Last Days in Saratov...

I am writing this on Monday morning, July 5. We leave Saratov tomorrow, to start our journey home. We will take an overnight train to Moscow, celebrate Katie's tenth birthday and spend a few days seeing the sights. On Friday, June 9 we will board a 4 hour train to St. Petersburg. We will spend the weekend there, taking an overnight train back to Moscow. We will have one day in Moscow where we plan to meet up with our friends, Kate and Ann from Nizhni Novgorod. On July 13 we board our plane for our 11 hour flight back to the states!

Our feelings are mixed. In many ways we are VERY excited to come home. We miss our home, our friends, and our family. We miss steaks on the grill, speaking English without having to carefully choose our words, fitted sheets and many other things that we take for granted in our country. On the other hand, it is very hard to leave. We have met some wonderful people here in Russia. We thought our last few days here might be a bit boring (just waiting around to leave). Instead, our telephone has been ringing off the hook, all of our friends have been calling wanting to see us one more time before we leave.

We finally made it over to Engles (the town on the opposite side of the Volga). A student took us to a swimming beach there and we had a lot of fun. We are planning a last visit to our favorite pastry shop tonight, a quick stop at Bookberry to pick up a book for the train, and a last visit to the covered market to pick up some snacks for the train.

We have been abundantly blessed by our time here. We have made new friends, learned about living in another culture, and been touched by the hospitality shown to us. I'm thankful that we have no regrets - I don't think we turned down any invitations that were made to us, we tried new things (kvass!!!), we resisted the urge to hole up in our flat (especially in the winter). The kids are glad we came, we have grown stronger as a family and we have lots of new friends who we hope will come to visit us in the States.

I am not sure if I will be able to post anything in Moscow/Peterburg due to internet access, but I will certainly add thing when we get home. I'll conclude this post with some photos of our time here, enjoy...Statue of Lenin located in Lenin Square by our flat, February 2010

Amy and Ken as Russians - Regional Museum, March, 2010

The Family at Saratov State Technical University, March 2010

Sobinov Conservatory on Prospect Kirova, April 2010

Katie and Dylan at Victory Park with Saratov/Volga in background, April 2010

A Cruise on the Volga in Nizhni Novgorod with our friends, Kate and Ann - May 2010

Trinity Cathedral

Assuage our Sorrows Church

or

Church of Taking our Sorrows Away

Dacha with Dima and his family - June 2010

Ken at the Sanatorium - June 2010

Birthday, Babushka's and Dachas...

We've had some fun in the last few weeks here in Saratov. On June 5th some students planned an excursion to the Volga and the Regional Museum. We had been to the Museum several times but this time was extra special: they had a butterfly exhibit. One room was closed off and filled with butterflies! We had a picture taken by the staff of the kids with butterflies on them. Dylan's butterfly flew away before I could snap a photo but here is a great one of Katie and her butterfly friends!





The next weekend we went on a picnic with the folks from the church that we have been attending. We rode a marshrutka to the forest, hiked a bit and as in all Russian picnics, found some firewood for shashlyk (kebobs). The girls wandered the surrounding area for flowers to make crowns and the guys played some soccer. Dylan played and was a tough cookie - he took a few hits (those Russian guys play to win)!
Pictured in this photo are Albert (a student at Sobinov Conservatory - wearing the flower crown and Peter the pastor of the church). We had a chance to sing and a few folks shared their testimonies. It was a beautiful day to be outside with our friends.

June is also important because we celebrated Ken's 38th birthday on the 15th. We had cake from our favorite bakery, the kids sang Ken a song, made pictures and gave him his gift (at least he got a photo of the gift that it waiting for him back in OH courtesy of Amazon (backpacking stuff!). We've had 2 birthdays in Russia so far (Amy and Ken), Dylan had his birthday this year at America's Best Value Inn (when our van broke down in SC) and Kate will celebrate her birthday in Moscow in a few weeks!

We have hit a bit of a lull here in Saratov - we've seen the sights, had lots of fun, read all of our books and have some days when it is hot outside and we feel a bit of boredom creeping into our days. To help alleviate this for the kids we took them to the store and let them each pick something out. Dylan chose a dart board and Katie took up counted cross stitch. She is becoming quite the crafty girl - enjoying knitting and now cross stitch!

