Kharkov Fulbrighters

The Final Days

2007-06-05T12:19:00.001-07:00

We are down to our last 10 days and moving quickly through June. May has been an array of activities.

Tom
I have been finishing up the research project and discussing the results. The results were reviewed at a group meeting last week and my counterpart left Saturday on a 3 day train ride to some unpronounceable city in Russia to present the results. We plan to publish in an American chemistry journal during the coming year. In additon to that I have been able to conduct a seminar with several of the scientists at the Institute on a variety of topics - 'Cultural Differences Between Ukraine and the US'; 'Who Moved My Cheese' (how to deal with change in your work and life); ' What is Your Worldview? 'key questions in developing your personal philosophy; and' What is Important to you in Your Job'. Next week I will be making my final presentation on,' How to Make a Technical Powerpoint Presentation' at the Institute and I will be making a technical presentation at the Institute for Pharmaceutical Science (for the first time). So there are many opportunities to interact and build relationships.
We also invited a young couple who are both chemists at the Institute to our apartment for pizza and a conversation. I plan to give them an English Bible for them to read and improve their English and introduce them to the Gospel. Sergey and I have worked very closely over the past 4 months and he has applied for a Fulbright scholarship to the US in 2008.

Odessa Trip
Last weekend we went to Odessa with two translators to visit a Messianic Congregation, Gates of Zion, and the beautiful old city of Odessa on the Black Sea. Although the 14 hr night train was a bit grueling we survived and have some great stories to tell.

Jayne
Our time in Ukraine is winding down and my heart is going 2 ways. I am excited about going home to Ohio and seeing family and friends, but I will miss the wonderful people we have come to know and love! Now when we go out we generally run into someone we know on the Metro or out walking on the streets ot sitting at one of the cafes. Our associations with Providence college, The Institute, Window On America, The Pregnancy Center, Father's House Church and other activities have allowed us to meet many young people and establish several relationships. When will we see these fine people again?
My work to help establish a Medical Clinic here in Kharkiv has been most rewarding. Along with Lena, the director and Nelya, the Project Manager we have scoped out all of the needed equipment and the necessary square meters to fill code requirements. It has taken much time, but now I have our findings ready to present to some interested Americans back home. We are also gathering horrendous birthing stories from women that will tell why a future birthing hospital is also needed.
I meet with several people for times of informal counseling and prayer. It is my joy to see many come into a fuller understanding of who they are.
Many oppurtunities to teach the Word and pray with women have been a part of the last segment of our time here. We have tried not to set an agenda, but flow with the oppurtunities God gives.
I am meeting with Taras, the President of Providence to help write his story. Growing up in the Soviet system he told me a story one day I believe needs to be told. It is a 'Daniel story' about a young boy speaking out about his faith in God.
Tom and I look forward to having the students from Africa in on Saturday evening for pizza and fellowship. Or as they say in Africa,"swallowship"! We are impressed by the courage of these young people to come so far from home and stay here for several years to gain their education. Ukraine is generally hostile to other races and it is not an easy road for them, yet they are strong in their faith. They will become the future leaders in their countries back home.
As I write this we have 10 days remaining in our time here and it seems unreal. When we came we were ensconced in snow and freezing temperatures. Slowly the snow and ice made way for spring and suddenly summer is upon us. We have gone from survival mode to catching on to how to live in this culture to knowing our way around town and feeling quite comfortable. In all of it we have been stretched in all ways and have learned much and hopefully grown wiser. Tom and I have reconnected and love eachother in deeper ways. Many times we have only had eachother. After years of marriage and work and being separated, (by work!) we have learned all over again why we love eachother. A good thing! Thanks for all of your love and support to us during this time. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Attached are some pictures of our trip.

Pictures
Translators on the train
Dinner with David and Leslye Schneier
view from our hotel Orthodox church
the Port of Odessa on the Black Sea
Brass band concert in a gazebo in a park in Odessa
The Odessa train station
Research presentation at the Institute
Sergey and his wife at our apartment
The Window on America students - artistic photo

The First 100+ Days and Lviv

2007-04-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

The first 100 days were challenging. A huge adjustment for both of us. Our marriage has been strenghtened by the entire journey. Jayne verbalized it as knowing how it feels to be illiterate (we can't speak the language or read most signs).
Churchill said that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery insdie an enigma. I think Ukraine in some ways becomes more of a mystery to us the more we experience and live here. We as Americans seem to think we have all the answers. I am learning that most questions have complex answers and the ones we are confronted with here are complex.
We also had a delightful time with a couple of Fulbrighters teaching in Dnipropetrosk who came to Kharkov for a day. It was very interesting to compare notes on our Fulbright experience and our common experiences in this culture.
Some of the bullet points
The Creative Writing course was completed and we had the students over for a party.
The Faceless People came over for a party and time of sharing together
Tom gave a presentation to some chemistry students at the Polytechnic University on how to make a technical presentation
Jayne saw a small group of Communists celebrating Lenin's birthday near his statue in Freedom Square
We attended the Leadership Club (Center for Leadership Development) with the Galvins
We continued our efforts to develop a strategy for the Providence start-up Christian college here.
We have been in Lviv for 5 days. Went to see Swan Lake ballet, had dinner with 6 other Fulbrighters, went on a tour of several castles, and just sat at an open air cafe and drank coffee and tea and relaxed. Lviv is much like Vienna. Many churches. We saw a parade on Saturday Lviv Days. We were invited to a home of a couple - Slava and Alla - who's children have immigrated to the US and their grandchildren live there. So they are learning English. We were their honored guests. complete with toasts, vodka, wine, fish, salads, and dessert. The wide Slavonic soul lives in this culture.
Now a word from Jayne.

