I'm Still Alive If Only Just

Dear Reader,

          I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you. I admit that I realize it's been a while since my last blog post. I hope you weren't too worried about me. I'm still alive, if only just. My laptop is comatose and ever since it fell into disrepair I have been struggling to get motivated to do any writing, let alone blogging.Also I got terribly, deathly ill, but more on that later. Given that it's been almost a month since my last blog post I figured it's about time I got back to all of you. I wrote a post yesterday but I am currently in a hostel in the Ukraine and the internet was down so I didn't get to post it. Now that the wifi is up an running again, I will be able to share the post that I wrote yesterday in honor of my mother's birthday. But first I just want to catch you all up on the things I've been doing for the past 3 weeks since you last heard from me.

The Sunset over Benhausen

         The reason I say that I am only just alive is a long story. It all started when Tate and I went to a little town called Borchentreich where her ancestors are from. We decided to go to help her make connections in her genealogy work. Borchentreich is a small town kind of in the middle of the countryside and it is hauntingly quiet. When we arrived there were no people anywhere to be seen. The only sounds were the birds and a rooster from a farm at the far side of town. There was no sound from inside the shops or houses. The sun was up, the day was bright, the weather was beautiful, and yet we seemed to be the only people in town other than the nice ladies who ran the bakery.
         It felt like a ghost town, except that the the whole place was perfectly maintained. Being the amateur monster hunters that we are, we decided it must be a vampire town. There was no information center, record library, or archive. And the only chapel in town was closed, so we decided to go grave hunting. Tate gave me a list of names and we went into the cemetery to search for her family members graves. By this point we'd seen more dead people than alive that day.
         Out of no where a young man and old woman came into the cemetery carrying a bucket full of something. We watched from a safe distance as they, somewhat nervously spread salt around a grave like a barrier. And any good amateur monster hunter knows that salt is used to ward off demons. We realized that there are humans in Borchentreich, but they don't emerge from their homes until the early afternoon to be sure that they are truly safe from vampires. 
          As we were getting ready to leave Borchentreich we noticed a large hill in the distance that had a huge tower on top of it. We decided it's where Count Bartholomew (the Alpha vampire) must live. Naturally we had to investigate. But we needed to protect ourselves from the Count, so we stopped at a church near the bottom of the hill in another town near Borchentreich and filled up our water bottles with holy water.
         While we were climbing the steep hill I got really thirsty and Tate had already drank some of the holy water herself so she said it was probably safe to drink. I drank almost the entire bottle before we reached the top of the hill were the ruins of a watch tower were. The view was amazing and I was feeling on top of the world from up there, leaning over the edge of a tower like I'm invincible from vampires because of the holy water. Some how this made me think that it would be a good idea to taunt the vampire Count. I called into the ruins of the tower that he could try and get me, but that I would be gone before the sun was. I teased him that he could try and fight me even then but I would beat him. We stayed up there for a little while and then when the sun started to go down we left. We got back to Benhausen just as night was falling and I was feeling just fine. A little thirsty from not enough water, and a little achy from the climb but over all fine. 

            However, the next day I woke up feeling very ill and dehydrated. Every muscle and joint in my body ached. I had no energy and felt depleted. Come to find that there was not one but two identical puncture marks on my spine. Over the past three weeks I have felt sick on and off again, sometimes too weak to get out of bed and sometimes just a bit achy and tired. And the wounds (aka vampire bites) on my back have not fully healed. Lesson for you, Reader, do not taunt a vampire. He will follow you home and drink your blood.

Tate and the Wanderess waiting for the Reunification Day parade to start. We went to a festival with our Bulgarian friend. 

The Mall that has become a famous Battle Ground in Kiev

          On a happier and slightly less melodramatic note, Tate and I are, as I mentioned before, now in Ukraine. We spent a day in Frankfurt which was beautiful and looked like a Christmas village. That night we flew out of Frankfurt into Kiev where we slept in the airport for a few hours. Then we woke up and went to the hotel that we stayed in for a few days. There's a lot of dust in the air there and it's really cold so it's been difficult learning to breathe in the climate, but the people are so nice and we were right by the temple which was beautiful. After a few days in Kiev, we took a train overnight to Ivano-Frankivsk, where Tate spent a lot of her mission. I met a wonderful family that she taught here and we also met with the sister missionaries for a spiritual thought at the home of another of Tate's friends. One of the sisters is going to be added to my list of missionaries I email as well (Woot for new pen pals). The people here are so kindhearted. They don't have much here but they are always wanting to share and give and serve. It's really inspiring. And everyone here loves tea so I'm a little in heaven.  
          All in all I am doing well despite being tragically ill and even more tragically losing my laptop to the brink of death. I am seeing the world and I am taking in so many new stories that I can't wait to one day tell. I hope you are doing well back home!
     Love Always,
         The Wanderess