They made it!

I just received an email from Tom. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say about the trip so far:

Thanx for your prayers. Alexei & I are in Simi Valley, CA after our flight & enjoying the weather, food & people! We had an interesting flight as the flight crew had to 'take down' a rowdy drunken man. (It was neither Alexei or I!) They eventually tied him to his seat w/ pillowcases for the remaining 5 hours of the flight. Once we landed no one could leave until LAPD first came aboard, arrested & removed him. The rest of the flight was non-eventful!

Alexei's 1st impressions of the US/LA is that it's "very big, very clean, very beautiful & has more cars than he has seen in his lifetime!" He's taking pictures of the places we go to. He's been fascinated by the book of matches w/ the name of our hotel on it, how big & vast CA is, the variety of choices w/ everything, & how he can walk around w/o his passport or ID! A different kind of freedom.

Alexei & I are going to drive to Pomona today & try to visit Alida's Aunt Martha. Tonight & Fri we are staying w/ a woman from Pastor Dave's recovery church who is a LAPD detective. She has a pool & spa! We may try to go to the Reagan Library & Museum w/ Dave, or to the IMAX theater. It's very hot here, so staying indoors where it's airconditioned is best!

We ate Mexican food today at El Torito's!! It was very good. It wasn't as spicy as Alexei had thought it would be. He enjoyed it very much. Last night we went to Von's, Alexei's 1st time in an American grocery store. He's also fascinated w/ American tv. He's like a kid in a candy store when compared to what he's experienced in his life in Russia up to this.

I guess I am too old for this!

I just finished reading this news article. Although I found it very interesting I have realized that most of the blogs I read on a regular basis are written by older women. They are pastor's wives or women who knit and/or crochet. It is not only the young people who are blogging. I think it is gaining in popularity with the older crowd as well. However, when I have a technical problem... it's the 19 year old who comes to my rescue!



Survey: Bloggers are young internet users

Bloggers are a predominantly young group of Internet users who are novice storytellers, enjoy describing their own experiences and have a growing audience in the online world.
A glimpse of this group was put together by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The survey found that almost one in 10 Internet users are bloggers and the audience for this group of online diarists is growing. Almost four in 10 of the approximately 147 million adult Internet users in this country say they read blogs.

The people they are reading on the online blogs are a young, ethnically diverse group. They are mostly newcomers to writing — often writing about their own experiences. More than half of bloggers are under age 30. They were most likely to list their life and events as the most popular topic, followed by politics and entertainment.
The poll findings are based on a sample of 4,573 Internet users with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points and a sample from a separate survey of 233 bloggers with a margin of error of plus or minus 7 percentage points.
___
On the Net:
Pew Internet & American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.p

and they're off

Tom and Alexei left this morning. I heard from both Nathan and Spencer and it seems like they miss him already.

It was weird to not say good bye in person. Tom and I said goodbye through text messaging last night.

Pray that they have a safe trip. Pray for Nathan and Spencer as they live together for two weeks without parents. Pray for me as I am still grieving over the loss of my dear Uncle Fred.

Alexei and Tom

Alexei and Tom are leaving for the states tomorrow. Please pray for them as this is Alexei's first time on a plane since he began his sobriety. He is very nervous about the long flight to America.

Tom told me the wieght of Angelina... Valentin and Sveta's daughter. She weighs 3kilograms 600grams. If I calculated that right she weighs 7 lbs. 9ounces. She is a good size baby!

Nathan and Spencer are about to go it alone. Tom leaves tomorrow and I don't return until the 30th of July. Tom says that Lena will be coming by daily to check on them. Maybe they will ask Lena to stay with them since Alexei will be gone too. It is not as if they need her to babysit... maybe just to referee!

It's a girl!

I just heard from Nathan that Valentin and Sveta have had their baby. It is a precious little girl and they have named her Angelina. Mother and baby are fine. Nathan says they spoke with her on the phone this morning... Sveta that is, not the baby!

I guess since Valentin is our "son" that means that Tom and I are grandparents! Where did the time go?

yah don't know what yah got till it's gone!

Worshiping in ones native tongue is not to be taken for granted. We have not been to an English speaking church serivce in over a year. Today I had the priviledge of attending Rome Baptist Church.

http://www.crossspot.net/rbc/aboutrbc.htm

It was a wonderful multi-cultural congregation. I saw all the racial colors of the rainbow around me! It was quite a poignant moment after the children's sermon... as the children were leaving we sang Jesus Loves the Little Children. The young ones truly represented the "red and yellow, black and white" from the song.

Pastor Dave and his wife Kathy are very personable and seem truly happy to see all the visitors. Afterwards I gave my visitor's card to Pastor Dave. I had written my address in Russian. He looked at it and cracked up laughing. He said "I guess if I want to write to you I will have to write your address this way, won't I?" He shook my hand and said "Pocka!" (bye!)as I was leaving.

If you ever get to Rome I hope you are able to attend Rome Baptist Church. The English speaking community of Rome will open up for you!

WorldVenture

I was able to have dinner last night with the Halls. They are such a great couple. Janet gave me a description of Tim so that we could find each other when he picked me up at the metro station. She said he was "very tall". Boy is he ever! He was clearly the tallest man there. I walked straight to him and introduced myself.

They also had John from Senegal over for dinner too. We spent the evening talking about what is going on in Russia, Italy and Africa.

John and his family have been in Senegal since 1994. He is a teacher and his wife is kept quite busy with their five kids! John is studying here for the summer.

Janet is a food science and nutrition major so of course dinner was excellent! We enjoyed a traditional italian 6 course meal! They have been here in Italy since 1987.

Tim and Janet are on the European Leadership Team. So they know our Russian supervisors quite well. We talked about language learning, culture stress, transitions for teens when they go back to the states. They are a wealth of experience and information.

It was good to have an evening of fun and laughter after the news of Fred's death yesterday.

life...

I don't know exactly what to say or how to feel right now. Tom told me that my Uncle Fred has died. I called my Aunt Martha and she doesn't want me to come back.

This is just such a shock to our family. We have become very close with Martha and Fred over the years of living in California. They often took the boys when we needed to travel or for our family emergencies like when I had my gallbladder out. They had Nathan for a week when Spencer had his tonsils out. They acted as surrogate grandparents for the boys. The kids always came home with new toys after being with Martha and Fred!

Nathan is having a hard time. Spencer tells me he is doing better today than yesterday. Tom is still sad. I am numb.

Hoop - Hoop - Hooray!!

Coordinating Tom & Alexei's trip to America has been interesting over the past 5 months. After all, we have dealt with the mechanisms of two governments & other agencies, which all have their specific procedures & policies. At times it's been a learning experience, & at other times little more than what seems to be jumping thru hoops. Today Tom attempted to purchase their airline tickets even though Alexei is in Moscow for training. Along with Alexei is his passport & travel visa, both required for ticket purchase. Tom said a quick prayer & fortunately, the woman at the Aeroflot Airlines office in Krasnodar was extremely helpful & reserved the tickets for next Wednesdays flight!! Tom & Alexei will be wreaking havoc a day earlier in America than planned, however we're certain that they will have fun while visiting with many friends & family in the States!

