house arrest take two and..... action.

This weekend I was supposed to be in Lviv, sunny, warm Lviv. As you can tell I did not make it to this lovely place. On Friday morning I got an email from the head director of ILP saying that we are to remain in the city for the weekend because of the referendum. I spent $30 on the train ticket and I never got to use it and sadly, I don't get a refund. Of course I was a bit mad at this email but at least we got the chance to see Lavra on Saturday.

This church was just about 1,000 years old. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn't spectacular, like covered in gold or anything but it was just amazing because of the history of it all. We explored some caves under the church with mummified monks and the only light was from the candles we held in our hands. because it was a church one of the monks yelled at me in Russian for wearing my skating pants so lucky me, I used my scarf as a skirt. it looked like a kilt. I was probably the most fashionable person there. but he didn't just yell at me, he yelled at almost every girl that was wearing pants. the others got to use tie skirts that the church provided. We also hiked up a hill to see the view of the whole town of kiev. It was magical even though it was cold and threatening to rain soon.

Now today is Sunday and we are under house arrest, take two. at least we got to go to church in the morning. It’s been raining the whole day and windy. It’s been dismal. Me and Marilee were joking but also kind of serious saying that this was God showing his emotions towards the situation. No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow but I don't want to be under house arrest again. Been there and done that, not fun. and honestly pretty boring. I want to leave the house and walk around the town as soon as possible. I pray for peace in this country that wants it so badly. 

The government started a draft for the military here. Any able man between the ages of 18-40 will be entered into the draft to serve the country. I never thought I would see my host mom more in fear like that one day three weeks ago when there were shootings on the streets but I was wrong. she looked so worried about this, even more than three weeks ago. My host dad, he seemed cool but I could tell he is nervous about this as well because he's 38 and could be entered into the draft.

What’s scary is that I could never see my host dad in the military. He’s a chemist, he works in a lab, he’s not huge or muscular for that fact. I don't think he's even sporty. My host mom told me today that she wouldn't be surprised that ILP would get kicked out of the country soon. This was the first time she's said something about this to me. I have already made plans for if I get kicked out but I want to finish my internship.

It’s odd because my family has started to make plans for the worst, without power, without running water. This is the true meaning of food storage right here. We have been told to do this as all members of the church but they could use this now more than ever.
 

I have never looked forward to church more than I have in the past month. I find myself relying on the people there and the feelings I get while I attend. I feel safe there, comforted, calm, like everything is fine and ok. I feel really blessed that we live in a country that is stable, yes we have a cruddy president and yes we have corruption but it's not nearly as bad is it is here. I am grateful for what the Lord has given me and raised me in but I am grateful that he lead me here.
 

some of the walkways in Lavra

this had just been newly remodeled within the last 25 years or so because it was bombed heavily during world war 2

This is the older part of lavra and me looking out at it. photo creds go out to Thomas for this one. the scarf is for going into the churches.

 

 

Maidan

Two days ago we got the chance to go to Maidan with our head coordinator, Tanya. Maidan is in the center of the city where all the governmental buildings are. It’s like our Washington DC. I had already seen it on Monday with my host family (it was by accident that we ended up there and we decided to look around even though it was not allowed for me to go yet.) but I wanted the chance to see it again so I went again. Both times I went I felt completely safe even though, at one point it was a battle front. It is really surreal to be there in the center of all of it. For months we have seen it on TV, heard about it on the news, been under house arrest because of it, but we finally got the chance to see it in person. I didn't know what to expect when I went, but what I experienced was something I never thought of. 

The reason we got to see it was because even though there are still protesters there they are peaceful. The coordinator thought it was safe enough for us but also thought that it would important to see what has happened with our own eyes. As I walked the streets I expected the protesters to be holding up signs and causing a ruckus but what I saw was completely different. I saw them sitting in chairs, talk on the phone, listen to music, and talk to friends, and cooking meals by fires. Just like normal people do however they are living in tents in the city center. like a huge camp out. As I walked around this area with some of the girls I teach with I couldn’t help but notice the atmosphere is something for respect. People are still grieving for the people that lost their lives just a mere two weeks ago when things got suddenly so violent on that Tuesday night.

