new garage

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Tom saw this the other day and asked me to get a photo. A new garage was just added to the field across from our building. We have been told that for a Russian man a garage is his sanctuary. Some men go there to avoid being at home, to hang with other men or just to have their own space.

The silver garage was lowered in by the crane and then moved forward to be even with the rest on that row.

gifts galore!

Friday, December 7, 2007


We just recieved our gift package from EastWest! We have a new movie with candy and popcorn for a movie night, Tom got a memory stick, Spencer got a CD and I got shower gel and a candle. What a treat!

what happened to Wednesday's post?

Thursday, December 6, 2007

I ran out of time! I had school and then we had a string of three visitors.

No, not the ghosts of Christmas.

Vlad came at 5:45pm , Sasha came over at 6:15 and then Vova came over at 10 and stayed until 12:30am. According to Vova he was leaving early... he said that Russians can easily spend time with friends talking to 3 am!

EastWest Day of Prayer

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Our team is getting together to pray this afternoon. The day that Tom and I interviewed with EastWest was also a day of prayer for the staff. We were able to pray with them before having our interview. We both felt that was a great way to begin our relationship with EastWest!

Please take some time today to remember EastWest employees world wide, their families and their work.

If you have questions about EastWest just click here:
http://www.eastwest.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage

Election results

Monday, December 3, 2007

It looks like United Russia has over 63% of the vote giving them control of Parliament. Followed by the Communist Party 11%, Liberal Democratic Party 8.5 % and Just Russia (just as in fair) 8%. My statistics came from a news program I watched here this morning.

Here is a more complete article:
Putin's Party Overwhelms Russia Election

Election Day

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Today is election day for the Duma (parliament). Please pray for the direction of this country. Voting started in the Far Eastern regions of Chukotka and Kamchatka while we here in Krasnodar headed to bed Saturday night.

Here are a few links to news articles about the election:

FACTBOX: Key facts about Russia parliamentary election

Russia's election under fire

Voting starts in Russian election

dirt or mud?

Saturday, December 1, 2007
















Stephanie made two birthday cakes for Megan. One called "dirt" and the other called "mud". And as you can see they both had gummy worms in them!

After Steph explained to the kids what kind of cakes she had to offer she asked one child which he would prefer. He thought for a while and in a very serious tone he said " I'll have the dirt!"

The dirt was good, but I like the mud better!!

a mighty wind!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Cold biting winds and snow flurries filled our morning. The snow didn't stick but the cold has set in... our teacher Madina says that winter has finally come!

Krasnodar Votes for Putin

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The elections for parliament (Duma) will be held here December 2nd. We noticed the other day that there are signs, billboards and banners up all throughout the city saying:

"Krasnodar Votes for Putin"

There are commercials on TV, Debates on TV daily and we get flyers in our mailbox regularly. Still it doesn't seem to have reached the level of media coverage that we experience in the US!


Here is an article that gives an outline to what is going on here:

Russia's election at a glance

By The Associated Press

A glance at Sunday's parliamentary elections in Russia:

• WHO'S VOTING: 107 million people eligible to cast ballots for one of 11 parties to fill 450 seats in parliament's lower house, State Duma. Polls predict United Russia, Kremlin-backed party whose ticket is topped by President Vladimir Putin, will win as many as 80 percent of seats.

• WHO'S WATCHING: Officials from several international groups will monitor the vote, but none from Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose election reports are considered authoritative in West. OSCE blames excessive Russian restrictions; Moscow accuses Washington of pressuring the organization.

• WHAT'S AT STAKE: Vote will be less a competitive election and more a referendum on Putin's nearly eight-year presidency. If United Russia achieves expected overwhelming sweep, Kremlin could take that as mandate for Putin to lead Russia in some capacity after his second term ends next year.

rainy day...

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

Yesterday as I was leaving class I noticed a rip on the side of my boot. I knew that if it rained I would be out of luck.

I came home and made dinner for Tom and then Spencer and I went out shopping. He was looking for a birthday gift for Megan and I needed boots! After going to four different stores and trying on ten different pair I finally found some that met my requirements. Black, low heel, good traction (for icy sidewalks) and comfortable!

Today they were put to the test. I was able to walk outside in the rain without getting my feel wet!

end with a bang!

Monday, November 25, 2007

At the end of our two week session at the BLTC we had a party! Lena R and Tania are working on an apple tower whoever could stack them the highest wins!

Joyce judges as Oksana and Irina keep stacking!

Vika is working to get the longest apple peel!

Our final task was to make people out of the apples... these became our center pieces!

Just the gals!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Tonight our team had a holiday dinner. It was a pot luck... we pooled our leftovers from yesterday.

Joyce, Sveta, Stephanie and I are supposed to be acting natural as Sveta's husband takes our picture with my camera!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 22, 2007

May your day be a joyful one!!! And if your family and friends are close by be Thankful!!


Alida’s Bread Stuffing

1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1½ cups chopped celery, with leaves
2 cups butter
12 cups bread, cubed
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp parsley
½ tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth

Cook and stir onion and celery in butter until the onion is tender. Add chicken broth and spices. Place bread crumbs in a lightly oiled baking dish and cover with liquid mixture. Toss well. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Pre-Thanksgiving errands

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Today Spencer was able to bring home some sweet potatoes for me that our friends purchased for us. That means we get to have sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving.

Tom and I went out after his AA meeting and picked up the rest of the items needed. Stephanie and I are making the dinner together. I am doing the stuffing, pies and a salad. It will be fun to spend the day with them.

Although, when I play with 2 year old Gabriel, I may have to weep a bit. He reminds me so much of Nathan when he was that little.

I want for us to have fun tomorrow. It is Spencer's last time with us and I want him to have some good memories just as we did with Nathan. However, this is also our first major holiday without Nathan. So, I imagine the day will be bittersweet.

gifts of thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Today I asked our language helper Sasha what she thought of our family. She told me that she enjoys us and feels free to be herself with us. Olya was here today too... both of these young women left with headaches from laughing so hard.

I am grateful for that. I am thankful that those who come into our home can laugh and feel at peace here.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I can honestly say that today I am thankful for the gift of laughter!

time for school

Monday, November 19, 2007

Spencer was back at work at the International school. I was back at the BLTC and we were all at language school today.

After school we worked with Sasha translating Tom's teaching for Saturday... we are all looking forward to Thursday and Friday. No school and a few days to rest!

In other news... tonight we learned that Krasnodar recently held it's First Zombie Parade.

Ten young people covered in red paint and acting like zombies strolled down Krasnaya Street. Why? Your guess is as good as ours. They didn't stay in character though... when the TV cameras were on a few of them started smiling!

Russia vs Israel

Sunday, November 18, 2007

We all managed to drag ourselves out of bed and get to church. Last night we were up late watching the soccer game between Israel and Russia. Russia lost 2-1. At church we learned that others had been watching the game too. It was amazing that church was full this morning!


