кушва, нижний тагил (Kushva, Nizhni Tagil)

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.