Day 6-Sunday Road Trip

Sunday was a good day. I was a little nervous about our road trip, but was very pleasantly surprised. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to see this side of Ukraine, it may just be the highlight of our trip! It helps that I don't get carsick and that I set my expectations very, very low. I found the bouncing and winding of the roads very soothing and the dodging of potholes, along with the occasional slam into a pothole, kind of fun! Huz was good as long as he was either asleep or looking out the front. There is a little bit of a freeway coming out of Kyiv, but then, the road just starts winding through towns and villages suddenly veering wildly to the right or the left, across railroad tracks and then back again, and around wandering animals. That can be good or bad, depending on how you choose to look at it and what your stomach can handle!! I don't get carsick and enjoyed every second of it!! We personally weren't in any hurry and I was thoroughly enjoying looking at the beautiful scenery we passed. It was like a step back in time. While Kyiv is somewhat advanced or at least nearly up to speed as far as technology goes, and visiting that city is similar to other European cities, the rest of the country appeared to be set back in the 1940's. Since I wasn't alive then, that's just an estimate:) Picture run down houses with makeshift fencing set up around the perimeter of the yard. Old men, always without shirts on (why is it that men that should wear shirts never do??) sitting on the porch smoking or chewing on wheat. Elderly women, babushkas, in the yard working in the massive gardens or selling produce on the side of the road. Their hands and faces are worn and weathered from years of hard living. Their heads are always covered with a colorful scarf. The houses are probably, at most, 800 square feet, the gardens easily an acre. This country knows how to grow a garden!! Children can be seen walking with a parent, each wearing a hat. Usually only one child per family, occasionally two. Goats, sheep, cows and chickens roaming dangerously close to the road with an unattended leash dangling from their necks. The only pavement is that which you are driving on, and that road is at best, rough. The slight hills are lush with green grasses and young wheat. On the outskirts of villages farmers mark their land with a perimeter of birch trees, their humble homes barely visible. Fields of flowers, yellow (saffron maybe?), purple (probably just a weed, but at least it's pretty) and poppies dot the landscape. The rivers run clear, although I know that just a month ago they didn't. Maybe this is due to the spring run off? Who knows, but they are beautiful now. Small ponds attract groups of people for sunbathing, swimming, fishing, and picnicing. The only cars are those being driven through town, the people in the towns don't have cars. Bikes are ridden everywhere and young couples can be seen either biking or walking together (it's charming even if the women are riding with their high heels and no bras:)) As we near Dnepropetrovsk, the sky begins to cloud with the pollution that the factories produce. The haze means we are getting close to Zap, and the pollution, that people have jobs. Many live on a mere $100 each month and never dream of leaving the only home they have ever known for even a neighboring city. The people are taken aback when you smile at them and, if you greet them, their eyes become curious as long ago the idea of extending oneself beyond their own was forgotten and survival became the only goal. The younger generation is more hopeful and willing to reciprocate at least your 'hello' and will usually answer if you ask how they are doing. The elderly still appear suspicious of strangers in their land and I can't blame them. The lives they live are those we read about in our history books, stories to us, reality for them. It is odd to be in a country that is so old, that has so much history but yet is so young and struggling. The thing that makes me most sad is to see so many people with so little hope. You can see it in their eyes, or rather can't. You can see that life has been hard and that they have very few expectations for happiness. The younger generation has more hope, more to look forward to and be happy for, but only time will tell if they are able to progress past this era, or if they will also grow old and wearied from the difficulties life presents. I see all this and am so grateful to live in our country of freedom and opportunity. Moreso, I realize that the true giver of freedom and hope is Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to live in a country that evolved to protect our right to know and love them. I'm so blessed to know of their love and healing power. I know that the hope I feel and the peace that I have is through them and because of them. Enjoy the pictures-wish I was more of a photographer! Erica-this should've been you!!h