My Window on Ukraine

Spring arrived in Kharkiv with fits and spurts. Spotting white flakes in May did raise doubts. Now fountains are filling and flowers are sprouting in time for Victory Day on May 9. On May 1st we witnessed many senior citizens gathered around Lenin’s statue waving red banners emblazoned with the hammer and sickle logo. For the older generation it may be an attempt to regain their youth. Communism gave nothing to them in the past and they face a future filled with further hopelessness.
It was this sense of hopelessness I addressed at a recent women’s conference (April 20-22) where 8 churches were represented. Christine Detweiler, an American missionary, organized the conference where I was invited to be one of 4 speakers (1 other American and 2 Ukrainians). I spoke of God’s desire to restore each woman to His original intent and destiny. The Women’s Conference is a definite highlight of my time here in Kharkiv.
The Creative Writing class ended with a celebration party at our apartment. We played the Canadian game, Scruples and had a riot of fun seeing how Americans and Ukrainians respond differently to certain ethical questions!
My students produced an excellent body of work in poetry, essay, and short story in English. We are now working on publishing a short anthology of their work. Close relationships were formed and I am indebted to them for sharing their personal lives and backgrounds. They let me see Ukraine through their eyes.
Taras, Director of the Faceless People, came with the entire troupe of 12 highly talented artists to our apartment for a night of pizza and fellowship. Via the internet we showed them clips of LION PLAYERS’ production of ‘Eden Again’. We led a discussion on the artistic temperament and the need for integrity. These relationships began in 2002 and I believe a life long friendship and encouragement between artists on different continents is established.
Ongoing work continues for the development of the medical clinic, an addition to the pregnancy center in Kharkiv. Lena, Director, and Nelya, Program Manager, and myself meet weekly with the goal of establishing a business plan. This is not my area of expertise!!! I see myself more of an encourager than anything else.
Terry and Susan Galvin, Taras Paslavskyi and Tom and I met several times for strategy meetings with Providence College here in Kharkiv. Providence offers all classes in English and gives students North American credit. In addition students are taught from a Christian worldview. There is nothing else remotely close in Kharkiv for academic education. We look forward to the future of Providence.
Tom and I are presently in Lviv, Ukraine (May 3-10). Lviv is a beautiful city with architectural design from Poland, Austria, and Germany. The cathedrals are fantastic and the on the street ambience with café and parks is delightful. On Sunday we went on a tour of 3 ancient castles outside the city. Hundreds of years of history marked by invasions by the Huns, Turks, Lithuanians, Austrians, Poles, Germans, Russians and finally the take over of the communists combine to make this an unusual place on the globe. The castles were ransacked and burned at many points and only now are being restored.
Finally, last night’s experience at a Ukrainian’s couples apartment will long be remembered. We met Slava and Alla out on the street Saturday morning while watching a parade to celebrate ‘Lviv Days’. One thing led to another and they invited Tom and I to their apt for dinner. And what a time it was! Vodka, Ukranian wine, sardines, red fish, salads and sweets. Both of their children immigrated to the States, are married and have children. Slava and Alla are learning English and the night was a night of sharing stories and backgrounds in less than perfect understanding! That they invited us into their home as total strangers is amazing. It was a good time and I shall never forget their stories or hospitality.
When we return to Kharkiv we will host Don and Connie Auerbach from St. Luke’s in our apt. for 2 weeks. We greatly look forward to the fellowship. We are heading into our last month in Ukraine with many final opportunities. Tom and I will both be speaking at a Youth Conference May 11& 12. This will be held at Father’s House. The following week I am going to some orphanages to share with young people about sexual purity. I also am invited to share with some home groups as follow up to the Women’s Conference.
I am beginning to get terribly excited to come home to Ohio in June. We arrive back in the States on June 16 and I already feel like the horse heading for the barn! I can’t wait to see family and friends!
Pictures
women's conference
Spring coming - outside our apartment window
Creative writing class photo at our class party in our apartment
Dandelion hairpieces another sign of spring
Monument near the University of the school boys going off to war in 1940s
American women - women's conference
Tom giving a presentation on how to make a technica presentation at the Polytechnic University
One of the Fulbrighters from Dnipropetrosk - people call him Karl Marx but his name is David

Halftime Psalm 75

2007-04-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yes we reached halftime last week. We completed 50% of our visit here. Hallelujah! We continue to be involved in many adventures. My research is getting to the point where we can probably do some loose ends experiments and then we will begin writing up the results. Which sounds pretty simple but with the language invisible wall it is a bit more complicated. I have been working with two young researchers at the Institute on their applications for a Fulbright grad student research program in the US. Once again the language becomes the focus. They are writing their research objectives and personal statements in English and I have been helping them with English grammar and general wordsmithing.
Jayne continues to teach her creative writing course which ends next week with a celebration at our apartment for the class. Jayne has enjoyed this course but it has been alot a work both with the prep and then grading Ukrainian English papers. That adds another new dimension in the whole process. But we both have been learning a lot about Ukrainian culture. It seems every week something new appears that we have never seen before. This week was the Easter cake and eggs - Ukrainian traditions - a mixture of pagan and early Christian traditions. Christ is Risen He is risen Indeed in Russian (Christos vos Kres) is as common a phrase as our," God bless you." Unfortunately the meaning has also been lost over time.
The highlight for this week was an Easter night celebration that we organized at our place for about 25 African Christian students from Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria (plus a couple of Ukrainians and a few Ameriicans). These are medical and engineering students - the future of these countries. Names like Stephen, Mary, Jacki, Gladys, Jonah, Eden, Nickolas, David, Frank, Benson, and Peter. Of course speaking English makes a world of difference even if it is the British African version. We had a blast with stories about Africa, humorous stories, songs of praise both familiar and African specials, and games plus pizza, salads, and desserts. The missionaries in the 1800s and early 1990s did a great job of planting seeds which are producing a generation of committed Christian Africans.
In addition to this multicultural experience we also got to see Swan Lake, the Tchaikowsky ballet, a philharmonic orchestra concert with student piano soloists (amazing talent) and finally an Ukrainian avant garde, post-modern live theater drama showing the meaninglessness of life (apart from God - our interpretation, of course).
Interspersed with these activities I have been doing some running with another American, Terry, at the local soccer stadium track a couple of times a week just to keep somewhat fit. We have also been doing strategic planning with Taras and Terry focused on Providence College where Jayne teaches. Jayne continues to meet with Lena, the Director of the local pregnancy center to plan for the future medical clinic.
I took some pictures of some of the food products we normally eat just to give a slice of real life in Ukraine. Note the labels are in Russian mostly.
Lets see pictures - African Easter party plus our food products

Spring in Kharkov

2007-03-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

Spring is slowly coming to Kharkov. The sun has been shining and the temperatures are getting into the 50s. People are starting to prepare their flower gardens and the park is always filled with people. The ice skating rink on Freedom Square is being dismantled.
We are continuing our normal activities - Jayne teaching creative writing at Providence. She is learning about the lives of her students as they are now writing their own memoirs. We are also learning about the difference between Americans and Ukrainians. Some new revelations. Jayne is also doing some Bible teaching and praying for the women in a home group. She spoke at a school for gifted students - high school age- on sexual purity - a 1 hour talk that ended up taking 4.
I continue to move forward on my research project. We are pretty much through the data collection phase and now begins the writing of the technical paper. I have also been making connections at the Universities here - Polytechnical and the Economic U. I presented Who Moved My Cheese at the Polytech and at Providence in an English class. Last week's highlight was attending a large meeting with the Director of the World Bank for Ukraine at the Economic U and participating in a roundtable discussion about the future of Ukraine and its many obstacles. I have also been attempting to help my colleagues commercialize their technology but that is a difficult task. It is difficult in the US so doing it here adds several levels of complexity.
Jayne and I have also been involved with some strategic planning for Providence with the young entrepreneur, Taras, who is the president. That has been interesting to brainstorm what a Christian college would look like in Ukraine and why it would be so important to the future of this nation.
For relaxing we have attended another classical concert on Women's Day which included some popular American music like Hello, Dolly and then last Friday we attended an American Jazz concert at the Philharmonic. We also saw the Faceless People perform with excellence.
I will attach a few pictures of some of these activities for your visual benefit.
1. Faceless People in performance
2. strategy session Taras at the white board
3. American Jazz concert Joe Ford and Frank Lacy
4. World Bank meeting Miss University in traditional Ukrainian folk dress (and me)
5. Economic U students plus Taras on the right

