Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Friends, Relatives, and Playdough Elephants

Hi. What to say? It's been good lately to spend time with some folks I've missed.
Last night Gracie crashed our house (that sounds more damaging than it was) and we watched Horton Hears a Who and took a walk under the stars with Connor and Mattie. On the way back we spotted something beside the road...it looked like an animal of some sort curled up on the ground. It was our cousin, James, hiding there to surprise us. So he got up and we stood around staring at the stars, which were out full force, and visited, and he walked home with us and we stood shivering in our driveway talking some more until he had to go home (they live next door). :)

Today Flic came over since she's in town this week, and we had lunch and had another walk and talked...it was so good to talk with her, and even be able to pray together. She has such an uplifting, joyful spirit that I was spurred on to just thank and love God more.

I've been thinking about a quote I read from an Emily Dickinson poem recently:

"Grant me, oh Lord, a sunny mind."

That's kind of become my prayer. I feel like I'm recovering from a depression of sorts, and my life feels so shaky sometimes. I feel like saying "No more storm clouds, please!" I'm rallying my strength for another go. I love Ukraine and I have good relationships there, and I know that's where God has me at this point, but I need a lot of strength and perseverence and just a deeper walk with God to continue. I need more of Him, really badly. And there seem to be some walls up in my life.
I have a lot of pics but not time to post them. But here's one of Ethan and I making playdough elephants soon after I arrived. He got playdough for his birthday. He built Who-Ville, as well...which looks a cluster of Cappadocian Fairy Cones. Bright purple and neon green ones. I added a Who train, but he came up with it and did most of the work.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

I Don't Deserve It, But I Got It

Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas came and has almost gone, and I've hardly stopped to realize it. I think my realizer is broken. Oh well. I probably need a break anyway :)

Mom jolted us all out of bed this morning at 7:30 to open our gifts. I was pretty incoherent, but mumbled that I thought the parents were supposed to get the kids up-- not the other way around! Even Ethan was peacefully slumbering...

Anyhow, once we were awake it was nice, and it wasn't too hard to forgive our well meaning mother. There was a big gift next to me, and they asked, "why aren't you opening it?" (Maybe I was still asleep?) Then Ethan piped up: "Maybe you're like Pooh Bear; you don't deserve it." Somebody's seen Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too one too many times!

Everyone struggled with their gifts because Mom had taped the boxes shut (to make it more fun). Dad said, "Lots of anticipation and broken nails."

Ethan opened his presents, then sat on the floor arranging his Hersheys' kisses into piles according to color. I'm trying not to be too concerned...

I got a special suprise: My brother got me a camera, because I think mine was stolen when I was in Kiev on the metro. It's very nice, though I haven't taken a lot of pics yet because I haven't got the memory card yet. So now I have to make it up to him by taking lots of pictures when I get back to Ukraine. And now, for that matter.

Tomorrow we're leaving to stay the night at Queen Whilhelmina Lodge on a mountain in Arkansas with my grandparents, Uncle Doug, Aunt Robin, and cousins. We'll have some good cousin time and I'm looking forward to being on the mountain.

This afternoon we had a rousing (well, somewhat rousing) game of frisbee with these same cousins in the field, and watched Connor and James make fools of themselves...it felt good to laugh! I love being with my family. I just wish I didn't always feel like taking a nap. I told Mom that I wish I could just get "canned sleep." Just give me a can of sleep, to be taken internally. Then I won't have to waste precious time actually sleeping!

After Frisbee, we played a funny story-writing game indoors while wearing different styled hats. Mine was a blue baseball cap on backwards. We rushed back to our house for dessert (not something to miss!) and more visiting.

My thinker has suddenly gone the way of my realizer...so that's all for now...

Monday, December 22, 2008

Light of the World

"There's a song in the air! There's a star in the sky!
There's a mother's deep prayer and a baby's low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!

In the light of that star lie the ages impearled
And that song from afar has swept over the world
Every hearth is a-flame and the beautiful sing,
In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King!"

