Thursday, May 14, 2009

Well, this is it, my last day in Poltava. I can't believe my time here is over! I have really enjoyed being here. But as my Grandfather keeps telling me this chapter of my life is over. Not that I am happy about that. The youth put on a really nice going  away party for us this evening and many are planning to come and see us off in the morning. It will be very hard to leave them! It will be very hard to leave Erin!!! The three of have always been together these past months, what will I do with the other parts of me? Erin has threatened many times to steal our passports or unpack all of our suitcases, she will miss us too. Although I am through here, I will continue to pray for all the students we formed relationships with. In my mind I am only leaving Poltava for a vacation, it is hard to accept that I will not be living here anymore. Hannah and I leave for Kiev in the morning at 7:40 on the express train. Then Hannah, Joanna, Josh and I will be flying to Prague Saturday afternoon. Then we have meeting in Prague for the next couple of days and then fly home Wednesday. So this will most likely be my last post since I am not sure if I will have internet. Thank you so much for keeping up with me (or at least trying due to my lack of post in the recent past). But mostly that you for all the prayers and support that you have given me. Please continue to pray for the people of Poltava and of Ukraine. до свидания - Goodbye, pronounced Da-svi-da-niya.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Well, I am still alive and just teaching up a storm. There really has not been any "new" news. We have had lots of school holidays recently so we have had some more free time to spend with friends. Like last Monday we hikeed up a mountain, ok a big hill, to a monastery. It was different but nice. Then last night we went walking in the downtown with a bunch of friends. We even went to a park and played around on the playground. Today we met up with one of the girls that we met last night and went to a cafe for ice cream. Today was Memorial Day, now don't get excited and think that it is the same as ours, because it's not. Here every family goes and visits the graves of their loved ones. Now that sounds nice but they also bring food, gifts, and vodka (how could they live without it!) and leave it at the grave. But we are back to our almost normal schedule. Erin has managed to get us another class on Thursday at yet another school. The school is more like a tutoring center which will be great for in the summer. God has really opened this opportunity for Erin and groups coming in the summer. Please pray for more opportunities like this to open up.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Our Easter in Dnipropetrovsk. We made a bunny cake, colored eggs, and went bowling. 




Students from one of our classes from Transport College. They are playing a spelling game.


These are called Easter cakes but they actually taste more like bread.
- for Erica's comment: No it does not taste like bread with icing. The stuff on top looks nice and soft but is actually like cement. It does not taste bad just not as sweet as our icing.
Our Wednesday night program went wonderfully! Everyone who came really seemed to enjoy it and everyone was open to God's word. We had a reporter here from the Alabama Baptist paper that spent two days with us. This week has been kinda long and we are all tired. This weekend is Easter and there will be no rest for the weary. Things here are starting to wrap up and I am not happy about that. I have really become settled in this life here and I don't care to be uprooted and have to go home. You must think doesn't she miss home or at least her family? Of coarse, but having Skype I get to actually see my family and they don't seem an ocean away. American food. Now that is what is bringing me home, plus my dog.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I had a great Easter weekend! We all went to Dnipr to spend the weekend with Mike and Linda. We dyed eggs, made a bunny cake, and went bowling. I almost felt like I was back in America. Now this weekend is Ukrainian Easter. This Wednesday night we are going to be reading the Easter and discussing it. Please pray that everyone who comes has an open heart and mind to God's word. We are all a bit nervous about how the evening will go. We also found out the the group of boys we have in our Tuesday class now have to do hands on work. So we have a new group of students. That's fine it's just that there was one boy in that class that had begun to come to some of the church events and we were worried about not seeing him again. I quite upset because this boy had really been on my heart. I prayed all day that God would bring him to SMS. Man, that God of our is so great! The first face I saw in SMS meeting was his!!! We would really like for him to come to our English Club too but we are thankful that he is hearing the Word at SMS. Please keep this boy in your prayers. Also keep us in your prayers and pray that it will not be us speaking tomorrow night but it will be from God. Pray that He gives us the right words to say and that He works through us. 

Monday, April 6, 2009

So the past week went back to normal classes. Although we added a new class and a new University. We now teach an English Club on Wednesday at the Teacher's University which until now has been very hard to get into. Hannah and I have been running around Poltava with Andrei trying to get registered before April 11 or we become illegal aliens! In English Club on Wednesday we had 11 people there, 7 guys were named Sasha (Alexander)! Thursday evening I went with Hannah, Nastya, and Pushkin to a dorm to visit with the students. We spent most of our time with two young guys, one who has been coming to many of the church activities. The weekend went well and I was able to get some rest.

This week is a short week for us because we are going to Dniper for our Easter. Ukrainians celebrate Easter on the weekend of the 19th. Last night Hannah and I went out with Nastya. We thought we would be meeting up with a few of her friends. Try 17 friends, most from the church. We all went out for pizza and had a great time. While we were waiting for our pizza we played the game mafia, which Hannah and I found ironic since they really do have mafia here! It was amazing to be able to just hang out and not have to teach English and to be with other believers. Tonight we had dinner with Rodic and his family. Rodic and Sophia have two daughters, Vlada and Eve, both under the age of two! We had a great time looking at photos, singing, playing with Eve, and just spending time together. They are a young couple and Rodic works a lot with the youth at the church. Tomorrow we are going to try and finish registering, well for the most part anyway. They will have to take our passports for a bit. That part makes me nervous! They had Erin's for 2 months and we only have a little over a month before we leave. Which Rodic told us tonight how thankful he was to us for coming to Poltava and I thought I was going to cry. Rodic's English is ok and for him to say all that he did and struggle through the English meant so much. I can already tell that I am NOT going to want to go home.

Friday, March 27, 2009

This week has been non-stop and we are all exhausted! I got lucky and the two people I worked with this week were wonderful. They allowed me to help them and took my advice and the classes went well. Hannah and Erin were not so lucky and their adults did not listen to them and would not allow them to help. The night activities went well and there was a decent turn our every night. The women prepared different American food every night. There was pizza, dessert bars, pasta salad, chocolate chip cookies, egg salad, brownies, pancakes, and lots of American candy. It was nice to have American food! We did make some new friends at the meetings. The three of us girls were invited to and English Club at the University for Teachers. Ira is a student here and has been trying to get Americans into her school but has not been able to. God has opened the door for us and the students and teachers loved the activities we did with the students. We are now going to be going to their club every Wednesday! The Illinois group is finally leaving tomorrow. I will miss the two that I worked with. Just wish the others were a bit more appreciative, but I guess that comes with southern manners. I was never grateful for being raised in the south until this week! We finally get some rest tomorrow so Hannah and I are going shopping after sleeping in. Then in the evening is a going away party for the group.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Here are some pictures from the Auburn group and their activities.

This is a group shot of one of the classes that my parents taught.

This picture is from the last night activity where students just came to have conversations with the Americans.

This is Salvation Church. It is the church that we attend here in Poltava.
3/21/09 - Erin and I went to Ira's to teach our middle school English Club for a couple of hours. Afterwards we met Hannah at the large grocery store for some much needed food. Since we had been sick and eating at the church we had NO food at the flat. We decided early to take a taxi back so we really piled in the food! The rest of the day was spent resting from the past week.

