A Ukrainian Wedding

Being from Canada Laurie and I just assumed that the wedding ceremony would take place in a church building. Oh, how naive of us. We had forgotten that Ukraine had once been a communist society and religion was seen as negative. Back then, marriage was purely a legal arrangement performed through the government and that history still plays a part in weddings today. So, all weddings legally performed in the Ukraine are still done through the registration office. This might not sound all that great but the office building is in nice shape and even decorated with stained glass and such. The ceremony itself was simple and pleasant. Of course we didn't know what the lady was saying but the ceremony had two interesting traditions. One was for the newlyweds to toast to one another with their arms intertwined. And the other tradition was to step on a beautiful cloth that would be a family memoir. Traditional says that whoever steps on the cloth first will become the leader of the family.

Another fun wedding tradition played out before the wedding. Prior to the ceremony everyone met up at the bride's place where she hid from her groom. All the doors in the apartment were closed. Then the groom has to search for his bride. For every room he opens without finding her, he has to pay a fee of 20 greevna. Dema, Larissa's hubby found her on his second look so he had a minimal fee.



After the ceremony the wedding party went around the town to take pictures. We were told that traditionally wedding parties go to parks and monuments to toast in memory of the monuments. We were not part of the wedding party so we went to get a bite to eat and walked around until the reception. The reception was quite nice. It was done at a restaurant that I think does wedding receptions frequently. There was a live band and a MC that was provided by the restaurant. It was all good with lots of food, drinks and wedding games. The funniest part was when all the guys and gals were put on opposite parts of the restaurant and than had a dance competition that was directed by the MC. The MC would holler out a body part and everyone had to dance making sure to use that particular body part. The group that got most into it was the winners. The boys definitely won that competition. Similar to receptions in Canada there was much dancing, eating and visiting. Vova, Lena, Laurie and I left a little early. As the reception went on it became a dance celebration and we were not into that so we said our congratulations and goodbyes.

Back in Donetsk we hung out with Vova and Lena some more. They are leaving next month to a new town to work in an orphanage so we are taking time to enjoy their companionship. Yesterday was Miner's Day. It is a huge celebration here in Donetsk but I'm not sure if it is celebrated in other provinces. I was surprised that this Miner's day was a bigger celebration than independence day which took place last week. But coal mining has been the livelihood of many here in the Donbass province so I can imagine how it can be viewed as more important.

Laurie and I walked around with Vova to see the city's festivities. Scherbakova Park was crazy busy. Look at the bridge in this picture and you can just see the multitudes. We strolled around looking at people and flowers. There was a stage there and when we arrived there was some traditional music being performed. Then out of no where this grandma and grandpa start dancing...it was quite cute. Vova wasn't feeling too great so he went home but Laurie and I were curious to what was going on in the city center. Again it was crazy busy there but we hung around for a bit to watch a rock band perform. It was very loud and crowded though so we decided to head home before it got too late.



This week we are continuing to take a few classes at UBI. I need to prepare a message for this Sunday and we need to prepare for Saturday's English class. We are also planning to do another English ministry in Mariupol next weekend and need to prepare for that as well. Mariupol is a fairly large city about 2 hours south of Donetsk. So with having guest over as well we are keeping ourselves busy. Not to mention my nagging assignments that I just can't seem to finish off.

We are also feeling better this week. Our energy is returning and we are feeling healthier, Slava Bogu!

Saturday Dating Service.

For the last two Saturdays we have had our friend Bogdon over to use our Internet. He is currently involved in a long distant relationship and asked me awhile back if he could Skype on our computer. So he has been having good conversations and now he can't get enough Skype. We are going to have to limit his use a little though because Saturday night is prime time for us as well to Skype.

This past week was unexpectedly busy and left Laurie and I very tired. Monday through Saturday have been filled with classes and visiting. Monday evening was a dinner and program held to honour the new students at UBI. Homemade pizza, cake and a live skit...good times. On Tuesday we had dinner with the Rogers who had Ron Fox over as well. Ron is here for three weeks teaching a preaching class and 1 Corinthians. This was also a good time. I'm always excited to have dinner with the Rogers...Mary Lee makes the best desserts, honestly she could easily open her own restaurant here if she wanted.

On Wednesday we joined our friend Katia in visiting her mother who is in the hospital right now. I sort of invited myself but we have visited Mama Katia before at her home and thought maybe a surprise visit by the weird Canadians would cheer her up. She didn't remember us at first but it was fun to see her face light up when she did. We were over at their place before interviewing Katia about life in the Ukraine and her mom offered to show us some of their pictures. It was so very interesting. She had pictures from the 1940's and older that were still in good condition. We didn't stay too long at the hospital though. Mama Katia needed to rest and we were happy to have a quick visit with her.

On Thursday we helped Bogdon and some of the other students from UBI move a couple huge cabinets from the Boodyornovski church building (the congregation we currently attend) so that new cabinets could be installed. And wow, what new cabinets. I have never seen such big cabinets in my life. I forgot my camera but I will take a picture next time.

