Bustling Kiev

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.