this day in history!

Nathan Sharp


What do these other
famous people have in
common???










David Crosby


















Steve Martin
















Gary Larson

Magic Johnson


















Halle Berry


Give up? They were all blessed to be born on the same day as our beloved Nathan!!!
Happy 19th Birthday Nathan!!!

Family Times!

Yesterday Tom slept most of the day. He went to bed at 6am and slept until 8pm. Then he went back to bed at 10:30 pm. During the brief time he was awake we had a family meal and watched F Troop.

This morning Tom woke up early. He cleaned out the split system air conditoner and it is working really well now. It had gotten pretty dusty over the year that we have had it.

The photo is of Alexei sitting on a bench that Dad made. Alexei told me he had two favorite places to eat. My Aunt Martha's and Tom's parent's house! When I first saw Alexei at the airport I thought he looked like more of a tourist than Tom did. Alexei was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts and sandals. He had a little metal American flag pin on his pocket and he was taking pictures of the inside of the airport!

Tom brought home cake mixes, frosting, comic books, beads, bead magazines, video game magazines, indian jewelry, spices for holiday baking, a crochet magazine and some videos. I am sure that I forgot to list something because he really had quite a lot. We are so thankful for each person that sent us gifts and/or a card. Thanks to every home that was opened to Alexei and Tom. Thanks for the car that was loaned to Tom in California. Thanks for the prayers, well wishes and greetings that have been sent our way.

We plan to enjoy our two weeks at home until we all have to leave the country again for visa renewal on the 31st.

TOM IS HOME!

Lena and I are so grateful to Tim Watson for helping out with bringing our guys home. Lena and I spent the evening together waiting for Tim to come and pick us up at her home.

The guys got here safely. When they got to the airport in Los Angeles Alexei had to dispose of his liquids. He had water and he had orange juice.

Tom came home with lots of gifts that we are still opening! It feels like Christmas.


Alexei and Tom traveled for 47 hours straight. And I am positive that they are both glad to be home.

meet and greet new students

Spencer, budding chef that he is, decided to volunteer to bring a salad to a party to meet and greet the new students at school. Afterwards he sends me a text message asking for help. I thought we should make something with ingredients that are easy to find here and simple to make. So this is what we did:

Macaroni, cooked
Frozen Peas
diced carrots
diced summer sausage (the long tube of sausage that does not need to be cooked)
1/4 of a red onion, diced
creamy italian dressing

We just threw it all in a bowl and let it set over night. It was eaten all up! Spencer was so excited.

It was fun to meet the new students. They are a varied group. From Korea to New Jersey. If I counted right there are 6 of them. They seem like a great group of young people and we pray that they enjoy their time of language learning.


Prayer Request:
Spencer is out of one of his medications for juvenile glaucoma. We just found out that it is not allowed to be sold here any longer. We are currently making arrangements for him to be seen in at an American clinic in Kiev when we go there for our visa renewal.

Pray that we find a suitable replacement for his medication. And that we will be able to get him in to see an opthamologist while in Kiev.

emotions

I had a meeting today with a Russian woman and she was pretty upset about some situations that are going on for her. We prayed together and held hands for awhile. I don't know if it was culturally appropriate for me to grab her hand but she didn't pull away. I was honored by her opening up. Usually emotions are kept in check. Each time I have met with someone who shed tears during our meeting they have apologized for showing such emotion.

I know that there are parts of US where people don't open up and share. Coming from California where everyone has a therapist and your therapist has a therapist... it seems natural to spill it with someone you trust. Pray that Tom and I will continue to be "SAFE" people to those we come in contact with.

Telephones!

The phone rang once and then stopped.

The phone rang again and it was Olya. She is nine months pregnant; due next week. She says that she is moving around like an invalid. You know, one hand on the back and limping. Her back hurts and she is feeling pain from her kideys, please keep her in your prayers. She went over to see the doctor today.

Another call came in and it was from Maj-lis. She needs yarn to make octopuses (octopi?) for kid's camp. She also recruited me to wash the clothes that have been donated to the church to be given away to whomever needs them... we are one of the few church family members with a washing machine. I just hope that I can get it all hung up and dried before Sunday. Tomorrow Maj-lis and I will make a trade. I will give her yarn and she will give me dirty laundry.

