Greetings everyone.
Well, all eight of us made it home safely. Both the Ohio and Texas/Arizona groups had some adventures along the way. Flights were almost missed, and a few of us missed connections in Chicago, but nevertheless we are now all home. I think it's safe to say we have finished our laundry and are finally rested up from the long journey from Budapest on Tuesday.
As we've begun comparing notes we all agree it was a great trip! For those of us who have been to Ukraine before, it was a wonderful opportunity to become re-acquainted with friends and "family members." And, for those among us who experienced this trip for the first time, I'm sure there are going to be loads of new friendships to cherish and remember.
I have downloaded my photos and will be sharing them with you over the next few days. If you happen to be in the Dewey, Arizona area, why not join us for worship on Sunday morning at 10:00? Suzie, Marge and I will be talking about the trip complete with a slide show and souvenirs.
And, I can't forget to mention that along the way, we picked up two students from St. Stephen's School in Mukachevo. Timi and Andras are in Upper Sandusky, Ohio right now. On Thursday they will arrive in Arizona for a few days. Plans include a visit to the Grand Canyon and Sedona.
Watch this blog for their impressions of the U.S. as they continue their visit with some of us. They'll be returning home July 19.
Keep reading and watch for photos as they come along. We all appreciate the response we've received regarding this blog. It's good to know that we have so many interested readers!
Take care,
Pastor Diane
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Bingo And Goodbye
We've haven't updated you recently and now we've arrived at the end of our time in Ukraine.
All week the game of Bingo has been central to our daily activities. After teaching our classes, the entire group of kids gathered in one classroom to play Bingo of all sorts and varieties. We've played single, double, postage-stamp, filling the entire card, etc. I think we've played so much Bingo, some of us are beginning to call out numbers in our sleep.
The students LOVE Bingo, it's probably all the "prizes" we give to the winners, sunglasses, candy, bracelets are truly popular items for the children to win. And they now know how to say numbers and letters in English!
On Friday our teaching week came to an end and Saturday was a day for goodbyes. Some of the children from St. Michael's Children Home and their parents, along with Maria Biro came to bid us farewell after some lunch and cake in Susanna's beautiful backyard.
After an afternoon of shopping with Kati, we said goodbye to her as well. As much as we are all looking forward to returning home, there have been hugs and tears too.
This has been an amazing trip for each one of us. We will be traveling to Budapest Sunday, and then on to the U.S. on Tuesday.
We are now in the process of attempting to fit all our purchases and gifts into bulging suitcases. I doubt that we'll have much room left to shop in Budapest, but you never know.
By the way, the group from Ohio will be bringing two high school students with them on Tuesday. This will be Andrew's and Timea's first plane trip and they are truly excited about spending a month in the U.S. They will also be traveling to Arizona for a few days.
We will try to find time to blog while in Budapest. We will be blogging after we get home so we can share more of our adventures with you.
Blessings to you all. See you soon!
All week the game of Bingo has been central to our daily activities. After teaching our classes, the entire group of kids gathered in one classroom to play Bingo of all sorts and varieties. We've played single, double, postage-stamp, filling the entire card, etc. I think we've played so much Bingo, some of us are beginning to call out numbers in our sleep.
The students LOVE Bingo, it's probably all the "prizes" we give to the winners, sunglasses, candy, bracelets are truly popular items for the children to win. And they now know how to say numbers and letters in English!
On Friday our teaching week came to an end and Saturday was a day for goodbyes. Some of the children from St. Michael's Children Home and their parents, along with Maria Biro came to bid us farewell after some lunch and cake in Susanna's beautiful backyard.
After an afternoon of shopping with Kati, we said goodbye to her as well. As much as we are all looking forward to returning home, there have been hugs and tears too.
This has been an amazing trip for each one of us. We will be traveling to Budapest Sunday, and then on to the U.S. on Tuesday.
We are now in the process of attempting to fit all our purchases and gifts into bulging suitcases. I doubt that we'll have much room left to shop in Budapest, but you never know.
By the way, the group from Ohio will be bringing two high school students with them on Tuesday. This will be Andrew's and Timea's first plane trip and they are truly excited about spending a month in the U.S. They will also be traveling to Arizona for a few days.
