Before moving to California, we took the kids to spend 2 weeks in easter Ukraine. Why Ukraine during riots and winter? Well, my mom and dad live there while serving a mission for our Church and since they can't leave the country, we went to them. The trip was almost called off due to the civil unrest and warning emails from the State Department's travel advisory. If we didn't go we had 2 weeks of homelessness since we had to move out of our Washington house on March 11 but couldn't move in to our California house until the 27th. We considered a long road trip through California, but 2 days before our scheduled departure and after talking it over with my parents, we decided to go.
We finished packing up the our stuff in a POD which left for California, then we said goodbye to Washington and drove to the airport for a 20 hour flight. It was a big day!
I was nervous for the flights and had packed loads of food, sticker books, kindle, crayons, etc but the kids did really well, or at least, better than I had feared. Esther especially loved watching movies on the flight. We flew from Seattle to Paris (so hard to get on the next plane) to Kiev to Donetsk. Once we left Paris I didn't see any other American travelers. No surprises there. I was a little worried that we would be a target since there has been some Anti-American sentiment in the area, but we didn't experience any at all. The only rebuke we got was from the Ukrainian women who were worried that our children weren't dressed warmly enough. They gave up their seats for us on the bus, let us board the airplane ahead of them so the kids could be warm. Everyone was very kind and I think it was largely due to the children. My mom said that the Ukrainians tend to all be very involved in raising the children and that there is not violence against children.
Once we made it to Donetsk, and discovered that our bags never left Paris (Esther: "Our bags didn't come out!") it was SO happy to see my mom and dad. We hadn't seen them since the previous June when they left on their mission, before that they had been living in Moscow for 3 years, so it's always a special occasion to spend time with Grandma KLynn and Grandpa Bob. They met us at the airport with their driver, Brother Vladimir who is an exceptionally kind person and takes very good care of my parents. I think my mom and I both cried a little and Sam was quickly passed over to his grandparents and I barely held him the rest of the time we were there.
Our first day there my dad was interviewing the missionaries from Donetsk so we sat in the kitchen as my mom baked fresh bread to give the missionaries while they waited for their turn to be interviewed. I loved getting to know the Elders and sisters that my parents have come to love so much. It was an outstanding group of people and they were so full of energy and enthusiasm. Esther tends to be shy around strangers but there was one missionary, Elder Bingham, who got her to open up and by the end she loved teasing the missionaries.
The next day was more interviews, but this time we traveled down to Mariupol which is down on the Sea of Azov (just east of Crimea which had recently been annexed by Russia). I was again struck by the difficult living conditions of the people. The apartment buildings are in the Soviet block style and seemed like they could crumble in at any moment. The church building stood out dramatically with it's simple but pretty landscaping, nice rod iron fence, and well built/maintained structure. It was about the only new, clean, inviting place I saw in the entire city.
At the church we met a long-time member who knew my brother-in-law Joshua when he was a missionary there over 15 years ago. She invited us in and took us to the primary room where she got toys for the kids and we all sat on a carpet and she told us about when Joshua was a missionary. She has 3 daughters, two of which are married and live in Texas. She just wept when she saw my kids and was so happy for my mom to be able to see her grandchildren. I felt so sorry that she didn't get to see her own grandchildren. It was clear when talking with her (even though it was through a translator) that she was one of the stalwarts in Mariupol who was helping to keep the church going. She was full of life and full of faith. I loved spending time with her and left wanting to be a better person.
A few other people, in addition to the missionaries, were coming and going at the meeting house. One of them was a favorite of Sam's who only wanted to be held by this brother and would cry when we took him away.
After the interviews, we all walked along the sea and on the boardwalk. There were men fishing even though the water was dark and murky because of the large coal mines. The air quality is so bad that missionaries only spend a couple of transfers there so as not to damage their lungs. Yikes!
These two ladies are such dear friends already. Esther loved following grandma around, laughing and playing the whole time. So thankful for grandmas!