Again the phone rings... it is the telephone company. This woman says something rapidly in Russian. I understood that Alexei Parhomenka has a bill and it "needs to be paid today!" I asked her if this was for the communal services and she says in an irrated 'weren't you listening?' voice

"no, the telephone!"

I'm thinking why do I care if Alexei needs to pay his phone bill. Then I remember... he is the owner of our apartment on paper. That means the bill is ours not his! I call Madina at school beacuase she takes care of all of our bills and I told her about the phone call. "ali-ditchka, ne perezhivaish!" translation: little Alida, don't worry! She was on her way to pay it.


Finally, after dinner with Lena, the call we waited all day for... Tom and Alexei!

Lena was able to speak with her hubby again and I with mine. They will be home just after midnight on Saturday. They are glad to be finished with whirlwind of going from California-New Mexico-Texas-Kansas-New Mexico and now they leave tomorrow for California again and then back here to Krasnodar.


It feels peaceful to sit here at the computer typing this... we are on dial up and the phone cannot ring while I am on the internet!

Update on Tom

Speaking tour is over. The weary travelers should be in New Mexico by now.

Dan and Liz, Tom's brother and sister were able to spend a little time with Tom. Dan came to the church service as did our friends Jeff, Terri and their daughter Brynne. I got a nice email from Terri letting me know that she saw Tom. She said he was "alive and well and stirring up hilarity wherever he goes"!

I often think of Terri & Jeff on hot summer days. She asked me to sing at their wedding. It was July 17th, 1982. I think it was over a hundred degrees inside the house with the air on! And they chose an outdoor ceremony across the street from her mother's house. It was the shortest ceremony I had ever participated in... the service lasted 7 minutes. They beat Tom and I by two minutes!

Anyway, Tom and his family went out to Newton to see Grandmother Sharp. I wonder what Alexei thought as he was meeting someone in their 90's. Most people in Russia don't live that long.

Special thanks to the couple who provided a new carseat for a family here in Russia. I was reading Tom's email while the sister in law of this couple was visiting. She is so excited. We tried to call the expectant mom to tell her the good news but she was at work. Carseats are not widely available here. They are very expensive because they are an imported item. I was explaining to my guest that in America you have to show your carseat (they need to see you put the baby in it) before the child can leave the hospital. There is no such safeguard here.

Madonna Criticized by Russian Orthodox Church

Madonna Criticized by Russian Orthodox Church Ahead of Moscow Concert

8 hours 12 minutes ago
MosNews


Russia’s Orthodox Church accused U.S. superstar Madonna of exploiting Christian symbols for her own ends and called for a boycott of her first-ever concert in Moscow, AFP reported.

“The U.S. singer Madonna exploits Christian symbols — the cross, rosary beads and the crucifix — and tries to equate human passions, including her own personal passions, with something sacred,” the spokesman for the patriarch of Moscow said.

“I don’t think that Orthodox believers should support this lady by going to her concert,” father Vsevolod Chaplin said on Echo of Moscow radio station.

She “needs spiritual help because she swings between Christianity and Kabbalah,” he said, referring to a branch of Jewish mysticism that the singer follows.

Madonna will perform in Russia for the first time on September 11 as part of her “Confessions” world tour. The concert will take place on a specially constructed stage on Sparrow Hills overlooking the city centre, close to Moscow State University.

The pop diva will arrive in the Russian capital with 57 trucks and 200 tons of equipment in tow, the organizers said. Tickets cost between 1,500 rubles (55 dollars, 45 euros) and a hefty 25,000 rubles (930 dollars, 730 euros).

Madonna kicked off the European leg of her world tour in the Welsh city of Cardiff on July 30 where she gyrated on a saddle floating above the stage and sang from a crucifix in a performance involving provocative dance routines.

She has often sparked outrage among religious leaders with raunchy video clips, notably when she kissed a black Christ in front of a burning cross in her 1989 hit “Like a Prayer”.

news from Tom

Photo by Alexei taken in Mom and Dad's back yard in New Mexico. Dad said it was the first time that they had seen a hawk in the yard. I showed the photo to Lena... she said the Russian word for hawk is "yastreb".


I got an email from Tom on Saturday. He said that all went well in Tom Bean and that they are now on their way to Andover, Kansas.

find them here:
http://www.hopecc.net/

If you are in Wichita or anywhere near Andover please go and check out the church. Even if church is not your thing you will love it there. And please tell Pastor Steve and his wife Sharon that I said "hi!".