God's Country - Israel

2007-03-11T01:06:00.000-08:00

We did it. We took a 6 day break from Kharkovian Challenge and flew to Tel Aviv. It was a gift from God. I (Tom) should back up and mention that the week before we left Ukraine was a major hurdle for us. The most positive event was the opening of a door at the Polytechnic Institute for me to do some lectures. I made contact with the movers and shakers at KPI (Kharkov Polytech Institute). I agreed to do Who Moved My Cheese - dealing with change [actually I am sick of change and ready to return to the comfort of good ol America] - so I will be doing that for a group of profs and PhDs this coming Mon 3/12 and then for a group of students. We also discussed putting on a lecture on how to make a technical presentation so that may be next. The same day that happened - I think it was the Thurs b4 we went to Israel, Jayne was supposed to talk about "Women in America" at the Window on America. Sort of a broad topic you might say. Well I got back to the apartment about 4 to go with Jayne to the WOA and found that she was suffering from food poisoning and unable to do the WOA presentation. So I called Meredith Vanover - a young Peace Corps volunteer - who is a woman from America to see if she could pinch hit but she was tied up so I decided that I was the only one left to do it so I left Jayne and went to the WOA and spent 2 hours talking to about 20 studnets who come on Thur at 5PM about Women in America. We covered the waterfront from women drivers to the differences between hormones and brain sizes of men and women to Condi Rice and women's fashions and what kind of home we live in, what kind of cars we drive, to being a chemist that actually believes in God, evolution, talk about an endless bunny trail. Keep in mind this was all with students with Ukrainian accents as they tried to speak English. It is an experience that every American should have just to help them get perspective on their lives. The highlight of this session was a young man, Sergie, who came up to me afterward and asked if he could have my email address - he had some questions about the Bible. Wow. So we have begun a dialogue and I hope to meet with him soon to talk about his questions about dating and relationships between men and women.
In the meantime Jayne was deathly sick. I got home about 7:15 and I can't describe to you how sick she was. Let's just say I was concerned that she was not going to make it - dehydration was my main concern. By the next morning she was stable and able to drink some Sprite and chicken bouillon broth. She was extremely weak. The next miracle was my attempt to find some electrolyte fluids and help rebuild her entire system. I went to the Apotek (drug store) across the street from our apartment. The older druggist could not speak English so I tried to explain to her what I needed. I finally asked for "papier" and I gave her a brief chemistry lesson on sodium and potassium ions and water and the light came on. She brought me an IV bottle of NaCl and I motioned that I wanted that but I wanted to be able to drink it not IV it into the vein. Then she got a small package of powdered electrolytes - Na, K, etc.
Jayne was also suppose to speak to the teenage girls at Father's House on that same Thur night so that didn't happen either. But she did survive that traumatic time. Then we had to decide whether we were going to go to Israel on Sat early morning. Jayne was weak but stable and we decided that we would take it slow but GO.
So we flew from Kharkov to Kyiv and then on to Tel Aviv. We rented a small car and stayed at Yad Hashmonah a Finnish Christian Hotel in the Judean Mts just west of Jerusalem about 10 miles. The hotel was delightful knotty pine rooms and a TV (our first TV in 50 days) with CNN and BBC news. We had 6 days in Israel and a car. So we tried to cover the entire nation - Jerusalem, Old City, Western Wall, David's tomb, Gethsemane, Golgotha, the Tomb, Dead Sea, Sea of Galiee, the farmlands in the Jordan valley, Capernaum, the Mt of the Beattitudes, Tiberias, Old Joppa (where Jonah sailed), Tel Aviv, the Mediterranean Sea, Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial), King David's Hotel, Mt of Olives, Bethlehem. The highlight for me was praying at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem. The Holocaust Memorial was deeply moving, painful, horrible, unthinkable, how could this happen?, sensitively handled, but a picture of Satan's attempt to destroy God's people but the ultimate result of the Holocaust was the birth of a new nation.
We also surpirsed friends of ours from APS who were on a tour in Israel - Rachel Matthew and Lyn Girves. We drove to their hotel Ramat Rachel Hotel in southern Jerusalem. We got to share with them and pray together. Lyn gave us some real American bread and beef jerky.
The people in Israel were wonderful. They were celebrating Purim (Esther) the children and adults were dressed like it was halloween. I saw several IDF troops with machine guns and just guys in tshirts with a pistol in their back pocket or a rifle slung over their shoulder. I saw a postcard of a young Israeli couple walking hand in hand - dressed for Purim I suppose. The guy was wearing a short white fluffy dress with a pink tank top and high heels with a rifle over his shoulder. Of course there were the orthodox Jews with their black suits and hats and curly hair on the side of their faces. Then some of them had what I would describe as a fuzzy black air filter type hat. Not sure what that was for I need to read about the orthodox I guess.
I will attach some of our pictures but I haven't figured out how to put captions that actually line up with them. I'll try to add a legend.
We had a hard time coming back to Ukraine after that breath of fresh air and warm weather. But we are back. We saw the Faceless People perform yesterday and welcomed Terry Galvin from the Center for Leadership Development. Both were encouraging experiences.

Picture legend
Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock
An Orthodox Jew with the air filter type hat
Wailing Wall up close and in person men's section
The Tomb of Jesus and us
Israel flag near the Wailing Wall
Date palm groves in the Jordan Valley
Wailing wall, the dome, and us
Lyn Girvis, her Mom, Rachel, and Jayne
At the Med Sea near Old Joppa
Jayne on the Mt of the Beattitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee read Matt 5.