Alexei gets his traveling papers!

I got a text message from Tom saying that Alexei was granted his visa to travel to America. I hope that all of you who will be seeing Tom and Alexei are ready for them. They are truly "brothers". They share the same sense of humor and it is uncanny how much alike they are. Here is your official warning:

"California, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, LOOK OUT!!!"

celebrations

Italy celebrated the big World Cup win yesterday. The cars, the horns and the flags were all busy yesterday! All the commotion woke Rhianna up around midnight. Hopefully, they are finished but, who knows how long it will last!

Tom says they are still without hot water.

Valentin and Sveta's baby is due anyday.

Today is Olya's birthday and the guys have been invited over for the party.

Lena and her father stopped by. They had been visiting at her brother Vova's house.

Spencer got the chance to go over to Andrews again for pizza. I got a text message from Judi saying they were throwing caution to the wind and having pizza on a Monday. Normally, Spencer is there for pizza night on Friday!

Italy Wins!

The air horns started in with the first goal. It was a long game and a long night. The streets were packed after the game. Many people had their kids out and were waving flags, singing songs and taking pictures late into the night. No rioting though and that was a blessing.

Tom and I "watched" the game together keeping in touch through text messaging. Zidane's head butt was the talk of the night.



The guys got the electicity back on and were very happy. They went for 32 hours without it. We are grateful that Ervand was able to take care of it! And it was nice that Tom and I could enjoy the game together.

F is for Cold

When making an attempt to turn on the water in Italy just remember that the F is for Cold. Otherwise you will burn your hand and that is no fun.
Let's just say I have some personal experience to draw from!

They guys have been without electricity since yesterday. So if you sent an email to one of the guys they cannot retrieve it yet. As of about an hour ago they were still working on it! There appears to be a short in the wires going into our apartment.

Slavic could not fix it. So Ervand was called. He wanted an electrician but it was a Saturday and no one was available. Tom said that Olya's girlfriend's boyfriend was not available to come over either! The last text message I got from Tom said that Ervand thought he knew what was wrong and was off to the reenock to get the parts he needed.

They went to the store yesterday and stocked up and candles and flashlights.

Tonight is the final game for the World Cup. The landlord for the apartment we are staying in has invited us over to watch the game with his family. Pandemonium will break loose if they win... I am not sure what will happen if they don't. Either way it will be a long night. I have already seen people out on the street with large Italian flags getting ready for the big game!

just hanging around

I have not done any sightseeing here in Rome like I did last year. I spend the time with Rhianna. I am grateful for the chance to bond with her and trying not to think of how long it will be before I see her and Erin again when this trip is over. I am working on "staying in today" like Tom always says.

I received an email from Janet, also with WorldVenture, here in Rome. Hopefully, I will be able to make it to dinner with them on the 14th. There is another WorldVenture person here from Senegal and we are both scheduled for the same evening. It should be an interesting discussion to find out about what WorldVenture is doing in different parts of the world!

Vladimir Putin explains Kiss

Russian president explains kiss
Thu Jul 6, 7:28 PM ET
In between answering questions Thursday about North Korea's missiles, Iran's nuclear program and relations with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin answered what was for many observers a more burning question: What compelled him to kiss the bare stomach of a young boy in a Kremlin courtyard?
Footage of the June 28 incident was broadcast on all Russian television stations. It quickly became fodder for Internet chat rooms and topped the Moscow tabloids the day after. The question was one of the most popular among the thousands e-mailed in for a live Kremlin Internet conference carried on the British Broadcasting Corp. Web site and a Russian site.
In the footage, Putin, 53, is shown walking up to a small crowd of tourists in a Kremlin courtyard and crouching down in front of the boy, who appears to be five or six years old. As the Russian president talks with Nikita for several seconds, he tugs at the boy's shirt before finally lifting it up and kissing him on his bare stomach.
"He seemed to me very independent, very serious, but at the same time a boy is always vulnerable. He was very sweet. I'll be honest, I felt an urge to squeeze him like a kitten and that led to the gesture that I made. There was nothing behind it really," Putin said, smiling.

at least ten times

How many times have you read the book Goodnight Moon?

I think after Rhianna's nap I read it at least ten times. I am reminded of when our boys where young and they wanted to be read to over and over again.

I guess as adults we do the same thing. We look for what is familiar and comforting and ask for it over and over again. It doesn't matter how many times I drink peach flavored tea or eat McDonalds french fries... they never fail to satisfy me.

I heard from all my guys by text message today. Tom purchased a fan for our bedroom. He said he thought it was "cool!". Spencer has been writing me in Russian so I don't forget. It is amazing how much it helps to read his text messages.

no sleep last night

Italy beat Germany 2-0 in extra time last night. Erin, James and I were up late talking and all of a sudden we heard stamping on the floor and screams coming from the apartment above us. Then the noise in the street started. Cars with flag bearers went up and down the street. Then a crowd started to gather. Scooters, motocycles, cars and people on foot filled up the street in front of our building and stayed there all night.

I wonder what will happen if they win the World Cup?

happy 4th of July!

We hope that everyone is enjoying their holiday.

Alonna, Vasa and Dionna left today. Vasa is traveling back to Dahgestan. And Alonna went to stay with another woman whose husband is also traveling.

I am sure that Nathan is relieved to have his room back!

Please keep Tom and the Sharp family in your prayers. His nephew Kristopher just recently passed away. This is the first family death since our move and it is difficult to not be there to support everyone.

The subway

The subway is not my favorite place to be. I am cautious since being robbed on it last year. I thought I was giving myself plenty of time to go to the internet point last night and then get back home on the subway. However, the subway closes early on Sunday nights. I got there 15 minutes after the lines had shut down.

I thought "maybe, I will walk home". So off I went. Things were looking familiar so I felt good. When I got to Termini, the main transportation point, I realized I had been walking the wrong direction. But, the good news is I was at the point where I could catch a bus or take a taxi. I asked three different people which bus would take me to Ponte Lungo and finally I found a night bus that stopped at the same points as the subway. I was only four stops from the apartment.

There is a Russian proverb that says your tongue can take you all the way to Kiev. It is a good thing I am not afraid to open my mouth and just ask. My Italian is pitiful. I have to repeat most everything I say. Gratefully, I made it home safe and sound.

Rhianna has grown so much! She is not a little baby. She is a constant source of motion while she is awake. Very inquisitive and very bright. She has quite a voice on her too. She seems to be an opera singer in the making. She can project quite easily!

