A wild and crazy week with just a hint of nutty.
We started off in a tiny mining town called Kushva, and we stayed in a sport hotel. It was a bit dodgy at first (there was a mouse sighting on day 1) but we got used to it. We did practices with the local kids teams and also had games with the men's teams there. We spent lots of time with the director of sports in Kushva named Alexi, who is a great story. We had an interview for the local paper where he made an extra effort to say he did not want to be involved with the Christian part of our operation, and by the end of our time with him he had really softened, realizing he was a sinner (according to Glen and Lorrain) so that was very cool. I worked with about five or so different goalies thourghout the week in Kushva. But the craziest part of the week was that since the town of Kushva never seen a foreigner in the town, we were celebrities for the week. We would get mobbed for autographs and photos on a regular basis after games and practices.
Nizhni Tagil was a much larger city, so the reception wasn't as wild. we spent most of our time either at the local outdoor rink or in the church sleeping on the floor. It got quite difficult there because we had something like 7 games in 9 days and 3 hours worth of practices with kids. I also had a ton of goalies to work with in Nizhni Tagil. There were five again, but most would stay out for each hour.
So it was quite a busy week, but it was a fun one.
Arrivederci.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Урал Грейт (Ural Great)
Days off are nice. This one was relatively busy, but a good busy.
We only really started the day off at 10:00 with breakfast, then a group of people decided to go to downtown Perm to shop and see what was there.
First off we found a few malls, and went in to see what was there. They were relatively boring to be honest, mostly filled with stores with coats and stuff, no interesting sports stores or anything.
Then we went to a square filled with ice sculptures. A lot of them were slides ranging from one 10-15 feet high to little ones for the kids. There were also a few other things like a tiny set of swings, a stage, a throne and gates for all of the enterances/exits.
Then we walked up to a giant sports store to see what was there, though we didn't have much time there. Then we took a but to the 'Молот' (pronounced like 'mullet') to see the local professional basketball team play. The team is called 'Ural Great' and they were playing Dynamo Moscow. It was a great game, and a close one. It went into overtime, there was a buzzer beater in the 3rd quarter, and the home team won, that's about as much as you can ask for in a game.
Now it's late, and things are winding down to a pleasant conclusion.
до свидания
We only really started the day off at 10:00 with breakfast, then a group of people decided to go to downtown Perm to shop and see what was there.
First off we found a few malls, and went in to see what was there. They were relatively boring to be honest, mostly filled with stores with coats and stuff, no interesting sports stores or anything.
Then we went to a square filled with ice sculptures. A lot of them were slides ranging from one 10-15 feet high to little ones for the kids. There were also a few other things like a tiny set of swings, a stage, a throne and gates for all of the enterances/exits.
Then we walked up to a giant sports store to see what was there, though we didn't have much time there. Then we took a but to the 'Молот' (pronounced like 'mullet') to see the local professional basketball team play. The team is called 'Ural Great' and they were playing Dynamo Moscow. It was a great game, and a close one. It went into overtime, there was a buzzer beater in the 3rd quarter, and the home team won, that's about as much as you can ask for in a game.
Now it's late, and things are winding down to a pleasant conclusion.
до свидания
Friday, January 11, 2008
закамск (Zakamsk)
We had a good week in Zakamsk, it's not too far from the base in Oerm, so no incredibly long train ride.
We stayed in a lottle house where a few people live, there was a family upstairs and a couple, the man was a pastor and the woman (who is known as 'Mama Luba') stayed at home. But for the week everyone was home, because it was the holiday season in Russia. Their Christmas is on January the 7th as opposed to our 25th of December, so two Christmases for me.
We spent most of our time in thee different places: The house for meals (which were a great way to ease into the Russian food), the outdoor rink for (drum roll please...) hockey and the community centre down the road for church meetings.
The rink was pretty good, it is built just outside a soccer field/running track, so they flooded part of the track to the rink. We mostly played shinny with kids there, but we did have a game there the last night with a team made up of people in the local boxing club. The temperature there ranged anywhere from -15 to -25, so it was important to move around a bit, or at least put a lot of clothes on.
The cultural centre is a pretty big building, it's got at least two floors. The church meets on the second floor in a lottle room just otside the lobby. We normally had a bit of worship, someone on the team shared their testimony, more music, and some games since there were mostly kids at the meeting.