My Window on Ukraine by Jayne

2007-02-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like Heidi whisked off the Alpine mountain by Aunt Dete to Frankfurt where she missed the sound the wind made whispering through the fir trees. Life in the city is a far cry from Hartville, Ohio's provincial setting!
Yesterday (Thursday) Katya and I got off the packed Metro and attempted the short walk to the escalator to get outside. I can't estimate crowd size but choose a number between 500-1000 and you'll be close! All jammed together we shuffled to the escalator. Someone kept stepping on the back of my UGGS*. Annoying! They didn't quit until I somehow managed to turn around and look at them square in the eye. There is no personal space.
The average temp this week is 10 F making outdoor walking nearly unbearable! Katya and I continued our journey to the CPC (crisis pregnancy center) where we met Larysa and Lena, the director. We gave Lena 3 huge and perfect white roses we purchased for 45 grivna ($9) underground in the Metro.
Our foursome went out to lunch to celebrate Lena's birthday at a restaurant simply called '22'. I have no idea what that means, but like everything else I just go along with it ! Inside the decor reminded me of an English Pub, not that I've been in one before! While in Ireland we did eat in an Irish Pub, but that's beside the point. We chose off the 'business menu' and I selected:
Cabbage salad with dill and olive oil
Mushroom soup
Chicken scnitzel with rice
green tea
Perfectly delightful fare with 40s big band swing songs creating ambiance. (Total bill 111 graven ($22) for all 4 of us! Not bad.)
Following lunch we returned to the CPC and I conducted an interview with a candidate for the position of Project Manager for the medical clinic. The interview went well.
Running a bit late for the next event Katya and I hurried to the Metro and caught the train for University station. I received a call a week ago from the Kiev Fulbright office asking if I would "help" students write personal essays as part of the application to become US Fulbright scholars.
We found the building and took the elevator to the 9th floor. We could not find access to the library. Through a series of mishaps we discovered we had to go to the 7th floor and take a hidden staircase to the 9th floor library! I say all this because NOTHING is easy in Ukraine! Once on the 9th floor we were led by a circuitous route to a large conference room. What I'm about to say next is the unedited, verifiable truth. TO say I was taken aback, surprised, shocked is all understatement!
Outside the door stood a woman with a harried, frantic look holding a stack of papers and waiting for me. In broken English she showed me 2 essays. One an example of a poorly written essay the other a good example. Thanking her I took the papers from her not taking in the significance of what was about to happen.
I entered the room. Approximately 30 students representing universities from all around Kharkiv and several faculty from the English Dept filled the room. Oh yes and the office staff from the Kiev Fulbright office including Myron, the director. All eyes turned on me as introductions were made in English.
"We are pleased to have with us tonight Professor Gurley from America who will ' teach' us how to write the personal essay."
Horror stricken I peeled off my multiple layers of outer clothing. When I took off my white angora hat I felt the static electricity build up in my hair giving me a wild look! There I was without an ounce of preparation. What followed in the next hour was total improv and nothing short of a miracle!
Truth be told I happen to be teaching essay writing currently in my creative writing class at Providence College. Had I known what was to befall me I would have brought my class notes. In fact one of my students, Olya, came to the session last night. Fortunately thoughts and ideas came to mind and we made it through!
We have come to expect the unexpected, but this one went over the top. Much of this is due to poor communication with language differences. Some of it is cultural differences. Somehow we muddle through!
Last night Tom and I had a good laugh over the whole situation. 'Professor Gurley'! Titles mean a great deal here I later discovered and someone said if I hadn't been introduced that way no one would listen to me. So I may need to use this in the future!
I will end this segment on 'My Window on Ukraine' with brief comments on surviving winter in Kharkiv.
One can not truly appreciate Ukrainians until you go through a winter with them! They thrive in the cold temps and delight in new snow falls. The heavy snows blanket the drab city creating a visual fairy tale from the otherwise depressing reality of this place.
Babies and children are bundled up and pulled on sleds through the streets. And oh, the fur coats and hats donned by men and women alike. Mink, fox, rabbit and other unidentifiable species! Surely I thought I spotted Mrs. Beaver* bustling through the streets the other day. Clad in fur from head to ankle these beings possess the winter with finesse. And did I mention the boots? Boots of fur and leather, some sporting 5" heels, many styles going up over the knee. Long flowing scarves with matching hats and gloves create bright fashion statements. In fact one wonders if these inhabitants of winter have just come from the runway.
The Slavonic soul rejoices in the frosty air with a triumph of survival for all they have endured. Hot bowls of steaming borscht and endless streams of tea (and vodka!) fuel winter days. As for me I sip my hot chocolate and thank God for my UGGS* as I count the days until spring.

* Mrs. Beaver, a character from 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' by C S Lewis
* UGGS - warm sheepskin boots from Australia

attached pictures Jayne in front of the train from Kiev to Kharkov; Jayne in the Kiev train station with angora hat and UGGS; Myron at the Fulbright office; some of our fellow Fulbrighters; a snowy view from our apartment in Kharkiv

picturetimeII

2007-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to get the format to line up the pictures with the text sorry about that this is my second try hopefully you can match the caption with the correct picture. Technology is a beautiful thing sometimes. blessings Tom

This is a picture of Jayne's Creative Writing class at Providence. This only half of the class.

Here we are celebrating the anniversary of our first date at Fecini's Italian Restaurant [with Katya our interpreter - she was taking the picture. Very romantic

This is dinner with the Detweilers in our apartment on Chichibabina. Note the lovely table cloth given to us by our friends the Emersons, Jones, and Karen Lile

Here are my lab coworkers at the Institute. In the front is Sergei and in the background is Nikolay

This is our apartment building on Chichibabina We are on the 4th floor on the very right side. Do you see those green curtains. We have a security babuska who lets us in the front door (center door) then we take the elevator to the 4th floor and push the button for our apartment. We have a camera so we can see who is at our outer door and then we can push another button and them in the outer door and then we unlock our door to let them in. High security

Here's our kitchen table with Jayne and Katya, our interpreter, discussing the days activities.

Now this is Taras the president of Providence discussing the Creative Writing class with Jayne at our kitchen table. Taras is 29 and studied at Providence in Manitoba Canada and then worked as an asst pastor in Canada. His English is excellent and he understands how to function in this country He grew up in Lviv on the western side of Ukraine. He is a born entreprenur - his generation will transform this nation.

Here is Jayne and Katya. Katya is about 25. She is a teacher and has taught for 3 years in the rural areas outside Kharkiv. She would like to be a missionary and continue with her English translating work. She came to the US when she was 13 for a 6 week youth event.

Here is the door to Taras' office at Providence you can check out the website. prov@ukr.net
He is not funded by the Canadian Providence he is on his own trying to build a North American certified college in Kharkiv it will be the first one ever if he is successful. The Ukrainian educational system is based on the Soviet model. a bit bureaucratic and corrupt. Taras is a born leader. You probably can tell we think highly of this guy

Here is Professor Jayne teaching the Creative Writing class. Her teaching style is completely foreign to these students. They are use to the rigid Soviet style of command and control - i.e. boring lecture ad nausea. She had a valentine party last Tuesday with cherry juice, cookies, and of course, Valentine cards for all the students.

