A Visit to Chernobyl

We had the opportunity to travel with three other couples to Chernobyl yesterday. The Mission President was along with us so I thought if he was going then we could possibly be safe. Just a little bit of history about the area. In about 1972 the city of препять (Prepat) was started out in the country as a city to house those that worked at the nuclear plant named Chernobyl. Prepat became a city of 50,000 and was considered the most modern in all of Russia, actually it is on about 80 miles from Kiev and is in Ukraine, and very good place to live. It was only 13 years old when the disaster struck. On 26 April 1986 it was decided that an experiment to test the capabilties of the reactor would be done. Some of the safety precautions were removed and the test failed. Many people in the area did not know that radiation was released so they went out on roof tops to watch the cloud and fire and the children went to a bridge close to the area to watch. The firefighters and first response people died within three weeks of exposure. The next day over 35,000 people were removed from Prepat within two hours. There is no exact number of the people who have died from this. This city is still in the 8 mile radius of the ractor and is uninhabited. There are workers at the site but they stay for only about 20 minutes at a time in certain zones. Radiation levels of under 50 are considered safe, some areas go to over 3000 rads. This is a picture of reactor number 4, it is the one that failed. It is now encased in cement to keep the radiation in but that cover is failing. France has offered to pay for a new encasement.
This next picture is of reactors number 1 and 2. They were finally all closed down in the early 90's as another fire broke out and they became another safety issue.
This is a picture of reactors 5 and 6. They were to be finished in 1986, they were 90% complete but were abandoned after the first accident.




Following are some pictures of the city. The Ferris wheel was to begin running on 1 May as there is always a big May Day celebration in Russia. In fact Kiev had that celebration but none of the government officials came. This has become a famous ferris wheel. I think most of these pictures speak for themselves. The bridge is called the "Bridge of Death". You can see the diving board through the window in one picture, another is of a hotel. Will put a few of the apartment buildings on. Later looters came in and took anything that was left and sold much of the furniture in Kiev. When we were driving out we saw a herd of wild boars. There were about 15 of them and vey big. It is now called "the Ghost Town". There is hardly any noise, we heard none but think maybe those boars may make some noise some time. But as the saying goes when a tree falls if no one is there to hear is it a sound? John mentioned that he saw no birds in the area.



Chernobyl is a country town about 16 miles from the reactor site. It had about 16,000 inhabitants at the time. Now we were told that there about 40 people who have returned to their homes. If they are going to die they would rather die at home than be homesick the rest of their lives. Am posting some pictures of the town Chernobyl. There are a couple of monuments also in this area. We also had a meal prepared for us in Chernobyl.



Just wanted to show you that there really are storks - they live above the pole on the right!
Dad may be sideways but he was checked for radiation before they would let us out.





I just looked out the window and it is snowing, we thought Spring had come. We both are doing well. we have had a busy week and have been down to the city the past three days so today we are just answering phone calls from home. Tomorrow, we will have the Lees and two companionships over for dinner. Sat. will head to the Church for the RS Birthday celebration. They want me to bring Brownies so will have to make a couple of batches, probably one brownie and one Texas sheet cake. We love you all, write and let us know what is going on once in a while. Luv M&D, GM&GP, J&J

More on Odessa

Sorry, didn't get everything posted before I had to feed the missionaries. Oh, there is another thing I use to make, meatloaf! We went to Odessa last Wednesday for a three day Senior Conference. We met all the other Senior couples serving in the Ukraine Kiev Mission. There are eight of us. One couple, the Williams, came out last week from Pingree, Idaho. They spent Tuesday night with us. He was an Idaho State Rep., just a really nice couple. Most of the other couples are having some really different experiences than we are. One couple, the Reber's are on their third mission to this area, Siberia, Georgia and Ukraine. Just some really great couples. We are now able to recruit anybody that would like to come here. We won't get any more sent until a few of us go home. So drum up some recruits for us! We got to go to the Opera while in Odessa. Got to do some shopping, they have a 7kX7k reninks, little shops with anything you could want.
We only bought two bags to carry our groceries home in and a pair of tights that I want to show the girls (Angie and Marin) for the store.



Wanted to send you a picture from the opera. This shows the costumes and the great scenery. If you just click on the picture it will be larger.




Here is a building in Odessa that is really interesting!
One has to be really skinny to live in that apartment.



Oh, it is an optical illusion!




