These past few weeks have offered some interesting experiences through our many modes of transportation. It amazes me how we continually find ourselves in ridiculous situations, and always come out safely on the other side. All I can say is “thank You, Jesus”.
1. Our first experience on an Eastern European train provided for an interesting evening. We had an overnight train from Kyiv to Lugansk and was staying in a four person sleeper car. It is like a little room with 2 sets of bunks. We were asked if we wanted to buy all four beds, but decided to not waste the money and only purchased the three for us girls. Looking back, we should have bought all four. Our fourth occupant was this older Ukrainian man who started out nice enough. We were exhausted when we got on the train and were all pretty much keeping to ourselves. Everything was fine until later that night after he had a few drinks with the guys down the hall. There were a few small instances of red flags along the way but the real kicker was when it was time for bed. Ash and Steph were on the top bunks and me an Ukrainian man had the bottom. There was about a foot of space between our beds and he got up a lot. At one point though he thought I apparently wasnt properly tucked in and he got up and ‘re-tucked’ my sheet around me. I shot up and immediately was like ‘Niet, Niet’ (‘No, No’). Lets just say I didnt sleep much the rest of the night for fear that he would try that maneuver again. For future reference – is is NEVER ok to re-tuck people in on a train when you dont know them (and maybe if you do know them).
2. From Ukraine to Moldova we decided to take a bus because the ride wasnt going to be too long. Getting on the bus was really easy and the driver seemed really nice. He helped us with our bags and even gave us the seats in the back for the best leg room (since I am so tall). About halfway through the ride ash and I were fast asleep while Steph was just relaxing. Steph noticed the driver looking in the rear view mirror but didnt know what he seemed so concerned with. All of the sudden he stopped the entire bus, got out, walked onto the main part, and came straight back toward us. Ash and I opened are eyes to have this man standing before us yelling in Russian. Steph quickly figured out he was angry that we are our feet up on the extra seats in our attempts to have more comfortable sleep. After we put our feet down he walked back off the bus and got in the drivers side and continued on to Moldova. Once we had arrived he continued to give us the ‘stink eye’ and when we went to grab our back from the trunk he stood by and watched then proceeded to walk away when we needed help. While Steph and I walked around the bus station looking for our contact we kept running into him and decided to avoid eye contact at all costs.
3. Our last stop in Moldova had us staying in the city of Balti. All the places we had to visit though were around 2 hours away. Our driver (and missionary contact), Andre, provided us with quite the terrifying ride in his car. First off, he was very particular about his car, especially the doors. He kept getting mad at Steph and Ash for shutting the doors to hard and at one point no longer allowed Ashley to shut her own door. With such care for his car doors we were shocked by how he treated the rest of his car. He would plow down these roads full of potholes at 50 miles an hour then would slam on the brakes and swerve like crazy to get around the holes. He seriously should have flipped the car 56 times. The worst though was when he would avoid the already tire marked paths on the muddy roads to go around cars he thought were too slow and we would feel the rocks below scraping the bottom of the car. On our last day with Andre we accidently drove an hour in the wrong direction and ended up being in the car for 5 hours that day…im glad we survived.
This was just to give you a small glimpse of the Eastern European excursions we have experienced…and dont worry…I’m sure there will be plenty more (which we will ALWAYS survive).