Here we are with Karen and Nancy Koly at the Cleveland Airport on our way to Ukraine We really appreciated Jeff Knopf taking us to the airport and Karen and Nancy meeting us and praying for us as we began this adventure in post Soviet invasion ministry

Picture from Kiev

2007-02-16T01:40:00.000-08:00

This is a test of putting one of our pictures on the blog This is the monastery of the caves in Kyiv

Kiev and back

2007-02-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure who all are reading these epistles but if you are I hope they are informative and helpful if not I look at it as good therapy and an archive of our meanderings here in Ukraine. Its but a week and a couple of days since our last blog so let me jump in with my first formal presentation at the institute last Tues. They have a very impressive auditorium fairly new with a laptop and projector and even a remote slide controller and laser pointer - this is hi tech man! The title of my presenation was American Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of Single Crystals. An Introduction. I tried to think of a more sexy title like CIA Operative Chemist Infiltrates Top Secret Former Weapons Laboratory. I was a bit disappointed by the turnout probably 25-30 folks but I'm not sure how well the presentation was advertised maybe the English only group was interested. Anyway I did it I kept to the requested 45 min timeframe I showed a picture of my family on the beach at OBX and told about every member even gave the ages of the grandkids in Russian just to practice (showoff) and make the audience think I was trying to at least learn the language. Then I talked about the Fulbright program and why I was there at the Institute (I kept thinking - why did I come in January?). Finally I gave a review of my technical background various projects I have worked on at Goodyear, Abbott, and Hospira over my career. The questions are always informative of what people really are focused on. I had a few questions at the conclusion. My favorite was how would you compare Uganda to Kharkov? I had mentioned going to Uganda with the LION Players. I didn't want to offend this group but I couldn't think of anything positive to say about Kharkov so I finally said that the weather was much nicer in Uganda. They all laughed and I moved on to the next question. I didn't realize it but after my presentation was a second presentation (in Russian) by IT group (computer group). It was as boring in Russian as any I have ever heard in English and after 25 minutes of Russian slides and verbiage the concluding discussion ended up in a rather loud and emotional argument. That was also similar to the conclusion of presentations by the computer groups in America - these guys seem to be in a world no one can make contact with. I was scanning the room for the nearest exit in case the situation got physical!
After the presentation I was invited to the birthday party of one of the chiefs (bosses). So I was taken to his office where there was a long table filled with food and bottles of ethanol (different colors and shapes). I knew this was going to be one of the cultural experiences that would be a challenge. The chief sat next to me, of course, and there were (I kid you not) at least 20 toasts over the next 80 minutes. I even was asked to give one. So I did I tried to say nice things about this boss who had never even welcomed me when I arrived 3 weeks before. So I listened to 80 minutes of Russian jokes which I didn't understand most of them. I filled my plastic cup with what I think was orange soda and everytime there was a toast I would put the cup to my lips and pretend I was drinking. After 10 minutes everyone was pretty happy and didn't really notice my drinking style. The "gift" given to the chief was an elaborate "water pipe" with a long rubber hose (which I recognized having a vast background in rubber). It looked like it was from Turkey and I prayed that we would not soon be doing the American Indian equivalent of the peace pipe communal deal. The climax came on toast #18 where all the men get up and go around and kiss ALL the women. I was glad that everyone kept their clothes on and I passed on the kissing part - this wasn't just a peck on the cheek. I think the ethanol was helping at this point too. I have pictures on this one. Culture is a wonderful thing. There was no singing Happy Birthday or a cake. Just cold cuts, pickles, and chocolates.
Well Thursday was Kyiv trip day. We spent the day packing and my guardian angel from the Institute helped us get a taxi to the train station and got us on the right train "wagon" and seat. It was a nice 6 hour ride to Kyiv a little stuffy- stagnant air. We took egg salad sandwiches for our dinner which was real comfort food for us. We arrived a 11PM and we had an address and strategy to get a cab to Gorkogo 88 apt 28. I got a call from an "Igor" who told me that he would meet me at the apt and had the key. I hoped he was for real and not a KGB guy. We got a cab and got there thru the snowy streets of Kyiv. He showed us our mini apt ONE room and a bath typical European stuff. I paid him for 4 nights in cash - USD (you pay rent in USD for some unknown reason- everything else is grivna). Of course, I got no receipt but he promised to get a receipt to the Fulbright office who were reimbursing me. A step of faith. Anyway we were safe and alive in Kyiv. Friday we were picked up by a taxi and taken to Hotel Ukraine to meet all the other Fulbrighters who had come in from all over Ukraine about 20 couples. Many we discovered were Christians which was an added treat. We were taken by bus to the US Embassy for the morning. It was wonderful to be back on American property even if it was in the middle of Kyiv. We had an American breakfast in the cafeteria and then had briefings by embassy people on what was happening in Ukraine - political, security, cultural exchanges .. it was very impressive. The quality of these diplomats was excellent. We got the impression that the Orange Revolution is not dead but going thru growing pains and that changes have occurred in the reduction of fear in the people and a much freer media. Then we were taken to the Fulbright office in downtown Kyiv for lunch and presentations all afternoon on the educational challenges in Ukraine. The most interesting talk was by a young American female (tiny) Yale PhD candidate who was doing library research in Kyiv. The message was libraries in Ukraine are NOT user friendly. Besides having poor bathroom facilities and lighting - she had to request each document in writing and then many times after waiting a day or two the request would be denied. So then she would have to negotiate with the staff to see the document. You can't just walk around and look at books. People in Ukraine don't go to libraries like we do in the US. They are hostile environments. This tiny grad student was one tough lady of course she was doing this all in Russian and Ukrainian which she could speak and the documents were in those languages. I had a great deal of admiration for her after hearing her story. We were treated to a Ukrainian folk singing group - a violin and 6 mixed voices. It was unique music but after about 10 songs they sounded the same. We passed on the $10 CD. Then we had a doll maker show her folk dolls. Jayne loved those and bought one.
Saturday we repeated the taxi deal and this time we were treated to a full tour of the city of Kyiv by bus. We spent about 3 hours in the Monastery of the Caves overlooking the city. We stood in an orthodox service for 30 min and were briefed on the history of the monastery founded in 1070 (talk about old). We had a nice lunch there and continued our converations with our fellow Fulbrighters. Then it was off to two art museums folk art and an American Ukraine modern art - postmodern (very weird). We ended the day at an Italian restaurant in downtown Kyiv with some of our new Fulbright friends sharing some hilarious experiences of our adjustment to Ukraine. Rich from Nebraska is teaching economics in Kyiv told about his bus ride from Hell when he first arrived. It included a 10 grivna fine for not getting his ticket punched in time (this was in the AM) then his return trip he got on the wrong bus and after 3 transfers he finally got off the bus and starting walking until he found a street that looked familiar and found his little apartment in downtown Kyiv.
Sunday was another highlight for us. We were picked up by Sergei Stevanovich- our first translator on our first trip to Ukraine in 2002. We called him Big Sergei b/c he is big. He is about 30+ got married 2 years ago and his wife is expecting a baby in 3 days. We never saw her b/c of her physical shape. But we had breakfast, went to church, and had dinner at Uncle Sams (burgers and steak). Sergei is a strong believer, an entreprenur, and was part of the Orange Revolution. He is a bit disillusioned with Ukraine and is thinking about moving to Canada. He described all the corruption and despair in the country. We tried to encourage him but he was obviously struggling with the future for his wife and new baby daughter soon to arrive. We had a great time together and it was hard to say goodbye. Pray for Sergei.
Monday was another presentation day this time at the Institute of Microdevices (computer chips). Jayne spent the day with one of the Fulbrighters wife window shopping in downtown Kyiv. Prices are 3-4x what they are in Ohio. I spent 4 hours at this Institute- My four hosts all had a first name of Volodymyr so that made it easy for me. Just say Vladimir and everyone looked at me.
We were both thankful that we made it thru the snowy streets of Kyiv to get to the train station. One of the Vlad's drove us and taught me how to find the right train car so we didn't end up in Bucharest or Siberia. The traffic was crazy the temperature was -2 Centigrade (don't panic thats only 30 F) but still the roads were sloppy and personal space both for people and autos is reduced to inches from a couple of feet like we are accustomed to. The train ride "home" was uneventful. They showed a Jackie Chan movie (in Russian) and then some Ukrainian variety/humor shows which we didn't understand even a mime was a bit obtuse. Nikolay met us at the train and help us get a taxi back to Chichibabina and our nest. So another week has past and we read Psa 123 on our journey of 150 days toward Psa 1. We may go to Yalta this coming weekend for a church conference but probably we will stay put and recover from our weekend in Kyiv.
We appreciate your prayers very much. I had a head cold in Kyiv for a day which was annoying but I am doing better now. Pray for Jayne she has a backache which we are not sure what this cause is. Temperature is 42 in Kharkov raining and the snow is melting.
God bless you and keep you. Jayne is teaching poetry about love tonight I Cor 13 and Song of Solomon 4. Like my dad always told me "love is a feeling you feel when you are going to feel a feeling that you never felt before." Tom and Ukraine Jayne

