We found shops inside an apartment compex!
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Friday, June 03, 2005
Blog Things Quizzes!
Ok so this is me!
And this is Tom:
You Are 31 Years Old |
31 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
And this is Tom:
You Are 22 Years Old |
22 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Thursday!
Reebok! Is the word for Fisherman. The man selling fishing equipment at the renoc greeted us today in French. We cannot quite figure out how people determine where they think we are from. Nathan needed fishing gear because he has been invited to go on a fishing trip that is being arranged for Monday with Lena's brother; Slavic. He wanted to have equipment like Raul's. He found everything he needed and then he walked home by himself to be home in time for his art lesson.
Tom, Spencer and me went on walking through the renoc and found other treasures. We found a yarn store that also had beads! Tom found some goodies and I bought some yarn that looks like camoflage. Spencer wants me to make a lanyard to hold his cell phone!
I had to go over to the language school to send a fax regarding my plane ticket today. I had to go over there yesterday too. We saw the same guy both days. He was lighting a cigarette and walking towards us. He greeted us the same way both days.... "Allo, es-shh-ah" I thought at first he was saying 'hello lady'. Later we were walking past a sign that had the intials for USA. The sounds the guy made were the sounds for those letters. He was saying "hello USA!" Tom says to let him know the United States of America says "Hi!"
Tom, Spencer and me went on walking through the renoc and found other treasures. We found a yarn store that also had beads! Tom found some goodies and I bought some yarn that looks like camoflage. Spencer wants me to make a lanyard to hold his cell phone!
I had to go over to the language school to send a fax regarding my plane ticket today. I had to go over there yesterday too. We saw the same guy both days. He was lighting a cigarette and walking towards us. He greeted us the same way both days.... "Allo, es-shh-ah" I thought at first he was saying 'hello lady'. Later we were walking past a sign that had the intials for USA. The sounds the guy made were the sounds for those letters. He was saying "hello USA!" Tom says to let him know the United States of America says "Hi!"
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Oy, what a day!
Tom is going to find the post office. The Sharp family joke is that going to the post office means you are going out for ice cream… BUT, Tom is really going to find the post office. There is a Baskin Robbins down on Krasnaya; hopefully that is not near the post office!
How do I describe the rest of the days events?
1. There was a little babushka on the tram-vi going for the same seat as me. But I didn't see her. We collided. I helped her into the seat. This teenager started laughing and I shot him a NASTY look. He sat up board straight and stopped laughing immediately. That made me hold back a laugh. That poor little old lady was about the size of Tom's grandmother Sharp. She could have blown over in the wind. I thought I broke her! She was running forward with her hands on her head holding down her hair pins!
2. We saw a young boy riding on his bike up the street. He rode right in front of this young lady and skidded to a stop... then he reached out and smacked her on the forehead! She turned to her friend and said "et moi brat" (That is my brother!) Spencer said "of course that was her little brother; who else would do such a thing?!"
3. Found out that someone on Nathan's message board thinks I'm hot.
(Homestar Runner Voice) "Ew gwoss, she's old enough to be your muddah!"
4. The finale: this actually happened first....
We saw our first cross dresser in Russia! He was wearing a bright red see through blouse with roses embroidered on it. It was knee length.... with mauve colored slacks and sandals. He also had a big flashy orange ring on his pinky. Spencer was being a gentleman like his dad taught him and got up to offer him/her the seat and when he realized this was a man he pretended to tie his shoe and sat back down! The older people on the bus were not making eye contact with him and the younger ones were whispering. It was interesting to say the least. I had my camera but thought it best not to document this event!
How do I describe the rest of the days events?
1. There was a little babushka on the tram-vi going for the same seat as me. But I didn't see her. We collided. I helped her into the seat. This teenager started laughing and I shot him a NASTY look. He sat up board straight and stopped laughing immediately. That made me hold back a laugh. That poor little old lady was about the size of Tom's grandmother Sharp. She could have blown over in the wind. I thought I broke her! She was running forward with her hands on her head holding down her hair pins!