3/22/09 - I love that church doesn't start till 1 PM because I get to sleep in! It was so nice to get to go back to church after being sick for so long. It was an interesting and informative afternoon. We met 6 more Americans this morning in church, they are from Illinois. We also learned that we are suppose to be going around with them all week teaching classes this next week. Now did anyone notice that we just met these people? NO ONE TOLD US THAT WE WERE SUPPOSE TO DO THIS!!! So we had re-plan our entire week and cancel some classes but others they are going to have to work around. The concern is that there will only be two of them in each school and they are all adults. In the Auburn group there were students that the students here could relate to. Who relates to old people?  Just kidding. We also have no idea about their lesson plans or if they know anything about the students they will be teaching. It will be an interesting week! Please pray for this group and that God works through them and that they turn out better than we all think. So this will be another exhausting week, please pray that God gives us strength and wisdom to deal with situations. 
3/20/09 - Today everyone went to Kiev for some sightseeing and gift shopping. It was a long bus ride but most everyone slept because we had to get up so early. The entire group did a great job dealing with the metro and the trolley ride up the hill. We went to St. Michael's and St. Sophia's Cathedrals. We called Joanna (a Hands On girl in Kiev) and met up with her for the day. It was then time for shopping and my parents racked up! I just stood back and held the bags. The three of us girls had to leave early so we could catch the train back to Poltava. Saying bye was hard for everyone, especially my parents. The train ride was interesting. We rode first class so we were in a booth type thing with 3 other people, a dog, and a floral arrangement. The dog spend a good bit of time sitting on my feet. We got home and went straight to bed for some much needed rest.

The three of us and Joanna in front of St. Michael's.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Today was the last day of classes for the Auburn group. They all did a great job and everyone really seemed to enjoy it here. Tonight went great! I was surprised at how many students we had come and some were new. The Auburn group did a great job of spreading themselves out among the tables to talk. Erin, Hannah and I stayed near the back and would watch to make sure everyone had someone to talk to and if not we would jump in. Vova gave a short but great message tonight, so I was told since I did not understand it. There seemed to be many great conversations and seeds were sown. We all leave EARLY in the morning at 7 to head to Kiev for sightseeing and shopping. Erin, Hannah and I are going with them but will take an evening train back to Poltava.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I finally made it to classes today. Thankfully we only had two. The group works awesomely together. My Dad does a short introduction and tells about the activities that will be going on and then my Mom, Chris, Justin, Allison and Priscilla take over. They split the class into 5 small groups and go through different language activities. They are all amazing to watch. Mom really seems to enjoy the time with the students. After our classes, the group wanted to go shopping so we went to the bazaar. Andre led us so we walked, we then walked from the bazaar to a pizza place. I was so exhausted from walking that I left the group and went home to sleep. I did meet back up with everybody for dinner. Tonight's theme was country. The group did an incredible job! The students loved everything. They taught them how to line dance, lasso, and even Sweet Home Alabama! Everything was a hit. It was then home to rest for the last day. Tomorrow is the group's last day here and tomorrow evening is the most important. It will be a time to have discussions with Americans. Please pray for the Americans and that they have wisdom in what they say and how they handle conversations. Also pray for the Ukrainian students that they will be open to where ever the conversation may lead.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today I am feeling so much better! I have energy and feel good, just still have a hacking cough. I rested up today for tonight's activity. The theme for tonight was Hollywood. The Auburn team did an awesome job with all that they had prepared. They gave some background on Hollywood, did some trivia, and had movie clips to use for discussion. Andre then gave a short message on popularity. The rest of the evening was spent mingling with different friends that everyone had made. Tomorrow I plan on pulling a full day with classes and all. My parents really seem to enjoying everything and seem to in their element. Please pray for all the students that are coming to the nightly activities and that they are receptive to what they hear.

For Hollywood night everyone dresses up. Here we have Darth Vader, paparazzi, and Tinker Bell. Better know as the Kinard family.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I am feeling better today. I think it all has to do with the home remedy of Mom, ok the drugs help too. Especially the one that only says it will make you dizzy and drowsy buy instead makes you dizzy and loopy! But hey my fever if wearing off and my cough is fading and that is what counts. So later I figured out that I was not taking an antibiotic and Ibuprofen 800 mg like I thought. I was taking Ibuprofen 800 mg and Ibuprofen 200 mg! Now I know why I was so loopy! Now I am on the right medication and on the road to recovery. Mike dropped my parents off this morning at the flat so we could spend some time together. We had a couple of hours and I asked all the questions I could about how they pulled off this surprise! It was wonderful to spend time with them. They then headed off to church with Erin and Hannah. They will also be getting a tour of Poltava today! This afternoon was really rough. I am so tired from sleepless nights and my coughing gets worse if I lay down. Exhaustion finally set in and I don't remember much till Mom called to check in on me for split second. Wish I could tell you about their day but I don't know. I do know that they spent their evening getting ready for their classes tomorrow. I know they are going to do a great job!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

So the secret is now out... my parents came to Ukraine! I was so surprised to see them walk through the door of our flat. I just ran into my Mom's arms. Then in true fashion she started feeling my head and preceded to pull out a thermometer. I was so excited but sad at the same time. I hate that I am sick and won't be able to do everything with them. I certainly don't want them to miss a thing. I am excited for them to be here to see a little bit of what I do and to get to do some work themselves. 

Friday, March 13, 2009

So this morning I am in fact worse. The only thing I am keeping down is ice, not even the nausea medicine will stay down. The group will be here tomorrow evening and I am so excited because they are bring me some medicine. I just feel like waste to Lottie since this was the big project I was suppose to help with and now it looks like I can't. But please continue to pray for everyone's health.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Well, I only thought that I was getting better. I instead have gotten worse. I am now running a good fever, nauseous, and I have developed a cough. I was told by Momma Erin to stay in bed, but she is doing better and went to class. Please pray that God allows us to all be healthy by the time the Auburn team comes (Saturday). I have been asked if I know anyone on the Auburn team and I do know the two leaders, but I have not seen any names of the students. 

Monday, March 9, 2009

So I am finally feeling better and in fact Hannah and I got out and went to McDonald's. Poor Hannah has been left with nothing to do with two sick people on her hands. Erin is doing better just weak from being sick for so long. Yesterday was a holiday so there were no classes today. It was Women's Day! Sure wish there was a day in America to celebrate being a woman. It is kinda like Mother's Day but for women of all ages whether they have kids or not. So I return to classes tomorrow. It is a light week with only 2 classes tomorrow and then Wednesday off and only a few on Thursday and Friday. Then on Saturday the group from Auburn arrives. Sorry for the lack of updates I got use to not typing every night when we did not have internet and then I got sick. But I promise to do better from now on. Thanks you all for all of the prayers and support, I would not make it with you!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

I promise to catch everyone up soon. But The three of us really need your prayers right now. Erin has been really sick with the flu and as of today I am sick. I have not been able to keep anything down. Please also pray for Hannah and that she stays well. The group from Auburn is coming in 9 days and we really need to be better!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

2/26/09 - Today was a very busy day with 3 classes back to back. Our first class went well. All of the classes today are business classes so I am learning lots of new things! Our 10 AM class was horrible. There were three boys who would not stop acting up. The stuff they did was disrespectful and would never happen in our schools at home. If I could I would have sent them to the office or given so much homework to make their lives miserable! But we aren't exactly able to do that. We were just so surprised that college students were acting like they were 12! Erin asked one guy to move because we were splitting them up for an activity and he started begging not be moved! We were stunned! When a guest lecturer ask you to do something you do and it was moving to play game! Anyway our 11 class went so much better and we really like the students in that class. We then headed home for some rest before prayer meeting. We are feeling drained and Erin is starting to get sick.

2/27/09 - FRIDAY!!! We only had one class today. Ms. Margarita borrowed students from another class so we had an extremely full class! It went well, I did my lesson on animals. We then went home for rest and Erin's throat is getting worse. We had our second beginner's club tonight. We had about 10 come and they were mostly adults which is completely different from our intermediate class. So they come ready to learn and don't have to be entertained as much. We started spelling easy words and went over family members. Next week we start building sentences. Mom, you will be so proud I will most likely come back speaking better English!

