The Lundy 5

Day 1 - Sunday, Oct 14 We were met at the airport by Gregory who took us to the Stemples' home.  (Friends of the Purperos and wonderful people.)  They showed us around Kiev I read that Kiev is 1500 years old.   They were very generous and great!  (Thanks so much!)  Our only pictures we have of them came from the video camera.     Day 2 - Monday, Oct 15 Hello everyone! We're here (in Ukraine) safe and sound.  The plane ride was very uneventful (a little frisking went on though!) Today, we went to the National Adoption Center and looked through books and books of available children of all ages, so very depressing. First, we had one of our MANY waits outside a building :  Then, we had one of our MANY MORE waits inside (both just as cold) :     We read a lot about bringing gifts with us.  Ukrainians are supposedly known for giving/receiving gifts.   They were recommended for the Adoption Center Di...

Day 8 - Sunday, Oct 21 Today, we went to Mass at the Lavra, the second oldest and biggest and most beautiful church in Kiev.  It's actually a complex of churches, monasteries, bell towers... and has almost 10 0 historical buildings. The view from the Bell Tower:  We have pics. It was amazing. No idea what they were saying but it was breath-taking! The buildings here are beautiful. The churches are centuries old. We toured the area, there are many churches, museums, caves, monks... There were mummified monks and warriors from the 11th century on in open coffins down in the caves! Culture shock! I guess the monks spent their lives underground praying.  I  had to cover my head with a scarf (yeah, had to buy one) to enter the area because it was so holy.  We lit a candle for Josh and Avery down in one area of a cave and prayed for them. Our fellow River Valley-ites should get a kick out of this!     The Military Museum had huge, amazing stat...