Hope everyone got to enjoy their 4th of July events! Since Rachel needed to take care of some visa issues and Robert & kids needed to join her, we got our start at the Hostel. The boys worked on their outline for the English Clubs this week and I worked on adding more preschool materials to mine. We shared ideas and I threw in my two cents, every once in a while for the adult clubs. The outline was in pretty good shape and they got their power point slides together also. They went to the corner store to get our usual lunch and I tried to clean up the table. After lunch, we finished some things and got a call from Robert that it was OK to start heading to their home. We packed up and went...only to arrive at their home early. Beau face timed his parents and friends...we all got to say "Hi" and then they jumped the fence and played basketball. I worked on a grocery list for the Polish meal that we will be preparing this week. Robert & family arrived, we helped unload the car and get everything inside. Keith and Beau started the fire in the dampness (oh yeah - it rained again today)...I helped Rachel in the kitchen with salad. Eli & Josiah helped wash potatoes, Rachel got corn on the cob, Robert made large beef/turkey burgers...so we all pitched in for making the American cook out! After enjoying a great meal...some had fun throwing the individual packs of tissues at one another. I got dishes...it was safer! Before the kids went to bed - few firecrackers were lit, we made huge ice cream splits, and shared with Robert & Rachel the outline. Rachel had issues with the visa - so she needed to leave the country (get passport stamped) and return - getting another 90 days to qualify for a visa. Flights were very expensive and would take at least a day or possibly 2 away from her family. The other option was to have 2 people join her in a road trip to Ukraine...so Beau and I volunteered for the road trip.
This mean that Rachel would pick us up at 5:30 AM! Needless to say, we were both a bit tired, but ready to go - Rachel ended up bringing Layla, which ended up being a HUGE blessing! Quick side note - women with young children are usually able to move up in a line, get seats on bus/metro, and so forth as well as older women (senior citizens). OK back to my story...At first stop, I managed to get my foot caught in door and landed on the ground...only a bruised knee. We got some coffee and large jelly filled donuts...after we ate, back to the road trip. Beau has tons of stories and questions...so he kept us going all the way to the boarder (along with playing with Layla, who was wide awake on the first leg of the journey). Polish passport & costums were not bad. Similar to going to Canada for us. Then in Urkraine...things got a little interesting. It was not clearly marked where to drive and what window to go to first...each of us needed to get out of the car to verify passports, then at customs - lady got phone call and chatted with the person while we waited for her to check out papers...she questioned why Robert was not there, since he was the car owner, Rachel explained that he was at home with their 2 boys and she was here with friends and her baby daughter. I think she just wanted to give her a hard time, but the guy in the booth got her to stamp and let us go. After a quick stop, Rachel turned the car around to head back to Poland. There was a long line (Hey family remember when we were going back to Germany from Poland)...at least this line was a single file, but the guy told us that it would be a good 2 day wait! We could drive a few hours to another spot, wait about 4 - 10 hours to get through the border...then he said she might be able to pay 200 Zloty to get through faster. Beau suggested that Rachel just say she did not know and see what happens. She stopped and talked to a policeman and when he was Layla in the car, he did not wait for her full explanation and waved her on. Then next stop, guy filled out paperwork and did the same as the cop....then this stop took longer. We were waved on to one booth (again we thought all of us would have to get out of the car) - I went with Rachel first...sent to 2 different booths and each were wrong...we got to the right one, the lady shut her window just as we stepped up and took a break for a few minutes. She was kind when she came back, stamped the paperwork and got bumped to a few more windows...but lady was kind and had a guy verify Beau and Laylas paperwork without having to get out of the car. Then a few more stops...back to Poland we would go! We were directed to one line, the lady asked if we had anything to declare and because we made no purchases, she waved us on. We got to a short line, the guy came out, verified the paperwork, checked car and told Rachel next time she needed to wait in other line (this had about 20 cars - it would have taken another 40 - 60 minutes). The customs inspector got our passports, verified that we had nothing to declare and was stunned that none of us bought vodka or cigarettes! We were waiting for him to come out again to hand Rachel all our papers...then after about 15 minutes, a lady knocked on Rachel's window to tell her that she needed to go in his office. She went in - he apparently asked her how much gas she had in the tank and how big her tank was....odd questions we thought, but we were just thrilled that he gave Rachel the papers and we could head back home. (It took about 4 hours to get to Ukraine and little more than 5 hours to get back). I lucked out - I was in back with Layla after we stopped for lunch. She took a good 3 - 3.5 hour nap! I dozed a bit too... then started taking some random pictures to keep myself awake and talked with Rachel, so Beau could rest a bit. We had leftovers when we got to the Krzesinskis and it was good. We were all tired - Travis & Keith had done more surveys and made some connections with college guys. After dinner, we had a quick chat and Robert took us back to the Hostel. Being out in the mission field, opens the door to new and different experiences each day...
"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5
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