I hear that Spencer is baking another cake. Tom sold more beads to Lilia. Tomorrow is the fourth but in Russia and here in Italy it is not a holiday. Tom and the boys will most likely chill out at home. Perhaps Tom will make some burgers and do corn on the cob like last year.

This just in...

Today Alida left the quiet villa of Assissi & took the train back into Rome. She will be in the big city for the rest of the month. Friends from the States arrived & all are enjoying their air-conditioned apartment!

Spencer & Tom went to church with our house guests to Marat & Christine's church. (Nathan didn't go to our regular church as he said he was locked inside the apartment & couldn't find any keys!) Marat's church sponsors the work of our house guests in Dagestan. Lena had called Saturday night & asked if we would go with her on Sunday to Marat's church because pictures that Alexei took on the big bike ride to Sochi were shown. Alexei wanted his family at the service! We enjoyed the small church experience, Marat's teaching about Jonah, & viewing the beautiful pictures of the ride thru the mountains down to the Black Sea.
Last year 6 Americans came for the bike trip...this year only 1 American returned. The men were tired & worn out. Alexei was home for a matter of hours before he left on the train for a seminar in Moscow. When he returns in 2 weeks, he & Lena will oinly have a few days together before Alexei & I head to America. (Provided the US Embassy grants him a travel visa.)

From the top down!

Yesterday, I went up to the top of the hill and worked my way down. I went to St. Rufinos, then St. Clare's... now at St. Clare's I was told not to take photos. But, you know me! Just like in the Sistine Chapel last year I was respectfully disobedient. I felt entitled since I had waited outside St. Clare's for two hours. Yes, it was nice to sit there in the cool breeze knitting and people watching but that is not the point! I just sat down in a pew and waited for a good shot. I got two. Downstairs in St. Clare's crypt I got a good one. I also took some photos of the relics. I left St. Clare's and went to Santa Maria Maggiore. I think it does not get visited as much because it is hidden. I found my way down to St. Peter's.

As I was out walking I saw one of the dirtiest men I have ever seen. I thought he was homeless. I had to look a little closer. He was a monk. His feet were filthy and his hair was long and grimy. His face looked dirty. And his robes were worn. He looked peaceful and content. He was dressed like a Franciscan monk. But, he easily could could have been one of those guys on the side of the freeway in CA holding a sign saying "will work for food".

Did you know that nuns wear birkenstocks and carry backpacks! Personally, I prefer my Clark sandals they are wonderful on these cobblestone roads. http://www.clarksusa.com/


Tom says the guys both chose different ways to celebrate the end of school. Spencer baked a cake and Nathan stayed up all night on the computer. We have a break from school for the month of July. Then we start back up in August. No rest for the weary!

oh and I found another blackpurl! http://blackpurlco.blogspot.com/ we seem to have a lot in common.

St. Mary of the Angels

I found a photo online of the church that I visited first! Hopefully, when Erin gets here I can put my own pictures on the photo blog.

I have been checking in at internet cafes to get email and see how the guys are doing. You can only put so much info into a text message! So email is still the most effective way to find out what is going on at home.

Tom said they watched a couple of Nathan's zombie movies yesterday. I am glad that I missed out on that.

If I were in Krasnodar I would escape the heat by staying in our airconditioned apartment. If I were in California I would go to the mall. Here in Assisi the only place to beat the heat is in a church! I spent most of yesterday in two different churches. I went back to St. Mary's and I went up the hill to St. Francis' church.

St Peter and Paul Day

Today is a holiday. I thought Russia had a lot of holidays but Italy has some interesting ones too. A lot of markets and stores are shut down for the day but most of the bars are still open!

It is very tranquil here. Not at all like Rome. Franciscan monks stroll around barefoot singing. Groups of monks meet for discussion and prayer on the church steps. Doves walk around in church like they own the place. This is a very spirit-filled city. There are not many tourists to be seen. Most people seem to be pilgrims here... perhaps to experience what St. Francis did while he was here. Cameras are rarely seen and photos are not allowed in the churches.

Yesterday I was at Basilica Santa Maria Degli Angeli. Today my plan is to go to the Basilica dedicated to St. Francis. It was built after his death. The church he actually attended was Santa Maria Degli Angeli.

Assisi

Assisi is beautiful and hot! I got to Rome and found the train station right away this time. I rode into the Termini Station and was able to enjoy lunch at McDonald's. I have an Italian cell phone number so I am able to talk with the guys back home. And with Erin in the states. The chip for my phone was only 20 euros... not a bad deal.

I left Termini and travelled to Assisi. It was a two hour train ride. The train was nice. My hotel is lovely. I wish I could post a photo. I have already visited the church where St Francis first heard from God.

I had dinner at a little cafe and then I had to go in search of the internet! I will be here in Assisi until the second of July. Maybe by then I will stop speaking Russian and actually get out a few words or phrases in Italian!

Tom and Vasa got up early and took me to the airport. I hope they were both able to get some rest today. We left our place at three am. Tom said that they had car trouble on the way home. But, they did make it back safely. Spencer was hanging out over at Andrew's. His family is back from Helsinki and then will leave tomorrow for Moscow. Spencer just has to get his fix of being with his other family!

Where am I going?

I am headed to Assisi, Italy. http://www.umbriabest.com/cities/assisi/index.htm I will be ther from the 28th until the 2nd. I am hoping to meet some WorldVenture people while I am there. then I head to Rome to meet up with Erin and James.

Either Tom or I will keep the blog updated. He will have tales to tell of his travels once he reaches America in late July.

The guys are staying home.... they keep joking about having a party.

I just can't imagine Nathan's youth group and Spencer's friends (Tobias &Andrew) causing to much trouble.

Hopefully, they won't try to prove me wrong!

leaving on a jet plane!

Tom and Vasa will be taking me to the airport at 3 am. My flight leaves at 5am. We had a lot to do today getting me ready to go. The most important errand was our HIV testing.

Yep, it is that time of year again. Each year as part of the visa renewal fun we have to be re-tested. We had the tests done around 9:30 and the results were ready by noon.

Our family watched "V for Vendetta" for this evenings entertainment. Right now Alonna, Vasa and Tom are watching "Pink Panther".

Lena and Dima stopped by to pick up a CD of their wedding pictures. They are living with Dima's parents right now until the repair work on their new apartment is finished.

Lena Parhomenka told me not to forget Russian while I am gone. I am to listen to, read and speak Russian whenever I get a chance. Actually there should be some Russian tours at some of the sites. Lena wants me to take one every week!

Tom says he has found a new language helper. She is 2 1/2. She speaks slowly and repeats everything she says and everything everyone around her says so she is easy to learn from! One of the many benefits for taking in a Russian family. We are getting lots of practice in.

from 2 to 7!

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week there were two quiet adults in this apartment.

On Thursday we added three more adults and a preschooler.

On Saturday a teenager came into the mix.

This morning Tom and I were discussing how clean the apartment is. We have 5 adults, 1 teenager and 1 preschooler in the house right now. The kitchen and bathroom are clean.

