Kreshenya in Ukraine

Wow. Simply amazing video.

Angel Moroni!

I can't believe it's finally happened! Yesterday, Angel Moroni was placed on top of the temple in Kyiv.

This photos is one of my favorites. Notice the huge apartment buildings built during the Soviet Union era?

Members of the church in Ukraine have been waiting for this since the temple was first announced in July 1998. The members there have waited anxiously for nearly TEN YEARS. Ground on the temple was finally broken in June 2007, but construction has been slow. There is so much red tape to go through, it's taking much longer than anticipated. The dates for dedication have changed so many times already, it's been discouraging. The expected date is now fall of 2010. As you can see from the photos, the temple is not nearly completed, but putting the angel on top is a major step.

If you speak Russian, and maybe even if you don't, you'll love this video showing the statue and some of the members, sharing their testimonies and feelings on this important day.

I wish I could have been there to feel the spirit as the members met in the church building next to the temple and sang hymns. I wish I could see and feel the excitement my brothers and sisters must have felt as they watched the angel take it's permanent position atop the temple. This is truly the beginning of an entire new generation for the church in Ukraine. I am so happy for them.

Ukraine... it's just a little bit different.

A few weeks ago I rediscovered a little Russian market that has since become my favorite place to shop. Verenokee, napoleon, smetana, tons of cheeses, and pear juice! Basically, the best things in life can all be found in this tiny little shop. I've been reminded of just a few of the many reasons I love all things Ukrainian, completely and insanely weird or not.

Fashion is always a little... interesting.

You don't need any type of plan or agenda for a night out. People just walk around until they run out of things to talk about, then walk back home.

Pigs beg for milk money.
(see right for example)


EVERYONE eats ice cream. Even adults eat ice cream as they wander through parks.

People sell things on the street from backpacks, suitcoats, and suitcases.


There are chandeliers in the metro.

People working don't really have to work much.


And transportation? There's a little bit of everything.

Alosha's Tree: Part 2

Regular readers of my fabulous blog may remember a post (see July 4th) about my dear friend Alosha's gigantic fake tree project. A Ukrainian television station was filming the project while I was visiting Kiev this summer. Well, it's done!
Here's the before photo, just as a reminder:


And here's the after, complete with a beautiful flat screen TV:

And the entire apartment, just so you can get a feel for the whole place. There's even the added affect of tiny little lights in the branches and trunk of the tree. (The guy worked at Disneyland, so I guess that should pretty much be expected.)

Alosha, moi giraffchik.
He's pretty much pretty talented.


.

Odessa

Bogdan and I continued our Ukrainian world tour and made a quick trip to Odessa. Some of the highlights:

Mickey D's

For some reason, McDonald's tastes better outside the U.S. I've never quite been able to figure out why, but EVERYONE agrees. When McDonald's first opened in Russia, thousands of people stood in line just to get a hamburger. And if you're looking for a clean (free) restroom in Ukraine, McDonald's is still your best shot.

Not only is the food itself better, but there is often live entertainment. Please see examples:
There's a regular old Playland, but people can also rent motorized toys or ponies for their kids to ride.

Kamenets-Podilsk and Chernivtsi

Bogdan, Galya, and I enjoyed a quick, action packed trip to Western Ukraine.


Besides the obvious, one of the highlights was dinner at this amazing, delicious, surprisingly cheap restaurant called "UTAH". We're sure a little uncertain about how the restaurant got its name, but apparently they have some type of relationship with the medical school at the University of Utah. You can imagine how excited the servers were to meet someone actually from Utah. (Okay, so they pretty much didn't care at all, but you can maybe imagine how excited I was at the time.)

Lviv

Kristin and I went to Lviv for the weekend with Bogdan and his girlfriend, Taniya. It's a five hour drive and the bad roads made it seem more like 15 hours, but we thought it was worth it once we finally got there.


On our way we stopped at Olesko Castle.


I've been to Lviv a couple of times, but this time was different. We rented a gorgeous apartment in the center of the city. Spacious. Clean. Jacuzzi. The apartment was so nice, we considered staying in Lviv permanently.

The view from our balcony:



We didn't take a tour and weren't in a rush, so we just wandered through the streets looking at things and taking pictures. We sat in cafes, listened to live music, and found unique souvenirs.


I love the different colored buildings in Western Ukraine. It reminds me of Poland.





People in Western Ukraine are usually more friendly, too. They to be more religious than the rest of the country. Some stores are actually closed on Sundays. There are different kinds of churches all over the city.

Armenian Church
Bernadine Cathedral

Dominican Cathedral
Of course, we went to this nice, pink LDS church.


The Opera House, where we watched part of "The Merry Widow". (It was in Ukrainian and a little LONG, so we left after the first act.)


Even the fire station is beautiful.


Ukraine. It's just a beautiful place. :)

Kiev Temple

Last night, Bogdan took us to see the construction of the temple here in Kiev. They broke ground in June 2007 and are currently working 24 hours a day, but the temple
isn't scheuled to be completed until April 2010.

It was almost midnight, so we couldn't walk around, but we still had a decent view. The chapel was finished a while ago, so now the construction workers are focusing on the hotel and the temple. They've already started the 2nd floor of the temple. Unless you're Ukrainian (or emotionally Ukrainian, like me), you may not understand how completely amazing this is. I'll try to get some good pics during the day, but until then...

Alosha

My friend, Alosha, invited me to watch him work. INTER, a television station here in Kiev, is filming a half-hour program about one of his projects. It's basically the Ukrainian version of Extreme Home Makeover or This Old House.

He's building a fake tree in the middle of a living room and putting a flat screen TV in the middle of it. Unusual, yes, but pretty much a regular day's work for Alosha. :) He's a painter, sculpter, designer... талентливый молодой чеповек. When we worked at Disneyland in Paris, he buuilt trees like that all the time! (Sadly, when he lived with me in Barstow there were no orders for fake trees, but lots of orders for portraits.) You can check out his work here. You'll also find my portrait on the site. (Aww...)

Here's some pics of the beginning... (Don't anyone worry. I'll update the with pics of the construction process so you can see the finished product.)

The Binyuks

I've known Jenya for 10 years. I met her husband two years ago when they visited me in Las Vegas. Their baby, Olgert, is 11 months old.

We visited Chernegov, a small town filled with beautiful churches and monks buried in caves.


We went to Pirogovo, the outdoor museum just outside of Kiev.

I may have mentioned this before, but... I love Ukraine.

These are just a few of the reasons why.


GOOD FRIENDS
Bogdan and Galya are among the best.





LAVRA MONASTERY.
Established in 1051. We visited the caves where monks once lived and were buried.








GREAT PARKS
and Soviet Statues, which someone are always entertaining.



THE BOAT RIDE ON THE DNEPR
plus the great company of Bogdan and Jenya, who always manage to make things interesting.