Bruno & Laurie

Readjusting

2009-11-02T20:24:00.000-08:00

Things are different. It's interesting. The eight months we spent in the Ukraine went by very quickly but at the same time it has felt like a long time. This past week has been mostly recovering from the jet leg and getting things in order with our car and my school. We have our car again which is a nice luxury. Our friends Brett and Rachael had our car while we were gone. They came by and hungout with us Friday and Saturday. We went out to Canmore with them to do a short hike and to catch up. This was very pleasant. To walk and visit. In Ukraine we walked a lot and had gotten used to this but here we have become lazy with our car. And then visiting freely with our friends was quite a treat as well. Not just visiting but talking about spiritual matters as well. I found this quite refreshing. To visit about everything and anything and being comfortable to do so. Sadly though they have moved to Lloydminster so we will only get to see them once in awhile.

Our first Sunday back to Journey church brought mixed feelings. We enjoyed seeing everyone again and catching up. We enjoyed singing in English and having Canadian pizza afterwards. Oh, I have forgotten how soft and tasty our pizza is. But a part of me was sad as well. My thoughts would linger to our congregation in the Ukraine and our friends there. A part of me wishes I could be with them but I know our time is to be here now.

Today, Laurie and I went to Ambrose to visit with a counselor there. The lady there has had many experiences with missions work and moving around so she was able to help us speak through our experiences. She helped us work through some emotional aspects of our leaving and readjusting. Its interesting. Our emotions are connected with everything we do...even if we don't realize it.

This week we are taking a trip. I have a new nephew, Alexander. So we are going to Camrose to see him and the family.

I am procrastinating. I have two more assignments that need to get done for my school in the next couple of weeks. But I plan to focus much attention on them when we get back. Until then...

Final Goodbyes

2009-10-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Our last week in Donetsk was a pleasure, stressful, sad and exciting. And all of these emotions at once were quite overwhelming. On Wednesday the students at UBI held a program and a lunch for us. It was quite a treat. They sang a song in English for us and we played some games. The first game tested our Russian skills. They gave us a bunch of pictures and we had to tell them what they were in Russian and if we didn't know then we had to act it out. I let Bruno do most of the acting. Then Bogdan had three of the students play the chubby bunny game except instead of saying chubby bunny they had to say, “Bruno and Laurie.” It was funny but ended up a little messy. Another game we played they had Bruno and I blindfolded and holding hands while people tried to sneak through us as we tried to catch them between our arms by squatting down.

These two little girls, Regina and Masha won that game as we didn't even move when they walked through because they were so quiet. It was a fun game, but with all that squatting we were quite sore the next couple of days. Then of course was some nice speeches and a gift and afterwards we enjoyed a hotdog lunch together. Now you might be thinking, “hotdogs aren't that great," but I must let you know that a Ukrainian hotdog is a little different. Its more like a hearty salad in a bun with a fat hotdog. They treated us so kindly.

Friday was a very busy day for us. In the morning we sorted through the Journey Church donations of t-shirts and stuffed turtles because we had planned the day before to give them out to children at the TB hospital. The younger kids loved the turtles and were especially excited about the notes that came with the turtles. They kept coming over to us and asking us what they said. With our limited Russian skills we translated them all to say that 'God loves you' and that the children in Canada who made them hope that you enjoy your new toy. That wasn't entirely an accurate translation of all the notes but it was the best we could do on the spot. And the kids were thrilled and showed us their new chillipakas (turtles) and little notes over and over.

There were also several young teenagers present when we were there also. They each accepted a turtle, but there was a drastic change in their attitudes when we brought out the t-shirts. It was quite amusing actually because there was not enough t-shirts for everyone but the teenage girls loved the shirts so much they were begging to each get one. They pulled them on immediately and were just so excited and giggly afterwards. They seemed a little shy about their excitement at first but I showed them a picture of how I had already been trying on the shirts too as you can see in the picture below.

After we delivered these things we went back to UBI to share one last borscht meal with the staff and students at UBI. It was fun to have one last fellowship with them all and then we started in on all our goodbyes. That evening we went out with some youth from church for a final goodbye too. Then Saturday we walked around town with Bogdon and then along with Bogdon, Lena and Marina came over to our house for a meal. And we sent them home that evening with bags of stuff from our house that we didn't want to transport back to Canada. It'll be interesting to hear if they figured out what to cook with our strange Canadian spices and condiments.

On Sunday Bruno preached which was a little more challenging to do with all that he had on his mind that morning. But he still delivered a very encouraging message from 2 Peter. And then we got to say our goodbyes at church too. Several of the babooshkas (grandmas) there had knitted us some little things to take home. I'm trying to explain to Bruno what a doily is, but he's having trouble understanding why anyone would use such a thing. I tease him but in all honesty there is one item that these grandmas gave us that I can't figure out either. Maybe it's a pin cushion. It was very sweet of them all to go to such effort. It was wonderful and challenging to so many goodbyes. Wonderful to have one last visit with so many and challenging to say goodbye not knowing when or if we will see them each again this side of heaven.

Our final goodbyes at the airport were the most challenging I think. With Bogdon and Nazar especially who have truly become like brothers to us. We truly hope that someday we will get a chance to go visit them again and see what God is doing in their lives.

Our flights home went very smoothly and the view from up high was breathtaking. We very much enjoy Lufthansa and all the food and services they provide. In the Munich Airport we found that they have free cappuccinos for their quests. It comes from machines but you can get sorts of different lattes and mochas and such... I think there was like 12 options to choose from. We were a little shocked at first and trying to figure out if they were free or not. But a man overheard us speaking in English and assured us it was all free. This was a little shocking to us as we are quite used to speaking freely in English to each other without being understood by anyone around. We'll have to be conscious now that our conversations can be understood around us.

So now we are home and experiencing a lovely case of jet leg. I have been up since 2am and Bruno since about 3:30 ... it'll take us a few days to adjust. But it is nice to start seeing all the people we love here again. We hope to catch up with all you in the near future.

Rest, the circus and wrap up.

2009-10-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

Our past week was quite quiet. The staff and students at UBI had their fall break last week and many of them took this time to have a break from Donetsk. We didn't have much to do either so we shopped, walked and hung out with our friend Nazar for pretty much the whole week.

I bought a pair of jeans in the open market and made Laurie laugh. This is because I was changing behind a curtain and apparently I wasn't using the curtain properly. She said my butt was hanging out pretty much the whole time!

On Saturday we treated ourselves to an outing to the circus. Quite affordable actually, only about 15 bucks for the two of us to go. Our expectations were fairly low at first thinking it would be an animal show more than acrobatics but the first act made us realize we were in for a treat. There was high flying flips, swinging from poles, lots of humor and a live band. The good definitely out weighed the bad. Afterwards though our ears craved silence...sooo many kids having sooo much fun.

This week is our last and it is filling up quickly. Today we did some errands and visits. Now everyone wants to see us before we leave. Tomorrow we think the students at UBI are doing something for us. We were asking Lena earlier today if her and Vova wanted to come over for a visit and a meal after classes tomorrow but Lena laughed and said we couldn't have guests tomorrow because we ARE the guests at UBI tomorrow. That was the first we had heard of that ... so I guess we'll see what thats all about tomorrow.

Last Friday we found out that the postal office has two packages for us. We assume they are the boxes from Journey church VBS program. They have shirts and stuffed animals in them. We were hoping they would be delivered today but not so far. We were told that they could come at five or even tomorrow so we are hoping for sooner rather than later. If we can we will deliver these donations before we go but it all depends on when they get delivered and if we can organize where to take them soon.

This will be our last post from the Ukraine as we leave on Sunday and our time is quickly being booked up this week. We will of course post another when we get back to Calgary. I'm sure there will be plenty to share from this week and our trip home. Thank you for following our journey thus far.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone back home is enjoying a good Thanksgiving Day holiday with all the good turkey and pie. Thanksgiving is not celebrated here so it's business as usual for all of us. The students at UBI, though have this week off for fall break. So life around the school is a bit quieter right now as many of the students are home with friends and family for the week.

Our past week was fairly quiet. We went with Jay Don and Mary Lee to a cardiac children's hospital where we were served a little lunch with a couple of the doctors there. Doctor Natalia, whom we had met at the Christian conference in Crimea a few weeks ago gave us a tour of the hospital. It was a little shocking as there were several beds in each room and not a single heart monitor in any of them. There was one room that she was very excited to show us as it had all the new equipment that Christians had donated to them. This was a nicer room and it had a treadmill and another machine that you can do some heart testing/monitoring with. It also had one portable defibrillator machine. It was a little shocking to see how little they had for all these children with heart conditions and yet Doctor Natalia and the others were obviously excited by these great new equipment pieces they had recently received. We also learned that this is also a teaching hospital so they have a few research rooms as well but we didn't see them.

On Wednesday we decided to take Jay Don and Mary Lee out for a nice meal as a 'thank you' for all that they have done for us here. We've really appreciated them letting us tag along with them and showing us around the Ukraine and their ministries here. So we went to a nice restaurant that we hadn't been to in a while and we had a great time visiting with them. But at 2:30 in the morning Bruno got out of bed and began a very restless night for the both of us. Bruno had food poisoning!!! I have never seen him so sick. I felt so bad for him, but there really isn't a whole lot you can do for someone that sick. He spent most of Thursday in bed and sleeping. And I went to the school for a bit to cancel some of our plans. We were supposed to have a friend over Thursday evening and Bruno was supposed to be doing the chapel talk on Friday, but his illness made both of those impossible. But by Friday evening he was almost 100% back to normal. I say 'almost' because his stomach obviously shrank through this ordeal because he has been eating far less than normal and far less than I am for 4 days now. I hope he gets his full appetite back soon ... I'm not too fond of out-eating my husband at every meal. :)

Yesterday Bruno preached at church again and I think he is now also scheduled to preach the morning of the 25^th right before we catch our flight home. That's right ... two more weeks and we'll be coming back to give many of you a big hug. See ya soon!

Why did the chicken cross the road...?

2009-10-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

To meet death. That is, the tire of our taxi! I think our taxi driver was proud of himself he chucked quite a bit. Yesterday was an interesting and tiring day. Our plan was to visit and speak at a small congregation about two hours west of Donetsk and then to join in their fall harvest celebration lunch. Last time we went we had a friend drive us in his van but this time he was unavailable so we rented a taxi instead. The village we were heading to is called New Gregory. Jay Don had been there many times before but wasn't sure how to get there exactly. Our driver had a map and found the town on it so we figured we would head out. We also had another option of following a van that was taking another congregation there as well but we were early and they were late so we decided to go on our own. That was a mistake.

About two hours later we find ourselves on a rough looking road in the middle of nowhere. We were suppose to be there then but in fact we had no idea where we were. Our translator called the Pastor at the New Gregory congregation and through him we learn that there are three villages/towns in our province named New Gregory!!! And of course we had set out towards the wrong one...in fact we drove almost 100 kms in the opposite direction of the town we were trying to get to.

Five and a half hours later we made it to our destination. Everything was finished, the celebration lunch was over and many people had already left. So we just visited with a few there and they were gracious to us and fed us. We had to rush though because another small congregation about an hour away was hoping to see us. We arrived there near the tail end of the service but in time for Jay Don to give a message. We visited and took time to see the Pastor's house. The Pastor and his wife recently bought a big home with the intention of having a congregation meet there.

We then headed out to Slavic's rehab center. Which is basically three homes being used communally for addicts trying to get dry, away from the city. Slavic is a graduate from UBI and had a vision to help addicts recover. When he inherited his grandma's home and bought the next door house he invited addicts to come live with him to recover. He sets them up with a program of work, study and devotionals to keep them busy during the withdrawal. I don't know how long his program is or the details of it but he has had a fairly high success rate from my understanding.

It was interesting to visit the center because it is in its primitive state right now. The buildings are old and they are in the process of remodeling them to better suit their needs. I think we saw it at its worst but I'm sure it will be a lot nicer when the work is done. We would have liked to stay longer but we still had another two hour drive back to Donetsk. In total we spend almost eight hours on the road and had some excitements. We saw many chickens cross the road and one that didn't make it. While we were lost we passed a big truck hauling a John Deer tracker and because we kept pulling over to read the map or trying alternate roads, we passed that same truck and tractor four times. And we saw many...many farm fields. It was quite the scenic tour, but we feel like we have seen quite a lot of the Ukrainian country side now.