(There's a song in the air, by Josiah G. Holland)

I love this song, and its cheerful melody reminds me to smile and hope. We always have hope because we are like candles in a dark night of the world, even when darkness threatens and confusion swells. Jesus reigns as King, and this is the time to celebrate...let all the homes of the nations come to know His light...

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Being Home

I'm having fun being home with my family. Wow, it seems that Mom, Dad and I got considerably shorter while I was away (although they insist that I grew, and not just around). Connor, Mattie, and Ethan have shot up like bahaya in summer, and the best word to describe Mattie would be what Miss Brenda reported to me a few months ago: elegant. Ethan, now...while we were driving home from the airport I couldn't think of how to describe him...

"Ethan is so...so..."

"Romantic." He stated helpfully.

I was thinking more of something like "skinny" or "serious" but hey, romantic works too.

Last night we celebrated his 6th birthday, and today we played playdough and made pink and orange elephants. He says I'm fun to play with.

It's so fun being home. There are so many people I want to get with, and I'm still feeling sleepy, but I can just go with the flow. Reverse culture shock is subtle but real. Mexican food is a lot spicier than I remembered. I have to think twice about what my zip code is, and I was a little unsure yesterday about using my debit card. There are so many cars here. It really isn't supposed to be 75 F five days before Christmas. People have changed, and I've changed, and there's a lot going on inside. Processing life...but it's not a bad thing.

It feels wierd not to remember where things belong in my own house, not to have my own chores, and more oddnesses. "Home" has changed. But it's all part of something bigger and better in my life. So I'm excited and very pleased to be here.

I'm enjoying my bed, the Christmas tree, my brother's music, my family's dear hugs, being with friends...

Connor, Mattie, Ethan, and I are leaving in just a bit to see The Tale of Despereaux with Lauren, Gracie, and their two younger brothers...what fun :) I'm a hopeless sucker for mouse stories, so I hope the movie does justice to the beautiful book. The heroism still makes me swoon.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Stranded in Memphis

(Written three days ago...)

Well, I just plugged my computer into a North American electricity outlet! Woohooo!!! I guess I didn’t realize how homesick I was till I got teary when fingering the golden eagle seal on my passport yesterday morning in the baggage checking line. Of course, getting teary isn’t uncommon for me when I’m this tired…

Getting home has been an adventure, and it still is, because I’m not actually there yet. How ironic that I would take off from a snowy Ukraine without any problems, get through Amsterdam just fine, and then be stranded in Memphis, TN due to freezing rain. I was supposed to catch that last short flight to Shreveport at 7:30 pm, but no sooner had I settled in the terminal and started devouring a yogurt parfait than a man came up to me and said “Didn’t you know that the Shreveport flight has been cancelled?”

They had announced it several times over the intercome, but I guess I was too busy trying to fix my hopeless airplane hair and trying to unplug my ears and nose. He directed me to the place to get rebooked, and I thought, “oh, no biggy. It’ll be a late night, but I’ve waited this long; I can hold out.” So I was a little shocked when the lady handed me a new boarding pass and said “Your flight will board at 9:10 in the morning.” Then she gave me a purple hotel discount voucher and told me to call a hotel. What? Me? You’ve got to be kidding. Me, stay overnight by myself and get back to the airport in the morning?

I was a bit stunned, and felt tears of exhaustion surging forward. But I pushed them back and went to the payphone, popped in an outrageous 4 quarters, and made a series of calls that didn’t go through, both to the hotel help number and my parents. Another irony was that I had a cell phone in my bag…but it’s Ukrainian. And unfortunately, there is no Life:) outside of Urkaine. Haha. I love it that the phone company is called Life. So in other words, my cell phone was dead, and may as well have been buried.

So I returned to the counter, talked to someone else, and got directions to go to a kiosk way on the other side of the building. This older guy was really kind to me, and unfortunately that made me want to cry again. But the past few months in Urkaine haven’t been without effect. I snorted up my tears, took a stronger grip of my bags and headed for the baggage claim.

