A day in the market!

We had another nice day here in Ukraine.  It was very chilly this morning but warmed up throughout the day. Eva met us at the church this morning and we had our first experiences on the city buses. We first walked to the bus stop to take a bus to the bus station. At the bus station they have a store called “second hand” which is like our goodwill. We looked there for clothes for Eryna. Since the clothes here are very expensive, this was our only option. We only got a couple things because I need to take them to the orphanage to make sure they fit. Once we know her size here, I will go back and get more. We then took a bus to the train station to go souvenir shopping at a ceramic market. That was really neat. They had all kinds of stuff to buy and some really neat items. There was a couple things we would have loved to get but not enough room in our bags to bring home. We found a coffee mug with Eryna’s name on it in Russian. On the back it had a message of what her name means. It fit her perfectly…Peace, quiet, independent, and hard worker.  I had to get it! I have been trying to find her small things from here that on her adoption day every year, we can give her a gift from her country.  We then went to the food market and got some fresh fruit to bring to the orphanage.  On our bus ride back to the church, an older lady was coming on to the bus with a small cart and there were no seats left so I immediately got up to give her the seat. The bus driver started to raise his voice at her and they got into a little argument. I thought it was over that she had no money because she did look like she didn’t have very much. She was very dirty and her clothes were in bad shape. I reached into my purse to get money out and Eva told me that it was okay, it wasn’t about the money. The whole trip I kept trying to figure out why someone would be so mean to a little brail lady. I eventually got a seat and just sat there and prayed for the lady. I almost began to cry and just wanted to give her my clothes or do something for her. Just as we got off the bus, we asked Eva what happened. She said that the lady rides that bus each day and one of the times her cart somehow damaged the bus and the bus driver had to pay for the damage. The driver said she was no longer welcome on his bus but she insisted she had to get on because she had no other way home; there is only one bus that goes to her area. She brings a cart each time because she has her own garden and that’s how she brings the items to the market to sell each day. This is the only way she can afford to live because they don’t get very much for retirement. Eva said it’s hard there because everyone has to think about themselves because nobody has money to help someone else. The bus driver didn’t want her on anymore because any damage she causes, the money comes out of his pay. His pay is just enough or not even enough to support his family. We think our economy is bad….it is really bad here.

Last night, Shawn and I had to sit down and really go over our money because we are coming up short. The amount we were expecting to spend here has gone up a lot because the orphanage is far away. Each day our cab ride has been the amount it should be normally for a whole week of traveling. Being here at the church has been a huge blessing to save costs and Eva has helped us with getting someone to teach us the bus system on Monday to go to the orphanage to save money that way as well. My point in sharing this is that I believe it was meant to be for the little lady to come on to the bus today to remind me that we have so much in comparison to so many other people in this world. Just the luxury of having not one car but two cars. It is rare for people to have cars here. You should see how far they have to walk to just get to a bus or a small store that has a small selection of food.  Though we have not heard one person complain. The weather has been perfect for us but we hear how bad it gets in the winter. They don’t have snow blowers, or someone to shovel the sidewalks to make a way to walk to and from. People have to decide during winter to either spend money to eat or spend money to stay warm. They don’t even have enough to do both. Please pray that the bus system will work for us next week so that we can save some money to be able to buy things for the children’s home or the orphanage that Eryna is staying at.

Shawn had his first international hair cut!
It was only $4! She did a great job too!

We found a Curves around the corner from the church!
Wonder how much they charge...I could use some exercise! :)

Ukraine is famous for their borsh. This was his
first time trying it. It is made of beets,
carrots, potatoes and cabbage. For two people
who do not like beets..it was very good!

This is our new friend Eva from Slaviansk.
An angel sent to us from God! She has been
so helpful to us while being at the church.