Thursday 13: Smorgasbord of updates

13 interesting things that have happened or we have planned in the past week.

1. Recently it's been nice and warm!  It's probably hit 50 degrees the last two days - A very welcome change.
2. Last night we were able to visit Andrey, the vocational student who was in South Africa - He seems well and in good spirits as he is studying to become a ships engineer.
3. We are coming to the end of our first week with the after-school program - We'll add a few new kids everyday and will max-out at about 30 after a few weeks.  We're still nailing down the schedule but the kids are great and we have a good time with them.
4. We are trying to potty train Campbell at the moment and it's going....  well, poorly.  Any thoughts or hints would be appreciated.  Our main issue is not that he doesn't let us know when he needs to go, it's that he refuses to sit on the toilet at all.
5. As mentioned in the previous semi-controversial post, I will be going rabbit and pheasant hunting this weekend with my new hunting buddy Roman.
6. Jenya and I plan to go to the northeastern city of Donetsk to see Shakhtar play Tottenham in the UEFA Cup on February 18th.  It'll be about a 3 day round trip by train and an absolutely memorable one.  My first professional game and it's my Ukrainian team and a decent English side in the second-highest European club competition.
7. At the end of March we will be going to Belarus to do a Hope Center style camp at an orphanage.  It should be a exciting time for our staff and we hope they let us back in this time.
8. For April and May we have our Bulgarian friend Kremena (from Sweden) visiting as an intern!  This is will overlap with our other friend Meghan who will come here on May 2nd after she finishes school in Egypt.  How fun and international we are!
9. Sarah went to the village of Bagerava to visit some of her favorite kids from camp last year.
10. I was in Bagerava earlier in the week to bring some much needed aid to a few families.  An apartment building in town burned down leaving many families without anything.  Further efforts may include providing beds for all the buildings former residents.
11. Sergey M. is back in town today after having been the MC at a concert in Kiev featuring Coldplay and the Ting Tings among others.  He's become kind of famous over here.  He will be here for a month helping out with the after-school program.
12. The grocery store still had diapers yesterday.  This was by no means assured so we were excited to get another week's supply.
13. Did I mention that I'm going hunting?

...and I'm back in the game!

Many of you know that one of major downsides to our time in Ukraine is that I miss hunting and all the camaraderie that comes from these trips.  As much as I love hunting, it's just one of the sacrifices that I've decided to make to be here.  Funny how the Lord blesses when we least expect it....

Right after we left in September the Hope Center hired Roman as a general handyman and for general awesomeness.  His father is the caretaker of Fort Totleben here in Kerch and a former Soviet officer.  Since returning I have also learned that they are both avid hunters.  This week we've been exchanging pictures and stories about our favorite experiences and I lent Roman a DVD of some bow hunts that I got as a free handout in MI.

Due to the type of land around here, he hunts rabbits, pheasant, ducks and geese (but will shoot a wild boar if he comes across one).  They are limited to mostly shotgunning by federal laws banning rifled weapons so they are VERY interested in my hunting of deer, elk and pronghorn.

So the big news is this...

This weekend Roman, his father and brother are taking me hunting!  We're going for pheasant on Saturday and rabbits on Sunday.  I am unbelievably excited.  This is really an amazing opportunity.  Hunting here is strictly regulated and limited to those who are officially recognized as being part of the exclusive hunting clubs.  

I hope to take a lot of pictures and share those early in the week.

Let's get organized!

We have gotten some outstanding care packages and requests from many friends as to what we would like in future packages.  We've decided that it's time to organize this process so we get more bang for your buck.  Here are some things that we would like, not all of which would you need to purchase:

Matty:

• My newest Cabelas catalogue - If you live in the Springs you can contact my parents and get this from them.
  
• My disc golf discs - These don't take up much room and they would be a great game to have at camp for the after-school program from now to May.  Also at my parent's house.
• Jerky and gummies- These speak for themselves and are always welcome.
• Burned versions of decent TV show series or movies.  Normal US DVDs don't work on our player but burned ones do.

Sarah:

• Tasty hot tea bags
• Microwave popcorn - To go with our DVDs.
• Pictures of yourself
• Games or activities - Anything compact and appropriate for ages 8-15 that don't require excessive amounts of English reading.

As I read these I am struck my apparent selfishness!  I guess when you're the author you can put whatever you want in the post, right?

If you are planning a package, take these requests into consideration or leave a comment for others to read and maybe you can piggyback on each other's packages.

Ranger Situation Update

I have known the details of this situation for a few days but I have held off on posting out of... I don't know... frustration, anger, embarrassment?

Anyway, I know that a lot of you were excited to hear from me regarding the Ranger so I figure I should share.  So we have one of the these:

It came last summer and has been involved in a customs battle since.  Andrey has tried everything he can think of to get it to clear but we keep running into the same problem... the government of Ukraine doesn't really know what to make of this vehicle.  There is not really any precedent to go by.  There is a prohibition on importing cars as humanitarian aid (ie duty free).  I knew this but figured that since we were absolutely not allowed to drive it on the road - the vehicle's paperwork even indicates this - we wouldn't have a problem.

What I didn't know was that they categorize golf carts as cars.  It appears that the glitch lies in the fact that "passenger vehicle" has a different definition here than in the US.  I would say that this term indicates a vehicle that is street-legal and carries one or more occupants.

Thus, a car is, an ATV isn't, a truck is and a motorcycle may or may not be based on how it's set up.  For them, it is irrelevant whether or not you can register a vehicle to be driven on the road.
If it's motorized and of a certain size, it is classified as a car and cars cannot be imported as aid.

Andrey said that we could actually import my pick-up for camp work without paying the fees but not the Ranger.  Seriously illogical.

So the obvious question... what now?

The Ranger is in the clink until they decide how much we owe in import fees based on the value of the vehicle.  To add insult to injury, we are accumulating storage costs at 10 Euros/day for every day they delay.

I am so thankful for all of you that helped purchase the vehicle and I don't want to belittle your gifts but I'm beginning to think this may have been a poor choice.  With the best of intentions I tried to help but now I feel like I was not a good steward of the funds that were provided or the additional funds that likely be required of us.  

Thankfully, even once we pay these costs the overall expense will be less than the retail for this vehicle in the US (due to the generous help of Polaris USA) and less than half what it would cost if we purchased it in Ukraine but I can't help think that the money could have been better spent.

I kiss older men (and other awkward admissions)

I was just using the restroom (where most good thinking is done due the lack of distraction) and I developed a theory regarding a question that I have long had...

Why is it that when I give a hug to a guy from an older generation (at church or something), more often than not we end up with an awkward jockeying of faces as we try to figure out which way our heads need to go to avoid kissing?

The question was back on my mind as I just experienced this yet again with the father of Andrey (the young guy that was stuck in South Africa) when I met him for the first time today.  

I think I have the answer...

Generally when I hug someone of my own generation, they are familiar with the "bro hug" in which you grab each other's right hand (in a manner like you might if you were trying to save them from falling off a cliff rather than shake hands) and then use your free left arm to hug them... all the while keeping the heterosexual barrier of both guys' clasped and folded arms between you.  This greeting only allows you to put your face to the left (on your "bro's" right shoulder).

Stick with me here....

This means that everyone under the age of about 37 (and a select few longtime youth pastors) will instinctively go left every time.  When you hug a guy - even in the 2-armed way - who doesn't have that instinct, it's likely that they'll go to their dominant side...  putting you straight face-to-face in a romantic embrace.

Any thoughts on this theory?