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.

One year!

We have been here one full year now. And next week we will have our first guest from the states.

Since we got here:
*our Russian studies began
*we have moved three times
*we had to spend a month in Ukraine waiting on visa renewal
*Tom had surgery on his foot
*Nathan turned 18
*we have all been doing social work here in the city
*we have developed relationships with people in and outside of church
*Tom has relationships with people in the business communtiy through his bead work
*we have focused on deepening relationships with Russian friends
*we no longer use an interpretor at church
*we have learned how to use public transportation to get all over the city
*we have strengthed our relationships with each other in the family

And so much more... each day is an adventure in cultural awareness. We are grateful for everyone who has supported us in prayer, with care packages, and financially. Without everyone partnering with us we could not do what we are doing!

finals days with Michelle

Michelle had not been to City Center the whole time she has been here. She has been busy teaching English classes at two different locations. She was doing her practicum for her college in Canada. These past few weeks have been a time of finally doing some of the touristy stuff that there is to do here.

We had originally planned to take her out to the nice Italian place before she left. However, I found out yesterday that she had never been to the mall. So of course she HAD to go. I mean this is a real shooping center with a food court and everything! We ate Italian in the food court and then strolled the mall. It was fun.

On Monday we will see her for the final time on the field trip to the cemetary... what a way to say "goodbye"!

Eating Sushi!

I ate my first California roll here in Russia.

I went out to lunch with Joyce H. today. She was born and raised in Japan. She was the perfect person to eat sushi with for the first time. She had me try eel which is her favorite. And I think I like it better than salmon! I tried seaweed and I had Miso soup. It was a great meal. I think I had 2 different kinds of rolls and 2 different kinds of sushi and then the soup.

Joyce taught me how to use chopsticks and I actually ate the whole meal them. Even the soup. she said it is traditional to pick out the veggies from the soup with the chopsticks and drink the liquid.

The tea cups don't have handles so she should me the proper way to drink from the cup. It was such a rich cultural experience!

Tom and Spencer helped out at the school today. The school moved into an office building from the house where it was located. It helps for the school to be in an official location. Because of the new laws surrounding private schools here in Russia it will be easier for the school to pass inspections and stay certified.

Tom came home very tired. He hung all the white boards and helped with moving the items. Some things are being stored at the Jim & Joyce's home. They have an extra building on their property. So they have plenty of storage room.

Spencer and Nathan are both going to meetings at church tonight. Nathan is going to our church and Spencer is going to Kovchek the baptist church. He is going over with Andrew for the first time.

I spoke with Melanie today and we finalized the plans for Spencer to visit them. He was going to visit them in Siberia but instead he will meet them in Moscow! Their former nanny is also going so neither Spencer nor Leeza has to fly alone. Spencer will be able to show Leeza what needs to be done and Leeza will understand all the language that Spencer doesn't know yet. Leeza is in her early 20's so they should make a good pair and help each other a great deal. This will be Leeza's first airplane flight and Spencer is a pro having flown for the first time when he was only 7 months old. He knows the whole routine. We talked it through the other day and he had it all thought out!

Five Day Weekend!

We are very excited to have five days off. We do have to go to a cemetary on Monday but that is not like going to school. Although going to school some days could put one in a cemetary.

Today was a very silly day in class. There were lots of jokes... some of them about dead bodies since Nathan wanted to know if when a person dies are they still referred to as animate or inanimate? He asks interesting cultural questions. The teachers seem to enjoy his questions! Joyce B. came in at one point to show off her clothes to the women. So we even had a mini fashion show.

On Wednesday we will start having classes in our new location. I think I wrote about this months ago. We change teachers monthly and that helps us to not be bored. We change classrooms. And now we are changing buildings. Maybe earlier in life this would have bothered me. I think after forty most people have learned to take things in stride.

That would certainly explain the growing number of people who change careers in midlife and decide to move to another country. God reveals a new direction and so you go with it!

Cemetary Day

Lena has told us that we HAVE to go with her to the cemetary. It is MANDATORY that we observe what Russians do there. So we will be going on a field trip with Lena to see people drinking alcohol and having picnics at the cemetary as they remember their ancestors on Monday.

I mentioned this today to one of the teachers at school and she said that this was one of our school assigments and "YES, IT IS MANDATORY!"

I don't know that this field trip will be fun, but, it certainly will be interesting!

More New Holidays

Today the director of the school made an announcement about school for next two weeks. We have two holidays coming up in May that we are taking off of school for because the country will basically shut down.

May 1st: is now known as Spring and Labor Day. It used to be called International Workers' Solidarity Day.

May 9th: is Victory Day. It commemorates the millions fallen in WW II.

So, for the next two weeks we don't have school on Monday and Tuesday. But we will have school on Friday instead.

This morning Kathy mentioned having Spring Fever. I think these long weekends will help out a great deal!

Just the girls + Nathan

Class was very relaxed today. It was just Iris, Judi, myself and Nathan. The class time went by very quickly and I actually had fun.

I just looked at JB's blog. His hobby is photography and he shared his address with Spencer today. go to: www.1eyeshut.blogspot.com My favorite photo is called giant!

We were asked today about how Easter was and if we heard any new words at the services we all attended. We all had heard about the same words. Like death, resurrection, blood, forgiveness... Judi B. went to the Orthodox church for the midnight service. Iris's church had their service at 4 pm on Sunday. Our church met at the regular time of 10 am so we had several guests from Iris's church (who must have wanted an earlier service!)

Time to rest and then study again. We have a dialog to memorize and verbs to conjugate!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Talitha knows how to curl her tongue and she is only two! She is such a pretty little angel and it was great to see her and her parents at church today.

As we sat through the service I was reminiscing about last year's Easter Service. We had a translator and then she also came over to Tim and Joy's and translated for us there too. this year we were able to sit through the service and understand a great deal of what was being said.

We have had Valodya as our pastor for a year. His voice is clear and he articulates well. I am amazed at how much we have learned from him and seen him grow. He is now learning English and he truly understands those of us who are trying to learn a second language later in life!

This is how we greet each other:
Иисус воскрес! Christ has risen
во истину воскрес! In Truth He is Risen

Last year we could not say this phrase at all nor remember it. This year I was able to ask Valentin in Russian how to respond. He got excited and said it slowly. Then I repeated it and we greeted each other properly! It was fun to see the faces of our church family when we were able to return the greeting. We truly feel at home here. And are grateful for where God has placed us! 

Orthodox Service at Midnight

A group of people were talking about going over to the Orthodox Church to night for the service. At first we thought it would be fun to go and see them parade the cross around the building to different stations. Then after thinking about it we have to get up and attend service at our own church tomorrow. So being out all night does not go well with our plans! I am sure we will catch it on the news.


Nathan has a friend who is getting married in two weeks. They don't have much money. So she asked me to take the pictures at her wedding. I had told myself that I was not going to do another wedding because it is hard work and I don't think I am that good. But, when she asked me I just felt it was important to do my best for them.


This wedding is the same weekend as John P's visit from Andover. Tom and John will be at Axtepka all day. So the boys and I will be the ones going to the wedding. We will also help the couple out with decorating the church the day before. If John and Tom get back in time perhaps they can be part of the reception. It will most likely go on until 9 or 10 that night.

