***It took me almost two years before I could post these posts about Ukraine. I was behind on my blogging for months when the war started in Ukraine in Feb 2022. It was too hard for me to even look at these fun peaceful pictures for awhile, it all seemed surreal. Life interrupted...that’s how it felt. So I finally pulled myself together and wrote the story of our trip to Ukraine. It’s not in chronological order but separated by what city we were visiting. Slava Ukraini!
One of the most exciting times in the life of each kid is his or her graduation year. I had never really heard about graduation trips before talking to someone in Misawa about how they have their kids take a graduation trip with one of the parents to a destination of their choosing. Since we are all about travel, we figured, it's something we would like to do with each of our kid. Katya went to her HEFY trip in late May/early June, but a graduation trip was supposed to be a separate trip, so Katya chose to go to UKRAINE! And she picked me to go with her! For obvious reasons.
With all the Covid restrictions still in place, it was not super relaxing. Flying wearing masks, airports with masks, testing on the way back were all part of the inconveniences, but at least Ukraine relaxed its rules and we didn't have to get a test upon arrival.
The best part was that we flew to Ukraine paying only with Delta Miles! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!
We flew into Kyiv and were picked up by Katia and Mika. They took us to the "camp" where Petrusik was occupying himself so we could say hello to him.
And very shortly after that, she dropped us off at the train station to get on the train going to Lviv. We had first class tickets which were absolutely amazing! The train car was half empty and we were able to sleep pretty well and even had our preordered dinners delivered to us. Fancy stuff.
I will tell you more about our fabulous adventures in Lviv in another post, but for now, we'll fast forward a few days and bring you BACK to Kyiv, as we had two days to spend here on our way back to the US.
Katya got her nails done and got a haircut (which she hated weeks later although it looked great when they first cut it).
It is always so wonderful to see her and to try her home made food, grown at her dacha in the village near Kyiv.
I got my hair conditioned, nails done and eyebrows tinted.
I mean...eyebrows were a bit much, to be honest, and I definitely didn’t feel like myself. But it was good to experience that.
I also had a quick face massage, as this place had everything, but the lady got a bit distracted by how my legs were retaining fluids (probably from travel) and worked on my lymph nodes for a bit.
From the salon, we all rode across Kyiv to Babushka Nina's home!!!
Remember B. Nina? My great aunt, grandpa Vasyl's sister? She is 85 years old now.
This is all of us who came, minus Katia, who is behind the camera. Mika is on the left, and then babushka Maya on the right, then aunt Halia and uncle Sasha.
Just chatting away...
My beautiful Katya and Katia.
I think that wall has been a witness and a background to so many group family pictures over the last twenty five years! This is the wall where we took one last picture before I left for the states, where we took pictures visiting Ukraine with Robert and the kids the first time, and so many more.
This one is to cherish--Katya, Babushka Nina and I.
Mika, Katia, B. Nina, Katya, B. Maya and I. This is for our future generations.
I frankly don't know when I will see Babushka Nina next time! Perhaps when I have to bring Alex to Ukraine-haha.
This is a gorgeous picture! I mean, Katya was turning heads even in Ukraine, a place of so many beautiful women. Her natural beauty is unmatching and her genuine smile is so friendly!
This picture was taken next to one of the restaurants in Central Kyiv. My friend-classmate, Oleh, was meeting us for dinner there and was running late.
Funny story that must be told!
As we were waiting, we noticed a young man walking by, drinking from a water bottle, and suddenly he just threw his water bottle and a napkin on the ground and kept on walking. A lady that was walking behind him, kind of started calling after him but he ignored her. I started calling after him but he kind of pretended he couldn't hear me. Then the lady started talking to him probably chastising him about dropping the bottle. He kind of waved her off. So then I told him to go back and pick up his trash, and how can he do something like this if we are trying to better our country. He kept kind of listening, kind of fueling my fire--I was on a roll. Finally, when I was really fuming and telling him how we are not in India, he smiled at me and said, "You are on hidden camera, well done!". WHAT? Yeah, he pointed to a guy, hidden in the bushes filming the whole thing. It turned out to be a guy from IG who does these sorts of social experiences, just to see how Ukrainian people act. Sadly for him we turned out to be technically from a different country! It was very interesting! And he was very grateful we cared, and I was actually very impressed by the fact that I cared and was so proactive to tell someone off-haha. So that was our fun story!
After our fancy dinner outside, we got back to Katia's apartment. Katya took a bunch of pictures with Mika as he was leaving for his graduation party-all nighter.
We took some pictures over the Glass Bridge overlooking Kyiv.
So many beautiful views!
The monument to our Kniahinia Olha and Ruler Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise.
And more beautiful streets in central Kyiv.
We had actually picked up (by foot) Halia and Sasha from their apartment and all were walking around in this brutal heat.
Ice cream was well deserved! I still miss the taste of my fruit/berry ice cream that they make in Ukraine.
After we got home and rested a bit, we had to go to our last appointment in Kyiv--a dinner with the Homenko brothers and their wives. Homenko family have been connected to our family since before Lyena was born. And through the years of ups and downs in the relationship between our parents, we had remained friendly with the boys Andriy and Roman, who were my childhood friends, Crimea camp friends and dacha friends.
This is our whole group with flowers and all!
When we got back to Katya's, babushka Maya was home, so we got to talk to her for a bit. Babushka Maya lives mostly in Moshkivtsi now, Zhytomyr region.
Oh and Katya hung out a bit more with Mika who survived his all nighter-haha.
They look nothing alike, second cousins.
And the following morning, we flew back to the US. Every time I go home to Ukraine, I see things that I love, things I absolutely do not miss and things that have improved so much since I was a kid! I don't feel quite home there and don't feel foreign either, it's a strange feeling of in between. But I love Ukraine and I love what it has given me. I really hope the kids stay connected with everything Ukrainian and continue to be proud of telling the whole world that they are Ukrainian!
Lyana.
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