A Royal Party

Today we were honored by the presence of seven princesses to celebrate Elizabeth's 8th birthday.  

Abigail did their hair, nails and make-up.

After introductions, the Lady of Honor made her appearance.

Friends, games, food, and cake made for a memorable day.

A Case of Ineffeciency

School was out.  For a change, I was the one making a quick jaunt to the grocery store.  Elizabeth asked how long it would take for us to get there and I replied, “Just two minutes.”  In actuality, it took about an hour and half or maybe even two.

Traffic was heavy on the ring road and there was the usual confusion of who belongs where on a 4-lane road without lines, parked cars on the right, and commuter busses pulling out into traffic.   A jam was forming around the entrance to the big grocery store, Auchan.  The taxi in front of me stopped but I didn’t.  I bumped his bumper.  We were hardly moving, which was a good thing, but it was enough for my license plate to touch up against his bumper.  And so there we stopped.  And there we stayed – blocking traffic and just adding to the chaos.

The red van is parked. We blocked the next lane being used as a turn lane into the grocery store.

The taxi driver got out for a look and started calling someone.  I got out for a look and started calling George.  Next, the taxi no longer had a taxi light on top of the car.  Even after 16 years in Ukraine, I still didn’t assume anything odd about that.  I attributed it to the fact he was no longer available to take customers.  A friend later revealed it was more likely he was driving a taxi without a license and wanted to hide any evidence from the police.  Just goes to show, my upbringing of “innocent until proven guilty” is firmly implanted.

Okay, so we both take some pictures and George sends our friend, Pasha, to come help me since he’s out in another village a good 45 minutes away.  The taxi driver asks me if we’re going to sit there until morning.  I said I had no idea.  He wanted me to pay him some money.  Without moving his car forward even an inch, there was no way to tell if there was a mark on his bumper or not.  We have insurance so I thought we might as well let this thing play itself out.  The taxi driver called the police.  About 45 minutes since the accident occurred, Pasha and a police car arrive on the scene at about the same time.  Pasha took over communicating with the police officers who primarily sat in their patrol car and wrote up paperwork. 

Pasha took a look at the dashcam I have to see what happened.  That’s when he got the suspicion that the other driver wasn’t really a taxi driver.  Pasha wrote up my testimony and I scribbled on a line that stated it was my testimony.  The police confiscated my driver’s license and gave me a temporary one.  After the police had taken some pictures and measured distances, we were allowed to move our cars off the road.  A little bit later, signatures here and there, and we were good to go.

 

It's hard to see the damage because we're not sure there is any.

There may some scratches but it's hard to tell if it's just the dirt.

I waited for a week before the text message came from the court telling me when to appear before the judge.   The appointment was slated for one week later at 8:25am.  Thankfully, George was available to go with me.

It was a stressful morning as the typical 20-minute or less drive into town took an hour and we were late for the appointment.  I telephoned but no one answered. We found a parking place right outside the courthouse and passed through the unattended security booth.  A cleaning lady gave us directions on where to go.  Up two flights of stairs, a small group of people lined the hallway.  We found the door with the judge’s name on it and found out from those in line that we would be admitted according to our appointment time and they were running about 20 minutes behind.  [Sigh of relief.]  When my turn came, we went into the first room with the secretaries and then through another door to the judge’s office which looked identical to every government office I’ve ever been in.  Two desks pushed against each other with one chair at the end for the guest.  The windows opened onto a major Kyiv city street, muffling the judge’s voice.  I leaned in to understand better.  She asked if I spoke Ukrainian and I said Russian was better.  After a couple of sentences, it was clear that she was more comfortable in Ukrainian and she turned to George, hoping he’d be able to understand and translate.  He offered to help.  The judge confirmed my identity and then asked me if the police had told me my rights and the charge.  Both of which I had not been informed of.  She briefly summarized with a cursory glance at a law book.  The charge: I failed to keep a safe distance between cars.  Did I accept the charge?  Yes, I did.  She said I’d need to return a week later to pick up the court decision and bring back proof that I paid the $15 fine at a bank.  She scribbled the address of the police station where I could pick up my driver’s license after receiving the court decision.

 

The courthouse

A picture of the courthouse from Google - obviously the building's been painted and is looking better now.

When we returned for the court decision, we didn’t know where to go.  The judge’s office was locked shut.  George asked in a few other offices where to go and we found our way to the back end of the courthouse and up an old flight of stairs to room #17.  Broken and unwanted cabinets stood outside the door at the top.  Cardboard covered a hole in the landing.  We asked the lone man sitting in the tan vinyl chair if there was a line.  He wasn’t sure how the system worked so George inquired inside and we were told to wait until the lady at the far end was finished with her patron.  When he left, we entered.  Surprisingly, she was very helpful, made two copies of our bank receipt, and directed us to return to the judge’s office for the decision.  When we told her it was locked, she went herself to take a look.  Another worker on the second floor confirmed that no one was there.  The lady from room #17 was a bit disturbed that the judge’s secretary wasn’t there and told us to return the next day.  Even though it wasn’t a receiving day, the judge’s secretary should be there and would give us the paper we needed. 