2/28/09 - Erin is really not feeling well so Hannah went with me to teach the middle schoolers. It is something that I really enjoy, the girls are so sweet! We use Bible stories for them to read and translate. Then we go over their meaning so we are able to share about God. on the way home we stopped at our local baker to pick up dinner for all of us. We can't read the names so we just picked stuff and hoped for the best! Turned out we did an amazing job! I even ended up with a dessert that was like a beignet!

3/1/09 - It started snowing again. We have had snow on the ground since Feb. 15! Normal Sunday with church and all that. Erin stayed home to get some extra rest, she is feeling a bit better. Tonight the girls are putting on a special service for Men's Day. We had to perform to Be Our Guest. We felt like such idiots!!! Ok, first what we find funny they don't and what they find funny they don't. But they seemed to enjoy it. Erin sang the part while Hannah and I danced around like fools in the background. Afterwards we quickly left and went and got ice cream to wallow in our shame.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

2/22/09 - Today's service went well. I received a rose at the end because of my birthday. Today was a pretty restful day. Later we had a meeting about what we were going to do for Men's Day. We are still roped in for singing Be Our Guest! So we have a dance routine to plan. The rest of the evening was spent trying to warm up and resting.

2/23/09 - Monday. I hate Mondays. Today I had to lead my first lesson which was on animals. The boys really seemed to enjoy it! Then Hannah and I had to teach the Agrarian College by ourselves. We do not enjoy this class mostly because the students don't respond much. But we got through the class fine. This evening we made chicken and dumplings! It was amazing, not quite like home's but close. Plus no burning chicken or smoke!

2/24/09 - I had to teach my animal lesson again today to another Transport class. We started a new class today at the Agrarian Academy teaching post-grads. We were expecting people to have good English... WRONG. The class was hard to teach because for beginners you need to write things out but this room had no board. The class took forever and none of enjoyed teaching that class and are already dreading it. Please pray that God chances our hearts about this class. This evening at SMS was a ping-pong tournament. We went because three of the boys from our English were going to play. We were hoping this would be a great opportunity for them to meet boy believers. We only stayed until we saw all three of them play and then we headed home for some rest. Mom, I never knew how much teaching takes out of you! Plus we have to deal with them talking in a different language and for some trying to figure out what they are saying! Today I missed home, I missed being able to understand people when they talk, I missed manners, and mostly I missed people who wear deodorant. Ok, venting done now and I feel much better.

2/25/09 - Today is our day off and began with our landlord coming to get the rent. But then it was off to the bazaar for shopping. We all found scarfs that we like and then just did some browsing. Then off to McD's for our Americanish lunch. Hannah then went to a mall to get her watch fixed while Erin and I went to the underground mall to look for me some new shoes. Ukraine is hard on shoes! I have been wearing the same pair everyday because my other ones have a slight heel on them. Heels and ice plus snow just don't mix. Well, not for me anyway, the girls here don't seem to have a problem in 4 inch heels. I was able to find a nice pair of flat boots. We then went home to prepare for our English club this evening. This evening went really well and the boys from Transport were back! All of the boys from our class (5) walked us home with Nastya and Ulya which gave us a good opportunity to talk to them out of a classroom setting. Tonight was finished by preparing for our 3 classes tomorrow that start at 8 AM! There is still a bunch of snow on the ground but today did start off in 20s, which beat the single digits of earlier this week. So maybe it will start warming up and maybe the sun will eventually come out.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pictures from events in the last week:

The three of us girls at Friday's.

Mike and Linda Ray. Ms. Linda made an amazing cake for my birthday!

The chicken from our first attempt at fried chicken. After 10 minutes out the window the oil still cooked the other side of the chicken!

The girls that came over EARLY on my Birthday.

This was this morning after church. It has been snowing for two days! 

Saturday, February 21, 2009

So now that I have internet here is what has been going on. I will post some pictures of everything tomorrow. Please excuse typos because I am NOT double checking this time!

2/13/09 -
Today we travel to Dnipropetrovsk to spend the weekend with Mike and Linda. It was a 4 hour bus ride. I got to spend moist of the ride sitting by myself. The big buses are like village to village metros so they pick up people along the way for short distances. Eventually a rather large burly man came and sat with me. I was sitting by the window which was cold and since he did not smell too bad I did not mind the body heat of the burly man. I mostly read and listened to my ipod. Mike was at the bus station to meet us and we went to McDonald's for supper and met Linda there. We had a nice meal and then headed to their flat. Upon arriving Mike had roses for each of us for Valentine's Day. When finished the day with a movie and bed.

2/14/09 - This morning started off with waffles! It was amazing, we had syrup and everything. Shortly after that we had a financial meeting with Mike for around 2 hours, I hate numbers. We then headed to TGIFriday's for lunch. We were all so excited! So Ukrainian Friday's DOES NOT equal American Friday's!!! Service was SO slow but the food was good. I got a chicken bacon burger and Hannah got a cheeseburger and we then split them. Later that evening we had some worship time, wow English is amazing! It was so nice to be able to sing along and know what was being said. Then Mike and Linda surprised me with birthday cake and gifts since my birthday is the 18th. It was amazing to have a sweet cake because they do not use as much sugar as American's when baking. For internet we walked to the mall next door and used the dark and creepy way to exit their building. So on the way back we used the same entrance. Erin had the keys and Hannah had the flash light and I was just in the middle. So we came through one door and locked it behind us. We were then locked in a small corridor and were heading to the next door. As Erin was trying to unlock the door Hannah saw a drunk man sitting a foot away and freaked out and told us to hurry. Neither of us saw the passed out man and thought she was just creeped out. But buddy, when Erin got that door open Hannah shoved us through! We then finished our evening with another movie.

2/15/09 - Today we joined Mike and Linda at their church and it was a nice service. We then had lunch at McD's and then they put us on a bus. It felt like they we sending their kids off to college. So yet another 4 hour bus ride. This time however the bus took the back roads at the rest stops were smaller and NOTHING like at home. So by the second stop I need to use the bathroom. Hannah got off with me and we went in search of the bathroom and found none. So we got back on the bus and waited for it to take off again. But the longer I waited the more I needed to go so I asked Erin to come with me since she knows the most Russian. So we tried to find the driver to see if he would wait since the stops are only like 5 minutes. We walked up to him where he was talking to a women who before we could say a word told the bathroom was far away. The driver then pointed across the parking lot. Erin told him that I was sick and he graciously said he would wait. Not that I was sick, but hey use what will work! So we started across the parking lot for the bathroom. Now for those who think they have normal bathrooms with toilet paper, think again. You are lucky if you get a toilet seat! Thankfully I was raised a country girl and have no problems using a squatty potty. The rest of the evening was uneventfully until we reached home and had no internet.

2/16/09 - So we went back to our normal routine. Today was pretty easy with only two classes, one we love and one that well, we don't. I love the Transport school! They love to learn and really enjoy whatever activities we do. The Agrarian college is not a class we enjoy but we go where we are told. The class this time was small which was nice and we played jeopardy which they really enjoyed. We then did some grocery shopping and headed home. We had some chicken we wanted to cook so we decided to make fried chicken. We had everything ready and were just letting the oil heat. Well we did not realize just how hot the oil got and Hannah threw in some chicken and it burned immediately! Smoke filled our flat and I rushed to open all the windows, mind you it is snowing outside. So Erin took the pot and stuck it out the window for like 5 minutes to help cool of the oil. Another 5 minutes later we set it on the cabinet and flipped the burnt chicken over and the oil was still cooking the chicken. There is no telling how hot that oil was! But we tried again and it turned out great. But as Hannah said, "Fried chicken, so not worth it!" The resting of the evening was spent freezing while trying to get the smoke smell out of our flat.

