Life inside the Bubble

How funny. Today I was talking with a friend and we realized that when I return to America, I might need to change the name of my blog. Right now it's "Life Outside the Bubble", perhaps I need to make it "Life Inside the Bubble."

As I'm thinking about it right now, I don't want to change the name… I think I'll just continue living life on the edge and pushing the envelope. Just because I'm coming back to the states doesn't mean that my life will become a stagnant thing. In fact, I'm going to continue to strive to live the adventure that G0d has put before me. It's resolved.

Customer Service and a different world

It's amazing sometimes to realize how much customer service and serving others is a part of American culture. We often learn more about our own culture only when we are knee deep in another one.

Today Sasha and Zhanna invited me over for dinner after ch^rch and on the way there, we stopped by the bank (yeah, they're open on Sundays here). We were in line and Zhanna was next to be served. There was a sign posted that the teller's lunch brake was at 2pm. It was 1:56pm. The woman literally looked at Zhanna and said that she should come back in an hour because she was taking her lunch break. Zhanna very kindly asked if any of the FOUR women in the back of the office would be opening their windows soon. (Their lunch breaks were from 1pm - 2pm). So we left without being served.

It's not wrong, it's just different. I tell myself this often. It is sometimes difficult, especially if you have a bill that NEEDS to be paid on a specific day (this is how Russians take care of business - where we would send a check in the mail, here you pay at the bank and get a stamp on your receipt that you can then show as proof of payment).

Speaking on English

Ladies and Gentlemen… I have a small problem that has been growing a bit of late. You see, I've been making small English errors… not big grammatical errors (at least not that I've noticed), but sort of translating Russian into English sometimes when I talk. Or phrases that are common in Russian, but not in English that have snuck into my daily vocabulary. Here are some mistakes I've been making… (yes - been making, not once)

Speaking on English - instead of IN English

Disbehaving - instead of MISbehaving

Feel yourself better - instead of feel better (yikes)

All the same - this is a Russian phrase that's entered my vocab

Mayonnaise, Arteries and Security

I had an awesome day today. Igor, the 20 year old that I've been meeting with for almost the whole year I've been here, called today and asked if we could hang out. Well, although it's Saturday, today is a working day, because Monday and Tuesday are national holidays here in Russia (Labor Day!) Anyway - he wanted to hang out and talk today, but I needed to keep working here at home. So he offered to come over and cook me dinner while I was finishing up! Cool, huh? He made a really delicious meal for me. I called it Igor Surprise. It was sunflower oil, mayonnaise, sliced potatoes, onion, chicken, and spices. Oh, and more mayonnaise… 250 grams of mayonnaise!! Just imagine how awesome it tasted… but I think my arteries were screaming in agony afterward…

Anyway, after dinner I suggested going out for a walk. It's what most Russians do in the evening anyway - go for a walk after dinner. As we were out walking about he asked me some questions about the persistence of s@lvation. If a xian commit a sin and don't ask for specific forgiveness before he dies (like a sudden accident), what happens? Well, thus ensued a really interesting conversation as we discussed his question. I love what I do, life is so meaningful when it has purpose.

Percentages that are daunting

Tyumen is a city of about 800,000 people, so nearly a million. That's easier to say and to type. So, I was having a conversation with a fellow worker here in Tyumen who's been here for almost 4 years. There is an estimated 1000-1500 Chr!stians here, who have more than just a cultural connection to the faith! I don't like typing out statistics, because there's been no official survey or statistical analysis that I know of (she Katrina, I learned while you were getting your PhD too), but the rough numbers really were surprising.

I really need to think about this some more and what the implications are for continued work here.

Amy home!

Okay, being King Ridiculous, here's the update! Amy is home!!! She was surprised by her mother, who flew in from Washington (state) to greet Amy on her return from Kenya. Two of her sisters and five of her friends were also there to meet her… a Starbucks mocha, a dozen roses, and raisinettes! What more could a girl want to be happy?

Amy flying!