2. We saw a young boy riding on his bike up the street. He rode right in front of this young lady and skidded to a stop... then he reached out and smacked her on the forehead! She turned to her friend and said "et moi brat" (That is my brother!) Spencer said "of course that was her little brother; who else would do such a thing?!"
3. Found out that someone on Nathan's message board thinks I'm hot.
(Homestar Runner Voice) "Ew gwoss, she's old enough to be your muddah!"
4. The finale: this actually happened first....
We saw our first cross dresser in Russia! He was wearing a bright red see through blouse with roses embroidered on it. It was knee length.... with mauve colored slacks and sandals. He also had a big flashy orange ring on his pinky. Spencer was being a gentleman like his dad taught him and got up to offer him/her the seat and when he realized this was a man he pretended to tie his shoe and sat back down! The older people on the bus were not making eye contact with him and the younger ones were whispering. It was interesting to say the least. I had my camera but thought it best not to document this event!
Rhianna, such a happy girl!
Erin just sent these new photos of Rhianna.
I can hardly wait to see them again! Rome is
28 days away!
Posted by Hello
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Rain drops keep falling on my head
"Ouch!" says Nathan. Tom and I laugh.
"Ow!" says Spencer and Tom & I laugh again.
"OUCH!" says Alida... only Tom is still laughing!
Have you ever had a raindrop land on your head with such force that it hurt? I thought the rain in Kansas was hard. These rain drops were huge and heavy. We got caught in the rain after we finished our pizza. We walked out of the restaurant and it started off slowly then started to pour! We had two choices at first:
1. Run for the nearest tree
2. stand and wait for the bus
We made a run for the tree. Tom decided fairly quickly to hail a taxi. So what would have been a 12 ruble ride home turned into a 50 ruble ride home! Such is life.
I went out for a big shopping trip with Melanie today. She took me to a large renoc that rivals the Orange County swamp meet in Costa Mesa, California. There were designer clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, perfume, electronics, you name it... it was there! The people here are very frank in how they speak to you. Melanie is very tall (I'm 5 foot 2 so everyone is very tall to me!) and she needed a new swimsuit. This older woman just flat out told her that the two piece suits she had for sale would all be two small for her and she could only look at the one piece suits. Melanie had not even told the lady her size! I was looking for jeans. A different woman had some in my size...Melanie told her I was size 47 (Russian size). I was asked if I wanted to try them on. When I hesitated she came down on the price 100 rubles. There is a sheet they hold up and you step behind it and try on the item you select. Some women at other stalls just took off their tops and were trying on bras out in the open. I am not so free! Melanie ran to the front of the stall and assured me you could not see from that angle so I was brave and tried them on. That was the fastest I was ever in and out of a pair of jeans in my life! I paid 1000 rubles (35$) for a new pair of Jordan jeans. They show a picture of Michael Jordan's logo who knows if they are fake or not? I also purchased a lime green leather jacket for the same price! It says real leather & made in USA but we are not sure about that either. Anyhow, it will look cute this winter.
Our taxi driver was funny today. There was a car beside us that had to screech to a stop to avoid hitting the car in front of it. The steering wheel of that car was on the right so our driver was able to talk to him out of his window. He looked over and said "harashow!" (Good) The other driver nodded and said "Spaceeba" (thank you) Melanie told me that the other driver said he was praying to stop!
Nathan had his first art lesson today. Gaulia came to the house and worked with him for an hour. He is working on faces. I think she is a fabulous teacher. She said the magic words "your child is gifted!" His homework is to draw a male and a female face. He likes her teaching style. I am glad we made the choice to do private lessons. Gaulia has some of her pieces on display down on Krasnaya. She is a painter. I will photograph them when we find them. She comes again Thursday. Nathan ordered everyone out of the room when she got here. It would be nice if we had a studio for him. Right now he is lucky to have his own bedroom!
The boys and I finished our language homework this afternoon. We only had one word we could not find in the dictionary. We will have to ask Lena for help. The alphabet chart show a picture of ice cream covered in chocolate on a stick. The corresponding letter is looks like a backwards E. We think it should be the word for Eskimo pie ice cream. Tom remembers Alexei saying something to that effect. But we could not find the word. Not even in the bolshoi (big) Russian dictionary! Spencer is glad that Lena is so patient. He keeps making the Russian letter I backwards. It looks the same as an N in English only the center line goes the other way. Force of habit makes you write an N instead of doing it backward. Thank goodness we have all this time to practice before school starts in the fall!
