Mike McAllister's Update from Ukraine

Day 1

The sound of roosters crowing could be heard this morning starting around 4:15 AM. The sound of a tractor passing close by came about 10 minutes later. The timing of the plane departure and arrival in Kiev resulted in a severely sleep deprived team. We arrived in Kiev at 9AM and stayed up until 9PM in an effort to adjust quickly to the local time. Most of the team went to bed last night with almost no sleep over a period of 48 hours. Despite the lack of sleep the team was in good spirits. The highlight of the day was a walk around the local farming community of 400 residents. We were lead by several cows walking several hundred feet ahead of us. Marina managed to step in several fresh cow pies along the way which lead to a lot of laughter amplified by sleep deprivation.

We are leaving today for some sight seeing in Kiev which is a one and a half hour drive away. It is good timing because there was a thunder storm last night and we lost power just before dinner. The power is still out today. Hopefully it will be restored before we return from Kiev.

Day 2

Not a lot of rooster crowing this morning. The weather turned a bit colder and it is fairly windy this morning. The electricity was finally restored around 10 PM last night along with the water which went out while the team was in Kiev.

The team went into Kiev for some shopping and sightseeing yesterday. Kiev is a very historic city with lots to see and good restaurants. This was the one scheduled day for sightseeing but there is too much to see in one day so most of the team plans to return today. They will venture out on their own this time and attempt to navigate the local transportation system into city. Mike will stay at camp to do some planning with Andrew and Jenny (the founders of Jeremiah’s Hope). Two days remain before the kids arrive.