So Saturday was the last bell...
Sunday afternoon I
went to a dance performance by some of the girls from the children's home
behind where I used to live. They were
discouraged they messed up one of the songs, I think it might have meant more
to the other kids from the home who saw that I came, but it was some pretty
impressive hip-hop dancing.
On Monday and Tuesday
I helped give exams at school. As you
may or may not know, Russian exams have an oral portion, and a set of topics
the students have to learn. Each student
draws one topic and has to tell you about it.
I was actually really good at giving the exams and supporting the
students to do their best on the oral portion, I really enjoyed that.
On Wednesday I finally went back to the second orphan home I've been visiting with Karina that's on Prospect Mira. There are two young German volunteers who work full-time there and do similar things to what we do...games, relationships, etc. And it was cool to meet them. We played some monopoly, uno, and football, before doing some wrestling…I managed to pin five guys at once in round one, but no more than three in the second round.
On Thursday I had
English class at the home where I used to live (8th Mkr). After an hour with my one student, a bunch of
the other kids came up and just wanted to practice reading. That was pretty fun, just sitting there and
having the kids coming to me, to practice English! (These aren’t the type-A students in school,
so this is really exciting!
On Friday we had a
movie night at my place. 10 peeps, mostly
from church, came over and we watched Gone
with the Wind. Yup, all four hours
complete with Overture, Intermission, and Exit Music. Popcorn and good times.
On Saturday I went
out to Novapakrovka as usual.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it was Children’s Day, and thus no
English class. The kids were more
interested in their new RC cars someone had donated, so I played a little
football and hung around, but left after a bit.
Saturday evening I went to this youth meeting I’ve been going to with my
friends from Russia. God used the message to convict me on a few points,
and I felt I needed to pray. Before I
made it to the window to sit and do so, one of the Americans on the team came
up and was like “I feel I need to pray for you.” And he prayed over me, praying for all sorts
of things he didn’t necessarily know about and exactly what I needed. It was like God was saying “Hey you, yes you,
I still love you and see you.”
Sunday I was at
church til 4pm with youth leadership meeting and our leadership class. After that I went to another service at the
International Church at 5pm. I was
hoping to network some, and within the first five minutes I’d met people from
the two other international organizations doing the work we hope to be doing
(and someone with the coffee shop I hope to play at soon). So I should be meeting with them in the next
few weeks and trying to learn all I can.
Monday we started our small gr-p...I mean, the weekly spontaneous celebration of my birth wherein we sing songs, drink tea, and encourage one other. ;)
Tuesday was our grand "end of the year" soviet. By grand, of course, I mean we heatedly debated the finer points of education and how to give exams for over four hours and were over an hour late for lunch. :) But it was good, I even participated. After that I chatted with the director, and he said "don't do anything illegal, we'll see you in August." So I"M FREE from school.
Somewhere Wednesday to Friday I lead worship with the team from Perm and watching Everything is Illuminated with them.
Wednesday was youth group, which involved the fruit game, stump the pastor questions, and some more games.
Thursday I got my hair cut at the 8th children's home. One of the girls had offered some time ago, so I thought "sure why not?" Didn't get to do any English, but it's all good. My hair's always been a challenge, and she did a great job. At many of the children's homes they have "workshops" like that so the students can learn a trade. Often a volunteer is either paid either by commission on items sewn or sometimes directly for the teaching. It's a pretty cool system, I definitely am impressed by the maturity level of a lot of the orphanage kids.Friday we went to the mountains to rest and picnic. Asel, an LCC student, came and visited. Her openness and encouragement was quite welcome.
Saturday at Novopokrovka we had English class...still need to create a curriculum for the older class. The younger kids had their endurance and alphabet knowledge tested reading Seuss' ABC Book, but they enjoyed it. One American, Rebecca, came to help me out, that could be cool having someone to work with there.
On Sunday evening we had a t-st-m-ny night. Twelve people from three nations and even more nationalities came and shared pieces of their stories, it was really powerful; following God isn't always easy in this part of the world. A couple people shared about their experiences with university corruption, others the reactions of their parents when they decided to dedicate their lives to serving God. A couple friends helped me make enough pizza to satiate the crowd. It was great.
Monday we started our small gr-p...I mean, the weekly spontaneous celebration of my birth wherein we sing songs, drink tea, and encourage one other. ;)
Tuesday was our grand "end of the year" soviet. By grand, of course, I mean we heatedly debated the finer points of education and how to give exams for over four hours and were over an hour late for lunch. :) But it was good, I even participated. After that I chatted with the director, and he said "don't do anything illegal, we'll see you in August." So I"M FREE from school.
Somewhere Wednesday to Friday I lead worship with the team from Perm and watching Everything is Illuminated with them.
Wednesday was youth group, which involved the fruit game, stump the pastor questions, and some more games.
Thursday I got my hair cut at the 8th children's home. One of the girls had offered some time ago, so I thought "sure why not?" Didn't get to do any English, but it's all good. My hair's always been a challenge, and she did a great job. At many of the children's homes they have "workshops" like that so the students can learn a trade. Often a volunteer is either paid either by commission on items sewn or sometimes directly for the teaching. It's a pretty cool system, I definitely am impressed by the maturity level of a lot of the orphanage kids.Friday we went to the mountains to rest and picnic. Asel, an LCC student, came and visited. Her openness and encouragement was quite welcome.
Saturday at Novopokrovka we had English class...still need to create a curriculum for the older class. The younger kids had their endurance and alphabet knowledge tested reading Seuss' ABC Book, but they enjoyed it. One American, Rebecca, came to help me out, that could be cool having someone to work with there.
On Sunday evening we had a t-st-m-ny night. Twelve people from three nations and even more nationalities came and shared pieces of their stories, it was really powerful; following God isn't always easy in this part of the world. A couple people shared about their experiences with university corruption, others the reactions of their parents when they decided to dedicate their lives to serving God. A couple friends helped me make enough pizza to satiate the crowd. It was great.
Monday, five people for group!
Tuesday, I went to the fountains with some of the kids from the Mira home and Karina. The kids really enjoyed my roommate's bicycle, we rode for quite some time, and there was quite the line. The kids at this place are pretty rough, but they're pretty awesome too.
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