Happy Nevada Day!

The girls came of over last night to celebrate my birthday and in a round about way Nevada Day! We had a mini English lesson about statehood and things of that nature. I think this conversation was about the only one that took place in English! It was so fun to be hearing Russian spoken in my home! Dinner was good, conversation was great ... but the highlight of the evening was our after dinner plan.

The girls were a little skeptical about this whole pumpkin carving thing. Especially as they had too scoop out the insides of the pumpkin. They kept asking me was this going to be worth it?! This is so hard, are you sure this is what we are supposed to do to the pumpkin?! I just kept telling them to be patient and keep going. They would love it in the end.Once the pumpkins were all carved, we put candles in them and the girls thought they were nice. We took lots of pictures with the pumpkins. The problem was ... I was not getting the reaction I was looking for. I wanted them to be thrilled with all their hard work. Haha.

So whilst they were taking pictures and admiring each others carvings; I stepped into the hallway (that's where the light switch is) and said "no, wait till you see this" and flipped off the lights. I wish I had recorded the symphony of Ooo's and Ahhh's, the Wow's and excited giggles! They loved looking at the pumpkins in the dark! I was glad that they got excited and it turned out to be a great time.We enjoyed some tea and cake and visited for a little bit longer. I had a wonderful time with the girls and I am so glad I caved and threw myself a party! What a blessing. I hope that I can be creative and come up with opportunities to invite the girls back. I loved having them in my home, laughing with them, getting to know them better and simply being with them. All told, it was a wonderful evening - and a wonderful birthday.

Oh No!

Last night there was quite the discussion about pumpkins. I was enlightened to another Ukrainian tradition ... one that explains all the strange looks I got while purchasing and toting home seven pumpkins!

You see ... Ukrainians are very proud people and it is considered very bad form to offend or reject people. Especially verbally. Through history things have been done to say no or decline an offer from someone without having to say "no." This way, you have not verbally offended or rejected anyone. Your reputation remains intact without having to do something you did not want to.

It turns out, the way to decline a proposal to enter into a dating or marriage relationship is to GIVE THEM A PUMPKIN! Haha! Oh man! I can only imagine what the old woman at the renok thinks of me and my love life! Haha!

With Love From ...

... New Mexico. Socorro, New Mexico to be exact.!

Some very special people sent me a package for my birthday. It was full of wonderful goodies and delightful treasures. I laughed when I pulled the pack of highlighters out of the box. Just this morning I had wished I had several different coloured highlighters so I could tag my flashcards by category! Amazing.

Mr. and Mrs. Zumbro, Mr. and Mrs. Zamora, the wonderful members of the Jewels class at First Baptist Socorro and all the others who were so thoughtful as to put this package together for me - I cannot say thank you enough. You have touched my life with love today and my heart has been filled with joy by you. I am so excited that they even included some "New Mexico" things! I am already looking for opportunities to give away some of the magnets they sent. I am going to give a bookmark to each of my friends when they come to my house tonight for my birthday party! It is quite fitting to give a piece of New Mexico to my friends at my birthday (I was born in Socorro, New Mexico)!

Thank you again!

Crazy.

In complete and utter Ukrainian tradition, I am throwing myself a party for my birthday on Friday. The tradition here is for the birthday person to plan, invite, prepare and provide all things necessary to throw their friends a party in honour of their own birthday. What?! Really? Serious. That is just how we roll in Ukraine.

On the schedule of events for the evening is some good old pumpkin carving. For some reason (could it be a little homesickness?!) I was feeling extra nostalgic this week and thought that it would be super fun to carve pumpkins. I have not carved pumpkins in forever and I know that most of my friends have never done such a thing. I get so much entertainment out of watching people do things for the first time ... I knew it had to go on the list.

Gathering things to carve pumpkins normally would not be to big of a deal. A quick trip here and a quick trip there and I would be done. Since I do not live in normal land, the pumpkin carving idea has taken on a life of its own. After several days of keeping my eyes open for whole pumpkins (they are available mostly already peeled, seeded and cubed) I have finally amassed the most important part of pumpkin carving!Four days, about 150 hryvnia, three marshutka rides, a dozen crazy looks, one ripped bag and 65.8 pounds of pumpkin later I now have seven perfect pumpkins sitting in the window just waiting to be turned into brilliant works of art! This is going to be fun!

The Day Of Birth.

I would like to take a moment to dedicate this day ... the day of my birth ... to my parents. They have loved me from the moment they knew about me, they have taught me about things with eternal value, helped me understand the important things in life and the not so important and how to know the difference between the two. They have brought unspeakable joy into my life and entertained me with countless hours of laughter and fun. They have supported me in my life decisions and are my greatest champions and cheerleaders.

There are so many things I could put into this list. In the end, it only matters that they know I love them.

To them on this day ... I can only say "thank you" for loving me always and praying for me daily. I also especially owe a huge "thank you" for taking such great care of my dog! Haha.

I Ate It.

This installment of "I Ate It" features these little gems. Any idea what it is?! No worries, I had to ask what they were too. The conference center where the Women's Conference was held cooked some great meals for us. Most of it was recognisable and even familiar to me. When I walked in to the dining hall for dinner on Friday and saw a plate of these things sitting on each table; I was intrigued and a little worried about my ability to eat it and keep it down.

