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JessichkaAn American Girl In L'viv |
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December 18 I'm thankful for...Okay, so I know Thanksgiving was almost a month ago, but I've been busy and let's face it, I'm pretty much the Queen of Procrastination! But hey, better late than never, right?
That being said, here's the latest installment of this crazy adventure we call life. Add a little Ukraine and "crazy" doesn't even BEGIN to describe it!
My latest escapade began the day before Thanksgiving. I was getting ready for my day and was just about to leave for the student center. I turned on the light in the entry way so I would have light to put my shoes on and the bulb, along with the rest of the electricity went out. When the bulb burned out I heard a small "click" above in the breaker box. When Stacy was showing me around the apartment and introducing all of the little quarks, she told me that sometimes the electricity will go out and if it's just for the apartment, and not the entire building, all you have to do is pop this little button back in and you're good to go. Well I drug out the huge and slightly heavy ladder, climbed up and popped the little blue button back in. I climbed back down and tried the lights, no luck. I climbed up again, and repeated the attempt to restore my electricity. Again, no luck. I had to be at the SC for a small group so I couldn't stay at the apartment and try to fix it myself. When I got to the SC I told Lubchick about my dilemma and he said he'd go over to the apartment and see if he could fix it. I gave him my keys and he was off. He came back a few hours later and told me he had tried to fix it and had even bought a different part but he wasn't able to fix the problem. He said he had called an electrician and they should be there around 5.
Earlier that week Yura had told me he was going to be dancing at the Opera House on Wednesday night and he might be able to get a free ticket for me. He told me he would be dancing while this guy sang (it was his concert) and that I probably wouldn't like the music. I said I didn't care, I was just happy to have a chance to see him dance. He was able to get the ticket and a few more and I was supposed to pick them up from him at the Opera House at 5:30 on Wednesday before the show which started at 6.
I thought I would have enough time to eat before I would need to get the tickets and be back at the apartment for the electrician but pizza, along with everything else in Ukraine, is pretty slow and not concerned with time. It ended up taking longer than I thought to grab a bite to eat and when we (Maryanka: one of the girls who had come to eat with me, and I) left the pizza parlor I headed for the Opera House to get the tickets and gave Maryanka the keys to the apartment so she could go there and be waiting for the electrician. I pretty much ran to the Opera House, got the tickets from Yura (who was running as well as he was in the middle of rehearsal) and ran back to the apartment. I made it to the apartment and the electrician wasn't there yet. I was feeling pretty good. Well, the electrician never showed (welcome to Ukraine) and I finally left to go see Yura dance and figured I'd mess with the electricity the next day. I wasn't even thinking about how I was supposed to cook 2 dishes to bring for Thanksgiving, but we'll get to that later!
I got to the Opera House after the show had already started but at least I was there! Yura said they would be dancing about 7 times during the concert and I was only about 15 minutes late, so I wasn't too worried. As I was walking in, this guy who was kind of sitting in the shadows looking VERY UNOFFICIAL walks up to me and starts speaking to me in Ukrainian. I tell him, in Ukrainian, "I don't understand" and he's like, "what do you not understand?" I was like, "uhhh...." since I didn't know how to tell him I speak about this much (l-l) Ukrainian. Finally I see some other people come in and they hand him their tickets. I was like, "oh, okay, I'm sorry!" He just kind of looked at me like I was a jerk, tore my ticket and let me go. Okay, one hurdle down! Next step, find my seat. Before I got there I had Maryanka read the ticket for me and tell me where I was supposed to sit. She told me the 3rd balcony so now my mission was to find out where the 3rd balcony was. I wandered around for a while trying my best to find my seat but I know I looked completely lost! I finally just started handing my ticket to people who worked there and watched as they pointed me in the right direction and told me (in Ukrainian) where to go. At about the 4th attempt, I found the 3rd balcony and my seat. Well, kind of, I found the 3rd balcony and just sat in an empty seat. Then I figured out where MY seat was and went and sat. I thought I could be quick and move past the 4 older people on the end to my seat but I guess they didn't think so because one of the ladies gave me a dirty look and was yelling at me in Ukrainian. I was like "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" and quickly got to my seat. Yura was right about the music! The guy who's concert it was (I don't even know his name) was like the Ukrainian Tom Jones and he thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread! It was quite entertaining to watch this guy sing! He would stop every now and then and hold his arms out and just wait for the audience to applaud. