We got up and left the seminary at 7:30 to get downtown by 8:30 to the passport office. While Seroge went to stand in line, we went to find breakfast. We were just looking for a grocery store for something quick. After walking awhile we found a McDonald's. But of the six times we ate at McDonald's in Ukraine, they have never been fast food! They also do not have hot breakfast. Others there were ordering burgers. Fortunately they had muffins in the counter case which did make it easier to just point to order. On the walk back we went by a beautiful city park that has just been redone. We had been there eleven days earlier and there was black dirt. Now there were flowers and grass.
The new fountain and gazebo.
This was the usual sit and wait. Not much waiting this morning though. We got our passports, found a notary, found a store for bananas and water and headed to the train station for our 11:47 train. Seroge helped us find our train and get settled in. The stewardess studdied our tickets a bit and we found out why later. Right after Seroge left, she came to check tickets again. She had a great concern and voiced it in Russian while pointing to our tickets. The tickets said June 30 instead of May 30! We panicked and searched for Seroge's phone number since the train was about to leave. God answered prayers again and Seroge wasn't too far away. He came back and after some discussion with her it was settled Ukrainian style. She was happy but no one had time to buy new tickets. We were thankful the car was mostly empty but were a little nervous when it did stop to board new passengers since we did not have an official ticket in our hand.
Leaving Odessa.
The trip to Kiev was eight hours. This is Tanya, Morgan, and Jon in their compartment. It sleeps four and was fairly comfortable. Amber, Lienna, and I were in the other compartment. The door latch was broken on ours so if we shut it we could not open it from the inside. That was a bit un-nerving for me. We tried to prop it open but it would sometimes slide closed and I would have to bang on the wall in hopes that Jon would hear and come let us out. It makes me ill just retelling it now so God was obviously calming my fears then. I was really thankful that we were about the only ones in the car so we could leave the door open.
Tanya and Morgan in their bunks. They had fun jumping from bunk to bunk and all around the cabin. The scene from the train was mostly trees with glimpses of the country in the breaks in the trees. I wish they had not planted all those trees along the tracks. The country there is so beautiful and would have made the trip go faster if we could have seen it. We did see each town as we went through. Every house in Ukraine has high fences all around their property. Every inch of the property is planted with garden, fruit trees and flowers. No lawn to mow. They don't waste it on grass when it can be used for food. 
These are not very good pictures. Most of the trip was trees so I didn't have my camera out.
Arriving in Kiev!
This was the roomiest car we rode in. Seven of us with our luggage. No problem! Alexy drove us to our apartment and we arrived about 8:30 pm. Again we found no place for food. We were told that McDonald's is about the only fast food in Ukraine and we couldn't find groceries that late either. Our food for that day: McDonald's muffins and juice, crackers, a Nutrigrain bar, bananas, and beef jerky.
