Visiting Ira, Attending a Birthday Party, and Getting Hugs from Doah

Well, I did it! I took some chocolate chip cookies to Ira's house next door! I don't know why I was so nervous, but, well...I guess I had good reasons. Anyhow, Deb reminded me that perfect love casts out fear, and that can also mean that our love for people casts out the fears we have of them.


She was tending the garden when I walked over, plate in hand. I called to her, and came and gave the cookies to her, and immediately she said, "Do you want to come and have some tea?" I didn't do the Ukrainian thing and demure (is that the word?) but accepted right away. She took me into the rich-warm-brown kitchen and motioned to a seat while she started clearing dishes and bread from the table.


"On Saturday we clean the house," she explained, and then apologized for the mess several times. Not that I've never seen a mess before! I assured her it didn't bother me. Her Mom was vacuuming and Ira herself had been working in the garden, but she completely dropped what she was doing, washed her hands, and made tea for us. And we proceded to visit for the next hour, eating cookies and chocolate and sipping our tea and struggling through sentences with missing words.


She's studying in Kiev to be a doctor, and she can speak some English, which she learned in highschool. She said her English isn't very good because she hasn't used it in a year, I think. It was great compared to my Ukrainian or Russian...or whatever it is...they have a term here for mixed Russian and Ukrainian. Slazhik? I can't remember.


We chatted about chatty things, and she looked up words in her dictionary to help our communication along. I felt bad that she seemed to be embarressed by her English...I didn't want her to feel like I expected her to speak English to me. I would be happy to learn some Russian from her.

We sipped our tea in the sunlight shining throught the lace kitchen curtains. Eventually Ira asked,

"So why are you here? Why are the Crowes here? You leave everything and move to Ukraine. Why?"

It wasn't the easiest question to answer. In fact, I was pretty vague and didn't really answer at all. For one thing, our communication wasn't the best in the first place and we weren't quite understanding each other, and for another, it became evident that she's pretty suspicious of us and what we're doing. She wanted to know if we're starting some kind of religious school...what religion we are...

Well, what religion am I? I told her I'm a Christian, but she wanted to know if I was protestant...I wanted to tell her that religion is really beside the point...I mean, yes, I guess she's right in calling me a missionary, but I'm not into the terminology...I think they are concerned about these weird new neighbors with all the kids and want to pin a label on us so they know what to watch out for. Those religious fanatics...

I had been thinking of the verse in 2 Cor. 4 that says "we do not use deception or distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."

So I explained what I could as plainly and truthfully as I could. I don't want to try to hide anything from her, but I also don't want her to put us in a "protestant" box or whatever. There is plenty to value in orthodoxy too, although I'm not familiar with a lot of their beliefs. I know in my head and heart that it all comes down to Jesus Christ being the Son of God, but I don't quite know how to explain how that works in my everyday life!

But we've got time. Despite her suspicions, she was very friendly and said "Come to me again. Come on Sunday, when I will not clean the house." I told her she could come see me as well. So, I'm so glad for that opportunity. I just want to be friends with her and let her see over time that I'm not trying to spread some kind of cult...

On a different note...we just got back from a birthday bash for Ruth, one of the missionaries from New Zealand. Birthdays seem to be a big deal around here. She is turning thirty, and it was a good excuse to have a jolly get together, so people from all around the area came and there was music, shashlik (Ukrainian barbeque), bonfire, and tiki torches and a lot of chatting and laughing. It was at their house down the road, which is being renovated right now, and lots of people spread out on a big carpet in the back yard and visited. I met some people from Cagarlik, a nearby town, and said hi to some I already knew.

What a big party! As usual, the crowd was intimidating to me, but I keep being pleasantly surprised at how friendly people are...just coming up and saying hi like they actually know me...which some of them sort of do, but I guess I actually feel closer to them than a lot of people at home. After several conversations, I just stood around, uncertain, but it as it got later it was nice to sit on the carpet under cover of darkness just staring at nothing, listening to music with English words (strangely missed) and watching Noah giggle and fall over on the uneven ground.

What a baby that Noah is. I'm rather fond of that one! He's the huggiest baby I've ever seen, and sometimes he's my special grace. I've never seen a one year old that would walk over and just hug you, but Doey does! When I need a hug, there's always Doe. I'm going to write an ode to him someday. He's my Knight in Shining Diapers. Of course, this is the same child who pooped next to my bed today when he got on the loose without a diaper...and then he crawled on the mattress and there was evidence on the wall where I had my post it notes...not much damage though. Nothing a little cleaning wouldn't fix.

Everyone I meet thinks I'm so young. I mean, younger than I am. I know I do seem younger, I just get tired of it I guess. But I guess it's who I am inside that counts :) When I was talking to Svetlana she asked me my age and when I told her I was nineteen, she said, "You look so young, Cassie. You're like their (the Crowes') oldest child." Haha. Oh well. What can I say. When we go places I hang out with the kids sometimes when I don't know what else to do, and someone told me I look like them...so I suppose it makes sense.

So, off to bed now. Tomorrow is a potluck picnic thing...more social activity, and to think I don't even mind! I'm quite pleased with myself :)

P.S. And for future reference, Noah has many interchangeable nicknames, and we all use whichever is most suitable for the moment, so in the future you might see

No, Noey, Do, Doey, Doah, Mo, Moey, Moah, Momo, Momah, Nomah, Bo, Boah, Bobo, Dobah, Bobah, (I've even been tempted to call him Obediah) and don't forget...No-No-Noah! You'd think No was his middle name...