off to Belize City

Hopefully, we will soon be the owners of a 'new to us' car.  Today we are going to Belize City to get the paperwork started.  We are so excited about being more mobile and getting to see more of this beautiful country.   

This is a big step for us.  We  haven't owned a car in six years.  Russia's public transportation was so good that we didn't need a vehicle.  There we were able to go anywhere we wanted to go by bus or taxi. Here it is not quite as convenient.  We are praying that all goes well and that we will be able to show pictures of the vehicle and share the process with you all soon!

the sign says

While riding the marshutka we saw two signs.

The first was said:
Don't slam the door!

The second one said:
Buy yourself a refrigerator and slam that door.

it's all about the look

I was able to snap this with my cell phone while waiting for that #34 van that is approaching!

... her boots are the same color green as her coat. I love a girl who knows how to match her footwear with her fur!

riding the tramvai

There was an old lady

who sat on the bus, carrying a bucket, a four foot tall mirror (the kind that goes at the back of a dresser), and her purse. Inside the purse was a potato chip bag. Inside the potato chip bag was her coin purse. Inside her coin purse was her bus pass! Yep, true story… just ask Tom. He told me all about her when he got home. I suppose she kept her coin purse in the potato chip bag so noone would steal it!

Live Language!!

One of the new verbs that we learned this week is one that means to reap, cut or mow. It is also used for shaking hands or for saying that a piece of clothing is very tight and is squeezing you!

Today I heard this verb used on the bus.

There was a woman behind me who was quite upset with the lady who sat down beside her. She accused her of squeezing! Her seatmate was quite indignant in her response to the accusation.... curtly replying she did no such thing.

Even thought I knew that both the ladies behind me were upset with one another... I was thrilled to have understood the conversation!!

“Как тебе не стыдно?!”

kak tibyeh ne stidna?!

The first teens standing near us on the tramvai were two young men from the military academy. The next group was four teens… three girls and one boy. One girl could not stop laughing, one girl was doing graffiti on the window, the boy was doing pull ups on the bar that passengers hold onto to steady themselves, and the last girl was trying to get them all to settle down. She fussed at them to “be quiet” or “be careful” and when that didn’t work it was a loud “Как тебе не стыдно?!” or roughly translated “have you no shame?!” It only worked for a short while.

baby it's cold outside!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Transport was running slow today... and it is zero degrees outside! Spencer and I walked almost a mile and half home from where the bus stopped. We could not see anything wrong with the bus, the driver just made an announcement and told us "something happened" and he was pulling into the depot.

As we were walking home a man jumped out from behind a building and I screamed... it was Tom. He saw us coming and waited to scare me. Spencer had no reaction; he saw his Dad and didn't warn me.

Aren't I lucky?!

that's a fine kettle...

Monday, October 22, 2007

People carry buckets onto the bus all the time… most of the time they are filled with fruits or vegetables. For the first time we had a woman on the bus with a bucket of fish! How would you like that ride?!

Skipping school

Tuesday, September 4,2007


Tom and I went over to the school today to give gifts to the teachers that we had purchased in America. They were so excited over each gift we gave them. After spending time visiting with them Tom wanted to go shopping.

Tanya, the director gave me permission to skip school and spend time with Tom. We were able to get curtain rods so that Tom can get our curtains hung.

That was all Tom was able to do today.

One shopping trip wore him out! It is not easy here… in America we hop in a car and go wherever we want to go. We look for the closest parking space in front of the store.

Here we have to walk to the closest bus stop or phone a taxi. Going shopping is a major ordeal. Once we finish shopping, we have to decide on the best way to get the items home. Sometimes we take a taxi if we have a lot of bags. Today we came home on a marshutka, a public van that holds about 12 passengers. Tom placed the curtain rods in the aisle and we are grateful that he didn’t hit anyone on the head as we got off at our stop!

*** the hot water only lasted the weekend... we are back to cold water again!!!

simple joys

Spencer and I went out today to pick up new internet cards and bus passes for the month. Our time went very smoothly. At the bus depot we were able to get off the bus, purchase the passes and get back on the same bus before it pulled off again.