England alive after Israel beats Russia
Sat Nov 17, 11:46 PM ET

England's bid to qualify for next year's European Championship is still alive. Israel beat Russia 2-1 Saturday night, preventing the Russians from climbing past the English into second place in Group E with one game remaining.

Russia had put itself in control of gaining a berth with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over England in Moscow last month. But now England can qualify with a tie or victory on Wednesday against first-place Croatia at Wembley.

Croatia (8-1-2) clinched a berth because of Israel's win despite a 2-0 loss at Macedonia and leads with 26 points, followed by England (7-2-2) with 23. Russia (6-2-3) is third with 21 but England has the tiebreaker because of a better goal difference in its two games against the Russians.

Russia could have virtually eliminated England by beating Israel but now win at last-place Andorra on Wednesday and hope the English lose.

"Of course we are very, very disappointed," Russia coach Guus Hiddink said. "We were close. We were the team who was dominating the game."

The English enter Wednesday's game missing Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and John Terry because of injuries and Rio Ferdinand due to a suspension.

Elyaniv Barda gave Israel the lead in 10th minute, but Diniyar Bilyaletdinov tied it in the 61st. Dmitry Sychev, who entered early in the second half, nearly put Russia ahead in the 90th, but his shot hit a post. Omer Golan then just stayed onside when he took a pass in second-half injury time and scored the tiebreaking goal.

two down and 6 to go!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Today was the second in a series of 8 lessons that Tom is presenting at the church. Today's topic was shame.

In English Tom uses the acronym:

Something
Held
Against
M
E

Since he was teaching to a Russian audience, he had to have the word for shame translated so that it would make sense in Russian. Стыд (stid) is the word for shame here.

Our language helper came up with a saying using those letters that we really love. I will put what it translates to in English here:

You've Suffered Enough

so in Russian it looks like this:

Страдал
Ты
Достаточно

It was an impactful talk. Tom was asked for a copy of the PowerPoint by one of people who attended. Tom gave him a copy of the PowerPoint notes that were printed out for Spencer to follow along with.

I would love to be able to tell you all who came and what their professions were but I don't want to break anyone's anonymity. I will say that we had a diverse group of professionals, homemakers, couples and various churches were represented.

nice warm day

Friday, November 16, 2007

Coming out of the UTK building after paying our internet bill I saw...

a man standing and talking to his friend wearing a t-shirt, shorts, socks and his houseshoes.

This may not seem unusual to you but it has been very cold, rainy and people have already begun dressing for winter. So everyone else who was out today was wearing their winter coats, hats and boots.

It reminded me again that you can't say "all Russians do..." Even older people here are willing to be different, do what makes them comfortable and not just follow along with what everyone else around them is doing.

And guess what Tom was wearing when I returned home? Yep, t-shirt, shorts, socks and his houseshoes!!!

dinner out with friends

Thursday, November 15, 2007

We just returned from an evening out with our newest Russian team mates, Sveta and Alexei H. Alexei is the Director of the BLTC. Sveta coordinates the Social Programs for the BLTC; they have lived in Krasnodar for 5 years now. We found out this evening that they only live across the street and up a few blocks from us. We had a great time eating, laughing and drinking tea.

We learned that back in Soviet times, you were only allowed to make a certain amount of money. Everyone had to be the same. So people who were blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit who decided to buy something cheap in another country and sell it in Russia could be put in prison!

Sveta told us that to purchase an item for one price and then sell it for a higher price was illegal. Therefore, the shame attached to being a sales person was pretty huge. I am glad that Sveta was able to overcome the negative feelings associated with sales… she is the one I buy Avon from!

things that make you go hmm....

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

















What lies behind us
and lies before us
are small matters
compared to
what lies right to our faces.

can I have another cup?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Tom went out today to get his testing done so that he can apply for a work permit. There was a group of 10 people who went together so all of their paperwork could get processed at the same time. They took two cars and left at 8 am and Tom returned home at 4 pm.

They had five different stops to make so that they could be tested for things like:
AIDS/HIV, TB, VD, and a few other initials!

At one of the stops Tom was handed a cup. He said that in his experience you are supposed to head for a bathroom and give a sample in it. Well, when he stepped out of the bathroom his 9 companions were in stitches from laughing so hard.

It turns out that cups are not always for urine samples in Russia.... he was supposed to spit in it!

oopsie!

A man came out from the back to see who had urinated in the cup. Tom said "I did" and then asked for another cup... the man rinsed out the cup and handed it back to Tom.

What a day!!!

What are Tom and Alida up to?

Monday, November 12, 2007


Tom began an 8 week seminar. It started on the 10th and continues every Saturday until the end of December. This means our whole family is working together to make this seminar successful. Tom is teaching, Spencer is doing the Power Point and Alida is preparing the tea and snacks for the seminar. We all came home tired but happy on Saturday afternoon!

It was good to see the people really soaking up all the information and on Sunday our Pastor shared his thoughts on a few things he had personally learned. He invited everyone to come out for the remaining sessions and had us all pray for the teachings and about who we could invite to be a part of it.

Alida is currently attending a woman's session at the BLTC for the next two weeks. She had her first class this morning. So far all the instruction is in Russian and Alida is hanging in there.

With us being busier than normal, please pray that we will have the energy and good health to make it through all of our obligations.

Russian singer tours North America

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Star Russian singer tours North America
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

La creme de la Kremlin is touring the United States.

Russia's Academy of Choral Art, along with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, is accompanying star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky on a 13-stop North American tour.

"This is the full range, the full journey, of Russian music," the Siberian-born baritone says of the repertoire sung by the chorus that has performed with him "for many Kremlin occasions."

The 40-member group, dubbed the "creme de la Kremlin" in the Soviet era, has endured more than half a century as an artistic force. The current singers, most in their 20s and trained at the Moscow-based academy, have "the most excellent sound that anyone can produce from choruses in Russia," says Hvorostovsky. "And they have great spirituality."

The Russian musicians are to perform in Los Angeles on Sunday, followed by New York, Miami, Washington, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Chicago and Boston.

The tour started in Mexico, with stops last week in Berkeley, Calif., and Dallas.
The program, with San Francisco native Constantine Orbelian conducting, is billed as a retrospective of Russian vocal art from the 19th century to the Soviet era.

In the first half, the baritone will sing centuries-old Russian sacred works from the Christian Orthodox rite, plus opera arias from Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades" and "Eugene Onegin," and from Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride."

The rest of the program features romances of pre-Revolutionary Russia and popular songs of the Soviet era that speak to the heart of Hvorostovsky's homeland — from the poignant "Nezhnost" ("Tenderness") and "Gori, gori, moya zvezda" ("Shine, shine, my star") to more recent music from the rock 'n' roll era.

Accompanying some of the songs is a traditional instrumental ensemble including a plucked psaltery called the "gusli," a rounded string "domra" and a balalaika.