Winter has finally arrived

2007-02-02T23:22:00.001-08:00

As winter arrives in Ohio (we hear) it has also arrived in Kharkov. It has been a mixed blessing. It is quite beautiful as the drab gray landscape turns to white. The trees were covered with a ligth snow this week and it was gorgeous. The downside is that snow removal is not a Ukrainian concept except for a few babushkas sweeping the sidewalk. The roads turn into a royal mess. I sawsome crazy Ukrainian sliding sidewards on Freedom Square (that's where the big statue of Lenin pointing to the toilets is located). He was having a blast as he was destroying the barrings on the wheels of his little whatever car.
The highlights for this week include the following:
We went to Father's House on Sunday and were officially welcomed to the church. We went on stage for the traditional welcome. I tried some of my newly acquired Russian like " where's the Metro, the toilets, I would like soup, I would like some American pizza". We were enthusiastically welcomed. Which was much appreciated. We enjoy the worship immensely I have learned to sing heartily in tongues since I can't understand the words anyway. I love it as does Jayne.
Jayne taught on Tuesday for the second time and got her first homework turned in. Haiku poems and poems about winter (well sorta). Fortunately the students are required to submit assignment typewritten - writing Ukrainian handwriting would be too much. I am doing the assignments too. Like this poem --

Winter in Ukraine

Winter in Ukraine is a blast
Especially when it comes in fast
But when the temperatures go down
Sometimes my face exhibits a frown

I love when the snowflakes are big
And look like an oversized fig
As they crash to the ground
It makes a very loud sound

Well it ain't Robert Frost but hey it's a poem AA BB AA BB rhyme pattern sorta

Tuesday Christmas came to our apartment. Well actually two boxes that I had mailed on Nov 30 arrived (by boat) Not bad 2 months. The boxes contained some spring clothes and 55 books for Jayne and two speakers for the ibook so we can now listen to all our favorite Christian, Classical, and jazz in full decibels. It is amazing how simple things mean so much to us since we haven't watched TV since Jan 16 when we left the USA (actually we haven't missed it except for FOX news and I would like to see the Superbowl but it comes on at 2AM so...
We are enjoying the worship music most of the time but I do like to listen to Brubeck on occasion.
Wed or maybe Thur we went to a birthday party for Dave Detweiler at their apartment across town. It was a festive event. We got a small (really small cake) and put it in a homemade cake box (made from a small Cheerios box and of course duct tape) we labeled HARTVILLE KITCHEN the world's best since Dave grew up in Hartville. Christine put out a great feast of baked potatoes, crab and corn salad, some kind of beef burger thing and a Greek salad. What fun to party. We also visited the Window on America. Which is a section of the Natl Univ library funded by the State Dept that has American movies (what a great way to give a picture of America) and books in English. The head librarian, Ludmilla, and her young assistant, Ludmilla (there are only about 6 boy and girl names it seems). They were thrilled to have "fresh meat" from Amerika and asked us to come partipate in their weekly discussion club about America. This week the topic was Groundhog's Day. We are going on 15 Feb and the topic yes you guessed it - President's Day. Our main reason for going was to see if we could check out some movies. I think we can but only if we participate in the discussion group. They were also doing guilting. I told Jayne that I think I might suggest we do an evening of paper mache which is my favortie artist genre (I just like the chemistry part of making a mess with flour and water).
We are getting more accustomed to the metro shuffle. We are getting good exercise walking everywhere. Our daily routine consists of breakfast and devotions for about an hour then I usually go to the Institute if there is something for me to do there. Jayne does a variety of things - visiting friends and working on her lecture prep. My work is going well. I have learned how to operate one of the scientific instruments (liquid chromatograph) and am building confidence in my fellow scientists. The problem is that everyday having a simple conversation turns into a major language event as I see the pain in the faces of my colleagues who struggle to speak in English. They have a dictionary on their computer that they keep looking up English words so they can finish a sentence. I think I am exhausting them and I think they are glad when I go home at the end of the day! I have been calling the US to request letters of support for a research proposal. I have done some editing on a proposal. It is one of the most humorous activities that I do. Each sentence is a puzzle. Here's a typical example for you English buffs " Since the middle of the 80-th years, starting with the first activities of using the domestic microwave ovens in chemistry, an exponential increasing of publications is observed." They told me that the person who is writing these proposals knows English but not the technical side of it. The above sentence I think should read something like - "since the mid 1980s the publication of technical papers related to the use of microwave ovens in chemical research has increased exponentially." Do you see the difference?
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Jayne's turn...Our Ukrainain friends are so helpful and gracious to us. Truly we are strangers in a foreign land. They are attempting to make us comfortable with all the changes we make daily. We hired Masha, to clean the apt every week. What a great idea! I need a hair cut badly so Katya, our interpreter has some one coming to the apt to do it right here. Service!
Larysa invited Katya and I for lunch and fellowship this week. Great Ukrainian fare. some type of ravioli with the world's best sour cream. On the way home we went to a local grocer and bought the ingredients so I can make it here at home. I need help with dinner ideas! I go into the store and don't know what I'm looking at! The meat cuts are different and I can't tell what's what. I made a beef stew this week with wine, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, onions, etc. Not bad!
Tonight we are going out to eat at Adriano's, my favorite so far. Great Italian food , salads,desserts. Katya will go with us and then we are going to the conference at Father's House. Bill Lynch is in town and all the churches are coming together for worship, teaching and whatever else the Holy Spirit has in mind.
I'm looking forward to our trip this coming Thursday to Kiev for the Fulbrighter's conference. We go by train to and from. Unfortunately it will be at night so we will not see the countryside. Kiev is a beautiful city. We plan to see Big Sergei, who we met way back in 2002. He and Tom talked last evening and made plans to get together on Sunday. We will come back to Kharkiv late Monday evening.
This coming Monday I will be sharing with all the volunteers at the pregnancy center. I will be talking about 3 Kingdom Keys. I ask your prayers re. that oppurtunity. My prayer is for true connections with people here and that we will not just bounce off eachother with the language difficulties. Katya is literally my ear and mouthpiece in all communication situations. We are both learning to work with eachother in sync. It is a new ballgame for her to be involved in so many personal conversations. We both know the Lord brought us together and we have great times toghther.
I am enjoying teaching creative writing again. I am amazed how the Lord takes the smallest of gifts and turns them into ministry oppurtunities. The students are stretched in all ways writing poetry. Some very lovely work came in this week and I must commend them for their hard work. Tom is a riot in doing the assignments with the class! Taras, the young President of Providence College continues to inspire me with his passion for education and the ministry. His wife Yuliya is part of the class. She is applying to Regent's Univ in VA to get a Masters in Accounting. We really like them.
Thank you for all your love, prayers, and support. We are going on the wings of your prayers...don't stop now! Love, Jayne

