back from the mountains!

so i'm back from our mid-trip adventure and about ready to have another one in the next few weeks!


tuesday night we boarded a train that took us to a village about 2 1/2 hours outside of zhytomyr. there we waited for our big train which took us all the way to another village (i don't remember any of the names of the cities we were in except l'viv. apologiez) closer to the one we were staying at. ooh this is confusing and not fun. 


it was a night train, so we got to sleep on it! fun! i climbed up on the top bunk thing and the window was open right by my face the whole night sooo aside from the snores of the train and the bursting of my eardrums as we passed other trains, it was fairly nice. i didn't sleep sooo well, but it was pretty kewl. also, i realized that snoring completely grosses me out. no offense to anyone who snores, i'll just sleep in a different room. honestly it makes me want to gag. and then punch someone because it keeps me up worse than anything else.


anyways, so we got to this town and boarded a mashutka (yeah i dunno) which is like a mini charter bus a little bigger than a 16 passenger van. we rode that for a few hours to this beautiful log cabin in the foothills of the carpathian mountains. i wish i had pictures, but i used the ole canon all week so i'll have to wait to get those developed. it was completely beautiful. and it was rainy and cold the whole time, which sounds super lame, but it was actually so refreshing. 


the three days there consisted mainly of taking naps, reading, relaxing in general and eating. it was so great. highlights: we went souvenir shopping in this little market place near a suhweet waterfall. i got several pretty neat things for people. don't be offended if i didn't get you anything. kbyeee. also - i lead the way through a mountainside hike. well, like part of the time. but still. a)i went mountain hiking. in my sporty shoes, obviously. that was the most legit outdoorsy i've ever been i think. b)i embraced the role of fearless leader for a period of time. and no, there was no trail. i was very sacagewea. 


lets see...we also got lots of ice cream all the time and were loud americans very often. but it was okay because tanya liked it i think. she's the best.


alright so then saturday morning we loaded up on another mashutka at 6 a.m. to go to l'viv. imagine 65th and allisonville headed towards binford. you know how awful that road is? like you feel like your car is going to fall apart driving over it? that was my life for 3 hours. it was the most ooc road i've ever been on. like every time i started drifting off to sleep, i got whiplash and was jolted awake. i bet it was funny to watch. chris actually fell out of his seat and onto me at one point. the good news is that we thought it would take 6 hours and it actually took 3. soo someone was wayyy off.


l'viv is sooo beautiful. it's really european (apparently) with tall buildings and cobblestone roads and balconies and all that. we walked around and saw some great churches, went to a marketplace, coffeeshops, mcdonald's, ect. 


another highlight: we got accosted on the tram. this is the picture. four americans and one ukrainian. we get on the tram with our money out, ready to pay like good citizens and tourists. in zhytomyr, the conductor person will come and take your money and give you a ticket. you just stand there and do nothing. so we assumed it was the same in l'viv. suddenly two women appear on either side of our group and start saying words to us that we obviously don't understand. i just look down or at tanya wide-eyed and oblivious, duh. she says that we are going to be fined because we didn't pay at the beginning. we had no idea that was the rule, it wasn't written anywhere and no one was there to tell us what to do. so tanya tells them that we're sorry and we'll pay our 1 gryvna (eh, spelling?). they say more things which i assume are "no no no, you're american so you'll pay us 20 each as a fine or we'll call the police." actually i don't assume, that is actually what they said. so instead of jumping off the tram at the next chance and running away, we ended up paying 100 gryvna for what should have been 4. welcome to l'viv! we hate tourists!


so that was fun.


the rest of the city was beautiful and fun and we saw some great never nudes, the grim from harry potter, and masha! she met us there. how fun!


so right before we're about to head to the train station, it is decided that chris is headed straight to the sea with haven, a part of last bell he's working with. so that was fun/stressful/exciting. also, we had a version of mexican food for tanya's birthday. it was really pretty good. 


okay so other best part of the trip: we may or may not have almost gotten deported. 


we're standing in the train station at 9:20 p.m. - our train leaves at 9:40. we're saying goodbye to chris, and figuring out where he's sleeping, ect. right as we turn to leave, two men in armed uniforms walk up to us and start saying things that we, again, don't understand. when they realize we can't understand, they just look at us and say 'passport.' 


uh oh. we don't have our passports with us. they're tucked away in a safe in zhytomyr.


so we're all like, 'heh....uh... what? we don't understand you...?"