The choral academy was opened in 1944 to restore traditional Russian choral education, which was interrupted in the early 20th century when the communists came to power.

An anecdote from Olya

Friday, November 9, 2007

There were two gentleman sitting down to tea.

The host asked his guest, "how many spoonfuls of sugar do you put in your tea?"

The guest replied, "at home I put in two, when I am a guest... I like five!"

The host replied, "make yourself at home!"

Business trip!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Jim, Brennen and I walked into the travel agency each with a black brief case, looking like a team of business partners with drive and a mission!

We have a five day conference to attend in Cyprus in January. The tour package that we were able to book was a wise use of our funds. Jim located a package tour for two weeks with hotel and one meal a day included that was cheaper than just flying there for the 5 days.

Here in Russia under the old laws we had to leave the country every six months for registration. Which means that we need to go somewhere in January anyway. We are excited that the conference coincides with the time we have to leave. In the past we have gone to Ukraine to do our registration trip, this will be our first time doing something that will be refreshing spiritually, mentally and physically. For this we are very grateful!

Superstitions

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Our lesson this week has been on superstitions. I am not saying that all Russians believe these but these are a few that we were taught or were told to us by our Russian friends:


If you spill salt it means you will quarrel with someone
If you find a horseshoe on the road that is lucky
Whistling in the house means you will lose your money
An empty bottle on the table means someone will die
If you give someone a tissue they will cry
If you give someone something sharp there will be a quarrel
If your eyes itch you will cry
If your left palm itches you will receive money
If your right palm itches you will meet someone
If your cat washes himself that means guests are coming
If you break a dish that is lucky
If you hand someone money over a threshold that is bad luck
If your cheeks are burning someone is saying something positive about you
If your ears are burning someone is speaking negatively about you
If you wash your hair before an exam all the knowledge you have acquired will be lost
If you have not studied before an exam, sleep with your textbook under your pillow and you will wake up with the info
Newborns cannot be shown to people for 40 days or someone could put an evil eye on them
The number 13 is unlucky
If a black cat crosses your path you have a go a different route
If you leave home and forget something and you decide to go back and get it… you have to look in a mirror to avoid bad luck
If your son looks like his mother and your daughter like her father your fate promises to be happy
If you were talking about someone or you happened to think about them and then see that person, he/she will have a long life

What superstitions do you know about?

turning cold

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The weather has definitely turned cold. We have had several cold, rainy days in a row. At some point the radiators kicked on... for this we are truly grateful.

Tom and Spencer "bled" the radiators yesterday. Fortunately, there was no air in the pipes, only water. Our apartment feels warm and cosy and although there is no fear about the coming winter, we certainly are not looking forward to the day when the temperature drops below zero!

holiday!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Today is the Day of the National Unity. This is the newest Russian holiday. I read an article that said many people don't know the real name if this holiday. The Kremlin has attempted to give today historical significance by relating it to the 1612 expulsion of Polish and Cossack troops who briefly seized Moscow at a time of political disarray.

I am thankful for a day off from school...this rainy day was spent lounging around the apartment and watching movies!

Tom did some chores, Spencer listened to music while cleaning his room and chatting with his friends, I did some knitting. Just another lazy day in the Sharp house.

Election monitors in Russia

Saturday, November 3, 2007

OSCE to send monitors to Russia
Fri Nov 2, 5:45 PM ET



An international security organization said Friday that it will go ahead with plans for a "restricted" mission to monitor Russia's parliamentary election, and urged Moscow to cooperate fully.

Russia earlier this week significantly curtailed the number of international observers it would accept for the Dec. 2 vote, limiting the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to 70. The organization initially reacted by saying it was unsure whether it would send any observers at all.

However, on Friday, the OSCE branch that organizes observer missions said it would "attempt to observe the upcoming Duma elections by deploying a restricted election observation mission."

The OSCE's Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights stressed in a statement that time was running short to monitor the election campaign — although "we hope that we may still be able to offer some assessment of the legislative framework and the very last stages of the campaign."

It urged Moscow to offer "full cooperation" in processing visas, issuing accreditation and providing other logistical assistance. It called for "full and timely access to all relevant officials and other election stakeholders."

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has requested 20 visas for observers and is planning to seek 50 more, spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said.

The OSCE — which includes 56 countries from Europe, central Asia and North America — sent 400 observers for the last parliamentary election in 2003. The observers described that vote as a step backward for democracy.

Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said this week that past OSCE missions had been "unsatisfactory." He refused to elaborate, but Russia has accused Western election monitors of bias against Russia.

On Thursday, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Vienna that "we regret very much" the Russian decision to curtail the number of international observers, which he described as "rather unprecedented" in the OSCE's history.

Russia's Foreign Ministry criticized Burns on Friday for making what it called "a series of tactless statements directed toward Russia" in the Austrian capital, where the OSCE is headquartered.

"Such statements, having no basis in fact, speak only to the allergies in certain circles in the West in connection with the sovereign character of the Russian democratic system," the ministry said in a statement.

what is in your stairwell?

Friday, November 2, 2007















We are not quite sure what our neighbors are up to... fixing their piano? Anyway this has been in the stairwell for the past three days!

New Visa Laws

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I have hesitated to post about this only because we don't know for sure how this new law will be applied.

Basically, the way the law reads now... with a multi entry visa we would only be able to stay in the country for 90 days, then would have to leave for 90 days and then could come back for 90 days. We would be required to apply for the visa in the country of our citizenship, which means going back to America.

Our school is actively working to find out all they can and make whatever accomodations needed to be made for us to stay in the country. We currently have a visa that is valid until July 2008.

Please pray with us about this issue!

rerouting traffic

Tuesday, October 30, 2007















Despite the rain and the weather turning colder... this machine is still in residence on our street. How long will he be there... your guess is as good as ours!

friends and family

Monday, October 29, 2007

What a day! A letter from my mother, a package from Tom's parents and a phone call from my best friend... those are the things that make our life abroad easier to bear!

Kuban Choir

Friday, October 26, 2007

We enjoyed a great concert tonight. I wish we had taken our camera... in fact no one in our group remembered to bring a camera. You can get the idea of how the costumes looked from a few publicity photos that I found online.

The dancing was lively and the singing was beautiful! Wish you could have joined us!

Russia told it is losing AIDS battle

Thursday, October 25, 2007

AIDS in Russia

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Russians on Thursday that their country is losing the battle against HIV/AIDS because of government inaction and a lack of public awareness.

"You are in terrible, terrible danger here in Russia," said Holbrooke, who now heads an international group that promotes partnerships between the government and private sector to combat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

"I'm terribly sorry to say this — this is not a political statement."

Officially, Russia had about 390,000 registered cases of HIV infection as of August 2007. But international experts say the true number of HIV carriers is closer to 1.6 million and is expected to grow by 30 percent by 2010.

