People and Places

Mary and ice cream

Ice cream comes in tubes

Dishwashing Defense Strategy

We took over washing dishes because all the Fedewas had gotten very very very very sick- very. 

1. Move in to position at the beginning of the meal

2. Do not abandon the soap container 

3. Allow other women to help- with the rinse only. 

4. Be bossy 

5. Send a delegate to get your food, so you don't have to leave your post 

6. If a sweet little girl wants to help, block her from the view of the mean grandmas who will hit her and yell at her to go away. 

The end

Sea Stories

This is a reminder to have the group tell you about the new friend Dennis found at the camp. We don't want to tell this story over Facebook, because it is too good of a story. Mr. Nate and Audrey - zippy the lippies.

Angelina (Audrey's sister)was worrying about how she and Audrey could stay friends...and Mary said "Just pee each other all year" instead of "write" - Oops

We took down 10-15 tents, rolled 50 sleeping bags, 30 mats and picked up 5 bags of trash...we were so filthy, we went to take sand baths in the night.

We found the jellyfish that glow neon colors when you touch them!!!!!!!! It is so amazing...We also went diving and found the floor of the sea covered in hermit crabs, who try to fight you.. Dennis went to pick up a huge shell, when it sprung open and actually- was a huge crab.

A different day the sea was so cold, no one was swimming. Mary and Dennis went swimming- it was so cold it made our feet hurt.

Lydia also has a hilarious story about a boy and his balloon...ask her to tell it. You will laugh-100% guaranteed

Dennis went scuba diving with Vova or Volvo as Haley called him. They also went fishing, but Dennis says fishing here isn't real because they don't go out deep.. While he was scuba diving, the van came to take us to the city...so we gathered up all of our stuff (two tents and luggage), put it in the van, and waited for Dennis to come back. Then Lydia had a great idea - not to tell him everything was gone. Eventually, he came back and then he sat down and talked to us for awhile at the dinner tables...we kept suggesting for him to go get some potatoes for us to make for dinner...but he didn't go..finally he went and came back "I think someone stole all our stuff and tents" :D

Snail Delight

We floated a mattress to the deep and dove for shells. 

Then we boiled the shells and the meat came out and then we pulled off the nasty part and boiled the meat. Then Sasha and Pasha added spices and cooked them with carrots and onions.

Then we tried to wash the smell of snails off our hands.

Then we ate the concoction. Haley and Lydia liked the taste, but not the texture. Mary liked the texture, but not the sweet taste.

P.S. Dennis liked it but was feeling ill so is unsure of his complete opinion. 

Sightseeing and the Sea

Ukraine Photos

Audrey tries to take awful tasting medicine

Audrey made a furry friend!

Mr. Nate playing a game at camp

We were stuck in an elevator for 5 minutes!

We were stuck in an elevator for 5 minutes!

Lovely dinner

Mr. Nate bonding with local wildlife. 

Exercise for Mr. Nate!

Haley and Grant

Mr. Nate and a friend from camp

Haley and Veronica 

Lydia

Mary and Mr. Nate learn sign language!

Mary and Mr. Nate learn sign language!

Hanging out at camp

We don't need a jungle gym, we have Mr. Nate!

Conversations

July 17, 2016

Haley told an idea to the audience, that we should all come to God as children and listen and pay attention to the needs of others.

Haley's heart was filled with joy when she saw that our babooshka had taken cold water (a rare delicacy) out from the freezer. Then Haley dramatically waved her arms to try to communicate that she wanted cold water. Babooshka Larissa said "no! This is too cold!" And gave Haley hot water. Haley was dreadfully ill yesterday, but she is better today and has new knowledge about the lives of ants. 

After Haley recovered, she began to learn Ukrainian sign language. :):):)

Audrey, Mary, Lydia and Dennis found a big jellyfish and swam with her. It was purple tinted and had big tentacles. 

Dennis and Mr. Nate have hauled 10 wheelchairs so far. 

"It feels like we are on a different planet."
"This means we are surrounded by aliens" -Lydia 

There are some very bad children at the camp. They threaten to put toothpaste on our faces. We had to move our tent (for other reasons) to a new place and so now the bad children don't know where the tent is. They are not gypsy children, just Ukrainian with bad upbringing. 