It is not very popular to get married in May here. There is a superstition about the month. The root of the word May in Russian is the same root of the word for misery. So the belief is that if you get married in May it will lead to misery. Some believers adhere to this superstition out of respect to their families, while others get married during the month just to prove the superstition wrong. This young couple has chosen to defy the superstition and get married on May 6th!

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. I sent Nathan out to buy some traditional bread for us to try. I have included the recipe. It tastes very "yeasty" and is semi-sweet. There are very few raisins. The top is a thin layer of white frosting with sprinkels very liberally applied.

RUSSIAN KULICH - EASTER BREAD
Printed from COOKS.COM

8 c. sifted flour

2 1/2 c. warm milk

1 yeast cake

3 egg yolks beaten

2 whole eggs, beaten

1/3 lb. butter

1 c. sugar

1/3 tsp. salt

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped almonds

1 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract or 3 drops oil of roses

Soften yeast in 1/3 cup of the milk. Scald the rest of the milk and add the butter, salt and sugar. Cool until tepid. Add yeast and stir in slowly 4 cups of the flour. Put in warm place to raise for 2 hours. Then add the beaten eggs and the preferred flavoring. Lastly add the raisins and almonds mixed with the remaining flour. Knead thoroughly and raise to double bulk. When raised, shape to fit large well greased baking powder or similar tins from which the rims have been cut to allow loaves to be removed easily. Bake in a moderate oven like bread. When baked decorate with icing and small colored candies.
This is eaten after the Easter midnight service and during the three days of open house after Easter there is always a decorated kulich on the dining table.

Missing Lena!

We haven't had a language helper all week. Lena went to Moscow to help out her family and then she will go to Maicop with Alexei for his brother's wedding and Easter.

We miss talking with her most of all. Olya has only come over once this week so outside of school we have only been able to speak Russian at the market or at church. I can study but nothing compares with live language. It helps to study and listen to tapes... but the only way to learn how to have a conversation in Russian is to actually start having conversations in Russian.

Most of our friends are patient and help us to say whatever it is we are trying to say with correct grammar.

Tomorrow is Good Friday here so we will have a service at church. And then another one on Sunday. Last year we spent Easter with the Watsons. This year we don't have any plans... maybe we will go to the movies!

comfy and cosy!

Last night Ira and Olya were here. Olya came by to help Tom with his lessons. Lena was concerned about us not having a language helper while she is out of town so Olya filled in for her.

Ira loves to be in the closet or out of it looking at "La La" that is baby talk for picture!

Photo by Sharpkid aka Spencer

Well today the phone rang at 11am and it was Spencer wanting to tell us that school had started! Evidently if you sleep in a real bed you will get better sleep and it could cause you to miss school. We have not slept in our own bed since we left the states last April. We have either slept on borrowed beds, couches or chairs that turn into beds and in a few homes on a mattress on the floor. We have not complained because it was not a big deal. So all that to say this was the first real goodnight's sleep we have had in a looooooong time! Tom fell asleep while I was doing my homework. It felt weird at first not being in the livingroom. But, as evidenced by our oversleeping we both got used to the new bed pretty fast!

New bedroom furniture

Our new bed! We don't have to sleep on the couch anymore. And now there is a bed for guests whenever you come to visit!















This is our new shkaff. It is basically a closet. It is traditional not have a built in closet. Tom has chosen the corner section for his clothes. And I have the larger side. I wonder if I will have enough room??? The bag is not hanging on the closet... it is hanging off of the bedroom door and is reflected in the mirror!

Old & Drooly

Today as we walked home from the diagnostic center Tom told me he didn't want to get old and drooly on me too soon. Then he starts laughing and tells me that this should be today's blog post title. Maybe I will get old when he is drooly or vice versa!

We saw the neurologist and then the urologist. Tom's blood pressure has come down and the neurologist was pleased. Since it came down she felt comfortable prescribing physical therapy and massage. He will start tomorrow after school.

We made it through today without an translator. I just asked questions until I understood what I was being told. I made sure to clarify room numbers after our first "tour of the hospital" looking for room 160 when we were supposed to have gone back to room 116!

We went back to the registration office (room 116) and I told her that I was supposed to find Svetlana but I didn't know who Svetlana was.... she said "I am Svetlana!" she escorted us to the next office and stayed with us until one set of paperwork was complete then she showed me where the next room was while Tom waited for the papers to be filled out for the physical therapist. We could have seen the massage therapist today but he was not going to be back in his office for another hour so Tom will start tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter in America. For us here in Russia, Easter is next Sunday. I hope that everyone has a blessed holiday and try not to over eat all those chocolate bunnies!

Tom, Olya and I went shopping today. We have a bedroom set being delivered on Tuesday. And today we came home with a table for the kitchen and one for the living room. Now we can actually sit down and have a meal together.

Donna and Rob came to visit our church today. Joyce H. translated for them. I asked her afterwards if she remembered back when she couldn't do that!!

I wrote down several words in my notebook to look up later, but from what I got from today's sermon I think it was a good one.

Tom and I met with Valodya after church to go over the schedule for when John P. gets here. We will have dinner with the Parhomenka's on Saturday and lunch with Rajabov's on Sunday. That way John will get two Russian meals! Lena P. says they will probably make some Ukrainian dish (she is from Ukraine) and I am sure Lena R. will make a traditional Russian dish.

April 30th will be our one year anniversary of arriving here. Spencer wants to have a party... we'll see if Tom and I have the energy to pull it off!

off to clean the church!

Tom and Spencer headed over to the church to help out with the all church cleaning day! Spencer and Nathan went over last week since it was our family's turn to do it. Today the church will get looked over on the outside and the inside since there are so many hand to make the work easier. This is one of the positive outcomes leftover from communsim. People will still work together to make the load easier.

Tom donated a new cross to the church. It is made of copper and has heart shaped beads all over it. I will try to post a picture soon.

We have a birthday party to attend later on today. Donna had a birthday on the 11th but she is giving her party today. She is doing the Russian tradition of giving your own party. It should be fun!

easter eggs

Today we are going to the orphanage to paint Easter Eggs. It is not easy to find white eggs here. Most of them are brown. Spencer found some at the rhinok near our home. Eggs are sold here in tens. He brought them home in a small plastic bag not in a carton.

It will be interesting to see what type of designs the children come up with. Some eggs here are done with elaborate designs:
http://www.alvr.com/eggs/easter1.html

I have to be sure to take my camera so you can see the work created by the children!

I don't know what to call today!

We had to go to the Diagnostic Center again today. Tom had an MRI. While he lay quietly in the machine I had a long talk with the Radiologist. He wanted to know what we were doing here. First he asked what Tom did for a living. I told him we are students. Then he asked for the name of our school. He asked if Tom was going back to America to teach Russian. I told him that Tom was a pyschologist and that he was going to teach here after he learned Russian. Then we talked about Bill Gates and Arnold Scwhartzenegger.

He was telling me that during Commuinst times they used to see programs about culture. And now most programs are political. Almost every channel here has a news program. We see Putin in the news everyday. He asked if they show a lot of political news in America too. It was interesting to talk with him. He has two friends who are also doctors; one who lives in Vienna and one in London. He was grateful for the internet so that he could email his friends.