The rest of our week wasn't as eventful. On Tuesday we went and delivered some toys we bought for a children's AIDS hospital. Our timing wasn't so great because we arrived during nap time but there was one group of toddlers who hadn't gone to bed yet. So we visited with them and gave them the toys. They were very cute and you could tell some of them were confused while others were happy to have new toys. This hospital currently has eighty two kids from six years old to newborns. Half of them have been confirmed to have AIDS while the others are tested continually because the disease sometimes takes up to 18 months to show up in the tests. If the child is found to be free of AIDS they are given back to the parent or placed in an orphanage. They said they have fourteen kids there who were true orphans with no relatives at all. Laurie and Mary Lee would have stayed there all day with the kids but it was their nap time so we had to leave.

We also continue to open our home to the teenagers and college age people we have met here. We had several of these friends over Wednesday night for dinner and games. And on Saturday we had a small English class and then hung out with some of our students afterwards. I have been making progress on my assignments but I also have been asked to speak in chapel and church this week so I'm being occupied with that and planning our last few weeks here as well.

Pleasantly Surprised

2009-09-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ordzhonikidze is a small town on the East coast of Crimea and the landscape is beautiful. We arrived there Wednesday night around 11pm after an eight hour bus ride. We were all tired and went to bed shortly afterwards. We drove down with Jay Don and Mary Lee, 4 other American missionaries who helped organize and fund the conference, and 3 orphans. We were put up in a local motel that was quaint. It gave us privacy but had a few let downs. Thursday was a free day for us to explore the town and recover from the long drive. Laurie and I spent our time walking and hiking. The area has many hills and peaks to discover from which you can take beautiful pictures.

Then on Friday the conference began. The costs of the conference are covered by Eastern European Missions (EEM). EEM produces a weekly local television program on faith. Often they have people who call in to their response center asking questions. So this conference in Crimea is an annual event in which EEM tries to bring together many of the Christians around the Ukraine along with many of these people who have called in to their response center. The goals of the conference are to be evangelistic in answering questions and encouraging faith in those who are searching for Jesus and also to equip existing believers with resources and encouragement to start home churches so the Word of God can spread even further.

Saturday was the giving of resources and baptisms. For about an hour Sasha would talk about a book, CD or Bible and then they would hand them out. I was quite impressed. There was a lot of good resources that were available for anyone who wanted them. Then watching the baptisms in the Black Sea was very interesting because the locals were very interested in what was going on. As the twenty two people were baptized I could see people coming up and asking others about the event. It was a good warm day and the sea was all calm and perfect. I was happy to be apart of that.

The speakers did an excellent job in reaching both new and seasoned Christians through their messages. Or I should say that God did an excellent job of reaching out to these people. I know it was God speaking through these other men because one of the main speakers got quite sick and was unable to do much of his sessions. So other speakers had to jump in and fill his spots. Jay Don spoke three times on the weekend and was only originally scheduled to do a Q & A session. Nevertheless he did an excellent job of bringing Scriptures to life in a new way even with the short notice.

Here's a funny moment from the weekend. So what's the last thing you would ever expect to see at a Christian conference? A grandma in her bra!?!?! Well, that was one embarrassing surprise. Laurie and I sat down in the auditorium for one of the talks. In front of us was a mother and grandma we knew from a congregation we have visited before in Donetsk. The next thing I see is the grandma taking off her sweater and revealing her bra! I then quickly realized that she was hot and was trying to just take off her sweater but her under shirt was stuck to her sweater. I turn to Laurie, put my hand to the side of my face to shield me from her exposure and say to Laurie, “I can't help her, I...I can't help her.” After a few seconds of this the grandma puts her sweater back down but her daughter turns to her and says, “what are you doing?” She then helped her mom take off her sweater and then they turned around and looked at us. I said, “better, yes” and then we all burst out laughing pretty hard. She was so embarrassed but laughed at herself with us.

Next Sunday we will be traveling once again. Laurie and I with the Rogers will go visit a congregation about two hours away located in a small village. Afterward we will go and see one of the graduates of UBI and his work. He started a drug/alcohol rehab center and is doing great work there helping many men and women recover.

Good Conversations

2009-09-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is Olga and her new washing machine. Back in May the Rogers and us went and visited with her and her coworkers. She is the director of a sanatorium that is about an hour south of Donetsk. Back then she asked if we (Church of Christ) could help buy them a new industrial sized washing machine because their two older ones (over 25 years old) had recently broken and they couldn't get parts for them. They had been washing all the staff and kids clothes along with the 80+ bed sheets by hand. When Jay Don said we would be able to help they were quite excited. So the ladies did their research and found a company in Poland that build good machines for a decent price and bought from them.

When we went and visited last Tuesday, they were soooooo appreciative and happy. They told us over and over again that no one would help them at all except us and they were so thankful that we would visit them. They showed us the machine, went over receipts and such and then served us a lovely meal. Jay Don informed them that much of the money spent on this machine came from donations from the Calgary Church or Christ. Olga told Laurie and I over and over again how appreciative we were and that we had to pass on her thanks. So I want to say 'Spaseeba Bolshoi' to everyone at the Calgary Church of Christ. We are getting a first hand experience of enjoying the company and food of all those you are blessing. And it is good food and good company. During our meal with Olga and some of her staff they kept on telling us of how thankful they are for Christians. They told us they know God is with us because we are helping them and others. Olga then totally opened up and shared her frustrations and confusions of religion. Jay Don did a good job explaining that we just try and follow Jesus and the Bible and not traditions. Unfortunately though traditions sometimes interfere with following Jesus. She had many questions and we spent an hour or so discussing faith and prayer and such. Time well spent in my books. Afterwards, Mary Lee told us that they have been working with that sanatorium and those staff members for 8.5 years and this was the first time they have really opened up to deep faith conversations. Thankfully, God is patient and keeps working on hearts even when we don't see it.

The rest of our week was fairly quiet. I had some free time to work on my assignments. Not done yet though. Laurie and I took on another project for Jay Don that is keeping Laurie happy. A Church from Texas...I think, donated some money to buy toys for an AIDS hospital. And we are in charge of buying the toys. We have visited fives shops and spent all our money so far but Jay Don mentioned that he might have more money for us so we may get to buy more soon. Personally, I don't like spending money (Laurie calls me cheap) but when it is someone else's money... I'm finding it not that hard.

We have also had our friend Nazar over a couple of times this week. He is an 18 year old boy who grew up in orphanages here. We met him through the church we attend. He was baptized there just shortly before we came to the Ukraine. He is still fairly new in his faith and has many questions. And his living situation with other orphans doesn't always provide the best influences for him. But lately he has been starting to ask us more and more questions about Bible passages and concepts. It's exciting to see him growing in his faith. And it's a challenge to us to try to figure out how to answer some of his questions with our limited Russian skills. But thankfully between his Russian Bible and our English Bible we have been able to show him passages that answer some of his questions.

Sunday was an interesting day in that all the Churches of Christ in Donetsk came together for a service at the downtown drama theater. This is quite an extravagant theater so it was a pretty special event. It was packed out and they fund raised over 5000 Hryvnia for an orphanage, so it was all good.

Now we are getting ready to head to Crimea one more time. This time we are going with the Rogers and others to attend a conference of some sort. I don't know the details but I have been told there will be around 500 people there with lots of speakers and such. So I don't really know what to expect but hope it will be a time of learning and worship.

A change in plans

2009-09-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Alexander, a preacher from Mariupol asked me if Laurie and I would be interested in going there on a regular basis to follow up on an English program that was started there this summer by a short term missions team. We couldn't give a quick answer at first since we are involved in other activities in Donetsk. We decided that we could go once or twice before we head back to the homeland and planned to go for the weekend of Sept. 12-13 to teach English. Alexander though was away doing camp ministry for a awhile. When he got back and talked to our friends Yacov and Alona who are our connection to him we discovered he had a different plan for us. He now wanted me to teach a Saturday youth class and to speak in the service on Sunday. Oh...we were told this on Tuesday and we planned to leave for Mariupol on Friday afternoon. Well, it wasn't what I was expecting but hey, its an opportunity to share Jesus with others and so I'm glad to do that.

Mariupol is almost a two hour bus ride south of Donetsk. It has a population of around half a million and has lots of industry there. Its located on the coast of the Azov Sea and we have been told that the water there has changed because many of the factories use this sea for cooling water. The water looked pretty nice to us though.

The Church of Christ in Mariupol is blessed to have their own building. It used to be a kindergarten school so it is quite big with a large playground area. A portion of the second level has been made into an apartment. This is where Alona and Yacov and their daughter Masha live and also where we stayed for the weekend. This was really nice as we didn't have to account for commuting time all weekend. We just had to walk down a flight of stairs.

They are also using about half of the building as a transitional living center (TLC) for orphans. Many orphans that graduate from school are left on their own to adjust to adulthood. But statistics show that many of these teens/young adults struggle to have a healthy lifestyle once they leave orphanages. So this TLC is helping them to learn life skills and have healthy support available for their transition.

On Saturday we were Alexander's guests ... its funny because he is known as the preacher with a beard. He had us over for lunch and visits. Yacov and Alona's daughter Masha was with us and Alexander's grandson also joined us. The toddlers kept things interesting. I find it funny that no matter what culture you go to toddlers all act the same. They think everything is theirs and if you are having fun with something they want what you have.

That evening they had a youth class and I was the guest speaker. I shared my life story with them and then held a group discussion. Afterwards we had tea, snacks and visited. And had fun outside with the boys playing volleyball.

Yesterday was a long day for us. We slept in a wee bit but needed to be ready by ten for service. The service is organized into two parts. Singing and a sermon in the first hour and then more singing, testimonies, communion and a short sermon in the second hour. I spoke first and believed I held the majority of their attention for 30+ minutes which is an achievement for any speaker so I was happy with that.

After the service we visited with some of the members there and the next time I looked at my watch it was 2 o'clock. It was Yacov's grandpa's birthday so they went to have family time with them. Laurie and I stayed behind to have a nap and relax. By the time we had the place cleaned up and everything packed it was 8 and the last bus usually leaves at 9 so we were in quite a hurry. We did end up catching the last bus to Donetsk at 920 and this got us into Donetsk at 11.

On another note we have good news our friends Vova and Lena are doing better. Lena came home last week and I think is doing better. We don't know for sure because we haven't seen them for awhile. We have been busy this past week with being guests, hosting or preparing for the Mariupol weekend. This week I am hoping to do some “homework” but like every other week there seems to be something more urgent to work on or prepare ... so we'll see what this week brings.

Food, food, and more food ...

2009-09-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's Laurie this time. Bruno is off at UBI and I decided to take over the blog this week. I think I have had a more interesting week this week than Bruno ... or at least a more tasty one. For the past three weeks I have been attending ladies class at UBI. This term ladies class was on hospitality. It is a pretty easy class because it is the first one of the year. We learned about Biblical principles on hospitality and some good tips from the female staff at UBI and some guests from churches, but I think one of the main objectives of the class is also just to build a closer community among the women at UBI. And I think the class was a great success! For the last three days of the class we simply cooked, decorated, had fun and fellowshipped together.

We were divided into two teams so on Wednesday the first team cooked and decorated and served the rest of us a delicious little meal of fruit salad and banana bread. Then on Thursday that team sat back and relaxed while my team decorated and cooked for them. I wasn't too much help for my team as they had decided to do a traditional Ukrainian theme for their meal. I had very little idea about what that was so I let them handle it and mostly just ended up being their cheerleader. I am very proud of how well they did.

Thursday, of course, was my wonderful husband's birthday. So we celebrated in true Ukrainian fashion. Meaning that the birthday person has to throw their own party and buy their own cake. Bruno announced in chapel that everyone was invited to join him at the first morning break for cake in the kitchen. Then we ran with Vova to the market to buy some cakes. We got it all cut up and dished onto plates just in time for the break. And then we had a nice time just visiting with everyone for a while. Sasha Maluga, one of the teachers, made a nice speech thanking Bruno for all his help around UBI and presented him with a Shaktar hat and scarf. (That's the Donetsk soccer team for anyone who didn't know.) And a couple of other students gave him little gifts as well.

Then in the evening we had a quiet celebration with a movie and a good Alfredo pasta meal for my Italian husband. We finished it off with an ice cream cake I had made. I was about ready to burst by the end of the day. But it was all so tasty.

