Our Trip to the US: 2015

Last September, my brother traveled to Ukraine, stayed with us for a few days, explored Uzhhorod and then helped me travel to the USA with the kiddos. Mike traveled two weeks later.
Here we are at a monument on the border of Ukraine and Slovakia.

We had a great time hanging out with him and really appreciated his help while traveling. We appreciate his sacrifice, as he had to leave his own little girl and wife, for the trip.

Besides spending time with family and friends, we got to do a lot of crazy things that we could never do in Uzhhorod: like buying taco shells and...

... going to amazing bookstores where they let kids play with toys!

     It was a good trip. We had a lot of fun reconnecting with our church family and sharing about what we are up to in Ukraine. It was fun to eat food that we normally cannot find in Uzhhorod and go to places where our kids could run around without falling onto broken glass or garbage. It was a nice change. It was a busy, and somewhat stressful trip; but good.

 

     It's very strange being a visitor in the place where you were born and grew up. It's strange being shocked by what once was normal:

- people wearing their pajamas to go shopping

- no fences and gates around private homes

- so many huge and expensive cars and SUVs

- waitresses asking repeatedly if the food is good, if they can get you something and bringing the check without you asking for it

- the lady at the post office acting super nice, like she really wants to help me

 

    And then, being shocked by what I once thought was strange about Ukrainian culture, but now seems perfectly normal and correct: and the shock of people in the US doing these things:

- ice in every drink (this does not happen in Ukraine because cold drinks could lead to a cold or sore throat)

- grass in every yard; no fruit trees or gardens (every inch of earth is usually cultivated)

- keeping the air conditioning/or fans on around small children (because of the draft and the draft leading to sickness)

- babies and small children not wearing hats to protect against the sun's heat or the chilly wind (because they MUST be protected from every type of weather)

- when waiting in line, leaving at least 1 foot between you and the other people in front and behind (personal space while waiting in line does not exist in Ukraine)

 

It is very interesting to live in another part of the world and to travel. The world does not seem as big as I once thought it was.