All of your pr@yers are coveted at this time! Amy is in the air! She left Ewaso Ngiro on Saturday last week and has been in Nairobi for 5 days. Her flight left about 30 minutes ago and now she's flying to London with a connecting flight through Chicago on her way to Indianapolis. I wish I was with her right now traveling, just three weeks until we see each other again.

I mailed her some cards from Russia so that I could be with her on the plane as she heads home!

Thanks to all for the many pr@yers to support her as so many crazy things have happened while she was on the field in Kenya. We continue to ask for your pr@yers and thoughts as she transitions back to America and gets ready to move to Ann Arbor at the end of May!

The Wizard of Oz

Don't know what it is about this movie, but it just lifts my spirits. I was working on some stuff here at home on Monday evening and I watched this movie on my computer. I was in SUCH a good mood. It made me realize how much I love music again. I've been listening to a LOT of audiobooks and serm0ns on my music player and hadn't realized that I've been out of the music loop for too long. Well, now I'm looking forward to listening to some more music!

The Tooth Miracle

So here's a strange little tale of miracles. I sort of developed an excruciating tooth ache. One of my back molars has been aching for about 3 or 4 weeks. I just don't eat food on that side of my mouth and avoid hot and cold liquids… I know that this is absolutely irresponsible behavior and that I should just see a dentist… but the issue here is that it seems like most people with tooth problems just get the tooth pulled…. And I want to keep all my teeth. It's probably a cavity from all the sweet tea and chocolates that I love here in Russia…

Well, the agony of the matter is that I was having problems sleeping for about a week - so I was taking pain killers so that I could sleep. Seriously ridiculous.

So I just resolved to pr@y about it. I know that in some ways it's silly to ask for this type of miracle or healing, but at the same time - I really do believe that He can heal something like this… and He did.

No pain at all. It started feeling better and then the pain left altogether. I'm going to go to the dentist when I get home all the same, but the pain so agonizing and now it's gone!

Praise the L0rd. Seriously.

On Seeing the Mammoth

Turns out that the most complete mammoth skeleton in the world is on display in Tyumen. It was found very near here in a village and has almost every single bone in the skeleton!

Sasha, Zhanna and I had planned to go for a walk today, but it was sort of a rainy day… so we went to the museum instead. Get ready for the CRAZY story that follows.

So, we arrived at about 2:45 in order to avoid the scheduled lunch break that takes place from 1-2… and they had changed the break to 2-3… so we walked about a bit longer and returned… and were surprised again.

The entry price for the museum for an adult is 100 rubles… and for a foreigner is 700 rubles. The difference is $22! Can you believe it?

Anyway - the mammoth was exactly that… mammoth… I've got a couple pictures.

Amy heads to Nairobi

Today is Amy's last day in Ewaso Ngiro. She'll be leaving this morning and heading to Nairobi for about 5 days and then flying home to America on Thursday. I'm sure this morning will be tough as she'll be saying good bye to friends and colleagues she's been with for the past 7 months. Thanks so much to everyone who has been supporting both of us as we've been apart all these months and it's been pretty tough. 30 days until I return to the US and only 91 until the wedding! Can't believe it's just around the corner!

The Lyceum

Sometimes my life here in Russia is confusing and I am certainly not my own. On Monday this week the director of the English program told me that I'd be needed on Friday for about an hour to judge an English competition at the first building of our University.

As anyone who has worked with me before or knows me well, I really like knowing what's going on and not having my schedule messed with (I think it goes back to being lost at Cedar Point amusement park sometime in my childhood). Anyway - more likely it's just a part of my nature.

So when Habiba told me that I'd be busy Friday morning, I was a bit nervous because a ONE hour commitment is never a ONE hour commitment here. So I informed my Russian teacher I might be late.

It was an enjoyable morning that started with the students arriving to 'pick me up' 45 minutes early! I was still asleep in bed! Needless to say, I set a new world record for getting ready and being, um, presentable… I think a full 17 seconds. I ended up with them for 5 and a half hours, not one! Ah, yes… the American perception of time. I'm still working on UNlearning this aspect of my own nature/ culture. I really do love it here, it's just different.

