Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by. First off I would like to apologize for the delay. Internet is a bit hard to come by in Transnistria. What is Transnistria? I’m glad you asked. Technically it’s a Russian territory located inside the country of Moldova. It even has its own border patrol, currency, and president. Everyone here calls it Narnia because it’s basically a fake, made up country. So what have I been up to in Narnia? I’m glad you asked.
Our first week was spent with a small local church teaching English in Tiraspol, the capitol. It was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We also had the opportunity to teach at a local university and high school. We made a lot of new friends and met a lot of interesting characters. We also got to celebrate Easter with them, which they celebrate a week later than us. And they eat tons of Easter cake (a special cake they make only during Easter).
During our second week we helped paint an orphanage and got to hang out with the kids there. We also spent some time with the youth of another local church here in Transnistria. One night the pastor of the church invited us over his house where we played ping pong and ate sushi with caviar. After we ate we spent a good hour with him and his family watching funny videos on youtube. It was an amazing night.
This past Friday we were fortunate enough to get to go to Odessa, Ukraine for the day. Odessa is a beautiful city located on the Black Sea. We had a wonderful time walking around and exploring the city. We saw the port, the opera house, Transfiguration Church, Potemkin steps, and a ton of monuments and statues. I got another picture holding a giant hawk (only $2.50 this time) and bought a real whale tooth from an old fisherman in the market. We also had a good time sitting on a bench in the park people watching and just enjoying God’s creation.
Overall I have really enjoyed my time here in Transnistria. We have become quite popular here because we are the only Americans in town. And the only Americans most people have ever seen. I am getting a glimpse of what it’s like being a celebrity. Everyone staring and wanting to take pictures and talk with me just because I’m American. I will miss this place and the many friends we have made. As I write this we are packing up getting ready to head back to Chisinau (the capitol of Moldova) for our next week of ministry. I will be sure to keep you all updated (depending on how good the internet is there). This is the end of act 1. There will be a 15 minute intermission….