Have you ever thought about what it must be like for someone from a another county to see how you live. I am eager to speak with Alexei when he gets back and hear his impressions of America. He has been to the West Coast, the Southwest and now to the Mid West. Alexei mentioned to Tom that the water fountains are at two different heights. One for children and one for adults. He said that showed value for the kids.

Tom says they will schedule another phone call possibly on Monday with Lena and I. I left home on June 28th and Tom does not return until August 12th. In 25 years Tom and I have not ever been apart this long... I don't think we will do this again anytime soon!

back to work

In Russia:

I had my first language session with Lena in over a month. She said that I was doing well. She said that I only forgot a "few words". I was telling her about the food I cooked for Rhianna while I was away, and for the life of me I could not remember the Russian words for peas or chicken. I did, however, remember the words to describe what I was trying to say and she reminded me of the words!
The guys also worked with Lena today after the month long break. Nathan said that we were "working with Lena because school had started again".

I said "no, we are working with Lena because I am home!" using my best SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED voice.

In the USA:

Today is still a travel day for Tom and Alexei. Hopefully, they will soon be pulling into Tom Bean, Texas to visit with some friends and to speak at Sherman Bible Church in Sherman, Texas. There is a Celebrate Recovery meeting there for the guys to speak at.

You can learn more about Sherman Bible Church here:
http://www.shermanbible.org/home.aspx

What is on your T-shirt?

As we rode the marshutka toward our destination of Krasnaya Ploshad I started looking at the T-shirts people were wearing. Some of them had English writing. Many young people here study a foreign language in highschool. Did these people know what it says on their shirts? Were the people around them able to understand the messages they were promoting?

Shooting a quick glance at Spencer I noticed that his shirt had no writing on it. Glancing at the guy sitting across from us I noticed that his black T-shirt said:

Sean Jean Collection
I thought I told you we won't stop

Sean Jean is the rapper who is also known as P. Diddy.
It made me wonder what P. Diddy would think if he saw a russian teen wearing one of his shirts.

Across from me sat a woman who was wearing a bright orange T-shirt with palm trees on it and it said:

HOLIDAY


A young lady sitting toward the front had on my favorite T-shirt. Hers declared:

Boys come... Boys Go!

She was friendly with the boy sitting next to her... I couldn't help but wonder if he was her boyfriend or just one boy in a line of many!

boys to men

It is amazing to watch your children transform. Tonight I saw and felt the power of our oldest son transforming from a boy to a man.

He knew that I had been going through a rough time. My Uncle's death, being away from home so long, and various other trials with friends and in life.

He cornered me and I expected a hug. What I got was...prayed for. He was thoughtful and full of wisdom and God's spirit.

I saw his father and grandfather in him in those moments. However, more importantly, I saw God in him.

Assisi & thoughts on shopping

I have been posting my photos on the photoblog. See side bar for link. This picture was taken from the top level of St. Francis Basilica. It sits just up the hill from the city.

I got an email from Tom today and he said that he is preparing to mail a few boxes of things for us... you know just necessities like cake mix, tylenol and so on!

Spencer and I went shopping for food. I made spaghetti sauce and he made the pasta for dinner. I was so excited at the supermarket. I know very well the language for shopping. It felt so good to be back in a country where I can understand what is going on around me.

thought on shopping in Krasnodar:
if you go to the right supermarket they will give you bags for free AND bag the groceries for you.
you can buy fresh fruit on a street corner close to where you live.

we have popcorn in the supermarket now!

the meat is fresh each day.

the bread is baked fresh each day.

there is a great selection of sausages and cheese.

I can get cash from the ATM and then take a few steps over to the counter to buy a phone card and an internet card all in the same corner of the market! 

ummm.... thanks Ed!

four of a kind!


Alexei celebrates 8 years of sobriety!


I got an email from Ed in California. Hi Ed!

He sent a link to some photos he took of Tom and Alexei. It looks like the guys are having a little too much fun while they are away.

Tom called tonight for Alexei to speak with Lena. It was the first time the two of them had spoken since Alexei left. It was good to see how happy she was after the phone call. I told her that we would arrange another phone time with the guys before they come home.

The painting above the guys heads is one of our favorites. Tom and I have a copy of this painting in storage. You can learn more about this version of the Lord's Supper and the artist, Hyatt Moore here:
http://www.hyattmoore.com/store/?section=1&productline=1

passport control

I spent a full hour standing in line at passport control in Krasnodar. I am grateful for Tim Watson coming to pick me up at 4:30. Our plane landed at 4:ooam but it took so long to clear passport control I didn't even see Tim until 5:10 or so.