I held my head high and told myself, “No, we’re not going to cry right now. You’re a strong woman. You’re strong because God made you strong. Now go!” Whenever I talk to myself like this I laugh and think of the scene in Bambi where the Bambi has been wounded in a fight and the old patriarch deer thunders, “Get up, Bambi! Get up!” So with renewed confidence I strode down the corridor. I didn’t know that I possessed any determination until I went to Urkaine, and I’m slowly learning to employ the useful stuff.

As I went down the corridor of the Memphis airport, in spite of my troubles, I found myself thinking, “It smells like the south!” South America, as Broderic says. Or rather, the south of America. It’s the fried food and drab brown paint and thoughts of magnolia trees and the Mississippi river. It’s true that Texas is a different kind of south. In my skewed sense of domestic geography, I think of “The South” as just Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia…the states between home and Grandma’s house in Tennessee. Anything above that is north. Of course that’s completely inaccurate since the Mason-Dixon line is actually way up around, I don’t know, Illinois or somewhere. Wow, while my sense of world geography strengthens, I realize just how poorly I’m acquainted with my own homeland. Sweet country tis’ of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I speak-without-knowing-what-I’m-talking-about…

I tried calling home several more times, watching my stash of quarters all but disappear. I was glad I had all those…I can’t remember why I had so many quarters with me. Then I surveyed the hotel options, picked up the phone, and dialed the extension for Econo Lodge. Although I couldn’t understand the accent on the other end too well, I thought the guy said that the shuttle would be coming in about 40 minutes.

So I stood by the door watching with all the other delayed passengers. I finally phoned the Bourciers and got Mrs. Janet to call Mom and Dad since I couldn’t get them. Then I went back and watched again for my “mashrutka.” After the initial disappointment passed, I found myself a little gleeful over spending the night in a hotel. Shower. Sleep. I wouldn’t have to drive my loved ones away with my stench. Watching bus after bus pull by, straining to see mine, it dawned on me that the past few months in Ukraine primed me for this! I was just going to catch a mashrutka and go on my merry way!

Well, mashrutka after mashrutka came and mashrutka after mashrutka went. But not my mashrutka. The crowd of chilled huddling people diminished. Radisson went by, Alamo went by, Holiday Inn went by, Best Western went by…and went by again…all the shuttles came and went multiple times, but not Econo Lodge. After nearly an hour I called again, and the guy assured me that it would only be about 5 minutes. 5 minutes passed, and as many shuttles that weren’t Econo Lodge. Suddenly, about 15 minutes later, there it was! I dashed madly out to greet it, opened the door, and awkwardly stuffed my bags in. I felt a bit odd because I was the only person being picked up. I was just sitting there and there were two guys from the hotel in the front seat speaking Hindi.

Soon we were at the hotel, and I discovered that the whole place was like a mini India, complete with an elephant statue in the lobby. Here I was, just home from Ukraine, surrounded by Hindi speaking Indian guys. In fact, even the two other guests I met (who had cancelled flights like I did) were Indian, and on the way to the airport this morning they all spoke Hindi together like a big happy family, leaving me with doubts about which country I’ve actually arrived in!

Settling into my room was easy. One thing I’ve been learning from flying alone is that it’s not that hard, and there’s no need to stress out. Generally speaking, the people at the airport are there to help you, not out to get you. Everything is going to work out, even if you have to deal with a few delays. Same with the hotel. In fact, I wanted to try to call home again, but I couldn’t make a long distance call from the hotel. Seeing my obvious distress, the guy behind the counter offered his cell phone. I fumbled around with it for quite a while, trying in vain to phone Dad’s cell and then Connor’s. I wasn’t sure of the number to begin with, and my head was swimming after 25 hours pretty much awake.

I was overjoyed when I heard Dad’s voice on the other end saying “Hello?”