On Friday, we finally let the boys in on the fun and food. They had been quite jealous on Wednesday and Thursday when all the girls were eating without them. So on Friday both the teams joined together and cooked a wonderful meal for the whole school. The girls had gotten together and planned a great meal, but were having a tough time coming up with a dessert idea. I jumped in and offered to make apple crisp for dessert.

It was a lot of fun with all of us working together in the kitchen. We were so busy with the food that we almost forgot about decorating the room in some fun way. Marina was quick to solve that problem when she ran outside to gather some leaves. We borrowed a few other decorations from Mary Lee's office and ended up with a very festive fall kitchen. And in the end we had a school full of well fed students who ran off to write an exam and ... a very dirty kitchen for Bruno, Mary Lee and I to clean. Oh well, we had a good visit while cleaned.

On Saturday we had a small English class with only 3 students. But they were students that we are pretty close with and we had fun playing a Pictionary type game with them. Afterwards, Nazar walked home with us and was asking if he could come visit us soon. He asked if Sunday or Monday would be better. Bruno has been feeling a little worse this week so he's been quite tired again. Bruno went to say that Monday would be best but in his tiredness he got his Russian words mixed up. Instead of saying, “Paneedeelnik lootchye” (meaning, 'Monday is better') he said, “Parasonic lootchye” which means 'pork is better.' Nazar and I had a good laugh about that one.

Bruno was on for preaching in the second hour on Sunday. He spoke about prayer and shared the story about praying for a 50 kopeckee on our way to Amstore many months ago. (We wrote about it in our March 15th entry if you want to read it again.) Well, when he shared this story there started to be a little bit of a giggle in the congregation and then more people started giggling at his story. This may not sound like a big deal, but we have been here almost 7 months and I don't think I have ever heard that before. Ukrainian culture is very reserved and it is very abnormal to smile in public (even in church) and especially strange to outright laugh. This is one of the cultural results that carries over from communism. Gradually the younger people are becoming more and more expressive in public, but change takes time. So to hear an audible chuckle throughout the church congregation was such a nice treat. I'm so thankful that God invented laughter. It's one of my favorite things in life.

Oh, I forgot to share a story from Wednesday. I went with a visiting American teacher, Tyetseeya and Katia to the TB hospital for a visit. In one room there was one little child alone in a crib. So I snuck in there and started tickling her tummy. She smiled and giggled at me especially when I told her in Russian that she was beautiful. I played with her for a few minutes and then waved and said 'Paka' (goodbye) as I started to walk to the door. She started crying so of course I went back to play with her some more. A nurse came in then and through our translator explained to me that she was recently dropped off at the hospital by the militia. She is a newly abandoned baby so I am guessing she didn't like it when I said goodbye. The next time I had to leave the room I didn't say goodbye, but I did leave a little piece of my heart with her. Isn't she cute?

On another note, we would like to ask you to join with us in prayer. If you have been following our blog you know that Vova and Lena are good friends of ours. They are expecting a baby that is due about the end of November. On Thursday evening Lena started having pains in her back and stomach and they called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. So far she seems okay and so does the baby, but the doctors say there is a chance the baby may come early. Lena is still in the hospital and we went to visit her yesterday and she is able to walk around and all. She is just very uncomfortable and at times in a lot of pain. With the language barrier it is hard for us to understand exactly what is happening, but please add her and her baby to your prayers. Hospitals here are not well equipped to handle premature babies so the longer she can carry the baby the better.

A Ukrainian Wedding

2009-08-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-04T10:37:00.001-07:00

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.

Off to the Black Sea...

2009-07-23T03:57:00.001-07:00

A quick post for our faithful readers to let you know that we are heading to the Black Sea tonight and will not be blogging or emailing for two weeks...unless, that is we can find an Internet Cafe at the small town we will be staying at. The town has a population of around six thousand so I'm not expecting one to be there. We will be with the youth from the congregation we attend and we are hoping this will be a time of bonding, sharing and resting.

So far this week we have been keeping busy with Russian lessons and harvesting. Our tutor is back from holidays and so we have resumed our lessons. She is starting to feel more like a friend than a tutor as we often visit and share different aspects of our lives. We also had our friend Victor come over and take our plums. Our plum tree was ripe and was making a mess by dropping plums all over the place. I don't fancy plums and Laurie likes them but can't eat a whole tree herself. So when Victor heard that we had all these plums that were going to waste he graciously offered to take them. And he sure got a load full, almost 80 lbs of plums. He said he was going to make some jam and compote with them but I also hope he knows some other plum lovers cuz 80 lbs, I think is not humanly possible to consume by yourself.

Rest & Expeditions

2009-07-20T02:13:00.001-07:00

This past week has been harder on us because of the slowness and the heat. Laurie and I like to keep busy but there has not been many opportunities to serve so instead we have been resting and exploring the city. Donetsk is quite a large city, having the same population as Calgary. Last Monday we found a new park to walk through. It was quite lovely and in exploring that area we found two new discoveries. One was a large WWII monument that we believe was built in memory of all the soldiers who perished from this region. The second discovery was an old hidden park which has obviously been neglected for many years. Laurie was a bit creeped-out because she felt like we had walked on to the set of a horror movie. We were all alone, in a forested area with old sculptures ... hehehe, I thought it was fun.

With a new soccer stadium being built there, the road access to this park has been removed and its not easy to get to it by foot. So it is understandable why it has been abandoned. However it does have interesting and imaginative sculptures as you can see so I wonder if they will reopen the access to the park once the stadium is completed .

Tuesday brought on good news. We have our passports back and they are legitimate with being registered and all. So now, hopefully we will not have any more issues with the authorities. The next day we walked to a new tram line and explored the other side of the city. We are finding however that outside of downtown is all very similar with being not as developed. But in exploring more of the city we do feel like we are understanding more of the 'normal' life here. Downtown is where you see the more beautiful and ritzy life styles whereas outside of downtown is where I believe we see how the average Ukrainian lives.

On Friday Laurie joined me on helping with renovating the building we worked on last week. This again was a fun experience. Laurie and I got to try our hand at cementing for the first time as we helped to patch the walls. It's kind of a fun task as you get to literally throw the cement mixture at the holes in the wall so that it will stick. But after that you have to smooth out the cement and that is a little more tricky. We did that for the majority of the day but also helped with moving some junk out of the building.

After our English class on Saturday I broke down and decided we should by a ventilator (fan). Laurie has been telling me for the past two weeks that we should get one because everyone is telling us that the summer is only going to get hotter and hotter. And it has. The last week has been averaging around 35 or higher and cooling down to about 28, I would guess but when there is no breeze it doesn't feel like it cools down. So now our ventilator is helping our Canadian bodies cope. I can't imagine it getting hotter but they say it will!

Oh, and our white kvass as I found out by doing some research and talking to Ludmilla is actually not a rice drink. I asked Ludmilla if the 'sea rice' is reusable or just a one time thing. She says, “oh no, it actually grows...I don't know how, but it grows and you can use it again and again.” When she said that I thought, “well this is definitely not rice.” So after some Internet research I believe we have a special type of fungus that eats sugar, multiplies and produces carbon dioxide and lactic acid. This is why it is bubbly and white. Our batch tastes the same as we had at Ludmilla's but for some reason just knowing that I'm drinking fungus juice has made it loose its appeal.

On Saturday I asked our students if they like white kvass but I was surprised to hear that they didn't know what it was. Well, I have a two liter bottle of it in my fridge right now that I will be sharing it with them very soon.

Mug shots, fingerprints and a hefty fine.

2009-07-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Yup, we now have criminal records. Here's the story. When we first arrived to Donetsk, Jay Don briefly mentioned to us that we would need to register with the government in 90 days. And of course we forgot and so did everyone at UBI. Well, that is against the law so when we went to the passport office and spoke to the head honcho there she told us about the fines we had to pay and then she made a phone call. Up to this time we had Ludmilla with us and she was helping and translating for us. But when a fellow entered the office he asked us to follow him to the militia building next door while Ludmilla worked on the paperwork at the passport office.

The militia building was an older building that is up to normal standards here. He first took us upstairs where another man took our mug shot. We then followed the man down some stairs that led to a long hallway. I thought to myself, 'this better not be a prison.' Thankfully it wasn't we learned later on that this building was just offices. And so we were seated in a small room that was being shared by two militia officers. We waited some time and then another officer entered with a folder and a mini roller. He then proceeded to put ink on the roller and then take our finger prints, palm print and then full hand print.

After this the fellow brought us back to Ludmilla who then helped us to pay the fine. But this was only the first process on registering our passports. Luckily Ludmilla knows the ins and out of this process so she took this on for us and we will hopefully have everything cleared up by tomorrow. It is good that we did register before we tried to leave the country because the militia would have not allowed us to leave without doing this.

This experience along with many we have had here has taught us to be more OK with ambiguity. We had no idea that we broke the law and were not sure what would happen at the passport office and did not expect to be escorted to the militia to by fingerprinted. If we were on our own I would have been more nervous but with having Ludmilla with us I was confident that she could get us out of any trouble we got ourselves in.

The rest of the week was pretty eventful as well. We had Vova and Lena over dinner on Friday and learned something new about Ukrainians. They like their corn to be very well cooked. We bought some corn on the cob and growing up I learned that you cook fresh corn for a maximum of twenty minutes so that it is cooked but still crisp. Vova told us this was weird.

On Friday I joined Dema and Sergei with renovating an old building. An old culture/theater building was purchased by missionaries and this building was donated to the Church. It was decided then that this building would be transformed into a halfway house for orphans who are on their own. The building is huge so the upstairs is going to be living quarters while down stairs will be a workshops to help the young adults learn life skills and trades. It is a great idea and it was fun to help with this project.

However the building is far from done. As you can see from the pictures the whole building pretty much needs to be renovated from the inside out.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to speak in the service. At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to speak because I was having difficulties finding a translator. Everyone we know is busy this summer with holidays or with work elsewhere. However, once again Ludmilla graciously offered to help me so I was able speak. After the service Ludmilla then offered us lunch at her place. We had our first green borscht and white kvas at her place. Yum yum, I'm finding that I am enjoying a lot of Ukrainian cuisine. The white kvas was very interesting. It is made from 3L water, 9 spoons of sugar, 10 raisins and a cup of 'sea rice.' That is what Ludmilla called it but I have never heard of it before. After you put all these ingredients in a jar you let is sit in the sun for a day while it cooks. You then strain it, cool and serve. It is light like lemonade but has its own unique flavor. I was a bit puzzles as I watched her current pot 'cook' in the sun. It had little bubbles forming inside. Was the rice fermenting? I don't know what chemistry was going in there but it does taste good. She gave us some of her 'sea rice' so we are going to try and make our own white kvas.

Evil Mosquitoes!

2009-07-06T05:36:00.001-07:00

For the past week or so we have been dealing with mean mosquitoes. Its not the number of them that is the problem, its their attitude and persistence. First of all I don't know how they are getting into our place. All of our windows have screens and we don't leave our door open. Laurie thinks they must be coming in when we come and go from the house and we just don't notice them. I call these mosquitoes evil because they attack you while you sleep. Every night, only a couple of minutes after the light is out we hear a faint 'bzzzzzzzz' that inevitably gets louder as they come in for the attack. I must have tasty looking ears because I feel them land on them all the time. However we are fighting back, we bought a plug-in repellent thinger that I'm hoping will help keep them away.

As I look back we had a good week. Monday and Thursday was Russian lessons and practice. Tuesday and Friday we spend time with a friend of ours giving private English lessons. Saturday we had our group English lesson and Sunday was filled with Church services. Laurie also got her hair cut...I forget which day it was but she was a little disappointed. We couldn't completely communicate what she wanted so now Laurie's hair looks a little more Ukrainian, which is not bad but different from what she expected.

On Wednesday we also remembered to celebrate Canada Day. In the morning we painted radiators in the church building, they are all done now. Then in the evening we decided to go out. There is a nice Italian restaurant about eight tram stops from our place. We have only been there once before but remember it well because they have the best salads we have come across so far.

We continue to notice culture differences from what we grew up with. Today for example as we walked to UBI to do some errands an interesting lady passed us. We could hear her from a distance and noticed that she was yelling something. Only one word over and over again, very loudly. At first I thought she must be singing her favorite part of a song but when she walked pass us we recognized what she was saying. She was yelling “MILK” down the street. Ah, then it hit us. She must be the milk lady announcing her arrival to all the apartments close by. Everyone's windows were open so I'm sure they heard her. The picture below is a milk truck where people come with empty containers (like 2L pop bottles) and buy milk.