We have had the wonderful opportunity to visit some dachas as well. Dachas are summer homes (many are not weatherproofed for winter weather) where the Russians spend most of their summer weekends. Dachas are not for relaxation as much as they are a place to grow food that will sustain families through the winter. We were invited by Dima's family (Dima is Dylan's friend) to their dacha which was about an hours drive out of the city. In this photo are Dima, his parents, grandma and great aunt/uncle. They were a warm family and welcomed us despite not speaking English! Despite this barrier we had a lovely day. We spent a good portion of the day eating. The family prepared a fish soup with a fish from the Volga. I was a bit uncertain, especially when I saw the fish head floating in the pot, however, it was delicious!




This is a picture of Babushka Valia with myself and Katelynn at the Dacha!





We also had the chance to visit our friend Nellie's dacha. She became friends with American Missionaries a few years ago who asked her what her dream was. She shared that her dream was to own a dacha. They gave her $250 (raised in America to be given to bless someone). She was able to buy her dacha with that money! The house on the land is a bit rustic but very serviceable and we had a lovely day there.

Nellie's Dacha

Katie and Dylan had fun picking strawberries, cooling off in the wading pool and of course eating some yummy food. I fell in love with salad made with dill from the dacha (I think I will be adding dill to my garden in OH)!

Nellie and Amy

We are nearing the end of our time in Russia and our thoughts are definitely turning towards home. We have been watching the World Cup and cheering on the USA, visiting all of our favorite places for a final time and making preparations for home. On Sunday we are heading to a Sanatorium for a conference with the University. Ken will be doing some presentations and the kids and I will be hanging out. We will be back in Saratov for a few days and then on July 6 will head to Moscow/St. Petersburg for some sightseeing before heading home on JULY 13!!!!

Outing in the Woods and Other Adventures...

As I write we have only 5 weeks left in Russia. The next few will be fairly laid back - Ken does not have a lot of commitments at the University and we do not have a lot of plans. We were wondering what we would do with our free time and have been so blessed by all of the wonderful people we have met here who call and arrange excursions for us!

Valentina (Valia) works in the International office and she took us to a hiking area on the outskirts of Saratov. We climbed up (and I mean straight up) a hill and collected branches for a fire. Valia's boyfriend came and we roasted potatoes in the hot coals. I am always amazed that we can make a fire wherever we would like! Below is a picture of the hill that we climbed - There were no switchbacks we just went straight up, which was intense, but fine. Going down was a little riskier (Katie and I both slid a little too much for comfort)! We also walked a little further and discovered some nice hiking trails - we are looking forward to going back and having a picnic in the woods!

The next day, Dima, a student from the University, arranged for us to go to another forest. We met his friends; Sasha and Lena. We hiked into the mountains and stopped for a rest and had tea! We also tried Kvass. Since the beginning of Spring we have noticed Kvass stands all over the city. Kvass is a beverage and we have heard differing reports. Some folks like it, others don't...some insist that there is no alcohol, others think there is a little... some say it is perfectly safe to buy off of the street, others think maybe that's not so wise. We had been wanting to try it but were also a bit hesitant. Dima solved our problem by bringing some Kvass on the hike. This was made by his family and he is of the opinion that there is a little bit of alcohol. Kvass has three ingredients- bread, sugar and water. Ken tried it and sort of liked it, Dylan tried it and did not like it, I tried it and finished my small glass but did not ask for more, Katie opted for juice!

After our tea break we headed into the forest to hike to a horse farm. Dima made arrangements for us to ride some horses owned by his friends. The kids were excited to ride the horses and we all had a lot of fun. The forest was beautiful - we saw wildflowers, a birch grove and of course some wild Russian dogs. We happened upon a dog that was resting in a large mud puddle. I wish that I could rescue all of the wild dogs that we see roaming the streetShortly after this outing in the woods we went on a picnic with our friend Nellie and her students. Nellie teaches English and Katie has been going to her classes to help. Katie has loved this chance to hang out with other kids and Nellie has enjoyed having a native English speaker so it has worked out well for everyone. We rode a bus out to the forest. The bus left the road and we were bouncing along dirt paths and finally stopped in the middle of nowhere! First thing we did - start a fire of course! The kids played games, we ate family sausage (hot dogs), and had a fun day. Dylan made a new friend, Dima. We think he found his kindred spirit. Dima and Dylan played soccer and were observed sword fighting with sticks. It was fun for Dylan to finally find a friend and have a good time with other kids! Dima called tonight - it was so funny to answer the phone and have someone ask for Dylan!

