M-I-N-S-K

We really loved Minsk!

We set out for Minsk, Belarus early last Sunday morning. Two and a half days of kid-less wandering were set before us. All this month Belarus is hosting the World Championship in hockey, and a simple, cheap ticket into a hockey game replaces the need for a (typically expensive) Belarusian tourist visa. So, we hopped into the good ole' minivan with Jekabs' brother, Karlis, and Mike Henry (LCC coworker) and blew out a tire within the first 30 minutes. Fortunately, considering the constant reminder of how old and "delicate" our minivan is (it spontaneously dropped it's rusted muffler two weeks ago!), we never go too far without the spare tire.

The city was so much more than we expected. Incredibly clean. Spacious. Large, grandiose buildings. Large green space along an almost never-ending riverbank, and the w i d e s t  sidewalks you could ever imagine having in an urban space. By far, that was my favorite aspect of the city.....wide sidewalks, because it gives you the impression of having personal space in an otherwise busy environment.

Strictly considering only the visual appeal of the city (no political comments or observations will be spoken), we both have a lot of admiration for the layout of the city and the functionality of Minsk.  It really was pretty and we had a great time. We give credit to Karlis for initiating such a trip and for initiating the highlights of our day on Monday.......go cart riding and attending the Latvia vs. Belarus game. Latvia did lose, but they were contending with the home team fan attendance of 12,000!

Money-Money-Money! Inflation has run rampant with this currency! For 3 days we were Belarusian millionaires. $1= 10,000 Belarusian Rubels. We carried around 1,000 - 5,000 - 10,000 - 100,000 -200,000 B. Rubel bill values. Paying for anything stretched our brains. Something as small as a cup of coffee cost 27,500 B. Rubels. So, with a wad of hundreds of thousands of bills, it was an intolerable task to count out the appropriate tender. It is quite ridiculous, really.

money and receipt for a hot tea and coke

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We celebrated Christian's 5th Birthday on May 20th!

We are off to Riga in the morning to adopt a new member of the family, it's of the "feline" sort, a siamese kitten. 

Also, we have just committed to a trip to Lviv, Ukraine at the end of June to visit our dear friends, Mac and Sergey from Dallas (they are visiting Sergey's home country with their kids). 

This summer we have lots of activity going on:

*Peteris and Naomi visit from London

*Trip to Ukraine to visit friends

*Jekabs traveling to Moscow 

*Welcoming my dear friend, Jenny, and family to Lithuania in July!

Summer is definitely in the air!

 The sun is shining bright and warm, the days are long, the work is light, and God is good to bring upon a new season.

Warm Regards,

April