Part 15: UKRAINE

Vanzilla 2.0 was in jet mode and we were flying over far eastern Europe.

Me: So what did you think of Russia, Mr. Lynn?

We were putting together another puzzle.

Lynn Sr.: It was amazing J.D.

Rita: I had no idea that Russia was home to so many beautiful buildings and famous events in history.

Varie: You learn lots of things when you travel all over the world and read about them in books and on the computer.

Lincoln: That's right.

Laney: Russia was very beautiful.

Lana: It sure was.

Lola: Yeah.

Lucy: The food was good.

Lori: It literally was.

Leni: Totes. I loved the Borscht.

Lisa: Affirmative. The Cold Beet Soup was delicious and nutritious.

Nicole: You are gonna be interested in our next destination.

1 hour and 30 minutes later we arrived in Ukraine.

Nicole: We're here guys. Welcome to Ukraine.

Naruto: Wow. So this is Ukraine.

Anastasia: This is where Ivan is from. I wonder if we'll see him again.

Lincoln: We just might Anastasia. He's from a town called Mykolayiv.

Nicole: That's neat Lincoln. We'll be going there later. The first stop is an interesting part of world history here in Ukraine.

We later arrived in the ghost town of Chernobyl.

We start walking around the city and it looked like something out of a Post-Apocalyptic Movie.

Naruto: What is this place?

Nicole: This is Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Me: Oh man. I've seen this town and it is not pretty.

Lola: Where is everyone?

Jessie K: They all had to leave because of the famous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

Luna: What happened back then?

Jessie K: On April 25-26th, 1986 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded during an emergency shutdown of the reactor core while undergoing a power failure test. The explosion sent huge amounts of nuclear radiation all over northern Ukraine, southeastern Belarus and southwestern Russia. Everyone in this town and the areas affected were ordered to leave. The towns of Prypiat, Chernobyl and Chemihiv, Ukraine and Homyel, Belarus were greatly affected and they were closed off to everyone. The Gamma Radiation made this place completely unlivable for a long time. Creating what is now called the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Because of that event, this whole place is now a ghost town.

Linka: Whoa! That's awful.

Luan: It sure is. This whole town is Irradiated! (Laughs to Rimshot) Get it?

We all laugh.

Me: (Laughs) Good one Luan.

Aylene: How did the reactor at Chernobyl explode?

Me: It was probably because of poor safety protocals.

Lisa: That's correct 2nd big brother. The protocals of a Nuclear Power Plant back in the 1980's were poorly inefficient.

Starfire: That's very awful. Radiation can't harm me for some reason.

Me: Me neither Starfire. Our powers are all protecting us from the Gamma Radiation that has contaminated the area. I saw that when I was in Canada. Radiation didn't affect me when I ate a radioactive marshmallow.

Vince: Our powers and gifts have made us impervious to Gamma Radiation.

Aylene: They sure have.

My Geiger Counter was clicking fast.

Me: My Geiger Counter is showing huge amounts of Gamma Radiation all over this place. It's gonna be like this here for the next 10,000 to 1 million years.

Naruto: That is awful.

Cody: That's really awful.

Zoe: We're immune to Gamma Radiation too.

Hercules: That's right sis.

Luna: You guys are tough dudes.

Lucy: How do you even feel Gamma Radiation?

Me: That's the bad part. You don't even know it's there until it starts burning you from the inside out. It's like fire that burns you from the inside.

Natilee: In otherwords you don't even know it's there until it's too late.

Riley: That's awful.

Lynn Sr. and Rita were wearing radiation suits.

Lynn Sr.: Thank you for putting us in these suits J.D.

Rita: If this place is irradiated then we have to be careful.

Me: You're welcome Mr. Lynn and yes we have to stay safe.

Leni: But what about me? I don't have powers.

Me: I found out Leni that your sword protects you from all hazardous levels of Gamma Radiation. You'll be safe as long as you have your sword.

Leni: Oh.

Eddy: But what about me? I only have bat wings and I don't have powers like all you guys.

Me: I discovered that Magisword powers protect you from Gamma Radiation.

Eddy: Oh. That's a relief.

Laney: That's amazing.

Later we walked around Chernobyl and it was a scary place and more to see it completely deserted.

Lola: Boy it's so scary seeing a town like this totally deserted.

Lana: It sure is.

Me: Believe it or not guys, this whole town is a very prominent example on what would happen if Humans weren't around.

Lisa: Correct. It was the basis for the famous documentary "The World Without Us".

Lana: I saw that documentary and that was scary but cool.

Me: It was scary but that's all hypothetical. We won't be leaving the Earth for a long time.

Lilly: It's really scary here.

Lincoln: Don't worry Lilly. I'm here for you.

Lori: This is literally creepy. I hope this town isn't haunted.

Varie: No Lori. It's not haunted.

Me: But I've seen a movie about this. It's called "Chernobyl Dairies". It's about these kids that are on vacation here in Eastern Europe and they accidentally wandered into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and they are attacked by Nuclear Mutants.

Lori: I saw that movie and it was freaky.

Lucy: I saw it too and it was strange.

Lisa: Radiation does cause horrible mutations to both humans and animals but a movie like that is a fabrication of a fictitious tale.

Me: That's true Lisa.

Laney: That's awful. I've heard of that movie "The Hills Have Eyes" and that was too scary.

Lynn Sr.: (Screams and jumps into Rita's arms) Mutants! Don't eat me!

Me: Mr. Lynn calm down. If there are any nuclear mutants we'll blast them.

Lynn Sr.: (Relieved) Thank you guys.

Varie: What's wrong with Mr. Lynn?

Rita: He saw the movie The Hills Have Eyes from 1977 and it scared him really bad when he was a kid and it scarred him for life.

Aylene: That's awful. A movie like that would traumatize someone for life.

Kate: Yeah. It would.

Kate had a radiation suit on.

Lynn: The Earth is telling me that there are no mutants in the area.

Terra: That's a relief.

We later were back in the car and did a big decontamination regimen. We left in helicopter mode and arrived in Mykolayiv.

Me: So this is Mykolayiv, Ukraine. It's beautiful.

Riley: It sure is.

Anastasia: I hope we run into Ivan. I've learned so much about the Ukraine. It's amazing.

We admired all the sights and sounds and saw lots of amazing buildings.

?: (Ukrainian Accent) Anastasia?

We turned and saw Ivan Hordiyenko.

Anastasia: Ivan!

They hugged.

Ivan: This is such a surprise.

Me: It's good to see you again Ivan.

Ivan: It sure is J.D. What are you all doing in the Ukraine?

Nicole: We're all on a big vacation financed by me.

Ivan: That's amazing. These are my parents Alina and Artem Hordiyenko.

Me: Приємно зустрітися з вами. Я Дж. Д. Кнудсон. (Translation: Pleasure to meet you. I'm J.D. Knudson.)

Anton: Задоволення познайомитись і з тобою. Ми так багато чули про вас усіх від Івана. (Translation: Pleasure to meet you too. We've heard so much about you from Ivan.)

Alina: (Ukrainian accent) You speak good Ukrainian J.D.

Me: I'm very multi-lingual. I've been all over the planet and learned so many languages.

We introduced ourselves. Anton and Alina invited us for dinner and it was a great time. We found out that Ivan and his family are moving to Royal York later on. It's gonna be awesome having Ivan in America permanently. We later went to our next destination.

Continues in part 16