It is interesting how kind the doctors and medical personnel here. They were very helpful yesterday and today when we showed up without Natasha to translate for us. People were good at speaking slow and giving us a chance to think about what was said and how to answer correctly.

If you get the chance to watch on video or attend a seminar on Cat and Dog Theology you have to go! We started watching the DVD last night that we recieved from Cathy in Andover. It is fabulous!http://unveilinglory.gospelcom.net/AdultSeminar.html here is a link to their website and you can learn whether you are a CAT or a DOG! Cats think that God exist for them... and Dogs think that they exist to serve God (their Master). It is funny and thought provoking!

Happy Cosmonaut Day!

We celebrated this holiday by picking up packages at the post office. You can read more about this holiday by clicking on the link below.

When we first moved here to Krasnodar the first street we lived on was Cosmonaut Gagarina. Every taxi driver knew exactly where it was!

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/04/09/105.html

We have Cathy from Andover, Ks. , Joanie from Anaheim, California, and Ann from Dana Pt., California and Marti from Sweet Home, Oregon to thank for being able to munch on Oreo's, PopTarts, make peanut butter sanwiches, write on lined notebook paper and donate 5 lbs of pipe cleaners to a local orphanage for crafts! We also have nice warm socks for the all the guys. And syrup for our pancakes again. We felt like it was Christmas when we opened all the packages and layed everything out.

We even received several small bottles of perfume which I promptly shared with a few Russian friends who cannot afford such luxuries. It was fun coming home in the taxi with 4 boxes from various parts of America and wondering what was inside!

Thanks to everyone who remembers us in prayer and with various gifts. We try to be the best stewards we can of everything we are sent... and we try not to kill each other over the Oreo's and PopTarts. We are learning how to share with each other as well as with our neighbors!

oversleeping

I suppose that all the running around to different doctors got us all tuckered out. Tom and I both overslept this morning.

I stayed up late to finish the load of laundry that Olya started for us. But, generally I am able to get the next morning. Oh well.

It was good for us both to get some rest. We have been out everyday since Tom got sick on Thursday.

Our new machine is finally here. Olya had to help us read the instruction book. Everything is written in Russian on the machine and in the booklet. She explained it all to me in Russian, but, she used simpler words.

Our house feels more like a home since the smell of detergent is present again. And yes you can use the facilities and get your laundry done at the same time!

Tom

Tom had a very thorough exam by the doctors. He has high cholesterol and high blood pressure. So he is on a new diet that he is not thrilled about. No more smoked sausage and cheeses. He did great on his treadmill test. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his heart. We spent about 2000 rubles on his new medicines. Which is around 70 dollars. Not too bad for 5 medicines.

Thanks for all the prayer, calls and emails. And we are open to suggestions for naming the kidney stones. Boris and Natasha have been suggested along with Rocky and Pebbles!

what a difference a year makes!

Church went great. Nathan didn't make it over there. Maybe he was too tired from cleaning the church yesterday!

Soon we will be have been here for a year. Last year we could barely understand anything that was going on. Today in church I realised that Spencer was writing down words he didn't know from songs. He was able to ask Valentin what the definitons were.

The Big news of the day was that Tom and I both prayed in Russian at church. Our church has the tradition of gathering in small groups to pray for the needs mentioned that morning. Tom, me, Spencer, Joyce H., Lena, Alexei, Natasha and Dima were all together... so it was a safe group and there was no need to feel embarrased about making a mistake.

After we finished praying everyone in the group was complimenting Tom. I think Alexei even teared up a bit. It means so much to our friends when we make an effort like that.

Shopping

We have our income tax refund so we are going shopping. A bed for Tom and I, a table to eat at (just in time for John P's visit!) and shelving for the boys rooms. This should be fun day!

Well, I don't know how much fun the kids will have... they are going over to clean the church. It is our turn again.

We had fun telling Lena about all the things that Natasha had to translate at the Diagnostic Center.... Like when she had to explain how to do the urine test. I understood what the nurse was asking but it was fun to see Natasha's face and to listen to her translate the instructions for collecting a sample! As you can tell we still have our sense of humor no matter what.

Diagnostic Center

Tom has KIDNEY STONES! One of them is 4mm and the other is 6mm. We are waiting for some test results to know specifically what chemicals his stones are comprised of so that the doctor will know what to prescribe to dissolve them. But, this too will pass!

He heart showed no sign of damage or disease. His blood pressure is up. He has an appointment on Monday with a neurologist to determine the cause of the numbness in his arm. We are just grateful that a heart problem has been ruled out.

Today Tom had an EKG, an ultrasound on his kidneys and then an ultrasound for his heart. He was seen by a urologist, a cardiologist, a radiologist and on Monday in the same building he will see a neurologist. In America there is no way we could have seen this many specialists in one day. The diagnostic center that he went to is about three years old. And it is the same place where he had his foot surgery. We are grateful to be so close to such excellent medical care! We are also grateful not to have any horror stories to report about the hospital or the services.

The x-ray machine was not working in the building where all his testing was done so he had to go to the Birthing House and be x-rayed over there with all the expectant mommies! He was carrying around an ultrasound photo of his kidneys and he had earlier been joking with the doctor about NOT being pregnant!

We had Natasha with us today to help interpret the medical terms. I was concerned about not knowing exactly what was being said. She is in the process of translating a book for publication but she took time out to come and help us today. Tom also booked her to translate for John P. from Andover, Kansas when he visits with our pastors in May.

Helping Neighbors

Today Tom called me while I was out with the ladies from school having lunch. He wasn't feeling well and wanted for one of the nurses to come over and check on him.

Kathy came over and checked his blood pressure and recommended that he see a doctor. So in the morning we have an appointment for him. Bill was at the school and he was able to pick up the letter needed for Tom to see the doctor. That helped us out a lot because the school closes the office at 5 and I would have had to rush over to pick up the letter before they closed. Spencer and I went over to pick it up and while we were chatting with Bill and Judi H.... I got a call from Judi B.!

Judi is having a tea party tomorrow and needed a table moved. So Spencer and Andrew left with me. I got off the bus at my stop and they went around the corner to the next stop to help out Judi.

Please pray for Tom tomorrow as he sees the doctor. We don't know for sure why his blood pressure is elevated right now but we are going to check it out.

parties and stuff

Every now and then people at school show up with invitations to parties. Sometimes they are given to everyone and sometimes they are given to a select group of people. I personally think that when you know that you are not going to invite certain people then you don't do the invitations in front of them. Maybe I am old fashioned? Or just up on "Miss Manners"? I don't know. Just voicing a pet peeve.


Today in class I was trying to say that "In Krasnodar many dogs are free".
I said it grammatically correct. But the meaning of "free" here can also be "not married". So when the teacher heard my sentence she cracked up laughing. Because to her I was saying "In Krasnodar many dogs are single!" If the dogs are strays you don't refer to them as "free" they are homeless! So "BezDome-nee" is the adjective you are supposed to use. Language learning is not just about being grammatically correct. It is also about understanding colliquial expressions.

Nathan, Tom and Spencer are fixing the light fixture in the living room. Brownie is laying near my feet while I work here at the computer.