We are looking forward to another hike in the woods tomorrow, on Friday we are going to the Dacha (summer house) with Nellie (we hear her strawberries are ready) and on Saturday we are going on a picnic with friends from church. Time is speeding by!

During the last week in June we will be at a conference with the University. Ken will be participating and the kids and I are going along to see something have some fun. The conference will be at a Sanatorium (sort of like a spa/resort but I think not as fancy) near the Volga. Hopefully it will be a nice change of pace for all of us.

I've included these photos of Dylan - we went to check on him one night before we went to bed and found him sleeping in this hilarious pose...

Ken has been having an ongoing battle with the drapes in our flat. In our first week here, Katie and Dylan managed to get tangled in the drapes in Dylan's room and pulled them crashing to the floor. Without proper tools, Ken finally managed to rehang them only to have them crash down about a month later. He fixed them and in the middle of the night they fell again, and again the next night. He finally secured Dylan's drapes only to have ours fall down a week ago. Ken fixed them and they fell again. They are currently lying on a pile on the floor - the main annoyance is that it gets light here very early (4 am) and our windows are wide open letting in the light. I took this photo while Ken was working on our bedroom drapes, he was not amused that I was documenting this episode of our stay - he's spent far too much time during this sabbatical fixing drapes...

We are still working out our travel plans for July but expect to leave Saratov on July 6 to go to Moscow and perhaps St. Petersburg. We fly home on July 13.

BOREDOM

Katelynn's getting over a cold, Dylan's getting a cold. We are housebound and boredom is setting in...UGH!

Nizhny Novgorod

Our family took off on Saturday, May 15th for a few days in Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny is about 400 miles from Saratov and we traveled there by train. We explored other options (flying or a cruise up the Volga) but quickly learned that a 21/22 hour (one way) train ride was our only option! We left our flat a little before 7 am on Saturday morning and walked to a nearby bus stop. The bus took us and our luggage to the train station. The conductor on the bus didn't charge us for the children, but did charge us for the 2 suitcases. No biggie - bus fare is very inexpensive here (7 Roubles). We got to the station and into our compartment with little trouble. As mentioned before, Russian trains are an experience never to be forgotton! We were in a second class carriage which consists of double bunk beds. The beds have a tiny bit of padding and there are bed rolls and pillows. The pillows are down (based on the feathers floating around) but heavy and about as comfortable as rocks. The bed rolls are old and worn and provide little cushion. Passengers are provided with CLEAN sheets and pillowcases. Our train to Nizhny was not the cleanest train (apart from the sheets) - the bathroom defies description. To all my germophobic friends out there - you may want to avoid this train... Let's say that we made good use of our Purell! We were much better prepared for the train this time as compared to our arrival in Russia. We even managed to have some fun (Ken hopped off at one of the stops and bought some ice cream which was a nice treat for all of us)!

We arrived in Nizhny at 5:30 the next morning. There were two students from the University where Ken was lecturing there to meet us, Kate and Ann (twins), and they proved to be one of the best things about Nizhny! Later in the week we also got to meet Sasha and he was a wonderful new friend as well. Kate, Ann and Sasha all spoke English and took it upon themselves to show us their city. I think we all fell in love with Nizhny. It is situated on the Volga and Oka Rivers and is picturesque! We spent a lot of time just walking around the city, admiring the churches, the monuments, the architecture and of course the Kremlin.

Nizhny's Kremlin was the first Kremlin that we saw and it was impressive! We had lunch in a restaurant inside the Kremlin. Ordering was interesting - it was a very large menu and there was no English menu. With the help of Ann and Kate we tried to order several things off of the menu, only to be told that they weren't available. We finally got some food and although ordering was challenging, the food was delicious, and we all had a chance to try Borsch. We all liked it to varying degrees, Katie was the least enthusiastic, I could have done without the sour cream. Dylan and Ken were happy! Interestingly, Ann and Kate both shared that they disliked borsch, perhaps from having to eat it too much when they were children.
We saw many beautiful churches...

Went for a cruise on the Volga...

And, Sasha used his connections to get the kids free rides at a local amusement park and entrance into their zoo. The amusement park was wild - the bumper cars were fast and made a major impact! At the zoo, the kids got to hold a baby fox and we got to see the bears (Misha and Masha) getting fed!