“Hi, Dad!”
“Hello, who is this?”
“It’s Cass.”
“Who?”
“It’s Cassie, your daughter who’s been in Urkaine and who is going hoarse because she has a cold,” I rasped. I hadn’t had enough water and I really was going hoarse, but I was a little upset that my own Dad didn’t recognize my voice. I couldn’t hear very well myself, because my ears had been popping pretty badly on the plane.

“Uh, I think you have the wrong number.” I was getting desperate. “No, Dad, it’s me!” I wanted to scream, scared that he was going to hang up. But instead I asked,

“Who is this?”

“This is Ron,” came the voice, “and I think you have the wrong number.” Oh. I apologized and hung up, looking around at the hotel workers, who were wondering what was wrong with this crazed girl. They seemed sympathetic, and thinking I was having trouble using the fancy cell phone, the other guy was about to hand me his. “No, no…it’s not that. I just can’t remember my family’s cell phone numbers,” I said, feeling frustrated and lost. They looked at me like I was a total ditz, but they seemed compassionate. “Take your time, Ma’am,” the first guy encouraged me in his polite Indian accent, “Please sit down.”

So I sat down and called the number I knew that I knew…the Bourciers’ home phone. Mrs. Janet picked up, and when I explained the situation to her, she assured me she would contact my parents and then got the hotel info so that they could call me in my room. I rushed back to my room, and sure enough, Dad called.

After that I felt much better, and sang joyfully all through my shower, then crawled into bed and went to sleep. I figured I would take advantage of every available minute to sleep, since I hadn’t really slept on the plane, but no. I woke up at 4 something and laid in bed trying to talk to myself in Russian since I couldn’t sleep. Finally, Russian vocabulary exhausted, I popped out of bed and started this blog entry (hehe, it’s been half a week now!), gathered my things, and visited the meager continental breakfast.

My flight took off after some more delays on the runway while they de-iced the plane, and I touched down in Shreveport and virtually ran to my waiting family…back to where I started. It was pretty amazing. I love those people. Now, three days later, we’re still catching up, and I’m eating up the car time with various family members. I can’t drive our new car because it’s a standard, so I’m getting carted everywhere, still feeling stunned to see gas prices at 1.58 when they were brushing 4.00 when I left!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Homeward Bound

Oh my oh my oh my oh my!

I feel a little dramatic tonight. 6:45 am and I'm off the ground and headed for home. Never did I imagine Shreveport airport would be such an inviting place. Of course, it's not exactly the cypress trees that hold the appeal, but several certain people I'll be seeing there...

I'm so overcome with how God has blessed me. Never do I feel a deeper longing for heaven than when I realize how much I love people on totally opposite sides of the planet who can never possibly all be in the same place at the same time. It's gonna be an awesome party someday, guys! I prayed for friendships before I came, and God has given them to me. And now I get to go home to visit the ones I love, and then come back again...

Wow wow wow. It's cold out now...but I suppose the weather is no longer new news. It's going to be cold here for a while, so I should stop writing about it. But really, it's cold. Not miserably or impossibly or even severely cold, just colder than what I've experienced for long periods of time before. It's been in the 20's F. Don't laugh at me. I'm actually finding it quite fine. My long johns are becoming a second skin of sorts and I hope I will at some point have motivation to take them off and wash them (just kidding...sort of...)

Of Friday I went to youth group even though once again I was thinking "Why am I here...it's bedtime." It starts at 8:30, which is very trying to me. I don't actually go to bed then, but it's just not a good time for crowds. But then we started playing Dutch blitz, and they were practicing guitar in the background, and I was reminded how extraordinarily FUN that game is. I got paid back for all the years my family has forced poor unsuspecting guests to play by the rules I made up for the game since we didn't own the actual cards and I taught my family the wrong way to play...so we've always played with our own set of rules, the "Walters" rules, oh excuse me, the M. Walters rules...so that no blame gets laid on the K. Walters, who I believe, play correctly...hows that for a run on?

Yes. Well. I had to play by the real rules and it was really crippling. But still fun. It messed with my head the way reading the Russian alphabet does. It seems that I'm always at a disadvantage here. But I guess that's what happens when you leave home and land yourself in the unfamiliar. I was bound to look dumb, and I guess I sort of am...in a good way :) Yes, I'm blabbering.

