Day 10

The train ride last night was cool. First, Anya joined us at the Chinook. Tanya and boyfriend Igor came, and we had ice cream to celebrate Tanya's name day. We caught a taxi from Chinook to the train station. Igor came and helped carry luggage. We got to the station quite early (because Tanya was so excited she was afraid to miss the train), and waited for the train in the fog. It looked just like a 1940's movie. Tanya helped find the "vagon", helped find our compartment, handed over the tickets, set up the beds, fluffed the pillows. Investigated the latches and hooks and figured out the ladder that goes up to the top bunk. Eileen crashed quickly, and I tried to find music that Tanya would recognize: Enigma, No Doubt, etc. About midnight she crashed. Me too. The beds were narrow, and had wool blankets. Quite comfortable for what they were. About 8, I woke up. I stretched and looked out the window. Grey, grey, fog, snow, dead black trees. Not much to see. There was not question that it was warm, beyond comfort just as we had been warned. Tanya said she felt a little sick. I gave her some 'dramamine' to settle her. I knew it would make her eagerly awaited day in Kiev fuzzy but not fun to be nauseous. She was quiet.

Tanya had put away all the bedding. Don't the train stewards do that? I got some tea for me and Eileen. After that, I think Tanya thinks I always drink tea. I just wanted some water. The train arrived in Kiev at 10:40, with the last 40 minutes in Kiev. We jumped off the train and went through the building. Which of course was wrong. Olga was looking for us, because we needed to go the other way to the modern part of the train station. Some fun modern art: glass sculpture shaped like bamboo, with bubbles floating to the top, and green plants growing at the top.

Our first stop was the notary. This was amazing. It was just like the cartoon, where Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd are opening and shutting doors in a hall while chasing each other. Here, it was stylish women wearing high heeled boots, out one door with a piece of paper, in through another door, out without the paper, in a third door. Repeat. Repeat with several paper carriers at once. Tanya stayed in the car. After the paper was drawn up by the notary, Olga took the paper to the typist. After a long wait, she came back down to the notary's office. Another wait, and Eileen and I can go in, and sign documents. Sign papers, sign the notary book.

The next stop was another cafe. I managed to get a good deal on an exchange rate before we went in. Lots of food. We tried a lot of things, some were ok, some were not. Tired of writing about food.

We went to the SDA. I don't remember going to any meeting, just more waiting. We walked out of the office, then Olga went back in. I played with the ice, doing some engineering work, making melting ice flow better. Then Sasha drove us to Independence square, and Sasha and Olga took off.

We walked through the underground mall, down to the metro, and got lost. I thought for sure we were supposed to be on the green line, only the names on the line looked wrong. When I bought subway tokens, I tried to get a subway map, but instead got a Kiev map. I called Olga and asked for help to get to the green line. We were to go one stop and get off. As we got on, a crowd of dudes in black crowded around me, and pushed in really tight. It felt like someone was messing with my computer bag, so I moved it around to my front. As we got close to our exit, the guy in front of me held up a newspaper in my face, like he was reading it. Then the train stopped, the door had troubles opening, someone pounded on the door, and I was shoved out. I found out later that I lost 2 flash drives and my wallet during that little trip. Ouch ouch ouch.

More help from Olga. It seemed like we were at the right place, but no, the names looked wrong. So I called Eunice, and found out that the she lives on the red line, not the green line. OK, up and down a couple of escalators, and now the maps look OK. Up to this point, Tanya has been distressed. (Me too a little.) This is the big city, She's just a little ol' city girl from Slovyansk. She had just rode her first train (and got a little motion sick). She had just rode her first escalator. She had just rode her first subway. And now she thought we were lost under the city. Now that we were finally moving, I think she settled down, although maybe more motion sickness. We came up at the correct stop, and called Eunice for directions. She had sore feet from walking so long in her heeled boots. Walk a few blocks, and call me back. We walked and called back. Walk a few more blocks, and the house should be recognizable. We walked, and sure enough, there was the house. We came in and had dinner, called and canceled our visa and crashed. We love Eunice. She gave us her bed, fed us shredded beef and a hot shower.

OK. Until now, this has all felt like the writings of a reporter. Very cut and dried, no emotions. I have been trying to say the Lord's prayer every night or morning, and really thinking about the lines. After all, this is the prayer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. I start the prayer, and I get to the part, "Forgive me my trespasses, just as I forgive those who trespass against me." And it strikes me that I need to forgive those guys who took my wallet in exactly the same way that I want God to forgive me when I do what I know is not pleasing to God. I've been concerned this whole trip about our expenses, since many fees are yet to be determined. Working on forgiveness gives me a different way to think about this event.