tanya gets in feisty mode and starts talking with them, and by this time another police officer has walked up and people are looking. there is minimal translation going on, so we're all standing there dumbfounded.


all we hear is that they're going to kick us off our train that now leaves in 15 minutes and with no refund. and that we're going to get fined - later we find out for 340 gryvna. ouch.


we all get out our paper copies of our passports which is all we have and i hand it to one of the officers. he obviously isn't satisfied with that and says something about how he doesn't know what could be in our bags or if, who knows, we could be part of al-quaeda. we tell him that he can look through our bags if he wants but can he please hurry, because our train leaves in 10 minutes.


as more confusion ensues, masha hands the phone to one of the men - she called ira. duh duh duhhhhhh. it's going downnnnnnnnn. ira is THE MAN. 


she talks to one of them and like 5 minutes later he hangs up the phone and says that we can go this time, but next time you better have your passport and all your paperwork with you or you'll be in big trouble, mister. 


i'm still not quite sure what she said, but ira worked her magic. of course.


so all that to say, we need to carry our passports from now on. oopsies. 


it did make for a good story, though. and an interesting insight into the inner workings of that side of ukrainian culture/politics, ect. maybe i'll try to explore that later.


anways, i slept like a baby on the train until 3 a.m. when we had to switch trains, which is when i started feeling like i actually got hit by one. but then i took a nap in my bed at ira's and had a yummy breakfast and now i'm at the mall doing work before we leave for camp tonight! 


sheesh! it's craziness over here and i love it.


so anyways, i probably will have little to no internet until july 16, which is when the second camp ends. maybe i will in between camps, but i'm not counting on it. 


we'll keep pumping out articles, so keep a lookout for those!


sorry for the mass information overload! 


i don't really know how to end this....


talk to you in 3 weeks ish!


love you all byeeeeeeee.

just so ya know.

we're heading to the mountains today and then straight to camp after that for the next two weeks. soooo updates and embarrassing stories might begin to be few and far between.

hopefully i'll get some chances to tell fun things!

just thought i should let y'all (HAHA that was a joke) know that.

i'm disgusted at myself. that wasn't a funny joke.

kbyeee.

hiii

dear diary,

barry is currently shoving bread and cheese down his throat. nom nom nom.

also, krystallin says, "he kills my computer's soul."

also, orange fanta here is better than at home. so is coke. that's a big statement.

also, it's maksim's birthday. he didn't tell me what he got because he couldn't say the words in english, but i think he's hiding something.

svetia just burned me a celine dion cd. jealous? should be.

yesterday nothing of note happened, so it's fine.

i did get to skype daddy-o on father's day. best.daughter.ever. hah. shutka, shutka. (jokes, jokes).

it only took me 30 minutes to walk to mtu today. and i only briefly went the wrong way once! yay!

here's another picture of koko because she is so cute. and no, i'm not becoming a dog person, don't worry.

kbyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

and yes, those are sporty shoes + jeans. don't judge me.

two words.

Two words.

Pastor Peter.

Yesterday consisted of this: camp, free wifi/espresso (not free) at the mall and THE BEST DINNER PARTY I’ll ever go to in my life.

The American team and Chris, Krystallin, Barry and I all went over to Pastor Peter’s for dinner and I can say it was one of the best nights I think I’ll ever have.

It is not an exaggeration to say that there were 20 courses in this meal. The plates just kept coming, like literally there were 3 rounds of dessert. And Peter and (I don’t know how to spell his wife’s name, so I’m going to type it like I say it) Veera never sat down and ate with us, they were serving the whole time. Let me just list some of the foods that were served: salad, corn, tomatoes with cheese (I tried them), veggies, ham and cheese, more meat, potatoes, more meat, mushrooms, fruit, ice cream and cake. Just to name a few. So good.

After we had reclined to a 45 degree angle and massaged our tummy’s so as to fit in every round and finally digest the food so we can walk out of the house, Peter comes out bearing gifts. He gave each person (at least at the adult table, because yeah, that’s where I sat. Kris and Aunt Vicki, take note for holidays) three Ukrainian chocolate bars, a box of candies and a jar of homemade honey from his beehives. Unbelievable.

Then we all sat around and sang hymns, Peter joining in with his loud and confident baritone voice. I took some videos that I will most definitely post. They’re too good.

