Most pleasant

Most pleasant
I think I shall write this completely haphazardly. Today on the way to church I saw Maxim parked in the church’s big white van on the side of the road beside the forest. He so I came over and he told me to get in because he was talking people over to the church so the Babushka’s wouldn’t fall and die on the way. I got in and he mentioned that I was late and I said “like always” which he laughed at. He is a very jovial fellow, but I think he may be more jovial than usual… I dunno though. We waived down a bunch of old ladies and went to church. He made basic comments and then laughed like they were jokes so I laughed too. I appreciate joviality.
Dearest Masha had called me to wake me up, and I was already up and ready. I don’t know what it is about morning church, but I never can get to it in time. Everyone always asks me if I will sit in the balcony because I guess that is where everyone sits, but there are 3 different balconies so I was at a loss for which one they meant. I opted for the farthest back balcony as opposed to the left or right balcony, but once I got there I was aware it wasn’t the cool kids balcony but the older folks balcony. No big. After church I beat it, but not before Aleksey stopped by and said “Hi” literally. HE never spoke in English to me until now, and when the guys go into their English conversations he usually playfully chides them and says that if they keep speaking a foreign language he is just gonna speak Ukrainian. Oh, yeah, they do that. They’ll have like 5 minute straight of only talking in English to each other (or at least trying to). They say it is to make sure I don’t miss home, but I sometimes think they are trying to impress me. IT is endearing though. I love my menfolk here. Seriously, they make me very happy and generally relaxed (except when I am not sure if I am breaking a social norm by hanging with them all the time, but I am getting better at picking up on cues from Seryozha or Dima when I need to back off… at least I think I am).Then Paige and I did our ritual Pizza and Pasta.com. good times.
Then I went to church. Now, night church is the one I can’t be late to even if I try. I was supposed to be there about an hour early to practice singing (which really means get there 45 minutes or so early because Russia time is kind lagged), and I got there like an hour and 15 minutes early. It was snowing really wet snow so I decided to try to get in. Right when I got to the door it was swinging shut and I grabbed it just in time. Then I tried buzzing the room. To my suprize they let me in. When I got in there was a girl I’d never seen before. I said a greeting and put my coat on the hook she was confused as to why I was making myself to cozy and asked who I was there to see. I told her I was with the Church and she said that It was all clear then asked me about the times we meet and I told her. Then she went to some back room and disappeared… forever as far as I know.
About 20 minutes later my men come in. they had the keys and so were incredibly confused at what I am doing sitting in a room that is protected by 3 levels of security. I tried to explain it an dI know I got the point across, but I don’t like speaking much when I first enter a Russian social occasion. IT is like I like to get acclimated to thinking in Russian and to the way everyone is talking before I jump in so this immediate interrogation threw off my groove a bit, but not too long. Then in short time they were laughing and joking and asking why I didn’t sit with them at church and where I was sitting etc. My groove was still thrown off and I didn’t feel like admitting I tried to sit with them but failed because as usual I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do so I did a lot of shrugging and told them I was late to church. Dima told(in Russian), “We know. Late like always. We know everything, Deah.” Haha. That really cracked me up. I mean I guess I knew they must talk about me because I am something of an anomaly (a girl, the youngest person around, an American, and an all around strange person) and I see them about 7 times a week, but I just think it is funny that they had all talked about me being late to church like they are keeping tabs on me. I told them I was in the last Balcony and they told me they were in the left one, and I said I’d sit with them next time. They found this answer generally unsatisfactory because next time was a week away, but it was the only answer I had, so they’ll just have to live with it. I really was so glad when they all came in. My dear menfolk.
I had door duty while Aleksey and Sergey practiced their song, and Aleksey had door duty while I practiced singing with the gang. I sang a solo today. It was my first full song solo. I sang this weird song first in English then in Russian. I got all the words and everything, but the overall sound quality was below par as far as I am concerned. No one let on though. When the song was over they all joyously thanked me and praised God. They are so encouraging. Nicolai played the guitar for the song. The service was about faith and I found it personally quite encouraging and fruitful. After the service the fellows asked me if I was going to go with them in the van to Ozerki (which I’ve done last 2 times, from Ozerki I take the metro… it is slightly faster and cheaper then tramming and metroing) but I had already told Kristina and Raisa Semyonovna that I would go with them by bus. The men seemed disappointed and surprised. I road with the ladies home and it was pleasant, although I got a bit roadsick.
Friday we had the fieldtrip to the Hermitage, but just the area that was done to show how Peter lived. It was pretty uneventful. Then Paige and Helene and I went to KFC then Paige and I went to her place. Paige let me use her interwebs and I cut her hair. Ha, that made it sound like it was a trade. They were unrelated.