We will try to find time to blog while in Budapest. We will be blogging after we get home so we can share more of our adventures with you.
Blessings to you all. See you soon!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Rain, rain, rain
Here we are in town, with lots of shops and sites to see, but the rain just keeps coming. On Monday, we did manage to get to the market to see all the flowers and make some purchases. Some of us had to buy umbrellas, but they really didn't help as we attempted to walk from the town center to the Soup Kitchen for lunch. We ended up taking taxis, which was a great idea since the cobblestones were wet and a bit slippery.
We've been teaching English every afternoon. We have a great group of students some of whom are quite fluent in English. We've divided the students into three classes depending upon the number of years they have been studying English.
The kids are really enthusiastic and we hope they are beginning to become more comfortable speaking with us.
On Tuesday we visited a gypsy village, where people are living without running water. They now have a well where they can get clean water, for a long time the water wasn't safe and many of the village residents became sick.
In order to earn some money, people in the village make and sell a variety of woven baskets. We will be coming home loaded with them, assuming they'll fit in our suitcases.
Our hosts, Suzanna and Peter are going out of their way to make sure we're well fed and happy. Suzanna is preparing all sorts of food that Nicky likes so he is quite pleased.
This morning some of us are going to be having pedicures, our luxury for the week. You'll see photos soon.
We'll continue to update you and hope you are enjoying reading about our experiences.
We've been teaching English every afternoon. We have a great group of students some of whom are quite fluent in English. We've divided the students into three classes depending upon the number of years they have been studying English.
The kids are really enthusiastic and we hope they are beginning to become more comfortable speaking with us.
On Tuesday we visited a gypsy village, where people are living without running water. They now have a well where they can get clean water, for a long time the water wasn't safe and many of the village residents became sick.
In order to earn some money, people in the village make and sell a variety of woven baskets. We will be coming home loaded with them, assuming they'll fit in our suitcases.
Our hosts, Suzanna and Peter are going out of their way to make sure we're well fed and happy. Suzanna is preparing all sorts of food that Nicky likes so he is quite pleased.
This morning some of us are going to be having pedicures, our luxury for the week. You'll see photos soon.
We'll continue to update you and hope you are enjoying reading about our experiences.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
We have arrived
We have left St. Michael's Children Home and are now in Mukachevo. We all experienced some tearful moments as we said our goodbyes to the children, parents, our cook and translators. The most difficult goodbyes were with the children. Nicky had a hard time saying goodbye to his friend Joseph.
This morning seven of the children celebrated their First Communion. It was a beautifl Mass and the chidlren were wonderful. Following Mass the children and their guests had a party with pastries and cake.
Then there was lunch, appetizer, soup, main course and of course dessert! Immediately following lunch our luggage and all of us were loaded into vans to come to the city.
We were warmly welcomed by Peter and Susanna, lots of hugs and kisses all around. It wasn't long before we were invited to a Hungarian festival at the school. Many of us walked over to the school, some were given a ride. We met some friends as well as the students who will be traveling with Lana on the return trip to the U.S. We are hoping we can make arrangements for them to come to Arizona for a visit while they are in the U.S.
As usual we had an amazing dinner. Peter and Susanna are the best hosts ever. The food was great and the conversation was loads of fun as we spoke mish mash.
Time to go for now. It's getting late, more tomorrow after our first day of teaching. Good night!
This morning seven of the children celebrated their First Communion. It was a beautifl Mass and the chidlren were wonderful. Following Mass the children and their guests had a party with pastries and cake.
Then there was lunch, appetizer, soup, main course and of course dessert! Immediately following lunch our luggage and all of us were loaded into vans to come to the city.
We were warmly welcomed by Peter and Susanna, lots of hugs and kisses all around. It wasn't long before we were invited to a Hungarian festival at the school. Many of us walked over to the school, some were given a ride. We met some friends as well as the students who will be traveling with Lana on the return trip to the U.S. We are hoping we can make arrangements for them to come to Arizona for a visit while they are in the U.S.