We also went to an orphanage for a day, playing floor hockey and sharing a testimony for the kids. A bunch of them ended up with a bible, so that was cool. We also went to a school and did the same thing, though there ween't many kids there because it was the holidays and we weren't allowed to share the gospel directly, being a school and all.
So it was a good week. We're in the base for the weekend then we go to Nizhni Tagil and we'll be there for about 10-12 days.
до свидания
We stayed in a lottle house where a few people live, there was a family upstairs and a couple, the man was a pastor and the woman (who is known as 'Mama Luba') stayed at home. But for the week everyone was home, because it was the holiday season in Russia. Their Christmas is on January the 7th as opposed to our 25th of December, so two Christmases for me.
We spent most of our time in thee different places: The house for meals (which were a great way to ease into the Russian food), the outdoor rink for (drum roll please...) hockey and the community centre down the road for church meetings.
The rink was pretty good, it is built just outside a soccer field/running track, so they flooded part of the track to the rink. We mostly played shinny with kids there, but we did have a game there the last night with a team made up of people in the local boxing club. The temperature there ranged anywhere from -15 to -25, so it was important to move around a bit, or at least put a lot of clothes on.
The cultural centre is a pretty big building, it's got at least two floors. The church meets on the second floor in a lottle room just otside the lobby. We normally had a bit of worship, someone on the team shared their testimony, more music, and some games since there were mostly kids at the meeting.
We also went to an orphanage for a day, playing floor hockey and sharing a testimony for the kids. A bunch of them ended up with a bible, so that was cool. We also went to a school and did the same thing, though there ween't many kids there because it was the holidays and we weren't allowed to share the gospel directly, being a school and all.
So it was a good week. We're in the base for the weekend then we go to Nizhni Tagil and we'll be there for about 10-12 days.
до свидания
Friday, January 4, 2008
A YWAM Signature...
...The 'change in plans'.
We woke up this morning to find out that we in fact weren't going to Zakamsk today in fact, but tomorrow instead. So we did some stuff around here today.
First we had a run, since we hadn't done anything active for a few days. It also unofficially let everyone know there's a group of foreigners in the neighborhood, because a) there normally isn't a giant group of people running around and b) local people run in the evenings, therefore we must be foreigners. So because of that a group of kids stopped by the base a few times to find out why we were there.
After we came in it was about lunch time so we ate, took a few minutes break, and took a trip to the local outdoor rink to play shinny (Pick-up hockey) with some people from around there. I couldn't put on my gear so in my opinion, I was pretty much useless for the time. But it was still fun despite my out-of-placeness.
Then we came back to the base, had stuff to eat, and will be involved in a prayer meeting later on tonight.
До свидания!
We woke up this morning to find out that we in fact weren't going to Zakamsk today in fact, but tomorrow instead. So we did some stuff around here today.
First we had a run, since we hadn't done anything active for a few days. It also unofficially let everyone know there's a group of foreigners in the neighborhood, because a) there normally isn't a giant group of people running around and b) local people run in the evenings, therefore we must be foreigners. So because of that a group of kids stopped by the base a few times to find out why we were there.
After we came in it was about lunch time so we ate, took a few minutes break, and took a trip to the local outdoor rink to play shinny (Pick-up hockey) with some people from around there. I couldn't put on my gear so in my opinion, I was pretty much useless for the time. But it was still fun despite my out-of-placeness.
Then we came back to the base, had stuff to eat, and will be involved in a prayer meeting later on tonight.
До свидания!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Outreach Just Got a Lot More Luscious.
ooooh, did it ever. You'll see why later.
Well since I last updated, we had a nice day in a local tourist market near our hotel. It's got mostly what every other European market would have, knock-off brand name things like Gucci bags and Nike shoes, stuff like that. It also had the standard Russian souvenirs like the little Russian dolls and furry hats with the hammer/sickle crest on the front. For myself I bought a bunch of 'CSKA Moscow' gear (a scarf, a toque and a jersey') all for a little over $20 Canadian. I also got a few things for my family, which they'll have to wait to find out what they are.
After a romp through the market, we got a ride to the train station in Moscow where we took a 22-hour train ride in a relatively stuffy and... cozy train. We hung out with some of the Russians there and there was even one person there who spoke French, so she and I both got a good chance to practice.
