We can eat whatever we want now!

Olya is busy cleaning the kitchen this morning. There are so many people to thank for the appliances being in.

Lena went to purchase the pipe needed to install the stove.
Slavic (Lena's brother) came over to install it.
Tom cut the counter top where the pipe is.
Nathan went out to buy the plug for the electric starter.

I even helped Slavic by holding up the oven while he connected the piping in the back. Nathan's arms were long enough but he was not quite strong enough to get it connected. The oven is pretty light to hold onto. And Slavic worked quickly!

Once the kitchen is clean I will try to get in a few more photos. What is left to do in there are minor details... and for minor details... who knows how long I can wait?! Maybe next year we'll have a finished product!

The first meal is cooking on the stove! I think I still remember how to use this thing... 

The corner of the kitchen showing the gas pipe!

 
 

The kitchen appliances are all in!

 
 

Should I talk about the meat seller?

I saw a man selling meat from the back of his car. He was no different from a local butcher taking orders from whoever stepped up. With the exception that he was cutting it with an ax on a cutting board in the parking lot. I was tempted to step in the line but the thought of the unclean ax and the possibility of the meat hitting the ground keeps me going to the market and avoiding the guys selling from their cars!

Instead of leaving you in shock over today's sighting I will leave you with a poem that I got from a friend today!

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

feeling sick

Tom stayed home today because his foot hurt.
I stayed home because I have a cold.
The kitchen is closer to being finished. The last piece we need is a pipe to connect the stove to the gas line. When I tried saying pipe no one knew that English word. Finally I remembered that the Russian word is Schlongk. Lena is going to pick one up tomorrow.

My teacher Arina has been coming over to give me massages. My fibromyalgia is really helped by her type of massage. She only focuses on muscle. I gave her a copy of an English book on massage. She was extremely excited about it. She gave me a big kiss. Tom was happy too... one less book in the house!!!!
Nathan and I are enjoying her as a teacher. If she pronounces or spells an English word wrong all we have to do is tell her and she goes right on. Sometimes she will ask for us to write down the correct spelling. She is studying philology. She is learning about the roots of the Russian language and is studying the various languages that have a Russian base. She is very bright and very busy. Oh, to be 26 again!

I finally posted a few more pictures on the photoblog from Odessa.
www.sharpmomphotos.blogspot.com

They are inside the Orthodox church on the pier.

St. Nicholas

This photo was taken in Odessa at the church down on the pier. The mosaics are beautiful here. 

Question: What kept Alida from posting?

Answer:14.4 kbps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kbit/s

That is how slow the computer was running when I logged on and tried to post yesterday!

If you are using dial up you can probably relate. I placed the cursor over the computer icon and it showed the speed of 14.4. Normal for us would be 52.0. I was not able to check the balance of our bank accounts or log on to Blogger. The sessions kept timing out and it was not a fun experience.

Yesterday was Tom's first day back at school. He did well. We have been using taxis this week. He is not quite ready for public transportation. He says if there is ever an over fourty hopscotch championship he will ace it!

Just stopping by!

After church Valentin and Sveta stopped by to pick up their disk. They borrowed our camera for their honeymoon. I took all of their photos and put them on a disk and combined them with their wedding photos.

It was fun to have them over. Sveta reminds me of myself when I was newly married. I remember going over to Tom's parents house for dinner and feeling very nervous!

Valentin brought over a copy of a video that showed the village where he was from.
This website will give you an idea!

http://www.chukotka.org/root/?lang=en

Valentin is from a place called Chukotka. It is near the Bering Sea. Close to the Bering Strait. We saw them fish for seal meat. Eat reindeer. We saw the city as it looked when Valentin left in 1997. He had the chance to go and live with a host family in Alaska after that for two years. And then he came to Krasnodar. It was so cold you could see the snow blowing over the landscape. The baptism we watched was done in a bathtub indoors!

If you click on the weather link it will say the village names in Russian and give the temps in Celcius. I have been informed that at -40 is where F & C meet up!

Hermitage Exhibit

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/04/2005/hm4_2_140.html

You can check on the link and see a part of the exhibit we were able to see. I would love to be able to post my own photos. But, I was not allowed to take any at all. They would not even let me pay to take pictures. And since we were with friends from school who brought small children I needed to follow the rules!

Our teacher had instructed us at school not to talk when she purchased the tickets. She said that if they know we are foreigners they will raise the admission price. We reminded everyone to be quiet at the door. Then Arina looked at me and said "well, Alida doesn't look Russian anyway, so it doesn't matter!" She and I started laughing but others were not so sure how to take it. She has been coming over to give me massages. She has heard all of my stories about where people seem to think that I am from!

A group of us went out to eat after we left the exhibit. That was also a 'cultural experience'. I had my photo taken by someone with a cellphone! Wonder who she thinks I am? I hope she is not to disappointed when she finds out I am not a celebrity!

The only working oven in the house! It is only a convection oven and not a microwave. 

Lena is greeting her guests! 

The redheads! 

Ira is the only one allowed to wear shoes in the home. She was carried over so her shoes are clean. It is traditional to take off your shoes near the door when you enter a Russian home. 

Joyce is on the floor, I am talking to Ira, Alexei is in the hallway taking a picture of Tom taking a picture. He is definitely family! 

Uncle Alexei is taking pictures! When I bought my new camera it was because the old one was broken. Alexei had it repaired and now it is attached to his hands! 

Ira playing peek a boo with "DyahDyah" Tom. DyahDyah is Uncle.... and she had 6 in the room toninght! 

My "tables" are set and we are about ready to eat! The drinks are on the slab that was cut from the counter top to make room for the sink. It is sitting on the leftover paint for the apartment. Olya decided we should make use of these items! 

They kept calling her Al Capone! She is wearing Spencer's new hat. 

Joyce is standing at the "table" near Olya. It was her idea to use the drying rack. Olya brought over her table cloth. Underneath is an old Indian blanket that we used to take to the beach!