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We're
still having a good time of it. We think the last one of these was
written about Friday, but we're having a hard time remembering. So
I'll talk about Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday
we were expecting to work at the Center in the morning and then go to
the wedding at 2pm. None of us were too thrilled about having to
work in the morning, but of course we would have done anything that was
asked of us. When someone finally ventured downstairs in the
morning, however, she found that Anna and Ernie had gone to the bazaar
and that we weren't going to be working. They came back around
8:30 and we had breakfast. Then we left for the Universal Mogue...maybe
that's how you spell it...if not, that's at least how it sounds.
The Universal Mogue is sort of a department store, but that might be a
bit of a stretch. It kind of looked like just an indoor, more
organized bazaar. The building had four floors and sold everything
from ear rings to fridges to dishes to those big furry hats you always
associate with Russia. Anna and Ernie spent the hour buying the
dishes for the wedding. We all chipped in to get them for Vitali
and Larissa who got married in the afternoon. They were really
pretty. The whole set cost about 500 grievnas ($100).
Anyway...we roamed around there for an hour then we all met at the pizza
place for lunch. While the pizza wasn't Dominos or Papa Juan's, it
was still pretty good. I think this was one of the few restaurants
in the city. I'm growing more and more fond of the American
dollar the more time I spend here. The nine of us ate lunch for
about $20.
A little before
2 we left for the wedding. It was held in the sanctuary at the
Center. And oh was it hot! The place was full, so there were
about 70 of us. The way Ukrainian weddings go is that the bride
and groom go to the courthouse for the official ceremony.
This takes about ten minutes, exchanging a few vows then signing the
papers. Since Vitali and Larissa are Christians of course they
also wanted a Christian ceremony. And on top of that they wanted
it to be somewhat American. They also asked Ernie to to do it.
So Sergey translated for Ernie. Now the repeating of the vows can
sometimes be tricky enough when you're just repeating the pastor.
But this was doubly tricky. Sergey had to try to translate the
pieces of the vows into something that made sense in Rusky, then of
course Larissa and Vitali had to try to focus in on what Sergey said.
It got interesting a few times. I think all of that took close to
an hour. Then we headed outside to cool off for a while (I think
the sanctuary had to be at least ten degrees warmer than the rest of the
building. It was so hot! And Ukrainians don't really believe
in breezes). Meanwhile, the food and the entertainment was being
prepared. We went in to look at the food at one point so we could
see it before it got eaten. What a spread! I don't think
I've ever seen so much food in one place. I think Larissa, who
works here at the house, and another lady prepared it all. Maybe
around 3:30 we all went back in to be entertained. A song was sung
and some skits were done. There was a raffle at one point.
All of the money went to the bride and groom. There was also a
little auction. Sergey translated a little for us, but he was also
involved in some of the stuff. So we're really not sure what all
went on, but people seemed to enjoy it. Finally about 4:30 we went
to eat. There were a lot of sandwiches. People here are
really big on fish and such things. You even see people sitting
out on the side of the road selling fish, shrimp, and other sea food, of
course non of it is refrigerated. So you have to just hold your
breath and walk by quickly when you see the sea food people with
their goods. So some of the sandwiches consisted of a piece
of bread with a fish on top of it. Needless to say, we all stayed
away from those! There was some wonderful sweet bread. This
bread was bought some where. I think we'd all like to bring a lot
of it home with us. It was so good! There were also some
layer cake things. And a lot of salami sandwiches (that and
bologna, I think, are the only kinds of sandwiches they eat here).
And then of course some fruit and vegetables. It all looked really
good. We didn't stay around too long, even though we didn't leave
until 5. Ernie had told us that we'd being doing good if we could
get out of there by 5. I think everyone else hung around a lot
longer. Ernie indicated when we left that really the party was
just getting started. So that was an interesting experience.
In the evening I think some people watched a movie while a few of us
walked to the sea and sat there until it was almost too dark to see our
way back. So Saturday was pretty restful.
And then
today we did our four hours of church. We did another skit and
Jennifer and Joanna gave their testimonies, though only at Primorsk (it
was kind of forgotten here in Berdyansk). The neat thing here is
that every Sunday people give testimonies about how God worked in their
lives over the past week. That's so neat (when we have an
interpreter, anyway), and it's something that I wish we did more in the
States. Sergey was leading the sharing time, but he also stepped
forward some and translated for us (here in Ukraine the guests always
sit in front--even at the wedding, even though we didn't know the
people). Ernie finished his sermon from last week, going on to
verse two of Romans twelve. It was really good. Then it was
back to the house for a quick lunch and rest, then off to Primorsk
(about a half hour drive--taking a slight digression: I bet road
rage in not much of a problem here. Since there are no lines on
the road, people can pass whenever they want. So there's no such
thing as getting stuck behind a slow driver). It's no wonder
Ukraine was the bread basket of the Soviet Union. The fields just
go on for miles. I really like the Primorsk church. I feel
like the singing is a little livelier then here in Berdyansk. So
we did everything again. Jennifer's and Joanna's testimonies were
good, as was the skit. The people here really get into the skits,
which is fun. The sermon was once again really good. Poor
Sergey has to be warn out come Sunday evening. He sat beside us
(at Primorsk, on the front row) and translated for us so that we'd know
what was going on. Then of course he translated for Ernie again.
I asked him on the way back what language he thought in when he
translated. He said, in his funny way (he's got a great sense of
humor, in both English and Russian), that he doesn't think, he just
spits it back out.
Anastasia
and Joanna are with Jo still in Primorsk at the English class, but the
rest of us are back here at the house. I think tonight the five of
us are going to compile thank you gifts for people and just chill out.
I guess this short note is enough for now.
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