Last days in Ukraine

After twenty two months and quite a number of entries this is the final blog for our Ukrainian adventure.

The last school term of 2015 was seven weeks and I have to confess that I counted the number of teaching days that were left and marked them off on my calendar each day. We really enjoyed our time in Ukraine and were glad to be of assistance to the school and the families there but the call of home and family is very strong.  Even though things were coming to an end there were still many adventures left for us in the last weeks. 

There was our last snow fall which was as late as the 20th of April.  The previous winter the last snow was in the middle of February.

One of the beautiful cherry blossom trees in front of our apartment when spring arrived.

There were our three days without any water supply.  As was the case each time this happened during our stay, there is no warning that the supply will be cut so there is no preparation for it.  One moment you switch on the tap and have water the next moment you do the same thing and there is no water and no indication as to when it will be restored. There is much rejoicing when the supply returns!

There was our exiting process.  This process can take up to a month with forms to be filled out and stamped by officials and assistance from lawyers. We needed to go to a passport office in our area but no one including the lawyer who works in this field could tell us where it might be.  One very serious suggestion he gave us was to go to the babushkas (grandmothers) who sell fruit and vegetables and other things on the footpaths and ask them if they know where the office might be.  He said in his email 'babushkas know everything'.  Well we did manage to find the office without resorting to these dear ladies. It was a process and took many hours and a number of trips to various offices but we did de-register correctly. If we hadn't, the group that had sponsored our entry into Ukraine would have been heavily fined.

The last couple of weeks were very hectic with final exams, marking and packing up.  We wanted to bring home only what we could fit into one large suitcase each and a backpack each.  We had no way of weighing the cases so it was with a sense of trepidation that we packed as much as could into the bags. Our heavy winter clothes that we would not use in Australia we were glad to give to those helping refugees from the east of Ukraine.  All the good-byes were difficult.  Even in just two years, we had made such good friends. Our final contact with the school was at a track meet just two days before we left for home.  As we walked from the oval at the end of the meet we could see and hear some of the kids we had grown to love waving and calling goodbye.

My 9th grade English class.

One day the staff were asked to wear something Ukrainian to school.

We took a month to make the trip home.  First we went and visited a nephew of ours who now lives in southern Poland with his wife and two little children. 

Arriving in a small town in southern Poland to visit our nephew Russell and his family.  It may have been late May so summer, but it was very cold and raining quite steadily.

Wherever we went we liked to go walking.  Here we were trying to reach the tree line above Łodygowice in Poland. I look so quaint because there was no path and it was very boggy under deep grass and lots of tangled roots. We did make it up to the forest but with no paths we were not prepared to go into it in case we had to have people out looking for us and no one knew exactly which way we had gone anyway. The views were fantastic.

This river marks the border between Poland and the Czech Republic.  We had done a Saturday parkrun that morning in the area you can see that went into both countries.  Part of the run was on forest paths and I managed to lose myself for a short time and came in last!

Even though for the most part their English was as limited as Bill's polish the people were very welcoming and friendly.

Then we had a most delightful four weeks in Ireland. My father's mother came from County Cork in Ireland. We have no family contact there now but we thought Ireland would be a great place to visit, and it was.  We could fill a couple of blogs about our holiday there but suffice to say it was a time we will long remember.

This the highest point in the hills above Belfast. The climb was steep and quite long but with beautiful views on the way up and down and magnificent views from the top it was well worth the effort and the wind and the cold. It was also about the only day in our eight days there that it did not rain a great deal of the time. At one time on our first day in Belfast in summer, it was blowing a gale, the sun was shining it was raining and then we could hear this rattling noise and realized it was also hailing!

We also went to a small town called Cootehill.  We stayed in the house you can see.  It is a working farm which does accommodation as well. When we mentioned to a young woman in the bank that we were staying there for a week she was very surprised that anyone would come to Cootehill for a week's holiday. It is quite well known for its fishing though. We had some wonderful walks there and really enjoyed our stay. 

Most unexpectedly we came across a pipe band competition when we were staying in Tralee.  All my Irish and Scottish heritage rose up in me and we spent almost two hours listening and enjoying.