Friday morning we had our last Russian lesson for the time being. I completed my required hours early in the summer and right now we feel we need to have more free time to work on other opportunities with the time we have left here. I must admit our relationship with our tutor has been a pleasant surprise for me. She has always shared openly with us and we have learned many cultural lessons from her as well. The first half of our lesson was purely visiting and catching up with talking in Russian. We have become friends and plan to see her again before we leave. We then had Nazar over for dinner and visiting. He has been super happy lately because he was given a laptop this summer so he wanted to show it off to us and all the pictures he took while he was in Kiev this summer.

Saturday was a long day. We had a good English class with our regulars and then we hurried off to Ludmilla's house. She was hosting the UBI staff bbq. Upstairs the kids played while the rest of us all visited downstairs. Again, I had forgotten my camera at home so I have no pictures to post. Afterwards, Laurie and I came home to find Bogdon Skyping. Earlier, we lent him a key to our place because we didn't know how long we would be at the bbq.

And then...Laurie cried and I was brain dead. I know I was tired because Sunday morning I went to wash my hands and I just stared at the facet for about 30 seconds... all of a sudden I couldn't remember which tap was the hot and which one was the cold. When I'm drained my brain works about ¼ of capacity and when Laurie is tired she becomes emotional. This is not a good combination so we decided to not allow ourselves to get overly drained on a regular basis. Sometimes its unavoidable but this week I'm making an effort not to get too busy.

Yesterday was a good day. It was a holiday here, Ukrainian Independence Day. So we slept and rested. In the evening we strolled to the city center because we were told that there might be some sort of celebrations going on. We were lucky, as soon as we got to Lenin Square a concert began. It started off really cute but then got weird. The opening act was young girls dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothes and dancing traditionally. But my favorite part was the young boys (5/6 years old I would guess) who were dressed like little soldiers who marched around singing with little girls dressed like nurses (I assume). It got weird though when older kids came on dressed like carrots, corn, and beats and danced and sung about carrots, corn and beats. Eh, it was still pretty entertaining. But again, no pictures...you see the problem is Laurie and I are getting lazy. We just like to walk around without carrying anything. But this weekend we will take pictures. We are going to our first Ukrainian wedding.

A prayer request. Laurie and I are not healthy. We have been sick ever since we have come back from the Black Sea and are beginning to be tired of being sick. We would appreciate your prayers.

32 plants, 3.5 months of growing, 1 tomato...unbelievable

Ukraine has fertile soil and is know for being able to produce large amounts of wheat. Regardless, Laurie and I have failed to produce any bountiful crop. All our lettuce died as with our beans and peas. We did though get a small crop out of the peas before they went yellow. We have had one tomato and a hand full of potatoes also but I think we will leave the farming to the farmers.

This past week has been draining for us. I have been fighting a sinus/ear infecting for the past two week and Laurie a cold. Amongst this we have been entertaining her brother, sister and nephew along with some of our friends. We tried to give them a complete Ukraine experience with showing them the pretty and not so pretty aspects of Donetsk. The pretty parts were the parks and a couple nice restaurants. The not so nice pretty parts was visiting the TB hospital and taking them outside of downtown to the church building where our congregation meets.

The TB Hospital was fun. There the children were expecting us so they planned a short performance for us. Sadly I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures of the dancing and singing. The children were aged from 3 to 12, I would guess and they are all so very cute. The workers there really appreciate Jay Don and Mary Lee because through the Churches of Christ in America they have helped out the hospital significantly.

One of the guest teachers at UBI was giving a seminar on the Trinity at the church we attend and so we had the opportunity to take our Canadian guests to the church building midweek and show them that. I must admit I was most pleased with the interacting that was going on. Our friend Ella took a liking to Ethan and while we all were walking home she grabbed his arm and pulled him in close to visit and practice her English on him. All of a sudden our energetic nephew got all shy and quiet...hehe. I wonder what he will remember most about the Ukraine.

They left us on Friday and now we are back to our quiet house. On Saturday we helped with the VBS program that was being held at our congregation. Here on the sidewalk the kids wrote, "God is waiting for you" and then they drew arrows heading towards the VBS.



There we did games, crafts and learned about the story of Esther. They even acted it out...that was pretty funny.



Afterward we had some friends over for a bbq and visiting. Then on Sunday we crashed. I'm still sick, so I slept. Laurie's introverted nature needed a break from people so she read and had quiet time.

This week we are attending a few classes at UBI and preparing for our English class. We also need to figure out what opportunities we are going to act on. We have the opportunity to help a congregation in a nearby city, to go to a wedding in Dnipropetrovsk, go to a conference in Crimea, help our friends Vova and Lena in a new job working with orphans that they will be starting in October, distribute some donations from Canada and USA or even help renovate a building that is going to be used as a transitional house for youth. So there are many opportunities around us and we need to figure out what we want to do with the time we have left here.