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud! I finally got to see Yura dance a couple of times and it was great. A little bit later I got an SMS (text message) from 2 of the girls who were meeting me there to see Yura dance as well. I had their tickets as I had gotten them from Yura with mine earlier. They said they were downstairs and were waiting for me to come get them with their tickets so they could come up. I looked to my left and kind of cringed. I would have to scoot past the 4 older people again to get out. I didn't think I'd make it out of there alive! I asked the lady next to me, who seemed to be a bit nicer, if I could pass by once more and she said yes. I very quickly, while apologizing, passed them and made my way downstairs to get the girls. When I got downstairs they were talking to the ticket guy and I was like "oh no, not him again!" but I guess he liked them because they were Ukrainian or something because they told me they talked to him and he said he didn't need to see their tickets. I guess, whatever! The girls and I made our way back up to the 3rd balcony (which, by the way, is the nose-bleed section of the Opera House) and decided to sit somewhere else so we wouldn't have to disturb the fantastic 4. We watched the show for a while which not only included Tom Jones but also his God-daughter, grand daughter and 3 other acts from some school that he helped found or something like that. We were joking about how it was his show and he was hardly singing. The girls had to leave early and couldn't stay till the end of the show so they left and I sat and watched and laughed by myself.
When the show was over, they brought up the house lights and everyone was applauding Tom as he bowed and blew kisses to his adoring fans. Yura was on the stage and I saw him looking around. I waved to him and when he found me, his smile got bigger and so did mine. I was so happy to see him dance!
Yura and I had planned to meet up after the show and he and he would take me to a grocery store and help me get a few last minute things for my Thanksgiving dishes. After the concert he SMSed me and told me to meet him at the same place where I got the tickets from him earlier that day.
Before I went downstairs to meet him, I waited in line to get my coat then stopped by the bathroom. (Okay, so you know how usually when a concert is over in the States, people leave but the people that work there stay to clean up? Not so much in Ukraine) When I opened the bathroom door to leave and go downstairs, EVERYTHING WAS DARK! I was like, "Oh no!" I found my way to the stairs and started walking down to the first floor. As I'm walking down the stair well, more and more lights are turned off. I got to the bottom of the stairs and reached for the double doors to the lobby only to find they were LOCKED!!! I was trapped in the dark stairwell of the Opera House! Thank GOD for this lady who saw me and went to get someone to let me out. I was so relieved until I saw who she brought to release me...THE TICKET GUY! He must have hated me at this point but I didn't care, I just wanted to get out! I thanked the lady and the ticket guy and headed for the door!
Yura sent me an SMS telling me he'd be out in about 10 minutes, so I waited for him by the backstage entrance. I felt like I was someone important or someone who knew someone important. Yura and some of the other dancers came out and he told me we'd go to drop the costumes off then we could go to the store. We dropped the costumes and the other dancers off and went to the store to get what I needed. When we got to the apartment, I thought he would just drop me off and be on his way, but he parked and came up to visit for a bit. Since he was there...I had him look at my electrical problem and see if he could fix it. He couldn't but I thanked him for trying anyway. He stayed for a little bit and we had tea (thank goodness for a gas stove!) and he helped me write down the words to this really pretty Ukrainian worship song that I had stuck in my head. Then he left and I had nothing else to do, nor could I if I had wanted to, so I went to bed.
