Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Sun Came Out!

Today the sun came out and lifted everyone's mood!

We had some down time today, so we went to the square in the center of town. We'd driven by it many times and had been told it was the largest square in Europe. There happen to be a festival going on this afternoon. It included several ice sculptures and ice structures, some you could even climb up and slide down on. There were also pony rides, a snowboarding ramp, quads, a wind/sail skateboard thingy to ride, and music of course. Ukrainians seem to really love American music. We hear it everywhere we go including in our Opel. Our driver always has American music playing, everything from Bruce Springsteen to Celine Dion.

After walking through the ice exhibit, we decided to take a walk through town. There are many old and beautiful orthodox churches in the area. As we walked from place to place we saw nine weddings parties! I guess it is custom to take pictures at all the various landmarks. We came across a small craft fair as well. Erin bought herself a nesting doll. The only down side of our tour is that we really didn't know what we were looking at! None-the-less, we took a lot of pictures!

After all the walking we went to lunch at Bella Pizza. This was kind of a big deal because it was the first meal we had to order without our facilitator to translate for us. Luckily, we had been there with her before and the waitress remembered us! She brought over an English menu. Whew! We weren't going to starve!

Some other big events in the last couple of days include a trip to Target (can you believe that?), cooking our first meal in the apartment, doing laundry, and figuring out where to take the trash. Big stuff!

Tomorrow we are moving to a bigger apartment. This will allow our facilitator to stay with us. She is currently at home for the weekend to celebrate her grandmother's 85th birthday. She will return Monday morning and we will get back to business!

9 comments:

  1. So cute you guys! Sounds like quite an adventure! I can't wait to hear about how the boys have responded so far...shocked to see you...excited. We will continue to pray. It's been rainy and drab here, but no snow:)

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  2. Hello Harkiv! (well, I know it's really Kharkiv!) Hope you are all doing well and thanks for the updates! I will keep following the blog. Find joy and value in every moment as you will most likely never get to walk this journey again! God will show you many miracles along the way. Some will be big and you won't be able to miss them, but some will be small (like the waitress!) but know that was God thinking about you and helping you out. Sort of like holy translation or Pentecost without the flames! :) Hey, a couple of cool songs for your playlist....Orphan of God by Avalon; Rescue by Jared Anderson; Somebody Love Me by Michael W. Smith. All very appropriate in theme! Adios from Texas. It's VERY cold here! Like 40F. Ick. At least you get snow!

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  3. Brighter days are coming. Sun out some this afternoon, here too. Our street actually got, mostly at least, dry.
    Enjoy the sites while you are there and have time.
    Looking forward to hearing about the sites from the girls.
    And, of course, to seeing the boys touch down here.
    Love and prayers always,

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  4. Yeah! I love seeing the pictures:) Ukraine certainly looks different in the winter. I wasn't even thinking about how depressing it could be there with NO SUNSHINE. It sounds like you are having a good weekend and taking advantage of seeing the sites. We pray that things are going smoothly and that you will have a court date soon.

    TODAY'S ENCOURAGING WORD - 1/24/2009

    Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
    No one comes to the Father except through me."
    --John 14:6, NLT

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  5. HI girls! Loved the picture. Rachel still has a hard time believeing you are there and that the boys are coming forever! We all love reading the blog and catching up with you. sending our love

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  6. Oh, loved the ice sculptures. What a wonderful experience for you all. What's on the schedule for Monday? Are you going to try one of the local churches? Well, got to put the homemade cinnamon rolls in for Sara and Dan, wish you were here, too.

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  7. You guys are going to have the coolest Christmas card/picture to send out next year. I so wish I was there with you guys!! Do they fill up your car with gas over there or does the customer do it?

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  8. That sculpture is quite impressive!! Glad to hear things are continuing to go as planned. I bet the boys were so glad to see all of you!

    Love,
    The Santos Family

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  9. It's been great to you on this journey! Cool ice sculptures! Some much for the hot whether.

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