We got off on Krasnaya and then walked down to the UTK building to buy the new internet cards. It was lightly misting out as we were walking. Once we picked up the internet cards we continued on down Krasnaya to a video store where we found two new movies. The Wild and X Men 3. The guys have been wanting to see X Men 3 for quite sometime so that was a major find.

Spencer and I walked about 8 blocks to the next bus stop and were a little frustrasted to have seen the bus we needed pass us on the way. The bus we ended up taking was only going as far as the depot so we had to change buses to get all the way home. The bus change was the highlight of Spencer's day. He has been saying for the last three months or so that he wanted to ride one of the new buses and today he got his wish. He sat down next to me with a great big smile. I had not seen him that excited for awhile. Simple joy....riding a new bus!

long day

We had a Social Ministries Team meeting and then a meeting at the BLTC following that.

We came home in the dark, both of us (Tom and I) tired and hungry. I made dinner and some pumpkin cookies for dessert and then we decided to watch a movie.

We watched Reds... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reds/about.php although it has good reviews it is one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. Spencer said it was THE MOST boring for him. He went over to Judi B's today with Sonja to watch part of the marathon Judi was doing with the Lord Of the Rings trilogy. He says he only stayed about 4 hours and just saw one of the 3 movies! Nathan didn't go because he did his LOTR movies over the weekend!

We have snow on the ground and it is cold outside and in. We are wearing light jackets or sweaters in the apartment. Transportation here is slow. This morning we took a taxi over to the meeting at Tim and Joy's so that we would not be too late. Our taxi driver got confused and took us a little too far. I recognised we were going the wrong way and he apologised and only charge us the minimum fee for the ride. Which was a blessing because when the weather gets bad they will charge extra for using up gas for the heater!

the adventures of public transport

Spencer and I went to hear Jill and Stuart Briscoe speak for the ex-patriates in town. We decided to take the bus over to Shane and Melissa's house for the event. On the way over there we ended up taking two buses. Which is no big deal because we have bus passes. It was a big deal to those who did not hear the announcement that the bus was going on break. So it only went as far as the University and then stopped. When one young man realised that he was going to have to pay to ride another bus he started yelling at the conductor. She yelled back at him and finally got out of her seat and walked up to the front of the bus to get away from him.

He would not stop yelling so the driver stopped the bus and got out of his seat to come and yell at him. The driver yelled that "everybody heard the announcement" and that the young man needed to listen better. That was when pandemonium broke loose. Several people joined in the argument saying that they didn't hear the announcement either. Spencer and I seemed to be the only people that actually heard the announcement as soon as we boarded the bus. It ended with the young man writing down their names and I.D. numbers to report them.

Spencer and I enjoyed the time with Jill and Stuart. Hearing their stories of life in ministry and their world travels was inspiring. They have gone to teach in places where it is illegal for Christians to gather.

I think the thing I will remember the most is Jill saying that "you have to unpack your bags into the situation or you will always have regrets". She was referring to a young wife who had spent two years on the field of a four year term and had not unpacked her bags and was ready to give up and go home. It applies to literal bags as well as emotional bags. It is difficult to move forward in life without having fully unpacked all that you brought with you.

We met some people with Campus Crusade who are here in the city attending school and serving. It was nice to meet some new people. One of the young ladies is from California. I talked to her even though she was from Berkeley!

On the way home Judi B. joined us. The soccer game had let out and there were six drunk young people who were singing a Kuban cheer over and over and louder and louder. And playing the music on there cell phones loudly. It is interesting to note that when people are drunk they sing "La La La" a lot!

As Spencer and I were getting off the bus Judi whispered to me to be careful. Spencer and I walked slowly along the path to let that group get ahead of us. And then came safely on home. If they chose to harass anyone along the way it was not us!

Transportation center close to our house
Posted by Hello

Marzshutka taxi usually carries about 12 people
Posted by Hello