People were tired and cranky standing in that line. It was comical to hear them yelling at the passport control officers. They were saying things like. "There are no terrorists out here!" "This is not Dagestan!" "Do any of us look like terrorists... is she a terrorist? is he a terrorist? What about the babies...are they terrorists?!"

The plane had a large group of teenagers on it. They were taking a long time to process since each of them had a passport and a document that gave them permission to travel and the paperwork had to be looked over.


My greatest point of frustration during the whole night was actually in Vienna. My knitting needles were confiscated! I had to take the scarf I was making off the needles and leave them with her. I know all you knitters are saying that is why I should have had a stitch holder with me... yeah, well I forgot. I have read about people who mail their projects home to themselves or who pack their knitting and don't take it in the carry on. But, I didn't do any of those things. I was in shock over the fact that you can fly out of Russia with knitting needles but you cannot fly in with them. Interestingly, they didn't seem to mind the sewing needles in my purse. Just the knitting needles were a danger to the other passengers! I did have my crochet hook with me and I was so mad that I crocheted a hat on the leg from Vienna to Krasnodar! That will show them...

Nathan and Spencer had the entire apartment cleaned up and looking great. I was imagining half eaten pizza everywhere! There was a sign to greet me and on my pillow there was a bottle of peach flavored tea and a bag of sourcream and onion chips. These guys are going to be great husbands. They are very thoughtful!

going home

I don't have much time left here. I have to get my bags packed and catch the train to the airport in the morning. So be in prayer for me as I travel and as Tom and Alexei travel as well.

Oh and Tom sent me an email saying that he and Alexei had a great time at Wal-Mart... Alexei loved it there!

4:35 am

I leave tomorrow to go back to Russia. I am looking forward to the creature comforts I left behind. My own bed, our DVD and video collection, all my yarn! However, I am not looking forward to getting off the plane at 4:35 am Monday morning, getting whatever sleep I can and then going to school the very next day. It is a good thing that Spencer and I will not resume his homeschooling until September.

Tom and Alexei have a travel day also. They will be taking the train from California and traveling to New Mexico. His parents will then go with them to Texas and Kansas. Tom is glad for the help driving. It would have been a long haul for him with out having Mom and Dad help out.

I finally heard from Nathan why Spencer was not answering my emails. His internet card ran out. I was going to ask Judi H. to tell my son to stay home long enough to answer his mother's emails but that plan won't work without him having an internet card!

Tim and Joy have friends who read this blog so I will publically say "thanks so much!" for being willing to come and get me from the airport at 4:35 am. Especially since Tim is leaving for Ukraine later that day.

Hezbollah not on Russia's Terror List

I don't usually post two news articles in a row... but news happens and this story is one that I thought was worthy of posting.

Hezbollah not on Russia's terrorist list
By HENRY MEYER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 28, 7:45 PM ET



Russia on Friday published a list of 17 groups it regards as terrorist organizations, but did not include the Palestinian militant movement Hamas or Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group, both regarded as terrorists in Washington.

Separately, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Hezbollah must have a say in any agreements in the Middle East crisis, Russian news agencies reported — another sign of differences between Russia and the United States about the region.

"Any agreements must be coordinated with all the basic forces in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, as an organization that is represented in the parliament and government of Lebanon," RIA-Novosti reported quoted Lavrov as saying on a plane returning from an Asian security meeting in Malaysia. Hezbollah has 11 members in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament, and two Cabinet ministers.

The terrorist list, published in the official daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta, included al-Qaida and the Taliban as well as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a rebel group fighting for Kashmir's independence from India, and Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The Russian Federal Security Service's top official in charge of fighting international terrorism, Yuri Sapunov, said Hamas and Hezbollah were not a major threat to Russia and were not regarded as terrorist groups worldwide.

But he said Russian security agencies took account of international lists of terrorist groups when exchanging intelligence with foreign counterparts.

Sapunov told Rossiiskaya Gazeta the list of 17 "includes only those organizations which represent the greatest threat to the security of our country." Groups linked to separatist militants in Chechnya and Islamic radicals in Central Asia made the list.

Russia has come under criticism for its refusal to list Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.

