A few shots from our trip to downtown Kyiv on Monday. We roamed the area where the protesters and government forces faced off in the winter. Lots of impressions and emotions. And very vivid memories of what it felt like to 'watch' from afar the last 3 days of fighting (Feb 18 - 20)- following posts on Twitter and Facebook as government forces nearly swamped the last of the protesters and then as the snipers mowed them down that last awful day. And how it felt to go down to the central square here in our city as we saw off our own dear child- the little girl who used to play doctor with all her dolls and teddy bears- she once hooked her teddy up to a working IV- he got soaking wet- No longer a little girl, she's now a 2nd year medical student and spent many hours in Kyiv working in several of the field hospitals there. When we said good-bye to her that night, the snipers were still shooting and the situation looked desperate. The busload from our city was determined, upbeat and sober- but no tears. Most of them were men. Everyone had one or two people seeing them off. The whole lot of us were very sober and quiet...but there were no tears shed that I saw. Thankfully (for us), by the time that bus got to Kyiv, Parliament had passed several measures that halted violence. 

These are just a few of the pix. For the full album, go to this link (on facebook). 

Name of our city (Ternopil) with the name of a local boy who was killed in the fighting; I wonder if this is where he died......

brave new world

More than a month since the last post. Things got really dicey really fast right then and just took my breath away. And it's just been hard to get the 'umph' to write. There have been some very encouraging days in there but also lots of very uncertain days. Ukraine is in brand new territory, feeling her way through. As has been echoed from everyone from the new government on down, We never even thought to prepare a defense of some kind against Russia; we never could have imagined that we'd need one. 

But need it they do. And prepare it they have...or are. 

The army began mobilizing about 3 weeks ago. One of the things the last pres did (the one who was impeached) was to nearly do away with the army (never mind that, number-wise, it's still the largest in Europe). A voluntary conscription was begun and thousands have signed up. Including many relatives and neighbors and acquaintances of my students. And some of my own acquaintances. 

And, of course, lots of military movement and training. And fund raising. 

The bright side of this? There are several, actually. 

-People need each other, they need us, we need them- we all feel it. People are listening intently and with need. And on the streets and in the stores and buses- people are nice to each other. Polite. Kind. It's been interesting to note.

-Not nearly as many drunks. In fact, since the holidays ended mid January, I've seen probably a handful. And usually there were that many a day. 

And that brings me to this: Purpose.

One day, my friend and I were walking along the road and noticed a small dog tearing along in a straight line- Point A to Point B, that was very clear. 

There goes a dog with a purpose, One of us said.

Zoom- another, larger dog goes tearing along hot on the heels of the first dog.

And there goes his purpose, The other one said.

And we laughed.

But we're like those dogs- We need something to focus on, to motivate us, to get us moving in a straight line. We need a purpose. Many Ukrainians have found a purpose that they didn't have. 

There is a better purpose, even, than theirs. I'm glad I have a purpose.