July 3

Today was a day filled with lots of learning! We started the day with breakfast (cereal), and then devotions outside followed by quiet time to be with God. Then us non-Russians (there are 4 of us) had a seminar in Russian culture. Some of the things we learned:

- Russians are very tidy in their own spaces (their homes are always clean and neat). Public spaces are not clean (a result of communism - if it belongs to everybody it belongs to nobody...therefore nobody takes responsibility for the public spaces

- Russians have no word in their language for "privacy" - another result of communism - they may not knock, give you space, etc. They will also ask bold, invasive questions.

- Russians are very blunt and direct

- they like to sit around and drink tea - being late for something is a normal thing here

- life is a daily fight for survival - Russia does not have good benefit systems, health care, etc.

- a respectful appearance is very important to Russians. They always wear a nice outfit when they go out - never frumpy - many Russians can only afford to have one nice outfit, so they always wear it out. They take very good care of it. They also care a lot about their shoes - the are shoe shining stops, and also people will stop and clean their own shoes while they are out.

- Russians are unpredictable, spontaneous - don't generally plan ahead

- Russians are hospitable - they want to present a good home for your visit

- the "Russian Soul" guides daily life -  it is whe all the feelings are and is unpredictable and uninhibited (ie. one day their soul may have done a lot of work but the next day their soul is not feeling up to it.)

- Russian society has lots of corruption

- many new Christians have come from prison, drugs, etc.

- theft is a big issue

- Russians don't like to keep the law - especially if no one is looking - therefore the law is very punitive 

- most families are divorced, with the father missing. Therefore "grandmothers carry the country on their shoulders", men are irresponsible

- health is very important to Russians - therefore using a healthy body as a metaphor for explaining the gospel is effective

- avoid political conversations with Russians - they believe westerners have a political agenda and are trying to change Russia

- Russia covers 11 time zones

- the population of Russia is 145 million

Church differences:

- 70% say they are orthodox (they know about Christianity but are not committed believers - only about 2-4% go to church

- we believe that we all sin but God has given us the gift of Jesus to bridge the gap. God loves us and has saved us even though we are sinners

- Orthodox believes they are "getting into shape" to be in God's kingdom - God gives his grace and that helps them on their way to salvation. Salvation happens gradually - it is a journey they don't finish until they get to heaven. 

- we want to bridge the gap between church and life

- Orthodox sees them as separate - they want to leave the corrupt world and get salvation

 - we sing joyful thanks to God for saving us

- they sing minor songs praying for mercy

- orthodox Sunday services are 2 hours with 2 or 3 sermons & communion. People can only take communion if they have gone through confession. 

- new Christians have to pray a prayer of repentance in front of their church congregation, then do a discipleship program, and then get asked questions by the board. The board votes on whether or not they should become a member of the church. If they are voted in, they then proceed with baptism.

Next we had a team meeting and discussed what we wanted to bring to the experience and what we wanted to get out of it. Then we got a run down of where and when we are going. 

For Friday and Saturday we will be doing a kids club at the orphanage in Yurga for three ours in the morning. After lunch we will do practical work around the orphanage like painting the walls

On Sunday we will go to church and then do some sightseeing in Yurga.

Monday and Tuesday we are at an orphanage in Tomsk doing the kids camp we did in Yurga with practical work after lunch. On Tuesday evening we will get together to pray and discuss how things went.

On Wednesday we will be going to an outdoor museum to learn about Russian culture.

For Thursday, Friday & Saturday we will live in tents near an orphanage in Kemerovo. There will be no running water, and they will dig a hole under a small tent for the bathroom. We will be cooking meals over a fire. :) For these three days we will do a kids club in the mornings at an orphanage and then in the afternoons at a school.

Saturday night we will move to a local church and have rest. Then a Sunday sermon, sharing testimonies, food, and then come back to OM in Novosibirsk.

During our trip we will ride on a ship twice to get to the different locations.