Why is it hard to keep those rooms clean when it is just three adults and a teenager?

Maybe the two adult guests that are here are the reason it is so clean!!

*** Special thanks to Becky in North Carolina... we went through the twinkies in the blink of an eye!

Tortured Child Will Stay in US

Adopted Russian Child Tortured by Foster Mother to Remain in U.S.

MosNews


The adopted 4-year-old Russian child who was beaten by a U.S. woman will stay in the area and be adopted by a new family.The child, whose name and picture is being withheld by the newspaper, is a United States resident and will not return to Russia, The Evening Tribune reports.“I saw him about three weeks ago, and I have had contact with the foster parents and others who have contact with him, and he is doing very well,” said the child’s legal counsel, Thomas Fuoco of Angelica. “Yes, he will still be around here. I don’t foresee any difficulties in this family adopting him, and the three of them make a wonderful family.”

On Tuesday, Allegany County Court Judge Thomas Brown sentenced Jane Cochran, 44 to 120 days in jail, 90 days on electronic home monitoring, five years of probation and to serve 100 hours of community service. Her husband, Timothy Cochran, 49, will spend 60 days in jail and will be on probation for three years.The Cochrans went jointly to Russia to adopt the child and as a result, he will remain here.“He is a U.S. citizen. If both parents go to the foreign country and adopt the child, upon return to the United States he becomes a U.S. citizen,” Fuoco said. “The problem is, when one parents goes, the other has to file papers. But when both go, it’s automatically done.”On Jan. 31, Alfred Police charged Jane Cochran with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child and charged Timothy Cochran with endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said Jane Cochran allegedly beat their adopted 4-year-old child from Russia because he did not read his prayers in English well and allegedly cut the child’s ear with scissors while making other threats.Jane Cochran was asked by her attorney, Nick Jonas, if she used a wooden spoon, a belt and other implements to beat the 4-year-old and she said “yes.”

Spencer is home!

Yesterday Spencer came back from Moscow. He left home on Tuesday and was there until Satuday. He was with our friends Jody and Melanie http://www.ratsnrussia.blogspot.com/

Melanie and Jody were students at the language school. Melanie was the one who took me to Vishevoy Reenock and exposed me to aisles and aisles of clothes! They have three children.

Spencer was orginally going to go to Khabarisk to visit them. But the other person he was scheduled to fly with was afraid to fly that far away for her first airplane trip. Then we found out that their family was going to be in Moscow for several days. And Leeza (the kids former nanny) agreed to go on that trip. Moscow is only two hours away by plane but Khabarisk is 9 hours away.

Spencer said that Leeza was so nervous that she grabbed his hand at take off and didn't let it go until they landed. She is 23. They arrived at Melanie and Jody's apartment by metro! (subway) We gave Spencer taxi money but they decided to use public transport instead.

Spencer was not blown away with Moscow. There are beautiful things to see there but it is loud, busy and full of rude people. Like... New York! He said people didn't apologize for bumping you like they do here. And many things they wanted to buy were expensive. That is everything except for telephones. He used the birthday money from us and his grandparents to buy a new camera phone.

He went to Red Square once and to McDonalds three times. Teenagers have priorities! Melanie and Jody left very early Thursday morning for a trip to Poland. Fortunately for Spencer and Leeza she has family that live in Moscow. So they were able to spend Thursday and Friday night with Leeza's Aunt and Uncle.

Spencer was completely immersed in Russian while he was gone. He enjoyed being with Aidan, Leia and Makayla. He didn't enjoy the "white nights". He said the sun went down at midnight and came back up around four a.m. It was hard for the little ones to go to sleep. He said McDonald's tasted like "normal" and Red Square was "cool". He seemed most excited about the new cell phone!

Food choices

Yesterday for dinner I made a spaghetti and meatballs. I chose to go over to City Center and get the ground beef. They have the best ground beef in the supermarket there.

When I asked the woman at the counter for a kilogram (2.2lbs) of ground beef she looked at me and then told me she had a question. She wanted to know why so many foreigners like the plain ground beef. I told here that many Americans like to eat hamburgers. She asked if we had good tasting beef in America.

Here in Russia it is common for the ground beef to be mixed with pork. The pork makes the beef taste better.

our house guests

Our guests have a two and a half year old daughter. Her name is Dionna.
(dee-ohn-nah)
She is such a joy. Last night she sang for us for about a half hour. She sings about whatever is around her. She will sing about chairs, dishes, towels... basically whatever is in the room she is in.


Last night she picked up one of my crochet hooks and used it as a microphone. And she can switch from Russian to English without any trouble!

Her parents have planted a church in Derbent, Dahgestan. They are Russian nationals who graduated from the BLTC two years ago. We were blessed to have been here on our scouting trip when they graduated. We attended the graduation, Tom also taught some of the final sessions, and he remembers most of the men who were his students. (Lena and Alexei were also in that graduating class). And now it is an honor to have them staying with us.

The church is in a Muslim area and right now they have about 40 people. Their names are Alonna (ah-loan-nah) and Vasa. Vasa told us last night at dinner that they have seven different people groups attending the church. He said that each week they allow a different people group to do the worship. They are enjoying songs from each of the nationalities represented.

Vasa also told us about a time when he went to go have some copies of songs transferred from a floppy to a disk. The clerk asked him what was on the floppy. When he heard that it contained Christian music, the clerk threw the floppy back at him and refused to do the work.

I asked him if living there was dangerous. He said “yes, but there is danger all over the world.” They are very committed to the area even though he knows he could be killed or harmed.
Please pray for the church in Derbent and for those who are willing to work in that area.
Please pray for a safe birth of their second child. Alonna will be here in Krasnodar until the baby is born.

new look...

my new hairdo for the summer! 

The woman who did my hair told me that her mother is African and her father is French.  That means I had a FRENCH woman doing my FRENCH braids! 

Women from Cameroon doing hair on a Russian beach!

 cotton candy... just like they used to do at the State Fair!

Anapa sunset

Anapa BLTC Women's Retreat 2006

We enjoyed having makeovers, the beach and great teaching by Diane and Linda. Each woman has a new hairstyle... cut and/or color according to what she wanted.

We had women from Uzbekastan, Dahgestan, Russia and America.

The hairstylist, Janath, is from Houston, Texas and has 27 years experience. She teaches in a college and owns her own salon. On the bus coming home a woman from Uzbekestan asked me to tell Janath that her name in the Uzbekastani language means Paradise. And that is Paradise as in the words of Jesus saying "today you will be with me in Paradise".

I left home worried about my ability to speak Russian. I came home with a refreshed spirit and having been told that "it is obvious" by the way I speak that I "have spent a lot of time with Russians"!

I need to go and get our home ready for some guests that are coming this evening. We have a missionary couple who work in Dahgestan coming to stay with us for awhile. They are Russian nationals and they work under difficult living conditions there.

