months. So I knew there would be things I'd forget. So, what DID happen to me already?

I was completely surprised when we landed in Kyiv early, and no one hassled me at passport control, or customs. However, I did think it was funny that there was one passport control person for the 50 foreigners...until we noticed two others in the "foreign lanes"...they just failed to tell us they were open.

I wasn't so completely surprised at people asking if i needed a taxi or if I wanted to use their phones.

I did go and try to buy a sim card for my phone, however the lady, who was very polite, told me that the sim cards were supposed to come with some money already them, but the money wasn't there, so she wouldn't sell one to me.

I caught all 3 people who were looking for me, looking the wrong way (because I was already out of the gate).

I prayed and I know others prayed for a safe flight and connections, and no baggage lost, which was the case, HOWEVER! the van that picked me up broke down as we were nearing the homestretch. We had to get towed in. Honestly, what are the odds?

I froze the first few seconds I was out in the -15C air, but then I kind of got used to it.

I had pelmeni, which are little meat filled perogies, very Ukrainian.

I also went grocery shopping and was reminded at how inefficient most Ukrainian grocery stores are, how no one really seems to care, but how everyone seems to be a little more angry than normal.

I got stared at quite a bit...I think I have that "American swagger" back, and I was smiling entirely too much for someone out on the streets.

But all in all, I'm glad to be back. I'm dead tired, my living room is a mess because I think I took everything out of my bags with the intent of organizing everything before I went to bed (which I don't think will be the case) and I'm going to skip dinner because it's almost half past 5 in the afternoon, clear, sunny and beautiful, and I'm going to sleep!

Good night all, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

The Countdown...2!

Since New Years has already been celebrated, this can mean only one thing! I'm talking about the countdown until I leave for Ukraine, which is quickly, quickly approaching. friday morning at 7am Seattle time, I am leaving, and by midnight in Seattle, I should be in Ukraine. It'll be one long day.

Although I'm looking forward to leaving, I'm also sad to be leaving behind friends and a community here. And I think that's a great place to be in, both sad and happy. I think it keeps perspective, perspective that there is always more than we think out in the world. Leaving something means I'm going to/toward something else. And that in and of itself is exciting. I will get to see my kids in the orphanages and my friends in Ukraine, and live in place that is so foreign and yet so familiar. But leaving also means leaving something/someone behind. I'm leaving behind friends, family, community, America.

So, that being said, I believe that these past 4 months that I've been stateside has been successful. When I first arrived, I didn't think I could get back to Ukraine fast enough. And now that the time has come for me to leave, I'm wondering how I can move some people from Mt. Vernon to Ukraine. Haven't figured that one out yet.

So these last days that I'm here are filled with goodbyes, deep sighs, and remembering I'm leaving because He called me to go out and be His hands and feet.

I'll write again when I land in Kyiv!