Earlier, Spencer and I went down to get dollars to pay our school bill and we waited almost 45 minutes for a bus to come back home. The bus was so crowded we had to stand all the way! The weather is getting warmer and more people are out on the streets.

Tom was out looking for some school supplies and he needed an eraser. He forgot the word for it in Russian. So he asked the salesgirl how to say it in Russian. She told him and then she asked him how to say it in English! She also asked for help with her resume... someone had translated it into English for her and she didn't understand some of the words. So Tom helped her out.

It is great to be able to have conversations now and give assistance when we are asked. A year ago that was impossible.

Hair!

I am wanting to do something with my hair. I feel frumpy right now. Yesterday, I finally called Olya to ask if she knew where I could by hair extensions to do braids. She knew of a hairdresser and she called for me today. It was pretty neat because I had my phone on silent for school so Olya called me on the school phone. I had to go to the office to answer it. I spoke on the phone in Russian with Olya not realizing that our school's director was listening. She was very complimentary when I got off the phone. Which made me feel better since in our class I felt like it was not a room for learning but a place to perform. You should already know all the answers and never make a mistake when you are called upon. So Tania's assessment of my live Russian skills were welcomed!

Anyhow, the girl Olya knew was going to be very expensive so I mentioned that to Tania. She recommended talking to Tonia who might know someone who could do it cheaper. Tonia and I talked and then she asked Inge. After school Inge told me about an old classmate from her university who does hair as a hobby! I am going to call and get together with her on Thursday and we will buy the materials and then do my hair on Friday. I think it is great that so many women were excited about me getting my hair done that they went out of their way to find someone for me!

Oh and if you talk to Tom's dad ask him about the annoying birthday song. His birthday was yesterday and we found an e-card that seemed to be just perfect for Papa Tom!

What to say?

How can I talk about today? It is hard to express what a school day is like sometimes. Some days are more stressful than others. And I expect that now until the end of school it will be stressful. I am sure there is a lesson to be learned in patience, tolerance of learning differences and personalities. Sandpaper.... I suppose I can look at this as sandpaper in my life. Each of us everyday is being refined by those around us. Someday we'll each be polished to perfection... not in this life, but in the next.

young men

Nathan and Spencer both got up and got dressed and went off to church by themselves this morning. Tom was up late working on his lessons and I overslept.

Our young men are becoming more mature and it is fascinating to watch them grow up. Living here has helped both of them mature. Last night Spencer went to the supermarket and got everything we need for dinner. Nathan cleaned the kitchen while Spencer was gone.

I wonder what the future holds for both of them?

april 1st

Today is the traditional day for practical jokes. So when Spencer came home and told us that he thought one of the neighbors was dead I didn't believe him. I am not sure that Tom or Nathan did either.

But, sadly, it is true. About a half hour after Spencer's announcement I went to our little post office to mail some letters. I had to pass by the door where a large Orthodox cross was standing and the top half of a casket. Four hours later... when we were coming home from a shopping trip we saw the funeral. She must have died three days ago. She would have been laid in her living room laid out for viewing. Then the burial is on the third day. I will have to check with the teachers to find out for sure.

I didn't make it back to the women's conference. I decided to sleep in. We have church tomorrow and then back to school on Monday. The last time I spoke with Joyce H. about school she was on lesson 129 of 130. We all start lesson 42 on Monday! Tom has spent this past week working on the 11 lessons that his class was behind. And he is ready to join Spencer on Monday.

I have had this blog for over a year now. Last year on April Fools I allowed Nathan to post for me. He wrote about me having a tragic accident with a knitting needle. I don't know if that was wishful thinking or just his imagination running wild!

I know your husband!

Tonight after the Women's Conference a woman came up to me and said "I know your husband" then she whispered in my ear that she met him at an AA meeting. I cannot tell you how many times this used to happen to me in California. I used to tease Tom about this being my favorite question; "are you Tom Sharp's wife?". Tonight, however, when she said this to me I was choking back laughter. We moved 9000 miles away from where Tom is best known and it is still happening to me!

I paid 100 rubles to attend the conference. That is roughly a little over 3 dollars. We had tea. And here tea is not just tea. It is open faced sandwiches, cookies, little pies filled with potatoes, and so on. Then we had registration and I was given a notebook, pen and a program. Then we had worship and the speaker. After the speaker there was a time for questions and answers. After which we were fed dinner. Chicken spaghetti and some pickled veggies. We also had dessert. Tomorrow they will be feeding us four more times. I have never been to a conference where we were given so much food for so little money!

The pastor who spoke tonight talked about:
equality
differences
service

It was unbelievable to hear a Russian pastor speaking about the equality of men and women! Then he told about the differences like how men use 12, 000 words a day and women use 25,000. Men are more logical and women more emotional. And so on. He ended with talking about all the ways women MAY serve in the church. He listed everything except preaching. This was very PROGRESSIVE for a Russian pastor to think this way.

Tom was concerned about me attending for fear of how conservative the speakers might be. He noticed me getting ready to go and saw me change clothes three times before I settled on an outfit!

When we sat down to eat dinner many of the women wanted to know where I was from. And when I answered them in Russian they looked suprised... I think they were expecting Lena to translate for me. I told them I have only been here for 11 months and they were very gracious letting me speak and not laughing at my poor grammer. One woman said that she wished she could speak English as well as my Russian after only 11 months!

Lena said that she didn't want to correct in front of all the women. We talked about my mistakes as we were walking to the marshutka (a van that is like a taxi but not as expensive). But, first she told me how proud she was of me for giving my prayer request in Russian and then praying in Russian! She was just so proud of me for trying! She said that the womens faces lit up when I gave my prayer request in Russian. And they mouthed "malodets" to Lena... which means excellent!

Tom's products were on display and I don't know if anything sold but they got a lot of attention. There were also products from the big Christian bookstore in town. Lena didn't like where Tom's things were located so she complained about it and got them moved to a better location!

Women's Conference Part Two

Yesterday Lena Beliah (Lena White) called me on my cell to ask if Tom and I would be home at two. I told her yes and to come on over. She is helping with the Women's Conference and wanted to be able to sell some of Toms' jewelry to the ladies who are coming. She said she was thinking about ways to help us! She took some crosses, pendants that would be considered christian symbols (like doves, crosses and such) and she took several necklaces. We set her up with three black velvet necklace stands and showed her how to pin the pendants on them.

Lena was one of Tom's best customers before New Year's. She would take orders and came over about twice a week to make purchases and see what new things Tom had done.

How wonderful it is to have Russian friends!

Chicken is Back!

Our supermarket has not has chicken for the last three weeks. Yesterday it was back in the store.

If you could read the Russian on the label it is "faithfully" declaring this chicken to be Bird-Flu Free.

Of course we had to get a picture of it. And guess what?... it was the best tasting chicken we have had in a long time!

Women's Conference

Lena has invited me to a Women's Conference. Even though we both know that I won't understand everything she thinks the fellowship with Russian speakers and getting to know other believers in the city will be good for me.

I think networking is always good. I will get to meet Russian women who are leaders here in the city. It will be helpful with getting recovery support groups going if the women from various groups already know me.

