Lviv, Ukraine, July 31, 2010

Forgive me for any repetition. I am now at the Hotel Dnister in Lviv, Ukraine. We hired Bill again to pick us up in Luts'k and drive us to Lviv. He is 41, married with two kids, and a really nice guy. This hotel is much more typical of a U.S. hotel but the sleeping arrangements are still way different. We have two twin beds. The beds sit about 12 inches off the floor and the single mattress is only about 6 inches thick. Most places so far have not had carpeting or bathtubs. Some have not had air conditioning.

I will try to catch you up. When we arrived in Ukraine, we were supposed to take the bus to Luts'k but when Bill, the driver took us to the bus station and he saw our faces, he offered to drive us. It was a three hour drive on a rough two lane road. Peggy was behind the driver and I think she was about to have a heart attack several times. She said Bill was only inches from the semis on the other side. The drivers do lots of passing. When no traffic is coming at you, the driver drives wherever the road is the smoothest. The countryside looks similar to Indiana, just less developed. Cows and goats wonder on the sides of the road and even wonder onto the road. Many old fashioned wagons pulled by horses were on the roads. Reminded me a bit of Amish At one point, we had to stop and wait for the cows and wagon to get off the road. In Luts'k we met our guide, Ann, age 24, who took us to our apartment. Bill had taken us to a grocery store to stock up on snacks and water. We have been drinking lots of water but unfortunately, that means we have to go to the bathroom and the WC is not always the greatest place to go. Many charge an admission fee. On the train Peggy said the toilet was just a hole; she could see the train tracks wizzing by below. So all that waste just flies out the bottom of the train!

I was only able to upload one picture but will try more tomorrow. A picture is really worth a thousand words. My words do not do some of this justice. Our apartment was OK but not like we are used to. The elevator barely holds two people. After our outing on Friday, it didn't work so we had to walk up the 6 flights.

On Friday, we went to the main parish town Rozschke, to the village of Dmintowka, Pereespe, and Emilin. Imagine driving on the worst roads you have ever been on-these roads were worse. We had a driver, Ann, our guide and interpretor, and we picked up the pastor of the Baptist church who proved to be invaluable. He showed us the remains of the Lutheran Church where our German relatives were baptised, we walked at least a half mile through fields filled with weeds to an old German cemetery, and we met two old women who lived in Emilin their entire lives. Granny Weber and all of her siblings were born in Emilin, Volynia, Russia, which is now part of Ukraine. I cannot wait to attach the picture. The one house had no running water or plumbing. It did have electricity. The 85 year old woman lived alone, got water from the well, had some chickens and a small garden. This hut was the most primtive place I have ever been in. Old fashioned houses like we see at places like Connor Prairie or other museums that have life size models of prairie homes are like castles in comparison. It was quite a moving experience to meet these two ladies. They both lived there their entire lives. They both wore scarves on their heads like Granny Weber used to wear. I remember Granny tellig me that her life before coming to America was very hard; I cannot imagine her parents and eight siblings living in such conditions. The old women did not remember any Germans in the village but we were told that the different groups did not mix. Emilin was very small in the late 1800's and now only has about 5 houses.

Saturday (today) Bill picked us up at 10 a.m. and drove us to Lviv. We hooked up with Svetlana about 3 p.m. for a walking tour of Lviv. It reminded me a lot of Prague, just not as big and as ornate or well preserved. Svetlana told us that Ukraine will sponsor the Soccer World Cup in 2012 so she hopes the city will be greatly improved. We saw lots of historical sites, beautiful churches in several different styles. But what was really different was the weddings! Saturday in the summer is a huge wedding day. The entire wedding process is completely different than in the U.S. It starts with the groom coming to the house of the bride where he has to "bargain" with the bridesmaids to get the bride. The bride and groom then have a civil ceremony and then a religious ceremony and then the party. Sometime during all of this the bride, groom, and weddding party and families walk all over the historic parts of the city with their videographer and have all kinds of pictures taken. The videographer puts it all together to make it into a fairy tale movie. We went to a big catholic church where a wedding was just finishing. The bride throws candy to all the guests from the steps of the church. After this group cleared, we went into the church to take pcitures. While we were in there, another bridal party arrived along with their guests so we took seats and watched part of the wedding. I videod part of it because it was so different. So, we attended part of a wedding of complete strangers. Svetlana assured us that it was OK-the church is open to the publc even if a weddding is going on. I think we saw at least 20 different bridal couples during our two hour historical tour.

Sunday, we fly to Munich and arrive at about 2 p.m. We will be staying at our first and only hostel for one night. It is called Wombats. The second night in Munich, we will be at a hotel. On Aug. 2, Linda will be joining us for the remainder of the trip.

My impressions so far: Peggy assures me that what we have seen does not compare to third world countries. However, nothing has been up to the standards we are used to in the U.S. Toilet paper is rough, brown recycled paper. There is no circular cardboard in the middle. It is on a thin metal rod through the center. Napkins are thin small sheets of tissue paper. Nothing has been extremely inexpensive. The food is OK-it gets really old fast walking on cobble stoned streets. The people have been very nice. It has been great having guides and interpretors. We could not do this without them. I am looking forward to going to Germany because I think it will be a bit more like the U.S. Yes, I am feeling spoiled. I can't wait to se my baby sister Linda and to meet our new relatives. Hopefully, I will be able to add some pictures in Munich. Pat has asked if I am having fun. I have trouble answering that because I have decided that a "fun" vacation is on a beautiful sandy beach at a nice resort somewhere in the south, laying around doing whatever you want. This trip is more like an educational tour. Lots and lots of walking, we have had rain, cold, and heat. There has been little time to do nothing. But...we are learning lots and I know that this will be an unforgettable experience, something I will never forget. There have been so many: "never seen that before, never eaten that before, never knew that before" moments. Until tomorrow-sleep tight!

Sandy