The gala event started with a presentation of the entire school, the lyceum is a university magnate, prep school located INSIDE the university. They have 300 students who were competing in various academic competitions. So there was a skit, a really nicely done powerpoint presentation, and some nice words by the school administrators. The theme was something like, rediscovering space.

I was undercover as a Russian speaker - and completely in the role of special American guest. It was really fun and the students enjoyed my mini English lesson, the conversation about changes in value structure in American and Russian society and it's effect on child-rearing (not a planned conversation, but just sort of came into being).

There was a real Russian tea party after the presentations! There was a special torte too. It was 2 KILOS! (that's over 4 lbs!) Needless to say, today will be a day filled with yogurt!

I really do love these opportunities to speak with young people, to invite them to our cultural center for our programs, and more than anything - the opportunity to get them really thinking about important issues. Moral character, safe sex, healthy bodies/minds just don't seem to be the focus of any instruction that they receive now-a-days.

And the computer is back online!

I guess that really says it all! Amy was able to fix her computer with the information we found online! It might seem really silly, but when you live on solar power, with no running water, just knowing you have a functioning computer sometimes keeps you sane!

Computer support

Amy's computer died. Simply put. Blue screen of death. She called me to ask for help - and really I felt helpless at first. So we tried the basics, realized that she doesn't have an XP disk because it burned in the fire back in December… so with the power of the internet (which I still count as the most useful tool ever invented) - I provided several suggestions for how to get the hard drive to repair itself. Let's all pr@y that it works. Can you imagine being without your computer, internet, journal, finanace program, television, music, photos, etc?

Oh, did I mention that her camera broke a couple of months ago? Thanks for all of your pr@yers. She's doing great and really is a testament to how someone can withstand difficult living situations. She's my current hero.

The Social Hotel

Have you ever been to a social hotel before? Chances are you might have visited one doing some community service. It's ONE of the ways that you can say, homeless shelter in Russian. I had the opportunity to visit the shelter in Tyumen today with a group of 5 Americans visiting from West Virginia. They needed some help with another interpreter, so I volunteered to help out.

As far as the language stuff is concerned, I did okay really. A few grammar mistakes here and there, but I know the message got through. I was paired up with the p@stor, Bert, and one of the team members, Nancy and we visited 3 rooms with 3 people in each room. We asked basic questions like: "How long have you been here?" "How did you get here?" "Do you have any health concerns?" "How can we pr@y for you?"

The basic situation for the residents of the shelter comes down to the following… physical injury or stroke. Many of the residents are missing limbs because homelessness in Siberian winter results in the loss of limbs. It's VERY dangerous to not have shelter. Many residents are there waiting for documents so they can find work. If I correctly understood the situation, many people never got official documents during communist times and they still don't have them. When they try to get a job now, they can't prove that they even exist, because there is NO paper trail. This is a HUGE problem. I need to learn more about it, and it's VERY difficult for people to navigate the system.

It was really wonderful to be able to help the US team and to encourage the residents. Two situations were quite difficult for me. There was a man who had had a stroke and it was so difficult to understand his Russian for me. I just pr@yed that G0d would help me to understand and He really either opened my ears, or gave the man back his speech, because it became much easier to understand. The second situation, was a deaf man. I so wished to use American Sign Language… but it's exactly that - AMERICAN. So we were about to pass him by when I remembered my notebook! So I wrote out the interpretations to share with him!

Talking with Oleg

I had a surprise meeting today too. I'm still in Yekaterinburg. Well, anyway - I was going to stay with Nikita in his dormitory, but his mother surprised us and appeared in Yekaterinburg for the evening and insisted that I stay in nicer accommodations. So there is a place there called the Ch!stian Center that has several rooms and acts like a hotel. I had a room there with my own private toilet and bath! This is really an AMAZING occurrence and I slept like the dead!

