As part of our work this month with CCX, three people were asked to go to Chirkasy for a couple days to support and be a part of what was going on in that city. Since they needed a few people to go, and of course, I volunteered to go. 🙂 It ended up being me, Nate, and Bekah who headed to Chirkasy, a city of 300,000 about three hours south of Kiev by marshuka (minibus). Our CCX contact in Chirkasy is Svieta, a wonderful and sweet young woman who loves the Lord and university students. We got to really get to know her more during our two days there.
Svieta made arrangements for us to stay with friends of hers at their houses. Nate stayed with a few guys and Bekah and I stayed with her friend Kate and her family. It was a nice homey place with friendly people. I wish we could have gotten to know them better. I really appreciated the borsh and pancakes and hospitality.
While we were in Chirkasy, we helped plan and host an event for students. We also hung out with the Christian students that Svieta knows and got to know them a little bit. They all came to the event we held Thursday evening. We even got to try some homemade Ukrainian food and enjoy tea in the dorms. I never thought I would experience Ukrainian dorm life. It was fun mingling with students.
While passing out fliers to advertise the CCX event, we met a group of students in the dorm that we immediately liked. They took us in and really showed us great Ukrainian hospitality.
Not only did we enjoy hanging out with them the night we met, but they also offered to take us to a nice park in town the next morning to enjoy nature and fall foliage. It was BEAUTIFUL… and of course the pictures don’t do it justice.
Peter, one of our new friends, also invited us to come speak to his English class. The topic was the higher education system in the United States. I had a blast telling students my experience in college and exactly how I felt about things like dorms, professors, general education requirements, etc. It was cool being the “subject matter expert” just because I went to University in America. 🙂
These same group of students spoiled us as they treated us to homecooked local food. We were served Ukrainian borsh (famous dish/soup), homemade pickled cucumbers, bread and tea for lunch.
Afterwards, they took us sight-seeing to the main places in Chirkasy, took us to an annual concert at the university and just hung out with us. It was a great experience to enjoy a truly Ukrainian experience! We will miss them greatly!!
All in all, it was a FABULOUS time in Chirkasy. We loved the students and spending time with them. We tried a lot of Ukrainian food and experienced student life and Ukrainian hospitality. We wished we could have stayed much longer, but we had to return to Kiev. So far, it was one of the highlights of my month. I will really miss them!
