… if only for a day…

Dear Friends,

It has been such a long time since we last spoke. I shudder to think of how long it has really been. I’ve kept busy all this time. You can take that as a good or bad thing. I’ll update you on things and you can decide for yourself. Let’s see the weather has been quite interesting. On the Friday before Easter it was an absolutely beautiful day. I pulled out my converse and went for a walk. I thought maybe that day would be the first of many spring days. To my disappointment there was a mix of rain and snow for 3 days after that. The snow here is amazing. I don’t know what it is but there is something special about it. I have been reassured that warm weather will be here soon enough. We shall wait:)

Classes have been very consistent since all the teachers got better. I like to know what’s going on so the consistency is nice but I must admit that they are getting a little monotonous. Although, a few Saturdays ago it turned out to be the most unmonotonous (pretty sure this isn’t a word but its fun to say) days yet. We were on break (me, толя, and миша) and had a little over an hour left of classes for the day. I was just thinking that I didn’t think I could stand another minute of class when we heard what sounded like an alarm go off. We all stopped talking and толя jumped up to look out in the hall to see what was going on. He came back and said that it was the people in the next class messing around… I wasn’t quite sure how they could have possible made an alarm sound like that but you never can tell with those kids. We all continued talking and forgot about it. Then we could hear people moving all around us… Upstairs, downstairs, in the hall, down the hall, next door… all going outside… There had to be a fire!! The guys jumped up and went into the hall. I sat frozen and then suddenly started grabbing my belongings (I couldn’t live here without my camelbak water bottle) and sticking it into my bag. I was about to grab my coat when our teacher came yelling down the hall with толя and миша in front of her still looking quite panicked. Then our teacher proceeded to give us our homework assignment… Me and the guys stared at each other trying to figure out if our teacher was crazy. If there was a fire in the building WHY IN THE WORLD was our teacher taking precious minutes of our lives by giving us a homework assignment??!! Was it a fire drill? Was there a fire? Why was the building slowly emptying and why was there a recording in Russian over the loud speakers repeating itself? What did the recording say!? Our teacher finally stopped talking and said that everything was fine. Totally fine. But she pushed us out of the room and into the hall after giving us our homework. She disappeared off to somewhere and us foreigners headed outside the fastest way we knew. We could smell something that may have been burning as we left the building. Once outside, we saw that the grounds were full of people that had been evacuated from the building. миша said, “It’s true that everything’s okay?” Of course it was in Russian but that’s basically what he said:) I don’t think we will ever know if it was a real fire or a drill. Some people have told me it was a real fire and some have said it was a fire drill. I almost died that’s all I can say. It would have served them right for making me go to school on Saturdays:)…..

Classes have their interesting moments. Like when толя is trying to ask something and no one has any idea what he is trying to say. Or when иван gets his 50th lecture… no scratch that… gets literally yelled at for not showing up to class and doing his homework. And we all get to hear it:) hooray. Or when break time in between classes turns into nap time. We’ve been doing a lot of memorizing texts and dialogues… I’m literally dreaming them. It’s quite frustrating right now because when I want to speak or write Russian I do it in English. When I need to do something in English all I can think of is Russian. And of course there are the times when I can’t think of any language at all. Ugh. Did I tell you that one of our sub teachers thought I was from Belgium? Haha that was funny. She asks, in Russian of course, “Where are you from?” I said America. She says much more slowly and louder, “Noooo, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” Again, I said America. She looks at me with pity I’m sure thinking what a sad confused girl this is, “No, you are from Belgium.” Ohhhhh yeahhh. I forgot what nationality I am! And they taught me that on my first day! Silly me. The teachers actually faxed иванs dad last week telling him what a horrible student he has been… Should be interesting what happens next… Drama lama.