"Ow!" says Spencer and Tom & I laugh again.
"OUCH!" says Alida... only Tom is still laughing!
Have you ever had a raindrop land on your head with such force that it hurt? I thought the rain in Kansas was hard. These rain drops were huge and heavy. We got caught in the rain after we finished our pizza. We walked out of the restaurant and it started off slowly then started to pour! We had two choices at first:
1. Run for the nearest tree
2. stand and wait for the bus
We made a run for the tree. Tom decided fairly quickly to hail a taxi. So what would have been a 12 ruble ride home turned into a 50 ruble ride home! Such is life.
I went out for a big shopping trip with Melanie today. She took me to a large renoc that rivals the Orange County swamp meet in Costa Mesa, California. There were designer clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, perfume, electronics, you name it... it was there! The people here are very frank in how they speak to you. Melanie is very tall (I'm 5 foot 2 so everyone is very tall to me!) and she needed a new swimsuit. This older woman just flat out told her that the two piece suits she had for sale would all be two small for her and she could only look at the one piece suits. Melanie had not even told the lady her size! I was looking for jeans. A different woman had some in my size...Melanie told her I was size 47 (Russian size). I was asked if I wanted to try them on. When I hesitated she came down on the price 100 rubles. There is a sheet they hold up and you step behind it and try on the item you select. Some women at other stalls just took off their tops and were trying on bras out in the open. I am not so free! Melanie ran to the front of the stall and assured me you could not see from that angle so I was brave and tried them on. That was the fastest I was ever in and out of a pair of jeans in my life! I paid 1000 rubles (35$) for a new pair of Jordan jeans. They show a picture of Michael Jordan's logo who knows if they are fake or not? I also purchased a lime green leather jacket for the same price! It says real leather & made in USA but we are not sure about that either. Anyhow, it will look cute this winter.
Our taxi driver was funny today. There was a car beside us that had to screech to a stop to avoid hitting the car in front of it. The steering wheel of that car was on the right so our driver was able to talk to him out of his window. He looked over and said "harashow!" (Good) The other driver nodded and said "Spaceeba" (thank you) Melanie told me that the other driver said he was praying to stop!
Nathan had his first art lesson today. Gaulia came to the house and worked with him for an hour. He is working on faces. I think she is a fabulous teacher. She said the magic words "your child is gifted!" His homework is to draw a male and a female face. He likes her teaching style. I am glad we made the choice to do private lessons. Gaulia has some of her pieces on display down on Krasnaya. She is a painter. I will photograph them when we find them. She comes again Thursday. Nathan ordered everyone out of the room when she got here. It would be nice if we had a studio for him. Right now he is lucky to have his own bedroom!
The boys and I finished our language homework this afternoon. We only had one word we could not find in the dictionary. We will have to ask Lena for help. The alphabet chart show a picture of ice cream covered in chocolate on a stick. The corresponding letter is looks like a backwards E. We think it should be the word for Eskimo pie ice cream. Tom remembers Alexei saying something to that effect. But we could not find the word. Not even in the bolshoi (big) Russian dictionary! Spencer is glad that Lena is so patient. He keeps making the Russian letter I backwards. It looks the same as an N in English only the center line goes the other way. Force of habit makes you write an N instead of doing it backward. Thank goodness we have all this time to practice before school starts in the fall!
Monday, May 30, 2005
Lesson One!
Lena came over today to officially start lessons with Nathan, Spencer and I. We met for two hours. We covered half of the alphabet, learning the correct way to pronounce the sounds, print them, write them in cursive and learn a word that began with them. We also learned some phrases. Since Lena does not speak much English we have to use the dictionary to communicate. It works out best to have someone teach you who cannot fully communicate in English. We are forced to learn the Russian words for what we want to say to get her to understand (paneemaj)!