2/17/09 - We did not have our class at Transport this morning so we got to sleep in. But we did have a class of post-graduates at 2 at the Agrarian Academy (different from Agrarian College). We really like this school and the professor loves us and brought us canned apples last time. Well it turned out the post-grads had not organized a class yet but she had another class of beginners for us to teach. So we went for it. It was a small group of students and they were wonderful! They really got into the different activities. Too bad the class we love the most is not one we get to teach all the time. But we decided that we are going to try to talk the professor and see if we can teach that class as well. So today when we left she had some of her homemade jam for us to take. Too bad when we got home we had no clue as to how to open the jar! We met three of our boys from English club at the Christian center at 5 to play ping-pong. We were able to introduce them to several Ukrainian believers and they stayed for SMS. Too bad tonight SMS lasted FOREVER. Afterwards one of them walked us home and he said it was alright but a bit boring. The other two stayed behind to play some more ping-pong. But we planted the seed and God will make it grow.

2/18/09 - MY BIRTHDAY! So today did not go as planned. We were all suppose to go shopping but Erin had to stay home because someone was suppose come and fix our phone and internet. Around 9 AM the doorbell rang and Ira, Alona, Nastya, and Tanya surprised me and brought me flowers, balloons and a sweet roll (cake). They stayed for a couple of hours which was good when our Russian only landlord came with the repair guy. Later Hannah and I headed out to do some shopping. We ended up lost in the craziness of the bazaar and ended up without much. But we made plans to go to the mall tomorrow. This evening we had English club and this week we began to introduce Bible stories. When we arrived two of our boys from Transport were there and we were greatly surprised! Class went really well and a few of the girls had painted me a sign for my birthday! It was so sweet and turned out to a great birthday.

2/19/09 - We had a very busy day start at 8 AM with a business class at the Co-op. Hannah did an amazing job with some really dull students. There were a couple of girls that if it was my class I would have made them wish they hadn't come to class. They were just so rude! After class we were informed that Hannah and I needed to give them a copy of our degree, passport, visa and resume on file. Oh goodie. But we then went to the Agrarian Academy for 2 classes, both went really well. Prof. Tamara gave us canned cherries today. I HATE canned fruit but the thought is really sweet. Erin had one more class to teach but Hannah and I were free and went to the mall with Maya. That evening we tried to go to the prayer meeting but when we arrived outside we saw in the window that it was a Bible study not prayer so we left. We all went to bed early because of our long day.

2/20/09 - Today we had only one class and Erin had to stay home. The internet guy was suppose to come at 10, guess what, he didn't. So Hannah and I went to go and tutor Pasha at 3. Ok so here they have holidays called Men's Day and Women's Day. They are kind of like Father's/Mother's Day but for everyone. So the girls were having a meeting about what to do for the guy's service. Some how we got roped into lip-syncing and dancing to Be Our Guests from Beauty and Beast. Not sure how this happened! But hey our internet got fixed in the mean time! Tonight was also our first beginners English club. We had 18 people! We started off at the very beginning with the alphabet. Erin taught all the letters and all their different sounds. Hannah and I sat there amazed at how many sounds our letters make that we did not even realize! We were so thankful that we already know English.

2/21/09 - Today Erin and I teach a middle school age English club at Ira's house. Erin was not feeling well so I went on my own. I actually made it all the way across town (35 minute bus ride) all on my own! Class went really well and the girls wanted to celebrate my birthday ( here they celebrate birthdays all week! How great is that?!) so we had some sweets and tea. I had to leave soon after that and needed to go the mall to meet the girls and Lucy. So Kostya, being the sweet gentlemen that he is, walked me to the bus stop and rode the bus with me to the mall to make sure that I got there. Hannah, Lucy and I then went bowling! It was so much fun and for 3 people and 45 minutes of bowling it was only $10! We then all had dinner together and did a bit of shopping. Then it was home for the evening. Wow! Well that is all that I have been up while the internet has been out. Mom, hope you are happy now (I love you).

Friday, February 20, 2009

Sorry that I have not been able to post. Our internet has been out at our flat for the past week. The internet guy is suppose to be coming today around 4. Please pray that we get our internet back because we need it to help with lesson plans,. We start our beginners English Club this evening so pray for that as well. I am at the Christian center using the internet but as soon as I have it back at our flat I will get eveyone caught up on what I have been doing!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Oh my. Today started off way too early! We had an 8 AM class at the Co-op school, but hey we are finally in classes teaching. The class is an international management class so Hannah took over on the teaching. She did a great job and they really seemed to enjoy the debate, not sure they had ever had a debate before. So we then headed home for like 40 minutes before we had to go to the Agrarian Academy at 11. When we arrived we were told that they were all finance students so we used our lesson from this morning. It worked perfectly and everyone, even the teachers, enjoyed it. Afterwards we spoke with the teacher and she said that the students LOVED it and asked if we could come more. So we are now teaching 3 more classes in this school! We are going to be so busy!

Monday - 2 classes 
Tuesday - 3 classes and SMS club from 6-8
Wednesday - God has thankfully kept open and we hope it remains this way. English Club at 6.
Thursday - 4 classes and prayer meeting at 6
Friday - 1 class, private tutoring and English club at 6
Saturday - English Club at Ira's 2-4 and possibly small group at 5
Sunday - church, family time, youth meeting in the evening/girl's meeting

Please pray for us to have God's strength because that is the only way we will be able to get through all the weeks and months. We are also having to plan for the group of Auburn students coming in March. 

We had several of our friends over to play Russian Monopoly. It was very interesting but fun and entertaining at the same time. It is really nothing like our Monopoly, the have a casino, there are companies to but instead of streets, and there are no houses or hotels. In fact the only thing that is the same is the fact that you buy things when you land on it.


Hannah had a little mishap this evening when she washed her sweater. It didn't come out the same size that it went in! The picture was taken after we had both been pulling on it to stretch it. But it made for a funny moment.


We leave tomorrow for Dnipropetrovsk to spend the weekend with Mike and Linda and will come back Sunday evening.
2/11/09 - Today was our day off but we first had to meet with Roddik and Vova to go to a school to talk to them about the group we have coming in March. Turns out it is a school that we already teach in and the teacher was receptive to more people coming. So that took all of 15 minutes and we were off to the bazaar! Hannah was able to find a watch and Erin and I got some scarves. We then headed to Little America = McDonald's. After lunch we went back home for some much needed rest before our class that evening. English Club was great! We had so many students (about 20) and we did our discussions on Valentine's Day. They all really seemed to enjoy the class. Our ice skating buddies stayed after to play some ping-pong. I tried to play but I am extremely bad at that game! The youth believers here are so busy, please pray that they are able to find time to meet our unbeliever friends. 