With 80 percent of Russia's HIV cases among 15-30 year olds, the disease poses a threat to Russia's economic competitiveness, according to the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Clyde Tuggle, Coca-Cola's president in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, said businesses are major stakeholders in the global battle against AIDS.

He said his company had a "very selfish motivation" for joining the Global Business Coalition initiative in Russia.

"My business is dependent on one thing: the sustainability of this community, on a successful, healthy and prosperous Russia. Without that I will have no business," he said, speaking with Holbrooke at a conference in Moscow organized by the GBC.

HIV/AIDS is spreading faster in Russia and Ukraine than anywhere else in the world, and 90 percent of HIV carriers in these countries will not know that they are infected until they get full-blown AIDS, said Holbrooke, who heads the GBC, an alliance of 220 international companies.

"Over the next few years, they will be spreading it unintentionally, and on, and on, and on," he said. "It's a bottomless pit."

Vladimir Pozner, a prominent Russian journalist who moderated Thursday's event, said he was upset by the notable absence of Russian business leaders.

"They did not come because they were not told (by the authorities) to come. Otherwise, they would have come," he said. "But partnership isn't when the government tells business what to do."

---

On the Net:

http://www.businessfightsaids.org

My favorite question

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Are you Tom’s wife?

When we lived in California I was asked this question frequently…at the end of an Al-Anon meeting or in the supermarket. At first this used to make me angry. After all I am my own person.

I went to an Al-Anon meeting tonight. This group was started a year ago and it meets in a church on the other side of town. I called on Saturday to find out all the vitals, you know what I mean; where, when and what time. I asked my language helper to come with me, she speaks English so I thought if I had any problems understanding what was being said I could ask her. She called to get directions and find out what type of transport would get us over there.

We went into the meeting and immediately we were asked if we were the ones who had called. Then she asked us how we knew about Al-Anon. I told her I knew about the group from America. I have been involved for 7 years now. She was very excited. She asked me where I lived and I answered in the Slavinsky region.

Here is what happened next:

“Do you know Tom Sharp?”
“Yes, that’s my husband!”
“Oh my God, I have been looking for him!”
“You met him two years ago right?”
“Yes! Right after I attended a conference. I was looking for someone who would know how to start an Al-Anon group and I found an AA meeting. I was given his number but I didn’t call right away and then I was told he went back to America”

Can you imagine the joy on her face? She said this several times tonight:
“Look at how God works! In walks Tom’s wife!”

After Sasha and I left she asked me “how do you feel when people ask you about Tom?”

I think it is funny that we are in Russia, a long way from California, and I am still being asked this type of question!

tragedy averted!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

We were down to our last jar of peanut butter! I asked my friend Stephanie to let me know if she was going to Metro (our version of Costco or Sam’s) so that I could get peanut butter.

Today after school Spencer and I stopped by their house just to see how they were doing and Stephanie gave us a gift: a jar of peanut butter! Spencer was so excited he carried it home himself.

Tom and Spencer have already enjoyed a sandwich or two for dinner!

that's a fine kettle...

Monday, October 22, 2007

People carry buckets onto the bus all the time… most of the time they are filled with fruits or vegetables. For the first time we had a woman on the bus with a bucket of fish! How would you like that ride?!

under construction

Sunday, October 21, 2007














The street that we live on is closed. This is how it looks between the supermarket and the pharmacy.

When they finish widening the road and extending the trolleybus lines further out... we may actually be able to catch the bus closer to our apartment instead of having to walk 4 blocks to the bus stop!

See Nathan, I said there were lots of changes here... so much happened while we were gone!

Botanical Garden

Saturday, October 20,2007

wedding cars at the front gate!















view from our seat!














Tom noticed the etching on the side of the monument right away!



















monument of Ivan Kusenko
a professor of the agricultural institute



















map of the grounds














men are still working on the fence and the path




















sign at the back entrance
it says Botanical Garden
it was created in 1959
by Ivan Kusenko



















Walking in the park with Tom is one of the month relaxing things I have done in a long time. We had errands to run today…one of them was to photograph the entrance to the Botanical Garden.

The garden is still under construction. Many of the paths are still being laid. Painted bricks in various designs line the paths that have already been completed. There were many young families out today with strollers, kids riding bikes, teens sitting on benches reading, grandparents out with their grandchildren and Tom and I taking it all in! We found a park bench to be a nice place to catch up with one another and just chill for a bit.

We both decided we were definitely going back there. It has the feel of the botanical garden that we used to visit as a young family when we lived in Pasadena, California. One of my favorite photos of Nathan as a little boy was taken at Huntington Memorial Gardens there in Pasadena. When working as a nanny I would take Nathan and Kelsey over to the park when nap time was over. Tom, Nathan and I would walk there on Sundays from the campus of Fuller Seminary.

We hope that you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed being there!

tastes of home

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Krasnodar has a Subway… not a subway as in transport, but a Subway as in submarine sandwiches!

Sasha and I went over there tonight for dinner. Spencer went over to Murat's house to play video games with Steve, Seth and Murat. Tom stayed home to enjoy the peace and quiet.

It took a 20 minute bus ride and a 15 minute walk to get there. Sasha asked me if it was worth it. I thought it was. We had a new grammar lesson today at school that left me feeling frustrated. So, I decided some comfort food was in order....it is comforting to know that there are places like Subway, Baskin Robbins and McDonald’s where we can get a “taste” of home.

Nah-kah-nets! Finally!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Our toilet is fixed… after having a few friends come over to try and fix it, our friend Olya found a good plumber in the newspaper! Our problem was that after flushing the toilet the water kept running, sometimes for hours. We had to turn the water off to the toilet between flushes so as not to run up a huge water bill!

Olya called several numbers but Oleg was the only one who was available to come this week. At first her concern was that he would be too expensive. But, when she told me that his labor would be 500 rubles (about 20 dollars) and we that we had to pay for the part that needed to be replaced, I let her know right away that we could afford that. The part needed ended up costing 350 rubles (about 14 dollars) so for 34$ we have a toilet that works!

I left for school while Oleg was still working. When he was packing up to leave Tom asked him in Russian if he was finished… Tom just used the Russian word for done with the intonation of asking a question, the plumber answered using one English word “finished”!

I just got off the phone with Olya, I was letting her know that everything had gone well and that Tom wanted to keep Oleg’s phone number for future reference, she was thrilled. It is not often that you can find someone who does quality work from thumbing through the paper. It is better if you know someone who knows someone. You know?

So if you are ever in Krasnodar and need a good plumber just call me and I will pass on Oleg’s cell phone number!

culture questions

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I was going over the culture questions from our lesson with Sasha. They were about setting goals, complaining and what makes a quality life... one of Sasha's answers was intriguing to me.

She told me that young men are told to do three things:

1) plant a tree
2) build a house
3) have a son

I love the imagery involved in this answer, for me it illustrates the path of patient endurance, stability and leaving behind a legacy.