I imagine this is cheaper than the supermarket but so far I have not been brave enough to do it. I just have so many unanswered questions. Is it fresh milk everyday? How often do they clean out that container? I know that container sits in the heat for long periods of time...do they recycle the older milk or.... For now I think we will stick with supermarket milk, it just feels safer to me.

мы часто посещаем

2009-06-30T01:43:00.000-07:00

'We often visit' is the title of this post because that has definitely been the theme this past week. We have been the guests or hosts everyday last week except for Friday. I have found this to be a tiring experience since we don't use a translator and only use our limited Russian skills and a dictionary. However, our many visits have been fun, interesting and learning experiences. On Sunday for example Laurie, Bogdon and I visited a Babooshka (Russian for grandma) that is a part of our congregation but can not make it to the church building because of her knees. She was so very kind and grateful to visit with us and even offered us a tasty meal with compote. Compote we learned is a traditional juice that is very popular here.

From what we gather it is made similar to apple cider where some fruit is placed in a pot and boiled with sugar and water. Then cooled and served. It is made with every and any fruit. She served us cherry compote that was quite tasty. Laurie was a bit hesitant at first because she did not have a good experience with her first time trying compote. Her first time was in a small restaurant and she got smoked prune compote. She couldn't finish it!

Then that evening Vova and Lena invited us out to the movies with them. We were actually quite interested in this not being to the movie theater here yet. Vova and I decided it would be best for us to watch TRANSFORMERS, the ladies of course were a little hesitant at first but agreed afterwards when we bought them ice cream. The movie was quite easy to follow since there is actually only about twenty minutes of dialog in the two hours of action. Laurie and I were a little surprised at first at how little of the dialog we actually understood but then we realized the film was translated in Ukrainian, not Russian.

Between the fun and visiting we have been working. On Friday I did some painting at the church building. The children's room is almost complete so this time we focused on painting the radiators. We almost got all of them done. This is Nazar painting one of them. Tomorrow we are going to try and finish up the rest of the painting but some might need several coats. Our English class was a little smaller than usual but still well received. During the summer here there are many summer camps and vacations going on so we expect our attendance to fluctuate a lot.

Our place keeps us busy as well. Weeds grow like crazy here so thats an ongoing process. Nazar has been kind enough to help us with some of weeding too. Look at this 'weed' I cut down. The hot weather is also taking its toll on our garden...everything is drying up.

Oh, I have some great news...we found Dr. Pepper. So far at only one store and at about three times the cost of coke but...its worth it for that once in awhile necessary Dr. Pepper fix. Laurie and I both love Dr. Pepper and even better Dr. Pepper slurpee. I am a little surprised that in a country so warm they don't have slurpee machines, well at least so far as I can tell, we have not come across any yet. This could possibly be a big business opportunity.

Where have I seen this guy before?

2009-06-22T07:50:00.001-07:00

Laurie and I had an interesting shopping experience earlier this week. As we were going to our friends place we noticed a big supermarket. After our visit we were in no big hurry so we took some time to explore 'Boom' that's the name of store. This is where we found Mr. Proper. The store was very modern and nice. Laurie called it the Donetsk Superstore. It also had some interesting security features. On the expensive items like cans of caviar and new items like salad dressing they had fairly large magnetic security clips on each item much like you would find on clothing items in Canada. Laurie burst out laughing when she saw this...a little different from what we are use to.

Last Friday we invited some of the students who are staying in Donetsk for the summer over for Borscht. As we were out shopping for the ingredients Laurie suggested that maybe we should invest in a new chair. Earlier this month I broke one in our house and have still been using it but very cautiously since one leg is extremely loose. We found out chairs are quite cheap so on the way home we stopped by a store and bought one that matches our broken one exactly. We were still about twenty minutes away from home however so I had to carry the chair home. I haven't gotten so many looks in a long time. I guess it is not normal to carry a chair on the street.

We had fun with our guests, played lots of uno and then taught them a new game which they loved, Ukrainian Manners. I'm not sure if that is the official name but thats what we call it. The goal is basically to write to a hundred as fast a possible, but there is only one pen and everyone takes turn rolling a dice. If you roll a six you take the pen from whoever has it.

We served strawberries for dessert but I gave Bogdon some sour cream and sugar. Earlier he was telling me how he loves sour cream and especially sour cream and sugar. So I wanted to see and taste this dessert. Here he is showing hows its done. It actually tastes pretty good, like sour yogurt. Dema did the same except he squished some strawberries into his too. That was really tasty.

The room we renovated last Monday is looking a lot nicer. They also have new furniture so it is much cleaner and more modern now. And the new table is large enough for all the children to sit around comfortably. On Thursday Bogdon and I will be painting the floor and radiator in the room. After that it should be all done.

The next few weeks for us are going to be quieter and less busy for us. Many people are gone on holidays and so many of our students and friends will be away. We hope to use this time to work on our Russian, study the Bible and work on my assignments for my History course. I am happy with our Russian progress. Of course we still have a long way to go but Laurie and I now can have simple conversation with each other totally in Russian.

I am learning that knowing the native language is extremely important if you really want to impact peoples lives. For example for the past two weeks we have been going with Bogdon to a lady's home after the Sunday service to visit with her and have communion with her and her son. This lady is a sweet grandma who can no longer go to Sunday services because her knees are too bad, and her son is restricted by a handicap. As we, or I should say, as Bogdon visits with her and her son I can tell they appreciate us and enjoy our company. I think this is a good ministry and hope in the future that our Russian may be good enough to speak more freely.

Oh, this is not good.

2009-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

That's what I said after the laptop slipped out of my hands and fell about a foot. My first thought was “please don't be broken” but that quickly changed to “what is that sticking out of the side of the computer.” Well, the computer still works which is a relief but when the computer fell it landed on its power cord and it snapped. I then turned off the computer to preserve battery life, and figured I'll see if we can find a new one the next day. Our friend Vova was more than willing to help us and he took us to a new market we have never seen before. It was an electronic market. I have never seen so many cell phones in one place in all my life. There was also a bunch of computer stores there as well. The third one we visited had universal AC adapters for laptops so of course I bought it. Thankfully, that problem is solved, now I need to be more careful.

We have been here for 4 months and you would think that we would have a grasp on the culture but we found out this week we still have a lot to learn...

On Wednesday we had plans to go interview a friend of ours from UBI as part of one my assignments and after that we had our Russian lesson. Our friend doesn't live in the city center so we had to take a bus to her place. We have never been there before so she just gave me directions and told me to get off when we saw a big Orthodox Church. That seemed easy enough but if you don't wave at the bus you want it drives right pass you. And so we missed the first bus we could have taken, but did catch the next one. While we were on the bus I realized I didn't really now how to say 'next stop please' so when we saw the church I attempted to say, "By the church, stop pzahlsta." But the driver gave me a very confused and unimpressed look. However other people wanted to get off there as well so it wasn't a problem.

While we were visiting with our friend I got a phone call. Its Vova, and he is attempting to communicate to me in Russian. I understand some of what he is saying and figure he wants Laurie and I to be his guests this evening. So we set a time and say our goodbyes. We finished our visit with our friend but before we left Laurie asked to use the washroom. Unfortunately, that building didn't have running water that day and so Laurie learned how to flush a toilet with a bucket of water.

Our next culture lesson came when we went to our Russian lesson. Our classroom is behind another so as we walk through the one we do so quietly because there is another tutor teaching and we do not want to be disruptive. We walked into our classroom and shut the door behind us to find that our tutor was not impressed with us. Basically she told us that it was rude for us to walk past that lady in the first classroom without saying hello and told us to go back and say hello. This was interesting because we haven't been formally introduced to this lady but since she is a friend of our tutor we should be friendly even if it is disruptive.

The rest of our Russian lesson went well and then we headed off to Vova and Lena's place. It was a hot day and we knew Vova and Lena would probably serve us tea to drink and we were wanting something cold so we bought a big Pepsi that we could all share on the way. As we get to their place I knock on the door but just then my phone rings. Its Vova and he asks where we are! I tell him we are at his house and asks him where he was. He said on the street which can also means outside. So we figured he was just running a little late and went to wait outside for him to return as I didn't really catch the rest of what he said. But as we were sitting outside and talking it occurred to us that maybe Vova had called not to invite us to be their guests but to invite themselves over as our guests. And it turned out that was exactly what had happened. I phoned Vova back to see what he was doing and he tells me he called a taxi to pick them up. And that works. Shortly afterwards they arrived in a taxi and then we all headed back to our place for a good visit.

Today, Laurie took the day off to rest and clean the house. Yesterday, we also had some friends over for dinner and so our place was needing attention. The picture above is of the juicy pork chops we had. Our place has a shashlik thing so I got Vova to show me how to 'bbq' Ukrainian style. As you can see there is a convenient holder for a poking stick.

The picture below shows what Bogdon, Tooly and I were up to today which is renovating one of the rooms at the church building. This was an interesting experience for me. The walls are a bit wavy and had many interesting layers under the wallpaper. We pulled down all the old wallpaper and scraped off all the 'stuff' underneath. Tomorrow, Bogdon and Vova are going back to put up the new wallpaper. I won't be able to help though since we made other plans previously.

Snowing in June

2009-06-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Summer has arrived but the ground looks like it is snowing. All the white here is the fluff from the trees. Some areas are more dense than others but by UBI it is very dense. Last week when it was windy and it looked like it was snowing but really it was sunny and over 20 degrees.

Earlier this week we had a quick trip to Dnipropetrovsk with some friends of ours and Laurie's parents. It was a fun time with exploring a new city and practicing our Russian with them. One of our friends speaks an intermediate level of English and of course Laurie and I know some Russian so the language barrier was not too much of an issue.

It was nice to be a guest. It helped us to see how some of the students live outside of UBI. They were good hosts and treated us very well. We had very good weather there as well. It was very hot in the sun. Here is Laurie and Lena taking it easy in the shade.

In Dnipropetrovsk we spent some time walking around town and shopping. I told Vova I was hoping to buy some new jeans. My one pair was starting to get holes in it so I figured a replacement was due.
We first went to the downtown mall that was huge and expensive. The cheapest jeans we could find there were around $400 Hryvnia , about $60 dollars Canadian. I thought this was ridiculous so I told Vova I wanted cheap jeans. So then he took me across the street to a smaller clothing store and there we found decent jeans for $75 Hryvnia. Yes, thats more like my price range. Now I just need to find those stores here in Donetsk.

As soon as we returned to Donetsk we had to get Laurie's parents ready to leave. They were taking a overnight train to Kiev and then flying out from there the next day. We were sure glad to spend some time with them here in the Ukraine. It was encouraging for us to see them.

This past Saturday we went to a small town just forty minutes outside of Donetsk. I believe its called Garlorkov. There, the Church of Christ held a youth conference. They did a very good job with giving a relevant message that was rooted in Scripture. They also provided a meal, played games and had discussions. I was encouraged to see many youth there and was hoping they were soaking in the good messages. Laurie wasn't feeling well though so we had to leave early. This challenged my navigation skills a bit. Because on the way to there we just followed Bogdon and trusted he knew where he was going. But we left on our own so luckily I paid attention to which buses we took and figured the buses must return to where they come from, so we took the same ones home. Thankfully my theory worked and we got home without incident.

Today, Laurie and I took the morning off to rest. We have both been fighting colds that have been draining us. Nevertheless we did have a Russian lesson this afternoon. It is interesting, the more Russian we learn the more we realize we have sooooo much more to learn. It was funny when we got to the university and Laurie realized she forgot her tissues at home and she needed to use the washroom. This was a problem because the university washrooms don't have toilet paper in them. We had some time before our lesson so we went up the street and found a pharmacy. The lady there asks me what I'm looking for, so I said, “ do you have ... umm, ahhh.” I realized that I don't know the word for tissue, or paper or blow or sneeze or anything that would help me describe tissue paper so I did the only thing I could ... I performed a little charades for her. She laughed at me but it worked. Laure laughed at me as well saying that I probably made her day. How many other pharmacies have foreigners come in and act out sneezing and blowing their nose for them. We have some more free time this summer so we'll focus more time on the language.

After our lesson we stopped for a treat. I got a milkshake and Laurie an iced tea. Our straws came with frills on them ... Laurie thought this was funny so she took a picture of me. I am amazed at how manly I make this milkshake look!

Now we need to work on preparing for our English classes and working on school assignments. We are giving group lessons and private lessons. The private lessons are giving us an opportunity to build stronger relationships so this is good. We're thankful for this opportunity and the opportunity to open our house to others.

