We went to Odessa on Western Christmas Day to celebrate Christmas with team mates there. (Eastern Christmas will be on January 6.) A couple who is here to adopt a little boy from a local orphanage also went with us. They pastor a church within our denomination, although we did not know them before they arrived here in Kherson. We hired Sasha to drive us in and Sergei K. came with us so that Sasha would not have to drive home alone that evening. We stayed with our friends and the adopting couple stayed at a local hotel.
A surprise for us was an invitation to a get together at the flat of another American couple who live in the city center. This couple are not missionaries, but he works for a private company here in Ukraine. Several Americans had been invited just to come whenever and stay awhile for snacks and then leave whenever.
On the way home I saw a very large ad on the street for Marlboro cigarettes. Haven’t seen those in awhile, but apparently they are starting a new ad campaign because the ads are beginning to pop up here and there again. Well, this ad was the kind I just love to stand and looks at – a photo of Marlboro cowboy just standing there – tilted hat, boots, belt buckle, jeans, maybe he even had on chaps, I’m not sure. All I know is I stopped, told everyone that here was what makes my heart throb (or some other such nonsense), beat my chest as if it were a pounding heart and sighed deeply. Everyone laughed, of course, but oh my, there is something about a man in a cowboy hat – and the belt buckle is just added attraction. I could have stood and looked with pleasure at that ad for another 5 minutes. My roots are showing.
We stayed up really late, sitting around our friends’ table, talking, laughing, sharing stories and histories, concerns and just getting to know each other better. It was a great time. The adopting couple were even brave enough to walk back to the hotel without an escort when the impromtu party broke up they did just fine!) . It was only a couple blocks, but it can be quite intimidating when you know you cannot communicate with anyone on the street. :) I’m really glad we went in to Odessa.
The next day we took the adopting couple on a tour of the city center. Our team mate took us to the church and showed them all through it. After that, we led them in a big circle and showed them most of the sites we like to go see. The only problem was the biting wind and the bitter cold. It was not a comfortable day at all. Of course, I had forgotten to bring a hat or gloves, but as usual, I never got cold (just my ears, so I pulled my hair over them to keep the wind off). We made our way from the port area back up to the business area and found a little coffee shop. There were only a couple of other people inside, it was warm and they had some of the best cocoa I’ve ever drunk. Very nice! Mel called our friends and the wife met us at a local sandwich shop and we had dinner about an hour later.
After going back to their place for a few minutes to pick up our bags, she called a taxi for us and we went over to the bus station. This is the first time I’ve ridden in a bus or a marshrutka from Odessa to Kherson in over 5 years. During our first term here I developed a phobia about riding in the buses due to how crowded they get and due to the fact that they don’t always make pit stops during the 4 hour trip. I’ve had a couple of fairly severe panic attacks on buses and never travel in them if I can possibly avoid it. Well, the marshrutka was a lot better than the old buses – we even got to watch Pirates of the Caribbean (first one) and part of a Russian movie on the tv screen at the front of the van. The trip is really rough due to the bad roads, but it went a lot quicker than a bus would have. The closer we got to Kherson, the colder it got outside so that the last hour the windows were totally iced and frosted over. I don’t think I’ve seen that since we lived in Alaska. When we got home we found out it was only 17 degrees.
So, that was our Christmas Day, and the day after. I miss my kids and grandbaby a lot right now so I’m really glad our friends invited us in. I enjoyed it and it took a great deal of the ‘sting’ out of the day for me. The only problem is – I’m sick. I almost didn’t go in but decided at the last minute to do so. I’m glad I did. I think that today is the worst day as it’s just a head cold, mostly in the sinus’s, so hopefully tomorrow I will be on the way back to being completely well again.
Such is life.
