Eurovision 2006

I watched my first Eurovision Talent show. It is the "grandfather of all talent shows". Last night was the 51st competition. Countries from all over Europe vote for the winner.

Last night's winner was Finland. The group is called Lordi and they are a rock group.

Personally I liked the group from Israel. They were the most talented. The group from Lithuania sang a song one of them must have written. It was "We are the winners of Eurovision". They had a guy who looked like Drew Carey do a dance to a violin solo! The contest is very splashy... all the singers or groups had back up singers and/or dancers. The choreography was interesting. The guy from Russia came in second. He had ballet dancers backing him up and a girl who came out of the piano and spilled rose petals over the stage. Most of the songs were in English... except the woman from France sang in French and the Croatian group sang in Croatian. Germany's group was called Texas Lighting and they did a country song. I thought it was interesting that the Romanian contestant sang in English and Italian. You can read about each of the countries that particpated at the website for the contest.
http://www.eurovision.tv/english/index.htm

There have been groups that rocketed to fame after this competition. ABBA, Olivia Newton John and Celine Dion are the most succesful. Olivia Newton John actually lost to ABBA.

take my picture!

Yesterday was our final time at the orphanage for the school year. We will start up again in the fall. The kids really loved seeing pictures of themselves in the powerpoint presentation that Bill and Judi put together. I decided to take my camera and photograph our final time and the kids stood in line to get their photo taken. Perhaps they are hoping to be seen in next year's slide show!

For our craft time we used an idea from Ann T. in Orange County. She sent us some greeting cards made by her students. We took in some old magazines donated by people in Kansas and some of the card stock donated to us (from several sources) and the kids had a blast! The teachers there enjoyed looking at the magazines. Magazines are a luxury item here.

Kathy and Mike handed out goodie bags to all the kids. They each got an orange, candy, and some little goodies like pens, markers and such!

A team of college students joined us and they donated some games to the kids. They were given several bats and balls. It was such a fun time.

It is not the easiest location to get to for those of us who live on the other side of town. It takes two buses and then a two block walk. But it is worth it in the end!

Tom

Late Wednesday night Tom started having spasms in his back that were excruciatingly painful. I called our friend Kathy the nurse and she suggested calling an ambulance. I called the director of our school Tania and she called the ambulance for us and came over herself to help translate if needed.

Well, the ambulance arrived before she did. So I told the paramedic what was going on. He thought it was Tom's kidney stones and that we should see a doctor in the morning. He gave Tom an anti- spasmodic and suggested a warm shower. Tom was still not feeling well when Tania got here so she suggested going to the hospital. She made a phone call at about 1 am and made arrangements for Tom to be seen at the Diagnostic Center. We went over there and Tom had labwork, xrays and an ultrasound. The labwork was back in about 15 minutes. Everything looked normal. His kidney stones are deep in the kidneys and very small so they were not the problem either. The doctor thought it might be a pinched nerve. Tom had a shot of pain medication and was sent home. We are supposed to go and see a neurologist but haven't been able to get back over the Diagnostic Center yet. Yesterday Tom slept for 13 hours. I didn't have the heart to wake him after all he had been through.

Today we are waiting for a call to see if we can get in to see the neurologist. Otherwise we will be going Monday.

visiting the hospital

Lena and I went up to the hospital to see Sveta. She has been experiencing early contractions and was concerned about the baby coming too soon. I got a text message from her on Monday and she seemed very concerned but after being on medication for three days she was more peaceful than I have ever seen her! Hopefully, she will remember that we were there.

The interesting thing about visiting someone in the hospital here is that each time I have been over there they have not let us go up to see the patient. They send the patient down to see us. Sveta was allowed to walk through the park with us and then sit and chat for about an hour. During this time we saw several VERY pregnant women walking around outside. They can go across the street to the market to get food or have a smoke. Actually, I just assumed they were patients because they had on pajamas and bathrobes... but one never knows!

Off to buy tickets!