Lubchick came to the apartment at about 8 the next morning so he could be there when the electrician got there. The electrician showed up this time and fixed the electricity!!! Woo hoo!!! While he was fixing it, I was preparing the 2 dishes I was bringing for Thanksgiving. I probably could have used the oven as it's gas, but I couldn't get it to light and I didn't really want to blow up the apartment, so I just prepared the dishes so they would be ready to pop in the oven when we got to the Miller's house.
Jay and Cameron Hughes, one of the missionary couples, along with their 2 young daughters picked me up around 1ish and we headed over to the Miller's place. Tim and Heather Miller are also a missionary couple who have been here in Ukraine for about 10 years or so. They have 6 children, 4 biological and 2 adopted from Ukraine. They have a fantastic family and I was so thankful to be there along with their other friends. Everybody brought something and combined with what Tim and Heather made we had a TON of food! A true Thanksgiving feast! It's funny, sometimes the holidays don't necessarily feel like the holidays but it felt like Thanksgiving, even though I wasn't with my biological family, I was with my Christian family and I am so thankful for that! We ate, played games and one of the guys even brought a Cowboy's game from a few weeks prior, so we even had American football!
We stayed for a while and I was having fun playing with the kids when Jay and Cameron were ready to go. So I said my good-byes and left with them as they were my ride. When we left it was about 6:30 or so, and Pilgrims starts at 6:30, so I asked Jay and Cameron to drop me off at the SC so I could attend Pilgrims. Vova, one of the students, was giving the message that night and I wanted to be there for that, even though I only understood about 7% of what he said. Still though, he did a great job and I was glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving evening with my Ukrainian family!
After Pilgrims, I went home to LOTS OF ELECTRICITY! At about 10 I got to talk to my mom, aunt, uncle and cousins over the webcam. That was a perfect ending to a wonderful day!
God has blessed me and continues to bless me with so much and I am SO THANKFUL! November 27 Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride - Part 3 (The Finale)So here it is...the end of my long awaited 3 part adventure.
When the guys and I had coffee on Tuesday evening (the 30th), Yura showed me a picture he had taken with his phone earlier that day while he was looking for a coat. He showed me the picture and I started freaking out! It was a picture of a JESSICA STORE!!! I pretty much begged him to take me there and told him that I HAD to see it! He said he would be going back to the market later that week and that I could go with him. I was like, YES!
So that's where we pick up the adventure now...Friday, November 2.
The JESSICA Store: I had spoken to Yura on Thursday night at Pilgrims and he told me he would be going to the market (Pivdenny) the next day but he didn't know what time. He said he'd call me and let me know. Friday morning I got a phone call from him and we decided that we'd meet around noon at the statue of the guy killing the snake (this is very important because there are a gazillion statues around L'viv!). We met at the statue and were off. He was having a suit made for a wedding he was going to be in and needed to stop at the tailor's before we went to Pivdenny. When we got to the tailor's Yura had to try his suit on to make sure everything fit properly. It did and he looked great! While he was changing I was waiting in the "reception" area. One of the ladies who worked there had come out to see how his suit fit, and was still there with me in the reception area. She asked me something and I have no clue what she said, but I was like, yes. She could have asked me if I was a psycho killer for all I know and I said yes. Fun with new languages! After the tailor, we were on our way to Pivdenny and the JESSICA STORE!! We got to the market, parked and started walking. Yura said he hoped he could remember where the store was, and I didn't really understand why he would say this till I got there. Pivdenny is HUGE!!! It's kind of like an outlet mall that goes on FOR-EV-ER! We found the store and, of course, I wanted to take pictures. I stood by the doors and Yura stood back to take my picture. People kept walking by and looking at us like we were crazy. I didn't care; I was at a JESSICA STORE! The flash on my camera wouldn't work properly because the lights on the sign for the store were too bright. I changed the settings on my camera and we finally got a good picture! After that, Yura was like, okay, we're moving on!
