More Ukraine

We've spent a lot of time crammed into the back of tiny cars. This is not Tristan's favorite time!

This church is the beautiful, famous St. Volodymyr's church. We went inside, and wow!! It was so old, and smelled like incense; there were candles burning everywhere, beautiful ikons, and devout worshipers crossing themselves and praying. It was positively stunning -- even Tristan was awed into (near) silence!

This is a picture of the park we found -- a huge sprawling criss-crossing of sidewalks, little muddy play areas, and beautiful natural layout. I can't wait to see watch spring unfold here!

This building is right across the street from us -- and, we found out, much to Ted's great delight and excited scheming -- the building that houses none other than the Klitchko brothers! I took this picture simply because I thought it was a beautiful building (there are many of these throughout the city) but now of course it takes on even greater significance. It is also the home of our new friends, Wes and Kim Janzen, and the Mission Music Kiev.

Ok, I can't get the captions to line up with the pictures, but they do go in the same order as the pictures...

I realize I am doing a record 2 posts in one night, but I thought that perhaps some of you (grandparents types) would be more interested in hearing about Dima, and others (everyone else) might be more interested in hearing about Kiev.

In a week, we have come a long way. The very first night we were here, wrecked from our endless day of travel, we stumbled over to McDonalds for dinner. We felt so grimy and tired we could hardly make a decision, it seemed like the easiest thing to do. I was so self-conscious, I felt so out of place and, well, foreign. It was crowded, there were hardly any seats to be had, and we were trying to not stick out as much as we felt we were. We scuttled over to the only seats available, tall stools at a high bar. We had barely unwrapped our food when we really got the whole place looking at us -- Tristan was trying to wiggle out of his coat and tipped the stool backwards and landed with a resounding CRASH! So much for blending in! Poor kid, he was more embarrased than hurt (thankfully!).

By now though, we can confidently move about the city -- we've walked miles (thank goodness for my comfy keens!) and bought stuff by ourselves, cooked with the ingredients we've bought, found a park to wander and play in, and even eaten at regular Ukrainian restaurants! Today, we found a church to go to tomorrow -- part of this Mission Music Kiev (thanks for the idea Mom!) and we met some of the people involved with their many ministries. We also found the Ukrainian circus, which we plan to check out one of these days. We are scheduled to move into a different apartment (one that costs less than this one) on Tuesday, so we'll have new sections of the city to explore then.