December 10, 2012

If you haven’t had snow yet it is because Old Man Winter has taken up residency in Kyiv.  Last Monday it began snowing about noon, and it hasn’t quit since. I have always wanted to know what it would be like to live in a big city when the first blizzard of the year hit and now I know; things slow way down. It took us about 90 minutes to get home and during that time it snowed about six to eight inches. Since a lot of people walk here, the wet snow packed on the sidewalks and now we have about 4 inches of solid ice under all the new snow we are getting. It makes walking a little treacherous. It snowed all evening and once we were safe and warm in our little apartment it was a beautiful scene outside as it always is if you don’t have to be out in it.

First snowstorm--just starting

First snowstorm--still working

Icy sidewalk

Lone pine

No one sitting on the bench this morning

When I was on my way to the Temple on Tuesday I was surprised that it was business as usual at the market. I don’t know how they keep the fruit and vegetables from freezing when it is only twenty-two degrees outside but they are still there. The fish, chicken and meat keep cold and that is a good thing but I felt so sorry for the people sitting out in the freezing cold trying to sell whatever they could, continually wiping the snow off the apples and oranges. When I came back later in the day they were still there. I counted my blessings all the way up the street.

Upscale market

Sidewalk to temple

Temple on December 4, 2012

Wednesday was a special day at the temple. A friend in my English class was sealed to her son. It was so wonderful to be there. She and her husband were some of the first converts in Ukraine. They went to Germany to the temple shortly after they were baptized. It is so wonderful to have a temple here in Ukraine.

 

Loboda's Sealing Day

Wednesday afternoon I went with Sister Callister and her translator Alexi, to a lecture she was giving to a Community College Nursing Group. Sister Callister is a temple missionary but before coming here she was the Head of the Nursing Department at BYU. She had a Fulbright Scholarship several years ago and traveled all over South America and Eastern Europe lecturing to doctors and nurses. She has been doing the same thing here in Kyiv for the last month at the request of some doctors here. Her lecture was enlightening and interesting but so were the classrooms, labs and students. I loved seeing the students in their uniforms. They were so proud of their white jackets and caps.

Sister Callister with nursing students

Nursing students

It snowed through the night on Wednesday and we had at least another six inches by Thursday morning and it was still snowing. I decided to walk to the office in the snow because I knew it would be a beautiful walk, which it was.

   

Walk in the snow

Outside our apartment

This next report we will just call, “You got to pick a pocket or two………..”

Friday I set out with Jill to pick up a few things for a friend at the underground mall. We took the Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro to the Plosha Lva Tolosoho station. The wagons (train cars) were really crowded and we were relieved to be getting off when we did but just as we got clear of the train I noticed that my purse was unzipped. Now, this is something that I am very careful about and then of course I noticed that my wallet was missing. Rats!  We went to the security guard on the platform and as best as we could we explained that I had been robbed. He immediately took us to the Metro Police station. (Now this story is going to get a little long because without pictures it takes much longer to describe this experience but if you decide to stay with it use your World War II movie imagination or maybe remember back to Colonel Clink in Hogan’s Heroes.) First there was kind of a chain link gate (locked). Next we were taken through a locked door into a dark hallway. To the right was a door and down the long dark hall there was another door. We went into the door on the right. The room was about ten feet by twelve feet. There was a desk with the chief officer (Colonel Clink) sitting behind the desk. The top of the officers' hats are about twelve inches in diameter. You have to bite your cheeks to keep from smiling. We were told to sit down on a wooden bench that was perpendicular to the desk. There was a jail cell that was about three feet wide running along the wall opposite the desk. On a little stand next to the desk were three phones that were definitely used during World War II. There was a black one, a white one and an aqua blue one.

The walls of the hall and the office were an indescribable color of green – dark green. I have always thought it would be a little claustrophobic to be a metro train driver being underground all day and now I have discovered something a lot worse. Sitting in this office all day!

So there we sat, with the police sargent and three militia watching our every move. There was a girl in the office filling out some papers and she understood and spoke enough  English to help us communicate. The Sargent asked how much money was in the wallet and if there was any American money. (Strange question) Then he asked us if we knew someone that we could get to come translate. Since we were just minutes away from the service center I said Da (Yes in Russian). Our cell phones would not work in the office so we were escorted back out of the office to make our call. We were not invited to use one of the special phones, which by the way, were ringing the whole time we were there. While we were trying to make a call, with a militia guard at our side, a man came up and said he could tell we were in trouble and wanted to know if we needed a translator. We were so grateful but the militia man told him in Ukrainian that he would not be allowed to translate for us and that they were bringing in a translator from headquarters. Then he took us back to the office. The whole thing was so comical that I was not at all concerned that I had just had my wallet stolen. The only thing I was upset about was that I couldn’t photo document the whole episode. I was afraid to pull out my camera for fear they would confiscate it. Back in the office the Sargent showed me a black wallet similar to mine that had a one dollar bill and some credit cards inside and asked if it was mine. I said that it wasn’t because mine was red but that it was similar to mine.

 

After waiting about ten more minutes and wishing we understood what was being said in all the phone conversations, two plain clothes men that looked a lot like criminals came into the office with my wallet. I was totally amazed. They opened it to show me that the money was gone. (Also my symphony tickets for Saturday evening). I saw my credit cards and was relieved that they were there. I asked where they found it and they said on the tracks. The plainclothesmen proceeded to sit down at the desk and start making phone calls while officer who was holding and examining my wallet asked if I wanted to file papers for the money. I said in my best Russian,“ No but thank you very much.” And we were escorted out of the office.

 

A little blessing from the Lord and the experience was well worth the $50 I lost.

 

As Elder Wirthlin once said:  “There is an antidote for times such as these:  Learn to Laugh. The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.”

Sequel: When we returned to the platform where we had exited the train I looked down on the tracks to see if my Symphony tickets were by any chance down there and we saw three more wallets. I went over and got the security guard to come and see the wallets and just then a girl came running up hysterical that her wallet had been taken. Someone was making a killing on that line that day.

We went to the National Opera and explained what had happened. Since I had ordered my tickets online they had verification that I had paid for and picked up the tickets for Beethoven’s Ninth which was Saturday night. They gave me replacement tickets. The girl behind us in line joked “Maybe you will meet your criminals at the concert.” Well, believe it or not, Saturday night a couple of rag tags came waltzing in with MY tickets in hand and wanted our seats. The usher, who spoke English, after looking at our replacement tickets, escorted them out and we never saw them again. I was so mesmerized with the whole situation that I forgot to take a picture. Drats!

Beethoven's 9th

St. Sophia's on a snowy morning

St. Sophia's

Saturday was our Branch Christmas Party which included baptisms at the temple, a farewell to all the International Language Program girls, lunch, Talent/No Talent Show and a Christmas Sing-A-Long. We have our tree up, our decorations out and we are ready for the Christmas Season.

 

Ward Christmas party

Christmas decorations

Ready for Christmas!

Quote for the Week from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

            "We are entering another wonderful Christmas season filled with music and lights, parties and presents. But of all people, we as members of the church that bears the Savior’s name need to look beyond the façade of the season and see the sublime truth and beauty of this time of year."

Kyiv Temple