We spent the next 4 hours looking for shoes and a nice coat for him for the wedding. While we were looking for shoes for him, I found these super cute boots and HAD to have them! So I bought them! It was around this time that I realized I hadn't actually GONE INSIDE the Jessica store. I could not leave Pivdenny without having been in the store with my name! I told Yura we'd have to find it again so I could go inside and see if the tags on the clothes actually said "Jessica." He agreed and we found our way back to the store. I went inside while Yura stayed outside and waited for me. When I walked in, I walked straight to the back and started looking at the tags on the clothes. And yes...some of the clothes actually said "Jessica!" I was very excited! Well, the sales lady, like any sales lady, came over to me and started to try to sell me stuff. I just played along for a bit trying to figure out how to tell her that I wasn't looking to buy but that the store had my name. I think I had had one Ukrainian lesson with Olia at this point so I knew how to say a few phrases. I tried to tell the lady that my name was Jessica but it didn't work out so well. Instead of saying "Meneh Svate Jessica" (my name is Jessica), I accidentally said "Yak Sprave Jessica." "Yak Sprave" means "How are you?" - I asked the sales lady, "How are you Jessica?" She looked at me like I was crazy and walked away. As I was leaving the store, I realized what I had said and started laughing to myself. Yura asked why I was laughing and I told him. He laughed at me and we kept shopping. We finished our shopping around 5ish and Yura took me back to the student center. It was a good day!
The Recording Studio (Did you know I'm famous?!): Around this time Olia (I also call her Tish) said one of her colleagues was looking for native English speakers to record a few dialogues for her English class. She said she needed 2 male voices and 1 female voice and asked if I would want to do it. I was like, of course! I spoke to Svetlana (the teacher) and she told me when and where we would meet and that she also needed one more male voice. I told her I'd ask around and see if I could find someone. Well, the first time we tried to record, Svetlana was late and we didn't have enough time before one of us had to leave, so we rescheduled for the upcoming Saturday. Luckily, I had met Greg (my new American friend) by this point and asked him if he'd like to record his voice. He was like, "Yeah!" Saturday rolled around and as I was about to start getting ready I got a phone call from Olia saying Svetlana wouldn't be able to make it to the studio and she'd be filling in for her. I was excited because I hadn't seen Olia in a couple of days and it would be good to see her. Then I get another phone call, its Olia again. Now she says Svetlana WILL be able to be there so I'll just see her later. Then I get yet ANOTHER phone call and this time it's from Svetlana. She tells me something happened at the studio, they don't have electricity and they don't know when it will come back on. We reschedule again. FINALLY, the next Wednesday (October 7, my cousin's birthday) we meet up again and record! The dialogue was pretty cheesy about a Ukrainian guy named Pavlo who goes to visit his friends in England. It was pretty funny to have three Americans (Fred-a guy who teaches English at the student center, Greg and myself) acting as one Ukrainian and Brits. But whatever! We recorded in this TINY little room with boxes. We were SOOO close to each other and the little room quickly turned into a sauna. Every now and then, we'd take a break to take a layer of clothes off and breathe. Then it was back into the sauna to continue recording. All together it only took about an hour and a half to record everything. Svetlana asked how much we wanted for payment and we all agreed it wasn't necessary and she could use the money for something else. The fun and memories were payment enough! After we left the studio, Greg and I walked around the center for a while. I took him to this Greek place I like for lunch then we went to Golden Ducat for some yummy hot chocolate. It was a very fun day!
Okay, here is the last story in my long line of adventures and backed up blogs!
