This was from awhile ago, but it keeps reoccurring. My wonderful roommate will often tell me at night “I go shower my teeth.” I laugh every time. Yesterday she said she was going to shower her face too. That’s a funny mental image…

This past weekend, Marichka’s mom came to visit. I tried to put my Russian to use, but I failed miserably. I was telling her “I like verenky, semki, borsch, and boys.” Boys? She sort of raised her eyebrows a little when I said this. Of course I did not mean to say boys, I was trying to say holoptsie which are the cabbage rolls. The difference between the word for boys and the word for cabbage rolls comes down to a hard ‘h’ or a soft ‘h’. Small things that make a big difference.

The YWAM base in Ternopil has been so busy this summer. Team after team has come to work here. Different camps and projects having been demanding attention and assistance. Everyone has been here and there, this way and that way. We have needed a good time away to spend time together and simply rest without hurrying to answer the door or phone.

Sasha, our leader, stirring dinner

Everyone who is considered staff or a volunteer at the Ternopil base headed out to a village about 20 minutes outside the city on a cloudy, overcast Wednesday afternoon. We all settled in (there were 9 girls in my tent!) and ate pilaf for dinner. MMMMMMMM!!! That night we set up the projector and watched two movies before we dragged ourselves to bed.

Jumpin around

The next day, the sun was shinning, we set up a trampoline, brought out the volleyball and ate lots of food. Oh yes, there was shashlik, baked potatoes, salad, we had stir-fry and of course there was lots of desserts and tea and coffee. There was also a type of kite; it was like a full body kite. It provided some entertainment for most of the boys. Many people took walks in the woods or out in the fields. We had some worship and devotions together as one team as well.

Volleyball in the field

Alison trying to fly

 One of my favorite parts of the day, was when Roman and I set up a teambuilding activity. Hee, hee, hee. Some people considered it a form of torture, but really it was just helping them to learn to work as a team. I can’t give all the details incase some reader may partake in this activity, but it involved being blindfolded, ropes, and a bell. Pretty simple really. We enjoyed watching people suffer, [cough] I mean, work together. People enjoyed it, despite their earlier claims of torture.

Leading the blind

Joanne and I brought marshmallows to share with everyone. We roasted marshmallows and sat around the campfire chatting. One fun moment was at 1 in the morning, when there was only a small group of us left at the campfire, Elizabeth (6) and Annabella (3) were still up and wide awake. Elizabeth had already been sitting on my lap for an hour and wanted me to tell her a story. I started telling her Nancy Drew stories. She liked them so much I think I told her ten until she finally fell asleep at 2.

Dima playing with fire and my dinner

The party started to end on Friday before lunch. We had some more worship together and began to pack up our stuff. Some people left before lunch, while the rest of us stayed for some green borsch and more relaxation. Everyone enjoyed the time together and we all longed for our time to be extended. I look forward to more time their next year.

I just thought I would add some of my favorite questions from English club this week.

1) What do ballerinas where while dancing?

a. tutu                  b. toga                   c. tuxedo

My group got a good laugh out of that one. They had no idea what any of those options were.

2) Maria put cookies in the oven to __________.

a. burn                    b. bake                     c. boil

At first my group thought boil was really bowling. Once we got that straightened out, we decided this question depended on how well Maria cooked. I still had to explain what bake and boil were.

3) In the last month, the company suffered a ________________.

a. lost                       b. loose                           c. loss

I am sure you know the right answer, but can you explain why?

This last week in English class we looked at ailments and remedies. Remedies in America are pretty straight forward. See the doctor, take some aspirin, drink lots of water, rest, maybe use a humidifier, and drink hot chamomile tea. We don’t get too exotic in our remedies.

In Ukraine though, when someone is sick it is everyone’s job to inform them on what they should do. Really. Ukraine is considered a warm culture so it is sort of a community event if there is someone sick, it is your JOB to share advice on what your mother did to you when you were young.

In English class, we asked the question ‘What do you do for _____ in Ukraine?’ We got some intersting answers that I thought I would share with you.

For backaches- take some bee poison

For a cut- grab some kind of leafy thing outside (there is a specific plant that I do not know the name of in English) You spit on it and then put it on your cut

For burns (this is my favorite)- whale brain. I have no idea how this is applied, but I guess you can get it in the stores. It’s really expensive though, go figure.

Coughs & colds- drink hot milk with butter and honey

Toothache- some other kind of bee product. It is not honey or wax, but something else they produce

Dizziness- medical spirits (aka vodka or some other form of alcohol)

Headache- Vietnam balm (I don’t know what this is, but it sounds scary)

Fever- wrap up in a hot blanket and drink hot Whiskey

These were just a few of the interesting remedies my class came up with. They thought it was really funny to see my reaction to some of these. Everyone has their own way of doing things, some people would argue over what was the best remedy. Ukrainians always seem to be obsessed with health. If I so much as give a little cough, I am always met with “Are you sick? Are you alright?” The smallest clearing of the throat is seen as the start of a cold. ‘I just had a crumb in my throat!’ I would say, but no matter, here is some hot tea just in case.

Earlier this year, there was a guy who came and only brought one pair of shoes of which you do not wear socks with. (They were called 5 Fingers, I don’t know how to describe them.) Anyways, he got sick, and all the Ukrainians believed it was because he did not wear socks. Gotta keep those feety toasty warm if you want to stay healthy!

It is always interesting talking about health with Ukrainians!

Just thought I would amuse you with the full understanding of how precious bread is here in Ukraine.

I once accidentally dropped a piece of bread on the floor. [Gasp!]

I reverently moved the sacred slice to the side with my foot (my hands were full, I couldn’t help it.)

I was met with a few gapping mouths. How dare I touch the sacred slice with my dirty, filthy, blemished, sinful foot!!! That audacious American!

Yesterday, I got a full understanding of this small escapade. It was explained to me that children were taught in school that bread is holy and it should be treated as such. One staff member told me the story of how she was taught, that if a piece of bread fell to the floor she was to pick it up, wipe it off, kiss it, and use it! I might (probably not) pick up a piece of the floor and wipe it off, but I certainly would not kiss it! In fact, I probably would not even eat it, I would hope that someone else would eat the fallen piece…

Dima also agreed and shared that he was told a story in school about how a child once played with bread, kicking it around. He doesn’t remember what happened to the kid (probably because it was so awful he blocked it out of his memory.) Dima only remembers being shocked and horrified that a child could possibly play with bread. He told me his aunt would never throw away bread, if it by some unfortunate cause, became moldy and was truly unusable, she burned it. It was never put into the garbage.

Most children were taught this as a result of the famines that have taken place in Ukraine. Bread should be conserved and seen as precious. I also discovered that there is a museum of Bread in Kiev, the capitol of Ukraine. Traditionally, a visitor is offered a loaf of bread and salt as a sign of hospitality.

So do not, ever, under no circumstance, even think about kicking a sacred slice of bread while in Ukraine!