Some things about Ukraine I've noticed

Any time I meet a new person, either at church or our in public and they find out I'm an American, they immediately start asking me questions.  I think the top 2 questions I get asked are:

- What is strange for you here?
- Why did you come to Ukraine?

Both of these questions reveal they people's shock that I choose to come and live here.
When I was asked the first question it was hard to think of an answer.  What is really strange for me here?

Well, after living here for 5 weeks now, I've come to a few ideas of things that are out of the usual for me.  Not bad, just different.  Some of them are quite funny, at least I think so :)

1. Public transportation in Ukraine:

a. The cheapest, fastest and cleanest way to get around is by the metro.  The metro is one of the best and easiest to use systems in Europe.  Here's a few pictures:

Here's a map of the metro stations.

 Here's a typical picture of what the metro looks like here in Kiev.

I experience peak rush hour yesterday in the metro, where we are literally going at a snail's pace.

b.  The Marshutka

This is probably the worst way to get around because of the bad condition of the road surfaces, really dangerous drivers around the bus, potential to ride with an intoxicated bus driver, the bus itself is really old and usually hot, it's usually too crowded to sit down, and the cost is usually more expensive than the metro and you travel much shorter distances.

One day last week I traveled to Oles's home to care for him when he was really sick.  So the only way to get to that region of Kiev is by bus.  Well, the first bus didn't even stop for me, so I waited for the second bus and barely squeezed on.  We were packed in like sardines!  Instead of being frustrated I just laughed to myself and thanked God that nobody around me smelled like B.O. lol.  The bus ride was 40 minutes, and about   of them I spent packed in around other people.  It was a first time experience for me!

c. Train
I have yet to really ride the real trains here in Ukraine, because I haven't travelled outside of the city by train yet.  Most people who travel within and outside of Ukraine take the trains.  I hear they are not very comfortable and very crowded, but maybe I'll get the chance to go sometime in the future!  These are the kind of trains you can actually sleep on!

2. Food products: 
"Yep, I'm in Ukraine" - this is the thought that goes through my head sometimes when I see something really different than I'm used to.

As far as food products go, the cheaper the product, the worse the quality is.  This would include milk, butter and all kind of packaged products.

a. Milk - It was surprising to me to hear that because Ukrainian farming has been on the decline there are not enough cows to meet the demand for milk.  Thus, all milk is imported in powder form from China and rehydrated here and sold as liquid milk!  When I found this out, I thought "I knew there was something strange about this milk!"  Milk smells and tastes really strange here, so since it comes from the powder form, that explains everything! (I'm a Registered Dietitian, so I know about food :)

You see those colorful bags at the bottom shelf?  That's bagged milk!  I never heard of such a thing! lol

b. Butter - In America we only have 3 main types: Margarine (which isn't butter), salted and unsalted butter.  In Ukraine they have every percentage of butter you can think of from 56% butter to 82.6% butter.  So needless to say I stood in front of the butter isle for 15 minutes trying to figure out which one to buy based on price and percentage.  Generally I buy the more expensive, high percentage one, (which is only $1.25 for 200 grams).  At least if I go that way I'm more likely to get a better product.

c. Yogurt products - They have more yogurt and yogurt-like products here than I have heard of in my life.  They also have things like Kefir and drinkable yogurt, but some things I've tried tasted like liquid cheese or really sour milk. :P  Fortunately, I found one drinkable yogurt I like, so I stick to that one.

d. There's no peanut butter here!  This speaks for itself, and is slightly sad, so I guess I'll have to learn to live without it!

e. Coffee - You can tell that Ukrainians are a tired people by how many coffee shops and "coffee carts" are all over the city.  It's just like in America where you have a Starbucks on every corner.  By the way there's no Starbucks in Ukraine at all!  So that means no pumpkin spice lattes for me this fall!

Here's a typical coffee cart - you can get a good latte for about $1-2 here depending on where you are in the city :)

Kofe House - "кофе хауз" - A common coffee shop in Kiev

There's other things that are different for me, like all the poor people everywhere (especially elderly people).  Ukraine does not have a social security system like we have in America, so most of these people are fired from their jobs when they get too old and end up begging on the streets.  It's a very sad reality.

There's also stray dogs and cats everywhere, which is really unusual, but you get used to seeing them all the time, and they are pretty harmless.

It's funny that the weather here is almost exactly like Blacksburg weather: unpredictable, really strong winds that come from nowhere, etc...If you're a Hokie, you know what I'm talking about! ;)


SO...the next question is always: why did you decide to come to Ukraine?
People just don;t seem to understand why I would move to a place that is less comfortable, and especially when I don't know Russian or have any family here.  I tell them:  It was God's will for my life.  I came here once before to serve the orphans and knew it was His will, after 6 months of praying, for me to return, and hopefully long-term :)

There's many strange things about Ukraine, but I really love it here, and it already feels like home!

The most important thing for me to remember is that God brought me here and He has total control over my life.  He will equip me with every tool I need to live in this new culture and to do ministry here.  I try to think about everything as a new experience and a new opportunity for God to teach me something, and help me trust Him more :)

Even though everything around me is different, there's constant stress from the environment and it's easy to get discouraged, I remember a few things:

Hebrews 13:8 
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."


Deuteronomy 28:1-68
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. .."



Romans 15:13
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

So far God has helped me to enhance my trust in Him, and abound in the hope that He is working all things around me for my good!

Thanks for reading, ministry updates to come soon!