Remember the guy who talked about torpedoes and submarines that one time? You know the other time I almost died… Well I see him around school every once in awhile. I always get the giggles and have the urge to ask him how the war is going or something. WAIT! Nooooowww I know where that fire came from!! Guess that’s what happens when you are going to school near a battlefield…

I got a call a couple weeks ago from that English teacher at the university that I met on my first week here. She said she wanted to do some kind of interview on my first impressions of Russia… I said sure I’d do an interview and we planned to meet a few days later. We met in the center of the university and as we walked she told me what she had neglected to tell me on the phone. The “interview” was going to be me, talking into a microphone, for 5 minutes, about my first impressions of Russia that would be put on a podcast… No introduction. No questions. Just me. For 5 minutes. Hit it. Oooohhh Lord. I wasn’t nervous until she told me what was REALLY going on. We got to the office where two guys were waiting to do the recording. The teacher gave me a piece of paper and a pencil and said, “You will write what you want to say and we will not disturb you for 5 minutes.” Awesome. I might as well write my will. I haven’t heard from her since my 5 minute execution. My only comfort is that very few will even listen to the podcast. I hope.

I’ve also done a written interview for my friend. It was an assignment of hers to get an interview of a foreigner. And what are friends for? I was thankful for the written questions but I was pressed for time on that one as well. Gotta love Russians and their lack of planning ahead.

Me and my friend Vicka were eating peanuts in my dorm room not long ago and the shells reminded me of the restaurant that you can throw the peanut shells on the floor (I always forget which one that is…). I told Vicka about it and then told her about Lamberts and how they throw rolls. Oh her reaction was priceless:)

I have a refrigerator!! I can’t remember if I’ve told you but I don’t mind telling you again because it is still wonderful news!! Also, my surprise Easter present was a microwave!!! Praise the Lord! The possibilities of what I can eat now make my head spin! Like I told a friend of mine, the biggest Easter present I’ve gotten was a Barbie… so this microwave definitely takes first prize now.

I try to have some quiet times to myself once in awhile. One of my favorite afternoons was when it rained and I had the window open and drank coffee. Not exactly like my favorite spot back home (Fusion Brew) but it was good times.

God continues to put people in my life who speak English. Easter Sunday a girl that was a visitor was all of sudden in my face and talking to me in English. I was totally taken off guard. It was one of those moments where no language is available to my brain or mouth. She’s a really nice girl though. I hope to talk with her again soon.

I went to an orphanage last week with Tonya. She got permission to use the eggs that have different things inside that tell the Easter story. This was really a God-thing that she got permission to do that. Other times she has gone there she has almost gotten dragged out and has had actual students yelling to hurt her cause she isn’t Orthodox. But God had his hand in this ministry opportunity and it went very well. She went a few times the week before Easter and told the story to the different age groups. She actually had some good talks with some of the teachers as well. There was a teacher when I went with that asked why these kids had to be without families and live at an orphanage. They don’t deserve the life that they have she said. The children of Russia need a Heavenly Father. They need a Savior.

I was thinking today about all that I’ve seen in Russia. All that I’ve experienced. All that happens in a day here. I wish that I could transport you here even just for a day. Maybe then you would understand why I’m here. Why the Eshelmans are here. Why the Hinsons are here. Why they need more laborers of the field. Why Russia has been on my heart since the age of twelve. Why some days are very difficult and I would rather just stay in bed. Why other days are so full of God’s love that I don’t want the day to end. I wish I could bring you here. Just for a day. Or two. Or a lifetime. For many of you, I can’t take you here even for a day. But I can try.

My two month anniversary here has come and gone. In fact my 3rd month anniversary is right around the corner… It’s funny how you think you are prepared for something and then you are in the midst of it and you’re like… What have I gotten myself into? That happens to me quite often. Many of those times I know God neglected to tell me about it in advance for a reason:) But one of those things I thought would be quite ordinary and natural would be creating friends. My mind said I’ll go to Russia, make some friends, win people to Jesus, and make some more friends…. I didn’t totally grasp what “making friends” would entail. I neglected to remember what making a friend means. What happens when you become someone’s friend. I neglected to realize how REAL making friends here is. The real feelings that you have for people. It has really taken me off guard the connections that I’m making with people here. I didn’t realize how “real” it would be. We have inside jokes, we know when each other is tired, when we are frustrated, when it’s time to hang out, giving gifts to each other… This is for real. Why didn’t God warn me? God is so funny sometimes. But so am I.

I don’t know if you can understand what I’m saying. I’m doing a lot of thinking out loud. That is if you call this out loud… But I guess this would be a good example of why I want you to come to Russia so you can see and experience it for yourself. If only for a day:)

You are all amazing.
“My love to all of you in Christ Jesus, Amen.” 1 Cor. 16:24

Still living and breathing no thanks to the torpedo guy,

Leah