Yesterday was 'Travel Day'!

Congrats to 3 former LA Lakers (Coach Riley, Shaq & GP) for their recent NBA Championship title! I’ve only read about the NBA playoffs on the internet, as sports here have a bad case of World Cup fever, & nothing else.

Alida left for a women’s leadership retreat in the beautiful resort city of Anapa on the Black Sea…one of the benefits of living so close to the water. I took Spencer to the airport for his flight to Moscow. He & friend Leeza will be visiting some former language school students who moved away. Leeza had never flown before, so she relied on the experience of Spencer to guide them thru the airport protocol. Meanwhile, Nathan & I are enjoying incredible silence!!! I’m not saying that Alida & Spencer are loud & noisy…but having too less people around certainly changes things…especially when they are two loud & noisy people! (The opinions of this blog post do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the owner of this blog, & may be representative only of the guest commentator).

Making friends in Russia

Making friends takes time here. First you are an aquaintance. Then you become a friend... if you are fortunate you may graduate to close friend.

We have someone that we know whom we consider a close family friend but this person doesn't think they know us that well yet. It stings a little bit. But, we understand it. It is a cultural difference.

Maybe, we Americans call someone "friend" too soon. Maybe, Russians don't do it soon enough. We will continue to love this person no matter what. It is worth it!


And thank you to the close friend who told me my old blog color was about to make her sick... she is a true friend!

you have the right blog!

Tom asked Lena to take a new photo of us... here is one of the poses you can see two others on the photo blog.

www.sharpmomphotos.blogspot.com

another Russian holiday!

We watched a great movie tonight with Alexei, Lena and her brother Slavic. They came by to tell us about how church was today. We were being lazy "heathens" (as one of my Aunts would say) and didn't go. Everybody needs a day off now and then!

Spencer baked a cake for his Father's Day gift to Tom. All I had to do was make the frosting! I never made frosting until moving here. But, when you cannot go to the market and just buy a jar you 'do what yah gotta do!'

Nathan made lunch and took a special trip out of the house to purchase a card for his dad. Only somehow between home and the store he got it in his head that today was Tom's birthday and not Father's Day. He came home with a very funny birthday card for his Dad.

Remember where we live? This is Russia and Father's Day is not celebrated here. When Alexei came over he told us that today is a holiday... Day of Medicine. Seriously, there is a Day of Knowledge and Day for Teachers and so on. Today is Medicine Day.

Happy Day of Medicine!

Saturday in Krasnodar

Spencer went to hang out in our old neighborhood. He stopped by to say hello to Iris and JB. I think a few of you have actually spoken with JB. He gave you our phone number!

Tom went to his AA meeting and got some photos taken. I think he may add them to his powerpoint presentation for America. It was great that all the attendees were open to having their photo taken.

Nathan and I went shopping over at City Center. I wanted to purchase some frozen food for the guys while I am gone next week. I leave for Anapa on the Black Sea on Tuesday and we will be back Thursday afternoon. The women of the BLTC are going there for our retreat. It will be my first experience at a Woman's Retreat in Russian. I will most likely stick close to Lena. She is good at explaining things using words I already know! We have women coming from Uzbekastan, Dagestan and Nalchick. I think there will only be about 6 of us who are native English speakers.

the joy of cigarettes

Yesterday, Spencer and I went out to do some shopping. We left early in the morning and the first thing we saw at the bus stop was:

three guys smoking cigarettes and sharing a beer for breakfast!

yes, three men one bottle.


Then around noon we saw:

a woman enjoying a milkshake and a cigarette for lunch.

I cannot imagine what that shake tasted like!


As we were headed to the tram stop we saw Spencer's favorite:

a man riding a bicycle and smoking a cigarette.

Spencer's comment was "now, that's multi-tasking!"


Coming from California the sight of someone smoking just strikes us as odd. After all, in California, there are places where you cannot even smoke outdoors (like the beach) and in your own home (like some condos).

World Cup Fever!

Tom has been tuning in as well! Sports are easy to understand in any language!

Russian Soccer Fans Will Play Truant to Watch World Cup Matches
MosNews


25 percent of Russian soccer fans admitted to pollsters in the run-up to the World Cup that they were set to leave their work desks earlier than usual so as not to be late for television broadcasts from Germany. 4 percent said they would call in sick and remain at home, while another 5 percent said they would take days off, a survey held by a human resources web portal EuropeTalent.com has revealed. If Russia had qualified for the finals, the Vedomosti daily newspaper suggested, the situation would have been different. “You have to respect the wishes of your employees if you want them to stay loyal to you,” notes Ruslan Nikiforov, partner at AMT Consulting Group. Nikiforov says he has allowed his subordinates to watch TV, listen to radio reports from German football arenas and check related news reports on the web. To prevent their staff from skipping work, many companies, including Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase, had television screens installed on the premises. InFocus installed large monitors in halls and elevators. Executives hope that broadcasts will not reflect on their subordinates’ performance.

Why do Americans eat so much corn?

Lena and Alexei came over for dinner tonight. Alexei made me realize that I still cook like an American. Tom prepared the chicken breasts while I did a potato & cheese dish. To go along with that I made corn and green beans. Each of the vegetable dishes were separate. I guess they have had dinner with other Americans who also separate the veggies! Lena said that most Russians would mix the veggies into some type of salad. Corn is usually served in a crab salad that is quite popular.

After everyone was served and we started to eat Alexei asked "why do Americans eat so much corn?" Tom asked him "why do Russians eat so much cabbage?" the answer to both questions is simple. Because it is available! We talked about how many different states in America that corn is grown in. And we talked about cabbages being plentiful here.

After dinner we watched a bit of the World Cup soccer game. Spain was playing Ukraine. Ukraine lost but Lena was ok with that!

Unexpected Visitors

I never thought about how the people who drop by unexpectedly might feel... until yesterday.

Yesterday, as I was on my home from the restaurant with Joyce, I had to make an unexpected pit stop at Charles and Betty's. I know I should have gone at the restaurant but I thought I could make it home. It was pretty embarrassing for a woman my age to knock on someone's door and ask to use to the restroom! It's not like I had a small child to cover for me!

Anyway, Charles and Betty have a lovely home. And the next time we have an unexpected visitor I am sure I will be much more understanding!

If you order it will it come?

I got up early yesterday and ordered the water... but, yesterday was a holiday. We are still waiting! When I called to ask her what happened she said that they worked a short day due to the holiday. Yesterday was Russian Independence Day. The school was closed and transportation was slow throughout the city.

I went out to lunch with Joyce B. we ate at Al-Hatib. It is a nice little cafe. It was fun spending time with Joyce. For those of you in/or from California Joyce is from Beaumont. Soon Joyce will be on her way to London. Possibly to work there. We hope it all falls into place for her!

