Yay!

For the past week or two it has been freezing in my apartment because the city hadn't turned on the heat yet. Here they have pipes that run through everyone's apartments, offices, and schools throughout the entire city. Hot water runs through them in the winter and heats the buildings. The problem is, besides orphanages and hospitals, almost all the buildings are part of one system, so either everyone has heat or no one has heat. The day before yesterday they finally tunred it on and now our apartment is warm!!! I felt like celebrating. Its amazing what we take for granted (like the ability to decide when to turn on the heat in your own house :)).

I hope you all are enjoying a much warmer September. I'll post pictures soon!

Surrounded by Africans this morning

I was in the foreign students' computer lab this morning, feeling far away from everyone as I looked at people's facebook pages. Also in the lab were three guys from Africa and all of the sudden one of them started singing softly in English, "He's got the whole world, in His hands He's got the whole wide world, ..." I wanted to laugh and cry. How beautifully child-like and true. I don't think I ever realized the significance of these words till that moment. He's got the WHOLE world, even this strange, far-away place. His hands are that big!

Life so far ...

I've finally begun settling in! We're still choosing our classes, but so far some of my more interesting ones include "musical intstruments of the native peoples of the Volga" and "world of the Soviet man" (about daily life in Russia during Soviet times, as far as I can tell). I don't understand everything, but usually I get the general points of the lecture. Its so exciting to be able to follow a lecture in Russian!

I think I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm actually here. Everything is a bit overwhelming and life seems a whirl of communist-styled apartment buildings, crowded buses, dusty sidewalks, greasy pigeons, brightly colored heals, 50 different shades of eye shadow, babushkas selling flowers and sweeping streets, and a seemingly never ending stream of things that don't make sense.

I thought that after living here I could come back without having to worry so much about culture shock. I discovered, however, that in some ways its even worse when you're not expecting it. Not that it will be as hard to adjust as it was the first time, for I can already feel myself making the mental switch from the sweet, soft, talk-around-all-subjects southern mindset, to the much more direct, up-front, frank manner of Russia. I think the hardest part of coming back was that when I first got here, I found these mannerisms increadibly offensive (as if I didn't know that this is how Russians are). The day before yesterday, however, I noticed that it no longer offends me quite so much and I think I'm beginning to understand again what is rude and what is not in this crazy country.

Another reason it was hard adjusting at first was because I had a pretty rough landing. The lady I lived with for the first week and a half was very hard to get along with. She was stingy and I always felt like I was using too much water and electricity and spending too much money on food (She made me take showers in a bucket so she could reuse the water). She was also increadibly prejudice against Tatars, people from the stans, and other nationalities. Since I hadn't had many chances to meet people yet and had only her for company, my first days were pretty bleak.

The second week I was here I moved in with a new lady who is very sweet (and has a cat!) and since then things have been better. I wouldn't say easier (I don't know if you could ever say life in Russia is easy), but it has become more enjoyable to encounter the challenges that come with each day.

I think its interesting how we come to the end of fairy tales and we sigh and we wish our lives were like that - full of adventure, daring, trials, and glorious victories. While I'm reading those books or watching those movies, I don't think I often understand how hard it it would actually be to be one of those characters. When I first got here and encountered all the problems an adventure like this can bring across your path, I was tempted to start longing for the easy, simple, comfortable life I have in the states. But no, the loniness, the tears, the dark days, the doubt, the fear, its all part of the plot, its all part of the glorious adventure, and it all leads to the beautiful ending of the story that God is writing. YOu can't have one without the other, so I'm learning to appreciate (if not always to enjoy) the hard times.

And the adventure isn't all hard. God has a sense of hummor. Some of the more entertaining things I've encountered include scary breakfasts (see below), a conversation with an Orthodox monk, outhouses and continental toilets, and VERY old cookies. And He has also sent me many springs in the desert. One of my favorites so far was on Saturday. We were exploring a small village next to a monestary on the edge of the city when we encountered two babushkas sitting on a bench outside their house. Next to them was a huge pile of potatos and I asked them if I could take a picture of the pile. They were delighted at this and invited us into their flower garden to pose with their flowers and take pictures. Then their grand-daughter came out and asked us if we had been out on the lake yet (the monestary was next to a lake). We said no we hadn't and she offered to take us out in her row boat. It was so wonderful to be received like this and so fun to talk with these people and get to know them. Not all Russians are like this and it was such a blessing to meet them. We were invited to come back and I hope we'll be able to soon.

Below I've posted some pictures of the city and of my apartment. Hopefully it will give you a small glimpse of what it is like to live here. I miss you all so much! Let me know how I can be praying for you!

Pictures

A nice part of the city

City center

A not so nice part of the city

A soviet statue

One of Kazan's mosques

Watering park flowers (they have beautiful parks here!)

Benches ... Russians have an interesting sense of humor

Girls dressed up for the first day of school (a big celebration in Russia)

Dancers at our celebration for the first day of classes at university

the parade of the first years

Balloons over the building where most of my classes are held

Breakfast anyone?

Tea this way (its a samovar)

at the market

Meat market - mmmm

Cookies in a bake stand window. The one with the icing was really good.

Clothing markets!

an army

(no comment)

the cat on my desk

my street

my apartment building doorway

my room! (like my lamp?)

the pile of potatoes

the babushkas' garden

Getting into the boat (r - Mareike from Germany and l- Anna from the UK)

Launching off (Sveta was the grandaughter's name)

Views of the monestary from the lake

An Island Adventure

the lady who takes care of the monestary's cows

The island's monestary (SP)

Beautiful wood work!

Our "hotel"

the island ferry

the orinignal artwork from 1560!

I couldn't get this to post beforeth pictures, so I'm posting it here. :)
Things have been interesting so far! Russia never ceases to amaze me. It was really hard nad lonely at first because there weren't many opportunities for meeting people (classes hadn't started yet) and the lady I am living with is hard, to say the least. School has started now and I'm probably moving to another family, so things are a little better! I was increadibly blessed to visit an island on the Volga over the weekend. It wasn't the prettiest place and there was a lot of poverty, but there are some old churches there from the time of Ivan the Terrible (the 1500's) and they were beautiful! Here are some pictures. I'l write more later.