Ten days and still smiling

2007-01-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

Yes we have been here for 10 days now. We read Psa 141 (Friday). v. 8 "But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord - in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless." Our eyes, hearts, and minds are toward the Lord. We do feel quite vulnerable as Psa 146 talks about the sojourners ..." The Lord watches over the sojourners ..." As we walk the streets of Kharkov and see the depression and hopelessness in the eyes of these beatdown people. Everyone wears black clothes and most look like their best friend just died.
We have many new experiences to talk about. I (Tom) will try to capture in words some of them. Maybe Jayne will write as well. Its Sat AM about 8. Jayne is still sleeping. I have already got up and got ready for the day - breakfast - Honey Nut Cheerios with a banana, moloko (milk) 0.5% fat (you can get 0.5 and 2.5% go figure), toast, and my favorite - hot chocolate.
We had friends of ours, the Detweilers, over for dinner last night. Jayne fixed a chicken soup which was an all day event. We had a great time speaking English and enjoying the moment. They have been here since October and will be here after we are gone. We shared alot about just how to get things down here.
Grocery shopping is a major cultural opportunity. We have discovered that there are two types of grocery stores - the communist store and the supermarket. The communist store is operated like the days of yore (Soviets). The store is divided into several areas which are difficult to determine when one area starts and the next begins. For example you have areas for meat, diary, drinks, fruit, bread etc. Each area has a line you get in and you pay for each group of items at each station. You can't touch anything. Jayne made the cardinal sin of picking up a package of frozen vegetables and the storelady almost came unglued rattling off something in Russian and Jayne's asst Katya said "Jayne put the package back" which she did. They the store lady took the package and handed it to Jayne. People here in still in the control mode from the Soviet days. They love lines and getting mad of anyone. Seems like a lot of pent up bitterness. Now on the other hand I went to the supermarket, Billa. An Austrian store which had grocery carts (small) and aisle where you actually look at the items and put them in your cart (novel idea). The challenge here is that everything is labeled in Russian. So I have a cheat sheet with the basics. I took me about 5 minutes to find some butter for example. The other issue is the when you buy your groceries you have to carry them on the metro (subway) back to your flat so you can't buy alot of stuff at one time. Check out is similar to our version except there are no free bags you either buy a plastic bag to carry your stuff out of the store in or you bring your own bag. A mediuam size plastic bag costs 1 grivna ($0.20).
Jayne started teaching this week at Providence College. As you would expect she did a great job. She spent a lot of time in prep. She has about 13 students ranging in age from 15 to 60. The 60 yr old lady, Luda, is a chemist and use to work at the Institute of Single Crystals where I am working. so that was interesting to talk with her. Jayne taught about the creative process. Because we are created by God who is the ultimate creator we too are creative. She shared some writing tips like the terrible 20s i.e. being verbs - is, are, was, etc which should be avoided in writing - always use the active voice instead of the passive and then she had them play with words - opposites, colors for words, and ended with some examples of haiku poems. The assignment for the class is to keep a journal, collect 50 new words a week, write some haiku poems, and bring a Russian poem to class and read it and translate into English. Talk about a unique experience. Jayne is concerned that the class will be able to handle the writing assignment. It is difficult enough to write a poem in English when you are an English speaker but for a Ukrainian that may be a bit much. Jayne also met with the Crisis Pregnancy board to see if we can assist them to move forward.
We celebrated the anniversary of our first date (XX years ago) when we were Freshmen at Houghton College. I bought a red rose from the metro flower lady and then we had a romantic (sort of) dinner with Katya at Felini's Italian Restaurant (or as we say in Russian - pectopah - the p is an r , the c is an s, and the h is an n try that and see if you get restoran - what fun.
We also had dinner with a 25 year Michiganer red haired young lady - Meredith who has been living here as a peace corp worker teaching English as second language and learning Russian. She was a real fireball. It takes a confident woman to take on the challenge that she has. She is a Christian and has a very strong faith in God. She graduated with a degree in Spanish and Business and was thinking about going into medicine but decided to take a couple years to find herself by serving in the corp. She told about the window on America which is a section of a library near where we live which has American movies and books. Jayne wants to check this one out since all the movies here are dubbed with Russian.
I have started my "new job" this week with 3 visits to the "Institute". I have started doing some research. I actually made an injection of a sample into a liquid chromatograph for the first time (I have been doing this kind of stuff for 30 yrs so it was a big deal except I was doing it in Ukraine). The science guys that I am working with appear to be very good scientists as far as I can see. Unfortunately they have very little equipment and supplies to work with. For example in our lab in the US we would have Kimwipes (like kleenex) to wipe off glassware and spills on the lab bench. These guys have small rolls of TP for the same purpose. There equipment is old but OK for our purposes. I also did some editing of a proposal for funding for a new research program. They have asked me to make contact with people in the US who would be willing to write letters of support for their research so i will be calling the US next week to see if I can help in that way. I will be making my first (and maybe last) presentation to the entire Institute (800 people) probably there will only be 50-100 that attend. But the title is American Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of Single Crystals. An Introduction. Not a very catching title but I plan to introduce myself, show a picture of my family at the beach OBX, talk about the Fulbright program (I'm sure everyone is wondering why I am here and what is in it for me), then I was going to talk about my experience doing research and managing at Goodyear, Abbott, and Hospira. I plan to offer my help to anyone who would like to talk with me. I expect that I may get some chemists who want to apply for a Fulbright to come to the US and do science. I have been working with a young PhD candidate, Sergey, who is 23 and just got married to another PhD candidate, Yulia, both are chemists working at the Institute. I have been told that they make about 250 USD / month which is a good wage for Ukraine. I have invited them to our flat for pizza. They were shocked.
Jayne and I will also be going to Kiev in two weeks to participate in a Fulbright orientation - the US embassy will brief the 20 or so Fulbrighters in Ukraine about the political and security situation here and general topics plus a tour of Kiev - monastery, art museum, concert, and seeing the city. I have also arranged to give my Introduction talk at the Institute of Microdevices which is part of the ISC (single crystals) where I work.
The daily work at the Institute is challenging. The guys can speak English but don't have much practice so every conversation (every sentence) becomes a painful and patience building experience as we try to agree on the next steps in our experiment work. I'm sure these guys are exhausted and glad to see me go home at the end of the day. I know I am. I got a key to my shared office and an official email address gurley@isc.kharkov.com if you want give it a try. I guess they believe that I am not a CIA spy or they wouln't have give me that. My coworker Nikolay said to me yesterday when I was telling him that I knew where the Philharmonic, the Opera House, and the Organ House were in Kharkov (this is where most of the cultural events occur) .."Are you a spy". Jayne told me that I should have said YES as a joke .. but I said NO and we had a good laugh.
One final humorous story ...when Jayne was walking with Katya somewhere this week Katya said "Jayne do you notice that everyone is staring at you as we walk along". And Jayne said, "No, I'm too busy watching where I'm stepping so I don't fall in a hole." I notice that too. I think everyone knows we are foreigners without even saying something in English. I told Jayne I would like a small sign that I could carry the read "Yes, I'm American. Please don't stare at me!"
God bless you all Thanks for your prayers. If you want to hear about other topics or have questions don't hesitate to send us an email or if you want to talk to us its free with skype its easy but does require a speaker and mic for your computer. Tom Finally got some snow yesterday high today 32F

