unworthy am i

summer vacation 2010

2010-08-06T14:30:00.001+02:00

happenings, goings on and the like

2010-05-06T09:43:00.003+02:00

snapshots of life in 2010 (aka all the pics from my phone i finally uploaded). if you don't automatically see them, put your curser over a photo to read the captions.

Cappuccino Perfection

2010-04-30T12:28:00.000+02:00

yes. in. my. kitchen. mmmmmmmmmmm.

make believe

2010-03-30T09:37:00.003+02:00

How about we pretend that I hadn’t just dropped off the face of the planet for 4 months? How about we pretend that I’ve been away on an epic journey…the kind like travelers used to have; where the sailed off into the huge blue ocean, facing dangers and who-knows-what, and you didn’t expect to hear from them for months and you just entrusted them to God and if you got a telegram 5 months later, you’d just be thrilled that they made it alive. Let’s pretend that’s where I have been. And now, here I am, safe and sound, having arrived. It’s much more romantic than the truth that I’ve simply been lazy, or busy, or sick, or unmotivated, or lacking inspiration, or a little bit of all of that.

Let me recount the last months in snippets and broads strokes, photographs and minimal words because it’s all just a bit too overwhelming to try to remember just where and what the last 4 months (give or take) have consisted of. And it you are one of the 3 people reading this, I will count myself blessed that someone had enough faith in me to check back here every once and while because, perhaps, just perhaps, I’d make it across that huge blue ocean and I’d finally arrive. For you, thank you. Thanks for your faith in me.

I have arrived.

I spent the lion’s share of November/December being sick. Very sick. When I think of those 4-5 weeks, I remember coughing. A LOT. And not breathing very much. And I remember taking lots of medicine, none of which had much effect. I ate garlic, drank juice and tea, and some more tea, and some more tea. Some of that time I worked, some of it, I didn’t. I did, however, get to see my own personal physician in action. Sam was amazing. But I must say I challenged him, because although he knew exactly what to do and what things to prescribe, nothing worked on me. And I could tell that really stressed him out. He listened to my lungs every day, took my blood pressure…it was really sweet to see him in doctor mode. I don’t ever get to see that. I only ever see him in student mode – studying, reading, studying more – but seeing him working and actually putting things into practice, that was really special. Seeing his care for me when I was sick and the way he did so much around the house during that time…I know when he said, “in sickness” he meant it.

By the time I finally recovered – about a week before Christmas – I had had enough of feeling (and looking) liked death warmed over, so I enlisted the help of Nina, who I work with, and who has become a dear friend, to help me make a trip to the salon for a new hairstyle. Even simple things like getting your hair cut can feel like Everest when there’s a language barrier. So having Nina there to translate and to panic with, when the lady started cutting a bit too much off the bangs was priceless. We raised our eyebrows together when the stylist started giving me poofy bangs that were quite shorter than I had explained and Nina sprang into action with all urgency when the afore-mentioned hairdresser took the razor comb and aimed them at my bangs again, “NYET!” In my mind that part is in slow motion and the sound echoes, and everyone in the shop turns and looks with their mouths open. But of course, that’s just me being dramatic. I wonder who’ll play me in the movie…

just an FYI: this pic is after the bangs had grown!

where oh where has my little voice gone?

2009-10-29T11:29:00.002+02:00

oh where oh where can she be? yes, it's true. i am speechless. not from awe, not from shock, but from illness. complete lack of voice. very surreal. i've had times before where my voice has been reduced to squeaky or hoarse tones, but never total loss before. sam is having way too much fun with this. on Tuesday, i woke up with a slightly scratchy throat, but nothing too terrible. i took some cough syrup and headed out to work - my marathon day of teaching: 5 lessons beginning at 9am and finishing at 10pm. as the day wore on the throat began protesting a bit at being used so much - that's one drawback of my job at times like this, a lot talking comes with the territory. by the end of the day, my three-hour Intermediate class, i could tell i was going to regret the busy day i had had. the voice was beginning to get hoarse and sparse, but still was at least there. i reached home an hour later and sam greeted me. i tried to respond and nothing came out. literally. nothing. a few more tries and i got a slight whisper. barely. in addition to vocal loss i pretty much felt like doing nothing but sleeping. although one interruption in the a fore-mentioned sleep in order to involuntarily purge all the contents of my stomach did actually improve my comfort considerably. so yes, yesterday was not a good day. today am i feeling somewhat better. i am awake. i've opened the windows and put on my coat and scarf to enjoy some fresh air. but no matter how hard i try, i still can't speak in anything more than a raspy whisper. which effectively cancels any thoughts i had about going back to work today. funny how just last week i was thinking about how healthy i had been for a long time. couldn't even remember when last i had been sick. shame on me.

it's been a while...

2009-09-24T22:12:00.003+02:00

it has. it's true of many things in my life these days. it's been awhile since i've posted. but mostly, it's been awhile since i've seen my husband. more than awhile i'd say...54 days...but who's counting? I feel like i haven't had much to write about. i've had lots of thoughts and many times i've wanted to reach for my camera...only to realize it's with Sam. as for me, i have been working quite a bit these days, which is good. good to keep busy. Don't worry too much about me though, i've been well cared for. Eric and Lusha have invited me over several times, even once to a family gathering where we had the most amazing food cooked by Eric's mom. and now that Eric and I have our Sunday lessons at his apartment, Lusha cooks a meal for us every Sunday afternoon. wonderful. Last Saturday I was invited out for coffee with a few of the Russian girls who teach English at ALM. it was a fun time.

so, i have been learning to wait. and wait. and wait. the waiting isn't so bad, it's the uncertainty of when the waiting will end. we have high hopes that tomorrow will be the day that we'll hear the good news that Sam's invitation letter is ready. prayers that, if answered in the affirmative, mean that if all goes well we just might be able to keep his RE-RE-booked flight as scheduled for October 1st, putting him home by the 2nd or 3rd. Sam has, as of now, missed 3 weeks of school. His group has completed their Infectious Diseases cycle and have begun Traumatology. When he comes, we hope he can join a different group which began a little later than his group, meaning he would only miss about one cycle if he comes home in the first few days of October. i know he is starting to worry about school and catching up on what he has missed. and so, we pray. and we wait.

and so, my life for the last month in bullet points:

* swinging back and forth between cooking fun new recipes to pass the time and eating weird combinations of whatever is left in the cabinets because i'm too lazy to go grocery shopping.
* a new student whom i teach 3 times a week and a new class i teach two nights a week.
* ALM has moved to a new office, a much nicer, newer facility with bigger, better classrooms.
* it's getting colder, and quickly! for example it's 45F (7C) right now and cloudy.
* baking banana oat muffins, and rusks
* weekly chapatti-making.
* watching BBC World online!!
* trying to watch football and being unable about 90% of the time for a variety of reasons.
* being unable to shake the image of the pedestrian lying in the street after she was struck and killed by a car near my house.
* cleaning and taking out the trash and doing ALL the housework stuff; and realizing that usually Sam does the lion's share of it.
* finding THIS CHAIR like new, discarded by one of my neighbors. threw the slipcover in the wash and it has now found a loving home in our living room.
* text messages from Sam at the most random times about the most random things.
ie: "You wouldn't believe the number of flies in the house i just walked into!" or "Just saw a man on a motorcycle carrying a pig."
* caring for our plants and so far being successful!
* struggling with consistency. in prayer. in the Word. and as always, with sin.
* thankful I have a Jesus who remembers that I am dust.
* being bummed about missing my best friend's baby shower
* loving DESKTOPNEXUS.COM. i could get lost on there for hours.
* listening to Owl City
* reading "Slaughterhouse Five"
* Ginger and Honey Roasted Pumpkin with Lentils and Feta over Penne. Yum.

you could add "thinking about Sam" in between every bullet point above and you'd have a fair estimation of my month.

Cheers.

Moscow : a belated post

2009-08-25T11:19:00.006+02:00

On the journey to Africa Sam and I first went through Moscow, to which we had never been. Although we were tired and in travel mode, we managed to spend several hours wandering around and got some of the obligatory shots of Red Square, The Kremlin, and the like.

Sam even went to see Lenin. I however, passed, feeling rather indifferent about seeing the embalmed body of the former Soviet leader. And besides, someone needed to hold the backpack. So I people-watched on Red Square with my to-go cup of coffee as my companion while Sam waited in the ever-lengthening line that began to form over half an hour before the mausoleum was open.

Sam's Lenin visit

After the corpse viewing (i mean literally that what it was, right?) Sam and I walked around inside the famous and extremely over-priced "гум" (pronounced "goom") - a huge, fancy shopping mall on Red Square.

гум

inside

ceiling

I took the above photo and then Sam noticed these guys:

window washers

And when I say "over-priced" I mean: think $120 for a t-shirt. We did actually buy something there, though. I found a travel coffee-press at кофе хауз (a cafe chain we have here in SPB). I had actually looked at four different кофе хауз cafes here in SPB for this particular one-cup sized plastic travel coffee press, but none of them had it in stock. And thankfully they were priced about the same there as they are here - a reasonable 320 Roubles. (less than $10)

travel press

Finally we decided to find a продукты (a convenience store) to buy some stuff for sandwiches and drinks. We got our lunch stuff and headed to the benches in the park outside the Kremlin and enjoyed the breeze and the sun and all the pretty flower gardens while we contemplated the next day and a half of flying and waiting in airports.

more photos from Namibia

2009-08-20T18:49:00.002+02:00

spending my time

2009-08-05T17:55:00.000+02:00

I have spent the time since Sam left for Angola in Windhoek with his family. It’s been a really laid-back time; quiet and fairly uneventful especially during the week when everyone is busy with school or work. The weekend was a bit livelier, with Ito home from the Cheetah farm and all the kids around the house. On Saturday I got together with Jennie at Hein and Nadine’s house and we watched the Tri-Nations (rugby) – South Africa vs. New Zealand. SA won it by quite a lot, but it was due mostly to free kicks – they made only 2 actual tries. So it wasn’t a particularly exciting game. I headed home around dusk and watched a movie with all the kids before dinner.
Sunday was church again and a late family lunch. In the evening a few of us went to Pick N’ Pay to get a few ingredients we needed to make a cheesecake (which the kids had never heard of, and was suggested by Ito). I showed Maezinha how to make the cake as we prepared it together. A few hours later I was given the job of cutting and serving and everyone seemed quite pleased with the result.
Monday night there was a lot of studying going on since its exam time. There was a question about some English tenses and it came out that I’m an English teacher. That was it. For the next two hours I tutored Paiza and Flavio on everything from Past Perfect Continuous tense to articles, to Proper Nouns. They laughed and called it “NamEnglish” when they asked me if it was correct grammar to say, “My head is paining”, and I had to say no, but that it should be, “My head hurts” because pain is a noun, but hurt is a verb. I heard Flavio explaining it to someone else the next day, so I guess he learned pretty well. He said he thought the exam went well and he told me that when he needed to use a proper noun to replace “she” on the exam, he had used “Amanda”. Ha.
I’ve heard from Sam intermittently via sms and email. Yesterday he assisted in several procedures including (for all your medical types that know what that means). He says the days are long but really interesting and a lot of fun. I think it was a good decision to go do his practical work there. Already he has done more than his entire time at the hospital at his school last summer, where they had him pushing patients in wheelchairs from one place to another. The money spent on this trip is well worth it, and I trust God will continue to provide for us as He always has, when it comes time to pay tuition again.
Tomorrow I head to Okahandja again for some much anticipated time with Maveja and time spent enjoying the familiarity of a place I once called home.

Sad “See-You-Laters”

2009-08-05T05:56:00.001+02:00

I watched as Sam climbed into an over-packed mini-bus headed to Oshakati on the border of Namibia and Angola. As I climbed into bed that night, I knew he was plodding along cramped in between the man next to him and his backpack filled with things to occupy him and snacks I hoped would sustain him on the LONG trek. The next morning at 7:40 am, he arrived at the border and crossed into Angola. He had a few hours at the border, bought a SIM card to keep in contact with me while he’s there, and secured a place on the next bus to carry him all the way Lubango. Although that leg of the trip is only about 400km, due to the road conditions he wouldn’t arrive till late at night. Please pray for his safety and SANITY as he spends time in Angola!

Okahandja

2009-08-03T17:46:00.001+02:00

On Tuesday afternoon Sam and I took a taxi to Okahandja. I love the beautiful countryside on the way. It just reminds me of all the times I’d driven that trip. I’ve missed seeing that. We stayed at the CHI International Center, in the “USA” room, where Gert and Gerianna used to live. Having our own little bungalow with its own kitchen and everything was just perfect. It was such a nice little place, Sam and I were wishing we had something just like it in SPB. Sylvia Holtzhauzen is in OKH now and it was great visiting with her over coffee and dinner.

a taste of Okahandja:

town

cows

driving to Nau Aib

The second evening we got to meet up with Maveja after she got home from work and we had a wonderful little braai – just like old times – in the sand outside her house. It was SO good to catch up and share a meal together. Her dad and brother even came home in time to eat with us. Maveja’s little boy – JJ – is about 1 yr and half now and he’s a cute little thing. He didn’t know what to think of me at first. He was fine with Sam, so we decided that my skin color was freaking him out. But he eventually warmed up to me. Maveja is working 7 days a week right now, as a cleaner for the National Defence Force at Osana Base which is a little bit outside Okahandja. After our braai, she said she wanted to see about getting a few days off so we could spend some time together, which she did, and so we’ll be getting together next week to really catch up.

Maveja and JJ

Braai

I was also able to re-connect with the ladies at the woodcarvers market, spend some time chatting with them and show them some of our wedding photos, which they were asking about. On Thursday a team from CA came into OKH as their last stop before heading home after serving for 2 weeks in Keetmanshoop. They had a big braai Thursday night and Sylvia, Sam and I invited ourselves for some very yummy food. =)

Braai Night #2 - Jennie

During the day Sam spent most of his time doing odd jobs around the center – fixing things and working with his hands – the way he feels most happy. I got to help him put in rods in the closets for hanging clothes.

so happy...

I also got my hair cut by the lady who used to do my hair when I live in OKH. She even remembered me after 2 years and asked where I had been. And as usual she did a phenomenal job with her crazy flying scissors. Sam calls it my “Russian Cutie” haircut. At first I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but according to his comment this morning, I now know that’s a compliment. =) But you can judge for yourself.
I asked Sam to take a picture and he started taking a while photo shoot. I was laughing and here’s what resulted:

Things we’ve been enjoying:
Sun, sun , sun!
Oshikandela
Boerevors and broetchens
family
dear friends
braais
glorious sunsets
more stars then you’ve ever seen
the little changes that happen in 2 years (or 3 in Sam’s case)
Oma rusks
rugby
my new “Russian Cutie” haircut
creamy vanilla
Namibian Coke
Nandos
going to bed early and waking up early
the way Africa just brings a smile like no other place can

Church

2009-08-03T13:14:00.000+02:00

It warmed up considerably the second two days here (and maybe we adjusted a bit too), to the point where at least during the day I could wear short sleeves. The sun of course is still glorious and the sky as blue as can be. Sunday we went to church at Sam’s dad church – he pastors a Baptist church that meets in a school classroom in Windhoek. It’s a Portuguese-speaking church. Both times I have been there, the message has been translated into English, but my guess is that was for my benefit. All the kids are involved in the service some way – choir, keyboard, set-up - and in my estimation, make up about half the small congregation. The singing was beautiful – some Portuguese, some English, and also some Umbundu. Sam’s dad gave a good sermon, with Ito translating it into English.

Wanaheda, Katatura - Windhoek

2009-08-03T12:39:00.000+02:00

Upon arrival at the Windhoek Airport, we stepped onto the tarmac and celebrated with big grins. I didn’t realize how happy we looked about being back in Namibia until later when I looked at the photo. It says it all.

We sailed through passport control and into the baggage pick up. After 15 unsuccessful minutes of waiting, we headed to the lost luggage counter and filled out our forms, as is very typical when arriving from Jo-burg, particularly at the start of a weekend. Sam’s dad was there to greet us with his characteristic big hug and even bigger smile. We drove to the home of Sam’s parents in Katatura, Windhoek. (The big “location” in Windhoek). Sam’s family is from Angola but have lived in Namibia for more than 10 years. They have opened their home to numerous kids from Angola whose parents send them to Namibia to go to high school – where they can get a better education. Every year there are new faces. Currently there are 9 kids ranging from early to late teens who live with them. There are 3 boys and 6 girls. They’ve divided two bedrooms into a boys’ room and girls’ room, with bunk beds – dormitory style. There’s a chart on the door that very neatly lists everyone’s duties – dishes, sweeping and cleaning the house, various chores. They even take turns cooking. The house is a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows their job and pitches in to do their part. The addition of Sam and I displaced the boys, who now reside in part of the living room, which they partitioned off by a big curtain. 13 people in a 3 bedroom, one bath house might be challenging, but somehow, it works. The first weekend, Sam’s brother, Ito, was even in town so that made 14. It was nice to have almost the whole family together for a while, sharing meals and such. (Deborah, Sam’s sister is in South Africa studying.) In Namibia it’s respectful to title someone older than you, “aunt” and “uncle”. So now I’m Aunt Amanda, or simply, “Auntie” and Sam is “Uncle Sam”. I’m sure all my American friends find the humor in that.

