March 24, 2013

This great city of Kyiv didn’t want us to leave before we had experienced a real winter storm.  I have had way to much fun enjoying the beautiful snowy days the last four months and just as I was thinking I would miss winter the last hurrah of winter arrived. 
   

Thursday – Sunny and 43 degrees F.  Yes, I am glad that spring is on its way.

Horsey ride on the first day of spring

Friday – 10:00 AM  Snowing and windy but it was forecast so I wasn’t surprised.  Off to visit a few museums.

Ukrainian eggs

11:00AM  - The wind came up and the snow really started coming down.  One more place to visit and then home.

Snowy day

This is not the mini museum

No, this isn't where I was going, thank heavens!

12:00 PM -  Literally squashed myself onto the bus which I have never seen this full.  They must know something I don’t.

1:00 PM – Home at last.  Glad the heat was  back on.

 

4:00 PM - Even though the roads were getting bad,  I still had high hopes of doing something fun this evening.

The roads getting bad

6:00 PM – Four buses stopped in front of our apartment with no chance of making it up the ascent.  All public transportation (other than the metro’s) shut down.

These buses aren't going anywhere

Pushing buses

 7:00 PM  - Nine men I will always think of as heros started their pushing duties.  They would  push a car up the hill, then the next and so forth.  Temperature in the low 20’s with 30 mile an hour winds.  No gloves.  They seemed to enjoy helping.

Some of the pushing crew

9:00 PM – 2:00 AM  People still trying to get home from work.

10pm

1am

3am

7:00 AM – The streets are full of people because they cannot walk on the drifted sidewalks.     Three snowplows came up the street shortly after two army tanks  passed by.    I checked the news on line and discovered that it is basically the same all over town.  No transport vehicles are being allowed in the city.  Many cars have been abandoned in the streets.   Jay and Marcia sent some pictures from out at the temple….same story there.

Morning

Army tank scoping out the situation

Finally snow plows at 8am

Even at the temple

10:00 AM – I ventured out to go to the store and realized that it is much worse when you are out in the storm than when watching it from the 5^th floor of our apartment.   I have now witnessed the worst storm of my life and I am learning an even greater appreciation for the people that day after day get up, get on public transportation and go to work or to the temple.….. no matter the weather.  And if there is no public transportation, they walk for miles in the worst storm of the year.  

Out our back door

By the store

Tram road behind our apartment, stalled cars blocking road

Sidewalk in front of our apartment

10:00 PM – Just heard from a friend in my English class that the city was declared a state of emergency, and hopefully the military will be out helping  clear the roads.  There are so many abandoned cars that have now been drifted under. Church has been adjusted for those of us that can't get there tomorrow and it is still snowing and blowing. Two sisters I know that work at the temple on Saturday walked to the temple because there was no public transportation after getting off the metro and that is a long way from the temple. It took one of them two hours and the other one four hours. The snow is two feet deep and there is ice under the snow which makes it very hard to walk. The first night of the storm there were 47 children stuck in a school bus all night out on the highway that goes to the temple. It is amazing what you don’t hear about when you are feeling cozy in your apartment watching a storm. With all the troubles the storm has caused my friend also sent me an article about the positive side….  cross country skiing down Khreschatyk, families spending time together,  snowboarding on the descents that are not passable by auto, and people helping people. Isn’t it nice to make lemonade.

March 24, 10:00am - Since it would have been very difficult to get to church by the temple we went to the ward in the city on the metro. Actually this city is like a ghost town. The cars are buried in the streets that are usually bustling with traffic and people. No street vendors, no beggars, not even any pigeons today. Even the metros were pretty quiet.  Kyiv has been declared  a state of emergency and I am not sure how long it will take for the roads to get cleared. Is isn't a matter of just plowing. It is a matter of digging out all the vehicles and then plowing and under all that snow is 4 inches of solid ice. It is easy to see why this city has been declared in a state of emergency.  Worst storm ever recorded.   Looks like an exciting week ahead.

Four lane street where the stake center is located. usually bustling with traffic

 

Empty metro

Some more photos from around the city:

Buried car

More buried cars

By the National Opera

Man finding his car

People helping people

Quote for this week:  

“The trek will be proving and trying.  Faith, patience, and obedience are essential, but he who completes the journey successfully will be immeasurably added upon.  And he who does not will have subtracted from the sum of his possibilities.  The very process of daily living makes and breaks followers.  Life’s stern seasons and storms overturn those not grounded and rooted.”     

    Elder Neal A. Maxwell