Gary & Karl's Big Adventure: April 28, 2012

April 28 – Wow! Kyiv is just like Pocatello in that it went from winter to summer in one week. It is 80 degrees and that seems hot all of a sudden. It is kind of interesting that most people were still wearing their winter coats when it was 65 and the little grandmas (babuskas) will tell you to get a coat on if it is less than 60. They mother everyone they see.

This week we had an exciting outing. One of the attorneys that Gary uses for legal work was having a fifteen year anniversary of the opening of their office. As one of their clients we got invited. It was a black tie affair and Gary’s tuxedo was not one of the things we made room to bring. (Now if we had left home all the Mexican spices that we haven’t needed we could have probably found room.) Anyway, we duded up as much as possible and headed out to the Hyatt. We didn’t take the marshrutka since it would have looked a little tacky getting out of the bus and walking down the red carpet that was at the entry. It was some big deal and boy was the food ever good. Gary was a little embarrassed that I kept filling my plate, but you all know that I’m not proud when it comes to good food. The entertainment was also great. They had brought in an amazing String Quartet (see photo) and then a really famous entertainer in the Ukraine. (another photo). And the rich were there in full force. Of course we were the only Americans and no one much talked to us except our attorneys but I sure enjoyed the food and right now I’d give anything for some more of that salmon.

I had an interesting experience on the metro on the way home from the temple. A little Babuska sat down next to me with a shoe box full of baby ducks. Twelve to be exact. They were so adorable. One thing I forgot to mention about the metro and that is that no one ever litters in the trains or in the stations. They are always really free from litter. Of course no one ever eats in the metro trains either. Lately I have seen people carrying home tree starts that are big tree starts (5-8 feet). That is kind of funny, too.

May 1^st is a holiday in Ukraine. This is kind of an interesting twist. Since May 1^st is Tuesday, everyone is working today (Saturday) and then taking Monday off and of course also Wednesday, so this is a big four day holiday coming up. We have had mail delivered twice since we have been here and both times on Saturday. The first time it was the power bill and today I actually got two letters from friends in US. They had both been mailed on April 9^th. I was so surprised to get them. I think they only deliver in our area on Saturday.

Gary is dealing with some very interesting legal issues. The laws here are so different from anywhere else you can imagine. Most of them deal with real estate holdings and the intensive involvement of the government . The government owns all of the land and you may own the building but you rent the land from state. (It is about like renting from Mildred at the trailer court – if Mildred doesn’t like your trailer she will make things tough on you.)

It has been so fun getting e-mails from so many of you and we appreciate your taking time to keep us informed about home. We have adjusted well here and each day learn more about life and living from the Ukrainian people. The temple patrons are incredible. You never hear anything above a whisper, anywhere in the temple (except maybe the baptisimal area). Most of the people that come to the temple are from outside of Kyiv. They wait for their branch's assigned week for temple work and then they take their whole year's vacation to travel on not so good roads for a long time (5-40 hours) to do temple work. Most all of them bring names of their ancestors. They do a session, then do the sealings, then the initiatory, etc. all day every day for a week. When they enter the Celestial Room they immediately sit down and pray and I mean fervently pray. The Celestial Room is not a place to socialize. I am learning more about my commitment to the temple and that the real purpose of going there is to ponder and pray and feel the spirit and learn of the great plan of salvation. I will never take the importance of temple work for granted again. I love what I am learning here. We love and miss you all.