Can't Get Away From Black Friday

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Ukraine.  Way to state the obvious.  Right.  But we found out today they are into Black Friday just the way they are in the United States.  Today Vivian and I spent a nice afternoon and early evening in Kyiv.  We met a senior couple, the Humphreys, who are serving as Church History missionaries in our mission.  We've done things with them before and it is always an enjoyable time.  This morning they called us and wondered if we'd like to meet them in the city; they were getting a little cabin fever and wanted to get outside for awhile.  We jumped on the opportunity.

We rode the tram to the metro station to a stop in a historical part of the city.  We had a nice, leisurely lunch/dinner in a very nice Crimean restaurant.  Very good food.  We then took a trip on the metro to a very large shopping mall - Ocean Plaza Mall.  It is huge.  We stopped in the food court for a nice treat at Cinnabon.  A great food court.  We'll go back there again.  I looked for a new printer.  The one I inherited is pretty old and requires a lot of hand holding.  Plus it is not wireless so it's impossible for Vivian to print from her Surface Pro.  We walked the mall for awhile.  Very high end shops.  There's a Levi Store here.  I've lost so much weight since I've been here my Levi's are way to big for me now.  So, now I know where I can go and replace them.

I've included some pictures to enhance this post.  Hope you all enjoy them.

By the way, we did have a "thanksgiving" dinner yesterday.  We attended a zone conference with the two Kyiv zones - about 50 missionaries plus the senior couple missionaries.  After the conference was over we gathered together in the cultural hall for dinner. The chicken and mashed potatoes were catered and the senior couples supplied all the side dishes and desserts.  No pumpkin pies though.  Maybe Vivian can weigh in on why there were no pies.  Also, no turkey.  There are turkeys in Ukraine but they are mostly wild and no breeding or cultivating of the butterballs we are used to in the United States.  It was nice to get together as we envisioned our extended families in the United States gathering together 7 to 10 hours later to have a traditional Thanksgiving.

I've included some pictures of our outing today.  Unbelievable but I didn't take any pictures yesterday.  Cannot believe I didn't get any!  Oh well, always next year.

The Humphreys and Vivian

Heading to the Crimean restuarant

The Food Court...cinnamon rolls in the bag on the table

Self explanatory - 1

Self explanatory - 2

Inside the mall

We are leaving the mall...notice the crowd on the left entering the mall.  It's 6:00 pm

I did get one picture on Thanksgiving.  The cleanup crew...Sister Karen Kumferman on the left (Mission President's wife), Vivian and two of the many sister missionaries serving in the Kyiv Ukraine Mission - Sister Brekke (lower right).  I forget the name of the sister in the background.  I'm sorry.  She is from Kharkov in eastern Ukraine, called to serve in the Philippines, currently assigned to the Kyiv Ukraine Mission until she gets her visa.