Spencer and I are going down to purchase tickets for his trip to Moscow. He is almost 16 and this is his birthday present.

He came home dancing because they starting learning instrumental case today. He was singing about being half way through the course. Nathan joined in Spencer's dance and then it came to an abrupt end when I said that them finishing school meant they would be going back to America soon. Nathan said I was not nice! Both of them are enjoying ife here and are hoping to come back here after college.

I am grateful that we have our entire family here right now. I think it has made our adjustment to life here easier and has bonded us together as a family. It will be hard to see them go when the time comes. Although they both need to follow whatever course God has laid out for them.

Hopefully, Spencer and I will have no problems purchasing tickets... if so it will be an interesting cultural experience to write about.

Happy Birthday to me!

I had to go to school but that was okay. Judi H., Lena and I went to a cafe in Krasnaya Ploshad. We had canoli and tea. It was a fun time to be with just girls. Judi and I did our best speaking Russian with Lena and since she works for both of us as our language helper she was correcting our grammar.

Tom bought movies from Mike C. They cannot take their movie collection with them to Kazakstan so they were selling them today. So of course my birthday present was MOVIES!

I saw Leeza while I was out. She gave me her passport because I need to buy tickets for she and Spencer for their trip to Moscow. This will be her first time flying. Spencer is an old pro!

The babushka in front of our apartment asked me what time it was when I got home. I told her it was 6:15. She said she "thought it was five". I said to her "no it's six". She insisted that someone had just told her it was five so how could it be six already! It was hard not to laugh. She sits on the stairs and asked everyone who walks by what time it is. Even though she is wearing a watch herself. She says that her vision is bad and she cannot see it!

shopping with Spencer

Spencer decided he needed new clothes today. So we went shopping. He has two new pairs of jeans and 5 new shirts. Hopefully, he won't need clothes for a while. He was actually easy to shop with. I didn't expect him to want to shop with his parents. But, we did great today. I guess all of us are growing up!

Our friends who are expecting a baby need prayer. She is in the hospital again and she asked for prayer that she would not deliver early.

Yesterday was Phillippe's concert. I went with his family and Sonja. I listened to a mix of Russian, German and English in the car. The highlight of the day was listening to Manuel sing in the car. He was singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children". He did fine for a while...

Jesus loves the little children
all the children of the world
blah blah blah black and white
an impression in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world!

Nathan & Dima

Dima came over today to play video games with Nathan. Dima and Nathan have a lot in common and it's funny to hear them play together. Dima speaks a little English. So they are speaking in Russian. Tom is watching them play and is cheering Dima on!

Spencer went over to Andrew's house so he will most likely be gone all day.

I need to post wedding pictures and then make a CD for Lena and Dima (different Dima).

We don't have Mother's Day here so the only upcoming holiday for us is my birthday on Monday! Spencer is going to bake a cake and we are going out to eat.

Orphanage Visits

The kids are playing a fast game of "head, shoulders, knees and toes" led by Mike.


With all the excitement around us with John being here last weekend I forgot that I had pictures from the orphange last week!

We had puppeteers from Kovchek Baptist Church come and put on a show for the kids. It was the largest turnout of children I have seen since I started going there. The kids played games and watched the show. They got prizes for participating and that led to more kids wanting to play the games. A few bags of candy bars and lollipops helps to put smiles on the faces of many kids!

Cat In the Hat!

After we finished our language time with Lena it was her turn for a lesson with Nathan. He chose the book Cat in the Hat. Lena read it in English and did a great job. She would read a page and then Nathan translated the book into Russian. So it was a learning time for both of them. Lena took the book home so that she could write down the new words and then look them up in the dictionary. Everyone told her how great she had done when she finished. We are so proud of her for reading the whole thing even though she said she might not know all the words. She did it anyway and that is what matters!