So, we left after midnight and I was so sleepy that I was getting irritable and trying not to show it...so when six of us girls started down the hill, the Ukrainian girls were doing the penguin waddle thing and having fun sliding around, and I was...well, once again at a disatvantage, being soft, green, and totally uncoordinated. I went smack on the ice twice, jumped up both times and kept waddling like a disconcerted barnyard fowl, and eventually was able to join in the laughter. I'm learning from friends here that things don't have to be that bad...it's often just the attitude you have. Which can be changed.

On Saturday I think I broke a record of some kind and slept in till 10:15, which made me very happy. I didn't have to go anywhere. I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about the amazing ways God has blessed me. I started to cry out of sheer gratitude. And I thought of David's words in Chron. 17, "Oh Lord, who am I, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" I want so much to glorify Him and live passionately with Him.

So spent the day laying there recovering from the week and then got up and did some organizing/packing. It was totally quiet in the house besides the Urkainian worship music I put on, and getting stuff in order was so thereputic. A spot of order in the chaos. Ahh.

Then I got a text message from Cheryl asking if I wanted to come to supper. And I did! By then a brisk walk was welcome, so I left everything in a state of beautifully-laid-out-and-half-packedness and went. Cheryl had decorated the house for Christmas and made a roast and standard accessories, (corn, carrots, potatoes...) and Jono was there too, so we ate and talked and talked and ate...it was like a quiet Christmas celebration of sorts. Ahh.

So last night by the time I got home and packed up at Masha's enough to find my bed again :) it was past midnight. I woke up at 4:30 with too many thoughts going around in my head to allow anything but a restless doze. I didn't stay in that doze for long, either, possibly due to the nearly Pharoahesque dream I had in which I watched cows being moved from one side of the Dneiper river to the other with a crane. Does this mean something? One of them slid down the bank and its udder fell off. Please let me know if you have any interpretations :) Does Deb need to stop buying fresh milk on this side of the river???

And here is tonight, and I'm blogging away when I should be finishing up packing and catching some winks. I'll be home soon! Bye.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Exhaustion and Resulting Laughter

So, Mattie said I needed to blog before I come home...not that I wouldn't have before now, but I've been trekking up and down treacherous ice coated hills for the better part of this past week, and the think they don't tell you about all that Christmas calendar weather is that it's downright exhausting...especially when you've spent your entire previous life in East Texas and you have muscles the size of split peas. Whew. Life takes work.

However, I prayed that God would give me ways to get stronger, and He's answering:) Of course, after the holidays I'll be back to wimpiness sqare one. I keep telling Masha I'm going to get stronger, and she assures me that I will.

Masha's been great. We've been having a lot of laughs, partially because we're so tired. She looked out the kitchen window at me shuffling my slippery way to the outhouse like a penguin the other night and just burst out laughing, which sent me into spasms too. I love her laughter, because it reminds me to laugh too, even if I'm sometimes not sure what's so funny till she tells me :) She's made me feel really at home.

I'm really liking my new home. The hardest part is the icy hike back and forth, although Bruce or Deb often take me home if they're going that way or when the weather is bad. We're warm and cozy and it's just nice to be growing roots of friendship.

Last night Sveta was the only other one who came to prayer meeting at the house, and we just kept laughing so hard over almost nothing.

This week I was craving beans after four months with out that southern staple, so I bought some at the market and made them like Mom does. I was planning to cook them with pork bones for flavor, and Masha said I could get the bones at the meat stall in the market. I planned to do that, but when I got there, I just bought the first things I saw: sausages. So later that night while I was brushing my teeth, I just had the sudden thought that I "chickened out" at the meat market...and my own pathetic humor overcame me to the point that I was choking with laughter in the bathroom and Masha came in and asked I was ok. Of course I had a hard time assuring her that it wasn't actually that funny...