Israel is now fighting a ground and air war in Lebanon against Hezbollah guerrillas, who are firing rockets into northern Israel. Israeli forces have also attacked the Gaza Strip to target Hamas militants. Russia has criticized the scale of the Israeli offensive, while the United States has blamed Hezbollah for the violence.

President Vladimir Putin earlier this year provoked U.S. and Israeli anger by inviting leaders of Hamas to Moscow shortly after their January election victory. The meeting made no progress in softening the group's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist or foreswear violence.

Lavrov's reported comment about Hezbollah echoed the arguments Russian officials made for inviting Hamas leaders, when they said that they were dealing with Hamas as an entity that had just come to power in elections.

Lavrov said that Russia's support for a Hezbollah role in decision-making in the Mideast crisis was shared by European countries and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, adding: "As for support from the Americans for this position, I have no such information," RIA-Novosti reported.

The European Union considers Hamas a terrorist organization and along with the United States slapped financial sanctions on the new Hamas-led government. But it does not list Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

Russian Rocket Crash

Photo from www.lenta.ru

Russian Rocket With 18 Satellites Crashes After Launch


MosNews



A Russian rocket carrying 18 satellites crashed shortly after blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Wednesday, the Federal Space Agency said early Thursday. According to the Xinhua news agency the Dnepr carrier rocket with the satellites, which belonged respectively to Russia, Belarus, Italy and the United States, crashed 25 km south of the Baikonur launch pad, a piece of land on the northern Kazakh steppe that Russia leases to launch its spacecraft, Yury Nosenko, deputy head of the Federal Space Agency, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. No damage or injuries were caused on the ground, he said. “An emergency shutdown of the engines occurred 86 seconds into the flight,” a spokesman of the Mission Control outside Moscow said. Nosenko said the first stage of the rocket failed to separate on time and “that is why the engine was shut down in the emergency mode.” The crash dealt yet another blow to Russia’s space program, which has suffered a series of mishaps since last year. Interfax also reported that Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko traveled to Baikonur to witness the launch of his country’s first satellite, the Belka, which was onboard the Dnepr rocket.

His reaction to the crash was not reported.

Happy birthday!

In Italy:
Today is Erin's 30th birthday. And she is performing tonight! Tomorrow we will have a dinner party but tonight the show must go on!


In America:
an email excerpt...

Alexei & I went to the post office in Santa Ana, so he could experience an American Post Office. Then we went to South Coast Plaza where I got my watch battery replaced after 7 months of it being dead!! We ate at McDonald's (his very first time!) & he liked it. He was amazed at how quickly people were served & got their food. We then bought shoes at Shoe Pavillion. He & I have matching pairs of tennis shoes (he will use his for riding his bicycle, & I will use mine to walk in.


In Russia:
I have not heard from the boys today and that means things are going well... right? Yeah, that is what I will tell myself!

Look out!

In the US:
Tom was able to borrow a truck from Gordon and JeanneMarie. He is out driving around now in Southern California so lookout!

He spoke at the Bridge. I have not heard how that went since Tom sent the email about speaking before it actually took place. DaveHickman, Tom Sharp and Alexei Parhomenka all in one place? Have mercy!

In Russia:
I received a text message from Judi H. telling me that school starts on Tuesday for her and I. I am not excited. For some reason I thought I would have a week to recover once I get home. This month has been one of the most difficult ones to endure. Two family deaths and some friends of ours are going through a difficult time right now. It is overwhelming.

In Italy:
I found two all English bookstores.
There is the Anglo American Bookshop and the Lion Bookshop and Cafe. Both are not far from the Spanish Steps. Which is not far from Rome Baptist Church. I didn't purchase any books yet... I cannot decide what I cannot live without!

Celebrity Sighting in San Clemente!

THIS JUST IN FROM TOM!!!

Excerpt from this mornings email:

Lisa had to pick up an ear-bud set for her telephone at Cingular store. We went to the one here in San Clemente. It was there that we had our first 'celebrity sighting!'

In walked....'Hurley' from Lost!! He needed something for his phone. Lisa & I spotted him at the same time. (He's taller than I am & wider, too! He's really big.) Lisa said she wanted to talk to him but wouldn't go over to him. I just walked up to him & said, "Excuse me. Could I bother you a minute?" He said 'yeah' & I said, "My family & I moved to Russia a year & a half ago, & the thing that we HAVE to have sent to us to help us cope w/ the cultural stress is episodes of 'Lost.' We're really big fans of the show, love your work & thank you for what you do." He smiled & said, "We were supposed to go over to Russia to promote the show, but the Russian tv station didn't have enough money to bring us over." I told him in was on in Russian & we still asked for English language copies. Keep up the great work." He said 'thanks' & I walked away. It was great; Lisa couldn't stop talking about our 'Hurley' sighting the rest of the day!

