Ooooh, That Smell

     Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a poetic post. A collection of familiar fragrances codified into a coherent, combined soliloquy. The smells of the season, the perfumes of the prevailing winds, the odors of the outdoors. Basically, I wanted to talk about the second most obvious change that has been happening over the past week in the city.

Everything's so green!

      Throughout winter, the only two smells I regularly came in contact was cigarette smoke and car exhaust. There was the occasional case of body odor but that was rare. But now with the introduction of rain, warmer weather and greenery, there is a plethora of smells to enjoy. Off the top of my head and in no particular order, here's a list of the top returning smells out there. Basically, it's all the things that mean nature is growing again.

1. Dirt!
2. Grass!
3. Dill!!!!!
4. Restaurant cooking exhaust!
5. Flowers!
6. Cooking smells from other apartments!
7. Fresh bread!

     I got to thinking about this last week during the time I was out of the apartment. Walking around the city in the winter is like walking around with one of your senses broken. Like walking around with your eyes closed or your ears blocked. Now, if I walk down the sidewalk, I smell the plants and dirt again. Living here in the city, I don't get enough of that. Admittedly, my district of the city is very green. But it's not the same as where I grew up. There, you could barely see the two nearest neighbor's houses through the trees. We weren't out in the boonies but it started me off early in loving the outdoors.

The view from my balcony on April 18th, 2016.

     The reason I'm enjoying this is because it finally feels like the Ukraine I remember. When I arrived back in July of last year, it rightly felt like a new country. The new smells added to the wonder and interest. The closest I could get to something resembling Ukraine in the States was a farmers' market or flea market. There, smells from cars, cattle, and food combine for a very unique scent. It's much the same here. Walking past the street vendors, past the restaurants, past the growing plants reminds me of good times from home. While living in Maryland, I didn't often get a chance to visit the Leesport Farmers Market near my childhood home. When I did, it was a special treat. Living here is a lot like visiting that market.
     OK, switching tracks, last Friday we had a meeting of the sushi-dinner/summer-followup group. Yes, I'm a little late on writing about it. But I've had a busy weekend. Look for another post about Saturday's activities soon. The main point was to introduce people to Jon Eide. Since David and his family are leaving to go back to the States for the summer, Jon will be leading this followup group for the summer.
     Let me rewind a bit. Since David is leaving for the summer, we probably won't continue the English clubs in the same manner as usual. If I decide to, we might have a few meetings here and there. But due to the nature of summer, people will likely have other things to do besides English club. Vacations and traveling and outdoors stuff. That means, short of having individual meetings with these people from the sushi dinners, it will be difficult to keep in contact with them through the summer months. Hence the need for this group.
     This followup group will be a continuation of the sushi ministry. Probably focusing on discipleship and growth of the people who have shown interest in the Gospel. We still need to work out details like meeting times, frequency, and what topics to cover. That info will be forthcoming and I'll let you know more as I learn it.
     Back to Friday. We wanted to meet with the people who've come to the sushi dinners to introduce them to Jon for the summer. We also wanted to introduce them to some more people from Big City including one elder and his wife. Part of the reason there is to put a more detailed face to the church than the people at English club. For many people in the club, the teachers are the only face of church they know. It's really helpful for them to see someone other than us. Especially someone who speaks their language.
     So we ate a meal together cooked by the Pervis clan. David cooked BBQ pulled pork and several excellent pies and his wife cooked baked beans. It was the best American meal I've had here in Ukraine. It's been far too long since I've had a meal like that. We also played a bunch of games and listened to some impromptu music on David's piano. Leave a piano in a room with some musicians and it will get played. I had a lot of fun. It was a good, relaxing time. The only problem was the weather. The rain and cold prevented us from having any outdoor fun (like breaking in David's new bocce ball set). I think it also contributed to the low attendance. We invited over fifteen people but only had three show up. It still went well but was a little discouraging to have so few.
     But enough of the downers. Here are some pictures of the fun and food!

     That's all for now. This post has sat long enough in my drafts folder. It's time it got published. Have a good week and I'll get back to you soon about more exciting things that are happening here in Ukraine.