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Today was rainy and just plain nasty! I have been talking to a friend in Kiev and she said that it is suppose to get cold and snow again. I love snow but then it turns to slush and we just got rid of all that! Plus it is starting to get warm here! Erin went to the Co-op school this morning and Hannah and I went to the Transport school. We taught the same thing we taught on Monday, shopping and clothing, perfect for girls right? So we went over different stores and reviewed articles of clothing. There was an awkward part when I was going over clothing and Ms. Margarita asked me about underwear! What do say to class full of 17 and 18 year old boys!? I guess I could have taken a pair on boxers or briefs, but then I don't if they have those here and that could be a dangerous question. I told her quickly that we just call it underwear and I tried to go on but she wanted more details but thankfully she finally dropped it. We then played tic-tac-toe and then hangman. They had so much fun and this we are able to review and they are learning. Hannah and I played cupid today and picked up some flowers from Brad (Erin's boyfriend) for her to have for Valentine's Day. We got her pink roses and pink gerber daisies. Erin had been asked to do a short 30 minute opening for a class at the Co-op school and she had been told that she could bring us. We were so excited because this is the school that we have had problems getting into. We got there and met the teacher and she then asked us if we could ALL come and teach one of her classes! GOD IS AWESOME!!! Another teacher came in and said that they might have to combine her class so that we can teach them as well. Please keep praying for this school, the doors are opening and I know it is because of all the prayers. So we are going there on Thursday to teach a business class, thank goodness for Hannah who has a business degree. Pray for Hannah as she is really feeling the pressure of doing a great job and impressing the teachers so we can come back. Tomorrow is suppose to be our day off but this evening we got a call from Vova. He told Erin that we must met him and Roddik at the Lenin statue to go to some schools to discuss the Auburn group that is coming in March. Notice that they did not ask us if we could meet them, if we have classes, or if we have plans, it was a demand. Ukrainians never ask us if we can do something they just expect us to do everything they want when they want it. This is highly annoying to me and I am praying that God helps me through this aspect of their culture! But other than that I am great and God is keeping us busy.

Monday, February 9, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

So today was kinda busy. We had a class at Transport and we learned that the guys love to play games! We played tic-tac-toe with review terms and they got so into it. It is funny that game we played as kids they have hardly played and love even at this age. We then went for our second class at the Agrarian College. Today went a lot better than the last time. God provided us with a full class! We first started out with a word game and then moved into small groups. I loved my small group mostly because they were willing to talk. But you soon run out of conversation topics. So Erin had the brilliant idea of playing hangman! They got so into the game with trying to guess the word. So when we left we felt so much better about this class than we did last Monday. We were suppose to go ice skating but the times did not match to when we could be there. So we met with some of Hannah and Erin's friends from the Co-op school. Dema was not able to stay long but we had tea and great conversation with Sergei, Victoria and Natalie. Well those are not actually the girls names but they want us to call them by American names so there you go. They are great and so energetic and we look forward to spending more time with them.  
9/8/09 - Today was pretty restful for a Sunday. The youth were gone on their retreat so we did not have anyone to translate for us and it was wonderful! I don't mind the service going for 2 hours but once they cross that 2 hour mark I start getting antsy. Today service went for 2 and 1/2 hours! Here the people do not ask you if you can do something, they tell you. Like they wanted Hannah and I to tell about ourselves at the next service but we will be in Dniepropetrovsk with Mike. When we told them that it was like the world was coming to an end! All they had to do was ask us what are plans were but they forget that little detail. But after the service we went Eko market for food. At 6 we went to Celentano's for Pizza. There we met Maya and Sveta, two of Hannah's friends. When we all finished dinner we went for a walk up to the Rotunda, a place with a horse shoe type monument. It was really beautiful in the evening. It was so nice to be able to take a walk and not feel like you have to rush! But then it was home for bed.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Today was hang out with old friends day. For lunch we met with a friend I had made here in March named Lucy. We went out for pizza and then did some shopping at the under ground mall. It was so nice to see her and guess what? She wants to talk to her directors to see if we can come to her school, man God is good. We then had a short break at home before dinner. For dinner we met with Tanya, Hannah's old friend. We had some great conversation with both girls and invited them both to English Club. We are all looking forward to spending more time with these girls. 
9/6/09 or 2/6/09 over here I forget what day it is so why not the month? - So today was nice and relaxing. We had only one class at Transport and we played games reviewing everyday objects in the office and classroom. It was a lot of fun and the kids had so much fun! Hannah and Erin then went to Co-op school to see if they could get Hannah into the business ethics class. I stayed at home for some much needed alone time. Alona came over in the afternoon to go over some english before she left to go and take an important english test in Kiev. We had the rest of the evening off. We made spaghetti with garlic bread and watched The Godfather. It was an amazing movie!!! I can't believe I waited this long to see this movie, now I want to watch the other two but Erin didn't bring them with her, sad. We have started scheduling movie nights into our routine for relaxation. 

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Today was our American day! Today was also the anniversary of a tornado that hit Union which Erin went to and was there during the tornado. So Hannah and I wanted to get her some cookies and flowers. So I went out this morning on my own and went to the bakery and flower shop. I used my Russian and they understood me and I could understand them! Only thing was that I could understand their questions it was just that I did not always know how to answer in Russian. We then headed to McDonald's = heaven. I had a Big Tasty, do we have those in America? It was like Whopper. We then took a taxi, quite an experience, to the "mall". We were meeting the boys there to go ice skating. I was so nervous because I have not ice skated since I was like seven and balance and I don't get along. But I really enjoyed it and by the end I did not need to hold on to the bar although I liked to have it close. It was funny that all three of the boys fell but none of girls did! Sasha, Sasha, and Sergei seemed to enjoy the ice skating and they said that they would see us Wednesday for English Club. We then went grocery shopping. The bad thing about grocery shopping is that you can only get as much as you can carry and handle on the bus! We do have a small store near us but the place in the mall is as close as we are going to get to a Wal-Mart. We barely all made it off our bus stop because of all the people and then our bags! Oh the challenges! Which by the way if you think people are going to help you and move out of the way so you can get off, think again. There is no such thing as common courtesy. Pushing people out of the way, skipping in line, not opening/holding the door and not moving over on the side walk for others are common and not rude. I sure miss southern hospitality. But other than that I am great. Please keep our English Club friends in your prayers as our discussions get more and more involved.
2/4/09 - Today was not busy at all but for some reason I was just exhausted all day. We have switched our off day from Thursday to Wednesday because there was a school that wanted us on Thursdays. So we actually have two off days this week! Olya came over around 11 to have a Russian lesson with Erin. Hannah and I were going to sit in but Erin is so far ahead of us and Erin does an awesome job teaching us. It is hard for Ukrainians to understand that our mouths some time can't form the sounds they want! The only thing we had today was a meeting with Vova at 5 and then English club at 6. English club was a blast this evening. We had 10 students come and to my surprise the reoccurring students were the boys and they even brought friends! We started off playing the came Never Have I Ever. They LOVED it! We then went over some commonly used American phrases like "easy as pie". Then it was discussion time, we had several scenarios that dealt with the family. They all led into a moral discussion that could open into more. Then we discussed different things about the family like who do you live with and do you get along with your siblings/parents. Three of the boys, Sasha (short name for Alexander,VERY popular), Sergei, and Sasha walked home with us and Ira. Hannah was talking to one of the Sashas and he told her that he also goes to an English club by the Mormons. Then he asked Hannah what she believed and she did an amazing job of sharing. He seems open but it will be about building a relationship with him. In fact they invited us to meet them tomorrow and go ice skating!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