Normally I go to rehab on Friday nights, but Kristina called me and told me to go to Olga’s for Choir practice. I’m slotted to be at rehab from 6-7 (but if I can get away with it I stay longer) and the choir practice was on the other side of time at 7. I texted Seryozha and told him I wouldn’t be making it. At Olga’s there was a very pretty sunset outside of her 6th story window. I only took a picture with my camera phone so it is poor quality. The practice was fun and pleasant I love those people, but it really is a shame I didn’t make it to rehab.
Saturday slept in, hand washed my white wondrous sweater, and met up with Paige at Idealnaya Chashka (a café) before Church. Then I went to Wonderful Church and was delighted and refreshed, as per usual. I road with the boys to Ozerki and has a nice chat with Aleksey about the ways God speaks to us. That seems to be a major theme of my life right now the way God communicates with us directly and interferences with that and or Evil’s attempts to hinder it or trick us. I like the subject and it is very near and dear to my heart to this is a pleasant season all in all. I am learning to Trust in God a lot more and He is really encouraging me in that area. He also keeps putting people in my path that seem to have interestingly intimate relationships with God. I love it. :)

Still on a wonderful Jesus high so bear with me as I no doubt exude exuberance. Today is Monday. I slept in today because I don’t have any classes or anything. Paige wanted to go shopping, but I slept too late so it didn’t happen. IT was a GREAT day though. I stuck around in bed until like 2. I would wake up and roll around cozily and pray myself back to sleep in bliss. I did have one terrible experience with a nightmare and some rebuking was in order, but that was early in the night, and after that it was all wonderful!! :)
Then I peed and ate and had like the longest shower ever. And put on too much makeup (including liquid eyeliner) and clothes that I look alright in. I stopped by a knock-off teremok stand and got a coke and something cheap and yummy to eat and went to Rehab, one of the most delightful places in all of the earth.
A while back when Nicolai asked me if I was staying late or not and I told him I would be there as long as they said I could we jokingly said I could live there. He shouldn’t have joked about that. I would live there in a heartbeat. Seryozha seemed to be concerned about where he would live if I lived there, but Nicolai didn’t seemed too concerned with it. I had half a mind to take him up on the offer on the off chance that he was half serious. Anyways, at rehab I cut out the pull-tabs on more flyers (I need to get better about pasting them more frequently!). Only one new guy came in. And one mom came in who has been going to church and the meetings and she was supposed to meet her son there but he didn’t show up. It was very sad. She is such a sweet woman and she took it in beautiful stride but I know how much it hurts when someone lets you down and you could see the sorrow behind her eyes.
Then in short time we had the parents meeting which was wonderful. Peter Petrovich and I shared a hymnal and when Kristina came we shared with her and when this young girl came we shared with her too. It felt very cute. Everyone else had their own hymnal and we 4 were sharing. Peter Petrovich gave his testimony which was absolutely beautiful. He is an “adaptant” and I’ve known him for about a month now. He mutters A LOT and it is hard for me to understand him but he is incredibly good hearted and pretty raw and down to earth. I’d say he is in his 50s… but who knows I am bad at that stuff and it is hard to really guess an alcohol or addict’s age anyways.
After the lesson we had tea as usual. God had given me a message to give Aleksey so I gave it to him and he had Slava read it and they both seemed pretty happy about it I guess so that is good. This is the first time God gave me a message to give someone in Russian! That was exciting and when I told Aleksey that God told it to me in Russian he was just as excited about it as I am (but that may be because he’s had to endure my translations before, haha). IT is SOOO good when your brothers and sisters share in your joy! Last week, as I said, I had some issues with reading and so today Aleksey advised me to read slower. He said(in Russian) “I know you want to read fast and well like everyone else but read slow enough that you understand what you are reading. No one is going to mind or saying anything to you for reading slow.” I just kept saying “Mmmhmmm” While he talked to me about it because it rang true but he could tell I felt kinda ashamed I think so he went on about how if he were reading English It would be hard for him too. That was a sweet touch. I love Kristina. I love her SOO much. She is SO sweet and so spunky. I was glad I got to sit by her today. Let’s see what else? Oh, Seryozha and Aleksey sang together today and they did on Sunday too. I like it when they sing together. Dima wasn’t there for the meeting but he came after just to drink tea. He always makes me laugh.
Oh, I forgot to say! You know I always come to rehab at 6 for the intake and the parent meeting is at 7. Well Mikhail saw me walk up at 6 and I guess he didn’t know I come in for intakes so he said the equivalent of “wow, you’re here early.” And I said “I usually am here this early” and he said “I thought you were usually late” and I said “No, I’m only late in the morning.” And he said “Ah, you like sleep.” And then I went in. But I just thought it was funny that again they spread word around about that one conversation yesterday with Maxim when I said I was late. My men, I think I’ll keep them.