It was honestly just one of the best nights I’ve had of food, and hanging out and laughing and praising God. I’ve never seen another person get so much joy out of serving others. Never in my life. The only way we could think to justify eating all this food is that it makes Peter ridiculously happy to feed and serve us this way. The man and his wife are incredible hosts and its impossible not to enjoy yourself and to leave happy, just because he was so joyful.

It was so encouraging! His joy spread to all of us, and his servant heart is an example that I could only wish for.

Let me just be honest, he put American dinner parties to shame.

Anyways, it will long live in my heart as one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had, and hopefully one day I could have a dinner like that for other people.

So let’s all be like Pastor Peter. Bring someone joy and happiness by serving them. Do it today and tell me if it’s worth it (hint: it will be). And it will make everyone around you happy too.

Because despite the hunger, poverty, disabilities, abortion, fear, and death in this world, one thing will always be true: God is good. And we can cling to that, and praise Him every day for it.

Overall, He is good. Remember that forever.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me

Let me hide myself in Thee.

I love you all!

Lauren.

this is what happens.

we are at the mall right now. (krystallin and i)
there is free wifi here. so we have had an americano and lots of espresso.
we watched a little girl bite it hard and start to cry.

nobody plays with me on facebook because of the time difference, so i wander around facebook commenting on random things and writing on random walls. i apologize for the clogging of newsfeeds that i'm sure is happening. also, if that's creepy, it's fine. i sit here and think " oh, it's 5:30 a.m. on a saturday, surely someone is up, right?????" nope. never. also it's almost 11 at home. COME ON.

just kidding. but seriously.

we're about to go have dinner at pastor peter's. aka i will gain 10 lbs in one meal.

it shall be marvelous.

alright, kbyeeee.

i love forgetting what day it is.

Today is Friday, though. 

And today was the dedication of the new playground and yard at MTU!

It looks so beautiful even thought I don’t have anything to compare it to, like to what it used to be. Either way, everything about the little ceremony was wonderful. The kids from the classes gave a special skit – which I videotaped and will try to post because if you watch it and don’t cry then you can get outta town. It was the best thing of my life. And also they recognized the construction workers and contractors which I think is so cool because they got to see what they were a part of in putting this place together. Its seriously insane.

It was so cool to see such a mighty work come into being through God’s hand and to know without a doubt that it is going to be used to bless his children. It’s so encouraging.

And then we got to play with kids and eat and just relax for a little while. There was tons of food and I shoved my face with coke and éclairs, obviously.

The first American team got here yesterday, so everything is new and exciting and all getting ready for day camps and stuff. It’s fun!

The first day was today and it was great. I recognized some faces from when I was around Bible studies and groups and things like that. I’m really excited to get to talk to some of the ladies and here the stories they have to tell.

So today was one of those days that I could’ve just busted into tears several times. One time was watching the kids rehearse their skit. They’re a group of disabled kids that go to school at MTU and they are from ages 5-8 maybe? That’s an estimate. But just watching them melted my heart into a giant puddle on the floor.

Honestly the sweetest and happiest and most precious children you’ve ever seen, just laughing and smiling and listening to Oksana. And like I love just watching them and watching their mothers take care of them and hold them – which is something in and of itself, these little ones actually have mothers who love them. But all of a sudden my heart was gone when I saw this little boy try to walk and how much effort and help it took him to go just a couple steps. And the other kids who, due to physical disabilities just can’t even control their bodies. It’s completely heartbreaking. The skit was so precious and they got up and said their lines and at the very end, they all shouted “thank you!” in Russian (or Ukrainian, I’m not sure) and I almost lost it.

It’s just one of those things, like they didn’t do anything to deserve having a disability, they didn’t get to choose or anything. And like so much of it just doesn’t make sense to me – why would the most precious child have to live a life confined to this set of limitations, just because that’s the way it is?

And why is it not me? How is it that I was born into the situation I was and in the healthy body that I have?

And I mean, trust me, I am thankful for the insane amount of blessings the Lord has given me – my life and my body included, but it’s just honestly something I think about.

Life’s just not fair, I guess. Apparently that’s just what it boils down to.

I long for the day that these sweet souls will have a perfect body and can run and jump and play – what a glorious sight that will be! I can’t wait. There is nothing better than watching little kids run around carefree and with no inhibitions. That day will happen, even for all the kids that didn’t get to do that here and now.

I mean, picture that in your head. Can’t.wait.

Anyways, so between that and the camp meeting when Maksim went through all the disabilities we’ll be encountering at camp, I just thought a lot about that today.

