Saturday's Story

Greeting from Kiev, it’s 10PM Saturday night.

It’s been a busy Saturday here in Kiev; we’ve been very social- out & about! After posting the quick update on the blog at noon, the van arrived to pick us up. Galya, Brad & Patty Hicks, and the Daughertys then traveled downtown Kiev to pickup another American couple. The Adams are from Florida, and just flew in Saturday morning. The Hicks have adopted from the Ukraine twice before. This time they are attempting to receive a 13 year old girl that they have met on mission trips before. The Adams will be adopting their 5^th child from this country, a teenage girl as well. Both are terrific couples who certainly know the ropes. We enjoyed picking their brains, and learning from their experiences.

We ate a very nice, upscale, Ukrainian themed restaurant. Complete with a strolling band of entertainers, great dйcor, and very good food. Barb & I both had a plate of pork filets on potato pancakes. An enjoyable meal was had by all!

After dinner we went to a national landmark, located on a hill overlooking the river flowing through the center of Ukraine, the centerpiece of which is a statue named “Mother Russia”. It is Ukraine’s equivalent to the US’s Statue of Liberty. “Mother Russia” is a very tall statue holding one arm in the air welcoming people, and the other arm holding a shield- promising to defeat them. At the base of the statue and on the surrounding grounds stood a very impressive museum and set of sculptures (great video & photos to share later). The museum is named “National Museum of the History of The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”; they can be located at www.warmuseum.kiev.ua . As indicated by the name, the entire focus is the defeat & pushing out of the Germans. But Ukraine’s losses and suffering are shown, never to be forgotten.

After a cold stroll in the night air back to our van, we head back to the Adams’ hotel. The van next dropped us off at 5:30PM, and then the Hicks were off to gather their luggage and head to the train depot for their departure. Please pray for the Hicks family, they have a task ahead of them. They travel on the train from 8:20PM Saturday evening, and they will stop at 7AM Sunday. Then they will set in a train yard for 8 hours as the train is uncoupled and re-attached with other cars heading the same direction. Then the train takes off for another 2 hour ride, I believe. Wow, talk about your modern transportation- fun time there! Upon their arrival at the orphanage, they still have several large tasks looming to be taken care of before their adoption can be completed. But Brad & Patty remain confident that God will see them through the process.

Sunday morning we will attend church at Galya’s home church. She has invited us, and the service has American translation as well. So we look forward to wonderful time of worship in another culture.

After that service we have to ready ourselves, as we will be boarding a train Sunday evening at 7:30PM. We are traveling towards the central, eastern border of Ukraine- towards Russia. The city we are going to is named Donetsk. It is in a coal mining region, but full of modern Ukraine wonders. On Monday everything kicks up several notches as we will visit with the “orphanage inspector” and then meet the boy! Monday afternoon we will move into our living quarters in Donetsk, where we will “make home” for what will probably be a couple of weeks.

That’s about all I can tell you for sure right know. In summary, we have had a great five days so far. Very different… a lot of adjustments (we especially miss our select comfort bed)… and total reliance on people who God has placed in our path. Don’t know if we will have time to journal on Sunday, next time we may be writing to you from Donetsk… but that’s all for tonight. As for now, we’re coming at you- Live from Ukraine…It’s Saturday Night!

Take care, and God Bless you all.

Darrin & Barb (the American poster children for Ukrainian travels)

P.S. Barb thought I should expand on our bountiful breakfast I prepared Saturday morning. Always one to get creative in the kitchen, I discovered leftovers in the fridge and decided & I should use them before we move out of the apartment. I had a leftover piece of chicken breast (with a baked on cheese topping), and a container of McDonald’s French fries. I discovered you should separate the topping off the chicken, then dice the chicken and sautй it in a skillet. While sautйing chicken, cut fries into short Ѕ" pieces. Then add fries to browned chicken, stir in the hot oil to coat & brown fries. Finally, add the chicken’s original cheesy topping back into the mixture and let melt for a short time! BAM! Move over Emerill, here comes Darrin! (That is our original Ukrainian Chicken & Chip recipe that you can feel free to try & duplicate in your own home.)