I just thought I would write a new post. We live in Nashville, TN, now.

There and Back Again

I almost forgot how to log in to this thing. But I am back, if but briefly. I can't promise to be much of a regular blogger anymore.

Since I last paid you a visit, a few things have become clearer in our lives. After being driven mad by obnoxious car sales people, we bought a used car in my hometown and finally got it to Nashville. The car we had before is still in Athens and hope this week to manage to get it to Nashville so we will have two cars. And that phase of transition will be near complete.

The most consuming part of life, still, is the job hunt. Lena is still working her temporary job and furiously applying for multiple positions. Hopefully something good will emerge. It's very frustrating waiting. Some leads turned out to be dead ends, unfortunately. Not enough experience in this specific area. Etc., etc. I have been hired as a part-time interim director of a non-profit organization that desires to meet needs of immigrants and refugees. Most of my work will be in helping the organization develop (it's only a few years old and small) and in coordinating their efforts to help recently-arrived Burundi refugees. It doesn't start till Nov. 12, though. I am pursuing other possibilities. Wish they were in equal pursuit of me........

So that's about it. Lena bought some winter shoes yesterday and I bought a cheap sweater. Paul Prill's mother took us to see My Fair Lady Friday night. We were then taken to dinner at The Acorn Saturday night. Nice. This Friday the Prills have given us their symphony tickets. I went to a Lipscomb play last night with Paul. Seems we have plenty of culture events (for free ;) )

News from Kyiv is somewhat good. Tanya Zhyova is home from the hospital and the doctors believe they got all the cancer. We pray for her recovery. The UEC had a big week last week with a visit from David Ralston, the board president. Vitaly and Lera were left tired from that. They are pregnant, by the way. I guess it's OK to say that now.

And if anyone knows anyone in Nashville going to Chattanooga or Knoxville, let me know. I need to get there to get our car so we can both go to work.

Nashvegas is becoming home

We have now been in Nashville for more than two weeks. Seems like much longer, or maybe that we never left. For the personal update, we have been trying to get settled. I supposed that's rather vague, but it's the best phrase I have for what we have been doing. It means finding our financial documents and making certain everything is clear in that arena, paying bills, changing budgets, trying to figure out doctor bills and finding a Nashville doctor, cold calling chiropractors, applying for jobs, applying for lots of jobs, being frustrated by the job process, being uncertain about the hiring process, wondering what to do about the application process, visiting friends, friends not having time to visit with us, us being too busy to visit, Lena practicing driving on the interstate, having a flat tire, wondering what to do about the strange noises the car makes, applying for jobs, wondering about what to do. Unpacking, but not too much since we are going to move again in the next month or so. (Currently, we are staying with the Prills. Quite hospitable those Prills are.)

I suppose most who have any interest are interested in the job hunt. But that is the area I am most reluctant to report about. There are some possibilities, some hopes, some dreams. Some interviews. When something concrete is known, we will announce it. One very strong lead has been delayed for some time and I am not sure to wait for it or not. I am also looking into Nashville area PhD programs.

We have also realized we have to buy another car. Or buy a car since the first one was given to us by my parents. Any thoughts on that end? Something that will last and run. We are thinking a Honda Civic or Accord. An older one. It's for Lena to drive.

Dave Wagner is also helping to heal our old computer. We are still figuring that out.

We went shopping for a firmer mattress last night. Yes, our life is filled with excitement. Last Friday we had an enjoyable dinner with the Wisehart clan up from Huntsville. And the Kirbys called this week. Another pleasure.

The Prills Nordictrac was delivered and set up this week. I need to go there and use it instead of typing. The calorie expenditure is vastly different.

Then, of course, there were the Ukrainian elections. The former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko came in with a surprising gain in parliamentary seats and it looks like she will return to her old office. Now, two of the old "orange" parties could form a government and possibly drag the government out of its year-long hibernation. Lytvin, former parliament speaker, and his party made it into the parliament but the Socialists didn't. But who knows what Lytvin believes? Anyone have a clue? Should be some exciting news in the next few months from Kyiv.

As for the American elections next year. Could we stop talking about until about August of next year? I think we would all be a lot happier. It's sort of like this effort to sell Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving. Please, don't buy any of that stuff. Just wait. It only encourages the stores to start even earlier. Can we have just a little respect for Thanksgiving, America's greatest and most original holiday?

