Mother Mission to Poland and Ukraine part 2

I think we left off last time at the Poland/Ukraine border.  If you read the first installment of this story you know that we had to pay a bribe to get over the border.  There was a little fear and intrigue going on in my mind, but we lived and, after all, it was quite an adventure!  So, from there we went on our way to Lviv. 

Have you ever read the book "Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer?  It was also made into a movie not so long ago.  Let's just say I have the book and I watched the movie and I can relate a lot to what Jonathan said about driving through Ukraine.  You should read it or rent the DVD.  It's a wonderful story. 

Anyway, back to my story......We finally arrived to our destination, Lviv.  I have to say it is a beautiful old city.  But, it is very poor.  I feel that most Americans could benefit from visiting a very poor country.  You do not come home the same.  And you become very thankful for how God has blessed our country. Most of us have no idea how things really are in other parts of the world.  On the right I have posted a photo of one of the beautiful streets in Lviv.

There are many things that I liked and didn't like about Lviv.  As I said, it is a beautiful old city; amazingly beautiful.  But, the people on the street are not that friendly.  They avoid eye contact and do not say hello to you on the street.  I'm sure that stems from living under strict communist rule for so long.  However, once you are introduced and they get to know you a little they start to open up.  The people in the church were very sweet.  I liked them all. The one thing I liked the least was that there were very few, what I would call, toilets in Lviv.  Their public toilets consisted of literal holes in the floor/ground.  As a woman you do the best you can to "hit" the hole without falling over or peeing on yourself.  And, a word to the wise: BRING YOUR OWN TOILET PAPER!!

Another thing I really like about Lviv is that everyone had a beautiful fence around their yard and they had every inch of that yard planted with fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, etc.  To me it was breathtaking.  I got a lot of ideas about gardening from the people in Lviv.  They sure know how to garden!  One fresh herb everyone grows and loves is dill.  I like dill.  But, the Ukrainians take it to a whole other level.  They eat fresh dill on everything and I mean everything!  I saw someone in a quaint little restaurant eating what looked like pancakes sprinkled with fresh dill.  I don't know about you, but in my book, that's taking the whole dill thing a little too far.

Rachael and I stayed in a big old house on a side street in Lviv.  For a very meager amount of money we rented a room from an older lady who attended the church in Lviv.  Her name was Ponnie Ella.  Ponnie (I know I am not spelling this right) means Mrs. in Ukrainian.  She was nice, but very quiet and we rarely saw her.  We slept on, what I would call, sleeping couches.  They were fairly comfortable.  The bathroom did have a toilet which was a big plus to me.  There was also a tub for bathing, which I prefer.  But, (and this is a big BUT) in order to warm up the water you had to turn on a gas heater above the tub.  The heater looked to be as old as when they first invented them.  Let's just say it took a lot of guts for Rachael and I to strike the first match to ignite the antiquated heater in order to have a warm bath.  After all, we were there for a week and needed to bathe once in a while!  Again, we lived through it, we did not burn the house down and we chalked it up to yet another adventure. 

I feel I must mention one more thing that I did not like about Ukraine.  (I hope that if any of you are planning to visit Ukraine or just about any Eastern European country you should be writing all these little tips down.  You will not regret it.)  The Ukrainians love mineral water.  That is what they drink, mineral water.  I could barely choke it down.  This did not sit well with Rachael's boyfriend.  But, I could not help it.  I hate mineral water.  I have been to Cuba, too, and they all drink mineral water.  Believe me, it's an acquired taste.  Rachael and I visited Ukraine in August and it was hot.  We also did a lot of walking which was good for me, but it made me very thirsty.  We finally stopped by a little cafe in the city.  I asked what they had to drink.  Thankfully they had 7Up!  Usually I am not a big fan of 7Up but when your choices are very slim you take what you can get.  I drank FIVE 10 ounce bottles of 7Up before we left that cafe!

There were many things that I found very interesting.  In fact, they are too numerous to mention in this blog.  But, one very interesting thing sticks in my mind.  You are going to think I'm weird.  It was the cemeteries. Yes, the grave yards! I now know how Bram Stoker came up with the idea for Dracula.  He must of visited a cemetery similar to the one I saw.  It was so creepy and beautiful that I couldn't stay away from it. We toured the entire place! It was huge and woodsy and kind of scary, but I loved it!  The picture I have posted here gives some of the feeling, but it's a place that you simply have to be there to get the real feel of it.  By the way, Rachael really liked the grave yard, too.  It must run in the family.

Okay, by now you're thinking, "when are you going to tell us if Rachael ended up with the Ukrainian?"  I guess it's not going to be in this blog because I still have a lot more to tell about this trip.  Please hold on until the next installment.  You won't regret it.  See you next time....... :)