Last week we hosted our first foreign guests of our term in Ukraine – a group of 10 MCC thrift shop employees and volunteers who came to Ukraine on a MCC Learning Tour. They spent 10 days in Ukraine and a little more than one full day in Donetsk. It was great to see a couple people we knew and meet many we didn’t. We also appreciated the goody bag brought from S.D., containing rare treasures -- from peanut butter to sunscreen (thanks Barb!). We had a good time showing the group around the evening they arrived, then joined them the next day for a morning trip to Makeevka, then back to DCU for discussions with DCU’s rector (president) and others. On Wednesday evening, Dave and I were responsible for organizing a “cultural event” of some sort in Donetsk, but the philharmonic, the opera and the theater had no events scheduled, nor was Donetsk’s popular soccer team, Shaktyor, playing that night. So we chose a very Ukrainian pastime … leisurely wandering through the streets of downtown. Our evening concluded with a stop for ice cream at an outdoor café. The next morning everyone crammed into our apartment for a quick breakfast and then headed for their next destination. We’ll remember the group for a long time, as our first visitors in Ukraine.
Laura