Uncle Sam

Dinner! Sam, Dad, Mom, Ito

Some of the kids watching a really lame soap opera. They are SO into it!

The first two nights with near freezing temperatures had Sam and I layered in sweatshirts and jackets when awake and piled under heavy blankets when asleep. Sam’s family gave piles of warm clothes for us to choose from to make up for our missing baggage those first two days. I don’t know how they happened to have so many clothes that are perfectly my size, and even quite fashionable – some never even worn. I was very thankful for that.

Outside. Zambesi Street, Katatura

Home

Back on Namibian Soil

2009-08-02T22:00:00.000+02:00

And it’s so very good. The trip itself was hellish, but being here and having recovered for several days, I can almost forget about the cramped, hot, and extremely uncomfortable train ride between SPB and Moscow. I can forget about the headache that I had for 3 days straight due to the afore-mentioned train ride. I can even forget how extremely FREEZING the airport in Johannesburg was when we killed 7 hours there before our final flight here. I can forget it all, because it’s so great to be back. OK, so maybe I can’t exactly forget….BUT the memory of the 43 hours of traveling to get here has certainly faded….a little. But I haven’t forgotten how good God was to us on our trip. For example, Johannesburg Intl. Airport, which I will now call “The Ice Airport” was as I said, frigid. Even though it’s the middle of winter they felt the need to blast ice cold air from every vent. The employees were all walking around in their coats and scarves. Sam and I however, were quite unprepared to have a layover in Antarctica, and therefore had only a hoodie and a lightweight fleece, respectively. We were, needless to say, rather miserable the first hour. After scouting for someplace remotely “not as cold” as everywhere else, we settled on the upper floor near where all the premium and first class lounges are located. Sam went into the internet room where a few other people has gathered and were sleeping at the computer desks. I was so tired and really just wanted to lie down. So I just lay on the floor in the hallway and covered my arms with my towel for a little added warmth. Sam told me I’d probably get yelled at by one of the premium lounge people, but I decided that if anyone said anything to me, I would ask them where I could file a complaint about the near freezing temperatures. I had been lying there for about 10 minutes when two airport staff who worked in the premium class lounge walked by. One of the men looked at me and said, “Why are you sleeping out here when we have a lounge?” I looked at him curiously, since I know that those lounges are only for the uber frequent-flying elite. He smiled. “Follow me.” I did. And in he led me to the platinum lounge – soft leather couches and chairs, fresh fruit salad and muffins, toast, honey and jam, espresso machine all laid out and gleaming. Magazines and newspapers, a fridge filled with all kinds of cold drinks. My eyes boggled. He waved his hand and said, “Come. You are welcome.” (Not in a ‘response to thanks’ kind of way, but the way that South Africans use it to say, “Make your self at home.”) I walked quickly to one of the plush couches, put down my backpack, and ran to get Sam. He was a bit mystified when I grabbed him and headed into the lounge, but all was explained when the man who had brought me in came over and said, “Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself.” He then did so, and again welcomed us and said, “Today I’d like you to be my guest.” We thanked him profusely and off he went about his work. For the next 6 hours we felt like kings. And it did wonders to rejuvenate us from the previous travel. A very kind young lady came by and asked us if we wanted to order anything and ran through a huge variety of choices. We both ate grilled BLT’s, had our fill of drinks and I had a cappuccino, of course. It just felt too decadent to make use of the room where they had actual beds and showers, and we didn’t want to wear out our welcome. So we lounged on the couches and read, relaxed, ate and when our flight was getting ready to board, we headed off towards the gate, thanking our friend again for what was truly a HUGE blessing, and totally unexpected.

COMING SOON:

2009-08-02T16:09:00.003+02:00

PICTURES, STORIES AND ALL KINDS OF GOOD STUFF.

(as soon as i get a fast internet connection.)

birthday weekend in Finland

2009-07-08T08:24:00.004+02:00

two weekends ago, Eric invited Sam and I to Finland to celebrate his sister Toini's birthday. (she is actually the same age as Sam and I) after much debating about whether or not to use Sam's one-entry Schengen visa which we had saved for a trip in case we didn't have the money to go to Africa this summer, we finally decided to take the plunge and trust in God's provision for our much hoped-for trip to Namibia. (and God has totally rewarded that leap!) We came to a decision Friday night and left Saturday morning on the train to Lahti. around noon we arrived, with Eric meeting us at the train station, along with Dima, Toini's husband. back at their house, the party was already in motion, inside and outside the house, despite the darkening rain clouds overhead. 40+ Russian natives, most of whom had emmigrated to Finland after the fall of the Soviet Union. Champagne and strawberries, rum, wine, etc, in hand - there was lots of chatting, several children running around chasing each other - typical party atmosphere, midday. soon after we arrived, the main attraction began - salsa lessons. the funniest thing, however, was that when Sam and I arrived, since no one at the party knew us, they all thought that WE were the dance instructors! the real instructors were an older couple who did their instruction in Finnish, though i have found that when doing something like dance or exercise, understanding directions is really not nearly so important. you watch, and soon you've got it. all the women had been directed to wear skirts with flounce since they "flow" and add that extra something to any Latin dance. The guys mostly watched, however a few brave souls sis join in either after enough drinks, or when given enough convincing, or in Sam's case, when given no choice. (might i add, that when i tried to coerce him, he wouldn't budge, but when outside pressure was applied, it was only a matter of time. so there was dancing, then there was FOOD! followed by coffee, more drinks, then out came the vodka, there was grilling of meat, singing of national anthems, lots of Russian people who had earlier been shy to use their English, now emboldened and chatting up a storm with us. finally at around 1am, there was karaoke. by 2, Sam and I were ready for some shut-eye. We climbed up into the low ceiling-ed attic loft where we would sleep, and we drifted off to the sounds of the partying below. the next day was a fine, sunny day and there was much of the same, only more low key. we passed the time sunbathing, reading, and picnic-ing in the glorious fresh air. The evening of Day 2 concluded with sauna and the Brazil vs. USA football match, which was surprisingly close. Eric and I supported the underdogs - (USA, of course). Sam and Pasha (Eric's teenage son) went with the odds and rooted for Brazil. Props to team USA, even though in the end, they lost. another night's sleep (a bit earlier and quieter this time) and then it was up early the next morning to catch the train home. Back to dirty city air and traffic noises...but home nonetheless.

Finland. June 27-29, 2009
Eric's sister, Toini, lives in Lahti, Finland - about 4 hours from here by train. Sam and I were invited with Eric to celebrate her birthday.

Sorry, but that's where the photos end.

a weekend in the country take two

2009-07-01T09:51:00.006+02:00

last weekend we were invited back to the country for a second fitness weekend. for this one we were prepared, having a better idea of what was in store for us. we went armed with clothes for numerous hard workouts and a bag of food to help sustain us despite the terrible cafeteria food. poor Eric had injured his leg (he pulled a ligament) playing football/soccer earlier in the week, so he unfortunately would have to sit out for most of the activity. we met up with Eric, Lusha, Arthur, and the rest of the group at Eric's gym Friday evening around 11:00pm, and we set off after detouring a bit due to open bridges and a quick stop at a cafe for some java. we headed out of the city in the everlasting dusky summer light. These "White Nights" were our companion throughout our trip and we arrived around 2am in the same twilight as when we left 3 hours earlier.

2:30am

Sam and I settled in to our room and while Sam joined the others for drinks i opted for a hot shower, something i haven't been able to do at my own house for several weeks. It was wonderful and I was again reminded of how much i take the little things for granted. bedtime came around 3am and i dreaded the knock on the door the next morning which i knew would inevitably come at 8am sharp. This time however, Sam felt less inclined to drag himself out of bed for morning calisthenics, and i was perfectly happy to go along with that. instead we took our time getting up and getting ready and arrived bright-eyed and clean at breakfast at 9am. the same old bland food greeted us at breakfast, but we ate our fill, knowing that we'd need to have those carbs and calories in order to keep up with Max and Olga, the entirely too energetic fitness instructors. an hour of downtime for digesting later, we met outside in the field for exercise stations: elastic bands for squats, curls, biceps and triceps, abdominal crunches, yoga "plank" positions, push-ups...you name it, we did it. here's Max instructing us on what to do. (yes, you can literally SEE his muscles through his shirt. yikes.)

next was lunch, and after that, an awesome time off-road cycling through the countryside (and even a bit through the forest). this was definitely much more fun than the failed attempt at a scavenger hunt which took place in the afternoon of the first day last time. the scenery was beautiful and the weather absolutely perfect for a long ride. i don't know how many kilometers we rode that day, but we were gone for several hours - up and down hills, through mud and tall grass, past loggers and wide open fields with tall grass and wild flowers. lovely.

we refueled at dinner in the cafeteria like usual, but this time we had a plan. Eric and Max had gone into town and bought shaslik (shiskabobs) of pork, fresh vegetables, pickles and garlic, lavash, and of course alcohol (this is Russia, after all). we had some down time after the cafeteria dinner and people relaxed, showered or went to the pool (NOT ME!). Sam and I played ping pong and a game of billiards. so around 10pm we had our REAL dinner. Sam was drafted to do the grilling (he always loves a good Braai!) and we all gathered outside huddled around the fire enjoying wonderfully grilled shashlik and all the fixings. there was lots of chatting - Englilsh and Russian - good stories and tons of laughter. and the local dogs enjoyed our feast as much as we did - the scored some good handouts. i must note that all the shashlik were pork because that is all the local store had in stock. Lusha is Muslim and for her, eating pork is "haram" (a sin) and so she ate veggies and bread and had to forgo the shashlik, much to her disappointment. Arthur, who Lusha is not forcing to follow Muslim tradition was allowed to make his own choice. halfway through the evening he had been given a small chunk of pork and whether for a religious choice, or because he just didn't want it, he decided he wanted to give it to the dog, who was looking on. but before he gave it, he made sure to ask his mom, "is it a sin for a dog to eat pork?" such a thoughtful young guy. we assured him that it was ok, so the dog got a tasty treat.

the next day we enjoyed hitting the volleyball around before being beat into shape by Olga and her aerobic kickboxing class.

the second afternoon it was our turn to use the saunas. the enjoyment of sweating everything out together, followed by a dip in an icy jacuzzi is hard to explain, but it was again, the perfect close to a very active weekend.

no pool naxis, no crying, no utter confusion about trying to complete the smallest task...all in all, a very good second weekend in the country.

"The Pool Incident"

2009-06-07T22:08:00.001+02:00

The “pool incident” must be recounted in its own post, to give it its rightful place as the most memorable moment of the “fitness” weekend in my mind. On Saturday evening our group had an assigned time for use of the pool, Jacuzzi and sauna. Sam and I headed down together and Courtney was planning to join us there. I wasn’t really intending to swim, but with pictures of typical American, European, and even African hotels and various pools in my mind, I assumed I could take a good book and sit by the pool watching Sam and the other swim, then after a while enjoy the jaqcuzzi and sauna. I convinced Courtney to do the same and we both packed a small bag with a towel and book, water bottle, etc. for indoor poolside enjoyment. We were escorted by Michael, a very kind man, who knew about 5 words in English and practiced using all of them, regardless of whether or not they made any sense in the situation. Michael showed us to the separate men’s and women’s “changing rooms” through which one had to enter the pool. I, who was already dressed for the pool, figured I would just walk through and out to a waiting chaise lounge, armed with my little bag of all the things I’d need for enjoying the pool. I quickly realized where I was when I was ushered into a bare room and two women speaking very commanding Russian explained I needed to wear a swimming cap.
Eta Rosseya. This. Is. Russia.
Did I have a swimming cap?
No.
She showed me a clear plastic shower cap she had with her at her little table - the only thing in this empty room.
Would I wear this then?
OK. Fine. I’ll wear the goofy-looking shower cap.
She ushered me into the changing room and explained that I needed to wear the pool shoes they provided me.
OK. Fine. Whatever.
Then she pointed and showed me the showers and I understood that I had to shower off and only after this then I would be granted entrance to the pool.
OK….
Now, up till this point I was understanding most of what was being said. There were enough words I recognized and enough hand motions that, together with logic and common sense, I could understand the instructions. But. Here’s where it gets tricky. I had a question. I didn’t want to leave my bag in one of their UNLOCKED lockers in the dressing room while I went into the pool area. Remember, my whole intention was to go sit by the pool and relax, reading, anyway and with my bag unsafely tucked away in a locker how was I going to do that? I tried to ask if I could take my bag inside the pool with me, via hand motions and the pertinent words I knew like, “Can I”, Bag” “Take”. Either my Russian is worse than I thought or she just decided that I had not understood all her prior instructions and she again told me I had to put my bag in the locker, shower, then go in the pool. We went back and forth like this a while, in the midst of which, Courtney arrived to find me semi-arguing with the lady, as I tried to explain that I understood everything else, but I didn’t want to leave my bag, so I needed to leave to take it back to my room. I slipped my own shoes back on and explained quickly to Courtney what I was going to do and I told her I’d take her bag upstairs too and be right back. The lady kept arguing and finally I just walked out the door with our bags, leaving Courtney there to fend for herself. But, I reasoned, I’d be right back, no worries. I was on the stairs when I realized I didn’t have the key for our room, because Sam, who was surely already in the pool, had it. I turned around and headed back down, at which time I ran into Michael, who was confused about why I wasn’t in the pool. (I later found out that Eric had asked him to look after us.) He used one or two of his 5 words and I tried to explain to him about my bag and needing the key. He nodded emphatically and was so kind I was sure he understood and could help me out, no problem. He led me downstairs and rather than turning right, towards the pool, he turned left and unlocked a small office-like room. Thinking he had understood my concern about the safety of our bags, I put down our bags and turned to head back out of the office. He motioned for me to stop, smiled kindly, and walked out, closing the door behind him. So now I am standing in a small office in the basement of some compound, upset from my unsuccessful arguing with the changing room lady, frustrated that after nearly two years in Russia I still can’t get my point across, completely bewildered and confused and I’m starting to worry.
All I want is the key to my room!
A few minutes passed and I started getting more upset, my eyes began to sting with tears. I took a deep breath and listened. Silence. Then I heard a noise in the hallway. It sounded like maybe Michael was standing out there. I went to the door and slowly opened it and there he was, looking at me, slightly confused. By this point, it’s been at least 10 minutes since I left Courtney, and I want nothing to do with the pool, but I still need the key. But I seem further and further from success in that area, and I am feeling pretty lousy because I can’t get anyone to understand me. The confused Michael is just looking at me, and I am trying to keep it together.
I need to find my husband! Moi muzh. (my husband) komnata. kluchey. (room. key.)
He still looks confused but at least he understands the words. He asks me if he’s here.
Yes. In the pool. Chorney. (black)
A moment of recognition from Michael.
Oh! Black! Yes.
Michael remembers Sam and starts quickly leading me back towards the pool. He seems happy that he has figured out the puzzle. And, to tell the truth, so am I.
I remember walking up the steps feeling so relieved. I was finally going to find Sam, get the key and be done with it. Michael led me back to the changing room door and I entered, as I saw him entering via the men’s changing room (they both led into the same empty room, then into the actual changing rooms section). Once in this little room, I foolishly thought I could simply walk up to the open door of the pool, look in, get Sam’s attention and that would be it. But! I forgot to factor in the “Eta Rosseya” factor. I no sooner took steps in the direction of the door, when the changing room Nazis (there were two now) pounced on me, YELLING at full voice. You would have thought that I had a fully load machine gun in my hand and I was about to let loose on all those unsuspecting swimmers. They both really let me have it. I jumped back and before I could even rationally stop it, I started crying right there in the stupid single-table, white tile room. Hearing the yelling, Michael quickly appeared in the doorway (apparently he had been searching the men’s side of the changing room for Sam). He looked over, saw me crying and looked at the changing room Nazis, said something to them, and they forcefully supported their very rational reaction to a woman striding so boldly right up to the door of their closely guarded pool. He said something else, then came over to me and asked, “What his name?”, and he went to look for Sam himself. Michael found him, sent him to the door and I was allowed to talk to him there. One of the Nazis, now looked very confused and apologetic, started trying to justify, very softly saying, “Aw…Ti ne ponimaesh…? Ya ne ponimayu.” (Aw…You don’t understand…? I don’t understand.) Eric, whom I caught a glimpse of over Sam’s shoulder, looked very worried and asked, “What’s wrong??”. Sam would explain later. Sam went to get me the key which I gratefully pocketed and quickly ran away with, away from the pool, up the stairs, and into our room, where I contemplated how much language barriers suck.

