Ukraine, By a Plane, Life's Insane

Alright, so I have now been in Ukraine for a week as of today. Honestly it has been really interesting, and I am already enjoying the history that I am learning particularly in relation to the Eastern Orthodox Church. I think the Orthodox Church in general is not very well know in North America. It tends to not be very disruptive or cause much attention to itself in the North American setting, but here in Kiev it is much more noticeable. But I will get to more of that in a bit.

My day of travel to Kiev turned into a more chaotic experience than was initially expected, by far. I was supposed to take a flight that left at 945am last monday. Unfortunately the luggage check system at the airport in Amsterdam is constructed horribly. WHoever designed this was not in his right mind and was paid way too much because it does not work. I woke up at 530 to leave the house by 630 to make the train to the airport at 645. I made it to the airport in plenty of time(2hrs) before my flight. I went to get in line to check my bags and there were 5 lines for anyone from 12 different flights to check in their bags= chaos. Hundreds of people want to check their bags for their flight at the same time. By the time I reached the front of the masses it was 29 minutes before my flight took off. I know this for a fact because the lady at luggage check told me I was too late to check my baggage because the cut off was 30 minutes before the flight. I was not happy. I proceeded to take a number at the ticket counter and then waited in line only for them to tell me to go to another desk which then told me to go back to the ticket counter and then the ticket counter sent me to customer service. I then spent more time explaining why I needed to reschedule my flight and there was no way I was going to pay for another ticket because their system for checking luggage was retarded. Finally they agreed, and then I went back to the ticket counter to get another flight, which took another 30 minutes. By this time it was almost 11am. The flight I ended up taking took me to Helsinki, Finland and then switched airlines to get to Kiev 5 hours later then originally planned. The one thing that actually went well was that I got through customs just fine. But then my luggage was lost/ left in Helsinki because of the switch in airlines.

All this to say that my day of travel was long and much more chaotic then expected. But I made it. This past week I spent most of the time at the Seminary that is just a short drive outside of Kiev. Then this past Friday I moved from the seminary to the host family I am staying with. Their house is amazing! It is considered an apartment, but it probably has more space than the average house in Seattle. It is right in downtown Kiev and the neighbors just happen to be a former general from the Soviet Union, an advisor to the current ukrainian leader, Yushchenko and various other rich and important people that are most likely affiliated with the mafia. Yeah, that commen about the mafia is not a joke. In fact most of the wealthy people in Kiev are either former communist leaders or have gained their wealth with connections to the Ukrainian Mafia. Apparently the mafia and the government are very closely connected and that's just the way it is...according to my host Dad. The last couple days I have been finding out just how much of a problem the mafia really is, and the basement of the building we live in is a perfect example. Over the past couple years the mafia has been illegally building a restaurant/ night club that is supposed to open in the next month or so. All the residents of the building are against the night club, but not even the advisor to Yushchenco has any influence to stopping the opening. The mafia just pays off or threatens any protest to the project. Good times.

The other large influence on Ukraine as a whole is the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is really sad to see how deceived these people are. I do not know what the Orthodox Church in North America is like, but it's influence here in Kiev comes across as very deceptive. We visited a couple different Orthodox Churches and a Orthodox Monastery today. The buildings are amazing and I will be sure to post pictures. The paintings and the architecture are so elaborate and everything is connected to the tradition of the Orthodox Church. There are many paintings of saints and religious icons all around the churches and many people come to kiss the icons on a daily basis. There is a common belief that as an Orthodox Christian one receives their salvation through the church. Many people come to their church daily to pay for the priests to pray for them and to forgive them of sins committed. But there is also a huge disconnect between daily life and what the church teaches. An example of this is a taxi driver that has multiple pictures of saints and religious icons and crosses hang from his mirror and on his dashboard and right next to them he has pornographic pictures posted. This is apparently common and there seems to be nothing wrong with this. If a man professes to be an Orthodox Christian and is cheating on his wife, his sin is seen as merely weakness that he cannot help. he is to just confess his weakness to the priest and will most likely continue with the affair.

In some ways Kiev is just like any other city, but there are also its quirks. In the same way the Eastern Orthodox Church here in Kiev has similarities to other denominations of the Christian Church, but there are some significant differences and dangers in fundamental beliefs. It is sad to see how people are deceived. Well I should go. This post is plenty long enough. I will post again soon.

-Joel