A quick blog before we leave...

2009-05-31T03:11:00.000-07:00

We are having a busy couple of weeks. On Tuesday Laurie and I joined Jay Don and Mary Lee on visiting a sanatorium about an hour outside of Donetsk. The people their greeted us very warmly and the kids gave us a little performance. They were very cute. The Church of Christ has been helping this sanatorium for many years so they very much appreciate us visiting them.

The big blue thing is a 28 year old washing machine that just broke. I have never seen anything like it before but that is what they have been using up to now.

Wednesday morning and afternoon Vova and I returned to the Tuberculosis hospital and moved all the sand that was delivered. 10 tonnes of sand! I was pretty tired after that.

Laurie's parents returned to us on Wednesday evening and so we have been catching up with them on their trip to Poland and Prague. The Rogers also had all of us over for a dinner on Thursday night which was a great blessing. Then Friday was preparation for graduation and Laurie and I had a Russian lesson that evening as well.

Saturday was a happy and a sad day. Happy because UBI had nine graduates this year but sad because they won't be around anymore. This is one of the blessings of being apart of a small school. Everyone knows each other. And love and care amongst everyone is apparent. Here are the graduates below.

Then today I had the opportunity to speak in service so that was good for me. The congregation we have been going to on a regular basis has really welcomed us. We enjoy being with them and I think they enjoy us as well. We have developed a few relationships with the teens. It has been easier to get to know them even with a language barrier because they are more willing to be silly and act out what they are trying to communicate with us. Can anyone figure out the verse on the wall in the picture below?

And right now we are packing. Vova invited all of us (Laurie, her parents and myself) to come visit him in Dnipropetrovsk. A city that is known for manufacturing rockets for the former USSR. It used to be a closed city because of so, but now, since Ukraine has gained its independence, it has been opened. So we are looking forward to seeing this city and being a guest of one of the students. It will be a short visit though. Laurie's parents leave Tuesday evening so we will have to come back Tuesday morning to make sure we get them on their next train.

Then next weekend we will be going to another town for a day. I forget which city we are going to but we are going with Bogdon, one of the students at UBI to a large youth conference. I don't know what it will be like but it is interesting that opportunities keep on coming our way. I expect the summer will be like that for us.

Bylaws

2009-05-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Though we have been enjoying gardening in our yard, there is about a 4” by 30” patch of grass/weeds outside of the brick wall that surrounds our yard. This area is growing like crazy, but we have ignored it because it was outside of our yard. However, earlier this week we got a notice telling us we needed to clean up this area in front of our house by the street otherwise we will get a fine. We think it must be some sort of city bylaw we were not made aware of until now. So Laurie and I started weeding and got the majority of them. However when we were done weeding there was still a lot of tall grass left over. I thought to myself, “surely there must be someone on the street who has a lawn mower who cuts everyones grass for a fee.” Laurie wanted to take care of it ourselves by pulling the grass out. I thought that was silly. It would take over an hour just to pull grass and then it would be all patchy because some grass would come out by the roots and others wouldn't.

So we phoned our landlord to see what she normally does. Apparently her father knows someone who will take care of or “grass issue” and so I think about no more. In my routine walk to UBI, I have observed a few forms of grass cutting. One guy used a small electric mower that worked well. Another man I watched using a scythe got the job done as well so I figured I just need get me one of those and our grass would be easily taken care of. But then one of our neighbors shocked me.

Laurie and I headed out to our Russian lesson Friday afternoon and we walked by one of our neighbors pulling out the grass in front of her house. Her grass patch was bigger than ours so I was impressed that she was that ambitious. When we walked by she had just started and only had a small patch done. When we returned home about three hours later she was almost done. Wow...that makes me feel like a lazy bug. She pulled grass in the heat for over three hours while I didn't bother to pull grass for half and hour because of my pride. Next time I will not be so hesitant to pull grass, I'm not above that.

We are also constantly learning new things about this culture. We have been doing a lot of walking here lately and at times we just get tired. So sometimes we have sat down on a retaining wall or the edge of a flower bed and such. But each time we do this we seem to have the same experience. Shortly after we sit a militia (police) man or a security guard comes over and tells us not to sit there. Perhaps this is another bylaw here. But at least we know now that if we ever need help from the police we can just sit down on something that is not a bench and a militia man will come to us rather quickly. :)

Today Laurie had the opportunity to visit with the ladies at UBI. Every year Mary Lee either takes the ladies out or has them in her home for a meal for fellowship and to show appreciation. This year she was pressed for time so she took them out to a nice restaurant where they had a nice meal together.

Vova and I however planned to work. We order ten tonnes of sand and had it delivered to a Tuberculosis children's hospital. This hospital had a playground put in last summer by a short term mission team. The sand is to help the playground be more friendly, plus a sandbox, without sand is just a box...not very fun.

As soon as the sand was dumped, boom...thunder roared and the rain poured. We figured moving wet sand and working in the rain would be very challenging. So we will go back and finish the job on Wednesday. The weather is suppose to be better then.

A wee bit ambiguous

2009-05-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting experience last week. The University of Artificial Intelligence invited us to attend an international conference that is intended to unite students and universities from all around the world in hopes to learn from each other and to set an example for the students. The Dean of the religious and philosophical faculty wanted me to be there. I met her awhile ago when I was a guest speaker for Victor's class. Her English is not so great but I had the impression that she wanted me to speak at this event. I didn't think to much about it and figured it would be an interesting experience so we told her we would go. The problem however is that I did not know what she was expecting from me. I wrote an article for the University earlier so I figured she wanted me to present that but over the phone she told me she adjusted the article a bit to make it fit better with the book it was published with. So the night before I started preparing a speech that somewhat followed what I wrote about. I would have started preparing earlier but we were not sure if we would be able to go until just before we left for Kiev. I was only able to make a rough outline of that speech and of my article before I was overcome with tiredness and figured I would go with what I got.

When we arrived at the University the next morning I was a bit shocked by the magnitude of the event. We were assigned a few students to translate for us and I was even asked to be briefly interviewed by the local TV station. Later I was told I was on TV but we didn't get to see it. The main conference room was quite big. It held a few hundred people and I wasn't sure if I was speaking then or afterwards. From what I understood there was two parts of the conference. One when everyone was gathered together and then another afterwards where more specific groups had their own sessions. It did end up being that way. The main conference had four main speakers presenting different topics, usually based on research they had done. And then our smaller conference was mostly students presenting their term papers. At this point I wished I would have forced myself to stay up and work on my presentation better because I know that I am not good at just 'winging it.' However, I don't think it went as bad as it could have. I gave a little information about myself and talked briefly about the article I wrote.

For the rest of the week Laurie and I showed her parents the city and had them tag along in all our routine activities with shopping and teaching. Today they left for Poland and will be gone for ten days and then they will be returning back here for another few days. It has been really nice to have them around and be able to share our lives with them. Laurie and her mom also spent a lot of time working in our little garden and we are getting excited about our crop. The apricots are starting to grow and we now have five potato plants, lots of carrots, onions and peas coming and so far just one lone bean plant. Our garden project for this week is to move our tomato plants from the house to the garden. We have 32 tomato plants so if anyone needs tomatoes in a couple of months ... come and get them.

Bustling Kiev

2009-05-12T03:56:00.000-07:00

Kiev is a city quite different from Donetsk. The people walk faster and tourism is more prominent. From our experience there I would describe Kiev as big, grand, and busy. The population is about five times that of Donetsk and this became noticeable for us last Sunday when we went to the large Botanical Gardens there. It is a large area but not large enough to handle its popularity. These two pictures give you an idea of how busy it actually was. The heat and the crowd made the park unpleasant so we decided to walk by the river instead, which was more quiet.

This picture shows what became a common occurrence in our time in Kiev. I was always searching our map to figure out where we were and more importantly how to get where we wanted to go. And Bud used these stops as his chance to take many pictures. However this was a bit challenging because my map was in English and the street signs are in Ukrainian. So I used my Russian skills to read the Ukrainian signs and translate them into English so that I could read the map. Needless to say we took a few detours as I was unsuccessful a few times. But we did get to our desired destinations with the help of some friendly pedestrians and the metro. And what a metro. It is remarkably cheap, fast and deep. You ride an escalator into the earth for about two minutes to get to it. I was impressed.

Another noticeable aspect of Kiev is its numerous Orthodox Cathedrals. They seem to be almost at every corner. We visited the oldest ones in Kiev and even went down into caves where many deceased monks are buried. They are buried in glass caskets and so you see them in their wrappings and such. It is a common practice for the faith holders to do a prayer walk through these caves and stop at each casket for a prayer. It was interesting to view this. Fortunately, a man who spoke English saw us looking at the entrance of the main Cathedral and approached us. We thought it was closed because the doors were closed and a sign hung in front of it but the man told us that it was being resurfaced inside and that he would gladly give us a tour. (Pic) The majority of the Cathedral was being resurfaced but we were able to see what has been completed and it was very nice.

The apartment we stayed in was located right in downtown Kiev. This was very fortunate because we were close to the metro which enabled us to get to many places fairly easily and also it conveniently placed us at the beginning of the Victory Day parade. May 9th is one of the biggest holidays in Ukraine. It is called Victory Day because it celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany of WWII in the Ukraine. There are many events planned all around the city, fireworks and a parade to honor all the surviving veterans. It was neat to see many young people show honor to the veterans by giving them flowers. Bud and I though were puzzled at the end of the parade because there was a huge crowd of people left to walk the parade but for some reason they were not allowed to go...at first. Eventually they were allowed to march but it was an interesting event. Interesting because by reading their signs we were able to figure out that they were the Communist Party of Ukraine. So I'm not sure what sort of tensions are currently being held in Ukraine politics but it was interesting to see all this first hand.

Now Laurie and I are back in Donetsk with her parents. They will stay with us for a few more days and then do some more touristy stuff on their own. Laurie and I will continue with our lessons. Learning Russian and teaching English. I am also working an a few assignments and needing to prepare a sermon and so the work continues. Thank you all for the anniversary wishes. Laurie and I are enjoying our time together and we know this experience is strengthening our marriage.

Not so great of an idea, but interesting nevertheless

2009-05-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first year wedding anniversary. I thought to myself, 'I would like to do something different, memorable and nice for that.' However, being in Donetsk made that a bid difficult since I don't speak the language. But I know Laurie likes live theater and so I thought it would be nice to watch a live show here. I asked Ludmilla one of the translators at UBI to call the drama theater here to see if they had any shows playing on the third. They did but I would have to go there to buy the tickets and so I did but afterwards I realized that I had just bought tickets to something I had no idea about. However, the theater is very elegant and so I thought to myself they must play respectable shows. I kept all this a secret from Laurie hoping that the surprise would enhance the whole experience.

So we started our outing with a trip exploring some new territory. Natasha told me about a nice park that is on the other side of downtown so we went and found it. Thus far it is the nicest area of Donetsk we have visited. Big lush trees with many fountains, gardens and such. Afterwards we had a nice dinner at a restaurant downtown and then walked around a bit afterwards before the show began. Downtown Donetsk is quite nice. Lots of shops with a large flowery park/boulevard that I'm sure will be more beautiful in the summer when more of the flowers are in bloom.

When we entered the Drama Theater I was surprised by how busy it was and the variety of people there. Many young, old and middle aged people all dressed respectfully. 'Oh, this must be a popular show if its packed out like it is,' I'm thinking.

The show was fairly easy to follow even though we could only understand a fraction of what they were saying. It started off good. About two amateur musicians trying to get a gig...one playing the sax and the other a cello. They get rejected by some and then they get in trouble. The local mob boss sends in his cronies to get rid of another 'rival' I assume since they are all shot. However, the musicians were in the washroom of the place where all this happened. Of course they heard everything and came out just after all the shooting stopped. The mob boss is going to pay them off when the police come and everyone flees the scene. Now the Mob is after them and they need to hide.

And this is where it gets interesting. The two musicians then dress and act like women to avoid the mob. Then they join an all female band and tour with them. The musicians then struggle to hide their identity when they are attracted to their coworkers and want to 'get to know them better.' The play seemed light hearted and fun I gather for the audience laughed quite a bit but I felt we had to leave at the intermission because of two reason. First, the ladies dresses/panamas were not too modest...and secondly just before the intermission the two musicians striped down to their tightie whities after getting soaked and chased one another around the stage. Now was that really necessary?!?