A Weekend in the Country 1

2009-06-07T21:50:00.002+02:00

The month of May was full activity and adventure, to be sure, but nothing stands out in my mind quite like our “weekend in the country”. Let me explain. The second weekend in May celebrates one of the many holidays in Russia between May and June. The a fore-mentioned holiday is May 9th (V.E. Day as celebrated in Russia, whereas in the U.S. it was May 8th - the victory in WWII was announced past midnight, making it the next day here). The 9th fell on a Saturday this year, and Monday of the following week was given as a public holiday making a long weekend. Of and course, I’m sure it’s quite an international tradition that on long weekends, people take trips. Eric brought up the weekend in question and gave us an invitation to join a group of people from his gym for a weekend of, “sport in the fresh air” outside the city. From his vague explanation, Sam, Courtney, and I conjured up images of campfires and forests and some organized sports perhaps, like football or maybe some group games. We accepted, being good little adventurers, since we still had no real idea of where we were going or exactly what we were signing up for. It was agreed that we would leave the city Friday evening around 8:00pm to hopefully miss the rush of traffic leaving St. Petersburg. I sent him an sms a day or so before our trip to ask what we should take with us. His response was, “Take clothes for sport, for swimming and party.” At 7:00 on Friday evening, I received the fist of a series of text messages from Eric: “We’ll be there at 9:00 instead” along with several others that of course blamed their tardiness on Lusha’s over-abundant packing. Around 9:30 Eric arrived and we threw our bags in the back of the already very full hatch of the SUV. Lusha and her friend Olga we driving in one vehicle and Eric, Sam, Courtney, myself, and Arthur (Lusha’s son) were in the other. It turns out that we weren’t the only ones who were not exactly sure where we were going for the weekend. Eric, himself, had only spotty directions and after a number of false starts, a few U turns, and pit stops for direction-asking, we were more or less on our way. The first hour or so, we sailed along the highway, but of course on a weekend (and particularly a LONG weekend) the traffic leaving the city is horrendous. But we amused ourselves with a radio mix of classic rock and early 90’s music, language-themed conversation, and general banter. And low and behold: about 3 hours, several more U turns, and a few phone calls later, we found the place. In Russian this kind of place is called a “baza” (“base”). It’s kind of like a compound, in this case for recreation. It’s like a cross between a motel and a dormitory. It was late, so we dragged our stuff inside, got a quick run-down of when breakfast was served in the cafeteria (between 9-10am), acquired our keys and got settled in to our rooms. Eric mentioned something like, “there might be some morning exercises before breakfast…around 8am” to which we all, including Eric, sort of laughed at with a “yeah, right” sort of attitude. Well. Being the obedient, young over-achievers that we are…ok, well…that Sam is, we planned to get up at 7:45am to be ready for the 8am exercises. Yippee. I woke up a little early and decided to get up and maybe even grab a quick shower to wake up before these calisthenics. And just as I was about to jump in the shower, there was a knock at our door (this was around 5mins till 8) and Sam answered to find one of the fitness instructors who told him it was time for morning exercises. I passed on the shower and went to get dressed. Sam and I got ready quickly and were locking our door 10 mins later. We went to the lobby, but didn’t find anyone from our group there. We walked outside, but no group. We wandered around a little bit looking for them and finally gave up. Sam decided he’d go for a short jog and so I decided to walk in the same direction. He was farther down the road then I when we called to me and said he had found them. I jogged down the hill and arrived just in time to join a circle of people introducing themselves, congratulating one another and calling it quits. We were dismissed and told that anyone who was late the next morning would be doing 20 push-ups. We were instructed to eat breakfast and re-convene afterwards. I was not exactly a happy-camper, having gotten up early only to have no clue where anyone was, then finally finding them, only to have missed the whole thing anyway. (Courtney, I must mention, didn’t even bother with it. We saw her at breakfast about 30 minutes later. I think she had the right idea.) The food was pretty terrible. Buffet-style, but with a choice either very bland or very greasy. Not exactly what you’re looking for when you’re unknowingly about to be beaten to a pulp for two days by two very energetic fitness instructors. After breakfast there was 1km to run, through the woods. And of the lead runner apparently had no idea that the entire group wouldn’t be able to keep pace with the front runners, and therefore a number of us lucky people got lost in the woods for a while. But we eventually found our way and ended up in the field with everybody else. (I must mention that when I arrived in the field Sam wasn’t there, and I correctly deduced that he had gone back to look for us. So yeah, minus one point for leaving me in the woods, but score one point for extra running to look for me afterward. ) For the next 2 hours, we did intervals or a large variety of exercises and numerous “stations” – squats, exercise bands, medicine ball lifts, yoga positions, chin ups, push ups, pull ups, etc, etc, etc, while the way too happy instructors counted out the time and either encouraged or taunted us…and probably both. Let me say this, having someone verbally explain an exercise to you in a language you only partly understand doesn’t do a lot of good. Visualization, much better. Another crappy meal and then a hour for rest, then we were back out in the field, but this time it was some kind of scavenger hunt. The rules were never really explained to us (those of us, non-Russians) and we never split into groups or anything, so we just wandered at the back trying to figure out what was going on. This activity was thankfully short-lived due to cheap compasses, no teamwork, and the fact that the sky got really dark and let loose with a heavy downpour. Saved by the rain. The rest of the weekend was similar – bad food, and more grueling exercises, but this time in the form of aerobic kick-boxing. Which totally kicked my butt, but I still really enjoyed it. Maybe because I could actually keep on rhythm and quickly figure out the movements, whereas a lot of people couldn’t quite catch on. It was led by the female fitness instructor, so the male instructor was out in the crowd and happened to be next to me and he was looking pretty much like a 13 year old white boy trying to dance. Not pretty. Also we played some indoor volleyball, which was really fun until two random guys joined and made it not fun anymore – the kind of guys that assumed our team was losing because our team had two women and the other had none. Whatever. I didn’t take any photos of the brutal workouts, because I was too busy being reminded how out of shape I was. But I do have some nice pics of the forest, the lake, and the lovely tea breaks that we had thanks to Lusha’s preparedness. Her “over-abundant packing” included a coal samovar and actual tea cups. Courtney said it well when she said, “Only Lusha would bring fine china on what is practically a camping trip.” Always the good hostess, she even had chocolates to go with the tea. The last thing of note from this weekend is what shall henceforth be dubbed, “the pool incident”…may it live in infamy.

photos from the weekend. place your cursor over a photo for its caption.

May has come and gone

2009-06-01T23:45:00.003+02:00

Wow. last month was a blur. a good blur. a blur with friends and coffee. a blur with busy-ness and sightseeing. a blur with sunshine and new places. laughter and sharing life. filled with photos and stories. and bereft of time to post about them. and now its June.

Courtney arrived the day before International Labor Day, which was completely intentional on our part, as it mean that Eric, Sam and I would immediately have 3 whole days off work to show her around and help her adjust. Day 1 consisted of coffee, a leisurely day spent wandering the city center and a boat trip through the canals. Day 2 consisted of coffee, a guided tour through the city with an English-speaking guide, a complete overload of information, Mexican food, and lots of photos. Many of which i will leave you to enjoy here:

more to come...

so much to tell...and where to begin?

2009-05-11T08:47:00.007+02:00

it's May. the weather is (surprisingly) beautiful. and Courtney has arrived. meeting her at the airport was an adventure in and of itself. Eric picked me up around 3:30 and we planned to meet Sam at 5:00 at Moskovskaya Metro station, which is the last station on the way to the airport. it was the last working day before a public holiday, so we gave ourselves traffic time and figured we could pick up sam at 5:00 and still be in time for Courtney's arrival at 5:30. (the airport sits about 15 mins. from where we would meet Sam). The original plan was to take the by-pass road around the city to where we would meet Sam and then shoot on out to the airport, but on his way to get me, Eric was driving the opposite direction on this same road and saw a big accident (he says maybe 12 cars) on the side we would need to take. About 6km of stopped traffic was NOT a welcome sight. So we had to make a decision: face the known traffic on the by-pass and the fact that there would be no way exits if we came into problems, or face the unknown traffic of the city center, pre-holiday weekend. we chose the latter. We set out and promptly were met with crawling traffic about 2kms from our apartment. what should have taken 5 minutes, took at least 20. we were still hopeful, but doubt began to set in. we proceeded to spend the next 2 1/2 hours crawling through the city, worrying about getting to the airport on time, second-guessing our decision and trying to decide when we should give in and tell Sam to take the bus to the airport to meet Courtney. There were numerous bridges jammed with cars to be crossed, and comments about "Peter the Great" and his lack of vision in seeing what it would be like to have to cross this interconnection of canals and rivers with a car. we decided the best way to get across the city was by helicopter. we finally decided to call Sam and have him go on ahead to ensure Courtney wouldn't be left to fend for herself at the Pulkovo airport. finally out of the traffic and nearing the end of the journey, we had an additional challenge - we were low on gas. after a quick re-fueling stop, we sped the last few kilometers to the airport, arriving at precisely 6:00. We grabbed the bouquet of flowers and ran inside, happy to find Sam still alone, peering into the arrivals hallway. her plane landed exactly on time, but we were saved by the lines at passport control and customs. Finally we saw her making her way through sleepily burdened by luggage and all the wonderful things people had sent for us. There were hugs and introductions, travel stories to be shared, and lots more adventures that were waiting to begin.

the highs and lows of living abroad

2009-03-31T09:48:00.004+02:00

of course there are many highs and lows of living abroad, it's true, (and many which are much more important!) but those i am focusing on now are:

low - missing familiar things
high - receiving those familiar things from people who love you

you have no idea how much excitement there is in receiving something like Jelly Bellies jelly beans, or Listerine mouthwash until you have received them in a place where you can't just buy them whenever you want. i am writing about this today because our dear friend, Courtney, from Ohio is planning a visit to "Mother Russia" at the end of April/beginning of May to see us. and she, knowing the joy i just mentioned, has offered to devote one of her two checked bags to us!

i regularly get the question from friends about what we miss from the States and what they could send to us, but i know that typically actually sending those things requires mailing a package overseas, which can be costly even for a small box. so, for those who have thought about it, here is your chance without paying for any mailing! we will have up to 50 lbs. worth of space in "our" bag.

so here is our "WISH LIST":

Drink mixes or Kool-Aid
Crest toothpaste (Nighttime formula)
Starbucks coffee beans
Listerine Arctic Mint mouthwash
brown sugar
bottle of Ranch dressing (i have some dry powder packets, but the taste just isn't same due to the taste of the mayo or sour cream)
maple syrup
dried Parmesan cheese
taco seasoning
chocolate chips
canned black beans
yellow mustard
Jelly Bellies
Goldfish crackers
books - "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini, and "The Diary of Anne Frank" (for the books, used is totally fine!)

if you would like to send us any of these things, please reply to this post with the thing or things you will get, so others can see (so Courtney doesn't end up bring us 10 cans of black beans or something!) and i'll contact you and get Courtney's contact info to you. She would like to have the things ready to pack by April 25th.

thanks so much, dear friends! thanks for thinking of us. we think of you often and dearly miss you!!!

pics i have been meaning to post for a while!

2009-03-28T14:02:00.005+02:00

this is Max. (Maxim) he is 11 years old.

i teach him English twice a week at his home

we get a long really well. he's very silly and kind of dramatic, so we have lots of fun together. and he chews on pens incessantly. i don't really get why.

but i will say, he is a very polite kid too. he always offers me a pen to eat as well, although i always turn him down! He once told me that his parents always taught him if he was eating something he should offer to share with his guests. so without fail, i am always offered whatever random piece of plastic he is eating! (thanks, but no thanks!) but this gives you an idea of his personality.

Max and i do Madlibs together in his Tuesday lessons (although that is ALL we would do if it were up to him!) he calls them "stories". OFTEN on Thursdays Max, with great hope asks, "do you have some stories today?" and i say, "no, it's Thursday. not today." and then i get THIS face:

i also get "the face" when we are doing the Madlibs and i won't let him use the same words over and over again. his favorite adjective: "dirty" favorite proper name: "Kirusha" (his little brother's name) favorite adverb: "dirtily" favorite superlative: "dirtiest"...do you see a pattern? other favorites include made up words like "Maximing" which he likes to pretend is a continuous verb, and when i turn him down and tell him "no" because it's not a real word in English, he'll say, "Oh...? Don't you know? it's a new word. they added it to the dictionary after you left America..." then he will argue with me offering several definitions for what "maximing" is. like i said, silly and dramatic.

these are my favorite ads in the metro. they're for an internet company. basically the gist of this is:

"Winter...don't go outside. Go on the internet!"

particularly i love the icicle picture and the scary snowman. hilarious!

these ar some photos from the International Women's Day celebration the guys from fellowship threw for us. They cooked way too much food (again) and served us like gentlemen. they put together a very sweet powerpoint presentation about how God created women. they also made personalized hand-made cards and gave each of us a little cross necklace.

the ladies of fellowship: Sandrine, Amanda, Pooja and Felcy
(yep, only 4 of us this year! and like 11 guys!)

Pooja and Felcy

Carlson, Charlie, Sam and Shumie

Me with my card

Sandrine and Felcy

so, there are the photos i have had just waiting to post for like a month now! i'll try not to hoard them next time.

In other news, our good friend Courtney, from Ohio is going to be visiting us here in good old St Petersburg in May. we'll will have the pleasure of her company for a whole month! so she will be here long enough to get a proper introduction to Russia. We are both looking forward to having her as our first guest and showing her the city.

as for teaching,i am teaching an Upper-Intermediate I class that i really enjoy. and i've also gotten a new student who i am preparing to take the TOEFL exam. of course i continue to teach Max, Pavel, Eldar, and Eric too. in fact Eric and i have added another lesson on Sundays and we've started watching "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (Eric's favorite movie) in English!

Sam is in his surgery cycle now, which he seems to be enjoying. this week he got to watch a mastectomy. his group has worked very hard this year, so they might be finishing the year early (like the end of April) which means a LONG summer for him. we are still hoping and praying God will make a way for us to go to Namibia/Angola this summer for Sam to do his practical work and so we can visit friends and family.

the days are sunnier these days - more often than for months - and the daylight hours are increasing daily, which means everybody is getting excited about Spring. but we're all still hesitant to get really excited, knowing that it could still snow in April! (Consequently, this morning at 9am it was clear and sunny. By 11am it was overcast. By 1pm it was snowing like crazy. and now at 3pm, the snow has quit and the sun is back out. Just a typical day in St. Petersburg!

Blessings from Sam and I to all of you! Thanks for praying for us and for keeping up with us!

hey everybody, sing along...

2009-03-15T19:59:00.005+02:00

I finally remembered to take my camera with me to church today and i took a little video of the worship time to share...

"Blessed Be Your Name"

these are the Russian lyrics to the chorus, which is what is playing in the video.
Go ahead, give it a try! (i used to have trouble, but now i can sing it out with the best of them) enjoy!

Stay Married and Save the Planet

2009-02-27T07:55:00.004+02:00

i read this article this morning and thought it was worth sharing. "go green" by staying married!

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Staying married is better for the planet because divorce leads the newly single to live more wasteful lifestyles, an Australian lawmaker said Tuesday.

Senator Steve Fielding told a Senate hearing in the Australian capital Canberra that divorce only made climate change worse.

When couples separated, they needed more rooms, more electricity and more water. This increased their carbon footprint, Australian Associated Press (AAP) quoted Fielding as telling the hearing on environmental issues.

"We understand that there is a social problem (with divorce), but now we're seeing there is also environmental impact as well on the footprint," AAP quoted him as saying.

Such a "resource-inefficient lifestyle" meant it would be better for the planet if couples stayed married, he said.

During the hearing, the senator read out quotes from a U.S. report that advocated his stance.

Fielding, who leads the independent Family First party, grew up in a family of 16 children and has been married for 22 years, his website says.

fact of the day

2009-02-24T11:01:00.000+02:00

The scientific study of fingerprints is called dermatoglyphics, a word which has the distinction of being the longest in English with no repeated letters. The only other such word is uncopyrightable.

" The finger of God never leaves identical fingerprints." - STANISLAUS LEC

a long overdue update

2009-02-23T22:45:00.005+02:00

so it's obviously been way too long! so please don't hate me because today i am returning with bullet points. but it's the best way to jump start my writing again. i can give an update/round up on life these days without completely overwhelming both you, and myself. so, in a nutshell...here is life lately:

February was...

* a lovely birthday evening celebrated with a home-cooked Mexican feast by my thoughtful husband. quesadillas, chips and salsa, guacamole...yum! he also got me a pair of wooly slippers i have always commented on whenever we've been in IKEA, and a plant of my very own. (right now our prayer plant is mostly his baby) he had planned to get me an orchid plant (orchids are my favorite!), but they're really up-keep intensive, so i now have my own dwarf umbrella plant.

* eric has introduced me to a new cafe, where we have started having our Saturday lessons. i love it for several reasons - the location: right next to the metro, which means i can leave my house a little later on Saturday mornings. the veiw - the HUGE glass windows on the second floor overlooking one of SPB's famous cathedrals. the honey latte - i'm sure that's self-explainatory, but well, it's very good. and last but not least - ITS A NON-SMOKING CAFE! the only one i have been to so far in SPB. and a very nice respite.

* i started teaching a new class - an Upper Intermediate group - which i enjoy because the upper levels are a lot of fun since they have pretty good speaking ability and therefore can carry on great conversation and it makes the classes interesting.

* unfortunately, the same week i began the new class, i also lost 2 individual students (that's 8 teaching hours a week), and also one student who took a break for the New Year's holiday and was going to begin lessons again in February never did. so, i am being reminded that our lives are in God's hands, not mine. and that's a good thing.

* my blog hacked by either Amberpants or her extremely computer-literate dog, Hallie...depending on who you believe.

* a new hair color for me, slightly.

* the days are becoming longer and LONGER, which is making me LONG for summer! but i think that is still a LONG way off!

* experimenting and creating at home - new recipes, making home made yogurt, bread, granola, granola bars, hair conditioner, etc. and i can now make a mean stir fry with home made teriyaki sauce.

* LOST is back, and i for one am so grateful! and i'm glued to every minute.