 

The landing before room #17

Stacks of papers and an old cabinet before the door of room #17

You can see the covered hole in the landing. 

The staircase to room #17

Some of the unwanted cabinets outside room #17

The next day we passed through the security booth after giving a picture ID and went up to the judge’s office.  The secretary immediately looked through a pile of papers and pulled out mine, had me sign it, and then took it back downstairs to the other end of the courthouse, down another hallway.  We lost track of him and returned to the foyer to wait.  It appeared he was doing this step on his own.  He found us and tried using a bit of English to tell us we could take this paper to the police station and receive my license back.  We’d need to come back a week later to get the final court decision after the appeal period was over.  Who was going to appeal a guilty plea?  I guess that didn’t matter. 

A week later we returned to the courthouse.  Again the judge’s office was locked so we went to room #17 to see if the final decision was available there.  After waiting a while, George inquired inside whom to ask for the final decision and we were directed to the man in the back, next to the lady we hand spoken to the week before.  He found my paperwork in a tied bundle of other cases on the shelves, had me sign my name on a slip of paper, and gave me a copy of the decision.  The next instructions were to go to room #20 for the stamp.  THE STAMP!  Nothing in Ukraine is official without THE STAMP!  Deeper into the bowels of the courthouse we went to room #20.  The lady inside said the one and only person with the stamp was not there.  We would need to wait.  We waited for quite some time until the man came back.  I brought my paper to him and asked for a stamp.  With great authority, he stamped the decision. 

Off we went to the insurance company to turn in a copy of the court decision.  They made a photocopy and said that’s all we needed to do.   It was finished! 

Two trips to the insurance office, four trips to the courthouse, one trip to bank, one trip to the police station.  A lot of time spent waiting.  Hopefully there’s never a next time, but if there is, we’ll know how much time it’ll take to deal with the official channels.  Considering how inefficient the court is, maybe it’ll be worth it to just give some money to the other driver?

Houses of Ukraine

Friday was perfect weather for our excursion (I love how ELL word choices influence my own use of English) to the National Museum of Ukrainian Architecture and Culture.  We enjoyed the opportunity to visit so many regions of Ukraine all in the span of a few hours.  Remarkably, the houses are from the 1960s and 70s.  They seemed much older to us but knowing this was the Soviet Union at that time puts it in perspective.  Unfortunately, not all the houses were open for inside tours.  We'll have to go back again!

George used such a wood-heated shower during his year internship in Nagydobrony.

The furniture is so familiar!

I love the wood-stove and electric vent above it.

Cossack farm - there was even a baby sleeping on a hay bed in one of the outbuildings. :) This farm was prior to the 1960s.

George was impressed how the wood panels were each one long piece.

Let the Summer Begin

Although school has been out for four weeks, I consider today the first day of my summer break.   I had been working full-time on writing curriculum guides for English Language Arts grades K-12.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to do all the work for the upper grades since another teacher did the bulk of that, but there was plenty to do to keep me busy for a month.  Yesterday I converted the files to pdf and uploaded them to our school's Google Drive.

Today was a good mix of productivity and relaxation.  I cleaned out the vacuum, helped Elizabeth straighten up her room, sewed up a hole in a sheet, did laundry, washed the dishes, and even did some planning for next year’s curriculum.  For fun I played Lumosity, read the kids two chapters of my summer reading book, War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo, and played a round of the children’s version of Settlers of Catan.  (I lost to Matthew by just one turn.) 

The kids are enjoying the new trampoline we bought and George assembled yesterday.  They are challenging each other to more and more jumps and it must be good exercise as today they complained of being sore.  I should give it a try!  After so much sitting at a computer, I need the workout!

Tomorrow we plan to venture out to a large outdoor culture and architectural museum.  The temperature has dipped this week down to the 70s so it’s perfect for spending the day outside.  After a few weeks of 90-degree weather, we’re enjoying the change.