We then enjoyed a nice walk home and talked about the interesting aspects of the show. I also promised Laurie that I will not buy tickets anymore unless I know what we are getting ourselves into but it did end up being an unforgettable anniversary.

Doing errands around town is still a little awkward for us. This is because our understanding of Russian is not the best. It is getting better, but I'm finding gestures to be very helpful. For example, I wouldn't have been able to pay our phone/Internet bill if it were not for hand gestures. I used our map and the address on the bill to find out that the phone company was right in downtown. So I verified with one of UBI's translator that I could pay the bill there and off I went. The company logo was nice and big so the building was hard to miss but that was the easy part. I enter the first door I see that reveals a security guard. I showed her my phone bill and then she said something quietly to me. I must have given her a confused look because she repeated more loudly but this time gestured with her hand to go out and turn around the corner and said dva (two). 'Oh, around the corner and then the next entrance with the two doors,' I thought. As I go outside I check my dictionary to make sure I know how to say “I want to pay my bill” I got it and go into the next set of doors. Here, there are four counters with four receptionists. This must be the place I'm guessing. I say my phrase and show a receptionist my bill. She looks at it and then says something...I have no idea. I think she thinks I'm hard of hearing because she repeats what she says but louder and points to the left...Hmm is it the next counter? I wait for the lady in the next counter and I get the same results but this time her hand gestures indicate that I need to go out and turn left again. Oh, thats what the security guard meant, down two sets of doors. I walk out a bit embarrassed but our bill did get paid that day. It's a little bit frustrating because Russian is a language that blends their words together so that a sentence may sound like one word. So Laurie and I need more practice with listening to distinguish words. This week will give us more opportunities to listen as we prepare for a new adventure.

This Wednesday we are off on a bit of a holiday. Laurie's parents are flying into Kiev on Thursday so we are meeting up with them there. Kiev is the capital of Ukraine and we are told it is very beautiful so we are going to spend a few days there exploring and checking out some tourist areas. It should be very interesting. It will be the first time her parents have left North America and the first time we will have ridden an overnight train. We are excited for this experience.

Slower week but better weather

2009-04-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a bit slower for Laurie and I. UBI has given the students the week off for a break and so many of them have left Donetsk to see their families. This has given us the opportunity to do some exploring. Laurie for a long time now has wanted to ride the tram and explore the city some more. So we did that last week and found the train station and a new market. The tram is very cheap to ride and it made Laurie really happy to explore so this ended up being a good usage of our free time I think. This is the typical tram here but there are some newer ones...and definitely older ones. The tram stops are a little different here than in Calgary. Actually they are just like a bus stop in Calgary. There is usually a covering and benches to sit on as you wait. And when the tram approaches it will stop and you just walk on. Its simple...I like it. The picture below looks like the tram doesn't have any doors but it does, they are on the other side.

I also had an opportunity to write a short article for the University of Artificial Intelligence. The Dean of the school enjoyed the talk I gave earlier about Canada and wanted me to share my thoughts about Donetsk. This is all part of an international student day where other students from all around the world come to learn from each other. There is going to be some sort of conference organized and all the articles are going to be collected and published. I thought this was a unique opportunity so in my article I talked about Donetsk from a foreigners perspective but I also talked about faith in Jesus Christ. I hope it is well received.

The weather here is getting very warm. Trees and bushes are starting to bloom. You can see here our street is looking nicer with the trees filling out. I hear Calgary is not experiencing quite the same. Ah yes I do remember the land of two seasons. Donetsk though, as far as I can tell has all four seasons. Today is around twenty degrees. This is good for us...we walk lots here, at least an hour every day but often more than that.

Laurie had a fun experience at church this week too. She was asked to help out with the English lesson in the children's class. English is seen as a huge benefit here and so a lady from the church we attend has started teaching a short 10 minute English lesson to the children every Sunday. Each child introduced themselves to Laurie properly in English and then practiced the colors with her. And then Laurie taught them to sing 'Head and Shoulders'. I think the kids had fun, but I know that Laurie had a lot of fun with that.

Christos voskres! Voistinu voskres!

2009-04-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Ukraine celebrated Easter. “Christos voskres!” & “Voistinu voskres!” Is the normal greeting given that day, it means, Christ is risen! And the reply is, Truly risen! It is an interesting time here on Easter. Laurie and I were invited to go to a small congregation that is about a two hour drive from Donetsk. We got in a van at UBI along with our mentors, another American couple, a translator and the driver. Half way to the village we stopped and picked up another woman and a few minutes later stopped to pick up 4 more men. It was a little cramped but the roads we took must have been very new because the number of potholes was very low compared to the norm. All morning starting with our walk to UBI and then even as we drove in the van we kept passing people carrying baskets filled with bread. We were told that it is a tradition within the Orthodox Church that people would bring loaves of bread to the Priest to be blessed on Easter. It became obvious to us that many people enjoy this tradition since many were practicing it.

Once we arrived at the village we were warmly greeted but then the service started soon afterwards because we were late in arriving and everyone was waiting for us. Once the service started the pastor of the congregation gave a little talk and shared how Jay Don was going to preach, and then Darryl would share a message and then after him Bruno, our guest from Canada would share. Oh, I thought, this is new news for me, but ok. So I got a little nervous because I did not plan to share a message and Jay Don and Darryl are very seasoned preachers. However a memory verse kept surfacing in my mind so I decided to share about what we are doing in Donetsk and to talk about that Bible verse. It ended up being good practice for spontaneous sharing.

Last Thursday also gave me an opportunity to practice some spontaneous sharing. Laurie and I were invited to go to an Orphanage. It was also about a two hour drive away. We went with some of the students and one of the teachers from UBI. Half way there Dema asked me, “So Bruno, will you share a story with the children...you know, one with a purpose?” “Uhhh, ya sure I can do that...let me think about it” So Laurie and I spent the remainder of the trip brain storming a good story to share. Again, good practice but definably not my preferred method to share about Jesus. (I, Laurie, have to make a comment here about how proud I have been of my moosh [husband] this week. He did such an amazing job in both of these spontaneous speeches. He even did a really good job at adding details to his story for the children to make it interesting and entertaining as well as having a good message about God's plan for making them each individual and special for a purpose. I'm so proud of him.)

The time at the Orphanage was fun. We sang some songs, played some games, and gave them gifts. But the funniest event there was when a girl brought out her pet rat. Oh my, you should have seen Laurie jump in shock when she saw the rat. Dema thought the rat was so very cute and he enjoyed holding her. He tried to get Laurie to cuddle her as well, but Laurie kicked him away, hehehe. (I, Laurie, did not care one bit about being polite at that point. He was not coming one step closer to me with that thing. I was fully prepared to kick him harder if he kept trying. It's tail was as long as it's body ... yucky!)

Oh and we have found a game that is very well received by Ukrainians. Last Saturday was our friend, Lena's birthday. So we had some students and friends over for a celebration. We ate borscht and cake and played some games. We played spoons and they loved it. They laughed for quite a while over it. Here is Lena cutting the cake and Vova being...Vova.

We were very thankful to have the opportunity to share our home with them as it isn't often that they can come together in one home and just have fun like that. But with entertaining and traveling and speaking we are feeling a little worn out and looking forward to a quieter upcoming week.

Ya ne zeniu

2009-04-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Either I look smart or like a local because I have been asked numerous times on the street for directions and a few times for a smoke. However I have a simple reply for them. I say, “ ya ne zen-i-u” which means 'I don't know'. And if they keep on persisting then I try, “ ya ne zen-i-u Rooskee yazik” which means 'I don't know the Russian language'. This is half true because I do know some Russian but very little and definitely not enough to carry a conversation solely in Russian.

However, as we learned last week you don't need to be fluent to communicate. Our friends Vova and Lena who speak very little English invited us to learn how to make Borsch with them. Which was a lot of fun. We took a trip to the open market and bought some cabbage, beats, carrots, potatoes and all the other necessary ingredients. And as we were leaving the market we ran into Tieetsia, a lady we know who is involved with helping orphanages and such. She knows very little English and we know a little Russian but we attempted to visit. As the conversation continued she told us she wants us to be her ghosts!...ghosts?... Luckily, we just learned that word a couple days ago. How convenient! It means 'guests'. So, through a jumble of Russian and English words, we made plans to visit her the next day after our Russian lessons. We felt pretty good for communicating so well with her through the language barrier.

Back at Vova and Lena's place we prepared the veggies and cooked the meat...it actually takes quite a bit of prep work to make a good pot of borsch. Here is Vova cooking the carrot and onion mix. Mmmm it was good.

If your wondering if that big green pot behind Vova is our borsch pot...it's not. Vova told us that the pot is filled with water and then heated up to be used for showering in the shared washroom next door. The second floor of UBI where we were cooking is shared among the students and other people who live there that are not associated with UBI. I'm guessing they don't have hot water piped up there.

Oh, if you are in the Ukraine and you are looking for a good soup mix. This is a good seasoning. I took a picture of it so that we would remember what to buy they next time we make borsch.

The next day we went over to Tieetsia's place. We did not now where she lived so she met us at UBI and then we walked over to her place. It is a quaint little place that is very small compared to Canadian standards. It has one tiny kitchen, a bathroom and one other room that is her bedroom and living room combined. From the moment we got to her flat she was teaching new Russian words and quizzing us to see if we remembered them and insisting that when we got home we needed to label everything in our house with Russian words so that we would learn them. We visited by sharing pictures with her of many of you in Canada (and the USA). She also showed us her pictures, several of which were from before WWII or shortly after. They were quite interesting but the time we looked at our pictures she would write out the Russian word for 'friend' or 'nephew' or 'niece' and stick them into our album and then she would quiz us on those words again. We are pretty sure that we had a little mix up in our 'successful' conversation in the market the other day. We think that our request to meet her after our Russian lesson might have made her think we wanted her to give us a Russian lesson. I guess we'll keep working on our Russian-charades communication skills. It was a nice visit anyways with several little giggles mixed in.

Rainbow

2009-04-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

This past week has been slower for us. Our Russian tutor has been sick and so we only had one lesson with her. It was nice to have a break because it gave us the chance to go back and review everything we have covered so far.

We had the opportunity to visit the Rainbow Orphanage last Tuesday. It is outside of the official city limits of Donetsk but is still considered a suburb of Donetsk.

It was interesting to see this area because it is quite different from Donetsk. Donetsk has a beautiful side with some modern buildings and nice restaurants, but this suburb was definitely poorer. The roads and buildings were the greatest indicators of this. We took two buses to get there. One that stayed on the main roads and then the other that took the side roads deeper into the suburb. The side roads were riddled with pot holes and it is actually quite humorous to watch all the traffic, our bus included, swerving everywhere to avoid the holes.

The Rainbow Orphanage we visited has children from six years old until graduation which is seventeen. The kids we visited with are in grades five and six. There was only a handful though when we went because the next day was the beginning of a two week holiday for them and many of them go to camps for that time. Their English was quite limited so Dema, who took us there, translated us as he shared a message and a song with them. Afterwards we practiced our Russian with them a little bit but we did not have the opportunity to spend too much time with them that day. We are wanting to join Dema in his visits to that orphanage on a weekly basis. He tells us many of them have a hard time adjusting to adult life when they graduate and so he wants to encourage them and show them love as they grow and prepare to graduate.

Right now Dema, along with some others are working on organizing a halfway house in Donetsk where newly graduated orphans can slowly adapt into adult life. This halfway house will be a place where they can learn life skills like money management, some trades and get continual encouragement to better themselves. There are many temptations at this phase in life and Dema has noticed that many orphans struggle to successfully adapt to adult life when they are left on their own. We are excited for that ministry to begin and ask that you will pray with us for the commissioning and success of this project.

Today in Chapel, Robert an American Pastor from Texas shared a message with everyone at UBI. Here is a picture of him speaking with Katya translating.

Right now Robert is here in Donetsk teaching a three week class. This is his eighth time coming to UBI to teach. The school here has two full time Ukrainian teachers while the rest of the classes are taught by visiting American teachers or by Jay Don, the director of the school.

I mention this because Robert said a statement in his message that made me think about faith and trust. He challenged the audience by asking if they have allowed their fears to be sustained by God. Meaning are we willing to trust God with our fears. Trusting that the God of the universe may ask us to deal with our fears but knowing we are in His hands when He does so. A good message I think.