Never-the-less, I tried one. After getting past the soggy exterior I discovered and oddly crunchy interior. They were quite juicy but as far as personal preference goes, I would say there was a bit to much garlic. Edible with extra things to chase them down, not overly disgusting but certainly not my go to choice in the food department.

Well, you have looked at the picture for a few minutes ... any guesses as to what it is? Okay, here is what I know. They are pickled cucumbers, fried in some sort of garlic pepper sauce. After, they are done being fried they are then chilled and eventually served. So it is kind of like a pan fried pickle served cold. Haha!

Check. Check. Check.

Day of decorating. Check.

Golden bars made. Check.

Failed at baking golden bars. Check.

War declared on oven. Check.

Chocolate chip cookies made. Check.

Successful at baking cookies. Check.

Battle won against oven. Check.

Weekend bag packed. Check.

Plants watered. Check.

Emails written, reports sent. Check.

I think the only check left is to go to bed so I can get up before the sun tomorrow and head out to the annual Women's Retreat hosted by faculty and staff of the seminary. The retreat center is beautiful and I am hoping that the next few days out there are good ones. The weather is threatening to be gray, rainy and chilly ... but that is normal these days. I will be back on Sunday; hopefully with something fun to say (or at least a cool picture or two).

Sunday Peace.

Waking up the crisp, cool and sunny day.

Celebration of Harvest at church.

A crowd free walk through the market.

A delicious and juicy pear with my lunch.

Laundry.

Quiet reading and a nap.

Recently discovered scented candles burning.

Eating things for dinner ... simply because I wanted to.

Homemade french fries and biscuits for dinner.

Phone calls from three special friends.

Invitations for future holidays with my friends.

Baking an apple pie.

Enjoying hot apple pie and ice cream with friends.

A Skype call with friends from home.

Going to bed with heat in the flat.

It was a beautiful day with calmness and serenity. Enjoyable quietness of a regular day; one with things accomplished, relationships tended, cravings satisfied and joy grown. I am thankful for such a day.

A Moment.

On my way home today I came across this scene:

A бабушка*(grandmother) was walking five steps ahead of her внучка (granddaughter). She was carrying the her granddaughter's doll whilst walking along slowly waiting on the little girl to make some progress towards their destination.

As I was drawing closer to them, the бабушка turned and said to the little girl, "наташа, что ты делаете?" (Natasha, what are you doing?)

The little girl looked at me and smiled. Then she cupped her hand over her mouth in an effort to stifle a giggle. I smiled back at her. As I kept walking, her grandmother looked backed and laughed herself.

"наташа, ты смешная девочка!" (Natasha, you are an amusing girl!) It was such a sweet exchange between a little girl and her grandmother.

*I am trying to teach myself to type in Russian - please bear with me! Haha.

Autumn.

If I cannot see the sun due to the clouds, rain and fog at least I can see the brilliant colours of yellow in the Autumn leaves. Although, it may not be an equal trade off ... the colours of Autumn bring cool weather rather than delivering any rays of warmth!

Just For Fun.

Today on my way home from church I made several stops and ran a few errands ... when I got home my purse was bulging from all sides with the purchases I had made. I was being lazy and rather than get out a second packet; I just kept throwing things in my purse. Here is what resulted: Entire contents of the purse (yes, I realise that this picture highlights some of my "purchases" - do not judge the twix bars. It was a weak moment): two notebooks, two pens, a Bible, a Russian/English dictionary, mobile phone, wallet, calender, two twix bars, umbrella, two grapefruit, two small bags of crisps, camera case, first aid bag, new hat, three extra bags for grocery shopping, travel kleenex, wet wipes, water bottle, a metro map, a city map, copies of my documents and Mentos.

On any given day, there can be slightly less than this and sometimes slightly more! No wonder I need a new purse. Haha.

What I Liked Best.

Visiting Warsaw felt like visiting a different planet - or at least a different hemishpere! I anticiapte actually living in Warsaw is not perfect but I would not have expected it to be so vastly different from Kyiv.

The people were nice. Not just nice ... voluntarily helpful with a smile! The city was clean and orderly. Organised in a manner that made sense to my mind. Even standing in the queue was amazing! It has been a long while since I have experienced the queue being respected and managed in a proper manner. Buildings were colourful, warm and inviting. The city flowed with beauty and functionality - telling the story of her people and their nationalistic pride and presence of individual thought and progress.

It has been hard to reconcile in my mind (and in my daily life) two countries with mirriored histories becoming so vastly different in such a short time of freedom.

Row Houses.

I love the deep colours of these houses. I think I took several dozen pictures of them - this is my short list of favourites! I really could sit around all day looking at them and dreaming about the people who used to live in them - what they did, how they lived and who they were.

Incase.

If you did not notice by the preceding post - I am home from Warsaw. I survived the train ride, the four hour border crossing and I managed to get back to Kyiv with a wonderfully full stomach ... and an empty wallet!

Oh How I Love.

Pizza Hut, you are my favourite. You always will be ... and I will not be ashamed. I love your wonderful, fluffy pan crust with the simply wonderful piping hot cheese and tomato sauce that isn't sweet or infiltrated with mayonnaise. You are bliss to my taste buds.