I was at the meeting for the BLTC last night. I understood more than last month!


Zhenya had us do an icebreaker where she passed around a bag of M&M's and told us to take as much as we wanted. The bag went around twice. After we had taken our M&M's then we had to ask the person on our left questions for each M&M we took. I had 11! I was able to ask (in Russian) only seven questions... my person was Oksana. I found out her name, where she was born, how long she has lived in Krasnodar, where she went to school, her favorite food, her favorite tv show, how old she is and that she comes from a small family. And then I had to tell what was interesting about her to the group. Thankfully, I survived the ice-breaker.

Tom is diligently working to catch up to where his new class is. He is doing great. Right now he and Lena are in the living room working.

Spencer and Nathan are playing a video game. And for once they are playing nice!

Daylight Savings Time part two

Here in Russia we changed our clocks this weekend. In America you will not change your clocks until April 2nd. Don't worry if you thought you missed it... you still have time to get ready.

Some students were taking bets on who would be late for school. And of course those who were not able to make it to church yesterday were late for school today! One family who had their computer set on Russian time thought that something was wrong with their computer!

We had a new teacher observing in two of the classes today. She will be starting in April. Her name is also Tania. So there are two Tania's and one Tonia. Got it?

I am going to a meeting for the BLTC women today. I came home and watched a few episodes that Joyce loaned us of Law and Order. I think I am ready now for a two hour meeting in Russian.

Nathan is in his room. Spencer is reading his comics and Tom is napping. Just a typical Monday here in our house.

daylight savings time

We thought we were going to be on time for church.

We were an hour late!

Lena and Alexei had just walked in and sat down about 5 minutes before us. Then Olya and Vova showed up... and then one of our teachers from school, Nellie, about 20 minutes later. It seemed as if today was the fastest church service we have ever had!

Tom had a lesson with Lena today. He is being moved into class with Spencer. So he has 11 lessons to catch up on! I will be moving into Nathan's class. And right now they are one lesson ahead of where Spencer and I are. I have already started working on it. Our class will get that lesson on Monday and we should be caught up by the time the change takes place.

So the new classes start the first week of April.
Tom and Spencer together.
Alida and Nathan together.

Thanks Dad for the special treat. We had a family meeting and we watched your video. The boys realised how much they missed you when they heard you singing!

A Day in Krasnodar

Here is a collage I made with scenes from around the city. Yesterday, Tom and I taught Spencer how to use powerpoint. Spencer has said that he might become a pastor so he will need that skill someday. He put together a collage of the city also with his photos and a quote from Lenin. Hopefully, he will post it on his blog for all to see.

Today Tom and Michelle went down into the sewers to see how the homeless people live. Michelle is interested in coming back here to work someday and she has a passion for the homeless.

When they came home Tom was covered in filth. Michelle was realitively clean. Tom was clearing the path for her and went first down into the sewers. He got to meet the cobwebs and crawl over the pipes to find the way down there.

I think Michelle was pretty brave to go down in there... it is not something I think I will be doing.

Welcome Rob & Donna

On Saturday Janet held a party to welcome Rob and Donna to Krasnodar. We ate, laughed and filled out surveys about life here. Janet was concerned with how Tom might fill out the survey.

Tom answered the questions pretty simply. When answering "what do you do with your language helper? ... he said "Mud Wrestling". Spencer filled his out using some cartoon and movie quotes. Our family just cannot follow directions!

Rob & Donna are here from Northern CA. Rob recently had to fly back to the states because of the death of his father. We pray for his family and look forward to him being back with us soon.

Tom and Alida Scrapbook Picture

Getting things figured out!

Aleksey and his mother
Lena in the kitchen
Nastia is serious.

These are from Aleksey's 40th birthday last year in May!

Beautiful Young Lady

Home Alone

Tom, Nathan and Spencer all went to school this morning. I needed the sleep I guess... noone woke me up. I went to bed with a bad headache last night so I think they were all being kind.

I was frustrated yesterday with trying to figure out Adobe Photoshop. Spencer says "let me try" so he has it all figured out now. I will have to have him show me how to use it when he gets home.


We got a package in the mail from Mom and Dad. I finally have the ingredients to make "The Walmart Cake".

Here is the recipe:
1 box Pineapple Supreme- Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake mix
1 can of Coconut Supreme Frosting- Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle
mix cake mix according to package directions before baking mix can of frosting into batter. Bake in a bundt pan.

Looks simple so I think we will try it out later today!


We watched "Pink Panther" the other day. We already have it on video here! We had Mich come over and watch it with us yeserday. The funniest scene for all of us is the scene where he is working with an accent coach and he is trying to say "I want to buy a hamburger" with an American accent. It reminds us of sessions with our language helper. We have had to rewind it and watch it over because we enjoyed it so much.

The other movie we have enjoyed recently is "Everything is Illuminated".
There is only one native English speaker in the movie and the other characters are speaking Russian. It is translated in subtitles. We enjoyed it because the movie goes from America to Ukraine and we saw places that we have been. It was great to see the McDonald's in Ukraine that we actually ate at! There is a quick view of the Potomkin steps and the large train station too. Nathan likes the guy who plays the translater. If someone says something not so kind the translater says something Completely Different that is more polite! Too funny.

Tom went out with Olya last night to meet with the woman who owns one of the stores where his jewelry is being sold. She had sold six pieces so she took several more. Tom said that one of her workers was wearing a necklace he had made. He was excited to see that. He got paid for the pieces he sold and gave Olya her commission for helping him. She has all the business documentation needed for Tom to be in the stores here. She didn't want to accept her cut. She tried to give half of it back. Tom stuck it in her pocket. He doesn't usually take "no" for an answer!

powerpoint scrapbooking

I have played around with this late into the night and the best I could do was take a picture of the screen to get this posted. It is easy to put things together using powerpoint but hard to figure out how to publish. Or maybe it's just me.

I have several other collages that I have done and I printed them out to put into a scrapbook. But since I am low on ink this one cannot be printed tonight. Tom and I worked on this and I am getting pooped! 

Befania

Spencer and I went with Vova, Lena and Nastia to visit Befania Church today. It was a three hour service but we probably sang for half of that time! I really enjoyed it and thought it went by fast. Spencer is resting he thought it was a very long service.

Tom went to our church KBC. He sent me a text message that Valodya spoke in Russian, using a German map and was speaking about Italy. Tom said he had jet-lag when the service ended!

Nathan has a slight cold so he stayed home today.

As we were coming home in the car Lena told me that Slavic had to go to Ukraine to help out their mother. He had to kill the cow and then sell the meat. The cow had just given birth a few weeks ago and she had been sick ever since the birth. So they decided to put her out of her misery and then make some money.

It seems funny to know someone who had to leave the country to go kill a cow!

The Amazing Race!

Yesterday we drove to Ukraine and back! This photo is from when we were there in September. But if you notice the ramp in the photo that is what I wanted to talk about. As the ferry reached the port people came down and filled up this area to be the first ones off the ferry. People were running so fast they were tripping, dropping things and leaving family members behind. All in an effort to be the first one in line at Passport control. There is barely a comprehension of forming a line here. So even the late comers found ways to go under the barries and push to the front. It was amazing to watch.

