The Long Awaited Update Part 2: Canada Day, Thursday, and Friday

Dear Readers,

Here is part two.

Canada Day was very nice. For the most part, it was a normal day, except afterward I went out for dinner in a really neat restaurant literally underneath the Opera House. After workshop, I met with Roxolana and Kimberley and Marta and we headed to this restaurant. Marta is another employee of the Emaus Centre. She's Ukrainian by birth and nationality, but she knows English so she tagged along. At the restaurant, we met with Zenia (the woman who started Faith and Light and l'Arche in Ukraine) and her niece Melania, who was visiting Ukraine, but she is actually from Sudbury. We had a very cordial dinner together. Unfortunately, Zenia couldn't stay for dinner, but it was nice to say hi to her anyway.

This must have been the most expensive dinner I've had since getting here. I got a salad, baked kebob, and apple pie for desert. The whole meal costed over 100 hryvnias, which is too expensive for most locals, but for us it still wasn't that much. Maybe 15 or 20 dollars. Anyway, I was completely stuffed.

When I got home, the celebrations continued! Petro bought wine and cheese for this festive occasion, so Petro, Yurko, Denys, Pavlo, Babsa, and I drank wine, ate cheese, and talked about Canada. We talked a little about politics, history, culture.... I told them how we won the War of 1812, despite what Americans will say. I briefly touched upon the current controversy about who actually has the rights to the Northwest Passage (Canada, the United States, Denmark, and I think Russia all claim it's theirs, or at least they all want it). It was a pleasant evening overall.

The next morning Kimberley and I went to the orphanage. Afterward, because my workshop was going elsewhere, I went to Kimberley's workshop Nazaret. They are a load of fun. The the core-members there are younger than the ones at mine, so they have a lot more energy. It was very loud and energetic, and a lot of fun. After lunch we went for Dance Therapy, which is something I can explain at another time. It is, well, interesting. I could take it or leave it, but the core-members and most of the assistants love it. It gives them a chance to do something different and laugh at themselves and at each other.

Friday was another wild weather day. I went to UKU in the morning because Kimberley and I were going somewhere else that day. When I left my house, it was raining so I took my jacket. By the time I got to UKU, it wasn't raining so I left my jacked in the Emaus Centre office. Kimberley, Roxolana, and I went to another workshop just to visit, but when we got there it started pouring raining there again. I had to go back to UKU in the pouring rain with no jacket. It wasn't fun. At least Kimberley had an umbrella, which provided some relief.

After lunch we had our check-in meeting, and went home. I had to prepare for what would be a very good weekend.

That's the topic of part three.

Until next time,
Michael