In addition to touring the city, Ken completed several lectures at the University about Social Work in America and he was also able to visit a local drug and alcohol rehab facility for his research. We were also able to meet with 3 Americans who are currently making their home in Nizhny.

All in all we had a very busy but fun week! We enjoyed our mini vacation, had the opportunity to make some wonderful new friends and got to see a very beautiful Russian city. Ann and Kate enjoy traveling and we are doing our best to convince them to visit us in America!

All too soon it was time to head for the train to come home. Ann, Kate and Sasha got us safely on board, negotiated with another passenger so that the four of us could be in the same cabin (we were unable to get tickets all together and had to trade) and gave us some delicious sandwiches and sweets from Nizhny to see us home. I confess to crying as our train pulled out of the station - we couldn't have spent the week with nicer people. I hope to meet them again someday!

Our journey home was interesting. We left at 7 pm on Thursday night. The good news is that this train was significantly cleaner. We still made good use of our Purell, but in general there was a much better bathroom situation. On Friday some policemen boarded the train and asked to see our passports. Ken showed them copies, they perused them and were on their way...Not sure what that was all about. Ken almost got kicked out of our cabin - the person we switched with had left the train and they were going to put the new passenger in our cabin. Again, that person was kind enough to switch so that we could all be together as a family. We finally pulled into Saratov at 5:40 pm and caught a bus home.

So, the vacation is over but we are realizing how quickly our time here is ending. We fly back to the States on July 13 (here's hoping that ash from Iceland doesn't disrupt anything). Please keep us in your prayers as we get through this last month and a half. We are excited to come home, sad as we start our lasts (I just changed our last water filter:), and have all kinds of things to do in the time that we have left (souvenier shopping, Ken has some surveys to get completed and he hopes to see some more rehabs). Thanks to all of you who keep in touch via FB, email and skype. Looking forward to seeing you soon and trying some of those pretzel M&M's I have been hearing about!

Victory and Defeat

May 9 was the celebration of Victory Day here in Russia. Victory Day is the day that the Russians celebrate winning The Great Patriotic War (WWII). There is a very strong feeling that Russians were responsible for winning the war and in fact their casualties in the war were staggering. I believe that around 28 million soldiers died with about 40 million soldiers and people killed during the war. Russians take great pride in the part that they played in WWII. This extends to the younger generation and is something that seems to bind them together. We spent Victory Day with a group of Russians that we have gotten to know through church (these are our firefighting friends)!

We gathered at our flat for a pot luck meal. It was a bit crazy with all of us gathered in one place but we had a lot of fun. We headed out in the evening for Lenin Square to watch the fireworks. It was a busy but very fun day. We have so enjoyed getting to know this wonderful group of people.

The Monday after Victory Day was a holiday and we walked down to the embankment in the evening. There are lights along the Volga and on the bridge and we have been wanting to see them lit up at night. While we were waiting for the lights to turn on we grabbed some ice cream and let the kids try the water balls. Along the embankment they have all kinds of activities: bikes to rent, inflateables and the WATER BALLS. They inflate the balls (with you inside of them) with an air blower, zipper you in, and seal the zipper with a strip of plastic that gets velcroed down. Then they push you and your ball into a pool of water. Both kids were a little nervous about this activity but decided to give it a try and had a lot of fun. They said that they felt like gerbils in a ball. I think that we had as much fun watching them as they had playing in the balls! After they were unzipped, the lights began to turn on and we walked along the embankment for a while before heading home.

So that's our story about Victory Day and now our story about Defeat... Ken and Dylan woke up at 5:30 to watch the last half of the Cav's game. Dylan is very bummed at their loss to Boston. If you know Dylan you understand his intensity and he is a passionate Cav's fan. He is not having the best morning...

We are gearing up for our trip to Nizhny. We are supposed to leave tomorrow but as with all things Russia, it is not going as planned. Masha, from the University, went to purchase our train tickets and learned that there are no 2nd class tickets available. We have heard that this train is "not as nice" as the train from Moscow, and were advised to travel 1st or 2nd class. Well, this train has no 1st class and the 2nd class was all booked. There is no other way to get to Nizhny - no flights, no cruise up the Volga... Masha is looking into 3rd class tickets. 3rd class is an open car (as opposed to a private 4 person room in 2nd). We are open to giving 3rd class a try but wonder how well we will sleep in a large group setting. We are also unsure if there are even 4 3rd class tickets available. So, it's the day before we are to leave and we aren't sure if there are tickets, not sure what time we leave, how we will get to the train station... We are trying to summon up our adventurer's spirit!