* trying to figure out a logical schedule to incorporate lessons and planning and still do my cycling more than only once a week, like this week! oops. (one plus of losing students is the added free time, so maybe i have this one covered for now)

* Sam finally back in classes after the mother of all holiday breaks - 6 weeks! he's now knee-deep in Dermatology and completely paranoid about every mark or irregularity. THAT is what medical school does to you, it's makes you a very smart hypochondriac.

* a truly great conversation last Saturday with Eric filled with all the things that matter: life, love, and Jesus.

* Valentine's Day flowers from my love

* last night's dinner for the guys of the fellowship group in celebration of today's public holiday: "Defenders of the Fatherland Day" (aka Red Army Day in Soviet times) or more commonly referred to now as "Men's Day"

* weekly Madlibs with my 11 year old student, Maxime. such fun! i feel like a fourth grader again.

* learning a lot, and thankful for our new church as we study through Hebrews.

* missing friends and family, missing warm African places, missing flip flops and dusty roads, but looking forward to friends selling scooters in order to visit us in Mother Russia. looking forward to flights to Namibia and Angola with summer practical work at hospital for Sam, and looking forward to how God will arrange the finances to make it happen, and trusting, trusting, trusting.

and that, my friends, is February.

2009-02-04T08:40:00.002+02:00

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! SEND ME YOUR BEST WISHES!

(P.S. Happy Birthday from your favorite hacker! Hallencakes.)

Who knew I'd end up enjoying teaching so much?

2009-01-24T14:25:00.003+02:00

My most recent class of Intermediate English students:

Unfortunately, we had the final exam on Tuesday, and class is finished. so i won't get to meet with these guys twice a week anymore. but it sure was a lot of fun.

museum fun

2009-01-12T12:26:00.006+02:00

sam and i went to the anthropology and ethnography museum near the end of last week. and of course it was the coldest weather we have had probably all winter so far and we had to stand in line OUTSIDE for over an hour and a half waiting to get in. (holiday time so there are lots of people from all over Russia visiting SPB, so the lines were crazy. we should have thought of that.)

the "line"

the little awning near the middle of the photo is where the entrance is

it was 15F (real temp) but the weather forecast says the "feels like" temp was 2F. after about an hour i was ready to give up because i couldn't feel my toes anymore except for the fact that i felt pain in them. and of course right about the time i wanted to give up (after an hour) it was 1:30pm and there was a sign on the door that said they take a technical break from 1:30-2pm. and i really had to go to the bathroom. there was a sign on the door that said the toilet inside the museum was out of order. great. i seriously was about to cry. they had port-o-potties behind the museum and finally Sam convinced me to just give them a try. it actually wasn't so bad...i think all the germs that make those kinds of things smell must have all been frozen because it didn't smell at all and there was actually paper - which is more than i can say for most INSIDE bathrooms in SPB.

Of course when the clock struck 2:00 and they opened the doors it was a free-for-all and the "line" which was more of a mob nearest the front (which we were finally part of by this time) surged forth and jammed through the doors pushing and pulling as per Russian tradition. I lost Sam for a few seconds in the may lay, but he made it in the doors somewhere behind me. at least we were inside.

anyway, the waiting sucked, but the museum was nice. it wasn't the best museum i've ever been to, but there is one exhibit that makes it pretty unusual for most museums. Peter the Great was really interested in anatomy and so he made a decree that people should collect and bring him all kinds of anomalies so they could be studied and to combat the common idea that birth defects resulted from people being cursed. so this one room of the museum has his huge collection of things in jars - lots of babies with rare birth defects, the skeleton of a calf with two heads, and other anatomy/science stuff. Sam had heard about this room and that's why we had wanted to go to the museum in the first place. basically the rest of the place is pretty much like any other museum, but that one room was pretty unusual and interesting. i think especially for Sam. (although it's also kind of freaky to be walking around looking at babies in jars) but i do see the use of studying them. there was actually something on one of the placards that i read explaining why Peter the great collected these things and it was what explained that he wanted to combat the idea that the defects came from devil's curses. and it had a quote of something he wrote and it said something like, these defects aren't from the devil, because we know that God is the Creator of the body and the devil doesn't have that kind of power. it was much more eloquent of course, but that was the idea. i thought that was pretty interesting. here are some of my favorite pictures of our day. There are more on my flickr site. (no photos in that one room i described, so don't worry.)

SAMurai

this has got to be one of my all time favorite pictures of Sam

me, reflecting

me and a friend

Sam and his friend

The Neva River at sunset on the way home

Waiting for the bus

Arriving at home

Snow

Flakes

Home

so many stories to share...

2009-01-02T15:40:00.008+02:00

well, for starters i shall impart to you the adventure that ensued on our most recent trip to MEGA - a big mall on the outskirts of the city. some of you may remember last year's tale of the free bus which involved me being pinned against the door and a 4ft. Christmas tree. for those of you who don't, you can reference it in the archives or click this link from Saturday, December 29, 2007 "Christmas excursion, adventure and the like" This year was, if you can imagine, even worse when it comes to the free bus. it involved standing in the frigid weather for over an hour, attempting to board the bus twice unsuccessfully, and fearing for my life the third time when we did actually manage to make it inside. but, i'm getting ahead of myself. this year the trip to MEGA was actually not unpleasant. Sam and i made our way quite easily into the bus and even had some wiggle room once inside. when we arrived within view of MEGA we started to have the inkling that this sight was akin to what it would be like to arrive at a mall in the States on black Friday. it was packed with shoppers, cars overflowed from the parking lots, and jammed the roads going to and from the mall. it took about 10 extra minutes to make it around the turn into the parking area and to the place designated for the bus to drop off. but once we arrived inside we were in good spirits and excited about not only the %50 off sales, but armed with the knowledge that the US dollar is gaining on the Rouble and has climbed from 25/$1 to 30/$1, which means the 1000 Roubles which used to be $40, now costs only $33...sale or no sale. which is nice when you have recently gotten some US dollars in your account for Christmas! we had a few items on our mental list - "Russian Cutie" boots for me, a coat rack, and "under the bed" storage box, and a coffee table. we started our search for the boots and after some looking and debating i settled on some "not so Russian Cutie" boots. i tried. i really, really tried...but after trying some on, even the medium sized heels seemed like something i'd probably be regretting with every step in the future. besides the ones i got were the warmest, the most comfy, and they were Sam's suggestion. so, they are my compromise Russian Cutie boots. here is the fruit of my labor:

boots. check.

next we headed to IKEA for lunch. i know that sounds strange. in the USA i was fairly accustomed to being able to buy some kind of cheap lunch (Chinese takeout, pretty much any fast food, soup and salad, etc) for under $5 but for pretty much the only thing you can eat for under $5 here in SPB is McDonalds and Teremok (kiosks that sell Russian Blinis) so, hot dogs that cost 15 Roubles and fountain drinks with free refills for 30 Roubles...(that is completely unheard of...the price AND the free refill thing) and a deal that must be taken advantage of when at MEGA. so both Sam and i had cheap lunch for a total of $4. (it's the little things that are exciting.) maybe not the most healthy of lunches, but for $4...worth it. next, it was on to IKEA's mammoth-sized showroom to find the coffee table, storage box, and coat rack we had scouted out about month or so ago and put on the mental list of "when-we-have-money-let's-get-those".

coat rack. coffee table. storage box. check. check. check.

now comes the drama. we tied our parcels and braced ourselves for the trip back home. never an easy task on public transport (especially the free bus from MEGA), but especially challenging when carrying two semi-large items such as a coffee table in a box and a not-so-heavy-but-very-awkwardly-sized storage box. the crowd outside at the bus pick up area was already large and growing by the second as more people poured out the doors of the mall, wanting to go home. Sam and i squished ourselves into a spot in the middle of the pack and stood our ground. there's a thing about standing your ground. it's good in the sense that you don't let anyone push you out of the way, but bad in the sense that people just walk around and place themselves in front of you, no matter how close you were to the "front" of the group. in fact after a few minutes you will realize that although you were once about 3 rows deep in the pack, you are now somehow 3 rows from the back of the pack even though you haven't moved. you might think that this means you should have moved forward as others put themselves in front, but that would mean you would now be where they are...standing in the middle of the road, in the direct line of the bus. yes, this is what really happens. and when the bus arrives, more people surge forward INTO its path. and then at the last second when all these super-intelligent people realize the bus will either A) be forced to stop and go nowhere and NO ONE will get inside or B) will run them over (and in my experience B is usually more likely) then, all those people who got in front of you start pushing back and falling back and the whole crowd gets shoved back towards the curb. this is where standing your ground becomes most difficult. i'm not sure where all the buses were...normally they come at least every 10 minutes or so, but this night it was more like every 25 minutes or so. i will spare the details of our first two attempts - but let's just say that with two large boxes hampering our movement, our cat-like reflexes were dampened and we were a bit off our game. during the second try we had both gotten very close to the door, but by the time we were close enough, there was maybe enough room for squeezing ourselves in, but definitely not enough for the stuff were carrying. i had been shoved and pressed pretty hard during the second battle and by the end of that second attempt, i honestly wanted to give up. i think i was ready to forget about going home and just sleep on the floor of the mall that night. i had had it. but that really wasn't an option. this was it. Sam cheered me on and tried to make me forget that i was shivering and couldn't get my teeth to stop chattering. then after another 20 or so minutes, we saw another bus. this was it. both of us were not accepting defeat again. the bus pulled up and the crowd in front of us pushed, tripped, and fell backward over each other as the bus came in. and the rest of the crowd surged to the side as the bus moved, each person trying to end up wherever the bus door stopped. i held onto my storage box for dear life and sam, to my right, braced himself as the bus stopped and people started to push and clamor toward the doors as they opened. we had made it to the head of the pack this time through determination and sheer willpower i believe. i was a few heads away from the door and the crowd started to push hard to the left and i was in danger of getting pushed out of the door line and i leaned in hard, and maybe even used my box as a bit of a shield at one point. i was in line with the door and now i was being pushed forward in the right direction. except there were still one girl in front of me who was trying to step up, but as the crowd surged, she dropped, halfway in, but pinned between freedom and the door frame by me and my box because of too many selfish bodies behind us. she screamed and i used as much strength as i could to lean back and tried to use my free arm to help free her. an older lady who was already inside appeared in the doorway and, grabbing the girl's other arm, loudly scolded the crowd and yanked the girl into the bus. when she was free i stepped up with one foot and then got stuck, unable to lift the other leg which was now pressed smack up against the edge of the step. i felt sam brace hard and push back with his box enough for me to get room to free my leg and lift it high enough to step up. i got away from the door and into the isle as quickly as possible and reached my arm back towards the door to help pull Sam in. we were safe. much more scrambling and scuffling occurred outside and more screams. i was out of breath, scared. but alive. the rest of the bus trip was a bit of a blur. with the traffic, it took about 15 minutes just to get out of the parking lot, but even jammed body to body as we were, i was never so glad to be inside a bus in my life.

i need to buy some Russian Cutie boots

2008-12-18T23:07:00.002+02:00

yes, it's something that i balked at at first. but i have been converted. let me explain. "Russian Cutie" would be what Sam calls all young, Russian girls that look to about 20 years old, wear lots of make-up, have perfectly manicured fingernails and weigh about 90lbs. and they all wear high-heeled boots.

at first i thought this was absolutely ridiculous and impractical because of all the walking most women in this city do. the majority of people use public transport, which involves a lot more walking than is required of people who drive. and i thought, who the heck wants to walk in heels that much? but as we enter into the winter season with its frequent snow, slush, and murky, muddy puddles I have come to see that these heeled boots actually do have a practical side. it's called, "keeping your pant legs dry and somewhat clean." if you're forced to walk in a deep puddle or slush/snow that is several inches deep with flat soles, if you are wearing pants that go to your ankle or a bit below, then the bottom few inches of your pants will soak up the wetness and become muddy and then they will rub against your boots and make them muddy. and if your boots aren't completely water-proof after a while your feet will also be quite wet. now, step in the puddle with heeled boots and it's likely that your pant legs will be suspended above the murkiness and maybe only your toes will be submerged in the mush for a second or two, which shows itself to be a much drier solution.

now there are two main varieties, and i will say that i am NOT inclined to get the first sort. those would be Stilletto heels and/or 5-inch heels that look completely contorting and abusive to feet. this first kind of Russian Cutie boots must have been designed by someone...(borrow a line from and episode of "Friends")...who "hates feet and wants them to die." these don't look practical for any reason. and especially not when the sidewalks are covered in mutiple uneven layers of ice, half melted, then re-melted, then covered with a thin layer of snow to conceal all the dips and pockets.

now, the other kind of boots - one with a reasonably sized non-contorting heel of a few inches and considerable thickness for grip and balance...this i can handle. i wish there was an option for Russian Cutie boots with metal spikes on the bottom, because THOSE i would totally wear. maybe i should start designing shoes...

family

2008-12-18T12:24:00.002+02:00

these are some pics i haven't posted yet of me and my parents at the airport before i left the US to come back to Russia last month. i showed these photos to Eric shortly after i came back and told him, "these are my parents". He said, "oh, they look so young!" i told him that i thought they'd be very happy to hear that. but i forgot to tell them and just now remembered, so i thought i'd tell the blog world first and they can just read it along with the rest of you.

several of the reasons Sam thinks I'm a nerd...

2008-12-12T22:06:00.003+02:00

i baked pumpkin pies for the Thanksgiving Dinner ALM had for all the teachers and students. (this is Tanya, one of my former students. she came over to help me bake)

my killer baking skills (and my dad's pumpkin pie recipe), won the ALM Thanksigiving Dinner Cook-Off. i was so excited! and i got this:

and well...ok, i admit it. i like puzzles.

also, the sheer fact that i took photographs of these things means i will probably have to see him shake his head at me tomorrow.

these are just a few in an ever-growing list of criteria that my husband uses to try to make himself feel like less of a nerd himself. takes one to know one. =)

Me talk pretty one day

2008-11-30T20:52:00.003+02:00

today i had the longest conversation in Russian that i have ever had. and it was with a complete stranger in the metro. there was a little old Russian lady - i will call her "babushka", which in Russian means, "grandma" - in the metro sitting next to me and as we came to a stop, she turned to me and asked,

какой станция : "Which station is this?"
это черная речка : "It's Chornaya Retchka (Black Creek)
(babushka smiles and nods to thank me)

and i assumed this would be the end of our "chat", as this is the average length of most of my attempts at Russian. (especially with strangers) but! ...she continued.
and i bolstered myself for some intense listening and concentrating, because now the train was moving again, and i was not only having to concentrate hard on a foreign language, but it was really loud, to boot. here follows our conversation. (and i apologize to anyone who can read Russian because spelling is not my strong point.)

(babushka motions toward the book I'm reading - obviously written in English - and asks...)

babushka: ты читаешь? (You're reading?)
me: да. (yes.)

(i can't remember exactly how she phrased this next question, but basically she wants to know where i am from)

me: я американский, но я живу в санкт петербург : i am American, but i live in St. Petersburg.

babushka: ты говориш по русский? (you speak Russian?)
me: чуть чуть (a little)
babushka pats me on the arm and laughs)

babushka: сколько лет? (how old are you?)
me: тридцатъ один (31 years.)

(then babushka corrects me, because she has asked how long i have lived in St. Petersburg, not how old i am.)

babushka: нет здесъ. сколько лет? : no, here. how many years?
одна года. : oh, about one year.

babushka: нравитсья : do you like it?
me: да. хорошо. (yes, it's good.) (what else could i say?)

(she asks me something else, but i don't understand the question.)
me: извините. я не понимаю (sorry/pardon me, i don't understand.)

(she asks again and motions toward my book, but i still don't get it, and apologize again. she smiles knowingly, laughs and pats my arm again. then we got back to sitting quietly and waiting for our stops.)

my stop came up first, so i got up to leave.

me: очен приятна. до свидания (it's nice to meet you. goodbye.)
(she smiles)
babushka: до свидания (goodbye.)

and there you have it. maybe someday i will speak Russian well enough that little chats like this won't seem like such a victory. but for now, i am going to savor it and bask in the glory that is called learning a new language.

sometimes news is too close to home

2008-11-25T11:42:00.003+02:00

10:17am, Tuesday November 25, 2008
A car explosion in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, has killed three people including a small child.

Andrei Alybayev, spokesman for the local branch of the emergencies ministry, said:"A car exploded near the metro station Udelnaya at 8.55am.
"Three people were killed, including a three-year-old child."
He added that the explosion could have been caused by a "grenade", without giving any further details.
A fourth person has been seriously injured by the bombing.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is currently in the region around St Petersburg to inspect a new border post with neighbouring Finland.
Although there have been a number of terrorist attacks in Russia in recent years, usually blamed on Chechen extremists, they are rare in St Petersburg.

Sam and I are both fine. We live near Pioneerskaya Metro Station which is on the blue line. Udelnaya Station is the next station on the blue line, but it's not one that we usually travel to. Sam has to travel under Udelnaya to get to the hospital he's currently working at, but the blast was on street-level so it didn't effect the underground operation at all. Please pray for the families of those who were killed in the explosion.

Guess who?

2008-11-25T00:19:00.004+02:00

Africa's Aid Addition

2008-11-24T11:14:00.000+02:00

contemplating this article today.

in no particular order...

2008-11-22T12:50:00.004+02:00

things i have been thinking, wondering, pondering, or have seen, experienced or been surrounded by in the recent months.

