Tuesday, February 9, 1999
Tuesday afternoon at 2:19 we board the train in Mukachevo, Transcarpathia for Kiev, 17 1/2 hours away. We have purchased a $30 ticket for a sleeping car.
Vasil Mondich, the Sabbatarian pastor of the Khust congregation is at the train station when we arrive. He is just returning from Kiev where he had to go again for documents to work in Germany. He will be leaving the next day for work there and will not come back until about Passover, seven weeks away. This is necessary for many in order to put food on the table as there is so little work in Ukraine. Some who do have work such as Dr. Vera have not been paid for months.
Ivan Talpush, our driver and Vasil help carry over luggage with the train. When they see our sleeping car the call it luxurious. It is about 4 by 7 feet with three bunks one side. The middle bunk is folded again the wall and becomes the back cushion for the lowest bunk which we sat on. There are pillows, pads and blankets available, but I wonder how long it's been since they were last cleaned.
We are on our way right on schedule. Soon the cabin maid comes by to ask we want bed linens for an extra $2 a set. There are pillow cases and duvets . Yes, they are well worth an extra $2.00 each and I set about to cover the pillow and blankets with the fresh linens.
The cabin is a private and the door even locks so that we can sleep comfortably without worry. And we do.
Wednesday, February 10, 1999
At 7:15 AM we arrive in Kiev. Now we are on our own and have to get get two heavy suitcases, a suit bag and two carry-on cases plus a basket and mugs that were given to us a gift. Off the train. I take my carry-on which is my purse and documents along with the suit bag. and Vic will bring his roll on and the baskets. I'll wait with them on the platform while he makes two trips back to the cabin for the other two suitcases.
Only moment pass until I'm approached by a porter with a cart who offers to carry our luggage. I decide to let him put our things on his cart, having no idea what he might try to charge us. As soon as we have all the suitcases on the cart another man approached Vic and offered us a ride. We had been told there was a shuttle every half hour which would take you across town and an hour away to the airport. It a long ride and a taxi becomes very expensive. Two and a half dollars for the shuttle, $40 for the taxi.
Vic tells me that he is offering to take us to the airport for $20. One glance at our luggage tells us that I'd like the taxi. After we said yes he said the price was $20 per person. I shook my head the the price dropped immediately to $30. I said NO and he readily agreed to $20.
The cab driver's name was Oleh. He was clean cut and rather normal. He told us of his two daughters and the difficulties of making a living in Ukraine. He stopped several times along the route to the airport for Vic to take photos and invited us to his home. It was early yet I and the flight didn't leave for Lithuania until 1 pm. We thought it best not to indebt ourselves to him by to going t h his home and so we declined.
At the Kiev airport several policemen were patrolling the parking lot. Oleh asked us not to pay him in the front of the policemen because they would extort from him.
It was at this point that I realized that he was not a taxi driver but only a father trying to earn enough to feed his family and educate his daughters. We gave him an extra $10. By the time I felt we knew him it pained me not to help much more. Everyone we meet is just barely getting by. Life for them is a day to day struggle. We have so much. That evening my prayer was that we never for the granted the blessings that we have. We don't deserve any more than they. It's only by the grace of God that we have the opportunities that we do. Life is not farr. We have met so many wonderful loving and giving people.
In Vilnius we change some money and buy flowers to take to the Klovis home, an hour down the road in Kaunas. We go outside the airport to find a taxi to take us to the bus station. A young man seemed to be waiting for us and he piled us and all our luggage into his taxi. Soon he is offering to drive us to Kaunas and took him up on that. He had not been able to call Henrikas from Ukraine because the telephone lines are so bad. We had his addresss and the taxi driver handed Vic his cell phone to call Henrikas. The woman on the other end seemed surpirses. We found that they thought we weren't coming because they hadn't heard from us. Henrikas' wife Vijole hand never met us.
Henrikas was home we we arrived at their apartment. He ushered us up the concrete stairs to a tiny elevator. It was challenge getting our luggage into it. On the fifth floor we entered a 3 room apartment. Two rooms and a small kitchen with an indoor toilet and a bathtub that became very important.
Vijole greeted us and we found her most hospitable. They put us into their room which is a family room by day and bedroom by night. Through Ukraine and now in Lithuania we find we find rooms that are furnished with sectional couches. These sections are put together at night to form a bed.
We learn that their daughter Vidmante and grandson Dovydus live with them. They live in the other room. Vidmante is finishing her studies.