Walking on the Dingle Peninsula in the far south west of Ireland:  We almost didn't come here because it was an hour each way on the bus and the tourist office said there was just a one kilometer scenic walk at the destination. We did decide to go.  After only about ten minutes on the bus and seeing the incredible scenery we knew we had made the right decision.  At Dingle itself we were able to walk far more than one kilometer. We sometimes walked through fields finding paths just from seeing where people had walked before because we could see the grass was crushed with cows and sheep grazing less than a metre away. Eventually we reached the end of the bay and could see the open Atlantic stretching into the distance.  A great day. 

Our final adventure was our return home.  It was to be a simple flight from Dublin at 9:00am Monday to Dubai a brief stopover of just a couple of hours and then a direct fourteen-hour flight from Dubai to Brisbane. It did not turn out that way.  Our flight from Dublin was delayed seven hours and that made for more delays down the line.  When we arrived in Brisbane we had been awake well over forty-eight hours (neither of us sleep well on planes).  Our wonderful family were there to meet us at the airport at 7:00 am Wednesday and then we had a great day together.  On that Wednesday night we were going to sleep as we spoke. Seventy-two hours had passed without sleep!

Home - at last!

Except for Bill breaking some ribs and coughs and colds, we had a safe two years in a tumultuous and grieving part of the world.  So as our blog ends we acknowledge God's goodness to us in all the time away and ask you to continue to pray for Ukraine.

‘This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong is oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.’

Spring break in the Carpathians Mar-Apr 2015

In Kyiv central train station as our holiday began.

At the end of March and beginning of April we had a week's school holiday and travelled by train to the Carpathian Mountains to a small town called Yaremche. It is down in a valley but is at about 550 metres above sea level. It was a great time. We expected that we would see snow on the heights but not fairly heavy snow in the town itself, which we did. We spent many hours most days there walking and scrambling through the hills around the town.

This was one place where we could actually see the trail.  The snow had not begun in earest but the cloud was very low.

There was was a track we found that could be used to reach the highest point in that area of the Carpathians and we decided to try to reach it.  It will stand out as one of our most memorable days in Ukraine. The description of the track was that it was rocky at first and then you reached the meadow area and after crossing that you reached the summit. Rocky track was a very generous description.  It was basically a steep hillside covered with large boulders that you clambered over as best you could. Eventually you reach the top of the ridge and follow that ridge line to the highest point. The views were spectacular but we couldn't always see them because the cloud came down and snow began falling unexpectedly and fairly heavily.  Eventually in the distance at the top of a steep, steep snow-covered hill we saw the cross marking the summit.  With many stops and much puffing and panting on my part we made it to the top at 984.5 m! 

We emerged above the clouds.  I felt like Edmund Hillary on Everest.

It was cold and windy. The return down this mountain required a long hike back, so we only stayed there about fifteen minutes taking in the views – it was like being on the top of a beautiful, unknown world.

The previous picture was my sir Edmund Hillary imitation.  I always see this picture as Bill's 'Scott of the Antarctic' picture. The scenery is stunning.

Not another person around with the Carpathians stretching on and on into the north. 

The trail we followed to reach the summit. Yaremche is in the valley below.

We had many other adventures there and it was a lovely break and a real refreshment.  We always seem to have adventures when we travel by train here. I will just recount one.  On our trip back to Kyiv we had to catch a train into L’viv at 3:00 am.  On waking up we found it was snowing heavily. The walk to the train station takes about fifteen minutes.  It was dark and the snow was falling steadily and quietly. Walking in the dark with the snow falling silently and the snow mounting up in front of the big suitcase that was being wheeled was like a captivating, fairy story. When the train came in everyone except us knew there was very little time to board the train.  People even in the snow were running to the train.  There was about a dozen passengers boarding there.  We couldn't see numbers on the carriages.  We needed number six.  Finally I saw a number eight but neither carriage on either side of it had a number we could see.  We went left.  A lady railway official began calling very sternly and loudly for us to get on any carriage.  The entrance to the train is very difficult and with a large heavy suitcase it was not easy at all.  As we attempted to board 'any' carriage as instructed, another railway official on board the train told us that this was not carriage six and we needed to go to our right. He didn't want to let us on but the lady on the platform was still telling us to get on the train. Bill just flung the bag into the train. We were able to make our way through the train to our carriage and find our seats almost in the dark, hopefully without waking too many people who had boarded the train at an earlier station.

What a great holiday. 

From Ukraine - with our love!