Spencer and Nathan both have a review to do for Lessons 46-50 and Tom and I have old lessons to go over. Although Tom and I have both studied in other classes to Lesson 50 we are both choosing to step back and redo some grammar that we missed. I am going back to 34 and Tom will be somewhere around there too. We have heard it is very common for people to repeat the genitive case. Neither one of us feels bad about it. We are commited to this country and this language. So we desire to do it with excellence and not with haste!

I am still hobbling around the house. I wanted to bake a cake but I knew that I shouldn't stand up that long to do it. So I talked Spencer through it. His devil's food cake is cooling in the kitchen. We decided it was his practice cake before he makes my birthday cake! Thanks to some generous people from Andover, Kansas we have several boxes of cake mix for him to practise with. He is a very good cook and the cake smells wonderful!

Tom is making some new jewelry for the store near us. He has made some Russian flags out of safety pins and beads. They are cute.

Wednesday

Nathan taught his English class today. He came home very tired and needed a nap. Spencer was the only one of us to go to school. I have to stay off my ankle for the rest of the week and Tom is taking a short break and then will rejoin his old class on Monday.

I am looking forward to studying with Judi H. she decided to go part time after the Christmas break. We had talked back then about me joining her. And I have thought and prayed about it since then. I missed a week of school going to doctor appoinments with Tom and I feel as if I am so far behind. Looking forward I need time to prepare lessons for Spencer when we start up homeschooling again in the fall. I think going to school two days a week will work. I thought I wanted the faster paced class but like the otherwise homeschooling moms before me I need to prioritize better. Joyce H. did her first year full time and then switched to part time. She is homeschooling Hannah and part time worked well for her.

We just got an email from John P saying he got home safely. He was fed by several of our Russian friends so he is well aquainted now with Russian quisine and customs. He had green borsht, jelloed meat, bliny, pelmeni, Olivier salad and so much more. It was great having someone here who has traveled as much as he has. He was very flexible and able to adapt to whatever the plans were. We look forward to many other guests coming to investigate Russia and spending time with us!

Victory Day!

Another day of rest and parades.

Tom and I have both been extremely tired this school year. These days off are very welcome in order for us to have time to recoop. We are both considering class changes. Tom and I both have health issues as a result of the pace we have been working at. I am considering joining a fellow student who is going part time. I will start homeschooling Spencer again in the fall and will need some preparation time during the week to make his schooling a success.

I sprained my ankle a week ago and then reinjured it when I photographed the wedding this past Saturday. So I am not walking this week so that it can heal properly. Kathy told me that I needed to give the ankle a rest and I am grateful for her wisdom.

Nathan is enjoying his new video game and Spencer is off with friends celebrating today's holiday.

Tom and I are enjoying the quiet!!!

John leaves in the morning

Today was a very long day! We had meetings and food and good fellowship!

I will have to write more tomorrow.... We have been blessed by John's visit and feel encouraged about our work here.

On the Kissing Bridge!

 

Lena & Dima

Lena and Dima took a moment to relax from the hard work of getting married! I just got home and it is around 11 pm. I was with wedding party until we met up with John and Tom to go over to the Parhomenka's for dinner. I will post more photos tomorrow. Enjoy! In the background is a small view of the Kuban (koo- bon) River. 

here, there and everywhere!

John P is here. On the way to the airport to pick up John we realised that we didn't know what he looked like! Mike drove for us since he has a van and he asked if John knew what we looked like... I said that if he has been to our website he may at least recognise me! So we stood off to the side waiting to see who came off the plane looking American. You know very tired from 15-20 or so hours of travel!

After talking for several hours to get to know each other we finally let John get to sleep around midnight our time that is about 3 in the afternoon in Kansas. This morning Tom and John are on their way to Axterka. Natasha is translating and Alexei P. is with them to answer questions and show them around the rehab center.

Nathan, Spencer and I will be going to Lena M's wedding. It will be a long day for everyone.

Thanks so much to everyone from Hope Community Church who sent magazines, beads, pop tarts, cake mix, antibacterial soap, Nathan's video game and Spencer's comic books. We truly felt loved and cared for!