The water was filled with ice floes. Not clear and clean like in this photo. We were not sure where the ice came from. Tom thought that was where they dumped the ice and snow that they cleared of the city streets and trucked out of town.

Spencer looked at me before we disembarked on the Russian side to return home and said "we are gonna have to run soon!" I said "nope, Vova is going to wait for us no matter how long it takes, I'm not running!".

Sure enough Vova was there with a great big smile eager to know how the crossing went and if we thought Ukraine was beautiful. He is from Ukraine!

When Spencer was being looked at by the Passport control ladies on our return to Russia they were giggling over his passport photo. They told him how cute he was when that photo was taken. He has lost 40 pounds since we have been here and in his original photo he has chubby little cheeks. That baby fat is all gone now.

Nathan and Spencer both did a great job of filling out their own paperwork this time. So now they each know how to do it for when they have to travel without us. They can read the forms now so that helps! That seemed to me to be a benefit of traveling with teenagers. I didn't worry about where they were or what was going on when they were out of our sight. I knew they knew the routine and they did great. Nathan told me he was asked to take his hat off and look at the woman straight on. They were able to answer whatever questions they were asked and move on to the next station. The guy in front of me was yelled at for filling out his paperwork incorrectly so she was very sweet with us since ours were perfect!

We did see one of the guys who was keeping watch over the lines being very rude to an Asian woman. I have heard about how poorly they treat Asian women here but had never witnessed it before. He yelled at her and she didn't seem to understand what he wanted her to do. She was just standing in the line like everyone else. I am very grateful to have no incidences of prejudice to recount.

We had to pay a "FEE" for Vova's car having tinted windows. The policeman who stopped us wanted to see everyone's face and match it up to their passport. Tom was out of the car with Vova and the rest of us just sat in the backseat. Tom was telling the guy "this is my wife" and the guy's response was "customs does not care that brought your wife". Nathan heard him say it. So when he started laughing I asked him what the guy said. He told us and that became our favorite phrase of the day! We were expecting to have to pay for whatever they thought was wrong but this was 1000 rubles. (about 35$). Usually they will ask for 200 rubles or so. On the return trip that same policeman just smiled and waved us through. Vova called him a "bandit". The police here only make 4500 rubles a month so they look for ways to boost their income.

My biggest trauma of the day was over the bathrooms just as I thought it would be. Instead of the normal cost of 5 rubles for using the bathroom it was 10. The bathrooms were squatty potties. Just holes in the ground. There were stalls there, thank goodness, and the floor was tiled around the holes so this was a NICE public bathroom. My fear when I was in there was holding up my purse so it didn't touch the floor and not getting my shoes wet while I was using the facilities. Needless to say the balancing act was not fun and I apologise if my little tale grosses you out.

Wichita St. KOs Seton Hall in NCAA Opener

Okay, so I cannot sleep and I was reading the news. I know that there are Wichitans and former Wichitans that read my blog so this one is for you all!

We leave in a few short hours for Ukraine. Crimea to be exact. This is a short trip... there and back in the same day. We are paying Vova to drive us to the ferry and then cross the Black Sea and then get our passports stamped and get back on the ferry to cross the Black Sea and drive us back home.

It will be a long day, Vova told me to bring plenty of music for the car and FOOD to eat on the road.

The only thing I am not excited about will be the bathrooms between here and there. OY!

Name Changes

We are learning genitive case now and it is interesting that some names change and some names don't.

Here are the names of our family in genitive case:
Алиды= Alid-i
Натана= Nathan-a
Спенсера= Spencer-a
Тома= Tom-a

Janet is a foreign name that does not change. And neither does Michelle. Bill was Bil-la.

First Time as a Translater

Last night I introduced Olya to the new students. Donna needed a language helper and Olya wanted the job. So I got them together. I did well until I started to get tired. We talked for an hour and half. Towards the end I was speaking to Donna in Russian and Olya in English! We all laughed each time I did that. Olya did a good job correcting my grammer but she understood everything I was translating for her. I am glad they hit it off!

I just got home from Olya's. First I got a phone call from Sveta. She is 22 weeks pregnant and tired of sitting at home. She wanted to come over to visit but she forgot where I lived. So she asked for someone to come and meet her at the supermarket. Nathan went down to get her and she visited with me for a while. She was so happy that I can understand her better and she said that my Russian was very clear. She asked me about how Olya was doing. Olya is also pregnant she is around 18 weeks. So they are a month apart. I asked her if she wanted to visit with Olya and she did. I called and let Olya know we were coming. When we got there Lena was there too. Sveta was so excited. She got to see three girlfriends in one day! Her husband works long hours so she is alone a lot. she and Olya made a date to go over to the mall and price baby items. Once I get a list of what they need I will post it.

While I was at Olya's I was asked to translate an English email she had received. I was excited that she asked me. She understood A LOT of it already. It was a very long email longer than this post! I only had to translate three sentences that had some medical terms she didn't quite understand. Wow! I was very impressed with her reading in English.

On Friday we will be making a quick trip to Ukraine. Every six months we are required to leave Russia. It is a new law. So we will have Vovo drive us to the border cross over on the Black Sea on the ferry get our passports stamped and come right back!

Pray for us since Vovo wants to leave at SEVEN AM! and anyone who knows us knows that only Spencer loves that time of day!

Ring Tones

We saw a young man on the bus today. He was impeccably dressed. Dress shirt, nice slacks, good looking coat. And then we hear his phone ring and it was Fifty Cents "Just a Lil Bit". Tom and I just looked at each other and tried not to laugh!

On the way home from there was a very drunk man who had fallen down while he was walking. Tom tried to help him up but they guy was too drunk to stand. Everyday we see drunk people. The alcohol problem seems huge somedays.

We met some of the new students today at school. They will start in a few weeks. We have more Californians now. Their names are Rob and Donna. They are from the San Francisco area. Now if the Texans try to take on the Californians at least we are gaining in numbers and I don't think they can lick us!

Right now we have spring like weather... sunny and a little windy. I got a copy of Melanie and Jody's newsletter and they are from the other side of Russia and they have three feet of snow! Oy!

It's Monday!

It is never easy to get back in the swing of things.

Spencer had guests over yesterday. His friends Tobias and Andrew came over to play video games. They were pretty loud there for awhile.

We decided to watch Hotel Rwanda last night because Spencer had not seen it yet. After it was over we all needed to do something else to get our minds of the movie. Just as we were deciding what to do Erin called! It was great to hear news about her and her family and I totally forgot about the movie.

Nathan and I belong to the same message board now. We are both going to Bibleforums.org. It is different for both of us to be in the same place. But, having things to talk about that we each have opinions on is pretty fun.

Tom and I both had a good night's sleep for the first time in months. We switched mattresses with Spencer and he likes the soft mattress. Our old backs were grateful for the firm one! O to be 15 again...

Patience

Today the conductor that Spencer and I had on the bus was not the most patient fellow. As soon as Spencer got on the bus he reached for his bus pass. The conductor walked up to him and started yelling "Young man, I have waited a half hour already!" ummm... excuse me we just got on the bus! He also yelled at this poor old man who took a long time to sit down and then he finally reached for his bus pass. He wanted the man to move faster. Maybe he was having a bad day!

sightings- a man carrying a beer and a Barbie Dream House

a babuska in fishnet stockings

3 drunk guys sleeping on the bus. Maybe they were not drunk, perhaps they just wore alcohol cologne!

