Slower week but better weather

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.