The following are excerpts from an email we sent about a month ago to a family back home. They had written us with questions the kids had for us about living in Ukraine. I hope you will find my responses to their questions interesting too! If you have other questions, that aren't addressed here, please write, and I would be happy to answer them for you!
Q. What is the weather like where you are?
A. The weather is a lot like what we're used to in Winnipeg, except not as cold. Spring comes a bit earlier here, so there have been many flowers growing and blooming everywhere, in gardens and on a lot of trees. About a month ago tulips were blooming wherever we looked. T
oday (May 15) the temperature was 28 C. So far we have not had any thunderstorms, but I am really looking forward to when we do. Even though it is very hot outside, many people are still wearing warm hats, and many old ladies are wearing babooshkas (sorry for the spelling!). I think they must be very warm! We have been told that it will be very, very hot in August. When we arrived in Ukraine, there was no snow on the ground, even though it was February. Many of the kids have never gone ice-skating or tobogganing, but they definitely know what snow is!Q. What is church like?
A. So far, we have only been to three different churches. In some ways some churches are a lot like churches in Canada. They sing songs together at the beginning of the service, sometimes with a band, and sometimes just with piano. At most churches, every time they pray and talk to God, they stand. I think this is to help them remember that they are talking to someone important and to pay attention. At one church we went to, all of the kids in the church, who were older than 5 got to sit on benches on the stage at the front of the church. They were facing the rest of us. I couldn't tell if they liked being there or not! All of the adults could watch them to make sure they were listening to the sermon and singing the songs. Most churches here are very happy when someone from another country comes to visit, so we sometimes get special treatment, and get to be part of the service. We have been asked to speak to the church about why we're in Ukraine, and have also had to sing songs for them. Dave plays guitar and we both sing. I'm not a very good singer but they don't seem to mind. The churches also sometimes have a special meal after their service that we get to stay for. One big difference from churches in Canada is that two people give a sermon, so the services can be very long (Sometimes 2.5-3.5 hours!). Also, many churches don't have special sunday school for the kids, so the kids have to stay with the adults for the whole service.
Q. What kind of food do you eat? What kind of food from Winnipeg do you miss?
A. Now that we are living in our own apartment, and making our own meals, I am trying a lot of new recipes. I have made a tomato-lentil-and vegetable soup a couple of times and really like it. We really like the cheese here, so we have been eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches too. For breakfast we usually eat toast and yogurt. Just yesterday Dave found some peanut butter at a grocery store, so that was very exciting for us. For lunch we sometimes have something made with eggs (like omelett) or leftovers from the night before. Suppertime is usually around 8:30pm or 9:00pm, because we're at Shelter until 8:00 at least most nights. For supper we have had scalloped potatoes and ham, lentil burgers, chicken and pasta etc... We can eat many of the same things that we ate in Winnipeg. We are very excited when we find a good head of broccoli at the store, or fresh grapes. I think the food that we have been eating is a lot healthier than the food we were eating in Winnipeg. The food that we miss is convenience food, fresh vegetables (like lettuce, I've only seen it once, and it looked like it was ready to be thrown out), chocolate chips, and waffles. I think that as the summer gets going,there will be a lot more fresh produce available, so we are looking forward to that!
Q.What kind of house do you live in?
A.We live in an apartment, on the fourth floor (we have to go up about 80 stairs to get to our floor! We are getting very strong!!!). Most people who live in cities in Ukraine live in apartments. Our apartment has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, and a balcony where we hang our clothes to dry. We have a friend named Anya who lives with us. We are very glad that she speaks English! The rooms are decorated with flowery wall paper, even on the ceiling in the living room and the bathroom! There are very tall trees next to our apartment so our apartment doesn't get too hot from the sun (so far). At midnight every day, the hot water gets turned off, so we have to make sure to shower or wash the dishes before then. Sometimes the hot water gets turned off for a few days in a row, and for one whole month in the summer. I'm not sure what we'll do for showers and dishes then! There are some very friendly old ladies who sit in front of our apartment on benches and take care of the flowers. Sometimes they talk to us in Russian, and hug me, even though we don't understand very much of what they say. I hope that someday I will know enough Russian to be able to talk to them and get to know them.
Q.What do kids like to play?
A.Kids here like to play soccer a lot! They call soccer "football". They also like to play many running games. The kids we spend time with at Shelter really like to play card games too, like Uno and Dutch Blitz. The older kids also play soccer and basketball and are learning how to play baseball and football, and really like to throw frisbees too.
Q.What do you miss about home?
A.The main things we miss about home are our families and our church. We miss seeing the people that we love, and who we have good friendships with, who understand us (our language and the way we think). We miss going to our church where we can sing along to the songs and understand the words and learn about God. One other thing that we miss from Winnipeg is going to a cafe. There aren't any places near our home where we can go to talk, or have a date, and sometimes we get tired of just staying at home when we want to be together. Sometimes we miss being able to drive places. Mostly we walk everywhere, and sometimes we take a big van/bus called a "marshutka". When we are on one of these, we miss Winnipeg Transit. Sometimes I miss my oven in Winnipeg because my oven here is gas, and there is no temperature gauge telling me what temperature the oven is set at, so I have to look at the flame in the oven and guess what temperature it will make the oven.
Q.How do you like it there?
A. I would say that we like it quite a bit. We are very happy we are here. There are many things that we are thankful for, that we wouldn't be able to have or do if we were still in Winnipeg. For example, Dave and I get to work together and spend more time together. We are both doing things that we love to do. I am doing more art than I've done since high school (mostly drawing portraits of the youth who come to Shelter) and Dave is doing music, not for money, but because he loves it and loves to help others with it. Even though sometimes we miss driving places, having to walk almost everywhere has been really good for us and helps us to slow down, and not be in such a hurry all the time. We are very excited about what the Shelter does on Saturdays. It is a 3 hour program for young children (aged 6-10) where we teach English for two groups and then all the kids come together for a program about Jesus. They sing songs about Jesus, play games, see some clowns and watch a video of a puppet show where they see a story about Jesus. It's wonderful to work with these kids and to show them God's love for them in Jesus. In June we are taking them on a short, two-night camping trip, which should be a lot of fun. Many of these kids come from very sad homes and don't have very much, and I know that they love to come to Shelter on Saturdays. There are other, older teens, who come to Shelter who we teach English, and art and music. We are getting to know many of them. One young guy gave Dave a necklace that he always wore, just last week. When things like this happen we know, that somehow, we are building relationships even though we don't speak Russian very well.
Well, that's it for now! Have a great summer!
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