Valera & Ludmilla

Last night Tom's friend Valera came over with his wife Ludmilla. We had a nice visit. They stayed just over an hour. they came over to chat and have tea. Valera spoke a lot in English and his wife only spoke Russian but she understands English. Their youngest daughter can speak Russian, English, Greek and French. Their grandaughter who is four years old is learning English.

It was very interesting to spend time with them. Many people we have met here find it important to tell us the history of the country. Valera and his wife did the same. It must be a part of the culture here to never forget one's history.

I told Valera that Spencer and I went to the Maslenitsa concert and had bliny and vodka. He told me that the bliny represents the sun of spring. I asked what the vodka represented and that was when we got a history lesson on how the soldiers of different wars were paid in Vodka. Vodka is ingrained in the culture and was developed by a Russian chemist. Who, by the way, Valera believes was an alcoholic!

They were very curious about why our children are studying Russian. And overwhelmed by how many books we have! If they only knew that we gave away or sold more than half of what we owned in California.

Valera is interested in visiting our church. He finds religion very fascinating and had never heard of our church "The Open Door". He knows about the Orthodox and the Baptists here. But, had never heard of the church we attend. Tom will invite them to come to church the next time he speaks. Valera will enjoy that because he can listen to Tom in English and in Russian.

The Fight between winter and Spring

On Monday our teacher told us that for the month of March winter and spring will be fighting to see who is going to win! Yesterday after several days of nice sunny weather we had SNOW! It definitely felt like winter won yesterday's battle.

We have a thin layer of snow on the ground and it is windy out there. So it feels a bit nippy. I think most of us will stay inside today.

Later this evening one of Tom's friends from AA is stopping by. He can speak some English and since we can speak some Russian it should be a good visit. Unless his wife comes over I will most likely just serve them tea and let them talk. Valera is a well respected man here in the AA community. He has 13 years of sobriety. Last night when Tom and Valera set up a time for him to come over they agreed on 18:30. After Valera hung up he called back within just a few minutes. When he had gotten off the phone his daughter told him that in America they don't talk that way about time! He wanted to make sure that Tom understood that he was coming over at 6:30 PM. Fortunately we go to a Russian School and Tom understood perfectly what time Valera meant!

Nathan has a young peoples group meeting tonight. The group that Nathan goes to is mostly college age. At 18 he is the youngest member of the group. There is talk at church about starting a group for the younger teens like Spencer and Tobias. There really isn't much for them right now. The childrens program does not fit them and the group Nathan is in is too old for them.

Spencer is looking forward to a group that he can get involved with!

At my last meeting with the BLTC women we talked about the curriculum we are developing for the incoming female students. We have planned a retreat for all the leaders in June. It has been great getting to know these women and it certainly stretches my vocabulary to sit in on meetings in Russian. I just hope that by June the fight between winter and spring will be over and we will be having summer!

Crash

Today we are going to watch the Academy Award winning movie "Crash" as a family. It has an R rating and Tom and I have already seen it.

We know that there are a few questionable scenes... but, that is why we are going to watch it as a family and discuss it afterwards. The main point of the movie is racism. Everyone in the movie is a stereotype. Whether they are white, black, hispanic, persian or asian. Every race is stereotyped.

Tom and I could see why it won BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR. It made both of us think. Especially watching it while we live in another culture. One could easily stereotype Russian behavior. In fact several movies I have seen do exactly that. Not all Russian men are in the mafia.

If you decide to watch Crash, know that there is a sex scene, a lot of language and some difficult racial scenes to watch. Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Angela Bassett, Thandie Newton, Larenz Tate, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Frazier, Tony Danza are all a part of the ensemble cast. The movie is well acted and thought provoking.

International Women's Day

I have heard the guys talking about going out to get flowers. Right now they are fixing the light fixture in the living room. It is about to fall down. It is good that Tom noticed it before it hit someone on the head!

To learn more about Women's Day you can click on the link below.

Tonight we are scheduled to have dinner with Alexei and Lena. Alexei is cooking. There is no Mother's Day here so this day is the big day for Women.
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm

The teachers at our school are all female so the school is closed today! Tom was wondering why they didn't close the school on Men's Day...

day off

Tomorrow is Women's Day so we have the day off from school. We are grateful for the break.

Many of the students have been sick and some are still dealing with bronchitis or pnuemonia. This weather has been hard on many people with allergies sometimes it is hard to tell if you have allergies acting up or if you are catching a cold.

Joyce B. is back from her trip to Malta. She tried to come back sooner but she got deported in Moscow at the airport! Joyce had all of her paperwork filled out but didn't take it over to the Embassy for processing. She went straight to the airport and flew from Malta to Moscow. She had to return to Malta right away. Joyce has such a great sense of humor and can make just about anyone laugh. She kept us in stitches telling us about her adventure during the break. We heard about a snail in her salad, the trolleybus strike, and how much the taxis cost since they were taking advantage of the bus drivers on strike!

Now we know how to get a vacation. Just don't get your paperwork processed!

10 Commandments of American Culture

1) you can't argue with success
2) live and let live
3) time flys when you are having fun
4) shop 'til you drop
5) Just Do It!
6) no pain, no gain
7) enough is enough
8) time is money
9) rules are made to be broken
10) God helps those who help themselves.

Diane Thomas, the president of the Language School gave a talk today about these points. We talked about the values that Amercans, Canadians or Germans might have versus the values that Russians have. It is hard sometimes to identify with all of the values that "Americans" are supposed to have. But, I did have to catch myself when Daine was talking about how here it is normal to wear the same clothes over and over. People wash them and wear them again the next day. I mentioned that I noticed as soon as Diane walked into the room that she was wearing the same outfit that she had on the last time I saw her two days prior. So Russians would judge her for wearing different clothing everyday and I (an American) judged her for wearing the same outfit within a few days. We talked about how that is a judgement that many Americans make. Why do we value wearing different clothes everyday. Why did I find it important to mark on my calendar what outfit I wore when I spoke at a church?

Because of the value that is placed on success we equate what people wear with how successful they may be... or what they drive or where they live. Adjustments have to be made when you enter another culture. It is not about how people act... it is about what people value.

Do your actions show what you value?

Do you change your actions according to what the culture around you values?

Do you expect others to change their actions based on what YOU value?

Each of us will have a chance to meet with Diane and discuss our concerns about cultural issues and the school itself.

I realised today that I value flexibility and maturity. I got upset over the actions of people whom I considered to be inflexible and immature. I realised that other people value personal comfort and change can make people uncomfortable.

When our values clash with someone else's we may get an attitude of superiority. Our values are not superior to another person or people group... Our values are just different and different is not the same as wrong!

What did he say?

Today at church Maj-lis had her family with her. She was translating the service for them from Russian into Swedish. Nathan got up to give his testimony and had Natasha translate for him from English into Russian and at the same time you could hear Maj-lis translating it into Swedish! For awhile there it was hard to know what to listen to.