Our friends Bill and Judi were able to get their visas renewed with no problems. Now they are having a two week vacation with the kids in Helsinki, Finland. It was an answer to prayer that everything worked out for them. Our family remembers all too well being stuck in Odessa, Ukraine for a month. Bill and Judi didn't want to do that with four kids!

Ordering water

We only drink filtered water here. It is really not a big deal. We did it in California too. I don't think we have had water from a tap since leaving Kansas. I remember the water in Kansas being fresh and sweet... and then in California it had a color!

We found a service that we can call and they deliver to our apartment. It seems so much easier to let someone else climb the four flights of stairs. Right now we are going through two 19 liter bottles a week. We use it for cooking and for drinking.

In talking to Lena's brother Slavic he says that the water here in Krasnodar is not good because it comes from the Kuban River. And the pipes that it travels through are not very good. Many Russians only drink it after it has been boiled or filtered. We have heard of people who have developed kidney stones from the chemicals in the water here.

Carbonated drinks like Pepsi or Fanta are called "sweet water". You can order water "with" or "without" gas.

toe up crocheted socks & a movie!

Joyce B. came over today and we watched her DVD of The Best of Will Farrell. I guess you have to be an SNL fan to appreciate the humor. But, no matter what we watch with Joyce it's a hoot!

She was amazed that as I was watching I made a sock. I found this very simple pattern http://www.graftonfibers.com/socks.htm on the internet and thought I would give it a try.

I finished the mate while watching Harry Potter. Just another lazy Saturday afternoon.

Tom went off to his AA meeting. Spencer was spending the day with Andrew. His family leaves tomorrow. Nathan was reading a Stephen King book.

Spencer and Tom got home around the same time this evening. The buses were not running very smoothly. Spencer and Andrew rode two different buses that didn't finish the route. Tom waited longer than usual and actually walked part of the way to find a better bus stop. Both he and Spencer have reports of seeing many drunk people out tonight. Tom said the conductor on the bus was totally wasted... the conductor is not the driver. The conductor just sells the tickets to the passengers when they get on. 

Arboose

Ar-boose is Russian for watermelon. We found a great one today. Or I should say Tom did. There is a vendor down at our market that he likes a lot. It was a good size and very sweet. Lena says the best watermelons will come a little later when they are bigger. The one we had today was just a little guy!

Spencer came home all worn out. He didn't even make it over to Andrew's for his regular Friday visit. I got a text message from Judi saying she missed him. He is one of her extra kids! Spencer said the family he worked for had a big patio area that he swept completely clean in front and in back of the house. He was happy to have made some money. Knowing Spencer he is saving it for his time in Moscow.

We got a package of books today. It was great to read a new book. I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I enjoyed it a great deal. It was a fast read. I finished it while Tom and Nathan were watching Blade Runner.

Nathan went over to the post office with Olya's passport. At first they told him "no!". But, Olya called over there and straightened them out! Don't mess up the plans of a pregnant woman... she was not going over there no matter what they said. They finally conceded and gave the package to Nathan. I doubt Olya will go to the post office anytime soon. Hopefully, the gals over there will get used to seeing one of our guys picking up packages!

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is not just an American show. We stumbled across it a few weeks ago. And now it is a Sunday evening highlight. Because the questions & answers are printed on the screen we can play along. In Russian the title is кто хочет стать миллионаром?
Which would be pronounced Ktoh khochet stat millionarom. The highest prize is 3 million rubles...according to today's rate that is $111,104.83.

One of the teachers at school Madina, also watches the show. She enjoys playing along as well. At the end of the show they ask a question for the audience. If you are the first to phone in with the right answer you will win a prize. If we win we'll let you know!

Raining night and day!

It rained fairly hard last night and just stopped raining about a half hour ago. Lena is here cleaning ( she took over to give Olya a break in the final months of her pregnancy).

Nathan seems to have slept in as he is still in his room... When Lena peeked in there to see if she could clean his room she found Brownie asleep near Nathan's feet. Tom went in to look and wanted a photo. By the time I took a look it woke Brownie up. Photo op was lost! I led Brownie back to her kennel. And will tell Nathan when he wakes up about his visitor.

Spencer went off to school. He is so faithful to get up and make himself breakfast and a lunch and ride across town on his own. In California he never rode on public transportation alone. Here, even the smallest of children can be seen riding the bus to school on their own. They are shown the route once. After that they are expected to do it themselves. It is not that hard. Usually the conductor knows where the child needs to get off and makes sure it happens. Spencer said he doesn't get asked to show his bus pass most days. The conductor knows that he has one so why bother walking all the way over there to see it!

Tom told me that he and Tim had lunch at the American Diner yesterday. Tom was happy that he got a cheeseburger. They guys have all been there and speak highly of it. Maybe we will head there for Father's Day. It is not a holiday here so it shouldn't be overwhelmed with people.


We do have another Russian holiday coming up on Monday. It is like their independence day. That means we will not have school on Monday. Long weekends are always nice.

Wednesday Blahs

Today was my last class with Judi H. Her family is leaving for Helsinki a week earlier than they had planned. We pray that their visa renewal goes smoothly and that everything gets done in time for Bill to make it to Moscow on the date he is scheduled to be there.

Kathy and Mike have left and will soon be living in Kazakstan.

Yesterday, Andrew arrived and saved the day! He brought over two kilos of strawberries. Tom, Spencer and Andrew made an assembly line and got the berries cleaned and ready. We have 12 jars of jam put away. They are wrapped in my winter coat and are still cooling down under the kitchen table. Lena says it is best if they are allowed to cool down over a three day period. I touched one of the jars this morning and it was still warm!

Today we enjoyed bacon courtesy of Tim of Joy. Tom and Tim had lunch together today and Tim brought the bacon over as a gift! Nathan sent Tim home with a gift for TJ. He has been enjoying playing gameboy games and Nathan had the game Nintendogs that he was no longer playing and thought it would be perfect for TJ.

Today's sighting:
The big kids (teens) on the playground were playing soccer. The little kids were playing volleyball. The little ones could barely get the ball over the net. But, they seemed to be having fun trying!!!

end of the strawberry line

We have been searching for strawberries today.

We looked all over in our region for strawberries and everyone was sold out! We kept being told maybe later this evening after more have been picked. Spencer's friend Andrew found some for us over in his area. So he will bring them over.

It is jam making time here. Lena was going to help us today with our first batch. I have 4 kilograms of sugar. I have the pectin. But no berries yet. We have been saving jars all year. So we are all set... just waiting for Andrew to arrive. He will be Mr. Hero when he gets here.

rug cleaning

The other day as I was looking out our kitchen window I got to see a man cleaning a rug. This is not an unusual occurence... this job is done by men or women. What made this so interesting is the strap he is using to beat the rug with. Most of the people we watch use a broom handle or some type of stick. This guy was "beating the tar" out of this rug. The rug stayed outside for a few days before he came back to get it. A few dogs enjoyed the shade it provided for their naps! 

