M&M Yenatsky: Taking Care of Business

We did sooo much on this trip!

We participated in the mission work, spent time with family, hung out with friends, had somewhat of a vacation (AKA time off from work although we got significantly less sleep), took care of documents for Misha, and even threw in some business deals.

The first order of business was to meet Sasha - our contact in Donetsk. Basically, Sasha owns a hunting/diving excursion business in Ukraine and Misha would be partnering with him.

Misha and I posing in front of Sasha's Land Cruiser.

It was a very outdoorsy vehicle that even had a snorkle so you could take it through deep water.

See the snorkle? It was a serious ride.

Sasha knows a lot of prominent people in this region through his business. He took us on a mini-tour of the city and then ended up taking us to their soccer stadium, which is where the Euro Cup 2012 will be hosted.

So, his friend is the director of this place and he hooked us up with a private tour!!!

The team that plays here is called "Shakhtar" which literally means "miners". It's a tribute to their coal-mining roots and history. Shakhtar is one of the oldest teams in Ukraine!

Inside of the stadium. It was super-nice!

I'm not a crazy sports fan, but I did enjoy our tour of the place. One funny thing is that they were CRAZY about the grass. Our guide told us that these machines were watering, fertilizing, and massaging the grass.

I would like to be pampered like this grass, please!

The bench

The press room

The locker room

Where the team runs onto the field

Going up to the Presidential Suite!

When we got off the elevator, two rather buff gentlemen in suits greeted us and whispered some hushed Russian words to our guide. We turned and went the other direction. After asking our guide what that was all about, his reply was "our President may or may not be here."

I know it's the Presidential Suite, but I didn't know the President (of Ukraine, of course) would be there!!!

We didn't meet the President of Ukraine, but we did enjoy a delicious meal! Do you see how the booth is shaped? It has a soccer ball dome over it. It took me a long time to catch that one. Haha!

Sasha also took us on another trip to this beautiful river. He and Misha went fishing and diving while I enjoyed a nice nap on the riverbank. :-)

I was going to layout, but the weather was very out-of-the-ordinary. It is normally hot this time of year, but it was in the 60's and 70's while we were there. That is way too chilly for a bikini although it didn't phase the locals!