There was one question that she didn't know the answer to. Spencer's language helper Vlad was also here so we asked his opinion. He couldn't answer the question either.

What does the "ideal Russian" look like?

Tomorrow I will ask my teacher at school. If you were asked about the "ideal American" or the "ideal____ fill in the blank with whichever country you are from", what would you say!?

complaining

Monday, October 15, 2007

Last week we had a lesson at school on jealousy. This new lesson we have is on complaining. I suppose today's lesson was very appropriate. The weather has changed and it is cold now. No more over 100 degree weather for us for a while.

I got an SMS from my friend Judi in Moscow, they have snow already. People around here say that we will have Moscow's weather in about a week.

Normally, our radiators are tested during the second weekend in October, but this has not happened yet. After they are tested (by running water through them to make sure no one in the building has a leak) in roughly two more weeks the radiators are turned on for the winter. They all come on at the same time and are turned off at the same time. The only way to regulate the temperature is to open a window!

If our radiators don't get turned on before the snow hits... then you will hear us complaining!

plates, Russian or American size?

Saturday, October 13, 2007














Tania set the table using what we Americans call a salad plate. Of course we were all able to refill our plates over and over again so we didn't go hungry. I still struggle with remembering not to use my dinner plates when we have Russian guests!

*** For you foodies: The tall greens in the background behind the water bottle are green onions, that cup was filled with fresh herbs to add to your own food.

Russia's bounty

Friday, October 12, 2007

diced potato with fresh dill

sliced tomato













One of my favorite things about life here is the vegetables... here is a photo of some of the fresh produce found on Sasha and Tania's farm! I sure wish you could taste them!

blah, blah, blah!!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

I have a cold.

Our internet has been down.

Tom is going to change classes and leave Spencer and I.


I don't like being sick. I have been home alone for the past few days, but being without an internet connection made that no fun. Although, thanks to Mom and Dad, I was able to pop in a few DVD's and watch some reruns of CSI, Shark and Grey's Anatomy. Today I even got to spend some time with Yanna. She is sick too so I told her mother to just bring her on over.

Tom is going to be changing classes so that he can slow down and learn at his own pace. He is ready to be more active in ministry and will be starting an 8 week seminar at the church in November. He had a meeting with Valodia and I was able to translate for them. Valodia said I made a few grammar mistakes but that he understood me. I won't be translating for Tom when he does the seminars. Our teacher Dima has a agreed to do that.

Hopefully, tomorrow will bring on health and high speed internet!

what a weekend!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Vika's birthday cake














Samson Fitness Center


















The church in Artirka meets in a fitness center owned by Tania and Sasha. Tom and I both spoke yesterday out there. It is a two hour drive there and then 2 hours back.

Tom spoke in the morning service and I spoke in the afternoon. He spoke on weathering the storms of life and I talked about codependency. During the break between the church service and the women’s group we celebrated Sasha and Tania’s daughter Vika’s birthday.

Vika is now 8 years old. Sasha killed a lamb and made shish-ka-bob with the meat and Tania prepared several different salads. Of course there was a birthday cake and lots of hot tea! We enjoyed spending time with Sasha, Tania and their three children. Tim and Joy were also there with their two children, another couple; Lena and Andrei, were there with their two children. Sasha and Tania’s oldest daughter also had her daughter with her. Sasha said that he doesn’t get to see his granddaughter very much due to his work schedule out on the farm and at the rehab center. So he kept telling his 8 month old granddaughter “I am your grandfather, the husband of your grandmother!”

surprise, surprise!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Tom went to prayer meeting for the church leaders last night. He said it was a great meeting. They prayed for all of the ministries of the church, for each of the new ministries and for the leaders involved.

Just before the meeting started Tom found out that he was going to be speaking on Sunday in Artika at the church service. Which means tomorrow Tom and I are doing a double header. He is speaking in the morning service at church and I am speaking in the afternoon.

Please keep us in your prayers!

mountains, caves and waterfalls

Friday, October 5, 2007

Spencer and I went with our fellow classmates from school on a field trip to the mountains. We had a great day, hiking, sight seeing, purchasing honey from the side of the road and taking lots of pictures...

waterfall

Spencer with Dima, one of our teachers

Alida with Arina, one of our teachers

river view














We left the school at 8 am and returned at 9pm. One of the highlights of the day was on the hike to the waterfalls. There was a Russian man who saw Spencer slip and fall on the rocks. He showed Spencer how to position his feet on the rocks to get better support. I thanked him for his advice and he said "we all walk together in one world".

How true!

crossed that job off my list!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

I didn't go to school today because I felt like today was my deadline for getting my talk written for Sunday. I don't normally write out what I am going to say word for word... but when you have to use a translator it is best to know exactly where you are going in your talk so that you don't miss any points or forget what you were saying while you are waiting for the translator to finish speaking. I was able to get it all typed up and proof read by Tom so I am all set.

Tom was in class by himself today and he thought it ws the best class he has ever had! I understand how he feels... the fewer people in class the less time the class period lasts. Three or more people is three hours, two people is two hours and one person is an hour and a half. Jason has been busy this week with a new baby, Spencer was tired and needed a break and I needed to get my work done so Tom had the teacher all to himself!

Tomorrow our school is taking a trip to the mountains and we will be gone from 8am to about 9pm. We will take the camera and should have some beautiful photos to share when we get back!

On Saturday the women of the church are getting together to hear Linda speak on getting a MOPS group started at our church. Please pray for us as we see a great need here in our region to sevre the young mothers here. We see so many of them out pushing strollers everyday!

On Sunday we are headed out to Artirka for Vika's birthday and for me to speak at a group that Tania started. It is a secular group so I am not doing a "churchy" talk. I am speaking on codependency. I have laid out the talk so that it will hopefully lead to starting an Al-Anon meeting out there. We thought this had happened while we were in the States but we think they were waiting for us to come out and do some teaching on the need for the group before it actually begins.

Tom is preparing a series of 8 lessons to help get our church ready for serving the recovering comuunity in this area. He talked with Valodia and shared his ideas with Alexei and it looks like everyone is excited to get this going.

For Tom and I the things we have scheduled are the result of the work we have been doing to build relationships and learn this language, all the ideas we had before we came here are becoming reality!

toothpaste or cross?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Tom gave one of our teachers some Crest toothpaste. He wrote about it in our newletter so when our guests Chuck and Vicky came they brought more Crest. Tom has been taking in tubes to her on a daily basis.

In Russian the word for "cross" is Krest. So the teachers ( who speak both English and Russian) have been having fun joking about the "crest" or the "krest".

Spencer said "Chuck and Vicky came to Russia bearing the "Krest"!

just the three of us

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Sonya has moved on to another city so she is no longer at our school, Jason was busy today with paperwork for his new son, and that left Spencer, Tom and I in class together.