Before she left she went into the bathroom. She has shopped with me enough to know that my favorite color is light green. Lime actually! Well, she came out of the bathroom beaming because I had found toilet paper in this color. She was estatic. She told us she had NEVER seen toilet paper that color! She taught us the Russian word for surprising "yoodivleno". It does not cost that much to buy colored toilet paper. Most stores just don't sell it.
Before she left she went into the bathroom. She has shopped with me enough to know that my favorite color is light green. Lime actually! Well, she came out of the bathroom beaming because I had found toilet paper in this color. She was estatic. She told us she had NEVER seen toilet paper that color! She taught us the Russian word for surprising "yoodivleno". It does not cost that much to buy colored toilet paper. Most stores just don't sell it.
Mila is still waking up from a nap!
Tom gave Mila a highlighter to play with.
We need to get some toys!
Posted by Hello
Mila came over with her parents today!
Our home is not child proof. When we get our
permanent place we need to get it prepared for
little ones!
Posted by Hello
waiting for tram-vi to be repaired!
It was eery how patiently the passengers sat while
the tram-vi was being moved and then re-started.
No one spoke to complain or question what was going
on. No one displayed a reaction to the flash from my
camera either!
Posted by Hello
Traffic jam- view from window
We rode the tram-vi home from Krasnaya. This
was a first for us. A motorist decided to cross the
tracks very quickly causing the tram-vi to brake
suddenly and that made it stall in the middle of
the intersection. The tram-vi operator had to get
out and direct it backwards while the conductor
(ticket collector) steered it out of the intersection.
Somehow they managed to get it going again!
Posted by Hello
We spied a detective agency!
Spencer and I were out shopping this morning
on Krasnaya. We have passed this way several
times before. Today was the first day I noticed
this sign!
Posted by Hello
Sunday, May 29, 2005
New View Students
South Carolina family has Southern California family over for dinner!
We had dinner with some students from the Language school. I met Jody and Melanie when I went over to New View to interview Ella to be our house helper. Jody just walked right up and introduced himself to me! Melanie found me just a few minutes later. Later that week she called and asked us to dinner. She wanted to know what food we were missing from the States. I told her Spencer was asking for fried chicken. She made fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, and homemade rolls! A truly southern meal.
My quest is over...they have shared their stash of peanut butter! Tom was so happy. Melanie says that her Mom sends weekly shipments. She gave me two pairs of jeans since she has lost weight and can't wear them anymore. I am grateful because two pair I brought with me are not fitting very well due to the 'walking everywhere you go in Russia' diet! Jody gave a pair to Nathan that are brand new! You can't really take things back that you buy from a renoc. Jody didn't try them on so he was stuck! Jody seemed excited about the boys getting their power converters. He is eager to play their Nintendo DS games and the Gameboy games too! He says he will most likely stay at our house too late... he doesn't know us yet. What is too late for the Sharps?
We had dinner with some students from the Language school. I met Jody and Melanie when I went over to New View to interview Ella to be our house helper. Jody just walked right up and introduced himself to me! Melanie found me just a few minutes later. Later that week she called and asked us to dinner. She wanted to know what food we were missing from the States. I told her Spencer was asking for fried chicken. She made fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, and homemade rolls! A truly southern meal.
My quest is over...they have shared their stash of peanut butter! Tom was so happy. Melanie says that her Mom sends weekly shipments. She gave me two pairs of jeans since she has lost weight and can't wear them anymore. I am grateful because two pair I brought with me are not fitting very well due to the 'walking everywhere you go in Russia' diet! Jody gave a pair to Nathan that are brand new! You can't really take things back that you buy from a renoc. Jody didn't try them on so he was stuck! Jody seemed excited about the boys getting their power converters. He is eager to play their Nintendo DS games and the Gameboy games too! He says he will most likely stay at our house too late... he doesn't know us yet. What is too late for the Sharps?
Nathan & AJ
Nathan would love to have a cat. He gets
excited when we visit someone who has one!
By the way. AJ was named by Aiden. It was
something he said clearly. AJ is a girl...they just
recently found that out!
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Micayla took this one!
This one did not quite get focused. I think Micayla
was on the move! Melanie and Jody are not fuzzy
in real life.
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Leia holding AJ the cat!