2/3/09 - Hannah and I had only one class today at the transport and Erin had a class at the Co-op school. When we arrived Ms. Margarita told us she wanted us to speak about the American home. To take up time we told about everything we could think of. We labeled every part of the front of a house, we then told about different animals we have in our yards, birds, flowers, trees, BBQs, hunting, fishing, just anything we could think of. Next was the living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Luckily by the time we finished all of this is we only had 15 minutes left and we had them talk about their weekends. Alona, the girl we recently had lunch with, came over to study English with Erin. She is getting ready to take a test this Saturday to see if she can study abroad. Then in the evening we went to SMS, we met up with a friend of Hannah's named Sasha and he joined us. The rest of the week is pretty light but next week will be very busy. We start classes at a new school. Erin is hoping to talk to another teacher at the Co-op school about bringing Hannah in since she has a business degree. please pray about this because our schedule is filling up and it would be helpful if we could start splitting up and taking different classes. Erin can't possibly teach all the classes that the Co-op school wants her to. We are also talking to another teacher at the Translator college to see if we can teach there as well.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Today was a FULL day. We started this morning by meeting Maya so she could take us to her school. We were meeting with the English teachers at her school, Ag University, to see if we could get into the classrooms. As we were walking up the stairs Maya pointed out a circle of students and she said that they were believers who were praying for us and that we would be able to get into their school. We met with the teacher and the first thing she said was how wonderful she thought the idea of bringing in native speakers was. Prayers answered. So we have class there next Tuesday and she is going to try and arrange another class with post-graduate students. After that we had to head to our first lesson at the Ag College (different from Ag University, so confusing). There was a room full of 28 students when we arrived. It was a rough lesson but Erin was amazing and constantly kept things going. The students did participate and laughed a lot, mostly at us I think but at least they weren't bored. The first lesson is always the hardest because you do not know the English level of the students. But we were invited back next week so guess we weren't that bad. We then had a 3 hour break before we hosted the church girls' meeting at our apartment. The girls at the church started something similar to an accountability group where they can discuss what it means to be a Christian woman. Tonight we talked about marriage and how the woman is to be the helper. Ideas that seem common nature to us are so foreign to them. The women in the past have been so repressed so independence and leadership is something that is new to this generation. It was an amazing meeting, we had 15 girls and a woman from the church who led the discussion! Our schedule is really starting to fill up and Dasha gave Erin the number of her professor at the Translator school so we may have classes there as well. God is sure keeping us busy!
Today, Feb. 2, is my Mamaw's birthday. She passed away this past December. She was an amazing woman who devoted her life to her family and missions. I had told Erin and Hannah that today maybe an emotional day for me. So they plotted and this is what I got this morning.
Roses and a Napoleon cake, which is the best cake in the world. God has blessed me with wonderful roomies! 

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Today was a long day and resulted in a headache. We had service today from 1-3, family time from 3-4, and youth meeting from 6-8. The church had the Lord's Supper this morning and unlike in America they use real wine in those cups. The headache resulted from good intentions. The girls that we have become close to always want to help us and translate for us. But in church we all feel that it is a big distraction. We do not mind it when they translate the main points but they like translate every word. So I had Nastaya translating for me and Ira was translating for Erin and then Maya joined us and translated for Hannah! I had Nastaya in one ear and I could hear Maya in the other and then the pastor speaking quite loudly right in front of me. So my head had trouble figuring out what to listen to and it just resulted in a large headache. So we left family time early. Youth meeting this evening went really well, the Americans even joined in on the game! Tomorrow we are going to meet with the directors of Maya's college so please pray that we have an opportunity to get into this school.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Today was really busy! Luckily we did not have to be anywhere till 12. Today we met with one of Hannah's unbeliever friends that she had been in contact with. We had lunch with her and had a great time. Hannah stayed with her most of the afternoon. Erin and I went to Ira's to help with english club. We had 3 girls, Ina, Vlada, and Nina. We had one lone boy named Artchom and a young man our age from the church came to help, Kolsta. We studied the good Samaritan and even acted it out, which the kids loved. Erin and I stayed for Tanya's small group. There were about 13 of us. It was a long evening and I got language overload. Nastaya is so sweet to translate but still sitting there for 2 and 1/2 hours not really understanding anything does a number on your head! So we came home and Hannah was really sweet and made dinner. So we then settled in for the night.
9/30/09 - Today was a really light day, not much to do. We only had one class to teach at the Transport school. We then came home for a day of leisure. Hannah went in the afternoon to work on some english with Pasha. We got some rest because we were expecting Maya, Ira and Tanya over later in the evening. The came over after their choir practice at about 9:30. We had some great conversations and then headed to bed.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Thursday = Saturday. Today was our day off. We slept in late and we had a grand adventure to McDonald's. It does not sound like much but to get to go to McDonald's was such a treat. There isn't really fast food here and we had to go all the way across town to get to McD's. But it was so worth it! So after our American food fix we went to the bazaar, which is kinda like a flea market. Lots of booths set up and everything real cheap. Like I got a Versace purse for $20. Ok so it's not real but who cares! Then we did some looking around and decided this is where we will be getting our souvenirs, they do have nice things for decent prices. That took up most of our day and we headed home to rest before prayer meeting. Prayer meeting went well and it was nice to meet more people from the church. Tomorrow is going to be extremely busy so we are going to get plenty of rest tonight!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

So today we actually had to get up early. Sveta, a young woman from the church, asked the director of her college if we could come and teach. So we had a meeting with him this morning and Ira came along to translate. The director was very kind and said he would have no problem with us being there. God definitely paved our way into this school. We then went to the building next door to meet one of the English teachers and she said she would be so glad to have us there. So that is where we are headed Friday morning. The only other things we had today was our English club in the evening. We were all a bit nervous about how it would go. There were about 15 students that came. We did introductions, a game, grammar, and then discussion time. We divided into two groups for discussion. The topic was hometowns but my entire group was from Poltava so we also discussed other topics. They loved to hear me try and speak the little Russian I know. Sasha asked me if we (English speakers) laugh at them when they try to speak English and I said no. He then preceded to tell me that they DO laugh at me when I try to speak Russian. Now how encouraging is that? One of the people that came was the English teacher from Ira's school, she came to practice speaking English. After the class she mentioned that she is going to speak with the director of the daughter's school to see if we can go there as well. God has opened so many doors and I know it is because of all the prayers from you guys. Thank you so much for the prayers because we are seeing results!
Yesterday 9/27/09: Hannah and I got to go the Transport college all by ourselves and teach. Erin was suppose to at the Co-op college but she has to get registered so she had to cancel her class. So Hannah and I were left to teach, poor kids. We managed to get on the right bus and were even early. It was a new class of kids so we got to go through all the introductions which took up time. The only problem was that the class was an hour and twenty minutes long! So after introductions thank goodness some asked about holidays. They asked mainly about Halloween but to take up time we told about every single one of our holidays. It was a great opportunity to bring in Christ like when explaining about Christmas and Easter. They also learned about 4th of July and even Veteran's Day. I never realized how some of the things we do at holidays is quite ridiculous till I had to explain in to someone. Like at Easter with the Easter bunny, I mean really! But we finally made it through the class. We met Erin back at the apartment and she had a rough morning with getting registered. That afternoon we had a meeting with Vova to discuss what we were going to teach in the English club on Wednesday. In the evening the church has SMS meetings which are like our youth meetings. Erin had to get one more thing taken care for her registration and had to walk down a creepy street so I went with her and then we met Hannah at SMS. Hannah and I get to look forward to being registered in April. Yep, in April I will become an alien, congratulations Mom. But SMS went really well and there was a large crowd. There is a muslim boy from north Africa, "Steven", who Erin says comes to SMS every week. Please pray for him because God is most certainly working in his life.

