April 26, 1986

This was pretty awesome to go to. A group of about 7 of us went to a Chernobyl museum here in Kiev. It was so interesting. I've heard about this tragedy growing up (not surprising, with a dad who used to work in a nuclear power plant :)) but I really enjoyed learning even more. It was kind of like a museum/art gallery because there were so many pictures and they had it set up in a really artistic way. One part that was really interesting was this film we watched that was taken the day after the accident in the city right next to the plant (Prepyet). During the video, these white marks would randomly flash across the screen. The tour guide said that was because of the high levels of radiation. It was so high that it affected the film, even though you can't see it with your eyes. That was really interesting to see. One thing I thought about while on this tour was that tragedy, although it is horrible, has the potential to bring out the best in people. It was amazing to hear about the military, the firefighters, the workers and so many others who were all heroes in the face of this terrible occurance. It was incredible to see video footage of the men who shoveled the radioactive debri off of the roof of the 3rd reactor back into the destroyed 4th reactor. They only worked for 2 minutes at time. The whole feel of this museum was both humbling and hopeful. They had some letters on display written by US children to President Reagan saying "We should help those people. Here is how we could help them." I really liked seeing those. If anyone is making a trip to Kiev, I highly recommend you go to this museum :) One of my favorite things our tour guide said was "Because life isn't predictable, that means there is always room for hope." I loved that. Hope you guys do too.