Morning - Wednesday, July 13

As you can see, we were finally able to get an internet connection. But we had to visit the Ukrainian Education Center to do it. And unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the pictures I had intended to include with these postings transferred. I will try to update these entries with some photos the next time around. We are still figuring things out, and adjusting to the time change a bit (especially Abbie) but are doing well.

Much love,
The Broadways

Tuesday - July 12

Today was a day spent seeing the city … or walking the city, it might be better said. Kyiv has changed much since Scott last lived here, and some on our little excursion may say that “wandering about” better describes what was done today – and we have the sore feet to show for it!

Kyiv is beautiful in the summer – there has been much new construction and modernization, and in many places we felt like we could be anywhere in Europe. We did find, however, that while Kyiv is pretty child-friendly, it is not very stroller friendly, so Scott spent a good part of the day toting a sleeping Abbie down many steps.

The evening was spent in frustration, trying to establish a link to the Internet. We are hoping to visit the UEC tomorrow morning to use one of the computers there to update our blogpage and resume communications with the outside world.

Thank you for your continuing interest, and prayers on our behalf. Please pray for our upcoming meetings with church leaders. The initial contacts always seem to be the most awkward. Our hope is to be a source of encouragement and blessing, and to get an accurate picture of how things are really going here.

Monday - July 10

We finally managed to get some sleep! The apartment we are staying in has a very comfortable, large bed (extremely uncharacteristic for Ukraine) … so although we had a visitor with us (a daughter, whose inflatable Winnie the Pooh bed was still somewhere in between here and Germany), we got a good night’s sleep – almost 12 hours!

We visited the Ukrainian Education Center this morning, which is the primary focus of Chris and Lena’s ministry here in Ukraine. The center, located very near to the Polytechnic Institute here in Kyiv, is comprised of a rather impressive library housing a collection of books in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English languages – ranging from such topics as theology and Biblical studies, to the English language and literature, to nursing, to name a few – a wide variety of subjects to aid students pursuing diverse areas of study. Other forms of media are available for check out as well, including CDs, Videos, and DVDs. There is also a kitchen and rooms for study groups and small conferences, etc. The renovations of two apartments to create this space was done very well, as the center is a warm, inviting place, that is up to date and useful. In addition to reaching out to local students, it also serves as the meeting place for local church small group meetings during the week. We hope that we will be able to attend some of those this week.

We were able to take Chris and Lena out to lunch, where we experienced another great Ukrainian meal – and the conversation was great as well. As we are just getting to know Lena, and Katherine is getting to know Chris as well, much of the conversation was personal in nature. It was good to learn more about how God brought them together, and is now using them in ministry together. We are definitely looking forward to having more time with this couple. They have been so helpful and encouraging.

At 7:30 this evening, our luggage finally arrived at the apartment! Hurray! Yesterday we had been informed that the bags would arrive in Kyiv around 1:00 the following day, and that they would be delivered to the address that we supplied to them. As no time frame had been mentioned, we called around 4:00 this afternoon hoping to get an idea of when we might expect them to arrive. The lady I spoke with told me that our luggage had arrived, but that she was not able to confirm that the bags were being delivered today. She told me that if I would call back around 5:00 that she would have been able to contact the driver, and could give me more help. When I called back at around 5:00, I spoke with a gentleman who informed me that the bags were not in the system, and that he could not confirm that they had arrived at all! In the midst of this somewhat disturbing conversation, I explained my earlier contact with that office … and after putting me on hold for a few minutes, he came back with the information “everything is alright with your luggage.” Nothing more in the way of explanation, or what I should expect was offered. Needless to say, we were relieved when our apartment was buzzed at about 7:30, and the luggage appeared.

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking and trying to get organized. We did buy an outlet adaptor today from a vendor on the street – which allowed me to hook up my laptop to a power source here in Ukrainian. Tomorrow, we will hopefully acquire Internet access. Chris, again, has been helpful in regards to this area.

Well after trying to catch up for a few missed days of journaling, I am ready for bed – it has gotten pretty late on me.