Thursday, February 11, 1999
Vijole told us how fortunate she was to have a job. The worst thing that can happen to a person is to lose their job. She said that ads for work specify a maximum age of 30 or 35 and anyone older need not apply. A friend had helped her to get her job. Henrikas is an economist and Vidmante works as a copy editor while continuing her studies. She want to be able to write books. She is very gifted with language. The family is pleasant and hospitable. Henrikas shows us his office the next day we tour Kaunas. The temperature is 15 degrees F and it's a walking tour. My toes and fingers are freezing and after a couple of hours I suggest that we return to the apartment. Henrikas regrets that it is so cold. He wanted to also show us the old part of the city. Next time.
Back to the apartment Vijole has made us a lunch and later we go out to the store to buy items to pack for next day's all day bus ride to Tartu, Estonia. Vijole works at that store . She works two weeks on and two weeks off. She is happy that this store is so close to their apartment. It must have been about 1/2 mile away. They have no car and the temperature is nearing zero. She is worried about me and and bundles me up with a heavy sweater but does not have enough on herserlf and goes out with a bare head. After her ears were hurting, she said it was getting cold and she put on a hat.
Friday, February 12, 1999
4:30 AM The alarm clock rings. We get up and pack , have breakfast of meat, bread, cheese and yogurt, say goodbye to Vijole and Henrikas, Vic and I take a taxi to the bus station for our 6:15 departure. The bus leaves on time. It is modern and comfortable We are to arrive in Riga, Latvia around noon. There we have a six hour wait for our connecting bus to Tartu, Estonia.
In Riga we have lunch at cafeteria. We tour the city on foot. (It's warmer today, but about 32 degree and the sun is shining) and stop in later in a deli for ice cream. At 5:00 PM we return to the bus station to await the 6 o'clock bus to Tartu, Estonia.
At 6:00 PM we learn that the will be delayed one to one and a half hours. The sun has gone down and the bus station is very cold. I'm so glad that Henrikas' wife had dressed me in heavy wool socks and an extra sweater. I'm still cold as we wait.
At 7:30 PM the bus arrive and by 8 o'clock we're on our way. It will be midnight before we get to Tartu,. There is no way to let Luule know that we will be so late.
Vic wakes me as pull into the Tartu bus station. The miles go by very fast when you're sleeping.
Just a short taxi ride away is the home of our host member, Luule Lepik. She was so worried about us, pacing the floor and checking at the window the last one and a half hours. Following tea and toast with sardines we are very happy to go to bed
Sabbath, February 13, 1999
At noon we have a 12 people and a translator gathered for a Sabbath service. Henrikas speaks first and then Victor on the subject of "What is a Christian?" Very basic and very needed.
At 4 pm we walk into town and gather for at a lovely college cafe. After several visit to Tartu, I've come to believe that this is the best restaurant in town with the best prices. At full dinner in the evening with mineral water and dessert came to less than $6 per person. The food was excellent.
Back at the apartment I go to bed as I hear Victor, Henrikas and Luule jabber away in Russian.
Sunday, February 14, 1999
Sunday morning early Henrikas left the apartment to catch the 6:45 am bus back to Riga and then to his home town of Kaunas, Lithuania, two countries away. Luule announced that it was Friendship Day and she had invited her neighbor downstairs to join us for a special breakfast of sardines, pickles, cheese meat and bread. She had bought a special cake for the day. It was formed into the shape of a a crown and was layered with a wonderful cream filling. In the afternoon we rested and then went to our friends, the Bichevin's for dinner in the evening.
Monday, February 15, 1999
Vic spends most of the night restless getting up and down. By morning he is not feeling well at all and has a cold sweat. Luule wants to know if she should call doctor. I tried to assure her that he would be OK.
A short time later I know that she had made a phone call and it wasn't long before two rather young adults, a man and a woman arrived at the door in red fireman-like uniforms. I assumed that they must be paramedics as I was telling Victor under by breath: "Victor tell them that you're OK!" Luule ushered them through the kitchen and into the bedroom. I was sitting at the kitchen table and was concerned and about to crack up at the same time.
I heard them determine that they could all speak "po Ruski." That is, speaking Russian. They set about to open their cases of medical supplies and Luule was looking through her kitchen drawers for something. Soon she came up with a thermometer and gave it to Vic. He put it in his mouth and they started laughing. They told him to put it under his arm pit. It was determined that he had a slight temperature (choots choots--which means a little bit.)
When I peek to see what' going on, the woman is poking on Victor's stomach and I hear the appendicitis and I can see them hauling him off to the hospital. But, thankfully the diagnosis came down as the stomach flu and two to three days in bed was I was hoping that this would not be serious. Two white tablets were left behind and the paramedics said goodbye. Victor spent the rest of the ay in bed and Luule and I went out to visit the hotel for possible Fall Festival locations.
Tuesday, February 16th
The next day Vic felt much better abut we spent the day at Luule's resting. The sickness was not completely gone, but he was able to catch up on some much needed work on his computer.