Day 205: In the morning, Britni and I hung out with Milleana and treated her to lunch. We had a second late lunch at our house with Mama Gocha, and Pastor’s family. I worked all afternoon to edit a video about Alex going to America and then met up with Alex at his apartment to work on his college application. At night we watched the Hunger Games.
Day 206: We had worship in the morning and then Adriana and Milleana came over to bake cookies. In the afternoon, I started work on a video I am making for the church. In the evening we had a prayer meeting. After prayer, Alex and I spent over an hour working on his applications and figuring out how to get his transcripts officially translated.
Day 207: In the morning, Amaris and I took Milleana to Memorial Park to paint. I took the opportunity to get footage for the video I am doing for the church. In the afternoon, I went with Alex, Maggie, and Brit to get more footage from around town and we happened upon a horse stable that agreed to let us ride! In the evening, I set up a portrait studio at the church and took family photos for Pastor Dragon’s family and Lydia’s family.
Day 208: We spent the morning packing. In the afternoon, I went with Alex to print family portraits and then went to his house to finish a few last minute things for his college applications. In the evening we attended church and then went to a goodbye celebration at Pastor Dragon’s house. The surprised us with matching shirts!
Day 209: We woke up at 3:30am and we were out the door by 4am. Lydia, Alex, Adriana, Milleana, and Dragon came to the bus station to say goodbye. We took a bus to Belgrade, Serbia and then a train into Hungary. We arrived in Budapest in the afternoon for the start of our 4 day spring break vacation. After checking in at our hostel we went out to explore the city.
Day 210: We hung out in Budapest for the day, ate lunch at the outdoor market, and did some sightseeing. In the evening we caught a night train to Poland. Thank you Jesus for sleeper cars!
Day 211: Our train arrived in Krakow, Poland around 8am. We dropped our luggage off at our hostel and went for a walk around the city (it started snowing…and we had just given away ALL of our winter clothes)…socks with sandals was a great option. Maggie, Brit and I had dinner at a pirogi restaurant and then went out to sing karaoke.
Day 212: Today we took the bus two hours to visit Auschwitz. For several hours we walked through the camp that took in over 1.3 million deported Jews, Gypsies, POWs, and various other ethnic groups. More than 1.1 million died within the walls of the camp. The museum now holds many of the items that were taken from those who were brought to the death camp.
Day 213: Maggie, Shannon, and I took a bus to Zakopane, a small mountain resort town. We were able to take the gondola (cable car) to the top of the peak and the views were breathtaking! We had to head back to Krakow early because we were supposed to take a night train to The Ukraine. When we arrived we found out that our train was sold out and we ended up sleeping in the train station (which turned into a homeless shelter) until our train at 7 am.
Day 214: We took a six hour train early morning, then took a bus to the boarder. We had to carry our packs for over a mile as we crossed from Poland into The Ukraine. We were packed onto another bus for a ride to the train station in L'viv. We had a several hour wait before our train to Uzhhorod (our final destination).
Day 215: We arrived in Uzhhorod around 2:30am and a man started taking pictures of us as soon as we stepped off the train. Turns out this strange man was our contact (and former World Racer) Clinton. Most of us slept until after lunch (trying to catch up from two sleepless nights). In the afternoon, we met with a local missionary to hear about the history of Christianity in The Ukraine and to have a cultural orientation. A few tips: sitting on the ground makes a woman infertile, it is bad luck to shake hands through a doorway, and sticking your thumb between your 1st and 2nd finger (a.k.a. stealing a kid’s nose) is the Ukrainian middle finger.
Day 216: Today we were given a tour of town in the morning, followed by meeting with one of the local pastors. We also met several of the youth that are involved in the church and talked through some of the projects we will be helping with this month. In the evening we had to go grocery shopping. P.S….It is a tradition in The Ukraine for newlyweds to “lock-up” their love and throw the key into the river.
Day 217: Happy 25th Birthday to Me! We went to visit 4 castles in the morning and then had lunch at a pizzeria. In the afternoon we attending a youth fellowship and were able to meet around 15 Christian teenagers. Throughout the day my teammates presented me with various treats and made me wear a princess crown. In the evening, we celebrated by me popping 25 balloons while reading notes from my teammates that fell out of each one.
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