* Does IKEA in America sell hot dogs for 50 cents? Because here, they do.
* We now have snow on the ground. I had to wear long johns today.
* Crab chips are awesome and Sam is not very happy if you eat the last of 'his' chips.
* We bought a wok and cooked stir fry in it yesterday. yum.
* I also found the most perfect (and so cute) one-cup french press to replace the one Matt gave me and I have used every day since then, even though it sustained a substantial crack on the initial journey to Russia.
* I am working 7 days a week now. It's a little overwhelming, but the money sure helps, especially since I wasn't working for 3 weeks when I was in the States.
* By God's grace we have paid Sam's first semester tuition. THANK YOU: Chuck and Carol, Karin Magnussen, Lititz C.O.B. Builder's Class, Chris from Lancaster General Hospital, Gary and Terry Schmidt, Mom and Dad Fabiano, Mom and Dad Zeiders! and thanks to those who have been praying for us and please continue praying for Sam's tuition fee ($3,000) for next semester.
* I had an amazing time in the States, (although I missed Sam a lot!) but I felt like a VIP the way I was totally spoiled by my family and Amber and Josh.
* We finally have a second door for our apartment. Sam sanded and painted the inner door yesterday.
* Russia doesn't seem as unfriendly as it used to. Does that mean I have adjusted?
* I was totally able to give people directions today. Yay, me. Even with my very limited Russian skills.
* I am savoring the Pumpkin Spice coffee that Reenie and Eileen bought for me. SO VERY YUMMY!
* Also savoring my Celestial Seasonings Tea from the tea factory in good old Boulder, CO. Morrocan Pomegranate Red, Red Safari Spice, Bluberry Green Tea, Sleepytime, and Sugarplum Spice.
* Books I have enjoyed in the last month: "Kite Runner", "The Shack", "Never Suck a Dead Man's Hand" I'd recommend them to anyone. Although, you'll need a strong stomach and sense of humor for the last one.
* My next great read will be "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
* Sam once woke me in the morning with a kiss and a cup of hot coffee brought to me in bed. That was just about my favorite morning ever.
* This story has been sticking around in my head all week: Bone Marrow "cures HIV patient"
* I am really enjoying my new Zen V
* I've been enjoying the memories of Victoria Falls, and our walk along the edge, aching to go back at the Zambezi's low season to do this!

Rocky Mountain High....Colorado

2008-10-30T03:00:00.003+02:00

so amber told me that only posting a link to my photos from my blog is lame. but seeing as she totally stole the photos from my camera and posted most of the good ones already, it felt slightly repetitive. so for those of you who read both our blogs, sorry for the photos repetition. but i'm sure i will also post some different ones than she did. so here goes:

I was greeted at the Denver International Airport by the welcoming committee

Welcome to Colorado

Amber and I made a trip out to Colorado Springs to visit the "Garden of the gods"

more to come...stay tuned!

happy birthday, amber

2008-10-27T18:14:00.005+02:00

Today is my dear friend Amber's birthday and I am so happy that i get to be here in the US and in Colorado to celebrate with her. i have been having a great time enjoying good company and the comfortable conversation of friends. not to mention taking in the beauty of the mountains and wonderful sights of Autumn in the West. Plus, i have had the honor of being slathered in the "puppy love" of an actual, extraordinarily adorable puppy named Hallie. There are lots of new pics posted on my FLICKR of our times spent so far here in CO. But here below i will take a moment to post just a few of amber and i to celebrate and honor her beginning another year of life.

in the good ol' US of A

2008-10-23T18:06:00.004+02:00

I'M IN THE USA! sorry for the silence till now, but i was just too busy soaking up America. EVERYONE IS SO DARN FRIENDLY HERE! refreshing. today is my first day in Colorado visiting Amber and Josh. I am enjoying every minute of my break from Russia... except that I am missing someone very special who is stuck in Mother Russia attending Clinical Russian classes, getting soaked in the dark wet raininess, and baking banana bread by himself. And I miss him dearly.

2008-09-30T10:06:00.006+02:00

There is a blog that I follow: Photo-Africa and its just amazing. not only do I love the amazing images, but the site's main photographer and writer, who works in the Madikwe Game Reserve near Jo-berg in SA, always shares stories about daily life in the reserve, about the animals, which they know by name, and about how he and the other great photographers got some of these terrific shots. I would totally recommend checking out his site. Here are some examples of the great images he shares daily. Enjoy!

If you like what you see, don't forget to check out the site.

i am...

2008-09-23T10:39:00.002+02:00

* finished reading the English translation of Mikhail Bulgakov's book, "The Heart of a Dog."

* waiting for my invitation letter for my work visa and hoping it arrives in time before I leave for the States.

* enjoying the leaves changing colors and 2 SUNNY DAYS IN A ROW!

* looking forward to seeing my family

* anticipating Autumn in Colorado

* slowly reading Psalms

* enjoying Russian salads

* happy with our new furniture set-up in the living room

* thankful for Sam and little moments

* keeping a notebook to write down new Russian words and look them up

* always entertained by Newsbeat's weekly "Odd Box" video on BBC

* wondering how you are....

Coming to America

2008-09-13T16:34:00.002+02:00

yes, sports fans, its true. Next month I'll be in the States. my current Russian visa will expire towards the end of October and I need to apply for a work visa - which I am very grateful to be able to get for working with ALM. You can't apply for a work visa from inside the country, and its suggested that the best place (and sometimes the ONLY place) you're allowed to apply is in your country of origin. (I'm told I could apply from Ukraine, but to save me the hassle of the language barrier and figuring out the eccentricities of yet another Eastern European country, I think it'll be a perfect opportunity to visit my family and also see certain friends who've relocated West.) so...from Oct 15 - Nov 5 I'll be in the good ole' US of A in the lovely states of Pennsylvania and Colorado. Mmm....Fall on the East Coast and in the mountains of the West. not too bad, I think.

Some people have inquired in the recent past about sending packages to us in Russia, and yes, it does work. (and they are extremely well appreciated by us, believe me! I tend to get all giddy and I'm sure Sam shakes his head at my silly excitement. He gets excited too, but as previously mentioned his excitement appears outwardly something to the tune of, "yeah. that's cool.") and so far (as far as i know) we have received all packages that were sent (minus one anniversary card from my parents that mysteriously disappeared). I mention all this to say to those of you who have entertained the idea of sending something to us, that if you would like to forgo the cost of international mailing you are certainly welcome to send things to PA, in October. I'll be traveling very light in order to stock up on all the things we miss and carry them back with me!

I must apologize to all my wonderfully-Ohioan friends, in that my trip this time simply doesn't afford the time, or finances to also make a pit stop in the Dayton area. But you would be most welcome in Amish country if you wanted to make a road trip to Lititz for a visit! Sturgis Pretzels, Wilbur Chocolate, and horse n' buggys....what more could you want?

An Ode to the Marshutka Drivers*

2008-09-12T15:57:00.000+02:00

Long are the days sitting upon your seat commanding the wheel of your minibus
Rain or shine (mostly rain) you toil -
Weaving adeptly through traffic, making change with one hand, changing "lanes" with the other
Jumping curbs when necessary, dutifully delivering your passengers to their destinations
Oh the joys of swerving to avoid pedestrians and eluding the police
Cleverly laying your seat belt across you without clipping it in place
The appearance of safety and adherence to law without the pesky bother of either
Your skill at squeezing your marshutka between a tram and oncoming traffic is to be admired
As all passengers stare amazed into each others' widened eyes
And so, Mr. Marshutka Driver, I salute you.
Drive on, my friend
Drive on.

* note: marshutkas are minibus taxis and are my predominant mode of transportation

I really wanted a shower but...

2008-09-11T14:27:00.000+02:00

I decided to wait.

me. curly.

2008-09-08T10:35:00.001+02:00

and some MORE pictures

2008-09-01T09:28:00.004+02:00

a few more favorites from the trip. This is the last batch of faves. You can see the whole bunch at my Flickr.

PS - THE SUN CAME OUT TODAY. MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR. (BUT I ALSO HAD TO WEAR MY WINTER COAT. IT'S SEPT 1ST. ICK.)

SOME MORE pictures

2008-08-30T09:41:00.000+02:00

a few more of my favorite shots from the trip to Finland and Sweden

SOME pictures

2008-08-28T19:50:00.004+02:00

here are some of my favorite photos from our trip. I'm beginning by posting from the end to the beginning, so these first photos are from the end of our trip, and the ones i'll post later are from earlier on. for more photos go to my Flickr site.

football

sunset from the ferry

me

gull

us

ladybug

net

boat

karin

Ok, I admit it...

2008-08-28T18:55:00.003+02:00

It's been a LONG time. i am truly sorry. but for those of you who have been faithful and have hung in there with me and haven't given up on me....you will receive your just reward. today. you're about to get an overload of posting from me - pictures and stories of life this last month and tidbits of things that have been filling my days. and there has been a lot. so sit back, grab a cup of coffee and spend some time with me.

Ok, so i'll begin with a list. because i'm fond of lists. and they don't take up too much space, yet cover a lot of ground in short order. so, with that said, here are some things i've been enjoying this month:

1. I WENT CLIMBING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR! (and i suck.) Pavel, my student who is also an avid climber invited me to one of the climbing gyms he frequents. (and when i say "frequents", i mean he goes climbing about 4 times a week and he climbs at about a 5.10-5.12 level. for those of you non-climbers...that is GOOD.) i was way rusty and this particular gym was completely bouldering, which is not my forte' but i still enjoyed myself like crazy, and went home exhausted, sore, with a blister on my forefinger, and totally happy.

2. it has been raining in St. Petersburg for about a month. and when i say about a month, i mean constantly. rain. rain. rain. everyday. rain. ugh.

3. the days have grown so much shorter at an alarming rate. (not that it's very light anyway these days since i haven't seen THE SUN here in forever.) but it is definitely dark now when i wake up in the morning at 6am and it's dark when we go to bed at 11. much changed from a month ago.

4. books i have read and enjoyed this month:
Watership Down
The Old Man and the Sea
Pride and Prejudice
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

5. Russia and Georgia had, and continue to have, a conflict which i'm sure you know about unless you've been living under a rock. it has been a hot topic of conversation here, obviously.

6. Sam and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I actually had the whole day off work, so we slept in, had a relaxing day around the house, then went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant, which had been recommended by one of my student. the tiramisu was excellent!

7. We took a trip to Finland and Sweden for a week's break from Mother Russia. We took the bus overnight to Helsinki, spent the day viewing the sites, and stayed a hostel located in the 1952 Olympic stadium. The next day we had more time in Helsinki, did some shopping at H&M (so much cheaper than shopping in Russia! and i don't feel like shooting myself because i'm not an anorexic Russian cutie that wears size 2...which the majority of the clothes are.), and then we boarded the ferry to Stockholm, Sweden. We spent a day in Stockholm, went to the Royal Palace and Old Town, and had the best falafel ever. We spent the night in a brand new hostel which we will affectionately call "IKEA-land" because it was like living in the IKEA showroom. everything down to the silverware. We watched the changing of the guard at the palace the next day before catching our bus to Hudiksvall (4 hours to the north) where our friend, Karin lives. Karin is Swedish and graduated from Sam's medical school last year and is now doing her internship in Hudiksvall. We had a blast there enjoying the company and hospitality of a good friend. she showed us the town, we had a picnic on the beach, watched the ships sailing in the harbor and had coffee and ice cream and the local place in town. we went to a party her co-workers were having, and even though he went early so as to catch them before they were extremely drunk, we must have arrived too late. it turned out to be a fun and very entertaining evening, complete with paper hats, Swedish songs, popcorn, crayfish and dancing to songs from "The Little Mermaid" blasted on the stereo. We left Hudiksvall after 2 days there are we wished we could have stayed longer, as it was probably the best part of our trip. It was beautiful and peaceful and the air was crisp and clean. just lovely. we returned to Stockholm on the bus in time to get onto the ferry back to Helsinki. We over-nighted on the ferry again to arrive in Helsinki at around 9am and had the entire day in Helsinki again until our bus left at 11pm that night. we didn't have any plan of what to do or anyplace to go, so we put all our stuff in a locker for the day and basically wandered, trying to fill our time. we shopped a little more, went to the market for lunch for the small whitefish from Lapland that Sam couldn't get enough of the first time around; we had coffee, surfed in the internet on the free wifi, and i fell asleep in the train station for a while. Finally at around 5pm when we had run out of ideas, we ended up at the bus station where we ate our dinner and basically wished it was time to go. but i leafed through a booklet on Finland that we had picked up and stumbled across the fact that there was a football (soccer) match at Finair Stadium going on at that very moment. and, since we had stayed overnight at the olympic statdium which is right nest to Finair statdium, we knew that the hill next to the stadium overlooked the pitch perfectly, so we hopped a tram and snagged spots on the hill with some other locals and enjoyed a very good match and a glorious sunset to boot. the bus ride back to Russia was a fuzzy blur, as i was so exhausted from the previous night of "sleeping" (or lack thereof) on the floor of the ferry, then wandering randomly in town all the following day. so i pretty much sacked out the whole trip, with occasional wakings to change position or go through border control. we arrived in St. Petes at 6am loaded our increasingly heavy packs onto our backs one last time and trudged (through the rain of course) back to our apartment. upon arrival we immediately got showers and slept till noon.

pictures for this trip will follow! I've posted some to my Flickr already, but i have a lot, so i'll post in stages.

so, if you've made it through with me....congratulations! this was my month. now i'm back to work - my 3 individual students and 1 class - and sam is set to begin his 4th year of med school on Sept. 1st! Please pray for all that goes along with that.

oh! one last thing...my hair is curly again! it has gotten quite long and finally made it to the point where i wanted it so i could go curly again. yippe! yay for new hairstyles. and for new jeans which i got at H&M. this is a big deal, as previously stated in my story. Ok, enough from me. be on the lookout for pictures as the days proceed!

Rosseya

2008-07-31T20:23:00.002+02:00

Eric - whom I have written about before - often drives me home after our lessons. He loves St. Petersburg. and He knows a lot of the history and he really enjoys talking about Russian history and St. Petersburg in particular. Well, last week while he was driving me I asked him about one of the historical buildings we passed and he told me about it. Then all the sudden he said, "Hey! What if I organize a tour for you and Sam with my car and I can hire an English-speaking guide to take us on a tour of the city and tell us about the history. Then I can have more practice with my English and you and I can have even more to talk about." He was really excited, and to tell you the truth, so was I. I have been to a number of the sites in the city, but I don't know much of the history and its a lot different and more interesting to see with a guide and a native of the city telling you things about it.

We arranged to go on Sunday, which turned out to be Navy Day. (You see, during Soviet times, practically every profession was given its own holiday and these holidays still are celebrated today. So on Sunday there were many people in the city, especially along the Neva River where there were a number of Navy ships and a submarine and there was a big parade. It made navigating the city a bit more difficult, but it was kind of cool to see the special ships in the Neva.) So, on Saturday Eric arrived to pick us up at 11:00 and we drive to the city centre to meet our guide, Sveta. We got there a bit early, so we found a place to have some coffee while we waited. Let me tell you a few things about Eric - he loves coffee and he is extremely generous. he ordered coffee for us all (cappuccino for Sam and I) and he and Sam chatted about life in communist countries - seeing as they have both lived in them: Eric here and Sam in Angola.

At noon our adventure began. We spent the most part of the day seeing the sites: St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, The Neva, Marinsky Ballet Theater, and my favorite cathedral: The Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood. The day was so much fun. The basic idea of our day went something like this:

* Eric and Sveta told us all kind of things about the city and argued all day between the two of them (very good humoredly) about the correct perspective on the history

* We drove all over the city, in circles sometimes, because of so many streets being blocked for Navy Day

* we got to do things we probably wouldn't have because Eric paid for us without even so much as a word.

* we got to park places we shouldn't have because Eric is very...Russian. Let's just say we got a primo parking spot, and as Sveta was saying, "I don't think we're allowed to park here..." Eric was getting out to have a nice 'chat' with the guard, then came right back smiling and saying, "see...immediately we have reached an agreement."

After our touring around we said goodbye to Sveta and Eric treated (AGAIN) to coffee and amazing freshly squeezed orange juice that we got at this restaurant beside the Church of Our Saviour. While we talked, Eric called his wife to see if she needed him to come home and as the phone was ringing he was saying, "i hope she doesn't pick up!" (I guess Sam and I weren't the only ones who were having a pretty good time). It turned out that she didn't pick up, so Eric turned to us and said, "Let's go get something to eat!" we ended up at this place called Hemingway, after the famous poet. It was a really nice-looking place and it's one of those places that judging by looks, Sam and I would never even think about going. Because to me, it just looked too nice! But we had some great food and more great conversation. Sam and Eric both had steak and we all shared some fresh veggies, I had tacos! (they were quite fancy tacos, and they tasted great) and i got some hash browns with sour cream. and to give you the feel of the place, it happened to be the birthday of the restaurant so they brought us each a free glass of champagne. After dinner, Eric offered, "desert? coffee?" We were both full, but assured him it was fine if he got more coffee, which he did.

After dinner he brought us home and along the way invited us to go to Petergoff and Pushkin next weekend. (these are two quite beautiful, old suburbs of St. Petersburg that I've heard a lot about) We eagerly accepted, so that's in the plan for the upcoming weekend.

We thanked him profusely for the day (I can't even imagine how much money he must of spent on us that day) and he simply said, "Well, I got to speak English all day, and that was my aim." and he smiled. It is really cool to see someone as excited about learning English as he is!

