life here recently has been a little different. i had to have an abscess surgically removed from my gum the other day. some of you might remember that when i first got here i had a procedure for it, but that procedure was not 100% effective and i was unlucky. i got to experience the state 's medical facilities which i was pretty impressed with. the doctors are to the point and very efficient. so there was not much time in the waiting room (hallway). everything is fine now, and hopefully no more teeth problem at least for a while. so i am kinda behind on posting my picture taking and posting period, so i will try to catch up in the next couple of days, so keep checking back.

about a couple of weeks ago, lyala and i decided to visit the lavra. the lavra, if you didnt follow the link, it is the center of the ukrainian russian orthodox. lots of churches, monks, priest, popes, etc. that kind of stuff. a lot of it is really old and beautiful. the grounds covers like 4 city blocks so there is a lot to see there, so we will have to go back to visit the museums. we happened to go a big church holiday, dormition of the theotokos, when mary died. there was a kilometer long line to visit a big icon of mary there. our main goal that day was to walk around and look and go visit the caves. the caves are these tunnels dug out by monks to live in during a vow of absence from sunlight and other worldly things. now it is a tomb, with lots of buried monks. some of them with exposed hands, under glass of course! there are also some bones that can be seen. this is not really a museum but more of a holy place. i just didnt want yall to think that they have museums of functioning tombs.






women, in the orthodox religion are required to wear a headscarf.













lyala wearing her headscarf.














a pic of the main church and belltower in the lavra










btw, are the links useful to anyone, or am i wasting my time?