Also, guys keep giving me candy. I mean we eat candy at almost every tea-time so it isn’t a big deal, but it is still an almost daily thing (today it happened twice in a 5 minute period). I always try to refuse but then they are convinced I don’t like sweets or am on a diet and when I say I just don’t want it now they tell me to put it in my purse. It is usually pretty tasty though. :)
Nonna keeps making sushi. She is really good at it. She made some last night at like midnight and made some tonight too. It is yummy. I am the only one that doesn’t eat it with wasabi so for me it is like dinner and a show. Everyone’s face turns red and contorts and what not. I don’t know if they exactly like that I laugh all meal but they don’t seem to mind.

A Bit of Rest

I didn’t go to school this morning. I woke up, kinda hoping I had slept in, but I hadn’t. I told myself and God right before I looked at the clock that I’d get up if it was before 7:30. It was 7:27. Bummer. I got up and showered, ate, read the bible, put on make-up and was completely ready. Then my stummy started hurting. It was a lower abdomen pain, the kind that might go away in few minutes, but may be foreboding multiple, painful, and/or urgent trips to the restroom. I weighed out whether to tough it out or not and ended up deciding it wasn’t worth the risk. It sucks that it happened for the private Russian lesson, but I didn’t want to be stuck 20 minutes into my 40 minute walk to school feeling like my intestines are exploding. So texted the teacher, Inma, and Paige to let them all know I wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in school. Inma said she had a stomach ache and wouldn’t be coming in either, and Paige said she’d just decided to sleep in, and the teacher told me to get well soon. So I watched the 30 rock and House episodes Paige had just given me, and then watched like 3 Arrested developments and took a nap. By 10 I was completely fine and realized it had been a false alarm, but maybe my taking it easy helped, and lord know I could use a mental health day. Then I met Paige at like 3 and we had lunch over by the consulate (which I have yet to go to btw, I feel like I should… I just can’t figure out why I should or what I might possibly need to do there). Then I went to Rehab. I gotta say my brain was mush today. I couldn’t even read the Bible verses when we went around the circle and split of the verses as usual. On my last verse I just gave up butchering the poor language and refused to read further. IT was pathetic and demoralizing. I also didn’t contribute anything to the lesson this time, which was disappointing because last week I really felt like I was contributing and had hoped it would be the changing of the tides for me. We all have off days I guess, and I think we are more apt to have them when operating almost full time in a foreign language that is drastically different from our mother tongue. I was relatively demoralized, but I asked for the scripture again from Aleksey and he was kind enough to write it for me (2 times… sort of, he wrote it down and left but RAN back like 2 minutes later telling me he had reversed the numbers and by that time I had all but lost the first thing he gave me to he had to write it on a different piece of paper and everything). I have been dying for some calla lilies lately and so I bought 3 on the way home. Ha, when I ate with Paige I told her that I’d been hoping to buy some for myself for over a week now because I see them at the metro station on the way form rehab almost everyday, but that people keep on walking to the metro station with me and I don’t wanna buy flowers for myself with some kind church goer I barely know so I always tell myself I’ll get some next time. Buying flowers for yourself feels kinda silly if you do it in front of someone who knows what you are doing. I told Paige I hope that they will drive me to the Metro station so I don’t have to walk in the slick woods and then that from there I am alone so I can buy the flowers in peace. That is exactly what happened, praise God! It was swell. I like them a lot. So I came home and Nonna asked me about my day and I tried to tell her about it, but she said she couldn’t understand me and that I should tell her in English. I am pretty that is the first time she has ever said that to me in my whole life (except when I haphazardly try to translate movie titles mid-conversation). I told her I haven’t been able to communicate all day and she said I might just need a one day break from Russian. That sounded like a pretty sound thing to say. So we talked in English from there on out. That was our first English convo we’ve had here that lasted more than 3 sentences. Then I came into my room and looked up that verse. It was like a double edged sword. It was beyond awesome and it blew my mind. Aleksey is like a freaking prophet or something because there is no way he could’ve just known that I needed that verse. I didn’t even know I needed that verse. Way to be, kid, and THANK YOU JESUS for sending that my way! I journaled and prayed until I got called to dinner of fish, cucumber, and potatoes. I never liked fish really ever in my life, except for granddaddy’s catfish (and I think I liked them more for the memory than anything), but Elena Borisovna prepares her fish very nicely and I am really starting to warm up to it. I think fish is an acquired taste and I’ve never had the reason to acquire it before. Right now Elena Borisovna and Nonna are fasting for Lent. I am very glad I took that Russian Orthodox Christianity class before I got here because I figured out they were fasting before they even told me. :) The orthodox fasts are pretty intense and they don’t eat meat (aside from fish) for the whole of Lent, as I understand it. Elena Borisovna keeps having me practice a song for a festival that is like April 10 or 11th or something. It is almost terrifying, but from what I hear, you are only young once.