Anyway, I digress. So when I arrived at the Center to go to bed, I bumped into Oleg. Oleg was the technical director at summer camp the past several years. I have to be honest that up to this point, I was really disappointed to not stay with Nikita, because I was engrossed in a conversation with a group of his friends at the dormitory and had to leave because it was curfew for them. Well, G0d had different plans all along.

Oleg is 27 years old and gave up his successful career as an aeronautical engineer to work part-time at a school and part-time at the Center. He has completed their B!ble school and teaches and works with the youth there. He was feeling a bit down, because his family thinks he's CRAZY. They don't understand that sometimes we have to give up what we think is important for something that we KNOW is more important. And that it's okay to sacrifice the silly things of the world for more eternal and SIGNIFICANT things. So we talked for a good long time about life, youth, and the downward spiral of morality.

It was really nice to be able to encourage him and to lift him up. One of his biggest concerns was getting married… He's 27 and it's rare to not be married in Russia (or America) by that time. So he's discouraged that he's not met the right girl. It was incredible to be able to share with him that waiting is okay. I'm 35 and waiting has been the smartest thing I've ever done. G0d rewards the patience and brings along an incredible woman like Amy!

Died and Gone to Heaven

I know that this will officially mark me as a freak, but I do ever strive to be honest here in my blog. The highlight of the entire trip to Yekaterinburg (besides Nikita, of course) was Dom Knigi (House of Books). It was a HUGE Russian bookstore. Now, yes, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a geek and bookstore lover anywhere. I can get lost in Border's for hours and walk out later in a euphoric state that anyone would swear was drug induced… even the smell of books makes me giddy.

(Okay - I think I've established my freakish nature enough)

So I found an entire shelf in the bookstore with Russian grammar books for foreigners. 2 of them were even for native speakers of English. This is like a gold mine for me! I splurged. I spent $25 dollars and bought 6 books! I have enough grammar exercises to keep my Russian going while I'm back in the States! I learned something new in the first 3 pages of one of the beginner books!

So, I feel like these books are a new sword, chain mail, shield, helmet and horse that I'll need to charge into battle against the Enemy>

Phonetics 101 or How to Discern Moral Values.

The 'official' purpose of my visit to Yekaterinburg was to go with Nikita to his English phonetics class to share with the students from an American point of view about life. Of course, this is always an awesome opportunity for me to share about anything with a group of students. The basic focus of my talk with them was about moral values, and if we compromise, where do we draw the line.

Nikita's teacher was unlike any I had ever seen before. She talked SO much. She has a hand in everything going on in the world it seems: teaching, her own business, social activism, raising her daughter, etc. And she told us all about it. I was so surprised to see a teacher use the classroom as a soapbox and lecture the students, and beat up their intelligence.

I was, of course, respectful, but I wanted to encourage the students and have a conversation with an impact, instead of talk about how she went to the government to protest and they turned off her microphone.

It was still a wonderful talk, and the students had so many questions about America. It's so interesting how they react when I tell them what America is really like. They don't think there is any poverty, homelessness, job difficulties. They think all Americans have whatever they want, that we all smile - all the time (we do smile a lot though), and that we eat McDonald's for every meal. They also think that the 'f' word is a part of everyone's vocabulary and that it isn't offensive. It's all movies, music videos and music. They know it's not real, but they WANT to believe it.

The Choir

My ticket to Yekaterinburg was on a normal train, so the compartment had benches that double as beds. After I waited about 40 minutes for the conductor to come with the bed linens, I finally just went in search of him so I could buy them. My eyes were grainy and I wanted to get sleeping!

So I made my bed, got all comfy, and started to listen to the choir.

Most of you probably don't know that I'm a light sleeper… a very light sleeper. Light, sound, movement - they all make sleeping hard for me, so a train is the perfect environment for insomnia. There was a man snoring loudly, a women sort of whistling, a child moaning and a baby crying. All in just by compartment! Needless to say, I only slept in 20 minute chunks for about 1.5 hours. But, as I typically take the 'my life is an adventure' approach, my mood was still great.

What's the name of this town again?