Below is a link to a slide show on Flickr of all my photos from the day. It was a beautiful day weather-wise so the pics look great. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandafabiano/show/

picnic in the rain

2008-07-21T10:50:00.004+02:00

The All Nations Christian Center annual picnic was yesterday. And of course, it rained. Not only did it rain, but it rained ALL DAY. It rained hard and it was cold. With that said, I'd like to tell you that we still had the picnic and we still had a lot of fun, even with being soaked, frozen and having no place to sit down. We met at a lake on the outskirts of the city. it took about 2 hours to reach there, when you consider the walk to the metro, time in the metro, the bus, and then car that shuttled us from where we got out of the bus to the where the picnic was being held by the lake. When we arrived at the site, everyone was huddled under two small open tents on the beach. After talking to the man who was operating a local shop/bar across the street, (who apparently had pity on us) we moved the tents across the street and combined them with several outdoor tents used for the shop/bar which were completely empty, seeing as it was 11am on a Sunday and it was pouring rain. so we huddled under the tents and wrapped in blankets and tried our best not to have to stand in the puddles. and we had a time of worship. we sang and played music and heard a short message from pastor Kukuli, which he began by saying, "This is the first time I have ever preached in the rain under a tent advertising beer." See picture below. Funny.

There was food, soccer in the rain, and yes, there was even swimming - well, if you can call it swimming...i have never seen so many people that don't know how to swim so excited about being in the water. Sam and I (Sam from the water, and I from the shoreline) did our best to teach Fola and Chuks how to swim. They were so excited...it was like teaching two 8-year-old boys how to swim. We could barely get out a few sentences before they were off trying to do what we said! it was hilarious. Quote of someone watching from the beach, "Are they swimming or drowning?" You can judge for yourself...because of course, I took photos and video.

Some photos that capture our day:

And inevitably...as soon as we got home, it stopped raining. Go figure.

a typical day

2008-07-16T22:54:00.003+02:00

i thought i'd take you along with me on my trip to work.

Embarking

24 hour Flower kiosk

If i had a nickle for every time I needed to buy roses at 3am...I'd have, um...
no nickles. But apparently this is a needed service here, because this kiosk is one of many.

Looking back

we live in one of those huge blue and white buildings in the back.

path towards the metro

so many people cut through here that no clover grows in those worn areas.

Teremok - Russian blini kiosk

Construction

Atmosphera

mall/shopping complex with 7 floors. it stands across from the metro station which is nearest our flat.

Komendantsky Prospekt Metro Station

if you look closely you can see the blue "M" which marks the entrance to the metro.

Down

Blur

rush hour in the metro

poster wall

i don't know what its advertising, but...

Close-up

i found it humorous. in case you can't read it, their signs say, "give us money. we are pretty."

Cofe Xayz

the coffeeshop i frequent because its close to work and it tends to be less crowded and smokey than most.

My class

Intensive English class - Intermediate level

thanks for joining me!

2008-07-15T11:55:00.002+02:00

My picture is on the ALM website in case you haven't seen it. It's a photo of one of my pre-intermediate English classes.

go here: ALM

Thunder and Lightening, oh my!

2008-07-14T22:10:00.001+02:00

I love thunderstorms. but they're not as fun when you have to walk home in them.

Life

2008-07-03T10:13:00.003+02:00

the problem with long lapses in posting is that i feel obligated to recap everything i missed because of not posting in so long...and of course i can't think of everything i missed, so i put it off longer and longer thinking that i will remember and be able to organize my thoughts, but it never happens and its a vicious cycle. so, with all that said, i'll just begin with where things are these days.

it's July now and the white nights have passed - i can already tell that the days are growing shorter again. i'm working quite a lot right now. there is an intensive class that i teach 3 nights a week. this class is offered in the summer and students take class from 7-10pm 3 nights a week, instead of the regular 2 nights a week and can therefore finish a course in 5 1/2 weeks instead of the normal 8 weeks. i'm also teaching an evening class at Lenta (basically Russian Wal-Mart) for their corporate business people. so i teach the intensive class on M W F and Lenta on T Th. i also have individual students in the morning/daytime on M W F. things are great with teaching. i still really enjoy it and my students seem to enjoy my classes as well, so that makes me happy. i have been able to have some great talks with one of my individual students, Eric. he is in his 50's and owns his own international shipping business. we have a wonderful time talking in our lessons twice a week. He loves to talk and we never have a shortage of topics to discuss. we have had some great talks about Jesus, in particular. we've talked about sin, about God and i've been able to share the gospel in short as well. please pray for Eric. he is so open to hearing about the Lord. he is very interested in the things of God. for those of you who don't realize, the USSR banned religion and it was not allowed to read the Bible and hear the things of God, and people were told again and again that God didn't exist. Eric lived through this time and when the USSR broke apart and Russia opened up, things like AA came to Russia. this is where Eric first was challenged and presented with the idea that God did indeed exist. he told me that although he's not a Bible-reading or church-going man that he knows God is powerful because even just allowing himself to believe that God was real, changed his life. he hasn't had a drink in over 17 years. pray that Eric will continue to be challenged by God to more than mere belief in His existence, but that he will take the next step and surrender his life to him. and if God wants me to play a part in that in any way, pray that i will be attentive and aware of the opportunities He presents.

Sam passed all his exams and is now doing his practical work at the hospital. he has a certain number of hours he must complete during the summer. he is assisting in the hematology and transplantology departments. he has been changing IV's and learning other things and finally getting the chance to put his theoretical knowledge into action, hands-on.

We have been married for just over 11 months now. it's amazing how fast this year has gone by. so yes, next month is our first wedding anniversary. we're hoping to get out of Russia for a little time to celebrate, but we aren't sure about my visa registrations situation. i had some difficulties when i came back from Estonia at my 6 month mark, because although i have a year long visa and was registered for the first 6 months of that, the visa rules changed during this time and now, not matter how long your visa is for (unless you have a student visa or work visa, which I don't) you're only allowed to stay in the country for 190 days out of the year. it's being dubbed the "3 months in, 3 months out" rule by the foreigners here. well, anyway when Ala, (the lady who helps with my visa stuff) went to get me registered for the rest of my year, they refused to register me because they said i had already used up my days and had been here illegally. the short version is basically that we were able to finally register me, we just had to go through someone else and i had to pay more. thats Russia. but now that we want to go out of the country there's a fear that i won't be able to come back in, or if i can come back in that i wont be able to register, which would effectively mean i'd have to leave. so we're weighing our options. if getting out of Russia won't work, maybe we'll just take a trip inside Russia somewhere, maybe go to the South. the 2014 Olympics will be in Sochi, in the South and i hear it's nice there, so it's at least an option if all else fails.

i have posted pics on my Flickr. hopefully those of you who are faithful readers on my ramblings here have seen them. if not, you can check them out now - including the pics from our 3 weeks without hot water, to our first dinner guests, and the sun shining at 11pm.

in random news:
Zenit FC - St. Petersburg's football team (soccer for the Americans out there) won the Champion's League Cup. and let me tell you, people are crazy about Zenit here. you can always tell when there's a game because everybody wears their blue and white and wears their Zenit scarves and you see people with painted faces on the metro...you always can tell when there's a game. see, unlike Moscow, St Petes only has one football club, so everyone supports them and it kind of brings the city together. the people in this city as a while tend to seem rather individualistic and self-focused, but Zenit is the one thing that seems to unite people. After they won the Champions League Cup, a spontaneous celebration broke out on Nevsky when people poured out into the streets and waved their flags and set off fireworks and sang and shouted and celebrated into the wee hours.

then Russia made it to the semi-finals of the Euro Cup 2008, but they lost to Spain, (who eventually went on to win it).

back in May, Sam and i went to the VE Day parade on Nevsky and that was kind of fun. it was another really unifying thing. WWII is a very important war here and VE Day is a huge holiday, with numerous parades and celebrations and festivities around the city (and the country for that matter). later I will try to post some pictures that I took. but as for now, it's almost 1am and i should pull this to a close.

my apologies for the lapse, and i'll try to remedy it over these next few weeks!

understated as usual

2008-06-15T21:42:00.003+02:00

well, thank you for your prayers for Sam's pharma exam. it is finally over. He still has 3 more exams to go though, so we're still not out of the woods yet, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel that's growing ever brighter! So when i cam home the day of Sam's pharma exam I found he was already at home and i asked my usual question, "so...how was it??" and i expected his usual response. "it went alright." i've become accustomed to this answer from Sam on just about any topic. and i've learned to translate this to mean, "good". well this day he surprised me and responded, "pretty good."

Unskilled in translation of this new response, I probed and asked, "so, tell me about it..." and he said he had gotten good questions and was able to answer well. which is exactly what i had been praying that morning as i walked to the metro! i prayed that God would give him good questions that he could answer solidly. God is so good!

Today as we walked home from church I finally ventured another question.

Me: "So what exactly did you get on your pharma exam anyway?"
Sam: "I got a 5"

In Russia they grade from 1-5 (3 being passing and 5 being the best grade you can achieve.) He got a 5!!

Yes. Sam did "pretty good". (Another term I'll have to store in my translation memory bank for interpreting his vastly understated vocabulary.)

So, allow me a moment to brag about my husband's intelligence, diligence, and all-around perseverance that has gotten him this far. (i know he'll hate it) and allow me also to brag on the God who brought him here and will continue to carry him though. They are both "pretty good."

1:30am and all is well

2008-06-08T21:39:00.003+02:00

was up late one night about a week or so ago and took this photo through the window.

1:30am. St. Petersburg Russia.

sorry for the lack of posts lately. Exam season has begun, so the laptop is primarily Sam's domain. Big Pharmacology exam on Tuesday....keep him in your prayers!

Progression

2008-05-26T09:51:00.002+02:00

the white nights are coming. in June there are several nights in St. Petersburg where the sun doesn't set called "the white nights". Sam told me that leading up till those nights there is a progression from a certain point in May where the sun sets 3 minutes later each night. I work in the evening 7-10pm and usually arrive home around 11pm. after class I used to walk to the metro in the dark, and now it's like daytime! here are some pictures to show you my perspective on the progression in the last few weeks.

Moreover, when i wake up in the morning at 6am to go to work its also bright like midday. such stark contrast to the winter with its 18 hours of darkness and only 6 hours of light!

And now for the long overdue post...

2008-05-13T09:40:00.003+02:00

featuring: our apartment

Slide.com is having issues and i'm not able to put them in a nice slideshow like i nomrally do here. Instead, you can click HERE then click "slideshow" which is near the top right side of the page. Or you can see the mini-slideshow to the right of this post.

There are pics from moving day as well as what it looks like now that we're all moved in and settled.

Here's a preview pic of the living room/bedroom:

Moving Day:

Now:

Our landlords are somewhat obsessed with IKEA, so pretty much everything they got for the apartment was purchased there...down to the lightbulbs. so forgive us if it looks a little like a catalogue. And some things aren't finished yet, like some baseboards and doorframes and painting of walls in the kitchen and toilet closet, but all the important stuff is done.

Enjoy!

Estonia...is that, like, a country or something?

2008-04-16T11:55:00.002+02:00

this is just a teaser. for the full lot of photographs from my weekend in Tallinn, go HERE.

we found an apartment

2008-04-10T10:33:00.003+02:00

yes, that's right. we've found our own place. we'll be moving out of the hostel next month and into our own apartment. its a studio-style apartment, with it's own kitchen and bathroom. it's 2 metro stations away from here - Pionerskaya Metro Station. we've singed the pre-liminary lease agreement and paid a partial down-payment to hold the apartment for us. we'll sign the final lease agreement at the end of this month and move in the on the 1st of May. Please pray for us, because this is a big change financially, from living at the hostel. but it will be good for us, since now we won't have to live on edge, according to the moods wings of the hostel commandant. and i won't have to cosnstantly convince that one lady who works at the desk downstairs that, "YES! I DO LIVE HERE! YOU'VE SEEN ME A MILLION TIMES...AND STOP YELLING AT ME IN RUSSIAN, BECAUSE I DONT UNDERSTAND YOU. SAYING IT LOUDER DOESNT HELP!" so, yeah keep us in your prayers. thanks!

is there a Russian word for...OOPS!!

2008-04-09T20:00:00.001+02:00

Today on the metro i knocked the hat off an old man's head. It's not as malicious as it sounds, I promise. First, let me explain that it was rush hour and the metro was packed. So there I was, trying to make the most of the precious few inches of personal space I had. I had left my seat and quickly made my way close to the door as the rush of passengers was getting out at a station, before the next batch of people rushed in, so I could be close to the door for my escape two stations away. When you take a seat in the metro, it is understood that you place your bag on your lap, so as to take up less space. So, now that i was standing i was quickly trying to put my backpack back on my back so that when i exited i would be less likely to disrupt a lot of people on my way out. i had one arm through the strap and was sliding my arm through the second strap as new passengers rushed in to the train. i only had inches to begin with, so i tried to conserve space by using the empty space above the heads of the passengers seated near the door. unfortunately, in my state of being jostled around, the arm didn't exactly clear the head of the man nearest me, and my hand clipped the brim of his hat and knocked it backward right off his head. he shot me an incredulous look as i sputtered my apologies and gave him my best "please-don't-kill-me" look. "isvaneet" means "excuse me/sorry" in Russian. except that the panic that was flooding my brain at that moment scrambled my English-Russian translation abilities and it kind of came out more like, "sorrispaseet" which was a mix of "sorry" in English, "thank you" in Russian and "isvaneet". Thankfully, the man simply replaced his hat and went back to ingoring me. the next 6 minutes lasted a lifetime as i tried desperately not to even breathe on the man until i reached my stop. i was never so happy to hear, "Petrogradskaya", announced as we reached the station.

Zim.

2008-04-08T09:13:00.002+02:00

Free and Fair? Hardly.

Poll Officials detained

"Quiet diplomacy"?

Voters share their stories

the Torch

2008-04-04T16:07:00.001+02:00

The olympic torch arrived in St. Petersburg today.

and I found an english-language bookshop!

is this still messed up?

2008-04-02T16:00:00.000+02:00

hello? yay! i can write in English again! =)

randomness. because i've been falling behind on my posts...

2008-04-02T14:39:00.000+02:00

ok, this will be a very random post. full of tidbits and odds n' ends of thoughts i've had of things to share with you.

a few weeks ago our fellowship group went to visit the Wycliffe Bible Translators center in St. Petersburg. A friend of ours who attends our fellowship (Tom, from the USA) works for Wycliffe, and had invited us to come to the center and see what they do. we had a great time of worship together with them, shared tea, coffee and some snacks, and then we watched a presentation about Wycliffe's history and the work they do, and more specifically about Russia and the work they do here. Here are some pics from the night:

i didn't get a picture of it but, as with just about every home in Russia, the Wycliffe center has a small mudroom area at the entrance, complete with a rack for shoes and house slippers for everyone to wear inside.

* I start teaching a new pre-intermediate class tonight.

* I am planning a trip to Tallinn, Estonia next weekend since i have to leave Russia for a few days so i can renew my registration on this visa.

* I think one of my students summed up the entirety of Russian-thinking in one statement a few weeks ago. It was my class at Lenta (grocery store) I was talking with my business-people students about customer service and why its important in business. I asked how it would effect a business if the customers aren't happy with their store, and the answer I got was this, "if they don't like it, they can just go somewhere else." Bingo. i think this pretty much sums up life here. (and believe me, once we can....in 2011...we will!)

* We've switched to daylight saving time now. and its eery, because now its still light out after 8pm. and its only going to get longer and longer, until the "White Nights" in June where the sun never really sets at all. Quite a contrast to the phenomenon of only getting 5 hours of daylight in the winter.

* Also, we've had unusually great weather this week. on Tuesday is was +9 C. which is 48.2 F!! and it's been hovering around there for the past 3 days. add that to the fact that it's been DRY and MOSTLY CLEAR...this equals GREAT WEATHER in St. Petersburg!

Ok, somehow I hit some keys on my keyboard, and I can only type in Blogger in Cyrillic now! When I type anything it looks like this:

црфн фьв Ш щтдн фиду ещ ензу шт Скнддшсю Ершы шы куфддн акгыекфештп!

and actually the keys are not even corresponding to the correct letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, for Russian at least, so I’m not sure what the deal is. Thank God it’s only doing this on my Blogger and its not affecting the whole computer, like Word and stuff. So I’m typing this in Word and cutting and pasting. So for now I will post this and hopefully I can get the whole language things squared away soon! Cheers.

March went out like a lion....

2008-03-26T09:36:00.002+02:00

as i walked to work yesterday late in the afternoon in the blowing, whirling drifting snow, i had this song stuck in my head and it just repeated over and over...

"March went out like a lion
a whippin' up the water in the bay
Then April cried and stepped aside
and along came pretty little May"

for those of you who don't have a history of being a musical theater freak like me,(and aren't my parents) you won't know that this song is from "Carousel" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. and until now, you'd probably never heard of it, much less known that i was once in this musical, spray-painted yellow hair and all. and at the strangest of times little bits of lyrics from my past life as an aspiring actress climb into my brain and won't let go...strange times like the one yesterday as i clomped through more snow on March 25th than we seem to have gotten all winter. it was only the above snippet that replayed and replayed itself. i think subconsciously i couldn't even allow myself to think the lyrics to the chorus because at the time they just seemed so preposterous and well, impossible...