I was surprised that the protesters were still here. they got what they wanted or so I thought. I asked why they are still here and our coordinator replied that they are going to stay until the new president is elected. They want to make sure the government lives up to its word with all the promises that they gave to the protesters. They are also still protesting because they don’t like what the new government is doing right now. They have already made some poor decisions and they are not happy about them. So they will remain here until May (or maybe later) when the new president will come into office and put together some new change, some real change that the people want.

 Nothing is cleaned up over there. The streets are still missing loads of stones from the walk ways, the streets are covered with blacken soot from burning tires, and windows still remain shattered. It looks like a movie set. There is a huge building that is blackened from fire in the middle of the square that the president caught on fire, this still remains a reminder of what the president has done to his people. There are still barricades on the streets but they have opened up some different entrances so people can wander in. families now come with their little ones and old couples walk around to get a feeling for what had happened just a mere few weeks ago.

I think it’s truly amazing to care about something so much as to go and spend months in one spot and even risk your life for it. I have never felt like that before in my life about something. However I hope that someday I will feel so passionate about something that I might be able to change it for the better.

 

I got interviewed for a national news show because I played the piano in the background :)

anti war posters

protesters still here

Andrew's descent

On this last Saturday Camden and I went to this place called Andrews descent. It’s right off of the blue line under 215 (if anyone cares to stop by ;). It’s part of the oldest part of town as well. I didn’t know what I was excepting it to be but when I walked out of the metro stop and down the road a little we found this windy road that was made of cobble stones and old buildings lining the streets. The buildings were all so beautiful and ordinate. This was something out of a fairy tale story more than anything. I hard a heard time believing that this was in Kiev out of all places. I can easily say this is one of my favorite places in Kiev alone.

After we walked around some, hiked up stairs for views that could take your breath away, and exploring random roads, but we eventually got to the top of the hill where the church was at, Saint Andrews church (in English). This church has been at the top of this hill for over a hundred years and has faced major repairs during this time as well. It was made by an Italian artist who painted the inside of the church as well as helped design it. He only did two churches in this town and the other one I managed to see a month ago.  

When the sun started to set I decided to go home. Camden long ago left me to join his host family for dinner, but I didn't mind walking the streets alone. This past Saturday was a national holiday called women’s day. It celebrates all the women in our lives, not just moms but girls and grandmas as well. I think it’s a fantastic holiday and that the United states should do this instead of mothers day. Normally people give small gifts to women like flowers or chocolate. So because of this before I was about to go home I went to the store and picked out some flowers for my host mom. I also made her a small card to tell her thank you for all that she has done for me. It was a small act of gratitude but I think she really liked it. They also got me something, it was a fancy hair brush that I really like and works well with my hair.

I’m just really grateful that I have such great people in my life like my host family. They are truly great people and I love them.

three emails and one angry email.

Over the last three days I have gotten three emails from people that I have never met from BYU-I. They all expressed concern for me over in Kiev. One of them even was asking my boss to send me and all the other teachers home as soon as possible. When I saw that I got really frustrated. They had NO right sending that email. They are NOT my parents. They should NOT tell me what to do, especially when I don't even know them. They do NOT know the whole story in what is happening here. To let out some of my steam I wrote an angry email to one of the people. The email asked what my honest opinion of the situation here in Ukraine and I just merely responded and I quote,

"my honest opinion of the situation is to stay the heck out of my business. If you would read the news you would know that the real danger is 12 hours away by car. You should have sent this email about a week ago when people where actually dying on the street in my town by the snipers on the roofs.

have a great day :)

Darla Holland"

Of course I never sent this but it felt awfully good to get it out there. no matter who read it. But for everyone that is worried about me, I AM SAFE. I am safer then I have been in a couple weeks to tell you the truth. Things are looking up for Kiev and the country as a whole. There have been some major changes that have happened and they are looking good. Even though things are tough now I have faith that they will get better. I know they will, it just might take a little more time. 

