I never have gotten around to composing my thoughts, so here it is from Sally:
Recap of Brandi's visit:
~Saturday: We went up to Kharkiv, went out to lunch at my favorite Italian place, and wandered around the city. In the evening, we stopped by the Yukhemetses' house to celebrate Vlada's birthday (which was Tuesday). Unfortunately, Spunky, the Y's little yappy dog, didn't realize that Brandi is actually fairly harmless, especially to dogs, and bit her on the arm. She's fine, although she ended up with a bit of a nasty-looking bruise.
[my note: only a small scar remains from this encounter with Spunky, who lived up to his name, and I don't hold it against him. I was actually more nervous about the packs of "wild" dogs and mangy cats that were seen everywhere on the streets]
~Sunday: The two of us, along with a group from our church, went down to Saventsi (about half an hour away) for the ten-year anniversary of the church there. We sang "You Are My All in All" in English [alone] and sat through a three and a half hour church service. (When Viktor asked me later why we only sang one song, I told him that we didn't want the service to go any longer!) However, it was a nice service, and encouraging to hear how the church has grown from 22 to 45 members. Which, for a village in eastern Ukraine, is awesome to hear!
~Monday: School was not the best--my 11th form slacked off, and I had tears in both my 7th and 8th form classes. The 7th form girl cried because she didn't want to sit where I told her, and the 8th form girl cried because Oleh Yukhemets had hit her. I don't know who or what started it. That night, Viktor, Nadia, and I all talked with Oleh, and he denied it happening. He's really being difficult lately, and it's frustrating for Viktor and Nadia. Prayers for him and them would be deeply appreciated.
[my note: in contrast to Sally's week with the kids, they were very nice to me, although I think that the upper form kids were a bit shocked to learn that they were all required to come into the hall in small groups and speak with me in English. I was presented with flowers, they sang songs for me and played with my on the playground (which I visited while Sally was teaching this day). Among other things that I remember about the school are the squat toilets and the school lunches which generally consisted of coffee, sweet bread, and some type of soup (Borsch) or potatoes.]
After school, we went over to the Y's to visit and do laundry. We played Uno and Go Fish with the kids. The kids, especially Oleh, really tried to use the English they know (I'm learning how you can be both disappointed in and proud of a kid all in the same day).
[my note: we also ended up singing various songs in English here, several of which the Y's asked me to do solo]
Yesterday and today, I've taught and Brandi's done her own thing during the day, and tonight we head up to Kharkiv and from there to Kyiv. If you think of us tomorrow, please pray, as Brandi begins her 33 hour bus ride back to Germany and I take the GRE!
[my note: other noteworthy aspects of life in Balaklia:
1. the shopkeepers use an abacus rather than a cash register to "ring up" purchases
2. milk, ice cream, sour cream, et. are all sold in cheap plastic bags
3. nearly everyone's house was surrounded by a tall corrugated metal fence, presumably to prevent theft and as a remnant of communist times when privacy was hard to come by
4. anyone who owns an auto seems to automatically join the ranks of professional taxi driver]
After arriving at the Madrid airport Friday night we were whisked away to a meeting of the church women. I began to try out my years-old Spanish and enjoyed getting to know some of the women there. The next morning I visited the Roman aqueducts in Segovia with some of the college students.
Segovia was also home to a beautiful castle. Here, on one of the walls surrounding the city, we spent a while taking fun pictures. Later that evening we all went to a youth meeting at the church building. We each shared something that we had read in the Bible that week followed by a game where each person had the name of a famous person taped on their back. I was able to figure out mine (Napoleon) by asking questions in Spanish! Later we sang Karaoke (also entirely in Spanish), watched some of the college students practice Capoeira, and danced.
The University in Alcala de Heneres is the second oldest in Spain. On Monday morning I visited it with some new friends. One of the highlights of my day came as we sat around a table in Starbucks overlooking a beautiful plaza. On the rooftops we could see enormous crane nests. Alcala is home to more cranes than any other city in the world. As we sat there we shared the stories of how we came to know Christ and enjoyed remembering what he has done.
Alcala is also famed as the birthplace of Cervantes (the author of Don Quixote).
After my wallet was stolen in Madrid on Sunday, I had the pleasure of locating a police station to file a report and going to the US embassy to get a new passport :). Later that evening I had the opportunity of visiting the church's service. To my surprise, at the end I was asked to come on stage and explain my work in Germany (thankfully translated by Alex Gonzales). Afterwards we sang Happy Birthday to Lori and shared a potluck that the women had prepared. What a wonderful way to end my trip to Spain and my time in Europe.
eating a traditional north German breakfast of Brotchen (like french bread rolls), tea, soft boiled eggs, raw salmon, and shrimp.