After the meeting we had lunch (sausage, potatoes & salad), and then had a Russian language lesson. Then we did worship and prayer together, followed by another team meeting. At this meeting we planned our roles for the camp and learned the schedule and activities.

Then we had a BBQ outside. It was raining, so we gathered under a parachute hung over a trampoline frame. I had cucumber and tomatoes. I'm going to need a granola bar before bed!

Then we had a third team meeting and finished planning the rest of camp. 

I have so much more to say but once again I can't keep my eyes open!! 

Oh - and my luggage finally came! Yay!!!!!

Itinerary 1

July 2

Our plane was an hour late landing in Novosibirsk due to weather. When we landed it was really foggy. In first class they gave each of us a package of tea to take with us!

At the baggage claim I waited and waited again, but my luggage never came. Jonathan (he works for OM Russia) found me and brought me to the rest of the group that had flown in. Two others were missing their luggage too. The next flight from Moscow was coming in an hour, so we had tea and waited, because they said the luggage might come on that plane. One person's bag came, but myself and one guy are still missing ours. I hope it comes before we leave Novosibirsk!

When we were having tea, one person ordered hot chocolate. The hilarious part was what she got: a cup of melted chocolate and a spoon! I think that's pretty awesome!

The ride from the airport to the OM house was about 40 minutes. By that time I was feeling so horrible - with a bad headache, nausea and dizziness. Everytime I stood I felt like the floor was moving. I didn't look out the window much on the ride, but when I did I saw a huge, orange light up sign that said "Sex Shop". Hmmmmm.

The OM house has 2 parts - one part is older and then last summer they built a walkway and an addition. That is where we a sleeping. Just as in Hungary, I have a top bunk :) They were taking us around the house to show us the place and to meet everybody, but I just felt so sick I had to lay down. I ended up sleeping for about 2 hours and then felt much better. Aside from feeling physically sick, I was also feeling very homesick and just wanted to come home.

By the time I got up it was time for lunch. We had borscht. There was also this egg salad but it had crab in it. After lunch we had worship. I felt a lot better after that. theres something about worshiping together that makes you remember you have family everywhere in Christ.
Then we played some get to know you games, including the human knot. In another game we had to draw a clock and then make "appointments" with someone else for each of the designated times (ie. 2:00, 5:00' 12:00, etc...). Then the leader called out a time and a discussion topic. You had to find the person you had booked for that time and talk with them on the topic (ie. share your testimony, what is your biggest dream, what do you value most in people, etc.). Some were quite interesting since some of use only speak English and some only speak Russian! After games we had a tea break (I think I'm gonna like it here!!), and then we went out to see Novosibirsk. We rode a bus and then the Metro (subway), and walked around taking pictures and posing for pictures.

When we got back we had dinner - it was rice and fish, so I just had rice. There was also a plate of something that looked like cheese but it was fat. Obviously I didn't eat that either! Haha

I've learned a few Russian words and phrases so far. I know how to say yes, no, and "No thank you, I'm a vegetarian." I did know how to say "I'll be right back", but I forget that already.

Everyone here is super nice, and we've all become friends very quickly. One thing I didn't expect was the itinerary. Apparently I was missed in an email with all of this information about what to pack (including toilet paper and bug spray), what we could bring for the kids, making a slideshow about our country for the kids, and where we are going! It turns out we are going to a few different places for ministry - not just the Yurga orphanage. Sometimes we may stay with a host family, sometimes on a church floor. Sometimes there may be no running water. So I'm thinking my blog posts may not be updated very often once we get out there. I'll keep writing them, but they'll probably have to wait to get posted until we get back here.
I took pictures of the itinerary instead of typing it all out, but it's not working properly and I can't keep my eyes opens as I'll try to post  them tomorrow