Russian Diplomat Killed, 4 Abducted in Iraq

Russian Diplomat Killed, 4 Abducted in Iraq
Created: 03.06.2006 16:53 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:53 MSK
document.write(get_ago(1149339217)); , 18 hours 14 minutes ago
MosNews


One Russian diplomat was killed and four diplomatic employees were abducted in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, the Associated Press reported quoting a Russian Embassy official in Baghdad.“Yes, I can confirm this. One diplomat killed, four employees kidnapped. That’s all I can say. No commentary,” the official, contacted by telephone from Moscow, told The Associated Press. He refused to give his name or provide any further details.Police in Baghdad said witnesses at the scene told them that gunmen opened fire on a car that belonged to the Russians in west Baghdad’s upscale Mansour district.Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohamedawi said one person was killed in the incident.

German food from Kansas

The other night when we had dinner with Joy she was talking about a time when she was in Marion, Kansas. Tim's family is from there and they were having a family reunion.

She remembered eating bierochs. It has been a long time since Tom and I had them! Tom was saying we don't need a recipe because we know exactly what is in them. Cabbage, cooked ground beef (onions, if you like) and they are wrapped in bread dough and baked. Simple!

I found a premade bread dough that is for crescent rolls and it worked great. Cut the dough into squares and fill with cabbage and meat mixture. Serve with sour cream.

We want the boys to get in touch with their Kansas roots. Remembering this recipe was a great step in that direction!

cocktails!

I am sure you are wondering why I am talking about cocktails....

In Russian the word means "shake" as in milkshake! We are enjoying having a blender and all the fresh fruit there is here to make a shake or a smoothie with. For those of you in California think: Jamba Juice! For those in the midwest think: Orange Julius!

YUM!

Tom made a strawberry smoothie for Lena yesterday. Fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream and multi-fruit juice. She loved it. She was excited because she and Alexei just got a blender and she was not sure what to do with it! Now she knows exactly what she wants to do.

Strawberries have gotten very cheap now. So Lena and I are planning to make jam on Monday. We will also prepare some for freezing. Hopefully, I will be here for raspberry season too. I would love to get some raspberry jam made this year!

Hannah and Nathan are twins!

We had dinner with Joy, TJ and Hannah. We hadn't spent time with them in over a year. TJ wanted to make sure that Nathan and Spencer REALLY lived here. So he asked his mom again just before we arrived at their home.

After dinner the four of them were running through the house playing with toy guns.

TJ is 7. Hannah is 5. Spencer is 16 and Nathan will be 19 in a few months.

At one point Joy noticed that TJ was wearing a Buzz LightYear arm band and she mentioned it to us. Tom noticed that Spencer had one on too. When the kids were questioned about it we found out that it signified Spencer and TJ being on the same team. Nathan said that he and Hannah were on the "not glasses" team. Hannah said very excitedly "Nathan and I are twins!". We also found out from Hannah that their team's secret hiding place was.... in the closet. Don't tell Spencer and TJ!

End of school

Judi and I started a new lesson today and we get a new teacher on Monday. We have about two weeks left for our class because Judi's family will be leaving around the 17th of June. I have a Women's Retreat to go to and then I will be off to Rome.

Tom's class will finish out this week and then they will be done. Three of the students leave next week.

Spencer is going until the teachers stop teaching and Nathan... one never knows what his choice will be. I think he will go as long as he has to!

We are praying about Spencer's school attendance next year. He has highschool to finish so he may choose to go to language school part time and focus on his last two years of highschool. He gets live language everyday and he and Nathan both speak very well.

Today's sighting:
there was a group of children playing down on the playground in front of our apartment. One boy had the ball and about 6 or 7 kids were doing back bends in a line forming a tunnel and he was rolling the ball underneath them.

changing weather

We have had rain and sunshine. Warm days and cold. It has been warm enough to warrant turning on the air conditioner already. More people are out on the street talking late at night. Especially now that school is out and the children don't have to get up early.

We are listening to more people do repair work on their apartments. Hammering and banging goes on until bedtime and sometimes later.

The things we love about summer are the ice cream & the fresh fruit like watermelon and strawberries.

Here are two babushka's chatting while one enjoys her ice cream.

green borscht or schi

This is tonights dinner.

In our effort to lose weight we are getting off the bus a stop sooner than normal. This puts us right in front of the reenok. About a four block walk from home.

They saw me coming.

I was told I needed to buy the sorrel because it was fresh. "you like green borscht don't you?" Well of course we do we have had it at Lena's. I thought about it and decided it would be good to make borscht today. It has been rainy and this is a good soup day! This recipe was modified by me to suit our tastes and Tom's diet. I left out the heavy cream and the eggs.

Enjoy!

- Zelyonye Schi (Green Schi ) recipe -

Cuisine: Ukrainian, Yield: 6 Servings

· Ingredients 2 lb Sorrel
-or-
1 lb Endive w/ juice of 3 lemons
-and-1 lb Spinach washed and dried
2 1/4 qt Beef stock
2 ea Onions
1 ea Carrot
1 1/2 ts Salt
2 ea Potatos peeled
1 tb Dill fresh & chopped
1 tb Scallions chopped
1/2 c Heavy cream
4 ea Eggs hardboiled & sliced
1/4 c Sour cream
· MethodBring the beef stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the onion, salt, & sorrel (or spinach & endive & lemon juice). Cube the potatos into 3/4" cubes and add to pot. Cook for 10 minues. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from heat and place into a large tureen and stir in the cream, add the dill. serve and garnish with a dollop of sour cream & slices of egg.

*NOTE: This better made with sorrel than endive but I have seen kale with spinach used as well instead of sorrel.

Recipe source: Dr. Donald Houston's collection ORIGIN: Taisa Kamnotskaya, Kyiv-Ukraine, circa 1997
Posted by Yuri Timohin http://www.ruscuisine.com

Moscow Bible College

We had guests today from Moscow. They were students from a Bible College. They represented various cities from around the country. One of the young men gave his testimony. It was incredible to hear that he was raised in a muslim home but still found his way to Christ. It helps us to realise how arrogant it is to think that people here will not find Christ without help from Americans.

We are not here to spread the gospel. We are here to reflect the light and love of Christ and to teach whatever specialised subjects people want to learn. God has been doing the work of drawing people to him for many years... it is an honor that every now and then He uses us to help.