And on the seventh day

Seven days we have been in Nashville. Abilene seems something of a dream now. In those seven days, we have unpacked, but remain packed with all our stuff neatly piles in the basement. We have applied for jobs. Lena turned one down and is on the top of a list for another. I have a strong lead on one, but it may be a while before they hire. Lena got another lead today on a Tennessee state job from someone at church. The blessings of church. The Prills have been very kind to us. Besides letting us take over their guest bedroom, they have fed us, took us to the incredibly astounding new symphony building and to a performance, to a play Saturday night. We have also been using Paul's car since our car is still in Abilene. We also have talked real estate with Lisa Owings. Lena has also been getting a lot more driving practice.

There are some wonderful pictures here of voters in Ukraine's parliamentary elections held on Sunday. Just click on the numbers in the grey boxes. It looks like Yulia pulled through again! Not that Yulia Tymoshenko is really so great; it's just that the alternative possible winners are frightening. Now--if they will certify the results and form a government and get to work!!

I am going to Abilene on Monday to get our car. We were at the Wagners tonight for dinner. They visited Kyiv many moons ago, and it was a delight to see how little Isaiah is growing.

We are well. A bit tired of being in transition, but well. I am a bit glad that autumn has delayed its arrival. It gave us some time to adapt to the Tennessee climate from Texas.

I feel a bit lost these days. Not sure what to read or do with myself at moments. I guess I have to get to used to that for a while.

We look forward to updating you on the job hunt and other exciting news.

Back in Nashville. Heads still spinning. Unloading truck. Re-examining purpose and meaning of life. About to go to Kroger. Thanks to the Prills for their hospitality. Will be in touch in a couple of days.

Moving.......Again

Our computer is still dead, so we have limited time on the internet these days. Much has happened in our lives since we made it to Abilene. On Saturday, we are moving to Nashville. For a variety of reasons, we are moving. It has nothing to do with ACU but everything to do with Abilene's very poor job market, at least for the kind of job Lena needs to have in order for us to live here. So, to cut our losses while we still have missions support, we have decided to move to Nashville where we have friends and like-family, a growing job market, and being closer to my family. It was a great learning experience. I have learned a lot about myself and about how difficult this transition to American life is going to be.

We are both going to look for jobs and work for a while.

If you know of any job leads, Nashville, friends, let us know! See you next week, Nashville!

Much to Say

There is much to say since I have been absent from the blog for more than 2 weeks. The main problem is that our computer crashed and may have to be buried. The other one we have still won't connect to the internet. So, interneting has been limited to visits to ACU's library. We ordered another computer today but it won't arrive for 2 weeks.

We are delighted to hear of Igor and Nastya's wedding. We wish them the very best in their new life together, and pray that Igor's job can be worked out so he is not away from Kyiv so often. He is a pilot and flies out of Kyiv too often.

We are deeply, deeply saddened by the death of Natalya, a long-time cancer sufferer. She died as her twin sister Ira, at the wedding, was reading a poem Natalya had written. Please pray for Ira. In the last twelve months, she has lost her mother, brother, and twin sister. Her daughter lives in France, her husband is dead, but her son is with her in Kyiv. There is such a deep sadness there, it cannot be given words.

We are still struggling adapting to our new life. More on that later. Lena is still job searching and has only come across a part-time temporary position. So we are vastly disappointed about the job prospects. Classes are classes, nothing special. ACU's Lectureship begins this Sunday, so we look forward to going to some of the sessions. A singing group from St. Petersburg will perform Sunday night.

What else can I say? These are difficult times. A new place. Several disappointments.

On the bright side, Lena did get her driver's license! Now, we enjoy driving around the city in little spurts. Pray for both of us!

It seems I have very little to reflect about because right now we are still in the survival mode. We are just trying to get a few things "done" everyday so that we can live here. Yesterday, for example, we had our car inspected because the Texas government doesn't trust Tennessee cars. We had to have the inspection to transfer the title to Texas, to get new tags, to get a registration, so Lena can apply for her driver's license. That went off mostly without problems. We first, though, had to get the car in shape to pass inspection. So, we went to this garage on some old, dusty Abilene road and found a Russian guy who has opened a garage here with his Turkish-Russian assistant. So there we stood in the Texas sun chatting with this Russian-speaking Turkish (or something, I am not exactly sure where he is from) refugee turned mechanic. He fixed our blinker problem without charging anything. Today we are taking the car back for some work on the air conditioner. I also managed to get some extra keys made for the apartment, and we went to Minter Lane for supper and the evening devotional. Students were reporting on their summer mission trips. During supper, we met Oksana who arrived from Ternopil about a week ago and is working on an MA in English at ACU. We also saw Emily and Vadim there. Yes, occasionally we even talk to Americans :).