Nathan did a great job getting up and speaking at the church. He was nervous but he did it anyway. Klaus and Valodya told Tom and I how proud they were of Nathan. Klaus was the first one up to give Nathan a hug after he spoke. He wanted to do it while he was talking but he waited until Nathan was done. Klaus has been very impressed with how well Nathan can read and speak Russian. We are proud of him too... It feels different to hear Nathan or Spencer speak or pray in public. I am used to hearing Tom. But, when one of the boys does it I start to cry with joy. It is overwhelming.

Pancake Day

Pancake Day is a part of Shrovetide. I remember in Liberal, Kansas they had pancake races during this time.

http://www.swdtimes.com/pancakeday/index2.html click here to read about Pancake Day.

Did you know?

The eve of Lent is also known as the butter festival or maslenitsa. During this time Orthodox Russians eat pancakes. Some people celebrate the occasion by breaking holes in frozen lakes and rivers and swimming in icy water.

Today we had a chance to eat pancakes and drink vodka... Bill and Judi thought that the vodka smelled like rubbing alcohol. I thought it was interesting that the vodka had a smell. I thought vodka was odorless and that's why alcoholics like it. We were given a shot of vodka each. I noticed that at the bar there were sodas and water and other things to drink. The vodka was cheaper than the water! Now we know why it is so popular. The kids were not allowed the vodka and Spencer chose not to although at 15 he is old enough (here in Russia).

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/28-02-2006/76585-Shrovetide-0 Click here to read about Russian Celebrations of Shrovetide.

We watched a concert that told the story of Shrovetide/maslenetsia through songs and dancing. I sent a text message to Nathan about the dancing bear and a response back came from Tom. It said "too much vodka!" I didn't know if he meant me or the bear!

The costumes were traditional Cossack clothing. The men in red suits with black sheep skin hats on and the girls were wearing dresses and had their hair pulled back in scarves. Both Spencer and I forgot our cameras so I don't have any pictures to show.

We met Maj-Lis's family. They are here from Sweden. They don't speak much English and they don't speak Russian. We just smiled at each other alot!

movies

Wallace and Gromit, Casa de los Babys, and the Honeymooners. If you need a laugh break Wallce and Gromit or the Honeymooners will provide some laughs. If you want to see something more dramatic then Casa de los Babys highlights private adoptions in Mexico. It is half English and half Spanish... you'll need the English subtitles if you don't speak Spanish.

Tom and I were at Krasnaya Ploshad last night and were able to see where the new McDonald's is going in. It should be here sometime this summer! McDonald's is not one of the places I miss but my guys are all excited. Although, Nathan really wishes it were a Del Taco!

Assessment Results

The rest of us finally have our assessements back. Tom is Novice High, and Spencer, Nathan and I are all Intermediate Low. It is typical for women and children to learn faster than the men. Which is why the kids and I are all at the same place. For listening skills Tom, Spencer and I are Intermediate Low and Nathan is Intermediate Mid. Spencer and I seem to listen and speak at the same level while Tom and Nathan both understand more than they can respond to.

It is an interesting process to have your language skills evaluated. No one ever assessed our English skills. Some of us speak faster or more clearly than others. Some American students have accents from the south and some don't. And then we have students from Canada and Germany and they have accents too. We are all trying to speak without our native accents and our poor teachers have to sort it all out!

All of our handwriting still looks foreign. After years writing of in English it is not easy to make one's handwriting look less foreign. Some of us need to learn to write in cursive on a regular basis. It is so much easier to print. However, it is easier for Russians to read cursive.

We don't have to do this again until next year. When we reach lesson 75 or so. We just started lesson 35 today.

Muppets Wizard of OZ

This is a funny movie. Our family just finished watching it this evening. It has Queen Latifah as Auntie Em, and Ashanti as Dorothy. We give it four thumbs up! The jokes are funny and the cameos are great. If you want some light entertainment this is a winner. Nathan liked Quentin Tarantino's and Kelly Osborne's cameos.

We also have Bewitched, Casa de Los Baby's, and Shopgirl. As soon as we get a chance to see each one we will let you know how we liked it.

At school Nathan, Spencer and I got a new lesson on remodeling! We are all to familiar with that topic. We got a very long Russian word and in Nathan's class he gave them a long English word.

Our Russian word is metala-plastik-ovwi. The English word that Nathan loves is antidisestablishmentarianism...."opposition to the disembling of the establishment"


Say that three times real fast!

Post office trip!

My box from Amazon.com finally arrived! I had a box sent to my Aunt's house and then she shipped it to us. She sent it Dec 12. by airmail and it just got here. The post office always has us guessing!

We have all new employees at the post office so it was safe for me to show my face there. Noone who was working today saw my fit that I had the last time I was there. I walked in stood in line for about three minutes... got my package and left! Simple.

Tom spent an extra day at home today. He actually got up and took a shower but he couldn't make it to school. I took in the jewelry that he had made for different people. Madina finally has her clip on earrings and she was very happily suprised. Tom called her to let her know he was not coming into school but didn't tell her he was sending the jewelry.

Nathan's class got their assessments back. None of the students were talking much about how they rated. Nathan is classified verbally as Intermediate Low and his comprehension is at Intermediate High. We are very proud of him. He is doing excellent work at school, church and home!

Day After the Wedding

Today I am playing around with the photos to make sure I only put the best ones on the gift CD.

Nathan is playing a video game in his room. Spencer is watching Spiderman 2 and Tom is napping on the couch.

Just another lazy day in Krasnodar!

Natasha & Dima

I got out of bed to go and photograph a wedding. I took over 800 photos and I am sure there are a few decent ones in the bunch.

Spencer and I left the apartment at 9:15 so that we could be there by 10. We helped decorate three of the four cars. We met the mothers and the grandmothers before we saw the bride and groom. Of course everthing was traditional Russian. Which means it was an EVENT!

It was a smaller wedding than Valentin and Sveta's. It was very elegant and intimate. Natasha is a translator for the BLTC. She has translated for Tom when he has spoken at church. Dima also speaks English. Natasha and Dima will take a week off from working this week and then will honeymoon in Europe this summer. She originally did not want to be a winter bride but Dima wanted a winter wedding. It was not easy photographing the white on white but it was a beautiful sight!

Customer Service

Nathan and I went out to find a second battery for my camera. I have another Russian wedding to photograph and I knew I could not make it through the entire day on just one battery.

We went downtown to Krasnaya Street to a store called Paparazzi. This store defined customer service for me today. I showed them my battery and told them what I wanted. The saleswoman looked at it and told the guy who was helping me to call the other store to see if they had the battery. He phoned and discovered that they had it.

They told me that I needed to go over to the Media Center. I simply said “I don’t know where that is”. The guy mentioned a marshutka that would take me there. But, the woman called a taxi instead and then PAID for it! She escorted Nathan and I to the taxi and thanked us! The taxi driver took us to the front of the Media Center and dropped us off. We walked right in and went straight to the store. Before the guy let me buy it he tried it out in my camera first.

Royal treatment over a 24-dollar purchase!

Jim & Lisa

Jim and Lisa have their kids! Nathan says that they are cute boys and are already calling Jim and Lisa mom & dad! Thanks for all who prayed for them. We are so thrilled for this new family.