Fire

We had a very interesting weekend. In Russia, May 1st is a celebration for workers. Similar to our Labor Day. We went out on Saturday for a walk to the Volga and while we were out we saw street performers, many outside stands had opened and there was a general feeling of celebration. We ventured out onto the Volga Bridge (there is a walking path on the bridge). Halfway across the bridge (about 1 mile) you can descend some steps to a small beach. We walked around the beach and the kids had fun swinging and exploring. I was a wreck as we walked on the bridge. It looked as if it had been constructed A LOOOONG time ago. There were holes in the concrete and at times I could see through the bridge to the Volga below! The kids thought it was hysterical that I was so nervous about the condition of the bridge. After our trip on the bridge we were all tired and we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. There were some pictures on the menu so we pointed to order. We thought we ordered chicken for the kids, turns out that they got duck! The kids were great that day, we walked over 6 miles and they didn't complain at all!

On Monday we went on a picnic. Our friends, Todd and Katya were going to the forest with some of their friends from church and they invited us to join them. We drove about 20 miles out of Saratov to get to the forest. We were excited to leave the city for the first time since we have been here. As we left the city there were many wide open places. Most people live in the cities and the rest of the land is not owned by anyone. You can camp, picnic etc. in any of these places. There are no regulations about where you go and what you do. So, we pull into the forest and get a fire going for some kebobs. As we are sitting and relaxing we notice quite a bit of smoke behind us. Apparantly we were in the midst of a forest fire! Our friends called the fire department and then proceeded to grab blankets and head to the fire to work on putting it out. Ken, myself and another couple stayed back to watch the kids and pack up should the fire get too close. The other couple noted that the fire department might take a while to come (this being a holiday weekend and all). There were a few tricky moments when the fire was quite near us. Twice we packed up and were getting ready to go. Ken and I were both nervous about the whole situation. The fire was very close and we were both thinking about how quickly fire can move, spread and change direction. After an hour the fire department came and worked on extinguishing the flames. They were very thankful to our friends for their efforts in putting out the fire. Ken was joking that the fire was the "Russian way to BBQ" which just cracked up one of the guys, who quickly got us kebobs to pose with. The fire was still burning at this point, but there is only smoke in the distance in this shot! Except for the fire, we had a lovely day out in the forest. The fresh air was great for all of us and we came home tired but happy!

Some days are better than others...

(Photo - Katie and Dylan posing on top of WWII memorial)

We are at the halfway point in our time here in Saratov. We have had some high points and some low points. Some of our favorite things have been exploring our new city, visiting our local pastry shop, getting to make new friends and learn about another culture. However, with the good also comes the difficult. We all miss easy conversations in English, we are weary of the constant need to pick of this and that at the market/store and I think some of the culture shock has set in. Today, I had a little temper tantrum and wished for home! I began cooking dinner in plenty of time to have it ready between 5:30/6:00. I went to turn off a burner but accidently turned off the stove. What’s the big deal you ask? Well, I went to turn the stove on and it was locked and would not turn on. This has happened before and if I waited a few minutes it would turn back on. Well, a few minutes turned into 2 hours. I ended up cooking our pork chops individually in our tiny microwave (no oven, remember???) So, in the grand scheme of things, this was a minor problem but today it was enough to push me over the edge!

Katie too, has had some bouts of wanting to go home. Tuesday was a rough day for her. She was missing the dogs, missing friends, missing her room and was having a rough time concentrating on schoolwork. In the evening we went to our weekly appointment with a class that is learning English. She really loves being with the other kids and she later told me that going there turned the day around for her. So, I am thankful for the teacher Nellie who has opened up her classroom to us!

Ken has been running here and there for various speaking engagements. Today, he was at a high school speaking to students. This evening he was invited to a local business to speak to an “English Club” there. The business turned out to be a tobacco processing plant. While thankful for all of these opportunities, Ken is going to be cutting back to focus on doing some research. He has plans on Friday to talk to a local pastor about visiting some local drug and alcohol treatment facilities. Addiction is a serious issue in Russia and AIDS is a growing epidemic. Addiction is of course, Ken’s area of expertise so the upcoming weeks should be interesting as he gets to tour some of these facilities.

