An elderly woman in Eastern Europe is referred to as a
‘Babushka’. Team rooted has our very own Babushka. We met her on the tram the
other day in Odessa, Ukraine.
I’m not sure exactly why this woman sought us out or what
the conversation started with, but she invited us to her home. It happens to be
very close to the flat we are staying in, so we picked up an odd number of
flowers (even numbers are for funerals) and visited her home the next day. Invitation
like this are considered ‘divine appointments’ and rarely passed up.
Galia is 87 years old and still working as a house sitter. She
lives up the ricketiest steps in the smallest apartment I have ever seen. Our
shoes filled up half of the kitchen and our bodies filled up the entire living
room/bedroom. The 8 of us fit perfectly spread out on a sofa and bed and 2
stools.
Galia speaks perfectly good… Russian. =) Good thing we had
our translator.
heaped on the bread for us and towels were placed on our laps to serve as bibs
(mainly for the butter falling off.)
Galia was one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. She
showered us with snacks and said we were more than welcome to stay at her
place. (No clue where we would fit, but it was a nice gesture) We spent the
next half hour or so hearing stories of her childhood during the World War and
her family now. Galia referred to
herself as ‘well off’ because she had shoes on her feet and more than one
outfit in her closet (which we could help ourselves to is we needed any extra
clothes)
We also got some good advice from Galia:
“Do not go out at night. It is not safe.”
“Save your money. Do not waste it.”
When it came time for us to end our visit with Galia, we
asked if we could pray with her. Orthadox Christians believe prayer can only be
done in church, so we were surprised when she agreed right away. She also wrote
down our names so that she could pray for US in church.
45 minutes after the time we stepped foot in her apartment,
we said our goodbyes, gave our cheek kisses, and walked back down the rickety
stairs. We left with a cone shaped newspaper filled with grapes, bag full of
mugs, and invitation to come back anytime we want… just not at night because
she “does not answer her door after dark.”
Our experience with Galia was a day I will never forget. Relationships
like this are what life is all about, & I hope I am that hospitable when I
am 87 years old. I know we made her entire week by visiting her home, and she
certainly made ours.
offering her wardrobe to us, to forcing us to take all of her mugs when we
left. All jokes aside, the lesson here is to be grateful for what we have, and
willing to give it all away.
everything