There are so many things to learn when you've moved to a foreign country. It's really amazing and daunting sometimes. This weekend I had the opportunity to go and visit a friend from summer camp to talk with and encourage him. He lives in Yekaterinburg about 5 hours by train from Tyumen.

The problem is that NO ONE calls the city Yekaterinburg. Everyone calls it Sverdlovsk, it's old name. So when you get on the train, it's labeled Ekat. But everyone refers to it as Sverdlovsk. I was absolutely okay at 4am when I got on the train. Sasha and Zhanna insisted on coming with me to make sure I got on the train okay (turns out that this isn't special AMERICAN treatment, but how Russians treat their family and friends. Really almost everyone has someone seeing them off. Sure does make me feel special in a good way though! Well, anyway - when it came time to get off the train, I'm glad I was paying attention earlier, because the conductor said, "Sverdlovsk" and not "Yekaterinburg."

Leadership Lessons

For about the past 6 weeks, I've really had an awesome opportunity at the CEC (that's the acronymn for our Cultural Education Center) -- {aside: yes Jen, it confuses me constantly -- CIC (campus information centers -- and -- CEC Cultural Education Center)} -- I've been teaching leadership lessons! It is such a joy for me to be back doing something that I love doing so much. I just want to devour leadership materials so that I can share the concepts with everyone at the center.

We've only covered a few key concepts so far, but I already feel like it's going to make a great difference in their daily lives and especially in how they work together and for a greater Purpose. We've talked about the value of feedback and the Johari Window. We've been going through a series of self-reflection questions to better understand how people view us and how we view ourselves. We talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the impact that needs have on the constituents that we work with and the work that we do.

I'm hoping to talk about goal setting, time management, the value of personal reflection and personality profiling as well.

Thanks for reading!

Meeting Mormons

I went for another long walk today. I really enjoy the spring so much and I feel like it's a special time for Amy and I even if we're not together physically right now. I swung by the store on the way home for some milk and bread and I bumped into a couple of guys who were SO obviously Mormons. They wear badges here just like in the states. Only here they say старешен instead of elder. Anyway - I said, "Happy Easter" to them. And they about fell out of their suits! I've seen them numerous times and they've NEVER spoken to me. So today I thought I'd say hi to them. I think that they're trained to only speak to young people or something… I don't really know, but they didn't stay and chat with me for very long and they looked really uncomfortable.

Happy Easter

What an amazing day today is. I've been nervous about today for almost 5 weeks. I can't remember being nervous about Easter before, but maybe that's because today I'd been asked to deliver the message. I've been agonizing for about 5 weeks about what to share… and then there's the whole language angle. So, I took the plunge and preached in Russian today. I delivered a message entitled, "He IS here" today. Whoa. It was an amazing tribute to the power of the living G-d that I not only survived, but people actually understood what I said. Yeah, I did say something like "Jes^s has narrow returned" because the difference between narrow and already is only syllable stress in Russian, but I've certainly made bigger mistakes (see Pook pook, or remember any number of my stories about toilet humor that I've unintentionally inflicted upon my beloved friends).

I have never had a more attentive audience in my life than the folks who came to today's service. It was really incredible. I don't know if it was shock, if I had done a good job or what, but they were certainly paying attention. I think there might be a small advantage to my accent after all…

PTL and thanks for all who have been pr@ying for me and the work here. It is going VERY well, and I appreciate every thought, pr@yer, package, email, and phone call.

He IS here, and He is Risen!

The Ice Break

Ice floe. What a cool thing. Today I had Sasha and Zhanna over for dinner and after a lovely evening with some Chinese we went for a nice long walk to the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Tura river. And just happens that today was the breaking of the ice on the river! So we got to see HUGE chunks of ice floating down the river. Zhanna says that it's the first time she's EVER seen it and she's lived her whole life here. There's usually just one or two days and then it's all melted, so I count it as a special memory!!