Haley made friends with a girl who is 10 and in a wheelchair. Her grandma is so nice and always talks to Haley even when she doesn't understand. 

"It's nice to sleep here with you" - Aleksei

Mr. Nate made up a new poem for English learners
"Mr. Nate, Mr. Nate what have you got on your plate? Sasha, Sasha I think it's kasha" 

(Kasha is a very common mush breakfast...
Sasha is a common name) 

Sasha is so common we have to add names to identify them
1. Bowl cut Sasha or The Sasha
2. Red beard Sasha
3. Shirtless Sasha
4. Girl Sasha
5. Girl Sasha the mean nurses' daughter
6. Blond Sasha or the boy who loves Lydia "How's the weather?" 

Different types of Kasha
1. Oatmeal
2. Oatmeal soup
3. Rice
4. Burnt rice
5. Grechka (buckwheat) 

Sometimes this food even comes with a delightful snail sauce or dill! 

If you don't finish all the kasha, you might get it in your soup at lunch!

Laughter With Locals

July 12, 2016

Today a seller by the road told Dennis that he should marry a Ukrainian girl because they are the most beautiful girls on the whole planet...and good housewives. 

One night a boy named Andre lay in Haley's hammock. He was saying "Do you speak English? But he didn't know our tent was next door. As he said this Dennis said "DA!" (It means yes) in a very loud voice. 

Dennis and Mary ate some shrimp eggs. Dennis ate Salo - Ukrainian pig fat. 

A man at the market, said we were dumb, so the man we were talking to gave us presents and yelled at the mean man. "What's wrong with you, they came from America!"

We went to a bakery and the girl behind the counter started laughing - we aren't sure why - so hard and she had to duck behind the counter and laugh- literally ROFL. Mr. Nate thinks she was talking about us and she didn't know Mary knew Russian until Mary said the baklava was Ukrainian in Russian. 

Mary and Lydia and Haley bought some fruit from two guys and they also didn't know Mary could understand Russian. After she talked, he said "I didn't think you could understand our language!" Hahahah

Everyone has learned a lot of Russian. 

Mary asked the honey seller "did you make this yourself?" And he said "of course not! Bees make honey! Hahahah

Mr. Nate got a blanket. 

The international trade ideas we will bring to Ukraine are: 

1. Slushie machines
2. Laundry mats
3. Sherman William paint stores
4. Purdue brushes
5. Toilet paper to the US

It's a veritable schmorgesborgue here. 

So much fruit :))))))))

Bathroom Decisions

July 12, 2016

How to choose a squatty potty in Odessa Ukraine at camp. 

1.Bring toilet paper 

If you can walk- use the toilets by the beach. They are sticky and stinky and poopy, but they have less problems that we will describe. 

2. If you use the camp toilet with a seat, beware of the pee on your feet. 

*A control subject describes their experience and provides their suggestions* "If you are prone to falling forward, make sure to get a potty with an actual lock and to hook it. Do not use the toilet with the curtain door, lest you fall -out- of the potty when you go to grab the door and steady yourself."

How to Survive at the Dinner Table

July 12, 2016

How to survive at the Ukrainian table when served by a grandma

Step 1. Eat very slowly

2. Try to give some of your food to your neighbor or Dennis when her back is turned.

3. If the food is especially tasty and you want to lick your plate, choose a neighbor as your watchdog to make sure the grandma doesn't turn around.

4. If she gives everyone too much, slip some chicken back on the serving plate.

5. Try and tell her that you don't eat much, she won't believe you unless you are a small child.

6. Switch plates with your neighbor or Dennis, in order to eat less or make it look like you ate all your food.

7. Spoon some of your neighbor's macaroni onto your own plate, and tell the grandma you have enough.
(These methods are tried and true. They ensure good feelings between you and your babooshka. *Warning* there is really no way to leave the table without a stuffed stomach of delicious food.)

Colds and Medicine

July 12, 2016

Hello Everyone,

We are in the city for a day to do laundry and shopping. 

Mary, Lydia, Haley, and Audrey have been sick with colds. Please pray they stop coughing and get their voices back. 

