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! 

The make-shift table is my drying rack. The cloth is traditional Russian! 

She decided to take the water back to Jim. 

she takes the water to the other side of the room! 

Ira is a big helper! 

Lena's other brother Volva... It is short for Vladimir! 

Alexei, Lena (and closest) is her brother Slavic. He stayed in our house while we were in Ukriane for a month! 

Jim is whispering to Ira! 

Alexei making faces at Tom. 

Ira making faces at Jim 

Aaaah! Water.... 

If you throw a friend a surprise party...

You get a kitchen sink!

I had a surpise birthday party for Lena. I found out this morning that her brother is able to install sinks! Olya came over to work this morning and to help me with the food for the party and she saw that the sink was in but not installed. When she heard the story about the why.... she got to work on the phone. My mother in law refers to me as "little" because I am shorter than her. Well, you should have seen this little Russian woman all riled up! She called Lena's brother and her own neighbor. Then we went to the store and bought parts. Then she called the store where we purchased everything and raised CAIN! I will have my oven installed on Monday. I think it is really going to happen.

As for Lena's party- Jim, Joyce and Hannah were the first guests to arrive. Lena works for them and they are all friends too. Lena had just worked over there cooking and cleaning. She had tasted the frosting for the cake and thought it was "tasty" she asked Joyce "if there would be guest for dinner" Joyce said "yes" she was at my house for dinner and there were guests!

At my house she saw Olya and I cooking stuffed mushrooms, Olivier salad, Barbequed Pork,ect.

Nathan had Lena help him purchase Internet cards and cell phone cards.

I told Lena we needed to go out and get a pork roast because Tom wanted me to make him a special dinner becuase of his surgery. (What I really needed was more meat when I counted more men were coming than women!)

You should have seen her face when she realised that dinner and the cake and all the trimmings were for her!

"I LOVE suprises!, I don't like doing my own party!"

It is traditional in Russia to make your own dinner and then clean up after! Joyce said Lena "is an American". We like it when someone else throws the party!

Lena was happy to have a party; it was her first party. She comes from a family of five brothers and maybe she would get a candy bar on her birthday. It was not about the gifts for her. It was about seeing her friends and being remembered.

Olya was glad I invited her and asked her to help me. Joyce was happy I included them. We all want to be included. We all want to be a part of. No matter who we are or where we are from! I was glad when they all came. And glad when they all left.... cuz when the men were finished eating... I got a sink!

 

Tom has minor surgery!

Tom had minor surgery on his foot today. The surgeon was able to remove three small pieces of plastic. Tom had to pay three rubles for the little plastic booties that they wore as they went in to the hospital!

He is resting comfortably at home. He made a friend at the hospital. He told the Russian nurse that an American nurse went in with a probe and tried to remove the objects and couldn't do it. So he had to come to the Russians to do something that the American couldn't. Due to his charm she is now coming in on her day off to change the dressing on his foot!

Tom said the surgeon revved his little saw and then asked for permission to operate! Tom asked for something to numb the pain first. After he got a shot then an incision was made and they went in. He is relieved to have this ordeal over with! The translator who went with him almost passed out at the sight of the blood....

Her English is better than her tolerance for the sight of an open wound!

One of the students at school was waiting for her (Nellie) for his Russian lesson. I told him she went with Tom to the hospital.
"O, does Tom have the flu? he asked me.
another student answered for me--
"not unless it's in his foot!"

The sink is going in right now!

finally....


I can hardly think due to the racket. I just had to share the good news!

Guests for over for Dinner and No Oven

Well it is Tuesday.

I don't have an oven.

I don't have a sink.

I had seven people here for dinner.

Alexei asked Lena how I cooked. Lena told him to ask me. I have a small convection oven that is the size of a microwave. I originally wanted to get two ovens... like a lot of homes in California. I was out shopping for a slow cooker one day when I came across the "maihleenkayah plita" (small oven) I thought it would be an nice asset to the kitchen and help out when I have large meals to make. I didn't expect it to be the ONLY oven in the house for the past two weeks!

I made ground beef and risotto. When it was done I wrap the dish in foil and then in towels and set it aside.

I started making the biscuits. I doubled my biscuit recipe- added sugar, vanilla and zucchini. I served them with butter and syrup. They were a hit! No one seemed to have a problem eating all their veggies. I put a cup and a half of zucchini in the mix!

The whole meal was hot and filling. No one left hungry. As I was cleaning up after everyone was gone I thought about all the hands that took part in our meal.

Alexei brought over cookies for desert.
Spencer made tea and served tea.
Nathan went to the store for water and juice.
Jeff D., a highschool friend, sent the syrup from America!
Judy H. told me I could use butter in place of shortening in a recipe.
Sadie C. is so good at making everyone feel welcome in her home and I am trying to follow her example.

It is often stressful here to not have things go the way we might want them to go. It will be wonderful to have the kitchen completed. But, it is also fun to be able to pull off a great meal and have everyone be amazed at how it was done! The women here in Russia are the role models for that. Enormous meals come out of the tiniest of kitchens. God gives us the grace to do that which we think cannot be done.

Our task is to keep following God's lead one day at a time!