Our first days in Ukraine

2007-01-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

We have really appreciated the prayers of everyone. We feel very protected and security eventho this place is not extremely safe.
We have spent the past several days getting settled in - unpacking and getting our barrings - water, food, internet connections, appliances, learning how to operate the jacuzzi and the electronic shower - this one deserves some comment. The shower is a circular tube standing up if you will with 2 curved clear plastic doors than open in the middle. I feel like I'm in a Woody Allen movie every time I use this device. Then it has a digital menu for setting the various parameters - light, radio, CD, time for shower, steam, ventilation, and water temp. I think its a sauna too but I haven't tried to use that feature.
We are finally unpacked and getting a routine established.
We have been spending 1-2 hrs everyday having devotions which has been just wonderful compared to our previous lifestyle in America - busy busy. We are reading thru the Psalms starting with 150 and going toward 1 since we have 150 days here we can track the day with the Psa. Of course, Bob Crowley emailed us to tell us that he was actually reading the Psalms backward - word for word - and was really understanding. He is would creative crazy off the wall person.
Our breakfasts include eggs and toast. I was making toast in a frying pan until we finally got a toaster. Cold cereal, corn flakes, and milk in a bag yep in a bag not a cartoon. The milk is 0.5% and 2.5% fat go figure. It can be stored at room temp. Of course everything is metric so today we were cooking some chicken in our gas oven and I had to calculate what 325F was in centigrade 162.7C.
We control our own heat - steam radiators - which doesn't sound like much but in this city it is. On our second day the meter reader lady came to our door. We have a security camera so we can see people coming. I knew it was a lady so I let her in the first door and then opened our apt door. She started in Russian and said in my broken Russian I don't speak Russian I speak English. She proceed in Russian and I noticed that she had a stack of papers so I pointed at the papers and it appeared that she was recording meter readings. So I finally said "Gas" that did it. She wanted to read the gas meter which I knew where it was. Not where you would expect it outside the house this one is in the kitchen cupboard. I knew this b/c we are allowed some many cubic meters of gas before we start paying for the extra. So I showed her the meter and proceed to read the number in my flawless Russian. She wrote them down on her paper and then left.
Let me conclude with our day today Sunday. Being the spiritual heavy weights that we are we decided to go to the Father's House service at 10 and then Calvary Chapel at 2 - each on opposite sides of the city. We made it to FH and the praise was delightful eventho it was all in Russian - that lasted about 2 hours and then there were testimonies and prayer and finally 3 hours later we took communion with pita bread and wine in plastic cups. We got to see some of our friends from FH John and Tanya Lynch, some of the Faceless People, and Dima's Mom. I forgot to say that we rode the Metro and then walked about 20 minutes thru a little snow and wind to get to the church. so then we walked back to the Metro and ended up at Calvary Chapel which meets in a room in a gym. They have a young American preacher and a Russian translator (a former Faceless Person too). Both of us could hardy stay awake even with our spiritual weight jet lag hits you and the most unopportune times. Taras Paslavskyi the founder of Providence College here in Kharkov attends this church so saw him again and met some very interesting people from the 50 attendees - a Brit teaching English, an Irishman with InterVarsity Fellowship, a young guy from Cleveland, and the pastor from Seattle. There were several Africans also in this service.
Then we met with the Faceless People who were practicing at the same gym in a rented room. So it was great to see Taras B, Igor, Viktor, Andrei, Yulia, Natasha, and some new faces.
We finally walked back to the apt and had dinner and starting working on our plans for this week.
I start at the Institute tomorrow (Mon) with my initial visit and Jayne starts teaching on Tues here creative writing class. We will update this blog this week
Blessings Tom and Jayne

Arrived in Kharkov

2007-01-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Kharkov on Wed 1/17 without any problems. Customs was fairly smooth compared to earlier experiences. The custom's lady took me in the little back room so I could count out my cash. I started to take my money belt out which was stuffed in the front of my pants and as I was unzipping my pants she said (this is a loose translation since I don't understand much Russian) "That's fine sir you don't need to do that, you can go now".
We were met by Larissa and Katya (young old friends) and young Dr. Nikolay Gorobets from the Institute. They helped us get our 8 bags to the apartment on Chichibabina. 4th floor apt about 3 blocks from the Lenin statue (how delightful). We are settling in finally and getting over jet lag. We have dial up internet but hope to get hi speend in few days.
We praise God for His care for us. We miss everyone and everything that is familiar to us. I will write more later.
God's blessings from the former Soveit Union and the free nation of Ukraine. Tom & (Jayne)