A few nights ago, I accidentally got locked out of the house, and it was snowing when I came home, and...it's a very interesting story actually, which I haven't had time to tell properly, but would like to type up and relate to you...Masha wants to take pictures of me acting it out to give the full effect. It involved a gigantic lock, a treacherous climb, a very tiny window, and lots of adrenaline and chocolate.

But for now, I'm going to check my flight times on the internet, because I'm leaving early Monday morning for East Texas to spend a month with my family. I'm dreaming of a not-white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know...

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The Light Switch Sprays Air Freshener, and Other New Adjustments

"I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
And I'm so happy, so very happy
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart!

I've got the joy joy joy joy
down in my heart
where?
down in my heart
where?
down in my heart
I've got the joy joy joy joy
down in my heart to stay!"

Yeah! I do! I guess I haven't mentioned it on my blog yet, but I've just moved in with Masha, a Ukrainian girl a year older than me who lives here in Rzhishchiv. She has an extra room, which I'm now occupying, and we're sharing utility costs (the owners let her stay there for free.)

So I'm coming to the Crowes still and doing school with the boys, babysitting, etc, but I'm now living across town.

This was a big step for me because I've never been "on my own" before. Masha speaks english, so that's not a problem...in fact, it's a great opportunity to learn Ukrainian. I was a little nervous about the fact that there is no running water and the toilet is outside, and things are so different for me, but I knew God was saying, go for it, and I'm so glad!

I'm rejoicing because I have so much peace and life! God really does give me steps to obey Him in, and when I do, there's a huge blessing.

So, right now I'm getting used to showering with a bucket, hauling water from the pump down the road, cooking on a gas stove, and remembering to take my flashlight when I go to the outhouse. I'm just marvelling that things I would have dreaded and shrunk back from are more like little adventures to me now. God has really changed my heart over the past few years.

Last night Masha was in Kiev and got back around 6 or 7, so I went on a little shopping excursion to the "chicken store" and bought a kilo of chicken thighs, then went to another store and bought sauce, a pepper, and some toilet paper. It was only just after 4:00, but it was already mostly dark, but lots of people were out shopping. It was so strange and new thinking about cooking for two people!

I went home, found the key to the house, fed Nasok, Masha's German Shepherdish looking pup (a ball of fur and mischief if I ever saw one!) and brought in a few buckets of water. I'm going to be building a few muscles! Then I fussed with the gas stove for a while, accumulating a little pile of burnt out matches in the process. I've never cooked anything over gas except fried eggs.

I boiled some grechka, which is buckwheat I think...sort of like bulgur. It's very hardy, and I love it. After that I cooked the chicken with peppers and onions, and Masha came home, sporting her new furry winter boots :) I told her they look like Nasok (her dog!)...but I like them! The kitchen is so small and cozy, with the table crammed against the wall with only spaces for two, and really only enough room for one person to cook. It's like playing house, only for real. The first night I was there, Masha cooked yummy meal for us. I don't know how we'll split up the cooking, but anyway...

We ate supper and had tea, and she played with Nasok. (He only comes in some of the time.) I have so much peace just being with one person at a time. Not that we're talking all the time or always to together, but I don't feel torn between several people and things. My compulsive attempts at people pleasing can rest, and I think it's helping me to just relax more with the Crowes (which is what they want me to be able to do in the first place.) I'm so thankful for the schedule they've worked out.

So, there will be a lot of activity, but it's stimulating activity. I feel tired, but it's the kind of tired you feel from lively action, not from dull depression. There are lots of things to learn.

The first night, I walked into the bathroom and was looking for the light switch inside the room, when it was actually outside. I did find a switch of some sort however, so I just pushed it, and "Whssssshhhh!!!" clouds of air freshener sprayed out, fumigating everything. We laughed and laughed, and it made me remember the time I turned on a garbage disposal in someone's sink thinking it was the light switch. That'll make you jump! Masha asked "Is it always like this with you?" I'm afraid so.

So, there's lots more to write, but I'll make it later.