I expressed my gratitude to Spencer today for how patient he is with his Dad and I in class. How many 17 year olds do you know who would be able to tolerate going to school with their parents, let alone be in the same class!?


He is truly one of a kind!

Krasnodar's birthday

Monday, October 1, 2007

This past weekend was our city's birthday! I went to some of the festivities on Sunday but I was there at night and didn't have my camera. Fortunately, Rebecca and Jeff were prepared!

Please check out their blog for photos from the celebration:

http://jeffandrebeccajo.blogspot.com/2007/09/krasnodars-birthday.html

catching up

Sunday, September 30, 2007

We have been caught up in many activities since I last wrote:

We still have guests here
Spencer is healing nicely and is back at work
our classmate's wife had their baby
we had Valodia and his family over for lunch after church today
this weekend was the 214th birthday of our city
we had a few days with no hot water
today's church service was great

We have another busy week ahead of us and I will try to write when I can!

Spencer on the mend

Thursday, September 26, 2007

Spencer had an accident yesterday... he was running home to make sure that he got Chuck and Vicky to their meeting on time and he ran into a metal post. He cut his leg. He limped home, got them to their meeting and then came back home and crashed.

He didn't want to get stitches. He cleaned it out really well and we got him bandaged up. He is walking fine and is doing much better today. He stayed home from school to rest and so did Tom.

Tom was tired from school and from two meetings back to back. Since I was in class by myself today I only had to be in school for an hour and a half.

We took Chuck and Vicky over to see the Orthodox Church and do a little shopping. Sasha came over to help us with our lessons and I was also able to convince her to eat dinner with us as well.

Please keep Tom and Spencer both in your prayers!

another day in Russia!

Wednesday, September 25, 2007

Our days have been full and our brains are overloaded!

Yesterday morning Sasha came over to help us Tom and I write out in Russian a presentation we had to do for class. We had to present a Bible verse in Russian and then explain the verse. We were on the topic of gossip. We also had to tell a story about ourselves that we heard from someone else. It went well as Goar was able to understand the stories we all told.

We took Chuck & Vicky to school with us, then right after class they went with Jason to help out with his English class in another part of town. It was good for them to experience being in a foreign language class and then in a class where they understood every word from the teacher’s mouth.

When we left our school it was pouring down rain! I didn’t have an umbrella because when I left home earlier in the day it looked like it would be sunny. I made it most of the way home before stopping to buy an umbrella. I stopped into a small local store not far from the bus stop. The sales girl laughed at herself when she was doing her sales pitch… she realized that it didn’t matter if I had a pretty umbrella or not, she focused instead on telling me how strong it was, which was good because it was coming down pretty hard!

back to school

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Yesterday was a back to school day for Tom and I. Spencer served as an excellent tour guide for our guests.

He took them to our large mall here in the city and they were able to eat at the only McDonalds here in the city. Coming home on the bus they were speaking to one another in english and were over heard by a young Russian man who had recently returened from a four month period in America as an international student. He asked for a recommendation for a church... it will be interesting to see if he turns up on Sunday.

Lena and Alexei

Monday, September 24, 2007

Yesterday after church Tom, Chuck, Vicky and I had the opportunity to go over to see Lena and Alexei’s new apartment. It is about 3 kilometers from the mall that we shop at called Krasnaya Ploshad.

Serene, quiet, fresh air, few neighbors… it is a great location to begin a new region. There is still construction taking place all around their building, they are the first ones to move in. Single family homes and two apartments buildings should bring over 200 new people to the neighborhood when construction is complete.

Alexei and Lena have one large room with a balcony that extends the full length of the apartment. You can walk down the hall to the bathroom and turn the corner and you are now in the kitchen, where a walk to the other end of the balcony would take you back into the large front room.

The walls and floors are still cement, there is no running water yet and most of their belongings are still in boxes. In spite of all that, Lena had cold drinks for us all following the 15 minute walk to their place after getting off a hot, bumpy marshutka ride. She followed the cold water with tea and cake. I helped her with the dishes and getting things set up for tea and while we were doing that she apologized for not having a sink… I reminded her that she helped me wash the dishes at my apartment in the bathtub after we moved into our place; we did that for two months before her brother installed my kitchen sink!

We are very excited for Lena and Alexei and we believe that they made the best choice of location for their first purchase, as our city begins to develop, the area they have chosen is slated to become the center of town.

10 year anniversary!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The Church of the Open Door is celebrating it 10th anniversary as a church!


We had a great time today with a picnic, swimming, volleyball, and so much more! I posted just a taste of my photos because I am really tired after a long day in the forest.

Everyone brought food and we laid it all out together and shared everything with one another. I took a salad, some Edam and Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, granny smith apples and trail mix. Everything was a hit especially the trail mix... I took a large container full and it was all gone before the meal was over.

Chuck and Vicky, our guests, and new friends visiting from Henderson Hills Church in Oklahoma, brought some marshmallows and it was a first for many of the children and the grown ups as well. Some ate them plain and some were roasted over the fire. We went through two bags and they wanted more!

We were near the river in a city called Gariachi Klutch, Gariachi is pronounced like mariachi! In English that means "hot key" the forest area is up in the mountains. And it was well worth the hour chartered bus ride to get there!

busy, busy, busy

Friday, September 21, 2007

Today we have guests coming in from the US, we have a meeting with Joe W. from East-West, this is the 10th anniversary of our church and we as a whole church are going to spend the day in the forest on Saturday, and we have church on Sunday after church, Alexei and Lena want us to come out and see their apartment afterward....

That made me tired just to type it all out!

to sleep or not to sleep!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Tom is laying down to rest before we leave for school… he is still feeling the after affects of his surgery. It is taxing for him to do more than one thing a day.

Tom now has the church key and is responsible for locking up after the AA meeting on Wednesday night. That meant that yesterday was a long day for him. He had school from 1:30 to 5 and then we came home ate dinner and he had to be at the church at 7. He came home after 9 and was pretty wiped out.

Spencer is also feeling the affects of working long days. He is up each morning at 6am to do his home school assignments. Then on Monday and Wednesday he needs to be at work at 9:35 am and on Friday at 9am at KIS, the new international school here. He is helping out with the pre-kindergarten class. When he finishes work at KIS he has to get over to New View Language School for our Russian lessons. He yawns a lot but does not want to quit any of the things he is involved in.

I just hope he is not taking on his brother Nathan’s philosophy… “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

That is so unlike their dad… even before he had surgery his favorite part of the day was nap time!

tale of the butter dish

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

For the past two years our housekeeper Olya, has been sticking the butter dish in the fridge when she comes over.

We would try to hide it from her and we tried to explain that we liked the butter to be soft and not hard.

Finally, last week I wrote a note in Russian and placed it on top of the butter dish. It was a simple note all it said was; "Please, do not place in the refrigerator, Thank You".