Will have to post more later. Have some more neat pictures. We are doing fine. Had a long day today, had to go to town to try to find medications, etc. Hope all are doing well. Hope to hear from you soon Luv M&D, GM-GP, J&J

Trip to ODESSA

Odessa, an ancient Greek colony, is a seaport town located about 300 miles South of Kiev founded in Jan 1795. It was a town inhabited from those placed in excile from Russia. The people in Russia's government had never been to the area to check it out and the people got to choose between Siberia and Odessa. Odessa was a favorite choice because it was warm and had lots of educated people. It was a melting pot of European nationality. Alexander Pushkin lived here in internal exile for awhile. There was also a large group of Jews who settled here. Most of these immigrated between 1970-1990s to Israel, US and Western Europe. Today Odessa is a city of over a million people. It is one of the best know tourist cities of Ukraine. This is a picture of the Government building. It overlooks the seaport.


The next few pictures are just some of the many different styles of architect that we saw as we walked the city. They are located down narrow streets and I do not know what kind of buildings they are: apartments, office, etc. There are modern mixed in with older as the WWI soldiers did not destroy all the buildings as they did in some areas.







One of the biggest attractions of Odessa is the Opera House. We were able to see Verdi's "Masquerade Ball" performed. The first Opera House built in 1810 was destroyed by fire in 1873. In 1887 the present Opera House was opened. It is designed in baroque style. A whisper from the stage can be heard in any part of the hall. It is the second most famous Opera House in the World, Milan being the first. When the people learned that the construction cost 1.3 million gold rubles they gasped, but when they saw the new theater they gasped again, this time in admiration. Almost immediately after it was built the foundation began sinking and there were cracks in the foundation. The east side of the theater sank almost seven inches in the first three years. It was remodeled in 1960 and just finished being remodeled again last Oct.. It was beautiful inside and out. The next are outside and inside pictures of the Opera House. The. coustumes and staging was esquisite!

Thankful for Many Things

Kiev Ward Building meet on 3 and 5th floors of this building. These are Elder campbell and Poll.
< This is the Jewish Temple(yellow building)directly across from the Kiev Ward.
This is Elder Tanner and Walk helping your mother with the computer after being fed lasagne for the first time in two years.


This is your parents in case you have forgotten:)









Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Much To Be Thankful For


As we grow use to living here in Ukraine we realize more and more how much we have to be thankful for. One of the first is the right to smile. When I ask people here, that talk English of course, their response is always "people from Russia and Ukraine do not Smile". I feel bad that they have not learned to express this as a form of greeting or just a way of life. So Smile - be thankful for the things you see, the creations of the Earth, the joy of life, everything! Even speaking in Russian and saying good day often times elicites no response, but I keep trying. The other evening in a group discussion, we were talking about how people here that have always been told how to act, how to think, etc. do not appreciate or even know how to handle their agency. They even sometimes prefer the old method of being given an apartment, having bread really cheap, even if they had to stand in lines for hours, and everything that went with the "communistic society" over having to make their own decisions. So use your agency, howbeit wisely for the good of others and yourself. When I have to walk every where I realize how dependent upon our own transportation we are in certain areas of the US. Like I said before, to go anywhere you either walk, take the Metro or hop on a little bus that may have 40 people jammed into it. There are a lot of cars in the area but usually the every day person can not afford one. The one good thing is that the metro only cost 10 cents for a one way trip to any where in the area. We can ride the large bus for 10 cents or the little packed buses for 30 cents. How funny we get sometimes as Dad complains that we could walk for nothing and save 10 cents. Now on the other hand in the States we could walk and save dollars!!! Going to the grocery store is an experience within its self. Somethings you can just not buy here, at least not in the stores we can get to. Brown sugar, peanut butter is hard to find, powder sugar both of these are from Germany and are very expensive. All foods have to be made from scratch. No cake mixes, no stove top, no hambuger helper, etc. But the good part of that is now I am back to cooking. Chocolate, pineapple&banana, brown sugar cakes, rolls, casseroles, taco soup, etc. and it has been fun! Dad does't expect it every day so that makes it easier. We have been able to find some good restaurants. Last night ww were down in Kiev and found a really nice Chineese Rest. ,still not as good as Christians, but had a fabulous decor. when we first went in and looked at the menu we were afraid that it would cost over $200 before we could get away. Fortunately what we though were dollars were grieven and we ended up at about $60. We had asked two Elders to go with us but they couldn't leave when we had to. Will take them to TIGF on another day. The medical problems are very sporadic, have a sister with a goiter/thyroid mass we are working with. Now, the medical system is another complexity we work with. Have to make most of the appintments through a referral agency, which adds a cost. A lot of drugs you can just walk into a drug store and ask for. There are drug stores and banks almost on every block. Just still alot of bureaucy.

This week we have gone to the mission home for a Sr. Sisters fairwell dinner, had a Doctor and his wife over for supper, went to the Bairds, the office couple, for Sunday dinner, worked on our power points, I can do it!, studied Russian and solved a few medical problems. And walked and walked and walked.Give all the grandkids hugs for us. Tell them to write and will try to call. Luv M&D, GM-GP, J&J