Da Vinci Code Poster Burnt in Moscow

Da Vinci Code Poster Burnt in Moscow by Orthodox Activists
Created: 23.05.2006 17:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:51 MSK
document.write(get_ago(1148395902));

Around 100 protesters representing a Russian Orthodox movement burned a poster advertising the The Da Vinci Code at Pushkin Square in central Moscow, on the day of the controversial film’s premier, RIA Novosti news agency reports. Protesters at the meeting, organized by the Union of Orthodox Citizens, held icons, crosses and banners, one of which read: “The Da Vinci Code: you buy a ticket — you sell Jesus.”Leonid Simonovich-Nikshych, the chairman of an Orthodox organization represented at the protest, said: “Every heresy against the Church will burn in this way.” He urged for “blasphemous acts against Christians” to be stopped.Moscow police did not stop the protest. Officers had been briefed by their supervisors not to intervene in these “religious things, unless there’s an open physical fight”, Discovery Institute website reports.On Tuesday the Moscow Patriarchy condemned the release in Russia of the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s controversial bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. Many Russian Muslims are also outraged by the film, because Jesus is esteemed as a prophet in the Koran. They view The Da Vinci Code’s claim that Jesus slept with Mary Magdalene as an attack on their religion as well as Christianity.The book, which centers on a conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up the true story of Jesus Christ, has caused a storm of controversy around the world.

Vova's Birthday!

Tomorrow is Vova's birthday. I went shopping with Olya and Lena. Ira was not interested in looking at men's shirts. She took my hand and dragged me through the mall to find babies.

Every time we saw a baby in a stroller or someone her age walking she got excited. Olya says we need a special translator to know exactly what Ira is saying. Some of her words are clear but not all! She is 1 year and 8 months old. She walks great and went for about three hours before she needed to go potty. As we were walking to the marshutka Olya told us that Ira was not wearing pampers! I was especially concerned while Ira was sitting on my lap. She did great though. I didn't need to worry.

On our way home we got on the same marshutka we had arrived there in. It was the same driver and everything. We got about 15 miles from the city and the van broke down. He was trying to get us to a neighborhood but the van just couldn't go any farther. Olya and I walked for about five minutes since we were not far from her mother's house. She is pregnant, due in August, and she decided she couldn't make it any farther.

We hailed a car.

An older couple stopped and drove us about 2 miles. It was wonderful to ride and not have to walk it! We walked another half mile to Olya's mother's house and she drove us home. What a day for neither one of us to have our cell phones! Her mother fussed at us for not calling. I had forgotten mine and Vova had Olya's. We were on a highway and cars were coming by very fast. I didn't feel as if we were facing any danger. It was another adventure to add to my list.

Neurologist

Tom finally saw the neurologist today. And she said that things looked pretty good. She recommended that he see the gastroenterologist. He will go in for that next week as well as to see the urologist again.

Natasha came with us to translate but we are finding that we are understanding more each time we go. Many medical terms have a latin base so they sound familiar to our ears.

When Jim H. spoke at church on Sunday, Natasha translated for him. He gave an illustration about the details on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Natasha was confused for a bit because she was thinking of St. Peter's Basilica. Tom suggested that we show her a book I brought back from the Chapel last summer. She was amazed at the paintings and remembered that she had studied about Michangelo back in 6th grade. She said she was too young to appreciate it. I said that was how I felt when I was in Rome last summer. I had heard about the artists whose work I ws seeing. But, school textbooks pale in comparison to the real thing. Here is a link in case you aren't familiar with the paintings there: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html

We could have seen all the other doctors today but Natasha needed to get back to work. They are translating another book for publication at the BLTC.

Tom is doing well, he is out of pain, his blood pressure is coming down and the doctor was pleased with his progress.

Final bell

Tomorrow is a major holiday for school children. It is the final bell of the school year. Just like they celebrated the first bell of the year the final bell is also important. Signaling not just the end of the year but the final day for the graduating students. The 11th graders (final grade here) will have their testing and then get their certificates. After that they are on holiday. Many of them will go out to eat and have tea or coffee with friends throughout the evening. There will also be a ball squeezed in this evening. And perhaps the disco afterward.

The next day after that if they are able they will make their way to Sochi and enjoy time at the Black Sea with their classmates.

Tom has his doctor's appointment tomorrow otherwise I would be there bright and early to take pictures. Lord willing, I can do it next year!

Russian Scrabble anyone?

We found a new game at MosMart. (Our country's version of a Walmart) The characters on the Scrabble tiles are Russian. We don't have a big Russian vocabulary so towards the end we had to take out the dictionary to use up all the tiles.

Lena helped us while she was here. She said it would be a hard a game for Russians to play. We told her it was a hard game in English too! Nathan was looking for our Englsih version so that he could take it to the English class that he teaches. If you are a stickler for rules you would not have enjoyed playing with us. After all, this was a game Tom and I decided was for learning. No points and no board needed. If you speak Russian or can read the characters you will see mistakes. The letters we had leftover were two soft signs, a hard sign and an 'e kratkaya'. The soft sign softens the letter it follows and the hard sign functions like a stop sign in between letters. The 'e kratkaya' makes a sound like the 'y' at the beginning of the word yogurt.

We didn't play to win. We actually helped each other with words. Nathan helped me and Spencer helped Tom. We picked up a few new words from the dictionary and the boys were able to help us with some case endings that they have learned.

Tom and I realised today that we have been studying Russian for a full year with no break. We started working with Lena a year ago this month. We even worked with her over the Christmas vacation. So we have literally studied for a solid year. We are all looking forward to July. We are grateful for how much we have learned this past year. Last year we could say hello, goodbye and please. This year we are playing Scrabble.

Maybe when you come and visit we will let you play with us! 

Sweet 16!

Russian tradition is that you give yourself a party. Spencer baked a cake yesterday and was upset that it turned out uneven. He made it in a bundt pan and was not happy with it. But , the rest of us didn't mind. The family ate it happily. He made another cake later in the evening before he went to bed. It came out much better. I made a frosting for him and he took it with him to school this morning.

His birthday present from us is his trip to Moscow in June. Several of the men at school have promised to kiss him... he is not real thrilled about that! Last year he got his digital camera. Yesterday we walked around our neighborhood and took some pictures together. It is hard to believe he is 16...

Eurovision 2006

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

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

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

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

take my picture!

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

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

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

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

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

Tom

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

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

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

visiting the hospital

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

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

Off to buy tickets!

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

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

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

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

Happy Birthday to me!

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

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

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

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

shopping with Spencer

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

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

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

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

Nathan & Dima

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

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

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

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

Orphanage Visits

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


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

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

Cat In the Hat!

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

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

Victory Day!

Another day of rest and parades.

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

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

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

Tom and I are enjoying the quiet!!!

John leaves in the morning

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

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

On the Kissing Bridge!

 

Lena & Dima

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

here, there and everywhere!

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

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

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

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

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

Tom is Ironing!

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

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











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







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

Tomorrow they will finish up the other six windows!

New Classrooms

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

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

Today is still a Holiday

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

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

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

Cemetery Day...

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

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

At the cemetery:
people were cleaning graves

eating, drinking and toasting with family and friends

laying flowers on the graves

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

children and old people were begging for money

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

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

a band was playing "strangers in the night"

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

some graves were overgrown and abandoned

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

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

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

Margaret A. Bufford


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