Olya had been in the kitchen for awhile working and she told me that she had placed her hand on the dish to put it away, and realized there was a note and brought it to the living room to show me. She asked if the note was for her. I said yes! She asked why we like to leave it out and I explained once again that we like the butter to be soft for toast. Olya said that she kept putting it in the fridge because she thought we were just so busy we were "forgetting" to put it away!

We were able to laugh about it and now the butter dish can sit peacefully on the counter until we are ready to use it.

Her sister in law Lena, saw the note when she and Alexei were here for lunch on Sunday and:

#1 told me that I did a good job writing it... it was grammatically correct
#2 that it is an old Russian mentality to always keep butter in the fridge.

She said that butter used to not last for more than three days outside of the fridge so they were always careful to only keep it out when needed.

so there you have it... the tale of the butter dish!

news flash

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The weekend ended and we expected to be without hot water once again... but it is still on! I hope it lasts while our guests are here. They get in tomorrow and it would not be fun for them to have to take a cold shower after such a long flight!

langauge acquisition

Monday, September 17, 2007

We had a leadership meeting at church tonight, Tom didn't make it to the meeting because he needed to rest after spending the afternoon in class.

It is still difficult to sit through a long meeting in Russian when there is still so much I don't understand. Of course I had a general understanding of what was being discussed but now and then words were used that I didn't know. I could hire a translator but the danger in that is becoming dependent on having things translated for me.

At one point in the meeting Tim asked me if I wanted to share my desires for the church... I appreciated that. And yet, I felt like I was working so hard to understand the discussion that I didn't have the energy to formulate my own thoughts on the subject.

I called Joy after I got home and told her how I felt about the meeting, she told me that there are four steps in languge acquisition:

1) the ability to Understand
2) the ability to Read
3) the ability to Write
4) the ability to Speak

I felt encouraged after that conversation. I know that two years ago I could not have sat through a two hour meeting period. Tonight I understood about 75% of what was going on. It is easier to comprehend one person at a time then it is a large group!

lunch with friends!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

We had our friends Lena and Alexei over for lunch today after church. I am so glad that we did. I didn’t realize how long it had been since the four of us had been together.

For lunch we had a shrimp salad that I made last night.

1 package frozen shrimp
1 package frozen broccoli
¼ cup pine nuts
1 T. butter
6 cups of macaroni, cooked
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 ½ T. fresh dill, diced
Mayonnaise according to your taste

After cooking the macaroni I combined the pine nuts, shrimp, dill, cream cheese and butter in a pan and cooked it until all the butter and cream cheese melted. I poured that mixture over the macaroni and then added the frozen broccoli. I mixed it all together and put it in a bowl in the fridge. You can add the mayonnaise just before serving. I put it to the side so each person could add as much or little as they wanted. I served it with some fresh veggies that I sliced after church.

Alexei was so happy at how “healthy” our lunch was. I was happy that it all tasted good and that they ate quite a bit.

They asked how our studies were going at school. I mentioned that on Wednesday we learned the word “КОТОРЫЙ” (kahtory). This means ‘which” or “who”. I told them that I had typed out all of the ways that word changes (declines) and it added up to 36. Lena didn’t think that was possible. So I showed it to her. Words change based on gender and number. In Russian a word is masculine, feminine, neuter or plural. Each noun and adjective can also decline that many times…. Can you imagine how hard this language is to learn?! Especially for those of us who don’t enjoy studying grammar!?

After that Alexei kept working in the word ‘katory” into the conversation. He would say things like “Lena drank tea which she tried for the first time” or “there was this man who I met the other day...”

If you had the chance to meet Alexei you would know that he has quite the sense of humor and he can keep up with Tom pretty well!

moving day

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Spencer and I helped the Parhomenko's move today. It was an interesting cultural experience.

Apparently, women and teenagers are not allowed to lift heavy things. I am not sure of the exact reason why, but it seems we are more at risk to injure our spines.

Spencer picked up a box that Lena knew was really heavy and she had already told him four times not to lift the heavy ones... since he didn't listen to her she punched him in the arm! I told Spencer "she has 5 brothers, remember!".

I was allowed to help clean the apartment. I did the kitchen, bathroom, all the windows and then I dusted. Lena was doing all the rest. We started at eleven and finished at one. I had planned to go shopping with Tom but as I was walking home I decided to stop and get some fruit and veggies at the outdoor market...I started walking slower and slower, I finally realized how tired I was after working so hard!

Spencer had invited Seth over and now he, Seth and Vlad are listening to music. They played basketball for a bit and they all seemed wiped out!


***Congratulations to Erin and James on the birth of their second daughter!


Elysia Joy

Sept. 14th 2007
6:05 am
8lbs 8 oz
20in

Friday, September, 14, 2007

Cars have been speeding through our neighborhood this week due to the major repairs on the main street near our apartment. This means that children and cars are occupying the same space….which makes for some scary moments here and there.

Sometimes we can hear two drivers yelling at each other because they are both trying to go down a narrow lane in opposing directions… who has the right of way? There don’t seem to be any clear cut rules. Car horns honking, boys and girls squealing, parents and grandparents yelling for little ones to be careful were all part of the Friday night excitement!

Our hot water only works on the weekend when they quit working on the apartment building that is going up a few buildings over from us… they shut down all the hot water for the entire block. We were given no warning and have no idea how long it will last. So think of us during the week when we are taking cold showers and fighting traffic just to walk two blocks to church, to the bus stop, or to the market!

***thanks to everyone who was praying for Ann. Her surgery went well and she should be able to leave the hospital on Saturday.

the weekend!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Our weekend starts tomorrow morning since we don't have school on Fridays! It has been a hard for week for Tom getting back into the swing of things at school and at church.

Spencer is getting high school credit working as a teachers aide at the new school. He has had a few days where he has been very tired and struggled to stay awake in class.

We have been asked if we like studying in the afternoons. Tom and I are night owls... so being up late is fine with us. We can sleep in and still get to school on time!


Our new lesson at school is about bad habits. Most of the habits in the dialogue are more serious than just popping your knuckles or cracking your chewing gum. The main dialogue in this lesson is about smoking and drinking.

In class today we each had to take turns naming our bad habits... I admitted to popping my knuckles, Spencer admitted to chewing too loudly and so on. Tom was not there today, he went home not feeling well. But, he shared that he hates to exercise!

***Please continue to pray for Tom as he recoups from surgery. Pray for our friend Ann as she has her surgery today.

what a day!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Today was a long day for us all. Spencer got up early to go to his job as a teacher’s aide at Krasnodar International School. And Tom and I had dinner and a meeting at Tim and Joy’s right after school.

We had a wonderful evening conversing with Tim & Joy W., and Sasha & Tania Sherevlenka . We had not seen them in over 6 months and it was good to spend time with them all again.

Tania started a womens group in her village called Harmony. And she asked me to come and speak to the group about codependency. We decided on the title “Life in an Alcoholic Family”. I will be speaking on October 7th so I have time to prepare. Fortunately, I will not be expected to speak in Russian. Tania has a translator already lined up for me!