Jody and Melanie; her parents in the background.
Leia likes to keep the cat close to her...real close!
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Aiden eating ice cream!
Aiden was eating ice cream by the fistful! He kept
going back to the table and finding more.
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Nathan: the kid magnet!
Nathan is with our new friends; Macayla, Leia
& their little brother Aiden. They are watching
the video Ice Age.
Posted by Hello
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Militsia!
Our venture out yesterday was to buy a vacuum. Both boys went with me. We saw many militsia (police) out on the streets. They were pulling people over randomly. After we purchased the vacuum it was very difficult to hail a taxi at the usual place. The taxi drivers appeared to be avoiding the area where the militsia were. Tom thinks that perhaps some of the taxi drivers did not have licenses or the proper documents. We walked up a block and a half until I was able to make eye contact with a driver! He slowed down so we jumped in quickly and sped away. We saw the militsia again as we went around the corner on the next major street. I know that it is Memorial weekend in the States but there is no such holiday here. Perhaps there is a dignitary in town!
Friday, May 27, 2005
Tom & Domo play tug of war
After playing with the sock for a while on his
own Domo brought the sock over to Tom for
a game of tug of war!
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My first hand knit sock!
The colors were great; the body of it was fine
but the toe was awkward! I will try again with
another pattern. I did not mind giving this one
to Domo because it was not getting a mate!
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Domo & the Sock
I finished the tube sock I was making and we
were laughing at how badly the toe came out. I
put the sock on Domo's nose and he became our
Friday night entertainment!
Posted by Hello
The Value of Water
Water, how important is it? Right now the water is turned off. Why? Who knows? Ella commented that where she lives this happens for a week or two once a year. She says there could be repairs going on somewhere in our district. She is cleaning and we had water when she did the dishes but she always does the floors last. We have two dogs and lots of guests who get the entry way floor dirty and the living room floor has the most dog hair. She can sweep but not mop. We cannot shower. I buy 5 liter bottles of water to cook with and for drinking. At least we can clean ourselves off with that. Welcome to Russia!
2 hours later the water came back on! The shower works again and we can do the laundry now. Slava Bogu! Glory to God!
2 hours later the water came back on! The shower works again and we can do the laundry now. Slava Bogu! Glory to God!
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Evil or Good?
There is a website that tells you if your site is good or evil! I tried the BibleGateway site and it was only 77% good. It must have been the evil part of me that looked it up! Our website www.sharps4russianrecovery.com is only 43% good. Tom thinks it's funny. It was his idea to look up Bible Gateway, but since I actually did it I took the full responsibility!
bath & sink room
A typical Russian bathroom has the toilet separate
from the bath tub and sink!
Posted by Hello
Entry way
This is the realtor who helped us with the hunt.
She spent some time in America so spoke a bit
of English!
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Apartment Hunt
Lucky number 13…we pray the lift works on the day we decide to move in! We found an apartment we would like to buy. It is on the 13th floor. Ervand , Joyce, the realtor, Tom and myself viewed the apartment this morning. We were grateful Joyce came along to translate. The place is brand new. It is unfinished. We would get to do the final work on it to get it the way we want it. Everything we need is close by….supermarket, pharmacy, renoc, church, and the language school is not too far. We don’t mind the number 13. December 13th is the day we got married!
When we walked out of the apartment Tom and Joyce saw a man coming out of the supermarket with beer and bread. I saw someone going through the trash. We talked about this location being the place we are called to work. We could tell the addicts and the alcoholics were out getting there meals for the day. This location is near the sewer that Tom toured last year. He visited the sewer with Tim Watson and two men from Artika and discovered where as many as 1500 people live during the winter months and about 150 in the summer.
We pray now for guidance!
When we walked out of the apartment Tom and Joyce saw a man coming out of the supermarket with beer and bread. I saw someone going through the trash. We talked about this location being the place we are called to work. We could tell the addicts and the alcoholics were out getting there meals for the day. This location is near the sewer that Tom toured last year. He visited the sewer with Tim Watson and two men from Artika and discovered where as many as 1500 people live during the winter months and about 150 in the summer.
We pray now for guidance!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
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