There really isn't much news other then that. Russia looks like they are backing down, maybe? we hope. But then again it’s Russia... and I have learned they don’t do things that normal countries do. I have had the same dream for the past three nights about us getting evacuated out of the country. It’s always messy and we always take a different way of transpiration, first plane, train, the bus. We somehow end up in Poland every time. Dreams are funny that way I guess. it's probably just my over active imagination running at high speed.

hanging out with durnk men

First day of spring was yesterday! YES! The weather should start to warm up soon. Fingers crossed. To celebrate this time of year a lot of Ukrainians go to parks to eat, drink, and be merry. So we did the most logical thing, we did the same. We went to a huge outdoor museum on the out skirts of town. it was full of old buildings that they collected from around the country to put in the park. We spent most of the day walking around and enjoying everything. It was about 15 minutes outside of the city so there were no high raises, no large buildings, just fields, lots of fields. it was hard to believe that we where not even that far from the city yet it felt so much like we where in the country.

During this time of celebration Ukrainians eat a lot of what they call "pancakes" but these are not pancakes that we are used to back in the states. These are crepes that they eat with loads of different things stuffed inside them. I had a crepe with ham and mushrooms inside, which was amazing! it tasted really great, but it was also freezing outside so it warmed me up a little. I also had this mushroom soup that was great as well! With all the food I ate I only spent about $2.50. Something I love about Ukraine is that the food here is cheap. No matter where you go, it is all affordable, even if you go to a sit down restaurant for sushi it's only going to cost you $10. Yesterday was cold, really cold with the high of only about 29 F and so the hot food was great. I also was super smart and forgot gloves so I loved holding the food to try to heat my hands.

Not only did we eat great food but we also got to ride a carriage around the whole park for only a dollar for each person that rode with us. I love that some things here are so cheap, it's fantastic! It was relaxing just to sit down see what the park had to offer without walking around the whole thing by ourselves. It was really huge and I don’t think I even saw all of it.

 I guess normally the first day of spring there is still snow on the ground so it was odd that there was nothing even though it was cold. A lot of our group left at two but I and a few other people stayed until four. We decided to rough it and look around some more even though we were all freezing. When the rest of the group left we walked around a little and ended up hanging out with some slightly drunk Ukrainian men. There was a bit of a language barrier but it was really kind of fun to see how they partied and seemed to forget what was going on in their country, just for a little bit. They kept on offering us Vodka and we kept on refusing however they did give us pancakes witch was cool. They were really funny, all seemed to flirty and I don’t think I’ll forget that memory any time soon.
 

Needless to say it was great to enjoy life and good friends after being under house arrest last weekend. Because sadly I don’t know how many days I’ll have like that in this country

the men that we partied with :) pretty cute if I do say so myself.

 

carriage ride with the whole group!

 

more of us

The Russians are coming

things are changing by the minute here and it's crazy. I never thought I would be in a situation like this in my life. as most of you people would know Russia has invaded Ukraine. so fart there has not been any deaths but I really have not been following it for the past two days because I have been busy. there has been no word from the US embassy but I am worried in what will be the out come of this.

Obama gave a speech to Russia a couple nights ago warning that if they invaded Ukraine there would be consequences but so far America has done nothing about this. I knew we wouldn't do anything though. it's just the way the president is, kind of cruddy when it comes to foreign affairs. this makes me frustrated though, more then it has in the past. this already fragile country is starting to crumble under the ground it's standing on, starting with it's Hryvnia witch has already started to sink even farther down.

when I saw stuff like what is happening here or in other countries on TV back in the states I cared about it but I didn't, if you know what I mean. it's hard to explain, like it didn't really apply to me so it's not like I followed it religiously. However, now that I have been here and have lived though a lot I have a knew desire about international affairs because even though sometimes our country feels like it is the only one that matters all countries are connected and I truly believe that everyone should have a right for the pursuit of happiness.

I am hopeful, I am hopeful for Ukraine's future but on thing is for sure, it's not going to get better in a blink of an eye but if enough people care and try to make things better, it will get better.