The day that we are going out to the village is the day before their daughter’s birthday. They are going to kill a sheep and have a barbeque. This will be our first birthday party in a village. I expect that we will have a lot of fun!

Joy baked and decorated a cake for Tom’s Sobriety birthday. He has been sober for 20 years! It was very sweet of her to acknowledge this day for him. In Russian tradition you say kind and beautiful words to the person you are celebrating. They all took turns saying things to Tom. Joy told us that when she let the kids know about Tom’s holiday, TJ asked if we were celebrating Tom passing his kidney stones! I guess we will have to plan a party for that day as well!!

9/11

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Not being in America we have not heard about the anniversary today. We do pray for all the families who still feeling the affects of the tragedy of 9/11.

It was a good day in class. We all did well. Tomorrow is another day and we have a new lesson to work on. This one is about getting things repaired.

Why is it that we get topics like this one after we experience them in real life!? We have had the toilet worked on, the washing machine, and the computer. We need to get our couch repaired and the first estimate we got was very expensive... so we need to call another master to come out and look at it.

We are still going without hot water during the week. Our classmates live in a building not far from us and they are experiencing the joy of not having hot water and of their not having electricity. so I suppose we have something to be thankful for... our electricity has only gone out once since we returned to Russia!

I didn't hear from Nathan today... otherwise, I would have written something about him. I think he is happy though whenever I say his name. Isn't that right, Nathan?

weekends...

Monday, September 10, 2007

After church yesterday Tom and I headed over to the mall to pick up a few things we needed for the apartment. We shopped for a bit and then decided to get something to eat while we were out. After spending a half an hour in line at McDonalds we had lunch. Currently there is only one McDonalds in Krasnodar. And it is always jam packed on the weekends!

Spencer was also in line with a few of his friends. He came by with Tobias and Seth. After getting money from me for food and for the taxi home, he tried to avoid running into us there in the mall. But somehow we kept turning up in the same places. By the time we got home however, Spencer was there with three of his friends playing video games.

Tom and I decided to watch a movie after the guys all left. First we watched Little Miss Sunshine. Then we watched Dejavue with Denzel Washington… what a breathtaking movie. I could not relax until it was over!

Today we will all be together in class. Not sure how that is going to go. We will have a full class of 6 people. Tom might need to do some reviewing with one of the teachers like I did at the beginning of the year. He will be skipping about 13 lessons and there is a lot of grammar to cover in those lessons. How well I remember!

Nathan, I hope that you are happy with this update... we are doing more than just eating sausage!

Italian Sausage Recipe

Saturday September, 8, 2007

Here is the recipe I used for the sausage:
2 pounds ground pork
1 1/2 teaspoons each cilantro and dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon anise
1 large clove garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Use a mortar and pestle to grind all the spices together then add to the ground pork mixing all the ingredients together with your hands. Allow to sit in refrigerator 8 hours before using.

When I cooked the sausage today it filled the apartment with a wonderful aroma that was so familiar to us all! I will make pasta tomorrow to go with the sausage... this recipe was so easy that I am sure that I will be making it frequently!

Italian Sausage

Friday, September 7, 2007

One of the things we like to eat but cannot find here is Italian Sausage.

While back home in the states my mother in law and I found a recipe. Today I made my first batch. It has to sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours for the flavors to blend together. If it tastes good I will post the recipe that I ended up using!

Russian History

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Our new lesson is filled with dates and names and really hard words... for some reason it is Spencer's favorite lesson. Sometimes our lessons begin with a dialogue and sometimes it is a short text. This time the text is 7 paragraphs long. I have Sasha coming over tomorrow to help us through it.

I brought home a copy for Tom. He will be joining our class on Monday. It should be interesting to have all of us in class together... I hope our teacher is ready for us, I'll be praying for her!

it is written...

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Spencer and I have been reading t-shirts just for fun… here are a few of the English ones we have seen:

Just Do It
I Love My Attitude Problem
Born to be Blonde
Bring it On
Feel the groove in your legs
USA girl forever
Baby Girl
Attitude
Imagination can change the world
Prada
G-Unit
Baby Phat
Really love Sunday morning
Witness
Ask me if I care?
Boundless Energy
Republic of Juicy
I’m the king of the world
Grow your mind
Feel the music and Rock forever
Uncle Sam
Smile just a little bit
Shopping makes me feel better

Skipping school

Tuesday, September 4,2007


Tom and I went over to the school today to give gifts to the teachers that we had purchased in America. They were so excited over each gift we gave them. After spending time visiting with them Tom wanted to go shopping.

Tanya, the director gave me permission to skip school and spend time with Tom. We were able to get curtain rods so that Tom can get our curtains hung.

That was all Tom was able to do today.

One shopping trip wore him out! It is not easy here… in America we hop in a car and go wherever we want to go. We look for the closest parking space in front of the store.

Here we have to walk to the closest bus stop or phone a taxi. Going shopping is a major ordeal. Once we finish shopping, we have to decide on the best way to get the items home. Sometimes we take a taxi if we have a lot of bags. Today we came home on a marshutka, a public van that holds about 12 passengers. Tom placed the curtain rods in the aisle and we are grateful that he didn’t hit anyone on the head as we got off at our stop!

*** the hot water only lasted the weekend... we are back to cold water again!!!

Tom is home!!!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Tim W. went to pick up Tom from the airport. Along the way he stopped and picked up a surprise for Tom… Alexei!

Tom was so excited to see his friends. It amazes me that Alexei was willing to get up and go to the airport at 4am knowing that he had to attend the first day of a two week intensive session of Biblical Studies at Kovchek today.

I got up at 5 am to be ready to answer the door as soon as they knocked. Tom woke up Spencer and the three of us spent the next 4 hours talking about Tom’s travels, his surgery, our trials with appliances and generally having a great time catching up with one another.

In the states the holiday is Labor Day, but here in Russia we decided it is “Daddy coming home day!” that just means that we skipped school to stay home and be with Tom!

Tom came home with only one suitcase… no he did not pack light, one of his bags got lost. Hopefully, it will be on the next flight and we should get it in the morning.

He had a 32 hour journey home, he is very tired and is now sleeping. He plans to sit out of school this week and will get back into the swing of things next week!

First Bell!

Saturday, September 1, 2007




















September 1st is when the first school bell of the year is rung. It is always a big celebration here.

Children from our church were a part of this mornings ceremonies at their schools. We can say "pozdravlaio" (congratulations) to a few special kids:

Pavel R. and his sister
Ruth
TJ W. and his sister
Hannah


I pray that God blesses this school year and that each of you enjoyed the morning festivities, celebrating with classmates and friends!


****news update****
and on the fourth day, we were blessed with the return of HOT WATER!
Tom leaves the states today and will be here on Monday!