Laundry: We put a very tiny load into an extremely tiny washer and then hang it on a line that is over my head on the enclosed balcony. The washers here have an extreme spin cycle that ones in the states don't so clothes dry fast once on the line.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Our first assignment of the day was to teach a class at Transport at 12:20. Which was good because Hannah and I stayed up till 3:30 AM talking! Today we taught a different class and I recognized about 8 of the boys from classes I taught in March. Our lesson was on the education system in America. How do you explain something that you yourself don't really understand to someone who does not speak English and to whom most of the ideas are foreign? Here they do not study every subject when they are young but focus on Ukrainian literature. In college they go to a certain college that pertains to what they want to do, not go to college and then figure it out. After class we rode the buses and trolleys around to learn some of the routes. Then it was home. Hannah and I were in charge of dinner, we cooked mac and cheese with chicken thrown in. The only problem was we had to add our own cheese and it did not melt the way we wanted it to. So it did not look pretty but it tasted good! Nastya came over later and brought a friend named Dasha. We just talked for several hours. Tomorrow should be fun because we were asked to teach another class at Transport but Erin already teaches a class at the same time in the Co-op school (business college). So Hannah and I are going to be going and teaching on our own. That could be fun and dangerous at the same time. Please pray about the Co-op college, normally groups in the past have had no problem getting in but this time they won't let anyone in who doesn't have an English and teaching degree. Luckily Erin has both, just pray that God will open more doors and opportunities at this school. Also tomorrow Erin has to fill out some forms for the Ukrainian government so she can be a legal alien. I can't help but laugh when she says that! But it is off to bed since I did not rest much last night.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I finally uploaded some pictures.

First this is our Soviet teacups that came with the apartment. Tons upon tons of them were made during the Soviet era so everyone has them.


Hannah is in the brown and Erin is in the blue.

These are some of the girls from the English club. They are Vlada, Ina, and Kate.



We had church today for about 2 hours. The only black shoes I have here have heels on them and I was not excited about wearing them. Erin helped me to not slip on our way to church. I had been doing so well when some of the boys from the church came up behind us. The boys have this horrible game of pushing the girls down in the snow. I figured Erin and I were safe because it was Sunday, no such luck. Pushkin grabbed me from behind and pulled me to the ground and Roma got Erin. Luckily we were not down for long so there was not a lot of snow on us. Nastya translated for us so we knew what was going on during the service. After the service is family time at the Christian Center next door, just time to eat and fellowship. We were invited to go on a youth trip so we went to the informational meeting. But we can't go because we would miss too many class. We were suppose to have girls night but everyone was too busy. So we went to the grocery to get food and came back for dinner and a movie. It has been nice in the evenings to spend time together and get to know each other.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

We got to sleep in this morning and I slept till 10. It was so nice to get some rest. Around noon we left to go to Ira's where she hosts an English club for middle school girls. It took an hour to ride the bus across town and to walk. We had 5 girls come today and they were so incredibly excited to be there. Erin does grammar and English lessons using Bible stories, genius I know! Today we did Jesus feeds 5000. The girls went over some new vocabulary that was used in the story and went over past tenses that were used. They then read the story and translated it into Russian so that Ira could be sure they understood. These girls have not been exposed to scripture before so this is a great opportunity. Tonight the church's young people have several small groups that meet. I had planned to go to one with Hannah but my cold has continued to progress. So I came back to the apartment with Erin to get some rest before our crazy day tomorrow.

Friday, January 23, 2009

To Erica: The ovens over here do not cook like ours and do not have a temperature setting. You have to light the gas under the coil to get it to heat up. There is a thermometer in F in the oven. It also does not stop at a certain temperature either it just keeps heating up. So you have to put in when it gets to your temp and then keep a CLOSE eye on it. So we cook more on the stove top.
Today we started teaching in the Transport College. Other groups have worked in this college including me. The teacher, Ms. Margarita, was so excited to have us although she missed having my uncle Scotty there. The class today was 10 boys and one of the directors of the school, Igor. Igor joins in on the classes because he too wants to learn english. We started off by introducing ourselves and telling about our families. The students were then free to ask us questions and they wanted to hear interesting stories about our lives. Which I don't have any that would really be good for a class setting. Hannah then reviewed body parts and I reviewed personality traits. I absolutely loved being back in this school. Ms. Margarita has asked us to come back and to teach 2 more classes. God has opened the door here just pray he opens the doors in other universities. For lunch we went to a pizza parlor and it was so good. I got a 20 cm pizza and coke for about 3 dollars, jealous? We then came back to the apartment to rest before our evening schedule. Erin tutors a young man from the church on Fridays named Pasha. So we went with her to help. He is a really great young man who is eager to learn. We also met with Ira who is a very active church youth who is a teacher. She invites middle school age kids over to her home for English on Saturdays. She asked us to help her so we met with her to go over what Bible story we would tell. The kids are suppose to be building a snowman tomorrow but Erin said that my cold sounds like it has moved into my chest and that it would be wise if we didn't participate. Then home for rest and dinner. We made a chicken and broccoli alfredo casserole. During dinner we watched Psych which is one of Erin's favorite shows. We are expecting quite a few guests tonight, the youth from the church want to come and visit. Youth here can be from the ages of 13-30, so most of them are only a few years young than we are. Oh! By the way I have been given an Ukrainian name so I am now Nadia! But I am so excited about all that we are getting to do and I thank God for all that he has prepared for us.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

So the internet has been figured out thankfully. There is way more snow here than in Kyiv. It is piled so high on the side of the road. The train was long and we were so tired when we got here. Erin is fantastic! God has really blessed us with her. She has gone through so much like figuring out where things are so we don't have to. The three of us are going to get along great. Today Mike took us shopping and we got everything we might need like food, blankets, and other things. That took up most of the day. We had prayer meeting tonight and it is NOTHING like our prayer meetings. First, Ukrainians stand when they pray and tonight we prayed for over an hour. In the beginning I hated what we were doing, I could pray just fine sitting at home. But then I remembered a song Ken Wilson played about what if his people prayed. Prayer is so powerful and I realized this is what it's about, coming together and talking to God. There were a large amount of people there and we first all prayed together and then in small groups. There were a good number of people that I remembered from the week I spent here last March. The Ukrainians here want you to know Russian SO badly! So Erin has started teaching us and I know most of the Russian alphabet that has 31 letters to our 26. We are also learning objects, Erin has labels on everything! We are jumping straight into our work and are teaching tomorrow. We are going to my favorite school, the Transport College. Here they have separate colleges for each vocation. The students at the Transport College are mostly boys and their English is usually poor. But they are the most eager to learn. So there is not slowing down now!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

We made it safely to Poltava. Wireless is on the fritz so will try to write more later.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today was my last day in Kyiv. I leave tomorrow at 5 PM for Poltava. Mike, the missionary I will work with is coming into town to ride the train with us. Today we went over safety and insurance issues. I learned that if I break a bone it doesn't cost me anything. So I guess that means that I will be trying any crazy stunt! This evening we all went to different missionaries homes for dinner. Mary Ann and I went to Charles and Bonnie's home and Elizabeth was there also. Elizabeth and Bonnie both work with teachers and try to teach them Christian ethics so that they influence the kids that they teach. I was so excited to talk to them about this because this something I could do one day. I learned that Mr. Charles was at the New Orleans seminary at that same time my Papaw was, not sure they knew one another though. Ms. Bonnie loved the gift I brought her, it is customary to bring a gift to your host. My Mamaw had made me some tea towels to bring and she loved it and thought it was really special when I told her who made it and how much Mamaw had meant to me. They fed us Mexican soup, cheese bread, chips, cream cheese brownies and ice cream cream. We all watched Obama's inauguration. I must say that he is a wonderful speaker! It was strange though to be watching such a historical moment in America's history and to be in a completely different country. After dinner we met up with Sarah and Joanna to go to the grocery and get things for breakfast. We were walking back through the park when I decided I wanted to slide down the ice. It quickly began a big game and was so much fun.