Also pray that we make meaningful connections with people and that God works through us. 

Haley, Mary, Lydia, Audrey, Grant, and Mr. Nate

Ps

We have taken no less than 8 different mysterious medicines from grandmas. 

We went to jail and peeked over the wall. Maksim brought us some soft toilet paper. We ate ice cream all day on Mary's birthday. Her friend came and visited us with ice cream. We climbed down some cliffs to the black sea. Dennis gave Mary a thistle for her birthday. What a nice boy. 

We met some green pirates who gave us some pirate booty. 

All the pirates loved Haley's hammock. We had a ship's cook who made delicious food. This week the new cook is very creative. She uses dill to cover up the liver, snails and chicken parts in the mush soup. We went to the store today to stock up on cookies and fruit and sunflower butter. 

P p s 

This above is all 100% true and guaranteed.

Shopping

July 2, 2016

We went to the store. The exchange is 24 grivna for 1 dollar. The lady took Haley's 500 gv. note with no problem, which surprised Mr. Nate. 

Dennis has given up on people calling him Grant because no one can remember it. They think it's weird. So Larissa renamed him. By the way, it's pronounced Denise like the woman's name. But it is definitely not a girl's name. 

The water came back on last night!! 

We had famous traditional Slavic dish "Borsch" - beet soup and it was sooo good. The potatoes in it were perfect.

Every meal is too much, we can barely finish and poor Dennis has to eat all of our scraps. He isn't friends with Mary anymore because of this. Just kidding. 

Audrey has made great friends with a cat, she named "Skiski". 

Haley is progressing with the alphabet and everyone has learned more words :D :D

We practiced some balloon animals. He he he. We aren't so good. By we made a turtlecobra, a worm and a group of bananas. Here is Dennis charming the snake. 

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"I feel many things, but not bananas" - Haley at the Toronto airport
(She was searching for bananas...but of course it sounds funny) 

We are going to the camp "after lunch" in Ukrainian time which means who knows when. 

We drank grape juice that they made and ate potatoes they grew (Larica and Anton). 

Maxeem liked his beef jerky:)) Haley made Larisa some pot holders and we are going to give her a MI magnet:):) 

Mary's friend Alina stopped by :):) 

Mary

Ukraine Arrival

July 2, 2016

We are all safe in Ukraine. We made it here without any trouble. 

Lydia has made so many friends. Everyone loves her hilarious Russian and her English. Some guy even tried to get to become a fashion model. Another guy has a son her age to marry. 

We met a nice guy to help us get train tickets. 

Everyone is learning so much Russian and it makes Mary overjoyed. We went on a walk all over the region where Mary lived before and stopped by at another missionary's house. 

Grant got pulled over "how much money do you have" and he told them honestly how much, they scanned his bags and let him go. He also got in trouble at security because Lydia put a full water bottle in his bag. 

We took the 4:30 train and got here last night at 1:00 am, took showers at Makseem's and slept. The water is turned off in the whole city to protect from the water sickness in Ismail, a city over. 

Haley already found some people who are deaf, but she couldn't talk to them because it's Russian sign language. The security took her guacamole, she is still upset. 

Our hostess is a lovely lady and makes delicious potatoes. Her named is Larissa. The strangest we've eaten so far is meat + fat...so life is good. :):) 

Mr. Schuck was trying to compare learning Russian names and how hard it is, so he told us "my name is Pakamakawaka" 

We made a "camp" in the airport and they had beds and one airport had free tea, coffee and snacks. They even had a lounge, they moved our flight to the 9:15, so we could go to Montreal sooner. Then we slept at the Montreal airport on the beds. 

Ukrainian passport control guy said "missionaries"? And let us through with no problems! He was the nicest border guard Mary had ever met. 

Audrey is "keeping everyone in check" according to Haley and "is adorable and smart" according to Mary and is "slapping people to keep them awake" according to Lydia, and Grant says; "I've known Audrey for..." "Apparently Audrey knocked him out" says Haley. 

We are having so much fun. 

Love, 

Everyone

Ukraine Updates

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in sharing our journey with you, we had issues accessing the blog because Google knew it was being accessed from outside the US and wouldn't let us in so we've enlisted a friend to add content for us.