Today Lena had some kind of job interview even though there weren't any open positions. One of those "it's good to meet you. If something opens up, we will let you know." At least she had her first pseudo interview and now has some interviewing experience in an American context. We had a slim hope that there might be a position, so we are back to figuring out how to look for a job here and what's best to do about all that. It's daunting and a little frightening. Right now, it's all so overwhelming I am glad she doesn't have a job yet. It would be incredibly maddening. But then, it would be nice to know that there is a job to go to in a few weeks. So we wait in faith.

I have met all my classes once. Since I had studied some Greek earlier, I think I will be OK in there. I don't feel completely lost yet and the teacher is very nice. The Old Testament teacher is also very nice and the class will be challenging but not impossible. The Jeremiah and Ezekiel class is another story--I don't know what to make of it yet. I wish could finish the OT class before this one but basically it was the only other class I could take that counts toward my degree. This class has mostly people who have been studying two years or so, so I am the novice in there, it seems. The teacher did bring cookies to class so I hope he is understanding in that now all of us are Old Testament experts.

I will meet all the new students on Friday for some kind of orientation.

So far one of our favorite Abilene things to do is swim in the apartment's pool. We also have enjoyed a Mexican restaurant just down down the street that offers a lot of food on Tuesday nights for $3.33 per person. I guess we will be there every Tuesday night. We were surprised by how many run-down and abandoned buildings there are in the city. Maybe it's because of the areas we have visited, but it appears that since there is so much space, instead of renovating an older building, they just build a new right beside and let the older building just fall apart. So the city is littered with old, decaying buildings that need to be torn down and plant a few trees there. We also have found the roads and road system a bit odd. I guess there are so many roads in Texas it's hard to keep them all in great shape. Or maybe we were spoiled on Tennessee's incredible road system. Tennesseans, be thankful.

I am also trying to wear my new/old glasses again.

As I was waiting for Lena at ACU, I went to the bathroom. As I was going around the corner near the toilet, I said hello to a lady (it's just about mandatory to say hello or greet anyone you pass on ACU's campus. You also should say excuse me if you get within a half meter of them.). She stopped, looked at me, and said, "You're Chris Lovingood." As I picked my mouth off the floor, I responded affirmatively and inquired as to how she knew me and who she is. She had been in Kyiv many moons ago and her husband taught at ICU a long, long time ago. And she remembered my name. Incredible.

People are very nice, here, by the way. It's almost scary. I realized in class this week how entirely Slavic/Ukrainian I have become. There is definitely going to be a long period of adjustment.

In Abilene

Lena and I have actually made it to Abilene and have spent two nights in our apartment, crammed packed full of unpacked boxes. Judy has helped us immensely as we settled in over the weekend, fed us, served as tour guide, networker. She and her son Keylin helped put together one piece of furniture too. We went to church with them on Sunday and Lena got one job lead there. I think there will be a lot of possibilities before the right thing comes along. After church, we ate with Joe and Keylin and it was great to remember some of the shared experiences when Joe was in Kyiv. Sunday evening we spent time with Emily, another ACU grad student, who is married to Vadim who is from Ukraine. He is also an ACU graduate student. Then we met their neighbords, Natasha and Denice (Dennis), who are from Russia. He is also studying at ACU. We discussed in Russian with Natasha how she figured out how to make tvorog the American way. We stood outside with the West Texas sun sinking low, enjoying a little Russian conversation. Then, on to the grocery store to fill our shkaf.

Today we went to ACU. I am changing a few things with my schedule, so I am not sure how it is going to turn out. I have my first class in two hours--Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament.

It's hot here too. Nice--at times. More comments on West Texas after we have had time to acclimate.

I think we are doing well. It was refreshing to be in the church on Sunday. Several parts of the service reminded Lena and me that God is in control; life is all of his grace and mercy. There is little we can do of our own merit.

Abilene, Texas

Home, home on the range ....

After 9 weeks on the road, we finally made it!