Lance & Megan's Blog

To Krakow I did go

September18

I took a trip with Vitaly and his brother-in-law David to Krakow to apply for visas back in mid July. We left late on a Sunday night and got there early Monday morning before the embassy opened. We only had to wait about 45 minutes after I accosted some guy that came out telling him that it was past time and they should be open now. He didn’t speak English, but we figured out that there was actually a time change between Ukraine and Poland. We were an hour early. Lesson learned.

Something cool

The Grunwald Monument commemorating the 1410 battle of Grunwald (ironic right?) That's the slain leader of the Teutonic knights on the bottom

The visa process was easier then expected. I walked up to the window, gave the man my documents, he told me to go pay at such-and-such bank and return with a receipt. David and I both did this; we paid at the bank and returned with the receipt stapled to our documents. The man now told us to come back after 2 to pick up our passports. Sweet!

Vitaliy in front of St. Florian's Gate, part of the original city wall

St. Mary's Basilica, which has a really cool history that I won't go into here

We had several hours to kill before 2 so we figured out how to get to the center of the city and hopped on a tram. We explored the old city; saw the old walls, churches, clock tower, and statues. We also discovered a mall, which, once inside, was like being in a mall in America. There was McDonalds, Subway, KFC, and my favorite, Starbucks!

Yum!

At 2 we returned just as it started to rain. The man gave us our passports with out any trouble at all. No questions asked. I like this kind of service. Then it was on the road again. We got back home mid-morning on Tuesday. Praise the Lord for a quick and easy trip! I would love to return to Krakow sometime now, it was a gorgeous city.

posted under travel | Comments Off on To Krakow I did go

A spelunking we will go!

August22

Alright, I am going to start with the most recent activities and work my way backwards.

So the most recent exciting thing I have done…. spelunking in Ukraine! How cool is that?! Yep, a group of us went to explore a nearby cave last Saturday. I have seen some pretty cool caves in my day, Lewis & Clark Caverns, Mammoth Cave…, so I was just expecting some little lighted path with a guide give a speech now and then. I had no idea what I had agreed to.

All ready to go!

We arrived at a run-down building with a small sign marking it as the caving location. We piled out and our guide began to find us caving gear. This included a suit to protect us from dirt, mud and anything else in the cave, as well as a head lamp and gloves if desired. Right away, I knew this was not going to be just a little walking tour.

What?! There might be bats! Nobody told me that!

Once everyone had donned their caving gear, we headed out to the entrance of the cave. It seemed pretty unexciting at first, dark cave, big rocks, nothing new. Then we came to a little hole, our guide proceeded to get down on her hands and knees, then her belly. She just wiggled her way through this little hole in the solid rock. Yee haw! I like adventure, crawling around in a dark cave in Ukraine with nothing but a headlamp, yes please!!

Scaling the walls like Spiderman

I love adventure!!

The whole three-hour tour involved, crawling, wiggling, shimmying, inching, shuffling, and contorting. There were a few moments where I was not quite sure how I was going to get through this rock and I am a small girl! We were diving in and out of crevices, over and under boulders, through mud and clay, exploring every inch of one of the largest gypsum caves in Europe.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

Allison is about to disappear down a hole... and we're happy about it!

 

We managed to make it back to the same entrance that we had entered through just three hours prior. It was certainly an adventure! My body is still reminding me about that adventure…

The Caving Team

The adventure just continued that day. On our way back from spelunking, we stopped at an old castle that had originally been built in 1097! It was mostly just the outer wall, but the city has recently begun to make some small restorations. Apparently, Genghis Khan, Turks, and Poles had attacked the castle and had to turn away in defeat. It is quaintly situated on a hill over looking a green valley. I have heard that the region in which I live, has the most castles in all of Ukraine. I think we will definitely be visiting more castles in the future.

 

The Tower

Joanne inside the castle

Me in a window... I think it was a window.

Looking inside one of the towers

Finally getting to relax on the castle wall

The Girls outside the wall

Joanne is here!

June11

I just want to note that Joanne has finally arrived from Canada! I am so excited to have my dear friend back in Ternopil. I took her out to pizza to celebrate!

She will be busy helping with a King’s Kids team and preparations for the English school. In the mean time, we like to watch old movies like The Thin Man! Who wouldn’t want to watch The Thin Man?

We love black and white movies yes we do!

Recently we got to spend some time with a few girls whom we met last year during our children’s English class. We had tea, made some cards, and played Qwirkle. They are so sweet!

posted under team, travel | 2 Comments »

Eastern European Easter

June11

I know this is old, but whatever. I can still talk about Easter.

I did not spend Easter in Ukraine, but rather went to Moldova for the holiday.

I will simply add some pictures of our adventure there. I will say though that Easter is a three day celebration here. Saturday people bring baskets of special food for the priest to bless. Sunday is the official holiday and Monday is like a day of rest. What I have not been able to verify, is that apparently on Monday you can go around and throw water on people. Not sure yet if this is true or perhaps it is only true in the villages… I stayed clear of any populated areas on that day just in case.

Waiting for the meat

Mmmm shashlik!

Playing "Kill the duck" (or something like that)

The Easter gang at sunset

After Easter, I helped Ruslan’s family get their garden ready. I felt like I was at home. We also went to a beautiful public park while the weather was nice. It was nice to see more of Moldova when everything was blooming.

Pulling out old raspberries

Note how cute their house is!

Playing with Ruslan's sisters

Hooray for sunny days in the park!

posted under cultural, travel, Ukraine | Comments Off on Eastern European Easter

Moldova: my vacation destination

April15

DTS is finally over, my structured life is no longer so structured. What should a person do now? Go to Moldova of course!! Ruslan invited Allison and I to come to Moldova to visit his home and family.

It was a long bus ride there, but so worth it. Funny note about our trip there. We took an all night bus and at one of the pit stops in the middle of the night we came to a little food stand for a snack. On the menu was “Hot dog” or I could get “Hot dog with meat.” Hmmm don’t know about you, but it seems safer to go with the hot dog with meat if I have a choice!

Let me just say that Ruslan has such an amazing family!! They are so welcoming, so sweet, and warm-hearted; it really is difficult to describe this one-of-a-kind family.

Seeing a little bit of Ruslan's village

Lunch with the Fam

They quickly took us in and let us just lounge around. We played with Ruslan’s younger sisters, if I haven’t mentioned it before, he has four younger sisters!

Little mischievous Emanuela

Ruslan took us to see the capital of Moldova which is only a 15 min drive from his home. We saw some of the beautiful buildings and parks (that would be even more beautiful if we were there in the spring!)

Hanging out with Stefan the Great

It just so happened that Vice President Joe Biden was in Moldova giving some speech. There were lots of American flags up through out the city to welcome him. One other place we went was the mall. Can you guess what it would be called? I’ll tell you at the end.

One afternoon, Allison and I took three of Ruslan’s sisters out and we went exploring for spring flowers! We had a great time just getting out, walking, and seeing the Moldovan countryside! I can’t wait to see Moldova in the spring time!

Mariana, Ludmila, Georgeta

Georgeta gave up looking for flowers and started collecting pine cones!

We were privileged to be a part of Ruslan’s home group that meets on Thursdays. We went to two other prayer meetings and then finished our time in Moldova by going to Ruslan’s church, which was very alive! There was always lots of fellowshipping after the home group! 

Ruslan's church

 

The mall was called Malldova!

posted under travel | Comments Off on Moldova: my vacation destination
« Older EntriesNewer Entries »