"June is bustin' out all over
All over the meadow and the hill!
Buds are bustin' outta bushes
And the rompin' river pushes
Ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill!

June is bustin' out all over
The feelin' is gettin' so intense,
That the young Virginia creepers
Have been huggin' the bejeepers
Outa all the mornin' glories on the fence!
Because it's June...

June, June, June
Just because it's June, June, June!"

sigh. maybe someday. but for now....it just seems LIKE A LOOOOOOOONG WAY OFF.

enjoyment

2008-03-24T09:57:00.003+02:00

things i'm finding enjoyment in these days:

teaching and getting to know my students
Sunday night Hebrews Bible study with Pooja, Gracewin, Amadu, Sam and myself
working out with Deepthi
Sam not studying as much this semester
thinking about finding an apartment and hopefully moving next month!
emails from Amber and living vicariously through their summer plans

a few things i've read or heard this week that i find share-worthy:

something a visiting pastor at All Nations Church said that just struck me as truth: "Our children are our investment into a future we ourselves cannot enter."

From the movie "Starter for 10" (which is only ok) but there was this good line that stayed with me: "The people who really care about you don't mind if you make a mistake. It's what you do next that matters."

From an email A sent today. it gave me a great start to my day and it seriously makes me smile when i think about how awesome it is that i know someone so creative and talented in many ways, but specifically as a writer and more importantly as a friend. this just cracked me up and still makes me laugh when i re-read it: "Let's definitely set up a gtalk time. Just let me get through the week and I'll have my people talk with your people. Only my people will be wearing jeans and sandals and your people will be wearing fur hats."

i realized that i've talked a little about the church sam and i are going to, and i've talked more about the fellowship group we're a part of, but never have given much info on either. well, there is a website for All Nations Christian Church and at the site there is info of SFC (the fellowship groups) as well. i actually just looked at the site for the first time today. its a nice little site with a small photo gallery and info about the church and events, history of how it started, etc. so if you're interested you can give it a look. the site is pretty new but is well put-together. and in fact it was designed by Manyo from Nigeria. (my friend Deepthi's fiance') i don't agree with every point of their statement of faith, most specifically numbers 14 and 16 of the points listed there, but this is the church God has placed us in and we have been given good opportunities with individual believers from ANCC in pouring over the Word, to have good discussion on these points. it's funny, but as you look at the photos on the website you might start to think that St. Petersburg isn't nearly as white and mono-cultural as you thought...but really, when you walk on the street it is...i think probably 90% of all the african's, indians and other people of color in this city go to church there! but it does at least make me a feel a little bit like i'm back in Namibia when i'm at church and my white face is in the minority again.

http://allnationschristiancenter.org/

happy belated Easter to those of you in most parts of the world. we here in Russia don't get Easter till later. crazy orthodox calendar...

almost halfway....

2008-03-18T13:02:00.002+02:00

Women's Day

2008-03-11T10:58:00.002+02:00

To compliment the Men's Day in the end of February, Russia also celebrates Women's Day on March 8th. (I think it's genious that Men's day is first because that way, in whatever the women do for the men, the ladies get to set the bar for the guys. The friendly competetion of the guys trying to "outdo" the ladies is certainly welcomed! Smart, huh?) Here are some pics from the Women's Day celebration the guys threw for us. They did a great job and we all had a lot of fun.

Pool halls and tacos

2008-03-09T10:22:00.001+02:00

Sam and I enjoyed a busy day on Saturday. We got together with some of Sam's groupmates to go bowling. it turns out there's this really nice new bowling alley inside a huge new mall at сенная площадь, which is just a few metro stops from here. (inside you forget that your'e in Russia!) We got there and got our bowling shoes only to discover that their computer was down and they told us that it should be fixed in 5 mins. so we waited about 10 mins. and then asked again, to be told that it would take an hour. We waited another 20 mins to only then be told that the technician was coming in about an hour and then who knows how long it will take to fix it...? Needless to say we turned in our shoes and took plan B. We saw that there was a pool hall there, so we went there and played pool for the next 2 hours. There were 5 of us - 3 guys and 2 gals - so we got two tables so 4 of us could play at a time. I have to say that the ladies triumphed. We each played one of the guys for 2 or 3 games and both kept winning, so we finally decided to play each other. That was a fun game. I won the first game, then Lola won the next game because I scratched on the 8 ball. Lola and her boyfriend who came with us are actually not Sam's groupmates, but friends of one of sam's groupmates. they both go to this medical school, but are in the Russian-medium course, whereas Sam and his group are in the English-medium. After our pool-playing afternoon, Olli-Pekka (Sam's groupmate from Finland) invited us back to his place to make tacos. Sam was torn because the Manchester United game was going to be on tv, but we persuaded him when Ollie Pekka told him he could also watch the game at his place AND get free food. so we all went to the grocery store and got the taco supplies and ice cream for dessert. (O.P. showed us a store that actually carried taco spices and shells...salsa too! there's only one kind and its kind of expensive, but good to know when we are craving Mexican food!) Back at Ollie Pekka's we ate and watched the Man U. game (unfortunately they lost!) then another of Sam's groupmates came over and we had ice cream and coffee. by the time we were finished it was 7:00 and Sam and I needed to leave to go get groceries for the week. After shopping we got home around 9:00. it was a long day, but quite a lot of fun too. We're hoping that soon, maybe next week, we can go back and actually be able to bowl this time.

weird...

2008-03-03T14:32:00.003+02:00

it's a strange feeling to have your husband come home at the end of the day and make the statement, "Ooh, don't touch me, I smell like dead bodies"

...and its true.

and yet somehow its a perfectly normal thing to say.

Men's Day

2008-03-01T14:41:00.001+02:00

In Russia February 23rd is a holiday called, Men's Day. Every year the ladies in the fellowship group do something for the guys and give gifts to them for Men's Day. This year, we made a personalised mug for each of the men in our group. Each mug included pictures or phrases that reminded us of him. Here is Sam's mug.

Working Girl

2008-02-20T21:23:00.002+02:00

So, yes...as preveiously blogged, I got a job! I will be working for American Language Master (ALM) teaching English. ALM is an American-owned language school here in St. Petersburg. They offer pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced English classes. (this means the students have to know basic english already in order to enroll...meaning I don't have to be able to speak Russian to do this. which is A BIG PLUS.) They offer evening classes and also have a number of contracts teaching english at local companies (in the morning) who want their employees to improve their english. I have been orienting/training a few days these last 2 weeks, and getting familiar with the ESL books from which I will be teaching material. Also, I have been helping with the conversation group ALM offers on Saturday afternoons. The students who attend an English class with ALM can go to the conversation group on Saturdays for free as another opportunity to practice their English. We meet at a local coffeeshop and split the students into 3 groups, each group including a teacher, who then leads conversation on a certain topic, or leads the group in a game or activity that encouages them to speak. I have been to conversation group the last 3 Saturdays - the first time just as an observer to see what they do - and the last two weeks I have been a leader. Its a lot of fun and the students seem to respond really well to the things i have prepared. Plus I just have fun talking to people and hearing what they have to say. Fun for me, and i even get paid to do it! I went to ALM today for my last training thing - I met with the director and together we went through a lesson I had planned. He gave lots of good feedback and at the end told me that he had no reservations at all about me doing a good job teaching. He thinks I am totally ready and he could put me in front of a class tomorrow if he had one. The classes don't run on a set semester schedule, but rather begin once enough students are signed up. I don't know when I will get my first class, but he said that it should be in the next few weeks. Very exciting.

A HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO POSTED COMMENTS!

You've made my day. I have loved getting a glimpse into who reads up here!

Ah, Summer....

2008-02-19T15:41:00.003+02:00

I did not take this photo, Amy McSwegin did, but I was just looking at it today and remembering this sweet time with lots of heaping nostalgia. This was right before we left Ohio. We shared frozen custard with dear friends, looked at wedding photos, (Neil taught Sam the "neat trick" of spinning his wedding band on the table to see how long it would spin, which he still does from time to time and did I mention that I am just so very proud of that....yeah, uh, Neil thanks for that....) sense the sarcasm? good, because i'm laying it on pretty thick.

In the photo, from left to right: Sam, Lisa J, Josh V, Neil, Maveja, Mike, Amy, Me.
I love it because, well, I can't really explain why, but just that when i look at it, I feel loved. And I am encouraged that the warmness of summer breezes and comfort of flip flips will one day return. Just for today I will pretend that it didnt just snow 3 more inches. I will take cheer in the fact that it is now almost 5pm and it is not yet dark outside. Amen.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T19:31:00.004+02:00

New

2008-02-13T08:57:00.003+02:00

got a job teaching english!

recieved "Christmas" packages from loved ones in the States...in February (thanks to the Russian post)

second semester classes have begun for Sam

have become addicted to LOST. late i know, but its much better this way because now i have 3 whole seasons i can watch on my own time schedule. so much better this way than having to wait for the next show each week.

reading: "God Grew Tired of Us" John Bul Dau's memoir of his journey as one of the lost boys of Sudan. (i requested it, Amber kindly responded, and "pre-read" it for me...ha!)

learning: African geography at www.ilike2learn.com

enjoying the new "Inside Russia" series this month on BBC World - beginning with the "Russian Godfathers" documentaries.

the days are starting to get longer, hope that winter will end sometime!

we attended our first "couples" fellowship. Sam dreaded it and said it made him feel old. we also discovered we suck at the "how-well-do-you-know-your-spouse" game.

possible opportunity for an apartment...pray about this!

leave some comments...i'm wondering if anyone still reads this anymore! miss you guys. drop me a line here.

post-birthday blogging

2008-02-06T11:52:00.000+02:00

So, on Monday I commemorated another year of life on Earth. As is the hostel tradition, my friends from the fellowship group came to celebrate at midnight - as Feb 3rd turned into Feb 4th (my brithday). Many of our friends from fellowship are away in Moscow right now on a Winter retreat, so we had a small gathering, which was actually quite pleasant. Deepthi had recorded video messages on her phone from everyone who couldn't be there. So it was very nice to know that even those who weren't there to celebrate with me were still thinking of me. We had 2 kinds of cake and of course everyone sang Happy Birthday and I blew out candles. I got a salwar kameez and dupatta from Deepthi. Follow the link or just look at the pics below if you don't know what that is.

Here are some pics from the midnight party.

The next morning Sam made breakfast for me and gave me my present. I got a steamer/rice cooker. I was totally happy. We eat a lot of rice so this will be really convenient and there is no worry about over-cooking. Plus I can steam vegetables...mmmm.

We spent a leisurely morning at home and then Sam took me out for Sushi for lunch! I had mentioned a little while ago how I wanted to go to this Japanese place for Sushi sometime and he took me there. So sweet. The place was quite nice and the food was good. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that God gave me a nice present too - snow. So Sam and I had a nice walk to the metro station in the snow. It was very pretty because not only the ground, but also all the tree branches were covered.

On our way home from lunch we stopped at the post office because we had gotten a notice that a package had arrived for us. I also got a postcard from Courtney on my birthday. Talk about perfect timing! We received the package from my parents' neighbor whom we recently met when we were in the States. She is a very lovely, sweet lady. We got a number of goodies that we just can't get here that I'm very excited about.

ground decaf coffee (can only find decaf instant here), salsa spices, spicy ranch mix, candybars, Tylenol sore throat/cough syrup (Sam considers this a wonder cure), long underwear, and Crest mouthwash. It was a great birthday present!

After we got home, Sam and I watched a movie and made dinner and had a relaxing evening at home together. I had such a fun day; couldn't have asked for a better birthday. And it was even better because Sam has the week off since he cleared all his exams for last semester and classes don't begin till next week. All in all, I'd have to say that Russian birthday #1 turned out alright.

changes come

2008-02-03T10:36:00.000+02:00

howdy blog-world. i took to heart A's comment about my blog background. i've been thinking the same myself for quite some time now, but just couldnt find anything else i liked, even though i have hated the way the background interferes with my photos. so anyway for now i have just gone simple, deciding less is more, and we'll see what happens in the future.

чайкофф кафе

2008-02-02T16:09:00.000+02:00

каппучино

цбеты

сахар

я

Late and even later

2008-01-30T02:28:00.000+02:00

Its 2:08am and here i sit. Sam is, and has been now for some time, sleeping peacefully - his contented steady breaths my soft soundtrack. It's raining outside - cold, but not quite cold enough to turn it all to flakes. i actually heard the slightest roll of thunder a little while ago. it made me yearn for warm, dark heavy spring clouds filled with lightning and thunderous claps from the skies. Anything apart from the status quo would be welcome right now. as it stands, we've had weeks of temperatures hovering right at the freezing point - dipping above and below like a child's teeter-totter. which leaves us with wet, dreary skies, and intermittent snow flurries that turn to slush hours after falling and piling up enough to cover over the mud. Think mid 30's F and wet. i believe the word you are looking for is SLODGESH. i am aware this is not a real word. but it does, quite well, encapsulate what the St. Petersburg area feels like these days.

I'm eating a сочни, which is a pastry whose dough tastes somewhat like a thick, softer version of Pop-Tart dough. it looks like a turnover, and is filled with sweetened cream cheese.

its one of the unique things I've found here in Russia that i like and isnt available elsewhere. Oh and speaking of not available elsewhere, in case you're not aware of how companies tailor their product for the palletes of any particular country, may you be taught now. for example, in Namibia some of the popular potato chip flavors were: chutney, ketchup, and sweet chilli. in Russia, some favorites are сметана(sour cream), and краб. the crab-flavored chips are Sam's pick for a treat now and then. and till recently i shied away, but today i decided to give them a try and they are quite good. and of course to make Amber jealous, I must tought the wonders of fiber yogurt.

so thanks to an american friend who recently wrote some things in Russian to me, i found an online alternative to actually having to set up our laptop for multilingual use. So now i can very easily and quickly type out some words so you can experience a little of what i do in reading signs and grocery shopping here. so you can look forward to more little Russian lessons from Amanda as my language skills improve more and more.

До свидания

Feeding the hungry in Greece

2008-01-21T10:26:00.000+02:00

SPERO NEWS - Thursday, January 17, 2008 By Kathy Tzilivakis

"No cash? No cards? No problem for hundreds of jobless, low-income families and senior citizens who can now shop for free in Greece.

At first glance it looks like any other supermarket. Housewives, senior citizens and couples with young children busily browse aisles stacked high with brand-name products, filling their shopping carts with cornflakes, fresh milk, eggs, canned foods, frozen vegetables, soft drinks, diapers, shampoo and cleaning supplies.

But look closer, and you'll spot the difference.

There are no cash registers. Not even a debit card machine. In fact, all money transactions are prohibited..."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Carl Warner's healthy art

2008-01-16T12:22:00.000+02:00

Everything you see in these images can be found in the kitchen! These still lifes by photographer Carl Warner blew me away.

You can see more of his food still lifes HERE, or at HIS OFICIAL WEBSITE. if you check out his site, there's a lot more to look at as well. but to see the foodscapes, click the second box - "photographics" and then click the second file, which has the foodscapes. enjoy!

Russian Christmas

2008-01-15T11:20:00.000+02:00

Some photos from the Russian Christmas outreach program our Fellowship group put together for students in the hostel:

The turnout was really good. The members from the Fellowship group invited their friends and groupmates.

Sam was the narrator for a dramatic reading. He did a great job.

Loyson, Owen, Gracewin, and Pooja put together a dance. Everyone in the crowd really got into it.

I played guitar and sang a song called "Papers and Boxes" written by the band "The Rainchildren". I have always loved this song. The words are so great. And just because i know you've probably never heard this song before since this band was a local band when I was growing up in PA, here are the lyrics:

"Was it a night like this when You were born?
Cold sky painted dark, and the stars so unclear
And while You were sharing with the animals their room
did they smile and look at You
like they do in the coloring books and cartoons?

I wish I could've held You
And I wish that You would hold me now.
And i wish i could've carried You,
just like You carry me
just like You carry me
just like You carry me

So here we are around this Christmas tree
Seems so out of place, a little one in straw and in hay
And the beautiful papers and boxes that its so lovely to receive
Did we forget the One, baby, Savior, King?

And I believe,
And I wish i could have held You
And i wish that I could hold You now
And i wish I could've carried You,
just like you carry me
just like You carry me
just like You carry me"

Sam and Chuks performing the skit, "Neither Do I"

Dianna shared her testimony which was very powerful. i don't have any pictures because I was too engrossed in what she was saying to remember to take any! but my engrossment was not unique. the whole room was quiet, intently listening, which is saying a lot considering the room was full of non-Christians - many Hindus - many of whom have in the past told their Christian groupmates they "aren't interested" in hearing about Jesus.

And afterwards we served our guests dinner and all ate together.

Sorry i haven't been posting regularly recently. I shall try to rememdy that. Well at least i have an excuse for this week...i am fighting off a sore throat/cold and havne't been motivated to do much of anything. but today it seems that i could be on the mend. here's hoping.

