Thursday, September 2

All the photos from today are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nundabud/Sept2Kyiv#

I don't even know how to describe today.  It's 11p.m. and it's the first time I've been still all day.  I went down at 8 for breakfast but it was a sweet roll and I didn't want that so I just had coffee.  I wasn't feeling really hungry anyway and was pleased that it was Turkish coffee with the grounds on the bottom.

After breakfast, I decided to walk up to the church of St. Vladimir which I had missed seeing inside.  There was a service going on so I went in and prayed with the congregation for a while and then went out and took more pictures of the outside.  If my understanding was correct, St. Vladimir's wife was called Olga.  She was not a nice lady.  When she became angry at a village, she dipped the feet of the pigeons in tar and set them on fire so they would burn down the village as they flew in panic with their feet on fire.  Of course, I might have not understood correctly. 

I thought it would be fun to come back to the hotel a different way.   It really was a different way!!!!  I was lost and wandering for two and a half hours.  Finally, I saw a market, Billa, which I had visited last night with Rostek and Constantin.  From there I was able to find the hotel.  Since I had been walking that whole time, and since much of it was uphill, I went to my room to lie down for a little while.  Sometime soon after noon, Rostek and Nataly came to find me and we went downstairs to meet Leah.  I haven't seen her since last year in Moldova so it was a joyful reunion.  The four of us went out to lunch and I had more borscht and a chicken dish.  I drank Kefir with lunch. We wandered around, walking still more, and went to an "art" exhibit that we saw advertised.  We hated it and went to walk some more.  When we stopped to buy water, Leah saw a different cultured milk drink that she wanted me to try.  It was full fat milk and was creamy and delicious.  All those beneficial bacteria swimming around in my gut must be good for me.  Leah and Nataly went their separate way and Rostek and I walked towards Lavra Monastery, a monastery dating back to at least the 10th century.  We decided to take a bus and went into a bus shelter to wait.  It was a long wait and fierce thunder and rain, a very cold rain, fell.  A woman had an umbrella which she shared with an older woman who handed me her umbrella so I wouldn't get wet.  How sweet was that!?  A mini-bus came and we crowded on and rode almost to the monastery.   As we entered monastery grounds, we first visited a memorial to the thousands of Ukrainian peasants who were displaced and died of starvation during the Soviet era.  It was very sad to see the pictures and films.

I got a few nice photos of Kiev across the Dnieper River which flows through Kiev.  When we got to the monastery, we were greeted by Brother Volodya who gave us a tour of the various churches.  We stayed briefly to pray at the "students' church" so called because the seminary students attend services there.  We then had a coffee and met with the delegation from Russia.  Leah joined us and we entered a two hour final preparation meeting for the Forum which begins tomorrow.  Delegates have begun arriving and it's really great meeting people from Russia and Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine and Moldova and Italy and Germany and I've probably left out a few countries.  A result of the planning meeting is that an Orthodox priest, Fr. Maxim from Kyrgyzstan and I will prepare and conduct Sunday worship.

We got back to the hotel where we found that Florin had arrived from Romania.  It was wonderful to see him.  He brought me a Dracula t-shirt from Transylvania.  We sat with Yury, who, along with Rostek are among the chief organizers.  Rostek arrived with a Bishop from the CUC (Christian United Church) - quite honestly, my head was spinning by then so I can't remember exactly where he's from.

Shortly after that, I came up to my room and it will begin all over again tomorrow.  I will meet Florin at 8 for breakfast and we will plan our presentations for the Forum which officially begins tomorrow afternoon.  We are expecting at least 75 to attend tomorrow because it's open to the public.  Saturday and Sunday there will be 63 for the teaching sessions and panel discussions.

I have no complaints at all about today - it was really wonderful.  I have to say once again that Rostek has gone over and above his duties as my guide.  He has become, in such a short time, a dear and treasured friend.