In two weeks, the kids and I will be flying over the Atlantic to Silver Spring, Maryland to celebrate Mom’s marriage to Roger Dorris.  This August will mark 13 years since Dad’s death.  I am so glad Mom has found someone with whom to enjoy the future years.  We’ll be in Maryland for 3 weeks.  I thought we would have lots of time on our hands for sightseeing and just hanging out.  Looking at the calendar, it’s going to be much busier than I expected.  We are really looking forward to seeing family, friends, and a bit of D.C.  Elizabeth has kept a count-down calendar for months already. It’s exciting for me to see Matthew asking me to take him to Ford’s Theatre and the Lincoln Memorial.  He read a biography of Abraham Lincoln last year and is very curious to see places and learn more.  We already read practically every sentence on the Ford’s Theater website!  If all goes well, we’ll visit Ford’s Theater, the Air and Space Museum, Spy Museum, National Zoo, major monuments, and Mount Vernon.  Most of all, however, I’m looking forward to getting to know Roger and seeing Mom, my sister, brother-in-law, and their 9 kids!

I think it’s going to be a good summer, and I’m ready!

Teacher's Needed

It is almost summer vacation here!  I can't believe we have only 2 1/2 more weeks of school. It even seems too soon although the break does sounds good.  We don't take many breaks during the school year to allow missionaries as much summer as possible to travel back to the US if they need to.  But even as we finish off this year, we are already preparing for next year.

KCA needs teachers! The urgent needs are for 2nd grade and high school science.  Additionally, we could use a teacher for secondary Social Studies, secondary Bible, choir and music, a Finance Manager & Librarian.  Please come and serve the missionary community in Kyiv or share the need with others who could! 

For more information or to apply visit www.kca.org.ua.

Lately

Last night I couldn't sleep.  I kept wondering whether the ceasefire was holding or not, whether there would be a declaration of martial law by morning or if it was still a day or two away.  I admit to having no confidence in the latest peace agreement, Minsk 2.  The first one didn't hold and I don't see any indication that the second one will either.  But it's not just me.  I haven't read a single news report or heard a single person in Ukraine who thinks there will now be peace.  I don't see hope anywhere.  The Hryven continues to drop in value.  I can't even keep up with it.  A year ago the exchange rate was 8 UAH to 1 USD.  Today it's 24 UAH to 1 USD.  And prices go up while the Hryven goes down.  Today I heard of two men I've met who were wounded as soldiers fighting in the east.  This is a very hard time for Ukraine and my heart aches for the country.

But in the meantime our life is full of good things too.  Matthew celebrated his 10th birthday and we had a Minecraft birthday party with 8 of his friends.  One of the things I love about living in Ukraine is that you never know what to expect.  Check out the wording on Matthew's cake!  The kids all sang, "Nappy Birthday to you" and we had a good laugh.

I continue to love teaching 5th grade.  I love my class. 

 I love seeing them enjoy learning.  We're studying World War II so there are so many connections with what is happening to Ukraine now.  I'm planning a field trip to Kyiv's World War II museum, named "The National Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War."  How does a country deal with history so complicated that Ukraine (under the control of the Soviets then) hails their victory in World War II along with the country that is now invading them? 

Elizabeth broke her arm rollerblading at an indoor rink but the cast is now off.  Somehow it doesn't surprise me that she was the first of the kids to break a bone.  Thankfully it wasn't a bad break (a crack in both the ulna and radius at the wrist) and I had help getting her to the hospital from one of the Russian teachers at school since George had left the day before for the US.

Lately, George is gone more than he's home.  He traveled to the US for the Worship Symposium and just returned Friday night from Turkey where he participated in a conference on caring for missionaries in hard places.  He went in order to learn how to care for local pastors here in Ukraine.  Next week is a half a week of Timothy Leadership Training just outside of Kyiv.  The following week he'll be meeting with a pastor in southern Ukraine and then another week of TLT in the east (outside of the war zone).  I'm thankful for a reliable car, a warm home, and a sense of peace as he travels out of and around the country.  

Last night George and I had a rare opportunity to go out to dinner with our good friends, Scott and Victoria Andes.  It was so refreshing to be out with them and to hear Scott's testimony of how God brought him to Himself and to Ukraine in full-time ministry.  

Despite the ongoing insecurity in the country, our lives are full of blessings and opportunities to serve God and others.  We wouldn't want to be any other place.

Optimism by Candlelight

Optimism by Candlelight

Christmas vacation now greets me at last

May grading and teaching be a thing of the past

My alarm clock is off; I’m ready to rest

Will this Christmas twist be all for the best?

Twelve o’clock, eight o’clock here once again

The winter-time black-outs are set to begin

The house turns all quiet; the candles are lit

There’s nothing to do but sit still for a bit.

Laundry and dishes, computer and Wii

All are turned off to conserve energy

What do we do? This disrupts all our plans

We’re not so accustomed to giving up our demands.

So let’s try something different and pull out a book

Who knows what we’ll discover if we just take a look

Come gather ‘round, let’s play a new game

The lights are now out; we’ll have fun all the same.