Christmas excursion, adventure and the like

2007-12-29T17:18:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, after church Sam and I decided to go to Mega to grab some lunch and do a little shopping. Mega is a nice mall with a food court, a huge grocery store - Ashan, and IKEA. Getting there requires a trip on the Metro to the 5th stop, then taking a free bus from there to Mega. Sounds easy. But it's a much bigger adventure than one might think - especially this time of year - as we discovered. When we arrived at Prospekt Brosvechenya - the stop where the free bus picks up - there was already a MASSIVE crowd waiting for the bus. When i say massive, i mean several hundred people. Now, when it comes to queing in Russia, there are some rules. However...there are different rules for different sorts of queues. For example, let's say you arrive at a bank lobby and want to see a cashier. All cashiers are busy with one person standing there at their desk. There are a number of other people in the lobby, some sitting some standing randomly about the lobby, but you see no one in queue. One might assume that these other people have already been helped or are waiting for someone else who is currently being served and you should so stand behind the person being served. But, if you did this, you would be be comitting a big social faux-pas and you would most likely get reamed out. What you are supposed to do in this sitation is this: When you arrive in the lobby, you are supposed to ask, "Who is last?" The person who is last will identify themselves and then you can sit or stand wherever you want while you just keep an eye on who is being helped. When the person ahead of you gets helped you know you are next. Now, this is the rule for banks. But buying Metro coins is a different story. At the Metro cashier there are strict queues and you have to stand very close to the person in ahead of you so no one else steps in front of you. Now...Getting INTO the Metro or a bus is another story altogether. At this point, it is every man for himself. Which brings us back to the massive crowd at Prospekt Brosvechenya. The crowd had gathered by the sign for the free bus, stretching about the length of three busses and as it grew, the width spilled out into the street, blocking one lane of traffic. The logic here is, the closer you are to the door the more likely you will get in, so people basically put themselves in the path of the bus, trying to be first, even if it means having the bus nearly hit them when it pulls up. The traffic was particularly jammed and so it took the bus about 15 minutes before it pulled up, even though we could see it approaching (very slowly) for about half of that time. Once the bus crossed the intersection and aimed itself at the pack of people, the wave began. (This is where people begin anticipating the bus arrival, and begin pushing from the back and it feels pretty much like it feels when you are in the ocean caught in the current.) The first bus arrived and stopped very far to our right, so we knew we would never make it in that one. Half of the crowd swarmed that way the other half repositioned themselves as we did, waiting for the next one we could see coming up. Sam and I jockeyed to position ourselves in the crowd. Being in the front of the pack is never ideal, as you have to worry about being hit by the bus, especially considering the crowd pushes so much and you could get pinned up against the side of the bus. Being in the middle can be good because you'll probably get in, but you end up having no control and just getting pushed around by whatever the back is doing. being in the back is the safest because you have control, but you have to really push people and you may not even get in. We usually end up in the middle. As the bus stopped, the crowd surged toward the three door-openings in the side of the bus. This is where having played sports comes in handy. Ever hear of "boxing out" in basketball? this is pretty much the technique one needs to adopt to get in. You start pushing forward, "boxing out" and as soon as you can stick a body part in the door, you throw you body forward or grab on and pull yourself in. sam and I just made it in the door. he was half on the step and half on the floor of the bus. You might think that at this point the bus was full, seeing as we were already pressed aginst people on all sides, but you might be surprised to know that 4 more people pushed themselves in after us. After about 10-15 minutes of riding like this we finally arrived at Mega, where the doors screetched open and everyone poured out. We had a lovely afternoon - treated ourselves to Subway for lunch, strolled through IKEA, and bought a plant!

Then it was time to do it all over again - the bus ride. If you can imagine it, it was even worse on the way back. Sam and I had to split up - i aimed to get in one door and he aimed for another. we both managed to get insde, but just barely. the only reason i made it inside, is because i got my leg in the door, my foot on the step, and grabbed the doorframe to pull myself in. Luckily for me, the door is a sliding one, not an unfolding one like some busses, therefore didn't crowd me out when it shut. so, i ended up wedged between a handle, the door and a 4 ft. Christmas tree. This picture does not do justice to the actual situation. Just on the other side of the handle is a raised area over some mechanical bus stuff i presume(where this little girl is sitting) so it looks spacious, but isn't. and the little girl is blocking the veiw of all the people jam-packed in. but I didn't have room to move and so couldn't get a much better veiw. the arrows depict the door to the left, the handle in front, and the tree to the right. so this is what the ride looked like for me:

Then some genious behind me decided that this would be a good time to rearrange her bags. (there is literally barely enough room to stand, i have people pressing on me from behind, a handlebar pressing into my front and the door, the tree, pressing on either side, and here she is half bent over rearranging things, pushing people tighter and tighter together! argh!) the ride back was even longer due to bad traffic. the one positive of being next to the door was that it was slightly cooler there. (Remember: everyone is layered with coats, hats and scarves with no room to take them off because of the sardine-tin effect) because of being smack against the cold glass, i have a little relief. the downside to being wedged against the door became apparent upon our arrival when the door had to slide open...into the space i was occupying. my foot received the brunt of the force before i could push myself back against the people behind me enough to get out of the way and shove my way outside. SIGH. Relief. Thus, our Christmas Excursion, Adventure and the Like.

MMMMMMM.....

2007-12-20T14:24:00.000+02:00

Photo time...

2007-12-17T20:37:00.000+02:00

Deepthi's Birthday

Date with Sam to St. Peter and Paul's Fortress here in St. Petersburg
(Click on the slideshow, then put your cursor over the pictures to read the captions)

Random Bits of Life

Schmap for Schmanda

2007-12-16T23:34:00.000+02:00

Ok. So...i got an email about a week ago from the Managing Editor of Schmap Guides. For those of you who aren't familiar with Schmap (as I wasn't) Schmap is the publisher of free digital travel guides for destinations throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The company’s travel guides are available for download at www.schmap.com Here's the email:

Hi Amanda,

I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has
been short-listed for inclusion in the fourth edition of
our Schmap Helsinki Guide, to be published mid-December
2007.

It went on to tell me how I could see which photo was up for possible inclusion in the guide and how to agree or decline inclusion of it in the running. The photo was one I took at the Helsinki Vantaa Airport a few months ago, and it was discovered on my Flickr, since I have Geo-tagged all my photos. So I figured what the heck, and agreed that they could include it if it was chosen. Well, I just got another email and they chose it. Its one of the pictures included in the "public transportation" section of the Helsinki guide.

I was going to include the Schmap widgett along the side here, but i'm not having success with it at the moment. For some reason the window that is supposed to show the map and photos keeps coming up blank. If I get it figured out, I will post it later. But for now, I'll just have to be content posting the pic they chose. If you saw my Helsinki Photos you've already seen this. It's the one of the sculpture inside the airport. Here it is:

Why I hate going to the grocery store

2007-12-13T14:23:00.000+02:00

Don't get me wrong, its not everywhere that i hate grocery shopping. I seem to have acquired this dislike here in Russia. You might think its because everything is written in Russian, or that the cashier people inevitably ask some question or yell something I dont understand and I feel completely stupid, blankly standing there, or because we have to load our backpacks to the breaking point then carry these monstrously heavy things back on the Metro hoping that maybe, just maybe, I can actually get inside quick enough and find a seat before all the sitting space is gone, then trudge home through the sloppy, coldness for 20 minutes to finally arrive at our building and walk up two flights of stairs before collapsing in exhaustion and throwing the backpack down loathing the day when I'll have to put it back on again for the next trip. You may think this, but you'd be wrong. The reason I hate going to the grocery store here is that no matter what day it is, no matter what time it is, the place always seems to jam-packed with tons of people, crowding every aisle with carts, which because of the ultra-slick floors always seem to be impossible to control, and slide every which way except of course the way you want them to go. Just walking in to the place makes every muscle in my body tense up. Its enough to give even the most socially resiliant people social anxiety disorder. I used to enjoy crowds, big celebrations and large gatherings, but this has indeed waned over the years. Combine that with living for a year and a half in the wide open spaciousness and relaxed, slow-paced environment of Namibia and you can see why this type of situation puts me near overload. Pair me up with Sam, who loathes social situations and is a self-proclaimed introvert who would be perfectly content to stay in his room and not see anyone for weeks, and its like throwing 2 cats into a river. Sometimes we work together and cling to each other to make it out alive. Other times we have ended up trying to stay afloat by using the other as our personal life-ring. And the life-ring unfortunately didn't fare too well. But thank God for self-revelation. It doesn't make grocery-shopping any more enjoyable...but I think it does make our marriage more enjoyable. I still dislike grocery shopping here. But at least Sam and I don't end up disliking each other through the experience. Knowing our weaknesses may not make us less weak, but like the great philosopher G.I. Joe says, "Knowing is half the battle."

Thanksgiving and such

2007-12-04T16:46:00.000+02:00

As a follow up to my previous post, Thank you to those who voted. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and Loving Vs. Virginia didn’t make it into the top 6. Sadness.

I haven’t posted in a while, I know. Not much has been going on I guess. It has snowed more. Yesterday in particular. We have several inches on the ground now. And since the temps don’t really get above freezing anymore, it pretty much just sticks around on the ground indefinitely. Sam is nearing the home stretch of classes for the semester. He’s getting antsy. Ready to have a reprieve. December 25th is not a holiday here, so Sam will be in classes that day. Most Russians don’t make much of Christmas, but rather celebrate New Years. For those who do celebrate Christmas, it is celebrated by the Orthodox calendar – January 7th. So, the first week in January will be a holiday week , and then exams begin. How quickly Sam clears his exams will determine how much of a break he has between semesters.

Sam and I did celebrate Thanksgiving. We invited a few good friends to come share dinner with us. I cooked, and had a great time baking things and being able to play host. I baked chicken in a homemade honey-mustard sauce (no turkey available and if there was, probably way too expensive) mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, baked pineapple, deviled eggs, and apple pie (couldn’t find the spices needed for pumpkin pie!) For dinner there were 5 of us – Sam and myself, Deepthi and Mokshaa from India, and Faisal (Sam’s roommate from his 1st and 2nd year) who is from Jordan. Everybody was kind of tentative at first. Mokshaa told me, “You have to go first to show us what to do. We don’t know how to eat Thanksgiving food.” Sam laughed and said, “We use forks.” Everyone laughed a lot at that. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with Indian food and eating, Indians typically use their hand to mash together their rice and curry or whatever sauce and eat by hand.) The “Thanksgiving food” was of a different variety than most of our guests we accustomed to. Faisal, when putting food on his plate, took the tiniest portions of food and went to sit down at the table. I looked at him and said, “You want to make sure you like it first, don’t you?” He laughed and admitted, “Yes!” Well, thankfully it went over well, and very quickly he was back at the serving table filling up the plate. Everyone filled up and in typical Thanksgiving fashion was very full by the end of the meal. Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, I was asked to share the story of holiday and its history. It was a very enjoyable evening and I had a great time sharing my favorite holiday with my few friends here.

You can see pics from our Thanksgiving celebration to the right in the slideshow, or you can check them out by following the "My Photos" link to my Flickr site.

I hope you are staying warm! Or to those of you in the southern hempisphere...i hope YOU are staying cool!

With A Little Help From My Friends

2007-11-26T00:20:00.001+02:00

Are you singing? you should be.

Ok, so maybe you have noticed my newly acquired addiction to BBC World. if you haven't, you're probably not paying attention. Anyway, right now BBC World is doing this "Best of the Year" thing where you can vote for your favorite documentary that ran this year and they will replay the 6 documentaries that get the highest percentage of votes. As I said, I'm new to this wonderful channel and so therefore I've missed anything that ran before September. In checking out my options on their webpage I came across the episode of Our World entitled "Loving Vs. Virginia". I REALLY want this to be one of the winners because I really want to see it!

Here's the description -

Our World: Loving Vs Virginia
Our World shows BBC journalism at its best, as it exposes and evaluates global issues. It's just 40 years since the United States overturned the ban on interracial marriage following the landmark civil rights case Loving v. Virginia. Sean Fletcher goes on a very personal journey to the United States to look at that historic Supreme Court ruling and the mixed race couple who fought to change history.

Please vote for it so it gets into the top 6 picks! Go HERE to vote.

Voting ends December 2nd...that's next SUNDAY. So please vote for it and ask your friends to vote too!

Punishing the Victim…

2007-11-22T14:26:00.000+02:00

"…According to the Arab News newspaper, the 19-year-old woman was gang-raped 14 times in an attack in Qatif in the eastern province a year-and-a-half ago.

Seven men were found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just under a year to five years.

The rape victim was punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man.

On appeal, the Arab News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200 lashes and a six-month prison sentence."

Read the full story.

Amber, I don’t believe it…

2007-11-21T09:45:00.000+02:00

Tagged.

Ok.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
It was my 3rd year as a Theater major at Wright State. I had a belly-button ring, shoulder-length straight hair and wore lots of thrift-store clothing. I was living off-campus with two other girls whose lives revolved around their boyfriends and whom would eventually become great friends with each other and leave me feeling alienated. I went through a time of serious loneliness and illness that drew me closer to God than I had ever been. I began to journal. I met some new friends whose passion for Jesus woke me to knowing Him in completely new way. I became good friends with Meg and spent most of my time at her place on campus, avoiding my housemates, and having lots of crazy adventures. I was really into swing dancing.

What I was doing 5 years ago:
I had recently bought my first house and was living there on Creighton Ave with Kristi and Shannon. I now had long, curly hair and was at the end of my 2nd year of working as a case manager at Eastway Behavioral Health, but I was starting to think about looking for a new job. I was writing music; starting to play the guitar. I think we had started Grace Among Thieves, the most laid-back band I’ve ever known.
(May she rest in Peace…CD release/reunion tour…who knows)

One year ago:
I had super short hair and was preparing to have my first Namibian Thanksgiving…wearing flip flops and baking pumpkin pies. I had recently moved into my second house in Okahandja – the one nearby Spar. I was emailing Sam a lot and having G-chat dates 3 days a week. We had talked about marriage and had pretty much decided that the following summer was the time. I had just begun writing in a new journal – a gift from Amber. I was spending a lot of time with Maveja and Buddy – our regular movie-nights with Mexican food or homemade pizza. Maveja told me she wanted to be baptized. We were making plans for going to the village for the December holiday. I was reading “The Barbarian Way” by Erwin McManus. We were just beginning to go through the book of Acts in the Woodcarvers bible study. There were LOTS of Hairy Hairdressers in my house.

Hmmmm….I change my hair a lot.

Yesterday (Sunday - Because I started writing this on Monday)
We slept in, Sam started the washing then I hung the clothes to dry and folded them. I made porridge oats and coffee while Sam shaved his head (the weekly ritual). We watched BBC World News and a feature about the Brittish soldiers in Afghanistan. Sam went upstairs to keep an eye on the washing machine (its been tripping the power lately) and study with Faisal in his old room. I wrote emails and did some reading. Before dinner Sam and I played checkers and then started cooking. We made a spicy chicken stew with potatoes, onions, tomatoes and peas and poured it over Pap! Yes! Russia has this stuff that’s exactly like Pap (African milliemeal.) So sometimes we get to pretend we’re in Namibia. After dinner and dishes, Sam studied more and I read. Around 11pm, we got some helpers together to help us move the heavy, ugly couch from our room to a friend’s room upstairs. Then I swept and mopped the floor (and Sam studied still more) and then we rearranged the room because we finally have space! Sam crashed around 1am and I finished putting things away in new places. I finally tried sleeping around 2:30, but found it quite difficult seeing as our neighbor like to watch his tv at decibels louder than anyone should…ever – especially at 2am.

(Oh, and my hair is shoulder-length and straight again)

5 snacks I enjoy:
yellow kiwis, chips and salsa, Oshikandela, fresh mangos, pretzels

5 things I would do if I had $100 million:
become a photojournalist and travel the world as part of a medical mission or relief organization with Sam - traveling, taking pictures and helping people.

5 places I would run away to:
The Maldives, Egypt, India, New Zealand, the Amazon Rainforest

5 TV shows I like:
House M.D., CSI, Friends, BBC World News, Man vs. Wild

5 things I hate doing:
Leaving good friends in faraway places, lying awake at night unable to sleep, cleaning up after our neighbors, interrupting Sam when he’s studying, having cold feet and being unable to warm them up

5 biggest joys in the moment:
Introducing Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) to my international friends, learning Russian, finally getting rid of the couch so we had space to rearrange our room, emails from Amber, spending quality time with Sam!

Your turn:
Husband-of-mine, Dad, Fellow Former Climber…

World Challenge 2007

2007-11-10T12:09:00.000+02:00

A show I've really been enjoying on BBCWorld. Check out these creative projects designed to give back their communities around the world. Vote for your favorite finalist HERE.

Today....

2007-11-08T14:12:00.000+02:00

Random Smatterings

2007-11-06T18:42:00.000+02:00

Some things I have seen, found, learned or done this week:

No kidding. Who knew there was Pappa Johns in St. Petersburg? Sam and I got together with his groupmates on friday and went for take out! MMM...
Chicken Bacon RANCH!

Spending time with Sam's groupmates, Ollie-Pekka (Finland), Mortada (Syria) and Branka (Macedonia)

Found LIFEHACKER. Random bits of info. Ever wondered why ice cubes at restaraunts are clear and the ones you freeze at home are cloudy? Or, interested in how to get a First Class airline ticket for a Coach Class price? Interesting.

Yes, that's snow.

An early Christmas gift from my parents has allowed me to start learning THIS. I love it! Try the free online demo and see how you do.

Just beautiful...

2007-11-01T17:32:00.000+02:00

This is a photo taken by one of my Flickr contacts, not me. I wish I had taken it though! Stunning, isn't it?