Update on the American Tour

Tom and Alexei are on the move. They have left Simi Valley and are now down in the Dana Point area.

Here is an excerpt from Tom's latest email... sorry, I edited all the mushy and personal stuff out!:

It was so good to see Chip & Joanne again!! There was only about 12 people at church - 6 to 8 people were on vacation. So it was very intimate & close. Chip did worship, which was good. Alexei sang a couple of songs in English. Chip gave him a cd of the worship music afterward.

Afterwards, Chip had the people come up & pray for Alexei & I. A guy who used to attend the Bridge when I taught is part of The Gathering. He recently got married last year, & shared how my teaching (esp. on boundaries) had really changed his life. It made him ready to get married again & now he's happy!

Then we all went out to lunch at Wahoo's. I had fish tacos & shrimp tacos. Alexei had steak tacos but didn't really like them. He said El Torito was better!

Then Chip & Jo drove us to the Russian church. The pastor recognized me & said he would give me some time to speak if I wanted it. (How can I pass that up?)

There was probably 125 people there, & we didn't have much time for people to pray outloud.
The pastor spoke, we sang in Russian, the youth had just returned from a camp in Kazakstan where they worked at a children's home. They did a panel & were interviewed by the youth pastor. Then they had a 30 minute video. Then an older guy got up & gave an evangelical message for about 5 minutes. Then the pastor called me up. Pastor said I had 2 minutes. I asked the pastor if he would translate for me, but he didn't need to translate any! (That was nice). Afterwards, several people from last time we were there came up to greet us. A older woman complemented me on my Russian & said our photo is up on her refrig & she prays everyday for us. (I believe her!) Vladimir, the pizza delivery guy from Raul & Christines was there & introduced me to his wife Sveta. She was very nice & had great English skills. She sends her greetings to you& the boys.

Tomorrow night we have dinner w/ Bruce & Kelle & their kids. I'm looking forward to it.

2 were baptized

I went back to Rome Baptist church again. There was a baptism today. There were two missionaries who are leaving for Thailand that were prayed over. There were some college kids that were leaving to go back to America after spending time here with Agape Italia.

The list of places the visitors were from today were:
Cameroon
Germany
Austria
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Ohio
Southern California

There was probably around 150 people there today. I could barely sing through all my tears after the baptism when the church began to sing Trust and Obey. That is the song that has been going through my head since we first felt the call to Russia. Today was the first time I have heard it sung since we began the process of moving.

In the USA:
Tom and Alexei endured 119 degrees in Simi Valley. He said it was a 110 in the shade! Tom is speaking today and then they will be attending the Russian church service this afternoon.

swimming pools and movie stars

In the USA :

Tom and Alexei have not had a celebrity sighting but they are enjoying "American Food". Like, Chinese take out or a Mexican dinner. They are also enjoying staying at a home in Simi Valley with a pool. They have been out to see Auntie Martha. I am grateful that Tom is there for Martha right now. He was able to help her out in many ways. Kenneth and James also made it home. For anyone who has a family member in the military please know that leaving an emergency message with the Red Cross does work! Kenneth made it home from Iraq four days before the funeral.

In Russia:
Nathan and Spencer seem to be doing great. Spencer emailed me to say that he had a sore throat yesterday but he ate pizza and ice cream and it felt better.

Nathan is busy with cleaning out his room and watching Godzilla movies.

In Italy:
Erin and Rhianna were looking at Rhianna's photo album and Erin asked Rhianna "who is that?" Rhianna moved Erin's hand off the picture and actually made her point to me! "Ah-Dah!" What a smart little girl!

We mailed a package to a friend of mine in California from the Vatican post office. At first they were not going to do it because they didn't sell boxes there.
But, fortunately a cute little toddler (Rhianna) intervened and they were more than happy to help us out. Finding a box, wrapping up the contents with extra care and then making sure the postal worker sent it out properly!

I still have time to mail a few more postcards so send your address to my email:
alidasmail@juno.com

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!