Dylan is flying high from our recent visit to Victory Park. Victory Park is on the hillside in Saratov and is full of tanks, planes, and helicopters from WWII as well as more recent wars. Dylan was in his glory exploring all the military memorabilia. We are approaching Victory Day (the day they Russians celebrate winning WWII). It’s hard to understand the mentality here, but the war is deeply significant to Russians. We’ve been told that America lost approx. 1 million lives in the war. Russians lost approximately 40 million. A staggering number! There is a monument in Victory Park that is set on an immense mound of dirt. The story is that there was a pail of dirt brought to represent every soldier who died in the war. So Victory Day is approaching and we understand that this is a huge Russian holiday. There will be fireworks (set off quite near our flat) and celebrations. We are unsure if we will be here for Victory Day, it coincides with our planned trip to Nizhny. We will keep you posted! This is a picture of the monument. You can see the mound of earth that it was built upon. A sad reminder of the many, many Russian lives that were lost during WWII.

On the bright side – we were told that they are coming on Friday to install internet. We don’t know if the connection speed will be better than what we have now, but at least it won’t be pay as you go! We are all keeping our fingers crossed!

Daily Life

This picture kind of sums up life here - fun and a little bit crazy! (The real story is that Katie and Dylan were having a great time one day making and wearing masks - I love their creativity!)

I thought I would share a little bit about life on a daily basis for our family… The average day begins with Dylan rising and shining very early. I will confess that I have served Dylan only a few breakfasts in the time that we have been here. Ken gets up before me (big surprise) and usually feeds the kids and heads out for a run. I stumble out anywhere from 7-9. For most of our time here I have struggled with sleeping well. I think it is a combination of a different bed/pillow/ and perhaps even the time change. I usually find myself sinking into a deep sleep around 5 or 6 am (evening in OH time).

We start school around 9:30 in the morning, sometimes earlier, sometimes later. Homeschooling has gone better than I expected but we have faced some difficulties. We were planning on utilizing the internet to enhance lessons, get books and find resources to add to the curriculum. Our internet has been expensive (pay as you go) so we use it when we need it but we have been much more limited than we originally planned. Katie and Dylan have worked very hard on their lessons. We have had very little time off (no spring break, no holidays) and so we are approaching the end of their lessons. We still have a few more weeks to go. Once we reach the end of the text books we are going to do some work on typing, study some of Russia’s history, and some other learning related activities – this will help to fill our days!

We break for lunch around noon – Katie has been very helpful in the kitchen. She is eager to prepare her own lunches and is cooking simple dinners like spaghetti. After lunch the kids finish up their lessons. They both have been working on their own power point presentations of our time here in Russia. It has been fun watching them put these together.

After school, we play games, go shopping for food, take a walk etc. Obtaining food feels like a sometimes daily endeavor. We usually buy fruit and snacks once a week, we go to the large supermarket every other week, and we have frequent trips to our corner market, Socialism (isn’t that a great name???) and the covered market throughout the week to pick up juice, chickens, cheese, milk, bread etc. We are limited to buying what we can carry. Ken has really come in handy due to his ability to carry much more than the rest of us!

We try to plan outings during the week (last week we visited City Park - Ken and the kids are playing on the equipment at City Park in this photo). This week we have tickets to the ballet. We also have had numerous engagements throughout the city to judge contests, visit classrooms and give talks.

So we are busy, but still suffer occasional bouts of homesickness. Many people ask us what we miss…Here are a few things (not including the obvious; family, friends, pets):
• Speaking English (we have many opportunities to speak English but are always trying to speak very clearly, hunting for synonyms, trying not to use idioms…)
• Fitted sheets – how do they not have these????
• Baking (for Amy)
• Chocolate Chip cookies (for Ken)
• I think we would all love a good steak (we can buy steak here, but try cooking it on a stove top – ugh)
• The kids both miss not having had a chance to play with/enjoy many of the gifts that they received for Christmas

Our hot water is still off but we have (ok, Ken has) conquered the hot water heater. We have hot water for dishes and scalding is rare! I often think of the many Russians who do not have hot water heaters and what this time must be like for them. We have been told that it will be off until the end of the month. Imagine being an average Russian and not having any hot water for 1/2 the month!

Thanks to all of you who take the time to read our blogs, email us, and help us to remain connected. Sometimes we feel very far away and your emails, Facebook posts and other communications help us to feel not so alone! If you have any topics you would like for me to address, please let me know, it would be fun to answer your questions!

