Finally in Ukraine

 

The first couple of days in Ukraine, we spent with the O'Briens at there home until our new dwelling was available.  In Ukraine, you have to peel your hotdogs, so that is what the boys are doing here :)

Not only do you peel your hotdogs, but you make your own hotdog buns, and the one's Ms. Cathy O'Brien made were very good!!! 

 



 

I am, slow but surely adapting to cooking without an oven.  Our new home only has a stovetop and no oven.  That did make things a little harder.  The language barrier is also a huge obstacle.  I go to the grocery store and have to shop by picture, or use my Google translator to try and figure out what things are.  Above is young capushta salad, Korean carrots, and boiled potato's.  The only thing I cooked was the potato's, the salads I bought pre-made.  I can't wait to get an oven and all my cookware from the states so I can cook a real meal!

 

They love their hot tea here.  I think Zach is a true Ukrainian at heart...he loves having his morning, afternoon, and evening tea :)  I'm not that crazy about it.  Many people here believe that you will get sick from drinking cold drinks....

 

This is our semi-private courtyard.  The front gate is also an entrance for two other dwellings behind us.  But everything to the right of the gate is just for us :)

 

We do take a lot of public transportation, but we can also walk to where we need to go.  We have a grocery store about 1/3 mile from our home, which is a huge blessing.  We just can not buy more than we can carry.  Here we are walking home from Caravan which is about 1.5 miles from our home.

 

Some of the Ukrainians are real patriots and have painted the trees the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

 

Some Ukrainians do not like the US.  Spray painted here says... USA = Terrorists

I wish they could understand we are not terrorists...

 

Overall, we are trying our best to get acclimated to this culture, the language barrier, and all the other things that make us a little less than comfortable.   There have been some hard times, times I want to go home as fast as I can get there.  But many times, the Lord reminds me why we are here, it's not to change them to Americans, but to teach them the truths of the bible so they can know true salvation!  I am learning the language and culture to be effective and used by God to reach that goal!  But as a person that thrives off of stability and structure and one that does not like or adjust to a lot of changes well....this has been one the hardest things I have ever done!!!