July 1...Part 3

So...when I was on the long flight from Toronto to Moscow, and was not able to sleep or get very comfortable, I had the thought that I would love to ride first class just once in my life to see what it's like. Add that to my bucket list.
I am now on the plane flying to Novosibirsk. My seat is 4A. As I was boarding, I walked though first class as usual and saw that row 4 was in first class. I assumed the numbers would start over again when I got to economy class, so I kept walking. (I think you know where this is going). It turned out that the rows do NOT start over at economy class, and my seat WAS in fact in first class! So, like a dork again, I had to backtrack against the crowd as if I couldn't count to four. So now I am in a huge seat that I can curl up in, and being offered miscellaneous things you never get offered in economy class. Pretty cool. I don't really care about much else other than the seat is big and comfy! I do feel a little out of place though...with my slept-on hair, baggy yoga pants and oversized grey "Bazinga!" shirt (yes Sarah...BAZINGA SHIRT!) from the men's department at Walmart. I am a classy traveller. :)

My foot rest in First Class

Okay so I changed my mind. Probably the BEST thing about flying first class is that when I got my tea it came with a little square of chocolate. It was sooooooo good! And they put little white table cloths on your table. :)
Even though the plane left at 10:35pm it hasn't actually gotten dark. Once we got above the clouds there was a beautiful hot pink and orange sunset. I fell asleep for a short time, and awoke to find the sky still the same...maybe a little brighter! I forgot that Siberia is still 3 hours ahead of Moscow (12 hours ahead of Winnipeg time). So as we travel it's like a continuous sunrise!

The only problem is that originally I was expecting to arrive at around 5pm, which would give me a full night's sleep. With the flight change I thought I would be arriving in the middle of the night, which would still give me some sleep. But now I realize it will be about 5:30 in the morning when I get there. Thirty four hours of traveling on only about 5 hours of sporadic sleep is not that fun. Hopefully I can still go to bed when I get there instead of getting through a whole other day! BUT, despite the complaining, I'm super excited to get there and meet the people I'll be working with!
One more hour of flying left! I hope my bladder can hold out! Haha :) I'm at a window seat, and the sweet old man beside me is fast asleep with his head on the armrest between us. I wouldn't be able to get by without asking him to move from his seat! Think dry thoughts. Ha :)

July 1...Part 2

I'm never sure when I'm going to have wifi, which is why I keep posting in parts...

I just went down for the complimentary dinner. Already on the table was a plate of that shredded red/purple stuff...I don't know WHAT that's called...with a slice of ham on top. Of course I avoided the ham. Then they gave me a plate with breaded chicken and rice. I ate the rice part. To top it all off I had a cup of tea. Instead of English Breakfast it was called Royal Breakfast. Anyway, I think I'll definitely need a granola bar later!  Why do I write about food so much? Stacey pointed that out to me last year from my Hungary blog. Haha. I don't know why I do that...I guess I just love food! AND I like to remember every bit of my trip...this blog is like my own personal travel diary but shared with all of you!

The hotel, Novotel, is pretty neat. The rooms are very Ikea-esque looking. Also the toilet has a cool flusher. You can bet I'll be taking a picture of that. :) Unfortunately the SD card reader I bought so that I could transfer photos from my camera to my ipad accidentally got left at home in all of the packing and unpacking and repacking, trying to get everything to fit. So you will all have to wait in suspense to see the toilet picture. And all the rest :) Am I really talking about a toilet flusher in my blog? You can tell I've had nobody to talk to for the past 27 hours!! I'm actually just sitting in my hotel room killing time until the shuttle bus comes to take us back to the airport at 9pm.

July 1...Part 1

Breakfast on the plane was an omelette, broccoli, and potatoes (or you could have waffles). And of course tea again! 