Becoming A Celebrity

Ken has been doing some speaking at various groups in the city. There is a group that meets every other Monday at a nearby Library. This group is called the American Corner. They meet to discuss things about America – culture, current events etc. Ken has also given a talk for SELTA (Saratov English Language Teachers Association). As a result word has gotten out that there are Americans in town! We have been inundated with requests to judge various events. Ken judged a speech competition; I judged a singing competition and a skit/play competition. All of these took place in English and the organizers were excited to have native English speakers to judge the presentations.

The skit competition was in an elementary school in the city. Getting to and from the school was interesting. The person who invited us arranged for a car to get us to the school. We were driven by the son of the woman who is the “Minister of the Department of Education for all English Instruction.” That is not her exact title but hopefully you get the idea. Interestingly enough, despite being in charge of English Education, she doesn’t speak English. We arrived at the school and none of the roads around the school were paved. The dirt road was full of potholes large enough to swallow a small car. On the way home we shared a taxi with another woman. She called several times for a taxi but was having difficulty because they could not figure out where the school was. She informed us that the street name occurs in 2 other places in the city. We ended up waiting for the driver who brought her to the school as he knew where it was located.

The competition was wonderful! The children sang songs in English, and performed skits in English that reminded us of home. A few of our favorites were Peter Pan, The Jungle Book and The Wizard of Oz. At the end of the competition the Minister of Education was speaking (in Russian) and I confess to zoning out a bit. That is, until she handed the microphone to me. I looked to the women with me who explained that she would like me to make, “A few remarks.” Now, if you know me, you know that I do NOT enjoy public speaking, but I pulled it together, faced a sea of faces and made my remarks! Ken has been teasing me mercilessly about this! We also met Nellie at the competition. She was another judge who confided that she was not going to judge the competition until she learned that Americans would be there. She brought a Dr. Seuss book for the children, got our phone number and has already invited us to her school to speak.

This photo is from the skit Peter Pan, the girl holding the crocodile is Sveta. Her father is from OH and has been in Saratov for 13 years. We had the pleasure of meeting them. Katie was thrilled to spend some time with Sveta and we are really enjoying getting to know the family better!

The next day we were invited to a local English school. This is an elementary school that focuses heavily on teaching the English language. Ken walked with the kids and I to the school and then proceeded on to the University. I went to the door, buzzed to be let in, asked for the teacher I was supposed to meet and was met by a blank stare. I asked the woman if she spoke English, she responded, “Nyet” and slammed the door in my face. We tried another door and found someone a little more helpful. I gathered from her hand signals and my limited knowledge of Russian that we were at the wrong school. We continued down the street looking for the school we wanted. We had the address but not all of the buildings had numbers on them. We found another school on the next block and assumed that this was the correct school (how many schools could be on one street?). Unfortunately, we were again at the wrong school! We continued another block and found our destination. We entered the classroom and found that they had prepared tea for us. We had tea and cake and shared about life in America. The students had many questions for Katie and Dylan. We learned a bit about the Russian school system – they begin their school day around 8 and end at 1:30, however, they have school on Saturday and receive 4-5 hours of homework each night. There are not enough schools in Saratov for all of the children and some students go to a “second shift” of school and have school in the afternoon and into the evening.

Many people comment that we are the first Americans that they have ever met. They have many questions for us about America. We try to answer as truthfully as we can and share both the good and the bad about America. Many people are very surprised at our honesty in sharing some of the troubles our nation faces. These conversations have been some of the best moments that we have had while here in Saratov.

On another note:
• We are looking forward to a week that should be in the 50’s, however, we can still find piles of snow/ice on the ground.
• A special hello to Aunt Nancy, Dave and Dan (heard that you were keeping up with our adventures)!
• We have become huge fans of roasted chicken. These are similar to rotisserie chickens that we buy in our supermarkets in America. Here they are sold mainly by street vendors. They use a mystery seasoning that makes them slightly different, but much better than home!
• Our April 15th deadline has come and gone…the heat is off as is the hot water! Heat and hot water are centrally supplied. Every year, after the heat is turned off, they turn off the hot water for maintenance. We are unsure how long the hot water will be off. We are fortunate to have a hot water heater in our flat. It is very temperamental, sometimes we freeze, sometimes we scald ourselves but at least we aren’t boiling water for baths!