I can hardly believe that I have been here a week and now I have to leave all the friends I have made. Sorry Mom, but I can already tell that I am not going to want to come home in May. Please be praying for all of our safety as Hannah and I leave tomorrow and the others leave for Prague on Thursday.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Today was a down day where we got to rest. In orientation we discussed more on personalities and then types of ministries we could have in our cities. We were going to go shopping but we all looked so tired that Darrel decided we should go home and rest. Which it was so nice to get a nap because I have developed a sore throat. Yes to all the moms I have taken medicine! The boys were in charge of dinner tonight. They first brought out appetizers that included apples, carrots and turkey hearts. I just could not pass up the great opportunity, I mean how many times would I be offered turkey hearts? They are small and tasted just like the dark meat of a turkey. Now I did not eat the vein portions at the top but the bottom of the heart (ventricles) was quite meaty. The main meal was chicken, potatoes and a cabbage salad. For dessert they had made brownies. The rest of the evening was spent visiting with each other as our time in Kyiv (Ukrainian spelling) comes to an end.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

It has snowed heavily all day today! This morning the four of us girls went to Transformation church with Darrel. This morning also marks the first time I fell from the ice. And when I do something I do it well, I put on quite a show! Luckily I am fine and I know it won't be the last time. Service here lasts for a good 2 hours and the church does not have in-door heating. Almost everything was in Ukrainian in the service except for a few songs that were in Russian. The pastor of the church was not there so we had a guest speaker. It happened to be a man from Poltava and it turned out to the first person I heard preach when I was in Poltava. Isn't God funny! I could not recall a name but I certainly recognized him. I was able to follow along with the Bible verses and God showed me my own sermon. It is amazing how I can sit in a 2 hour service not understanding anything anyone is saying and come out filled by God's word! We then went out to eat and I tried some new food, I had a piece of cake that tasted like BBQ. I have no clue how you cook a cake and it turn out like BBQ! And yes Erica it was disgusting!!! I was then dropped off near my apartment and went back and got some rest. This evening we all went to a small plant church that met in a library. It was made up mostly of Americans that are missionaries so we had someone to translate. We then all decided to go to McDonald's for supper. On the way back on the metro we all made such a scene being loud Americans. But it was so nice to be able to goof off with each other and laugh!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

It was so nice to sleep in this morning and get some much needed rest! Hannah's cousin came to Ukraine 3 years ago and met a girl here that she really connected to and has stayed in touch with. So she gave Hannah her name and number so we could try and meet her. Hannah was able to set up a meeting with her today at Gloria Jeans (Starbucks of Ukraine). The four of us Hands On girls went, so no one who really knew the city. We had coffee with Oksana and spent a good hour and a half talking with her. She asked us where we were going to go to church tomorrow and we told her a church named Transformation. She looked so surprised and said my father is the pastor of that church! Only God could have us having coffee with the pastor's daughter out of the blue. We then tried to get to some of the cathedrals, we got lost. Not completely lost though we did make it home... eventually. We had dinner at Darrel and Kimberly's (our supervisors) and they fed us soup and grilled cheese. It was so good because today was the first time I actually felt cold. We then watched the film The Ultimate Gift, so good but a tear jerker. Walking home we pass through a park where kids have slid down a small hill and made it extra slick. Sarah and Mary Ann were attempting to go down and we attracted a small crowd. We left but when we turn around we saw many of the adults who had been watching us trying to slide down. One large guy went down and completely wiped out! It was so funny, the guy was fine and actually tried again. It was nice to see some adults having fun, not something one sees around here.

Friday, January 16, 2009

It snowed today! It was so beautiful and came down like mist. We had a morning session on just what we would be doing for the next 4 months and how we were feeling, like a good check up. We then headed to the Famine Museum.


This is the entrance to the Famine Museum. In 1932-1933 Stalin created a famine in Ukraine. He told the people that there was a famine everywhere (not true) and that they should give up portions of their food. Stalin created the famine to force the people of Ukraine to join the Soviet Union.
More people died in the famine than all of the others killed in WW2 on both side combined. I was told (don't quote) that roughly 20 million people died during the famine.

This evening was our turn to cook, thank goodness my roomies are good cooks! We fixed baked potatoes and a cabbage salad. There were many toppings: a garlic and cheese sauce (great!), shredded cheese, mushrooms, pork (we thought the package was bacon), and onions. Here in Ukraine you must make almost everything from scratch, no Betty Crocker or Hamburger Helper. For dessert we fixed apple crisp and it was served with ice cream. I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and having a day of rest. See, for missionaries Sunday is our busy day so we have to make another day our day of rest.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Personality. The personalities of people can make or break a group. It is good to know how your team members react to different situations and what pushes their buttons. This morning we spent time telling about our personalities and what to do if we are upset. This way our team members know how to help the situation and not make it worse. God has always blessed me with great team members. But I have seen some groups fall apart and ruin everything they were working for. In the afternoon we were joined by Roma and Svetlana and went to the Ukrainian WW2 museum, they were there to translate for us. I did not know that there were concentration camps here. They had tons of pictures (good thing since I can't read anything) of people and I was surprised to see so many women that served in the forces.

These are my journeywomen roommates Mary Ann and Sarah. We are in front of the museum that is under "Big Mama". No kidding, that's what Ukrainians call her!


This is a view of Kiev showing a cathedral in the background and one of their eternal flames. The walk way leads out from the museum to the city. By the way the flame it not on and we decided it is because of the natural gas crisis, but really we don't know.


This is their smaller eternal flame (which is on). If you stand back and squint it looks like the Washington Monument in DC. So close to home, yet so far away!

That evening Mary, Hannah, Joanna, and Whitney were in charge of cooking dinner. They fixed fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, peach cobbler, and there was even sweet tea! It was a great southern meal, bet you thought I wouldn't find anything normal to eat!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

This morning we had a session on Orthodoxy and Catholicism. It was very interesting to find out what the main religions here believe and how active the people really are in their faith. They believe that if they belong to the church then they have salvation, that God has no active part in their lives, there is no personal relationship. We then had free time for lunch and a bit of a walk. These are the girls, minus Mary Ann and Sarah. It's Hannah, me, Mary, Joanna, and Whitney. Hannah is going to be working with me in Poltava, Mary in a journeywoman and Joanna will be here in Kiev, and Whitney is going to Prague.




We then had a session and brainstormed on ideas of how to teach English. We had to consider different levels of English ability. Then we got to go back home and I got a nap! In the evening we went to a church to help teach English. There were 3 students that came (it was the first week after a break, usually there are more). Our group did not teach because we did not want to scare the kids with so many people. But we are getting ready to go to bed and looking forward to tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

These are pictures from my window in the apartment. Most of the buildings were built during communism. Ukraine has been freed from communism since 1991. The apartments are mostly two bedrooms and maybe a living room that at night is used for a bedroom. Families of all sizes from 1 to 6 or more live in these. As you can see there is plenty of snow!




This is St. Michael's Cathedral.



This is St. Sophia's Cathedral.



In the center of Kiev is a statue that has the distances to many different cities in Ukraine from Kiev. This marker is for Poltava, where I will be shortly, and it shows that it is 304KM away.

Today was our first day of orientation. We rode the transit to the IMB office, thankfully not at rush hour. We spent the morning getting to know each other and telling our stories of how we chose the Ukraine. We went to a Ukrainian restaurant, I had chicken and rice wrapped in cabbage, yes mom I had cabbage! After lunch we had Metro Orientation. This was to get us familiar with the metro (like a subway) and teaching us how to switch lines. We went to the down town area to do a bit of touring. We saw St. Sophia's Cathedral and St. Michael's Cathedral. They are both so beautiful and decorated with gold on the inside. But the people that are there are lighting candles for prayers and kissing pictures of Jesus. It makes me wonder if they have a personal relationship with Christ. They all seem like they have no hope. It gets dark here around 4:30PM so we headed back to make supper. We are also celebrating Caleb's (journeyman) 21st birthday. Please pray for his family, his mother is very ill. But other than that it was pretty warm today, about 38F. Wrapped in all of these layers I can't really tell how cold it is on the outside of them!