THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT...

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!!!

I'm home!! After a crazy day I arrived in Houston. It is so hot and I love it! Long story, but we missed our connecting flight in London and but put on one 3 hours later. So we got home just in time for dinner at Marios!! It was some of the best Mexican food I think I have ever had in my life!! So I apologize now if I dont' write much in the next two weeks but I will be little preoccupied by being home!

I do want to post a few pics from the weekend before I left!

Checked Out

I'm kind of glad that all my classes are canceled b/c I hate to say it but I can officially say that I have checked out. My mind is already at home! Yesterday all my classes were canceled. The only thing I did was hand 3rd grade a test and give a private lesson. So I decided to inquire about todays classes yesterday. I found out that all were canceled but one. So I take the 1 pm bus out to Zaitsevo to make it in time for class at 2. Oh wait, it was canceled!! So I do have a private lesson. Monday and Tuesday all my classes are cancelled except for my one native student that I will see on both days. And of course preschool has not decided if they will have class so I will come early, as that is my first class of the day, and more than likely it will be canceled. So I'm trying to find things to waste my time since I am stuck in the countryside. Oh by the way, classes are canceled for repition. That is the word they use for rehearsal. Their Christmas program is on Wednesday so they are all rehearsing for it. I will miss it as I will be in the US of A on Wednesday!! I can't wait!!

Tonight will be a wonderful evening of Christmas caroling at the Brinks home! And tomorrow will be an afternoon at Red Square in the snow! Then us girls will have our own small little Christmas party together. And Sunday, as part of worship, Kathryn will play the piano while Jamie paints the nativity scene. Some teacher friends are gonna come watch too! It should be a fun weekend!

9 days and counting...

Yea, you could say I'm pretty excited. I tried not to count down the days. But I can't help it. It is too close not to. I will be home in 9 days! I can't wait!

Exciting news. The girls from the other campus had a coworker ask if she could come to church with us. She came this past Sunday with us and it was great. It was my first time to meet her but we quickly became friends. She is full of questions and just comes right out and askes them. Its so wonderful. She asked what kind of rules that I live my life by. So I got to explain to her what the Bible was and how I use it. Then there was a bunch of free literature that the church was giving away. One of the books was about questions people have about the Bible and whats in it. So she took one. Then she asked me if I believe in paradise and hell and how to get to paradise. So I got to explain that too. the whole afternoon was filled with her asking us questions and us getting the chance to answer. I don't think I have ever had someone come seeking the truth as much as she is. It is a wonderful place to be in when I get to share Christs love with her! So pray for her please. Her name is Masha.

Still Alive

So its been a while since I've updated. Well thats becuase my body decided to shut down and be sick for a week. But things are looking better. Today is my first day with no fever! The doctor said I had viral plurisy. Well thats a first. It could have been worse. But things are looking better. Now I'm just counting down the days till I go home!

Students and Teachers: Russia vs. USA

So I could go on forever about the differences in schools, students and teachers in Russia compared to the US. But there is one I would like to focus on. One that I like better in Russia than at home. Here it is okay to talk about religious things in school.

Well I don't know what came over me yesterday but I ended up sharing the complete salvation message with one of my students. He is in 2nd grade and is what we call a native speaker. He has Russian parents but has had a British nanny his whole life, so his English is great. We work mainly on grammar. Well yesterday was an abnormal lesson for us. He was upset because he had just gotten in trouble for fighting. So after we discussed this I asked him some questions. He had told me several times that he goes to church on Sunday's. I assumed it was probably a Russian Orthodox church. So I decided to ask him what he learns about in church. He told me that all they do is learn how to pray. I explained how at my church there is a class for children where they learn stories from the Bible and learn about Jesus. Well he had no idea what the Bible or Jesus was. Now he may know these words in Russian and just not in English. So we went on to have a lengthy discussion about the Bible, Jesus, God, the reason for Christmas, pretty much everything.

I don't really know where that came from. Its not like me to just blurt that stuff out all the time. But it was one of those moments and I didn't think I should pass it up. Some of the other girls on the team have some stuff on salvation that is easy for kids to understand and has pictures. So maybe on Monday we will read that for our reading part of the lesson. Who knows. But at least some seeds were planted.

It was a great lesson.

Perception of Cold

So I think living here has completely changed my perception of cold. Of course when it first started to get into the 40's and 50's I was freezing. I also didn't have my coat yet either. Then I got my coat. Its all good. It was between 10-20 for about 2 weeks. Then the last few days has been above or at freezing. All the sudden I find myself saying how warm it is. Then I think well its just above freezing, I can wear a skirt today! I'm not sure what is happening to me but I think I'm becoming acclamated. But there is rumor it will be a -40 kind of winter. So we'll see what kind of song I'm singing then!

A lot of food

So Thanksgiving ended up great. Thursday we worked all day unfortunately and then went to the Kerns house for a wonderful, traditional feast. There were about a dozen kids running around and wonderful fellowship. We got home around midnight so it was quite a long day.

Friday we had the day off of work! We got up fairly early to begin cooking. Dacey and I had to make one more quick run to the store and then we cooked for about 8 hours! A Thanksgiving meal can take a long time when you are preparing the whole thing. So here is what we had: I made the ham, a honey/ brown sugar glaze for the ham, mashed potatoes, broccli/ rice casserol, and death by chocolate. Dacey made the turkey, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, cornbread salad, and yeast rolls. Kathryn made pumpkin pie, fruit salad, and cookies. Jamie made banana bread, apple pie, and a veggie tray. So we had more than enough food. It was all a hit. They especialy loved the death by chocolate. I now have to make a small recipe booklet to give to all the teachers because they want to learn how to make these dishes themselves. So it was wonderful!

It was quite and experience though. Making death by chocolate was fun to do in Russia. Thankfully we had some chocolate pudding mix at the apartment already. But it was the cook and serve kind. I made 4 boxes worth. I stirred a huge pot of pudding for nearly an hour until it boiled and was finished! I had never gone through so much trouble for pudding in all my life. Then we had a box of whipped topping mix. the directions said to use the beater for 2-3 minutes or until it peaks. Well, it took 35 minutes of beating until it turned into whipped cream! They definatley do not have Heath bars here. But I found this crunchy chocolate cluster with carmel in the middle. I cut it up into chuncks and it worked. Unfortunately there was no chocolate syrup to be found in all of Moscow. I did find a box of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix at Stockmanns and I only paid about $6.50 for it. Oh fun times of cooking in Moscow. You should have seen our kitchen. There was food piled everywhere. As soon as I find a computer to let me upload pictures I will put some up of the festivities!