Benefits of being a groupie.

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.