Our final week in Ukraine was pure and simple fun. We got to go camping in Bakchysarai, a city about two hours from Yalta. A lot of the leaders from the previous camp joined us again, which allowed us to continue to get to know one another.
Bakchysarai is one of the most visited areas in Crimea, and as we drove there I could see why. It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me a bit of Utah/Arizona. Our campsite was located in a small valley covered in wild flowers with massive stone bluff’s rising up above us. It was fun to be “roughing it” with others intentionally instead of it being our daily lifestyle. Even still, the conditions at the camp were better than some of the places we have been.
About 30 high school kids arrived a day after us. Just like any other camp, there were sessions, games, sports, swimming, hiking, and campfires at night. We also taught English for one hour a day, but being that it was at camp and the kids didn’t really want to spend their time in an academic setting, we mainly tried to create games using English.
While we struggled to communicate with the kids through the language barrier, we quickly bonded through sports, meal times, and just joking around. We found it funny how high school students are the same world wide. Even in the midst of such incredible scenery, it was not unusual to see most of them on their phones or ipods and every night during the couple hours of electricity, all of them would run to plug in their phones to make sure they would be charged for the next day. Also, though we were roughing it, every single one of them would dress to the nine in a new outfit every day, new shirts, dresses, shoes… even when we went hiking. It was pretty funny for us since we all look pretty grungy in our faded, ripped, and stained clothes.
One of the nights, our team went out into the field and laid out under the stars. The mountains framed the sky into our own personal theatre and as we watched the shooting stars fall, it was just amazing reminder of the greatness and vastness of our God.
It was hard for me to leave Bakchysarai and everyone there. We had all grown close with the other leaders of the camp and for me personally, I wish that I could have stayed for a much longer time. Ukraine was easily one of my favorite months on the trip. Hope I make it back someday…