Pajama Party: Since there are so many girls involved in Molod' Do Isusa, and since they are all such gems, I decided to throw a pajama party. Because who doesn't like a pajama party?! I made an announcement at Pilgrims and sent text messages to the girls about the party. 11 girls were able to come and they ALL spent the night! There wasn't a free bed in the apartment! The girls started arriving around 7 and helped as I finished preparing the snack-type food. Some girls brought cookies, some brought stuff for salads, some brought yogurt for breakfast. We had so much food! We said a blessing for the night and the food and started eating! After our bellies were nice and full of yummy food, we played a few games of charades and waited for the few late-comers to arrive. Once they got there, I led a small devotion. We read Proverbs 31:10-31 about the "Wife of Noble Character." I told them that although we may not be married just yet, this passage still very much applies to us. We are to lead lives like this and not be just wives, but WOMEN of noble character! After our devotion it was time for more food, games, movies and lots of FELLOWSHIP!!! Some girls played games, but most of them settled down to watch what would be the first movie out of a 3 part chick-flick movie marathon. I made brownies and popcorn and we had a blast! Around 4:30/5 I couldn't stay up any longer and decided to go to bed about half way through the 3rd movie. As I said, there wasn't an empty bed to be found, not even an empty spot on a bed! There were 3 girls sleeping in Fred and Stacy's room, 4 girls in the boys' room (2 girls in each bunk), 3 girls on the pull out sofa-bed, and me and another girl in my bed. We were packed in tight but it was perfect how there was a spot for everyone! When I woke up the next morning, around 10ish, about half of the girls had already left because they had things they had to do. The remaining girls and I made an "American" breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. At about 12, all of the girls had left and I was back in my bed to take a nap! I'm planning on having another pajama party sometime soon, I'm just not sure when.
So there you have it...my backed up blogs are no longer backed up! Well...unless you count Thanksgiving...and that one is coming your way VERY SOON! November 16 Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride - Part 2 (The Halloween Party...and then some)As you can see from the pictures, the Halloween party was a blast! I wish I could say that it was from the very beginning, and I guess it was, but at the time I didn't think so.
The party was scheduled to start at 6:30 and last till 8:30 (but probably later because we would be watching a scary movie). The day of Halloween, Lubchick and I got the last minute stuff together for the party. He went out to get the food for the party and some girls and I cut up and prepared the food. I was kinda stressed thinking that we wouldn't have it all done by the time the party was supposed to start, but we did!
At about 6:45-7ish I started to get bummed because I didn't think many people were going to come. There were only about 5 people at the SC and to be honest, the "party" was LAME!!! I didn't know what to do to liven it up! Turns out I was stressing WAY too early for Ukrainian time. Here's the thing with Ukraine and Ukrainians...they don't so much believe in being places at a specific time. Except for the Marshutkas that stop running at 11pm, all other times are merely suggestions. I know COMPLETELY understand this concept and am starting to adapt to it. If something is scheduled to start at 6, it's really going to start at 6:15/6:20ish. This is exactly what happened with the Halloween party. People showed up and the party was great, it just happened a little later than I had planned. No biggie. What's really cool is who showed up! Yevhen and Greg came (Evelina and Nop didn't make it), and some of the students from a different group that just meet in the SC but who aren't part of Molod' Do Isusa came. I was beyond excited to see them!
We just hung out and ate for a while then, once more people got there, we started playing games. Greg suggested "Sardines" in the dark, so we played, or I should say we tried to play. Because there were so many people and the SC isn't very big and doesn't have many places to hide, we didn't play for too long. There are only so many places for one person to hide and forget about 30 people hiding in the same spot! Then one of the Ukrainians (a guy from the different student group) suggested a game. So we played. It was this fun game where every person has some type of "sign" they make with their body. Everybody stands in a circle with one person in the middle. The person in the middle closes their eyes and counts to 10 while the rest of the group start passing signs to one another. When the middle person opens their eyes, they have to try to figure out who will sign next and tag that person before they can pass the sign on. It's kinda hard to explain in a blog, but it was lots of fun! So much fun, in fact, that I had to stop the game to do my super short Halloween "lesson/message." I carved a pumpkin in front of everyone and explained a little bit about Halloween, where and who it came from and what the Christian view of Halloween is. Then, when I was gutting the pumpkin I told them how we were like the pumpkin before God "carves and molds" us. I told them how he takes all the bad stuff out of us, carves us in His image and puts His light inside of us for others to see. When I was finished we had a Jack-O-Lantern with a whole new meaning. It was great! We hung out for a little bit more after that then it was time for the movie! We ate freshly popped popcorn and watched "The Grudge"...in Russian! It was no big deal for me because I've already seen the movie, actually, I'm the one that picked it for the movie. Greg however, didn't exactly understand what was going on. Yevhen would translate for him every now and then but he got the jist of it, kinda like I got the jist of "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" in Russian! Ahh, American adventures!
