First day in Ukraine

We made it to Ukraine. The flight from SLC to NY was uneventful. The flight from NTC to Kiev was very eventful. We sat close to some Russian passengers who were starting their Victory Day celebration early and wanted to travel what they call the Russian way. The flight attendants kept asking them to be quiet and let people sleep but they were too drunk to understand. It was an adventure. A man on the flight passed out and fell and cut his head. We were so excited to be finally going that we didn't mind the crazy flight.
When we arrived at the airport and got through customs, Kostya was there waiting for us. He is the nicest man in the world. He is so kind hearted and a good good person. He took us in his car to the supermarket where we got to experience Ukrainian shopping. I LOVE the shopping carts. They don't just go backward and forward, but can turn in any direction. You can twirl them around and around and side to side. What a treat. We then went to Kostya's house where we are leaving some of our luggage while we travel to Ivano-Franksivsk. Kostya was so kind and accomidating. He even offered his shower so we wouldn't get on the night train dirty. We went out to dinner and discussed all the possibilities of this trip. We decided that we need to find Kostya a nice wife. Anyone know any single ukrainian women who want a husband who is a really good cyclist?

We got on the train at about 7 pm and rode the night train to Ivano-Franksivsk where our son Bryan is serving his mission. It is Mother's day and the mission president gave us special permission to go to Bryan's branch and eat lunch with him instead of the mother's day phone call. We found the building where the branch meets but no meetings have started and so we across the street at a hotel blogging. It has been a little harder to find internet here than we thought. We miss or wireless card. We went to Mcdonalds to try to use the wifi before the train last night but couldnt get it to work on our computer. Kostya will be renting an apartment for us in Kiev when we get back that has it and so we should be able to post more with pictures.

So far we love Ukraine. It is absolutely beautiful this time of year. On the train we passed huge fields of yellow flowers and forests and jungle looking lush areas. The towns are charming with old houses and a large church in the middle of each town. We have fallen in love with our future children's motherland.
Happy Mother's day everyone.

things we love about ukraine:
Our facilitator Kostya
shopping carts
all the statues and grand architecture.
Green lush parks and gardens
the light misty rain
lilacs in bloom
bleenies
yellow fields
yogurt
Vitaly, Oleg and Alina


things we miss:
Our family
the clean air act
wireless internet
showers whenever we want
Sleep (we made it 33 hours with no real sleep)
beds at home
bathroom with all the conveniences. (The train one was really an adventure. A new exercise of squatting while rocking back in forth could be a big hit.)
Did I say our family :)