Just temporarily, but I'm in some new digs, finding out what life is like in another part of the city. A family from church is on vacation and I'm taking care of their dog and cat. Basically, my cheese was moved.
Things have been going mostly by schedule. Just a few things to talk about. Sunday and Monday were the last official lesson nights for the English clubs. We finished with a discussion of the lyrics from Michael W. Smith's Place in this World. Discussing lyrics and poems can be tricky. If you don't explain the meter and pace of the poem, it may not sound right when you read it. Plus you sometimes need to explain that there are different layers of meaning to certain words or phrases. Of course, if you get a particularly sharp group, like I did on Monday, then you don't need to explain a lot about meaning. They'll parse it out just fine.
Thursday was a weird day, schedule-wise. I was planning on going to the KCA graduation in the afternoon. So I knew I would need to go shopping before that. I got that done and was ready to go on time for the graduation.
The graduation was good. It was almost identical to the other American graduations I've been to in the past. The thing I liked most about it was the listing of positive attributes about the graduates before they got their diplomas. The main reason I went was because David's daughter Clara had just finished her senior year at KCA. Since the KCA community is relatively small and families can't always come to visit for graduation, they like to have as many friends as possible come to celebrate. Even the students who aren't graduating were there for their friends.
After the graduation, I went back to my apartment to prepare for Bible study. A study that never happened. I had prepared over twenty sandwiches, plus fruit and cookies and only two staff from the Liberty team showed up. I think in the future, I need to have the announcement put up on VK earlier in the week.
Friday afternoon, I went over to the Eides to (temporarily) have my cheese moved. It's their house and pets I'm looking after. So I'm currently writing this post from their couch.
And for those of you hoping for a new cooking video, sorry but there won't be one this week. Unless you want to know how to cook leftovers in a Ukrainian microwave (made by LG). In lieu of that, you can look through my picture folder here. There are a few videos in there if you are in desperate need of a motion-picture fix.
The Eide's, eh? Thanks for serving.
ReplyDeleteHi Brian,
ReplyDeleteKind of a bit off the cuff, but have been wondering what the young people you work with think about their govt and politics, and how they view working for the social good (and volunteerism). Thanks.
From my observation, the consensus seems to be that young people think the government is still corrupt. They saw the revolution at Maidan and are still waiting for lasting changes. Corruption is very difficult to root out. We're over two years since the revolution and there has has progress. But, the young people are still seeing the old ways in control.
ReplyDeleteThere are also the contingent who don't like to talk about it. With some of the English lessons, it's easy to see who doesn't mind talking politics and who wants to express their opinion.
Volunteerism isn't talked about much with the groups I've talked with. Obviously, ministry is the big one but that's among church groups. Outside of it, I hear very little to no talk about it. I think they view it positively. But I don't know how many do it.