After the movie the party was pretty much over and people started to go home and I started to clean. Lubchick and I decided we'd do most of the cleaning the next day and just decided to go home. Yevhen and Greg live in the same direction as me so we walked home together. On the way, we saw The Coffee-In. Greg noticed that they were having some sort of Halloween night/party and suggested we go check it out and maybe have a cup of coffee. So we went in. It was crazy! The lights were dimmed even lower than they normally are, there was a DJ and a bunch of people dressed up in costumes. As we walked in some guys who were in a corner called us over and tried to get us to take shots of vodka with them. I was like, "Ahhh! Crazy Ukrainian men in costumes trying to get me to take shots of vodka with them!!" I told them no thank you and just stood there as they put a shot in my hand. So there we stood, the 3 of us holding our shots of vodka, Greg and I having close to no clue what was going on as Yevhen talked to the guys. They were nice guys, a bit intoxicated, but nice. I changed the subject from them trying to get us to take shots to this one guy and his hat. He was dressed as a vampire and had a really cool top hat and I wanted to take a picture with it. I asked Yevhen to ask him if I could and he was like, with the guy and the hat or just the hat? I told him I'd take a picture with the guy too, but I also wanted a picture of just me and the hat. The guy was super nice and was like, "yeah!" He pulled up a bar stool an told me to sit on it. I sat and he was behind me. I thought we were just going to take a normal "cheese" picture, but I guess he was really in the Halloween spirit because before I knew it, he was REALLY close to me acting like he was going to bite my neck! Again, another "Ahh!" moment! He kept telling me to relax but I was like, pretending to be bitten by a vampire isn't so much a "relaxed" position. Had Yevhen and Greg not been there, I would have been a bit scared, but they were there and I knew I was okay. Also, I found out later that apparently The Coffee-Inn, since it's also a bar, has security! Greg told me, after we had left, that when the vampire guy got really close to me to take the picture, the "security" guy started walking up to make sure everything was okay. That made me feel good! So anyway, I took a few pictures with the vampire guy then asked if I could take a picture with just me and his hat. He was like, "sure!", so I did. The pictures on my camera were coming out looking very cloudy because the smoke in the room would reflect the flash and it would make the picture hard to see. There was a photographer there and he saw what my camera was doing, so he decided to take pictures too. After the photo session, Yevhen suggested that we leave before they tried to get us to drink vodka again. We said bye to our new "friends" and they were like, "come back any time!"
As we were walking out, the 3 of us were just like, "wow! that was COMPLETELY unexpected!!!" But it was fun!
They walked me to my apartment and then went on their way to their house.
And that, my friends...is my HALLOWEEN Adventure! November 14 Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride - Part 1Ok...so here is Part 1 of the SUPER LONG blog I've promised you. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!
Since my last blog I've been SUPER busy and doing lots!
I've eaten REAL hot chocolate at a place called "The Golden Ducat", been to Chevchenkivsky Hi (a famous park here in L'viv), been to the Medical University and saw all kinds of crazy things - including babies in jars, almost didn't have my keys for one night, had Halloween in Ukraine with Ukrainians (and an American), been "bitten" by "vampires" at my new favorite coffee shop on Halloween night, seen/taken pictures in front of/been inside a JESSICA store!, walked all around L'viv in my pink Barbie high heels, eaten fish soup, been to 3 Birthday parties, recorded my voice at a recording studio (did you know I'm famous?!), and had an all girls pajama party.