Finally once we got to Perm, we quickly packed all of our gear into the bases van to take there. The building is something like an old community centre or something like that, it's two floors, it's kind of under construction I think.
Then tonight, outreach got very, VERY luscious. One of the base leaders walked us over to a local store, where I was greeted by a lovely 2 litre bottle of vanilla coke. Now I love vanilla coke, and my heart was shattered when they stopped making it in Canada, so to see it there was a complete shock. Since we will be spending weekends at this base, I will be able to get more as well. I am happy. So I don't think there will be any updates for a few days, as the team will be going to the city of Zakamsk, and I'm not sure of the internet situation there, but I know for sure there's internet here.
До свидания! <---- 'Arrivederci' in Russian.
Well since I last updated, we had a nice day in a local tourist market near our hotel. It's got mostly what every other European market would have, knock-off brand name things like Gucci bags and Nike shoes, stuff like that. It also had the standard Russian souvenirs like the little Russian dolls and furry hats with the hammer/sickle crest on the front. For myself I bought a bunch of 'CSKA Moscow' gear (a scarf, a toque and a jersey') all for a little over $20 Canadian. I also got a few things for my family, which they'll have to wait to find out what they are.
After a romp through the market, we got a ride to the train station in Moscow where we took a 22-hour train ride in a relatively stuffy and... cozy train. We hung out with some of the Russians there and there was even one person there who spoke French, so she and I both got a good chance to practice.
Finally once we got to Perm, we quickly packed all of our gear into the bases van to take there. The building is something like an old community centre or something like that, it's two floors, it's kind of under construction I think.
Then tonight, outreach got very, VERY luscious. One of the base leaders walked us over to a local store, where I was greeted by a lovely 2 litre bottle of vanilla coke. Now I love vanilla coke, and my heart was shattered when they stopped making it in Canada, so to see it there was a complete shock. Since we will be spending weekends at this base, I will be able to get more as well. I am happy. So I don't think there will be any updates for a few days, as the team will be going to the city of Zakamsk, and I'm not sure of the internet situation there, but I know for sure there's internet here.
До свидания! <---- 'Arrivederci' in Russian.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Another Fine Day
Just giving a quick summary of yesterday.
Our team did the touristy thing in the Kremlin, going through a bunch of cathedrals and a museum filled with old Russian artifacts from the clothes of the tsars/tsarinas and weapons and such. We also went to red square again.
I would elaborate, but I'm out of time.
Arrivederci
Our team did the touristy thing in the Kremlin, going through a bunch of cathedrals and a museum filled with old Russian artifacts from the clothes of the tsars/tsarinas and weapons and such. We also went to red square again.
I would elaborate, but I'm out of time.
Arrivederci
From Russia with Love
Hello,
finally got to a computer, but I'm on a time limit so I'll make it quick.
Our flights went fine, except one hockey bag didn't show up in Moscow, so that was the only real hitch.
Since we got here new years eve, it would be a sin not to do something interesting, so we went to the most interesting place around: Red Square.
For the new year they had a concert which was quite cultural, it had some singing and dancing from different Russian people groups and at the stroke of midnight was capped off by Vladimir Putin's yearly address to the country.
Today we went out into the kremlin and checked out what was there. It is made up of a bunch of different cathedrals and there was a museum with various artifacts from ancient Russia ranging from royal garb to weaponry. We went through the red square again, and went home. Tomorrow we leave for Perm on train, and we'll go check out a local market as well.
That's my Russian experience in a nutshell (россня) <- Russia in Russian....
Arrivederci.
finally got to a computer, but I'm on a time limit so I'll make it quick.
Our flights went fine, except one hockey bag didn't show up in Moscow, so that was the only real hitch.
Since we got here new years eve, it would be a sin not to do something interesting, so we went to the most interesting place around: Red Square.
For the new year they had a concert which was quite cultural, it had some singing and dancing from different Russian people groups and at the stroke of midnight was capped off by Vladimir Putin's yearly address to the country.
Today we went out into the kremlin and checked out what was there. It is made up of a bunch of different cathedrals and there was a museum with various artifacts from ancient Russia ranging from royal garb to weaponry. We went through the red square again, and went home. Tomorrow we leave for Perm on train, and we'll go check out a local market as well.
That's my Russian experience in a nutshell (россня) <- Russia in Russian....
Arrivederci.
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