UKRAINE

Many of you know I planned to travel to Spain, and I did.  So, what does the Ukraine have to do with Spain.  My two roommates are Ukrainian. They traveled down from Lithuania where they go to an American University.  They speak English and had to pass an English test at a level 4 to be admitted.

When they told me they were Ukrainian I let out a small gasp and clutched my chest and said how sorry and upset I was with what was happening in their country and they both teared up and said their families are still there and they are very worried.

The only thing I could think of to ease some of their pain immediately was to take them out for a meal.

They speak Ukrainian and English. Naturally I took advantage of the opportunity to learn a little Ukrainian and how to say,” Hello, how are you?” ”A cup of coffee please.” and ”A glass of red wine please.” My favorite sayings in any language.

They were happy to know I speak Spanish and immediately asked me to ask the hostess for extra blankets and a few questions they had about the rooms.

During our meal they expressed their confusion and dilemma on next steps. They are seniors and graduate in 6 weeks. They looked forward to new jobs and the end of relentless studying. But with the war they have no where to go. I did not know that they have Marshall law in the Ukraine which requires all men over the age of 18 to stay in the country and fight.

One of the girls told me her family is from Lviv and lived in the basement for a week. She was not able to communicate and of course was beside herself with worry. The other young girls family live somewhere far from the fighting.

While we were eating they received a text from a friend who is looking for a place in Lithuania for her Mom, sister and a dog- that does not bark or smell. We chuckled at the text that had in big caps and bold letter that the dog did not bark or smell. This war felt far away to me last week, but I am closer now and meeting these tow young girls, ready to graduate the university and in limbo about next steps  moved the situation closer to my heart.

I plan to leave Madrid tomorrow and head north via bus, a 6 hours ride to the Camino De Santiago where I hope to complete a minimum of 69 miles- my age and probably a bit more. I am taking the shortest easiest route.

I would like to collect 69 prayers request and plan to write each one on a sliver of paper and put them in a pouch in my backpack. Each mile I would like to take one out and dedicate that mile to your request. If you have a request please send it, if you don’t want to say what the request is just say “ a request from Pam” I will let you know in the blog the mile I dedicate and pray for your request.

More on Spain tomorrow but I wanted to dedicate this blog to Yuilla and Diana the two young Ukrainian girls. 

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.