My time in Ukraine was filled with so many memorable moments. Here are some of my favorites:
Food was one of the best aspects of the month. (It usually is.) Living in an American household we had wonderful home cooked meals of familiar food. We were each allowed to pick one meal of our choice, so I picked jambalaya. Oh, how I’ve missed Cajun food! We also had some traditional Ukrainian foods mixed in like borshch (beet soup) and birch juice. One Saturday we attended a women’s event at the church. Two of the older women in the church taught us to make vriniky. This traditional Ukrainian dish is a sort of dumpling which can be filled with a variety of things. Ours were filled with mashed potatoes and topped with sour cream. They are not the healthiest option for a meal, but are certainly delicious!
L’viv is definitely one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. As you drive into the city center, the streets change to cobblestone and the architecture becomes more elaborate. The downtown area is full of excitement with street performers, local handcrafts, and the famous L’viv Chocolate Factory. I definitely made sure to visit this place every time I came downtown to get a few handmade truffles.
We had many opportunities to participate in different church events –sharing testimonies in church, teaching Sunday School, and simply spending time with church members. I got teach a group of 5 middle schoolers about the Armor of God one Sunday, and we had so much fun! As we drew pictures of ourselves wearing the armor, I came to the realization that Ukrainian 11 year olds are far better artists than I am.
We also spent a significant amount of time with the young adults of the church. Every Thursday night we would get together for a time of worship and games. These nights were always so fun! One Saturday we even got together to play laser tag. We soon learned that Ukrainians are quite competitive, and their scores showed for it.
One of our host sisters, Bria Blessing, also works as a musician in addition to her missionary duties and appeared as a contestant on The Voice Ukraine while we were there. It was so fun to watch her on TV! Unfortunately, she was voted off the show, but I am convinced she could have won. She also had a coffee shop gig while we were there, so we got to hear her perform! She has two albums out on iTunes, so you should definitely check her out as soon as you finish reading this blog!
With being so close to the border of Poland, we were able to cross it to visit Krakow. Just over an hour drive outside of this city is the famed Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. We were able to visit this place and take a tour. The massive camp is divided into two locations and takes over 3 hours to tour. Our group of 15 was large enough to have our own tour guide, but the guide added an older couple at the last minute. How fortunate we were to have them join us. As we toured the grounds, we learned that the woman’s mother had been a prisoner there for a whole year and survived to be liberated! Their company was definitely an added bonus to hear history from her mother’s experiences.
The month of May was filled with so many good moments. Spending off time in the city, hanging out with our Ukrainian friends, and getting to experience a part of history are only some of the great experiences I had. It’s no coincidence that our contacts for the month held the last name of Blessing because my time in Ukraine was indeed a blessing.