Oh, and I finished Catcher in the Rye last night. I wolfed it down in like 5 days on top of a pretty busy schedule.

Okay this is now Thursday evening. I haven’t uploaded this because I quite shamelessly slept in today and thus didn’t go to the institute at a time suitable for internet use. I didn’t even care that I slept in. I know I can afford the absences, I figured it out a couple days ago, and this morning it was a stressless rest of refreshment. Delightful. I laid around and slept all morning. Delight of delights. And Paige slept in and slipped too. She called me at like 10 and said she was sleeping in and I told her I was still in bed and it looked like I was too. She said that she appreciates our cross-city, psychic connection and is glad we are on the same page. Late she called and asked me to meet her so I could run errands with her. I got ready for the day and spent some time with Jesus and then left to meet her. We met up and I was hungry so we went to KFC. I cannot describe how good it was. IT was our first time there in Russia, and undoubtedly not out last. We did our errands and did a bit of shopping. Paige got an ADORABLE purse and a cute Hello Kitty wallet. They were each shockingly cheap. Then we went to the institute because Elena Borisovna wanted me to watch their “spectacle” and then practice my song and Paige needed to give them photos for their visa. And I watched the show which was just a dress rehersal I guess and it was Anton Chekov’s A Wedding Proposal which I directed at Memorial way back when (but I did it in English of course). It was nice to see it. Then I was forced to practice in front of them like 3 times. I still don’t have the words down. It is annoying. Then I went to the BibleStudy over Revelations. That was nice. I love my rehab boys! They attend too but they are in their own group and I am in a women’s group. Afterwards Dima and Mihail came up and talked to me. Okay, when I first got here I really felt like Dima reminds me of Karl Dowell, and he still does but now he is evolving into his own person in my head and not just my Karl Dowell replacement. Anyways yesterday Dima had commented on how I always stand in a ballet position and asked me if I ever did ballet. I told him yes and he said he did too. We swapped ballet terminology and stuff for a while. It sounds like he was pretty serious about it before he was an addict. Oh, and he also always sings various old school American songs everytime I see him and the one I get the biggest kick out of it “Ice, Ice Baby.” So, after the Bible Study when Dima and Mihail came up Dima again commented on the fact I was standing in 1st position and then said he had something to tell me but he forgot because he thought he wouldn’t see me until tomorrow. Then Mihail sang “Ice, Ice Chicken” which totally cracked me up beyond all reason. Dima explained that they had made up this new version called “Ice, Ice Chicken” and Mihail sang it a little more but as far as I can tell the only words are “Ice Ice Chicken to go.” I love it. I am imagining that Dima and Mihail made it up while transporting or cooking a frozen chicken, but that is just a guess.
Oh, I guess I didn’t tell you last week cause I wasn’t writing! Well, last week at this Bible Study I met a few girls in their 20s. 2 of them are named Masha and I forget the rest of their names. They were very nice and we walked to the metro together afterwards talking about what have you. Anyways the Masha, the one that is in my group for the Bible study, was there again. We started talking about all the strange ways God communicates to us and has throughout our lives and it was really cool. She asked me why I wasn’t at church on Sunday and when I told her I slept in again she said she’d call me Sunday morning to wake me up. Hehe. That made me happy. We talked non-stop all the way home. Oh, I am pretty sure I was supposed to tell Aleksey something at Church today, but I was passive and didn’t. Naughty me. Hopefully I ‘ll tell him tomorrow or Saturday. Oh, also, yesterday when Seryozha was talking to a heroin addict who was coming in for the first time and the heroin addict’s mom the mom asked about fasting (because it is lent). I am passionate about fasts and their importance (although I am a lazy bones and probably don’t fast nearly enough), and since we are protestant I was totally expecting Seryozha to say something I would totally disagree with in my heart. But no. He hit a homerun. He didn’t downplay the importance of fasts he just said that our church doesn’t fast for lent but that we encourage fasts, but tend to do them as individually compelled by God. So that was nice. I am so used to going to a church that I frequently disagree with theologically and it is SOOOOOO nice being at one that I have yet to find anything to tiff about. I mean, the language barrier may be helping that since I may have something to disagree about without understanding that I do, but still, it is wonderful. It helps me trust my church and my brothers wonderfully, which is good because I really need the tight fellowship and I rely on them a lot. I love this church and I love these people! PRAISE JESUS! I think I am going to try again to read Mere Christianity, so if you are reading this Aaron Wright you should message me. OH! And class is cancelled for tomorrow and we are going on a little excursion instead, so that means I’ve got a 6 day weekend since I don’t have class on Mondays and I didn’t go today or yesterday. And let me tell ya this little vaca was much needed and appreciated!!  Thanks, Jesus!