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Published: March 25th 2009
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Downtown
Zachary taking Tracy and Cheryl for a walk The following day, Tracy and Zachary took us on the Metro to downtown Kyiv and tours of interesting sites. We saw the Golden Gate (gate in the city walls dating back to the Middle Ages), St. Sophia’s Cathedral & Museum, St. Michael’s Cathedral and Museum, plus Independence Square.
It was a delightful day, far less “heavy” than Jon’s “Dark Day” tour. St. Sophia’s was probably the highlight as we’ve seen St. Sophia’s in what seems like a dozen other European cities.
I found the Kyiv Metro to be quite a contrast from other Metro’s we’ve experienced. First, there’s virtually no graffiti. Even the one older, Soviet-era train we rode back on was clean, graffiti free and other than needing a coat of paint was really quite nice.
The city is centered on a very high hill so the Metro must be down about a bazillion feet in order to accommodate the majority of the non-downtown areas. It seems like we rode about 10 minutes on an escalator to climb up to downtown and another 10 minutes down on that escalator to get back down to the Metro so we could go home.
The escalator run is nicely
the Eide family
at Alison's basketball game covered in clean white tiles, something very uncharacteristic of the Soviet era when the downtown station was built (1954). I’m ready to recant all the terrible things I said about the USSR in those days until I look at the blight on the Ukrainian landscape that they called “buildings” in those days.
The next couple of days, Saturday and Sunday, were spent largely at home and with their church family. We got to go to a small group day on Saturday that started with a Bible study and then the pastor opened it up for discussion of the question burning on everyone’s mind, “What are we to do with our various programs in relation to growth of our congregation?”
The pastor opened the same can of worms that our pastor at home opened just before we left. However the discussion that ensued was far more spirited due to the nature of the Ukrainian personality. Although the debate was all in Russian, we could easily tell from the body language and the tone that it was much more open than any polite conversation we might have in our churches back in the US.
Jon explained that it has
taken him several years to understand their way of talking with each other. It’s not just their language, but the way in which they express themselves. For example, if you do not agree with someone else’s opinion, you tell them outright, “That’s a stupid idea!” Nothing is meant to be a personal affront, nor does the other person take offense at such a blunt statement. They are just very “in your face” in their way of communicating. I’m pretty sure that most of us in the US couldn’t handle such an exchange.
On a lighter note, Jon and Tracy took us to an old-style Ukrainian restaurant. The costumes and décor were something to behold. The hostess, the musicians and the wait staff were all dressed in traditional Ukrainian garb. The walls were a study in sensory overload. There were animal skins, agricultural implements, small boats, embroidery pieces - you name it, there it was! It was kind of a Ukrainian TGI Friday’s. What a hoot.
The Eide’s love to play parlor games at home after dinner. They have an impressive array of interactive games and have made up a few of their own that challenge the thinking ability
of everyone.
One of their favorite games is “Opposites” which requires the first person to pick a word, any word. The second person then picks a word as opposite as possible and must defend their choice. The word and opposites are not nearly as simple as up/down or black/white, they’re much more creative.
For example, our first set of words in the game was something like “pillow” and “cockroach.” The second person went on to explain that
• One is soft and the other is crunchy
• One is nice under your and head the other is not
• One you want in your bed and the other you do not
And so on. Then the others at the table get a chance to refute the choice by pointing out all the ways they can that a pillow and a cockroach are similar. Sometimes the comparisons get a little silly but it’s all great fun.
All of them love each other and they love the Lord. They are happy in their new chosen homeland and can’t imagine living anywhere else. They have no intention of moving to any other city, unless the Lord calls them there.
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