Staying Put

Well this past week has been an interesting one. On the last day of McJoyful we had an incident where a man who doesn’t like Americans thought I was one and caused a scene at McDonald’s. He was ushered out the door and I was told to stay put. He wouldn’t go away and they posted people at both doors of the restaurant to keep him out. Needless to say I felt pretty awkward at being the centre of that kind of attention but grateful that people were looking out for me.

Then one day I was home with absolutely nothing to do and was bored. This was magnified by the fact I don’t know Russian yet and can’t just turn on the TV or give most people a call. True to form the evil one tried to put me off by putting thoughts into my head about why am I here if I’m not doing anything. Within the hour Ed called wanting to set up meetings about getting me started on a project.

Then there was a leak in the kitchen and water was running on the floor. I have no tools here and with the language barrier didn’t know who to call and was a tiny bit panicked about what to do. I call Ed (who’s in Kyiv – a 6 hour drive away from Krivoy Rog) and within an hour one of our translators is here with her father-in-law who’s a plumber - crisis averted.

I go to Kyiv for the meetings and while there I was on my own for a bit & decided to do some chores. Let me tell you, getting money changed here can be really frustrating. The first bank I went to (which had their exchange rates posted on a sign at the entrance) said in English: “Not today, another department, no walk-ins.” I said, “This is a bank isn’t it?” but still no budging. The second bank wanted my passport and a photo copy wasn’t satisfactory. Back on the phone to Ed who puts me onto a place where everything went fine.

Then on the way home to Krivoy Rog Ed sends me to the train station with a friend of his who happens to be taking an earlier train. He showed me the ropes of the train station and then left while I had another hour and a half to wait for my train.

While I’m waiting there’s a bomb scare at the station and they are clearing everyone out. Of course with the language barrier I’m left standing there totally oblivious to what is going on. A guard speaks to me but when he sees I don’t know what he’s saying he kind of walks away. An older lady is there who also doesn’t speak English but I figure out that she’s asking me what train I’m on. I show her my ticket and she speaks to the guard which sounds like an argument. The guard comes back, speaks to me again and again starts to walk away. I’m back on the phone to Ed asking him to translate but the guard won’t take the phone. The lady grabs the phone and explains to Ed what’s going on and tells him she’ll show me the alternate route to go to the tracks. So off we go, I get my train (which left on time by the way) and another crisis is averted.

I’m not telling you all this to say that I’m frustrated and ready to come back to Canada. No Way! I’m staying put!!

I’ve noticed in Ukraine that there are a LOT of people who genuinely care for others. People here are much more social unlike the isolationism in North America where people need their own “space” and avoid strangers. The lady at the train station went out of her way to help a total stranger and didn’t let a language barrier stop her. I have mothers here in Krivoy Rog who worry if I have enough groceries in the house and make sure that anything I need I have. One called today, and of course with the language barrier it was a short conversation, but after we hung up I realized she was checking to see if I got back from Kyiv okay.

No matter what the evil one tries to do the Mighty one has angels in place already. I have met many of them. Till next time…Я люблю тебя!