As usual we had an amazing dinner. Peter and Susanna are the best hosts ever. The food was great and the conversation was loads of fun as we spoke mish mash.
Time to go for now. It's getting late, more tomorrow after our first day of teaching. Good night!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
The latest news
Here are Marjorie Martin's reflections for you.
Hello to everyone. I see 27 happy children here who are being given a chance to make or have a better life. They live in a family environment. Five of the boys have been chosen to go to a camp in Lichtenstein. The requirement is they be thirteen. They will be there three weeks. A young man who is working here for the summer will be going as an interpreter and chaperone. His name is Dommick and he has taken a year away from college to work with the children. There are two college students here doing this work as well. What a wonderful thing to do.
More news from Lana,
Thursday we went to L'viv and met with the Rotary Club who worked with the Upper Sandusky Rotary Club to buy a van for the second house here in Rát. They were able to purchase a very nice used van. The parents are thrilled as it will make it easier to get the children to doctor appointments, music lessons, church camps, vacations and all sorts of other activities.
The Rotary Club arranged a tour of L'viv for us and it was quite informative. L'viv has a long and rich history, spanning many centuries. The city has also experienced conflict and turmoil throughout the years. There have been many other countries and empires that have ruled the city. For a time the city was part of Poland, then Russia. The Nazis moved in during World War II, then the Soviets. Finally the people of L'viv are able to live in relative freedom and with a sense of security.
Just to keep you up to date it is now Saturday morning and the kids are at home. Right now the boys are busily playing with bionicals that Mutsumi and Nicky brought with them. The boys are really excited and having a blast.
Our group will be going to Uzhgorod for lunch today. We will be celebrating Arpod's birthday. After we return, the children will be presenting a program for us with music and singing. Tomorrow seven of the children will have their First Communion. The worship service sounds as though it will be very lovely. A party will follow with lots of great food and cake of course.
Following the party we will be leaving St. Michaels. It will be difficult to say goodbye to everyone, but we are looking forward to more adventures next week in Mukachevo.
I'll try to send you all some photos when I have the chance.
We hope all is going well for you back home.
Diane Thomas
Hello to everyone. I see 27 happy children here who are being given a chance to make or have a better life. They live in a family environment. Five of the boys have been chosen to go to a camp in Lichtenstein. The requirement is they be thirteen. They will be there three weeks. A young man who is working here for the summer will be going as an interpreter and chaperone. His name is Dommick and he has taken a year away from college to work with the children. There are two college students here doing this work as well. What a wonderful thing to do.
More news from Lana,
Thursday we went to L'viv and met with the Rotary Club who worked with the Upper Sandusky Rotary Club to buy a van for the second house here in Rát. They were able to purchase a very nice used van. The parents are thrilled as it will make it easier to get the children to doctor appointments, music lessons, church camps, vacations and all sorts of other activities.
The Rotary Club arranged a tour of L'viv for us and it was quite informative. L'viv has a long and rich history, spanning many centuries. The city has also experienced conflict and turmoil throughout the years. There have been many other countries and empires that have ruled the city. For a time the city was part of Poland, then Russia. The Nazis moved in during World War II, then the Soviets. Finally the people of L'viv are able to live in relative freedom and with a sense of security.
Just to keep you up to date it is now Saturday morning and the kids are at home. Right now the boys are busily playing with bionicals that Mutsumi and Nicky brought with them. The boys are really excited and having a blast.
Our group will be going to Uzhgorod for lunch today. We will be celebrating Arpod's birthday. After we return, the children will be presenting a program for us with music and singing. Tomorrow seven of the children will have their First Communion. The worship service sounds as though it will be very lovely. A party will follow with lots of great food and cake of course.
Following the party we will be leaving St. Michaels. It will be difficult to say goodbye to everyone, but we are looking forward to more adventures next week in Mukachevo.
I'll try to send you all some photos when I have the chance.
We hope all is going well for you back home.
Diane Thomas
Friday, June 8, 2012
Some recent photos
We're sending you some photos, including pictures of some food (before we ate it all!)
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| Dinner, chicken cutlets, dumplings with veggies and cucumber cabbage salad |
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