Picnic and Company

The few days following our return from the Black Sea were spent resting and catching up. Resting because Laurie and I came down with colds. I fared a little worse than Laurie. I had a sinus infection that carried into my right ear and now I'm in the tail end of it...I think...and hope. I haven't taken any antibiotics but have taken some natural extracts to strengthen my immune system. And with school starting up we have been catching up with the staff and students.

Last Sunday we had a Church picnic which resembles anything you would find in Canada with bbq's, games and good company. The only difference that I really noticed was the boys scavenging the park for fire wood (fuel for the bbq), grandma's off to the side singing hymns and an area marked off as a toilet with the use of blankets hanging off of trees. Laurie was extremely happy having the opportunity to hold and visit with a 10 month old baby. The walk to the park was fifteen minutes away from the church building through a rough path that was not stroller friendly so Laurie volunteered to carry the child while Bogdon carried the stroller. Here is a few pics of that event. Is it just me or is Laurie just radiating.







After the picnic I sent Laurie off to pick up her siblings at the airport. Right now we have the pleasure of entertaining them with some of Donetsk's attractions: a tour of UBI, the new soccer stadium and some of the nicer parks in town. We took them to the old park we found awhile ago. Here, Ethan is getting his picture taken with an old crocodile...I don't think he quite knows what to do with it.



With exploring, we happened to get a little lost and found ourselves being restricted by a huge concrete wall.



This wall is a mystery to me. Its in the middle of forest and makes me wonder why its there. It looks very old and neglected, it must have had served some purpose in the past.

Today, we planned to do a shashlik (bbq) and since many of our Ukrainian friends LOVE shashlik we had Bogdon, Sergei and a new friend Peter over for an early dinner. We were excited to learn over the meal that Peter has decided to get baptized this Sunday. Clava Bogu! (Praise God!) Afterwards we headed out to the church building for a seminar/Q&A with a guest American preacher who is here for a week teaching at UBI. I was excited to take them to the church building because it is outside of the city center, about a half hour tram ride. Greg found the movement a little disturbing and had a little motion sickness...ha, I guess the LRT is a little smoother of a ride.

Tomorrow, we are taking a trip to a TB hospital to give out some donations and visit with the children. This is the hospital where Vova and I moved the tonnes of sand and so I'm curious to see how it is doing now.

Yield to jumping cars.

Seeing this sign made me think maybe this was a common occurrence but thankfully we never did see any cars jump into the Black Sea. Our time at the Black Sea was fun, sometimes awkward but all in all good. To get there we took an overnight train at 8pm and arrived at 7am. From the train station we jumped on a trolley bus that dropped us off at the passenger ferry port. A ten minute ferry ride put us on the other side of the inlet. From there we hired a mini taxi bus to take us to our hostel that was 25 km away. A quick unpack and change and we were off to the beach.



The Black Sea is clean and warm in my opinion compared to the Pacific. The beach that we spent the majority of out time at was touristy with many activities there. You could play ping pong, air hockey, volley ball, pellet guns or rent paddle boats or go on rides. What we all really enjoyed was the mobile concession people. They walk back and forth on the beach selling corn on the cob, sweet breads or our favorite – potato pockets. These are like pizza pockets but filled with mashed potatoes and dill, yum yum. It was very noticeable though that Laurie and I were foreigners. This is because I was apart of the 1% of men who was not wearing a speedo and Laurie was apart of the 1% of women who was not wearing a bikini. My farmers tan was also an oddity among the multitudes of perfect tans. On one of our first days on the beach a babooshka (grandma) came over to me and started talking quite sternly at me. When she finally walked away our friends were giggling and told me that she had come over to tell me that I needed to put a shirt on so that I wouldn't burn. Bogdon later nicknamed me klubnika, which in Russian means strawberry because my pasty white skin turned pink by the second day.

We spent most of our time at the beach but we also made some trips into the big city of Sevastopol. Here we went on a boat ride around the inlet and saw many big ships and submarines.




We found a historical site called panorama. It is a museum built in memory of a great battle in 1855 where Russia fought off the invading troops from Great Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia. I was impressed. We also did a trip to the Avka(aqua) park with some of the youth. This was a nice park but it only had one flaw...no hot tub and since it was a cooler day Laurie and I decided to leave early to warm up. However our money was not wasted. The Aqua Park had hot showers...oh yes and we took advantage of them since this was our only hot shower while we were gone.




The hostel we stayed at had a summer shower, which means they fill a big water tank on the roof and let the sun warm up the water. This is a good idea and I'm sure saves a lot on energy costs but for some reason the water decided to stay cool, which on hot days is a blessing but on cool days is a challenge.

We had the opportunity to get to know some of the youth better. The ones that spoke a little English were easier for us to visit with but we also did some activities that involved little communication, like playing Twister, Uno and Chess, or singing and eating together. Here, Pasha and I are getting to know each other a little too well.



However the language barrier did become a little bit of an issue. Laurie and I felt a little on the outside since we could not speak freely with everyone. Sometimes we were a bit clueless on what was happening around us but this is not a new experience for us being here in the Ukraine.