Like I said, I've been busy!
Now, for the more detailed version!
I'd love to be able to tell you what happened on what day but to be quite honest, I'm doing good to remember everything let alone the day it happened! So that being said, I'll just tell you what happened (in chronological order) and let you know that the events took place sometime between October 17th and today, November 14th.
Shortly after my last blog (I think this was on Friday, October 26th), 2 of the students (Oksana and Olena) wanted to show me some places I hadn't seen around L'viv. So we set out to see the city one afternoon. We went to the historical museum where we had to wear these special slippers over our shoes because the floor was something like 200 years old. The museum itself used to be a palace of some sorts for the Polish King when Ukraine was under Polish rule. The architecture and furniture was really cool. I'm glad I had the girls with me though because the tourguide was speaking Ukrainian (natrually) so if it weren't for the girls, I would have had no clue what was going on. Still though, it was pretty.
After the tour, we went out to the courtyard of the "palace"/museum. It was really pretty and that's where the picture of me standing along the railing is taken.
They wanted to take me to Chevchenkivsky Hi (a famous park in L'viv with historical houses from around Ukraine from the 1800s, kind of like a "George Ranch"), but we didn't have time so we decided to do something else. The girls asked me if I liked hot chocolate because they knew of this great place for hot chocolate. I said of course and that sounded good, so we went to this little coffee house called "The Golden Ducat." When they asked if I liked hot chocolate, I thought they meant hot chocolate to drink, as in nestle hot cocoa. I was mistaken! When they said "hot chocolate" they meant REAL HOT CHOCOLATE...as in freshly melted chocolate in a tiny cup with a tiny spoon. It was delicious! We stayed there long enough to enjoy our chocolate, ice cream and a nice conversation then we headed back to the student center.
On our way back to the student center, we stopped by "Acropolis", or as I like to call it "the greek place", so I could pick up lunch to go. I spoke a little bit of Ukrainian to order, but that's it as my Ukrainian is VERY limited. The guy at the place kept speaking to me in Ukrainian and I kept looking at the girls for them to translate. After I got my lunch and we were outside, the girls told me the guy kept asking me, "why don't you understand me?" Apparently he thought I was UKRAINIAN!! I was very excited because that's a HUGE compliment! The students say when I speak Ukrainian my pronunciation is great and I sound like a native speaker, but I didn't think I was THAT good that a complete stranger would mistake me for a native Ukrainain!
A couple of days later (Tuseday, October 30), I was sitting at the student center working on some stuff when Lubchick got a phone call. He was talking to whoever in Ukrainian then out of nowhere asks me if I want to go to Chevchenkivsky Hi. I was like sure. He asked if I wanted to go right then. I was like, okay but who is taking me? He said a friend of his was in town until February and he had some friends he was showing around and they were going to Chevchenkivsky Hi and asked if I wanted to go. I said, of course but I had to be back by 3 for my Ukrainian lesson with Olya. He told his friend, and everything was set. This is all happening at about noon.
At about 1 the guys got there. Yevhen is the friend of Lubchick who used to be involved in Molod' Do Isusa when he was a student years ago. He now works on a mission ship called "Elida" in Sweeden. His friend Greg was with him and was one of the friends visiting L'viv. Greg is from California and alos works on Elida, that's how he and Yevhen became friends. The guys picked me up and we went to meet up with Yevhen's sister Evelina and their other friend Nesoki (Greg told me to just call him NOP-his initails because it's easier to remember than Nesoki, so I did) Once we were all together we headed off to the park. It took us about 30 minutes by Marshutka (Public Transportation Bus) to get to our stop to walk to the park. We finally got there and the place is really cool. It's neat to see the architecture and materials used back then.
