So, today. (or yesterday)

Overall, I’d say it was a good day. I am currently sitting on my little balcony in a rocking chair with the window open. It is very nice. I like hearing people and dogs outside.

I went on two home visits with Tanya and Leonna. They were very eye-opening I guess? That’s kind of a stupid word to describe it. So I’ll try again. These are women who have come to MTU and have decided to keep their babies. I’m not really going to go into full detail or all my thoughts because I’m sure I’ll write an article on it and sure wouldn’t want to spoil it for you :)

The first woman we went to go visit lived a good 20-30 minutes outside the city. We took the bus and when we arrived she came to greet us outside. The place where her, her mother, her younger sister and her new baby lived was one of the old barracks that prisoners used to live in. There was no electricity. I mean, there ya go.

The second family we visited lives on the top floor of an apartment complex. The girl who had the baby refuses to take care of it or acknowledge it, and it was her grandmother (or maybe her mother?) who convinced her to keep it. Either way, the grandmother takes care of the baby and the other little sister who is both mentally and physically disabled. Just wait until you see pictures of their living conditions. One room, two beds, a crib and a table. Not to mention an entire corner of the wall encrusted in mold. It was pretty bad.

I was talking about it with Ira and she said the worst part is that there is no way out for them. The government and the landlords won’t let up and they don’t have enough money to do anything about it. They don’t even have enough money to pay their debt and therefore gain kitchen rights, but since they have the baby the landlord allows them to. Again, yep. I mean what do you really say to that?

The article will describe/have pictures and more explored thoughts. You better read it.

After that, Krystallin and I decided to brave the city. We are going to the village where Pastor Peter’s church is and I needed to wear something that went below my knee (oopsies) so I had to go buy a dress. We walked all the way to the mall (15is minutes) and got a coke at McDonald’s. So nice.

Now I don’t claim to be a Merriweather Lewis or Whateverhisfirstnamewas Clark, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure out where we were or where we were going. Krystallin lives in Chicago and she seemed confident enough. We thought (and we would’ve been right) we found a quicker way to get back to MTU. Needless to say, we waaaaaaay overshot where the street was and ended up taking a 45 minute tour of Zhytomyr. We found where we were (which is pretty impressive) (okay Krystallin found where we were) and made it back. Just about 40 minutes out of the way. It’s fine. We got exercise. And sun. I knew it would happen sometime.

Also they don’t do street signs here. You kind of have to wander down the street and find a word on a building that has the same symbols that is on your map and assume it’s the right way. It’s very weird and difficult. So at least give us that.

Anyways, Ira’s mom made us a delightful dinner and now here I am. I’m pretty tired from our excursion so it’s nice to just sit and relax. After taking a shower, of course.

I need to read my camera manual, or just play with it some more. I can’t seem to get the shots I want, or maybe I just need to be more confident and not care if people look at me weird when I whip out the ole’ Nikon. I must say, my photographic experience has been skewed from the start, because no camera will ever compare to the Canon AE-1 from Papa Lane. It’s the best. Ever. No questions. I will always prefer film over digital, but I guess sometimes that’s not practical. Pshh. But I also must say that I am so lucky to get to use the Nikon for the summer. It is fun learning something new.

Alright, that’s all for now. Maybe more later as I think of it.

Buh-bye now.

lauren