God Be With You Til We Meet Again

In an early post (March 2, 2011) describing our apartment I had explained we had a special view through our windows of the Kyiv temple.   And when I was lying in bed, I had this perfect view.  I woke up to it and went to sleep to it.  The lights turn on at 5a and go off at 11p.  Before we left I put our video camera on my pillow and made a video of the lights turning off.  Actually, this is shortened because there is a full minute between each of the stages.

I looked up the words to this familiar hymn and was surprised that there were so many verses written by the author.   Many of them are especially appropriate sentiments as we leave our time of temple service at the Kyiv temple.   And we do have hope that we will meet these wonderful friends again.

1. God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

2. God be with you till we meet again;
'Neath His wings protecting hide you;
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

3. God be with you till we meet again;
With the oil of joy anoint you;
Sacred ministries appoint you;
God be with you till we meet again.

4. God be with you till we meet again;
When life's perils thick confound you;
Put His arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we meet again.

5. God be with you till we meet again;
Of His promises remind you;
For life's upper garner bind you;
God be with you till we meet again.

6. God be with you till we meet again;
Sicknesses and sorrows taking,
Never leaving or forsaking;
God be with you till we meet again.

7. God be with you till we meet again;
Keep love's banner floating o'er you,
Strike death's threatening wave before you;
God be with you till we meet again.

8. God be with you till we meet again;
Ended when for you earth's story,
Israel's chariot sweep to glory;
God be with you till we meet again.

Chorus:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus' feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

Lyrics: Jeremiah Eames Rankin
Music: William Gould Tomer

Constructing buildings in Ukraine

After watching many buildings being constructed during our time in Ukraine, we have learned that their methods differ from ours.  A hole is dug in lovely soil (no rocks!) and footings are formed and poured.  This is the first time we have seen basement walls being formed and concrete poured.

Usually preformed concrete is brought in and stacked by crane like Legos.  They are mortared and plastered together.

Floors between are also precast concrete.  You can see there are pipes laid in the panels to be used as conduits for plumbing and electrical.

The walls are typically triple courses of common brick, though sometimes concrete blocks are used.

After the exterior walls are up, the roof is built without pre-made trusses.

The exterior walls of better-constructed buildings are covered with a shell layer of insulation and then there may be an additional course of bricks or  plaster.  Sometimes they are just plastered without insulation.

This same method is used for single homes and apartments or multi-story buildings.  High-rise apartment/commercial buildings use more poured concrete, though the walls between floors are usually laid brick/block.

Interior walls are also 3 bricks thick.  Grooves are chiseled out for electrical conduits to be embedded in the plaster coat which is about 1" thick.

Roofs are typically tile which is more expensive or they may be corrogated metal or asphalt.

It is obvious that many people begin living in homes and continue to work on them over years of time.  We sense that they do things as they have money and time, not going into debt.  This home has been "in progress" since we arrived 2 years ago.  Building the fence is the new addition.

"Finished" apartment buildings are only rough on the interior.  The renter or buyer of an apartment must add the plumbing, electrical, cabinets, wall and floor coverings themselves.   Only bare walls and a main electrical box are provided.

The Circus!

On Saturday, June 9, we went to the Kyiv National Circus.  This is the permanent building.  Circuses have been an important entertainment in Europe and though sometimes traveling groups perform in tents, many cities have such buildings.  Wikipedia gave this interesting information:
In 1919, Lenin, head of the USSR, expressed a wish for the circus to become 'the people's art-form', given facilities and status on a par with theatre, opera and ballet. The USSR nationalized the Soviet circuses. In 1927 the State University of Circus and Variety Arts, better known as the Moscow Circus School was established where performers were trained using methods developed from the Soviet gymnastics program. 

Inside the building looking opposite our seats.  The area for the Band is in the upper left of the photo.

The Poddubny family went with us.  One needs kids to appreciate the circus.  Price of the tickets were too expensive for most families so they had never come!

I took photos of each of the acts.  Since house lights were often dim and flash wasn't too effective, the photos are often blurry but it will give you a "list" of the performances.  First, of course, were the trampoline gymnasts:

An acrobat twirling rings

Next were ponies

And spinning roller skaters

These pigs were pushing balls---soccer, of course, with Euro 2012 championships in progress.

Juggling on a swing

The unicyclist also rode these wheels with pedals and no seat.  Here he is jumping from one to another!

 Folk dancers and a singer

This act included many different kinds of animals doing different things.  Most of us would not want to train and handle porcupines!

At intermission there was time to erect a performance enclosure for lions and tigers

Here the Poddubny children are looking at the animals being brought in 

With the proper fanfare from the band, 10 animals were brought into the arena and each performed.

There were 2 male and 4 female lions plus 4 tigers.

This was a long act and I don't want to bore you with many photos.

Always between acts for stage changes a troupe of clowns kept us entertained.

Zorro and his assistant performed with knives and whip...and horses

The last act featured these acrobats with bouncy inflated inner-tube type apparatus which they used to do flips, on and off them and with them.  They even did a cross double dutch jumping chain ropes---a new trick for our jump rope enthusiasts!

The final bow for all performers.  We had a great time

Odessa

Odessa, Ukraine's 3rd largest city at more than a million, is located on the southern coast and the Black Sea.  It was founded in 1240 as a Tatar settlement.  After defeating the Ottoman Turks, in 1794 Russia's Catherine the Great enlarged the city and began using the port as Russia's southern point of naval trade as well as sea power.  This is the port from the top of the famous stairs.  Without us blocking the view you can see a hotel and access to the main dock area, though many more docking areas are located to either side.

"Odessa’s most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Steps (Primorsky Stairs) is a vast staircase that conjures an illusion so that those at the top only see a series of large steps, while at the bottom all steps (about 200) appear to merge into one pyramid-shaped mass."   Up on the hill is a nice shady promenade.  Down along the water's edge is a sandy beach, unusual for the Black Seaside, which normally has gravel or rocks.  One can see why tourism is a main industry.  

"The historical architecture has a style more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles." This is the city administration building.

Across the plaza is this side face of the opera house.

This front view of the opera house shows its ornate architecture.  We were told the inside hall is one of the loveliest and unique, but it was closed on the Sunday afternoon we were there.  

There were several carriages available for hire for Sunday visitors.

This cathedral near the train station was obviously an important one but we just drove quickly by.

This Voksal or train station is the beginning and the end of trips to Kyiv for most of our friends who come to the temple.