Artificial Intelligence

2009-03-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

Last week was fairly interesting. On Monday I was scheduled to teach at the State University of Artificial Intelligence, that is computer sciences. Victor, a professor from the University asked Laurie and I to teach his students about Canada. Laurie surprisingly, allowed me to do the majority of the talking. I thought it was a good experience. I taught two classes. The first had about twenty students while the second was closer to fifty. I shared some interesting facts about Canada but I mostly taught about my personal experiences and about my family.

They seemed very interested and many approached me afterwards to share their gratitude. The dean of the school appreciated our visit as well. After the classes she invited us to her office for tea and treats. We had a good visit and then they ask me when I will be available to teach again. I asked what they would like me to teach next time and they said I could teach whatever I like. Huh, I wasn't expecting that. I told them I would have to get back to them later because I am quite busy at the moment.

Right now I am trying to read a textbook, learn Russian, prepare an English class, and get involved with ministry opportunities. So far the ministry opportunities have not been too extensive. The latest one was sharing a message in Chapel last Friday. That was done through a translator, which is actually tricky since you have to pause after every sentence you say. This is good if you need to keep your place in your notes but it hinders your flow.
Tomorrow we are planning to join Dema on a trip to an orphanage he is involved with. I am not totally sure what he does with the kids but I do know he does special outings with them. I'll find out tomorrow.

I had the opportunity to go to the museum...twice last week. Once spontaneously and the other planned. The spontaneous outing was with the youth group we teach English to. They planned to go afterwards but I was unaware of this. The second time was planned with an American I met through our tutor. The museum though was worthy of two visits. It was almost completely in Russian but the themes and events were easy to figure out by the displays. Laurie and I found the World War II section to be the most interesting. I have a couple pictures on my cell phone but I haven't figured out yet how to get them on my computer.

Laurie shopped successfully on her own this week and we had company over for dinner on Saturday and today. On Saturday we had some of the UBI students over and served them stew and apple crisp. I think it was a different stew than they have had before and it was definitely the first time they had apple crisp. I really enjoyed it and some of them did as well. Tonight we had two of the guest teachers from the USA over for dinner. It was nice to have easy English conversations for a change.

This past Sunday was encouraging for Laurie and I. We went to a Church service where the preacher spoke slowly and we were able to understand about 20% of what he was saying, which was encouraging because we could figure out the gist of his message. Our Russian lessons seem to be paying off.

I don't really have any good pictures to show you this week. Except one...can you guess where I found this!!!

Benefits of being a groupie.

2009-03-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have never thought of myself as a groupie before but that is pretty much what we were last Tuesday and it was bunches of fun. A choir from a Christian college in the USA came to Ukraine to perform at various functions. On Tuesday the choir planned some touristy events and our mentors asked to tag along and also asked us if we would like to join in. Of course we did. There was two stops on the agenda. First an ancient Orthodox Monastery called Святейшая гора (Holy Mountain in Russian) and next a salt mine that has been converted into a public attraction.

These two places are not too far from Donetsk. An early morning with a three hour drive gave us most of the day to explore both places. We first stopped at Святейшая гора. It is a beautiful area with lots of history. It was founded some time in the 9th Century by Orthodox monks who were trying get away from persecution. It is a very interesting place. The original monestary is literally carved into a mountain. The mountain is a huge chalk deposit so the monks just carved caves through the chalk. They eventually carved a temple in the mountain as well. The monestary now is an active place where people come to worship God. There is a huge church building there and it is well used. When we were there, there was no sitting room left and many people were standing. The placed was packed, and this was a Tuesday afternoon.

After a quick tour and lunch we headed to the salt mine. From the outside it looks like a typical mine but the inside is very interesting. As soon as you step off the elevator you walk into a tunnel that is completely surrounded by salt. The roof, ground and walls are all salt. We were given a tour which involves some lovely salt displays. Laurie got quite a giggle because our tour guide was a middle aged woman wearing a fancy fur coat and 3 inch stiletto boots. Fashion 600 feet below ground. The tour was really neat though. This palm tree is made completely from salt. At the end we were allowed to enjoy some free time in the 'Big Room' I was blown away. This room is around eight stories high and two football fields long. That is a lot of salt extracted. Our tour guide told us that the salt deposit there was 78 kilometers long. This is great for the people living in the area. Since almost everyone in the surrounding towns work at the mines.

The rest of the week was busy as well. I am working through a Ukrainian history textbook, continuing on our Russian Lessons, teaching English and working on other projects as well. So we are not bored. Laurie has been fighting a cold for the past four days and is now starting to feel better. My health has been good thus far. I thank God for that since sickness seems to be a common occurrence here. I am not sure if it just the changing of season but many people are fighting colds right now.

Funny story: Laure and I had our first 'creepy creature' encounter last night. We were in the bathroom getting ready for bed when all of a sudden Laurie says, “eww gross whats that?” I don't have my glasses on and can't see anything and say, “what, what is it.” Then Laurie starts to get excited, “ahhh it's moving...quick Babe kill it.” I leave to get my glasses and then Laurie cries, “Bruno you just let it out, now it's free in the kitchen!” I put my glasses on but don't see anything. “What did it look like” I ask. Laurie tells me it was a big rat looking thing. I'm thinking “oh my, this thing must be big...I better get the vacuum and get it that way.” So I get the vacuum and we begin our search. And then we find it...it's a yellow, 1.5 inch long insect that looks like a scorpion and centipede hybrid. I quickly vacuum it up and tell Laurie, “Wow honey, that sure was a BIG rat!” She didn't appreciate my teasing for the rest of the night.

Humbled...

2009-03-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Thats how I felt yesterday morning after I was rejected twice by a taxi company. Before that I was feeling really good about myself because last week I had successfully called the taxi company and gotten them to pick us up at our new place. Yesterday morning however the receptionist didn't have any patience for my sloppy Russian and just hung up on me...twice. I had to call one of the school translators to help us out.

Later that day we had the opportunity to go to a nice drama theater for a special worship service. It was a unique service because they had a choir made up from different congregations around Donetsk. This choir sang worship songs in Russian and then an American choir from Texas sang English songs. The Texas choir is in the Ukraine for a week performing at various Churches around the country. I brought my camera along since the drama theater is quite elegant. However, when I turned the camera on it told me 'no card' meaning no memory card. Doh...I forgot the card in my computer...there is another performance tonight so I will try and get pictures then.

This past week has been by far our busiest. Laurie had her hands full with entertaining Regena and Masha. Here is them enjoying lunch together.

They are two of the children of UBI staff members. Laurie was running the staff daycare as the regular caregiver had to return to Russia to be with her father who is very ill.

And here is me teaching with Alona. Alona was my translator and did a great job.

I have a new respect for teachers now...it takes a lot of work to adequately prepare. And answering questions is tricky as well, you never know what someone will ask. I found it to be a stressful experience but rewarding. Stressful mostly because we covered material a lot quicker than I anticipated. So I had to prepare quickly to fill the last class.

This week will be quite different from last week. So far the responsibilities we have taken on are to teach English on Saturday and have Russian lessons throughout the week. Here is the group we taught last Saturday...initially anyways, we had three other stragglers come in about an hour later.

I hope to have some time this week to catch up on 'homework.' I need to read a Ukrainian history text book and visit a museum and then do a write up on each. The potential to get busier thought is very present. I met a University teacher last week who asked me if I could teach his class all about Canada. Apparently they are very interested in Canada since Canada takes in lots of Ukrainian immigrants every year. So if you know any interesting facts about Canada please pass them my way.

Question: Does God care about little prayers, specifically ones that might be silly to another but important to you. I think so, let me share with you what happen today. Laurie and I have been planning for the past three days to go shopping at the Amctop for groceries. It takes planing cause you need 30 minutes to walk there and then at least an hour to find everything you need. We had no food in our place so we planned to get a lot of stuff. However we had a problem...to get a cart you need a fifty kopeky coin. We didn't have one. So this morning I asked God to allow us to find one so that we could use a cart to shop with.

On the walk there I was looking intensely at the edges of the sidewalks but to no avail. Then when we get to the Amctop I figure we'll just have to deal with carrying as much as we can but then Laurie says “we might as well go to where the carts are and see” I'm giving up already but as a good husband I listen and we go and check out the carts. And behold, hiding near the edge of the carts is a fifty kopeky...I was soooo happy. It's silly I know, but it's a big deal when you can only make that trip once a week and thats the only place you can find almost everything you need. Slava Bogoo! (Praise God!)

We Are Available ...

2009-03-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

That is what we told everyone at UBI. We are available to help with whatever, and they have taken us up on that. This week I have been asked to teach a Christian Apologetics class and Laurie has been asked to take over the school daycare for the time being. The usual daycare worker needed to take a sudden leave of absence and so now Laurie gets to practice her Russian with a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. She is quite thrilled to learn that she reads Russian at the same level as the 4 year old girl. They'll be study buddies, I guess. Also, we have been asked to teach a youth English class on Saturdays and currently we are studying Russian with a tutor three days a week so we are quite busy.

We have also learned recently that we need to plan and give ourselves plenty of time to shop and cook for ourselves. No longer can we rush home and have a quick dinner. This became apparent to us on Thursday when we had a Russian lesson from 4-6and we were starved afterwards. However, it took us 45 minutes to get home with the tram and walking so we realized then that we need to plan our time better.

We are now living in our new place. We can control the temperature inside...oooh that is such a luxury here. I believe almost all the apartments here share a hot water system but we have our own! Here are some pictures of our place. As you can see it is fairly nice. We looked at four different places here before we picked this one. For the price and location it was a no brainier. The other places available were closer to the school but their conditions were considerably less.

Here is a picture of our neighbor across the street.

Oh and here is the power plant that is basically in our back yard. That smoke stack is maybe five hundred feet from our front door. Our place though is still considered to be located downtown Donetsk. We have a twenty five minute walk to UBI from where we are at so downtown is a fairly large area.

This is a very interesting place to be. On one side of the street you see a beautiful modern commercial building and then on the other side there is a fifty year old building that has obviously been neglected. Laurie and I saw an extreme of this when we walked to the Amctop last Thursday. The Amstop is a large supermarket, the closest thing they have to a Walmart here. On the way there we came across huge, beautiful homes and right beside them were houses falling apart. We have been told that there are some here who are doing very well financially but the majority of the people are not. An American student we have visited with who studies economics tells us that the unemployment rate here is 25%...That is huge. He told us that the unemployment rate during the US Great Depression was only at 20%. There are definitely a lot of people in need here. We are looking forward to helping out where we can.

This last picture is of our neighborhood hoodlums. There are quite a few stray dogs here. These two are our roosters they bark quite a bit but our place is fairly sound proof. Every morning on our commute to school Laurie and I walk by a posse of homeless dogs. They look cute all cuddled together. There are about five of them but they are completely harmless

From chaos to praise

2009-03-01T08:03:00.001-08:00

This past Friday, Laurie and I experienced an odd event. The event included driving with a friend of a friend who's driving habits I can only describe as...chaotic. I literally had motion sickness from the drive, but afterwards we experienced such a lovely worship service at our friend's house. What was interesting was our song leader, who was very passionate and good at leading the group, was also our driver. I am convinced that automobiles and roads/traffic change people. For, our ride home was just as adventurous as our trip there. This drive was the first time we experienced someone using the tram line as a passing lane and what was a wee bit nerve racking was being stuck on the tram line for awhile since we could not merge back into traffic. However, we did make great time. We had one of the students from UBI come with us to translate for us. We asked him if Ukrainians needed to take a test to be able to drive, he said yes, and that what we were experiencing was not the norm for Ukrainian drivers for they do get tickets for unsafe driving. I don't think that our friend of a friend has had one yet...

The house service we went to was very warm. It was centered on worship, prayer and the Word. Many congregations here in Ukraine do not have buildings so many gather in homes or rent rooms from universities and such. This afternoon we went to a service that took place in a classroom at Donetsk National University. It was a fairly signature C of C service. I had to use the washroom afterwards. If you have not seen a squatter toilet before here is one from the University.

Last Saturday we taught our first English lessons. We were told we would be leading an English Bible study so that some English conversation could be practiced. However the English level was fairly low among the group so we had to start from the beginning. Actually, we used one of our Russian learning books to teach from since we don't have much else to work with. Next week I think we will be more creative, maybe use uno cards to practice colours and numbers.

We have a new home now. It is a nicely renovated, quaint little house just a 25 minute walk from the school. We are currently waiting for our Internet to be installed there and then we will move in. We don't have any pictures of it yet, but they'll come soon as we will move in this week.