Pook pook

What a funny story to share with you today. When joining a new culture there are so many things that we need to learn. Certainly the language, words, grammar, etc. comes first. Then we add on some customs (like never give even numbers of flowers unless it's a funeral!), and what kinds of food are good to eat, bring a bit of food when you visit someone's house, etc. And then there are gestures and sounds.

As I was installing an email program for the cultural center staff to use today, I was just making noises as I clicked the mouse. I was making a noise that I'd heard a child use. "pook, pook" I thought it was just some noise….

Turns out it the noise that expulsions of gas make from one's rear end. Вот так вот. I don't know how to say that in English. Maybe, that's just the way it is. Laugh with me my friends!

The funniest part was probably the distinguished Galina very delicately, and gently describing to me that it was an inappropriate sound for the office and what it really was used for in Russian!

American Corner

Today Zhanna and I took an excursion to "The American Corner" here in Tyumen. It's a small sub library from one of the libraries here in the city. They have lots of books and some media materials. I was frankly a little disappointed, I thought they would have more programs and some interesting materials… but it was really an INFORMATIONAL place only, so mostly history, government, politics and business stuff. I was hoping for a few more novels or things like that. The woman who runs the place was very excited to talk with us and showed us photographs of herself and every US consulate she's ever seen! I think I just had my expectations set too high that their library would be like our library at the cultural center only with different books. Alas. She was very nice and I think would make a good contact in the future though. I bet we could do some programming together with her.

Getting to and from the American Corner… that, however is an interesting story. Spring has sprung and Zhanna and I had our adventures cut out for us as it was literally an OLYMPIC event getting there and back. We had to cross bogs of mud, hurdle puddles of water, brave the Tyumen bus system, cross perilous streets with hurtling vehicles, skate across ponds of ice AND find the building. We had a couple good laughs on our way there, and the way home… I got another lucky ticket on the bus (really it was Zhanna's, but she gave it to me!) If I remember, I'll right you about lucky tickets soon…

Playing Hooky with Permission

I just got a call from my special guest for my lectures tonight at the University. We're talking about Mass Media and Marketing as our topic and turns out, there won't be any students today. The WHOLE building (in fact two of our buildings) are closed down because of a water problem. The irony of the whole thing is that I REALLY needed some extra time today to prepare for Sunday. I'm speaking (translation: delivering the message!) and it's not only daunting because it's Easter, but also because it's going to be in Russian. I keep starting over. Which is to say that I've had a lot of starts, pulled together great information, but in the long run - I'm not very far into the message and I've only got 5 more days.

I think perhaps this is what lots of p@st0rs feel like, especially when they're first starting. But I don't have all of their training! I guess in the long-run that's okay, because it just means I'll have to trust all the more on Him so that I'll do a good job. I think it's so ironic that most people would b e nervous about speaking in front of a group. Somehow, that fear isn't part of my set of fears... although with the Russian speaking I'm a bit more nervous... especially if I have to pr@y. There's a whole different set of vocabulary and people usually speed up!

This past Sunday I was helping out with Communi0n again and I was supposed to speak over the juice... but Sergei asked me to do it for the bread! I was all prepared for the other! I think it's amazing how much flexibility and humility is required in my current line of service, but the lessons have been invaluable.

Sometimes things just don't work...

Today I opened the CEC and it's a conflagration of things just not working. One of the toilets in the center isn't working today. We've been having on and off electrical problems associated with the fire alarm system being put in. We can't receive any incoming telephone calls. Amazing, huh? Well, we certainly added some pr@yer requests to our lists before heading out for the night. It's really amazing how quickly and easily we all adapt to these kinds of issues. In America I think we'd all be running around trying to get it fixed and really putting immediate effort into it. Here? We called the electrician, he can't come until tomorrow, so we wait.

Discussion club was interesting tonight. We talked about music again - and when we have focused topics like this I feel like I talk too much. But then one of them will say something like, they need to hear native speakers talking too. I also taught a lesson tonight about English homonyms and modal verbs. They are really so confusing for non-native speakers and honest, it's really difficult to teach too. I want to say... don't you just feel it? But I know how frustrating that is to hear!