Ukraine: Part 4, Kiev

Gabe and I left our team 3 days early and carried on to Kiev to meet with Pastor Igor.  Gabe spoke in his church on the Sunday.  The church meets at a cultural center, and has about 50 members.  Our translator, Masha, who'd been with us in Crimea happened to be in Kiev for a bit of a holiday and was gracious enough to interpret again while Gabe preached!



Pastor Igor

 

Gabe and Masha



We were fortunate to stay in a rented apartment while in Kiev for 3 nights.  It was very quiet after the noise of the village, and the busy house full of our team!  This was the time we really started to miss the kids, when everything calmed down a bit.  We had a relaxing morning on the Sunday, as Igor's church didn't start until 2pm.  Then we were at church until 6, between the service, visiting an teardown.  



Gabe and Paul, 17



we had some toy rings the little girls loved!

After the service we went out for pizza with Igor, his wife Victoria, our translator Masha, and Judith from NLI. 


Mmmmm...yummy spicy pizza!

 We learned more about the culture in Ukraine.  Interestingly, in Crimea, the teens HATE McDonald's, but in Kiev it is VERY popular- so much that we would have had about a half hour wait the one time we went in, just to get to the counter to order!  We were also told that their education system is difficult in the sense that if you want your teacher to care about your child and help them to do well, you must pay/bribe them.  Not to get false marks, but to get quality education.  As with any country there are governmental issues, many here look to be making things harder, not easier on the people.  I asked Igor, out of plain curiosity, why people don't smile in Ukraine.  He said that Russian's have a mindset: If you smile for no reason, you are stupid.  Hmmm...Guess it's pretty easy to pick out the foreigners! :D  Another thing that facinated me on this trip was the way people dressed.  Nearly every person we met was dressed to the 9's ALL THE TIME.  We were told 2 reasons: One, there are more women than men in Ukraine, and any sensible girl knows she needs to attract a husband. The other: they want, above all else, to appear rich.  Alena told us of one family they knew who sold their apartment so they could buy an SUV, which they LIVED IN.  Simply for the appearance of wealth.

me and my good friend Masha!

 We spent our time in Kiev with Igor and his family, touring the city, getting to know them a bit.  His eldest daughter (he has 4 girls!) Alena was our tourguide on the first day.  We did some shopping for gifts for our kids, and saw some of the city.  The metro was a little crazy, SO many people.  Kiev is over 3 million, so it was easy to feel overwhelmed at times, being a  small-town girl from Canada!


Kiev





crazy escalator into the subway




 

Friendship Monument, devoted to the reunification of Ukraine and Russia, was dedicated on Kiev's 1500th anniversary in 1982.

We spent the evening with Igor and his family at their apartment.  Lots of laughs- the older three speak English very well, as does Igor.  We introduced them to a Canadian (?) tradition: COKE FLOATS.  They had never heard of them before!

Gabe, Sasha, Alena, Igor and Victoria.

They were a little unsure at first, but as you can see, i think we won them over !  :D We really enjoyed our time with our new friends in Kiev and  are looking forward to seeing them again, possibly working with them in the future!