Thanks again for reading these updates – and if you have time, drop us a comment back.

Much love,

Scott, Katherine, and Abbie

Sunday - July 9

We arrived in Kyiv today! The flight from Frankfurt was much more comfortable – the fact that the flight was shorter (only about two to two and a half hours) probably made us feel better in general … but there seemed to be more room, and we were in the back of the plane, so Abbie was more free to make a little noise.

Upon arrival in Kyiv, getting through passport control and customs was easier than we had expected … but traveling to Eastern Europe often brings about the unexpected. We made it through with such ease, in part because we were accompanied by a Lufthansa agent who helped us prepare the paperwork reflecting that all of the luggage we had checked on board, had failed to arrive in Ukraine with us! This problem was made worse by the fact that we had included one of our carry-on bags with the checked luggage … the one containing our three changes of clothes in case our luggage was lost along the way. As it was going to be a direct flight, we couldn’t imagine that it wouldn’t make the trip with us. After waiting hopefully for about 45 minutes, the reality that our luggage wouldn’t be coming through on the luggage carousel began to set in, and we found that about 14 other passengers had experienced the same sad fate. We had the distinction of being the only English-speakers to have this problem, so we found ourselves at the end of the line filling out the paperwork.

We were met at the airport by Chris Lovingood, one of Scott’s friends, and a missionary who has been in Ukraine almost continuously since Scott’s departure in 1994. He had hired a “taxi” to take us into the city … and we are not sure that the private car hired would have had enough room to take both us, and all of our luggage! So … although we will be inconvenienced by this unexpected turn of events, at least we didn’t look like the “ugly Americans” who needed two taxis to get all of their things to the apartment for only a six-week stay.

We dropped our stuff off at the apartment we will be renting, and then went to meet Chris’ wife, and have some dinner. We enjoyed some great conversations, and got caught up on a lot of what has been happening in Kyiv over the past few years. The restaurant that we had dinner in was really nicely done, we commented on how, although the menu would undoubtedly need some alterations to fit in, it would not have looked out of place in the mall at Mission Viejo. Much has changed since Scott last lived here!

Friday/Saturday - July 7/8

Travel Day – after making last minute preparations for our travels in the morning, and having a nice lunch in Mission Viejo (Cheesecake Factory), we were off to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). We arrived nearly three hours before our flight’s scheduled departure time. This was none to early as, after having waited in a few lines, we arrived at our gate just moments before pre-boarding began. So, we unfortunately did not have time to allow Abbie to run around and get a lot of her energy out before boarding. This we would come to regret more as the evening unfolded. We can say that the first 2+ hours of our flight were the most miserable flying experience that we have had to date (and hopefully the worst ever!). We were not permitted to take our car seat on the flight, and so Abbie had the freedom to move around a bit … but we were in the middle section of the plane, and there was not much room for her in which she could move around … but there were lots of people to “bother.” And when it was time to sleep, Abbie just couldn’t seem to get comfortable, so she was uncharacteristically irritable, and loud. The last 7-8 hours, mercifully, she slept … I cannot say the same for her parents, however, as she took up at least one and a half seats most of the flight.

We were met in Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon by Scott’s good friends Oleg and Lena. Scott got to know them in Kyiv in the early 90s, but they have since moved to a quaint and picturesque village in Germany, about 45 minutes from Frankfurt by car. We went to their apartment, where we met their three young children (all born since Scott had last visited them), and enjoyed a wonderful visit. We took a hike, visited an Italian Restaurant with an outside seating area with a great view and a playground, and then a fantastic ice cream shoppe … but most of all, we just enjoyed getting to catch up and share a day with them (although in reality, it was much less than 24 hours, as we had to be back at the airport early the next morning). Abbie’s body told her that although it was very dark outside, she wasn’t ready to sleep – her parents who had spent the previous two nights with very little sleep (one night packing until the wee morning hours, the other trying to make sure that their daughter didn’t wake up again on the plane) were! They found themselves, however, sharing a bed with a little girl who did not want to sleep. Sleep finally came, as did the morning, all too quickly.