Here are some pictures of our friends. The guys here like to play table tennis in the student lounge. Here is Sergei returning a monster serve. You can see the fear in his expression.

Bogdon is arm wrestling me. I must admit he is a stronger man than I.

Lena and Vladimir took us home from church on a bus this morning. It was our first time on public transportation. Here is Laurie and them.

The students here are fun and want to get to know us. They are full of joy and even though we cannot communicate with most of them we can sense their warm hearts.

This last picture is a man made mountain. It is a mountain of coal mine waste. When the ore below is excavated they extract all the coal and whatever remains is placed in these huge mounds of dirt. There are several coal mines here in Donetsk and they cause some serious pollution. Everywhere you look around town there are tall smoke stacks. Some very big, some only thirty feet tall.

The pipe in the picture is actually a gas line. The most recently developed areas in Donetsk have their gas lines buried but everywhere else they are above ground. It is kinda weird. You look down a street and you can see the gas line running parallel with the street, going vertical at places to make sure a tall vehicle could clear it. It's functional, but not the most beautiful.

All in all Laurie and I starting to feel more comfortable with the culture here in Donetsk. We start Russian lessons tomorrow and are going to work hard on that. We feel that this is our biggest barrier right now. We so wish we could speak freely with everyone we meet. We want to get to know people better but for now charades is the best we can do.

The snow followed us

2009-02-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

After one day of lovely rain on our arrival it has been nothing but snow ever since. We enjoy the snow however we were hoping that it would have been left behind in Calgary for the rest of the year. So far we have been in Donetsk for a week and it has flown by...probably cause we slept through a lot of it. We are normally early birds when it comes to going to bed but jet leg has caused Bruno to hit the sack by 7pm for two nights in a row.

Our appetites were quite small while we were struggling with jet leg but they seem to be picking up now. That's probably in part due to the amount of exercise we are getting. We walk almost everywhere here unless it is really too far or the weather is bad and then we take a taxi. We still haven't tried the trams yet, but we are hoping to experience that soon.

We have been attending chapel with the rest of the students at the Ukrainian Bible Institute. It is an amazing time. You can tell the students are really close and care for one another deeply. They are also very humble and honest with each other. Usually chapel begins with a prayer and a song. Then there is a message given by a student, teacher or guest and then a prayer closes the time together. But many mornings a student will stand up to make a birthday announcement and present a gift to the birthday person. Sometimes a student will go up to the front and tell the group that they are struggling with something God is teaching them and ask for patience from their fellow students as they work through these issues. It's really neat to see a group of young Christians opening themselves up in such and honest and vulnerable way.

On Sunday we went with the Jay Don and Mary Lee Rogers to the church that Sasha and Natasha Maluga attend. Sasha is the preacher in this congregation. They own their own building and even have an area for a teen class and another room for the children's class. It is rare for a church here to own their own building so they are all very excited to show it off. From church Jay Don and Mary Lee took us to AMSTOP (Amstor – a 'P' is an R sound in Russian). I had such a tough time concealing my excitement. It was almost like a Superstore. They even had meat that was wrapped in individual packages like a Canadian grocery store. We even found pasta sauce there ... well, it's more like tomato paste, but I can work with that. Our only purchasing error this time was that we bought loose leaf tea instead of bagged tea which is a little more challenging to make without a strainer.

On Monday we went on an adventure to find the University and try to find a tutor. Bruno did really well at figuring out where to go and we found one man with broken English who showed us where the International building was. After talking (often in the form of charades) to several people we learned that we had come to the school on a holiday so the people we needed to speak with were not in. They told us to come back at 9 on Tuesday.

In the afternoon we went with Jay Don, Mary Lee, Taritsia, and Alona to the cardiac treatment center. Taritsia is a woman who is very connected with orphanages and hospitals and such here. She finds out what they need and takes people there to help out or just to visit. Alona is a part time translator for UBI and her husband takes classes at UBI. From what we understand, the cardiac treatment center is a place where children live before and after they have heart surgery. The director of the center took us on a tour of the building and we got to see many of the children. They also fed us a wonderful meal that we were not expecting at all. It was chicken noodle soup and bilinis. A bilini is like a crape that is served with sour cream. Delicious. One room that they showed us at this institute was the room where the children practice music and sometimes give performances. It was under construction. A man was donating money to fix up the cracking walls and ceiling, but when they started the project the man all of sudden stopped donating money. So they have several of the supplies they need, but no money to pay workers to finish the project. This may be one of the ministries that we join in if one of the students from UBI will go with us and show us how to do some plastering.

When we got back to the school we joined the students in the kitchen for some cake. Alona was there so she was able to help out with the conversations. Alona and her husband have a 1.5 year old daughter named Masha who is absolutely adorable. She has her mom's blonde hair and her dad's dimples. Masha stays with one of the Natasha's in the nursery upstairs from the school when her dad is in class and her mom is working. So after cake Alona showed me the nursery. It was the first children's area I have seen here that would meet with most of the standards that I studied about at Mount Royal College. It looked like a fun place. And I think the staff at the school really enjoy having a good place to leave their children.

A couple of the boys also took Bruno to the students center to play ping pong. Some of them are good at the game, but I believe Bogdon is the best one. I watched some of the games and attempted to talk to one of the other boys. He and Bogdon knew maybe 20 English words and I know about the same in Russian. So we started drawing pictures and then I would write the English word and he would write the Russian word. It was a fun way to learn the words and we had quite a few laughs. It was really nice to have some time to hang out with people about our age even if the language barrier was high.

Today we returned to the University and enjoyed playing a bit more charades until we got connected with a lady named Marina who might become our Russian tutor. She is looking to see if she has enough time in her schedule to tutor us as much as we would like to be tutored.

We also started looking for our own apartment today. This is a challenging process with the language difficulties, but also with the cultural differences too. There seem to be some differences in how renting works here though we aren't entirely sure we understand what is going on. So we are excited to be making progress on setting up our Russian lessons, looking for our 'home', finding service opportunities and interacting with people a bit more. But we are also finding each of these things to be different than what we are used to and so we do ask for your prayers in each of these areas.

This last picture is the ecco store we walked past today. I took it for our friend Rachael who works for ecco in Calgary. There are actually quite a number of nice shops here for those who have the extra money to spend.

Welcome to Donetsk

2009-02-18T07:12:00.000-08:00

Well we have made it. T'was a long trip but we are safely at UBI now and enjoying the fresh smell of rain. After a quick tour of the school we had dinner with our hosts (breakfast for us) and then did a wee bit of shopping to have groceries for the morning, then off to bed. Everyone at the school is very nice and has greeted us warmly. We have been given the guest teacher's flat for now. It is a modern, quaint flat with a western bathroom, kitchen unit and a queen bed. We will be able to stay here for about four weeks but then we'll have to move out to allow for visiting teachers to stay here again. So one of our firsts priorities is to find a new flat that is close to the school yet at a respectable price.

We've had some time to walk around town and it is very interesting. There are usually two types of buildings: really old or really new. The sidewalks are really wide and the roads busy. It is interesting though that most of the vehicles are relatively new, except for the buses and trams that look like they will fall over.

Our fashion does not blend well with the Ukrainians. My red/orange jacket sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of black here and Laurie's simple outfits and flat shoes don't compare with the fur coats and high heels that pass us by. However, the people we have interacted with seem to not not care about our strange ways of dressing.

Today, Laurie and I ventured out to a supermarket to buy groceries on our own. It is a new building and quite nice looking compared to its surroundings. I was going to take a picture of it but just then I brushed against a car in the parking lot and set off its alarm. Also a police man was just down the street from us so I did not want to bring any more attention to us with taking pictures.

It was interesting to try and figure out some of the items at the store by their pictures. We bought something red that we are really hoping is pasta sauce, but I guess we will find out for sure very soon. We have a Russian phase book so we were able to figure out some mysteries but the rest will be an adventure.

We also had the opportunity to sort through some cloths donated from Vancouver and Calgary that arrived here while Jay Don and Mary Lee were in North America. It was a mixture of sheets, toys, mens, ladies, kids, and baby clothing. All the kids and baby clothing will go to orphanages and we hope to help deliver them soon.

The first picture here is the entrance to the school. The building looks run down but the inside has been renovated quite nicely. The next picture is just around the corner from our school that I took of Laurie and the last pictures are of the guest teachers suite that we are staying in for a few weeks. They only recently had it built so it is very modern and a treat for us as we will not be in a place this nice for the rest of our time here.

Set to go...

2009-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

Good news! We have our Visa's in hand and our flights booked. We are set to head out the morning of February 15^th. The flight will be tiring with flying all day and all night for the most part. We have almost a 6 hour lay over in Toronto so perhaps we might be able to meet up with some relatives in the Toronto area then.

This past week has been a new experience for Laurie and myself. She is now a full time housewife and enjoying the freedom that comes with that. I have one, directed study class that I am working on now that is challenging my discipline of time management. So far the battle is going well. I came across a clever Ukrainian joke this week that I thought I would share...

A Ukrainian man wants a job, but the foreman won't hire him. Until he passes a little math test.

"Here's your first question," the foreman said. "Without Using numbers, represent the number 9."

"Without numbers?" the Ukrainian says, "Dat is easy." And he proceeds to draw three trees.

"What's this?" the boss asks. "Ave you got no brain? Tree and tree and tree make nine," says the Ukrainian.

"Fair enough," says the boss. "Here's your second question. Use the same rules, but this time the number is 99."

The Ukrainian stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture that he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree.

"Ere you go." The boss scratches his head and says, "How on earth do you get that to represent 99?"

"Each of da trees is dirty now. So, it's dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree. Dat is 99."

The boss is getting worried that he's going to actually have to hire this Ukrainian, so he says, "All right, last question. Same rules again, but represent the number 100."

The Ukrainian stares into space some more, then he picks up the picture again and makes a little mark at the base of each tree and says, "Ere you go. One hundred."

The boss looks at the attempt. "You must be nuts if you think that represents a hundred!"

The Ukrainian leans forward and points to the marks at the base of each tree and says, "A little dog came along and pooped by each tree. So now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, and dirty tree and a turd, dat make one hundred...so, when do I start?"

If all Ukrainians are this clever I might be in for an interesting time...

Oceanside Christmas

2009-01-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

Laurie and I just enjoyed two and a half weeks on Vancouver Island with family and friends and lots of snow. We encountered more snow there than Calgary and surprisingly the harshest road conditions we came across was traveling to Campbell River from Courtenay. We enjoyed the snow there very much. We built snowmen with my niece and nephew, went on some hikes, had a few good snowball fights and I had my first snowshoeing experience on Mt. Washington.

We had many quiet evenings with family and friends playing games and watching movies. But some of our favorite times were when we got out and enjoyed the beauty of the island. New years day was one of those times. We went out for breakfast with my family and then headed up Mt. Washington to enjoy the scenery there. Then we
took some fire wood to Goose Spit Beach and had a camp fire dinner. It was fun to watch the thousands of sea gulls fly overhead to the ocean to socialize. We also went on a couple of good hikes with our friend Sarah. She always seems to know where the most beautiful spots on the island are, even when they aren't the easiest places to get to :)

Our Journey back to Calgary was not as smooth as the trip to Vancouver Island. On the way out, the weather and roads were in good condition so we made the trip in one day but our return took three days. We had to stop in Hope our first night due to road closures from heavy rains and fog. I was okay with that stop once we discovered that the first Rambo movie was filmed there. The second day started out well until we heard that an avalanche by Revelstoke closed Hwy 1 so again our trip was halted in Salmon Arm. We were determined to make it home on the 3^rd day and we did, but it didn't look too promising when we were stopped again for an avalanche. We ended up only having to wait a half hour for that one to get cleaned up. And we did get to see two military canons that were being used to trigger controlled avalanches.

Our preparations for going to Donetsk are coming along nicely. Our Visas were processed very quickly and funds have been generously donated so our next step is getting our tickets and figuring out what to pack for the Ukraine and what to pack in our storage unit.

Here are some pics of our trip...the last pic is a sea creature we found on the beach. Anyone know what it is?

Technically savvy

2008-03-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

Aha, I am still with the times with having a blog and being able to input info and such. I am so proud of myself! Well, the summer is almost here and I'm uber excited for the wedding, roadtrip honeymoon, new place, summer work, and studying a new language. I'll try and keep updating this blog on a regular basis prior to our onSite trip. However, this blog's primary focus will be updating everyone about our Ukraine adventures. So stay tuned.

Bruno