But I know that God is good, and I can see it in the playground at MTU. These ladies and men have given these kids and women and mothers a place to be loved, a shelter, a place for relaxation and support – and it’s all been done through God’s hand. How beautiful!

So yeah, today was good. And of course Ira made a delicious dinner and I’m sitting here full and happy and ready for day 2 of day camps.

Also I think I’m listening to a couple fight outside, I think a girl is crying. Not okay, I’m gonna close the window – I’m creeping myself out.

Anyways, its late and I’m tired.

Thank you all for caring about what I have to say. I mean, I assume that but I hope it’s true. Because hopefully you get some sort of a glimpse into the love of Christ, because I sure am.

Love you all!

Lauren.

day trip.

Today we spent a marvelous day in the beautiful city of Kiev.

Pastor Peter drove us there and we had an interpreter, Tanya along with us. But it wasn’t Tanya B. from MTU, it was a different but equally as wonderful one.

We arrived and boarded the subway and rode into town. I had never ridden a subway, and it was interesting enough. Also it was funny watching Barry almost fall every time we started or stopped moving. Noob. Kidding, I did it too. Also, we took THE LONGEST escalator rides of our lives. Honestly. So.long. We took a video. If I get faster internet I’ll attempt to post it.

The first thing we did was the WW2 museum. There were lots of boyish tanks and stuff outside but the inside was really neat. Even though it was all in Russian/Ukrainian, it was still really interesting. The end was insane. Describing it won’t do it justice, but you walk through the whole museum in a certain order. The last room is set up as a giant banquet hall, the table legs are shell casings, the table is lined with glasses and canteens and like a hundred of the certificates that families received when their family member had died. And then the walls are lined, just absolutely covered with pictures, from one end to the other. Its really quite intense and moving. The museum was great though, and we got to go up to the base of Mother of the Motherland or something. It was pretty kewl.

Also, we played on the peace tanks. Some of us more than others.

After that we went to the monastery, which was just ridiculously beautiful. Oh, I had to stop and get a Coke and a lil baby mini pizza because I had only eaten a Cliff bar. It was obviously delicious. So we went to the monastery and saw all the beautiful architecture, ect. AND THEN we went on an adventure, Indiana Jones style. We got in line to go down to the caves, got our candles and even had to rent skirts and cover our heads (just the ladeez, we got kicked out the first time and had to get back in line). It’s a really spiritual Orthodox thing, so we had to be respectful. So we go down under in these caves with dead patriarchs that have been sitting in these glass cases for like 700 years. And people are going up to them and kissing them, and all this stuff and holding candles, it was crazzzzzy. Like you can see the dead man, obviously covered (except for their hands, which I didn’t see, but were apparently black and shriveled up – kind of like Dumbledore’s), just in these glass cases. It’s really kind of eerie. But it was neat, and an adventure so it was worth it.

We then beebopped over to St. Andrew’s street and wandered up there looking at all the souvenirs and stands and stuff. It was very enjoyable. And there were many interesting things.

Then we went to the main square of the city and played for a while. We got some ice cream, I took lots of creepy sequence shots of Barry’s face because I changed my camera to rapid fire mode, and we walked in the fountain.

Also, I made a new friend.

He took it a little farther than I intended, I didn’t really like him like that. Plus, everyone was watching and it made me feel weird. Needless to say, he wasn’t who I thought he was. But it’s fine, we ended on good terms.

I don’t know.

Kiev was just a really beautiful city. I’d love to go back. And I decided that I could live there, but Barry tried to convince me that I wouldn’t survive the winters, so maybe only seasonally. Anyways, if you ever get the chance, go. It’s gorgeous.

Well we rode back with the first team of Americans and we have a big couple of days ahead what with day camps starting and the ceremony for the playground tomorrow. So hopefully I’ll post this asap.

Things are still marvelous here, and are only bound to get better I’m convinced.

Did anyone eat a the new chick-fil-a sandwich? I NEED TO KNOW.

Alright, gotta get up early tomorrow. Love you all. For realz.

Also, Koko (I don’t know why I assumed her name was with a ‘k’ instead of a ‘c’ but I’m going with it) loves to hug me. And that is what she was doing, just in case anyone might think otherwise. Don’t. kthanks.

also, I’ll probably do another post of just rando pictures from this trip because I don’t want to give them all away on one post because that would make it stupidly long. So that’s fine, right?

Also, second articles should be out soon! Hooooray!

LOVE.

Lauren