Day 2 - Ruth
by Ruth Arnold
Right now, I am sitting on the floor because I am covered in the productivity of the day. We have been scraping the wallpaper off the walls and the water-soluble paint off the ceilings. The residue from the paint is covering me. I look like a geisha. My face is white and my hair is prematurely gray.
Yesterday was not only our first day in the Ukraine, but also my birthday. I woke to someone shaking my arm, mumbling in a language foreign to me. The steward was telling me to put my seat belt on for our final decent. My first thought was ‘this is going to be a great day.’ Emerging from the plane, the sun generously greeted us with its brilliance. The customs was wonderful. There weren’t any problems. Not that I expected any but there is always the slight chance that they may not like you and just want to make your life harder. My wonderful cousin was waiting for us at the end of the customs hall. Seeing his face let me know that the end of journey was near. He took us to a houseboat and introduced us to the YWAM team. We had a meal and Markus gave us a rundown for the week. We, then, headed to the trade school, which is unique to Ukraine because it is specifically structured to teach orphans. The countryside and the city looked as if it predated my country but Ukraine is only 18 years old. Along the way Markus pointed out perpetual construction sites, Iron Mama (a very large soviet statue of a lady holding a sword and a shield with a hammer and sickle on it) and gilded onion shaped rooftops peaking through the green canopy. At the school, we had a tour of the grounds and met some of the students.
All I wanted for my birthday was to sleep but I was forced to stay awake. The sweet feeling of exhaustion comforted us all and made every event hilarious. For example, we were told that the hot water for the showers would only last for 10 minutes and it had to be a group shower. Silence followed the announcement. One of the guys decided to be adventurous. He said it was not that bad and there was hot water left. So, two new friends (Lori and Steph) and I decided to take a shower. Well, when we got down to the basement it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was a complete shower room with stalls but only lacked curtains. I had previously envisioned a dark holocaust gas chamber with one shower head. The Ukrainian guy who led us down to the shower asked us how long we would be. We told him about 10 minutes or until the hot water ran out and then he left. Questions filled our faces but we pushed it from our minds. The shower was exactly was I needed. As we walked up the stairs, I reached for the door and quickly realized that the door was locked. We looked at each other and began to search for another exit. But the locked door was the only way out. After shouting pre-ve-yet (hello), we looked at each and laughed. It was the funniest event of the day. We soon heard thunderous footsteps heading our way and the door unlocking. The guy had locked the door for our protection, which was a good idea. The good laugh followed by the 10 hours of sleep was a great conclusion to birthday.
I know the days to come will be filled with more adventures. So, please be praying for us and keep checking up on us through the blogs.