And to the "Over What Hill" gang we love our new washing machine!

Tom is Ironing!

Today we were helping Lena and Dima decorate the church for their wedding. There are times when you cannot just give money and say "Good Luck". You actually need to pitch in and help out. Today was that day!

We spent about an hour waiting for Lean and Dima to get to the church. It is not considered rude in Russia to be late. And it is expected that you will wait at least an hour or more. Transportation is a major issue here so you cannot expect everyone to be on time. We had to cut the material for the curtains and then iron it. We used used pins and ribbon to hold everything up.











There will be roses in a vase in the center and there will be a candle on each side of the vase.







The last three weddings at church have been burgandy and white. The girls share the materials with each other but everything is put together is unique ways according to the bride's personality.

Tomorrow they will finish up the other six windows!

New Classrooms

We were in our new classrooms today. It was interesting. All the classes are so close together and there is no hallway in between. So to go from one room to the other you have to pass through each room. For the class that met in the very back there were two students and one teacher. First the teacher left... then one student and then the next almost a half hour later. So we got three interruptions instead of just one!

Half of the students were over at the new building. I didn't hear how it went over there. I don't mind the interruptions at least we had a bathroom!

Today is still a Holiday

Today people are still visiting the cemetery. Many stores are closed. Spencer went to the pharmacy with me so he could order his own medicine. But, we cannot order it until tomorrow because the firm is closed.

We had a near disaster with the washing machine. There was water coming out everywhere! And we could not get it to stop... We got the machine turned off and today Olya was able to get it working again. I don't know what we would do without her sometimes.

Olya is making lunch. Tom just home from the school. He had to rehang some of the whiteboards. Our director is very tall. He tried to explain to her that the whiteboards should start about waist high to the teachers. Most of our teacheers are short. So he had to lower the white boards about 9 inches. He also had to move the clocks again!

Cemetery Day...

Lena took us over to the Cemetery today. It was a cultural experience I will not soon forget.

Lena asked me not to bring my camera and I am glad that I didn't. It would have been disrespectful. There were thousands of people going to and from the cemetery in town. There is only one that is still open in Krasnodar.

At the cemetery:
people were cleaning graves

eating, drinking and toasting with family and friends

laying flowers on the graves

many of the graves had full body pictures of the deceased on the head stone.

children and old people were begging for money

bands were playing and had hats or boxes out for people to put in money

many of the graves had a picnic table and bench for people to sit at and eat

a band was playing "strangers in the night"

a grave of a child had a fence around it that was shaped like a train

some graves were overgrown and abandoned

others were filled with so many flowers you could not see the name on the headstone.

We walked through the cemetery just looking and observing for over an hour. We found the grave of a woman that no one had attended to and layed four tulips on it. Flowers are given in even numbers for death.

We chose a woman's grave to honor because I found out earlier today that a friend of mine from highschool had passed away three weeks ago. I don't know any other way to honor Margaret than to be the kind of person she was. She was giving. She was caring. She took in anyone who needed a home. She was there for me when my brother passed away. She was there when my grandmother and mother were in the hospital. Here is her notice from the Wichita Eagle newspaper. Our trip to the cemetery was more than just a field trip it gave me a chance to pray for Margaret's family and to remember her.

Margaret A. Bufford


Bufford, Margaret A., age 43, former MCI manager, passed away Tuesday, April 11, 2006. Service 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15, St. Mark United Methodist Church. Survivors: husband, Tilton McFerren; sons, Harold DeWayne Butler, Samuel Cornell Norwood, Christian James McFerren; daughter, Bernadean Norwood; mother, Birda Mae Bufford; brothers, Warren Bufford, Norvell Bufford, Jr., Mark Bufford; sisters, Paula Bufford, Bernadean Jackson, Edith "Dee" Graham, all of Wichita; grandmother, Margaret Norwood of Crescent, Okla.; one grandchild. Services entrusted to Jackson Mortuary. Published in the Wichita Eagle on 4/14/2006.