So Many Events...

...I don't know where to start.

So I decided to start with my friend's wedding. She was beautiful and as far as I know, it all went off without any problems.

Then a week later a birthday party that I didn't want to go to, but still went to in spite of the desire to relax at home. It was a ton of fun. The minute I stepped in the door, the birthday girl asked if I would be willing to french braid her hair. We enjoyed playing UNO and chatting till late.

I was invited to a Latin-Gala concert. It was so beautiful. We got the front row because our seats were occupied on the second row. :) Not a bad spot. We got to see All the expressions of the musicians.
I took my friend to get her hair cut. She needed a translator and also loved the girl that I usually have do my hair. I was doing really well with the whole translating thing until she wanted a manicure. I don't have that vocabulary. I can talk about a car and getting your hair done in Russian, but you try to get me to explain what I need in a manicure, I am at a complete loss. :) Needless to say, the lady who was doing my friend's manicure, understood the word "buff". :) We all had a good laugh, when we found out that was the one English word she knew. I was saved!After Sunday fellowship, a bunch of us meet at a food court. This was the crowd that gathered this time. Huge! Sometimes it is only one to two tables. This time it was a ton of people. It is always fun getting so many people together.


Until next time.

Moving Around

I got to go to a summer home with one of my friends. We got to see and eat a bunch of home grown veggies.

A couple of months ago I wanted to and was encouraged to find a home with locals. It took some time, but the right one finally came along.

My new place: I am living in an 3 room apartment with 4 other girls. It reminds me of a dorm situation, except we all have our own things like toilet paper...

I share a room with one girl. It has been amazing just how things have worked out and how I found the place.

Snapshots

A friend of mine was determined to make me pose. Yes, it was torturous, but with a smile! :) I just don't pose in pictures, but if you have happened to see any pictures of the local people you will notice that they pose for pictures all the time. Sooo...
These trees of padlocks... When people get married, as part of their wedding day they hang a lock, usually with their names written on it, on one of these iron trees and throw the key in the river. These are some of my friends that were with me on a walk by the river one day.
Of course, the parks are beautiful. :) We went out, sat on the grass, and played UNO to our hearts content. It was just a relaxing day. The park was crowed, but you would never know it from this picture.
A friend of mine wanted to go for a boat ride up the Moscow River. It was another beautiful day.
Some more sites to see with friends that find it amazing that I haven't seen them yet...

While at a friend's the other day, we were getting ready to eat some cake that she had made, when we noticed their dog was also getting ready to eat it...

3 Feet from the Stage

The other day I went to a play "Dead Souls." It is a classic, here. I got to sit on the second row back! The stage was 3 feet in front of me! Crazy! But a good place to be to hear what was being said and see what was going on. And of course, since the play was in the local language it was helpful to be able to hear.

This was the view behind me. Amazing!

I also had the opportunity to go to a conference a couple of weeks back. It was a refreshing but very busy time. These are some of my friends that I was there with.

And of course, the living accommodations were a bit tight. 6 ladies in this tiny room. It was fun, though.

And meals were interesting. Exact amount of food for 8 adults at each table. Bread at every meal. Local food each time. Not bad.

21st century hanging out with friends:
We would chat occasionally, but a lot of time was spent on ipods, ipads, or phones seeing as this cafe had wireless internet.

There and Back Again...

Spending time with friends 2 days after I got back

Mom is doing really well and back to work


The Florida sun was amazing after a very long winter here.

One Extreme to the Next

Wow, what to say... So much has happened since I last wrote.

To start with... Mom caught this expression from me while I was talking to a friend just the other day. My friend had sent me a box of wool socks from the States and it never arrived to me in Moscow. She sent it in November. When I left the country the end of last month I still had not seen it. She called the other day and told me that it was JUST returned to her, the contents in a plastic bag! I guess the box was so dilapidated that the post office did not think it was worth saving. At least the socks were not lost!
So... since I last wrote... I have had surgery. The day after I was given the "all-clear", mom wrote to tell me she was just told she has cancer again. Wow, "what is Father doing", was my thought. I know He has it all under control, but sometimes things just don't make a whole lot of sense to me. I decided, after going on my knees many times and Mom unofficially asking, to go back to be with her. So that is where I am at at the moment, spending a lot of good time with her, and helping her after her surgery to recuperate. I am the driver in the family at the moment and probably will continue to be until I leave as she is not allowed to. I am also the cook, housekeeper, and sometimes secretary. Oh and I am keeping up with language lessons a couple of times a week. So, yes, I am somewhat busy. Here are a few pics of life before I left Moscow.One last moment with my friend who works in a belt shop.
Ohh, the fun we can have...
Our little guard lady was such a good sport, obviously not terribly happy at what we were doing.

Hanging out with a group of friends for Julie's birthday party. This is a typical crowd at out place. So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Communal Living

I just came back from an orphanage in Smolensk. It is a city about 6 hours west of Moscow. I went with some friends from a fellowship that I don't usually attend. It was a wonderful weekend to get out of the city, but sad to see so many kids without families.

We taught English class for about a hour on Saturday. It was a ton of fun and a good time to get to know the kids.

Everyone ate all meals together in a cafeteria. In fact, everything was done together/one big room: eating, sleeping (girls in one room, guys in anther), restrooms (one for girls and one for guys) and, studying.




Unless we went out for a walk, there was no time when you could be alone. It would be hard for me to live like that for a long time. I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the kids.

Christmas and New Years

So much food!
How did I get roped into singing with a group of friends? I have no idea!

I got to go to a play and we had wonderful seats!

For New Years we got to take a ride in a limousine!