The park is huge and to make a long story short, I talked to Olya and told her that I was going to have to miss my lesson because there was no way I'd be back at the student center before she had to leave for her next class. She said that was fine and we'd just have our lesson later that week, if we could.
With the rest of my day free they invited me to go with them to the Medical University where Yevhen and Evelina graduated. I went and saw some crazy things! The University itself is not that big and looks like any University, but the museums were incredible! We got to visit 2 of the museums on campus. We were the only ones in the museums and I don't know if it's because Yevhen and Evelina are alumni that we were able to see what we saw or what, but regardless, we saw some amazing things! From skeletons and hearts to cross-sections of heads and cyclops babies in jars, we saw some WILD things!
I would have taken pictures but my batteries were dead and I didn't have any extra because I didn't know I'd be going on this adventure! Had I known I would have had an entire supply of batteries! But then again, if I had known I was going on this adventure it wouldn't have been as exciting as everything was spur of the moment!
Anyway, I asked Yevhen if he would take me back to the museums when my mom came to town and he said he would. I will make sure to have my camera and batteries then!
After the Medical University everyone was hungry so we went to have pizza then head home. It was at the pizza parlour that I realized I didn't have my keys! I had left them in my backpack at the student center and didn't think I would need them as I thought I'd be back at the student center by 3 for my lesson. At this point it's about 8:30 and I start to worry until I remember that the boys have their small group on Tuesday nights. I called Vova to see if the guys were still there and he told me they weren't there at all! I forgot that we had switched things around so we could have our Halloween party the next night. Vova told me that Maria (a lady who uses the student center for her prayer group) would be there and if she wasn't there for some reason, he wasn't far from the SC so I could come get his keys from him. Whew!
As we were walking to the student center, we passed some graffiti on the side of a building (which had a pool hall on the first floor). Greg thought this particular graffiti was beautiful and wanted to know what it said. While we were standing there listening to the translation, who would come out of the pool hall but Vova and Yura! I was so excited to see them!
I borrowed Vova's keys, just in case I needed them, went to the SC and got my backpack and keys!
After I had my backpack and keys we went back to the pool hall to give Vova his keys back.
Right next to the pool hall is a new coffee house called "The Coffee-In." I had gone in once before just to look around but hadn't actually been there. Yevhen, Greg and I decided to try it out and asked the guys if they wanted to join us as they were on their last game (Evelina and NOP had gone home because they were tired). Yura said he would but Vova and Nazar decided to go ahead and go home.
So the guys and I went to The Coffee-In! It was great! The atmosphere is so relaxing and inviting! We sat in a room with tiny rocks all over the floor. It was kinda strange but fun at the same time. We felt like we were at an "adult" playground. And to make things even better, there were copics (Ukrainian coins) hidden under the rocks! TREASURE!!!!
We stayed there for a few hours and had a great time just talking. Greg and I made a deal that whenever Yura and Yevhen would start speaking to each other in Ukrainian we would speak to each other in "American." I didn't really think American's had their own language till that night. Speaking in "American" means talking about things that are common to Americans, especially American childhood. We'd talk about movies like "The Sandlot" and "Goonies" and general stuff about our childhood in the 80s and early 90s. It was fun!
We finally decided it was time to go home and Greg and Yevhen walked me home. I told them about the Halloween Party we were having the next night and invited them. They said they'd try to come!
Part 2 - The Halloween Party...and then some
COMING SOON!!!
November 12 SUPER LONG Blog coming your way!Okay, first of all, I want to appologize for not keeping up with my blogs as I have wanted to. LOTS has happened since my last blog and I have SO MUCH to write about! Everything is good, it's just A LOT! I don't have time right now to write all that I want in the detail that I want so I'll write it later.
But know this...a SUPER LONG blog is coming in the very near future! So please check back soon!
I love you all and thank you all for your prayers and and support!
Stay Tuned!!!!!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA !!!! It's already your birthday in Ukraine! 
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