When we landed I went through the doors to go through customs. There were a bunch of gates that said "For Russians" and one that said "For Diplomats". Well...I knew I wasn't Russian, but I didn't know what a diplomat was...so I stood in that line for a bit thinking it was the only other choice. Then I saw a university sports team from Canada going through some other gates that said "Passport Control", so I left the diplomat line and followed them. It turns out that was the right choice. I'm glad I found that out before getting to the diplomat counter and having them look at me like I was crazy! So I waited in yet another long line, and then it was my turn at the counter. The lady didn't say one single word. She took my passport, examined it for what felt like seven hours, did something on her computer, scanned my passport and Visa, printed off a paper for me and sent me on through the gate. Kind of creepy.

Next I went to get my luggage. I waited and waited until I was the only person still standing there and the belt stopped moving. The lump in my throat came back when I realized my red suitcase with the pink hula girl tag was not there. I went over to the lost and found counter and stood in line for another seven hours. Well...more like 20 minutes or so. When I got up to the desk she told me to go check the belt again. Knowing it was not going to be there, I went back anyway, only to find out that it was. Sheesh! 

Then I headed over to domestic departures to figure out what my new flight was going to be since my original one had been cancelled due to the delay in Toronto. She gave me a new ticket with the departure time of 10:35pm. It was only 11:00am at that time! In her broken English she communicated that I should go upstairs to the Aeroflot information desk and they would put me in a hotel. I got upstairs and found the desk, which had probably about 60 people waiting in line. I waited for over an hour, feeling like the line never moved. I felt like I could barely stand anymore, and there was one moment where I was sure I was going to throw up. I didn't, thank goodness! When I got to the front of the line I found out that the hotel line was one window over. So if I knew how to read Russian I would have saved myself a lot of time standing in line! Luckily there was a girl in one of the lines who spoke English who helped me out (another lady kept trying to talk to me but she didn't speak English...the only word I understood from her was "sprechen", and that's all thanks to Madigascar, where one guys says, "You sprechen?" and the other guys says, "Yeah, I sprechen." ANYway, I was so extremely exhausted and couldn't hold back the tears that kept coming as I was trying to figure all of this out! I felt like such a dork! But hey...I'd been traveling for 20 hours already, only to find out I had another 13 hours left to go!

I boarded a shuttle bus that came to the hotel, and got a room, and a complimentary lunch and dinner. I was so exhausted, so I skipped lunch and had a 3 hour nap instead, followed by a shower. I felt so homesick and just wanted to turn around and come home. But I knew that was just a result of exhaustion and traveling alone for so long. I am glad that it will be the middle of the night by the time I get to Novosibirsk so that I can just go right to bed!

June 30...Part 2

On the flight to Moscow I was surrounded by cute babies. I even got to play quite the rousing game of peek-a-boo! They played an old Russian movie with English subtitles - it was pretty hilarious! I don't know what it was called...I think the title had something about a voyage in it. It was about a crew sailing on a ship that was carrying cages of tigers and a lion. Things kept going wrong on board and they soon discovered they were carrying a mischievous monkey! If that wasn't enough, all of the animals ended up getting out of their cages and chased all of the crew everywhere. Luckily, the ship's waitress and only girl was able to tame them and they did whatever she wanted (the tigers & lion, that is...not the crew). In the end credits it showed her as being a tiger handler. Anyway, it was pretty good. Jeff, Lianne & Connie, I think you'd enjoy the editing in this one...pretty funny!

For dinner they gave a choice between chicken or fish. Since chicken is way less revolting than fish, I took that one and ate the rice around it & two pieces of broccoli. There was also a bun and this really good apple-tasting dessert. Oh, and tea of course.

Then I became Lord of Catan (yay me!...for those of you who dont know, that means i won Settlers of Catan on my ipad) and then they played the movie Jack and the Giant Slayer. It was alright...I kind of dozed on and off. After that they made it dark so that it was like night, but if I slept at all it was only for a few minutes. I can't sleep sitting up at all!! Plus I got kicked in the side every few seconds by the toddler sleeping beside me, head in her mom's lap. I'm not going to lie...watching all of these moms sitting around me with their little ones gave me a bit of a lump in my throat. But before I left my mom and dad specifically told me, "Don't come home with an orphan!" Haha