Goodbye Ruby Tuesday (Updated)

     Two days. Less than that actually as of the time I'm writing this. That's how long until I board my plane and wing my way to the States. But that doesn't mean things are slowing down yet. I'll be going, going, going, until Thursday morning. (Updated: two photos)
     In fact, I've been going since last week. Things seem to be picking up instead of tapering off. Friday was my last Walking English. I mentioned that last time. But that's where I left off. Saturday was another big day. I finally unregistered from Ukraine. So the process that was started back in October with my trip to Poland is now complete. My residency book has been stamped and I'm now ready to exit the country.
     The next thing on the docket was a lunch meeting with David Pervis. He and his son, Josiah, are back in the country. They were gone for three months while his daughter Clara was getting settled into college. Now he's back and starting to think of the coming English club season. We had a good lunch at the same place we first ate together when I came to the city. If you're ever in the Sviatoshyn area of Kiev, make sure to stop into Sesame for lunch or dinner. Very good Middle-Eastern fare.

     We had a good lunch and meeting. It was good to get caught up on things. I got to tell him about the three English camps as well as other things that have been happening. We also got to pray together about the upcoming plans for English club and the English ministry. It kind of makes me feel bad that I have to leave soon. There is so much to do here. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you're interested in learning more or potentially helping out like I did, let me know. I'll put you in contact with the right people.
     Later that evening, I got to spend time with the McLanes. We've been trying to play as much Bananagrams as we can before I go. But its also good to play with the kids and watch movies with them.
     Sunday was my last day at Big City and Liberty churches. In the morning, after the service, I stood up and completely failed to tell them I was leaving on Thursday. I did say something nice about being happy that I could serve and that I was thankful for all of them. But it bugged me that I forgot to lead with the fact that I will be leaving soon.

     Fortunately I didn't fumble too much with my words. Someone even told me that I didn't look nervous. The second picture shows Jon (who preached Sunday) and the elders when they came up to pray for me. It felt like a good bookend to the prayers said for me way back in July of last year. There weren't quite the same number of people. But it still felt significant. One of the last major milestones in this trip.
     After the service I had a quick lunch with some people from Big City. It was mainly to kill some time before my next scheduled thing. However, it was good. I got to eat at Puzata Hata for what, I think, was my last time. The meal was great but I could have skipped the kvass. That combined with the bread was a bit too much.
     The next thing to do was a quick meetup with a friend from the first English camp this year. Anya was my translator and assistant teacher in the camp in Oleksandriya. It was good to talk with her again. We met outside Universitet metro station to talk and walk around the park near there. It's a small park with a lot of small paths among the trees. It took almost thirty minutes to find an empty bench to sit and talk. She recently moved to Kiev to serve for a year with a ministry to university students. Our conversation was a lot about the similar experiences we've had since moving here. She's going through a lot of the same things I did when I first arrived here. Finding friends, ministry, church, and just life in general. If you think of it, please pray for her. Living in Kiev is a big adjustment from living anywhere else in the world.
     Unfortunately, I had to cut off our meeting early to go open the office for Liberty's evening church service. Liberty hasn't started regular services yet. That's still in the plan though. Right now they are trying to find an office they can use on a more permanent basis. Things will run much more smoothly if the two churches aren't constantly tripping over each other. The service on Sunday was good. It was small, only five students from camp. Jon preached then as well.
     Afterwards, we all sat down to a meal together. I skipped the last few dinners but I'm glad I stayed for this one. The dinner is a great opportunity for conversation and laughter. Sharing food and fun is an excellent way of bringing people together. I can see that this format of worship-then-dinner will be a good thing for Liberty.
     Yesterday (Monday the 29th) was a bit of a slower day. I met up with Dima Zaitsev (from Big City) for my last bit of souvenir shopping. He's been telling me for months that I should buy an old Soviet camera lens. Depending on the kind you buy, you can get some really amazing effects out of it (examples here and here). He found a decent camera and lens combo on Sunday and yesterday we met with the seller to buy it. The camera body is a Zenit 12XP and the lens is a Helios 44M-4. With an adapter, I think I'll be able to get some good pictures out of it on my Nikon. I may even try film photography again for the first time in over fifteen years.
     That evening I had a last dinner (for a while) with the Eides. Every time I go over there, I have fun. It was good to relax with them and think about everything that's happened. I know I've got to think about it more because people will start asking soon. I've got to figure out good answers to almost every conceivable question people will ask so I'm not stuck with "I'll get back to you on that."
     That brings me up to now. I'm about 80% packed. I've got my last load of laundry drying on the rack and I'm starting to do the final cleaning. I'll meet with my landlord tomorrow to give her the key and vacate the premises. I've only been here a year and it feels like I'm tearing apart my life. I know that's not actually what's happening. But packing things away, doing "final" things, and putting things away feels like this life is ending and I'm moving onto something else. Which, I guess I am. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just annoying to do all this work when I'm comfortable here.

     Alright, I've gotta get back to packing and cleaning. Catch ya later.