Attention all Siberian Grits fans, as of now this blog will no longer be updated. We have since updated our siberiangrits.com website and integrated our blog into the site, so everything is in one place. I repeat, siberiangrits.blogspot.com will no longer be updated. Instead visit www.siberiangrits.com.
This blog will be left up if you wish to come back and read old stories.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Isaiah's new tricks
Isaiah is one and a half now, and he's continuing to do new and amazing things. He seems to go through little spurts of development, doing lots of new things at one time, then slowing down a bit. Sometimes I have to confess that during the slow times, I often struggle with worry that he's not developing as much as he should be. Then a spurt of development will come and he'll amaze us with what's new.
A friend reminded me the other day that children all develop at their own pace. They all do things a little differently, and that is absolutely OK.
So here's what Isaiah is up to:
His upper body is getting stronger and stronger. He can lift his trunk up all the way off the floor and do "push ups". He's also getting really good at "pull ups". With a little bit of assistance, Isaiah can pull up from the floor and reach something on the couch. We just have to support his knees a little bit. Then he sits on his knees and plays with the hard-earned object.
We're trying to encourage him to be independent in whatever ways he is able. We've been working with him to eat on his own with utensils. Trying to get him to use a spoon has been quite entertaining. It didn't take him long to figure out that he needed to put the spoon in his mouth. As my grandpa said about him when he was eating a waffle with his hands one day, "He sure knows where it goes!" Once he got the spoon in his mouth, however, he didn't seem to know what to do next. He sits there with the spoon sticking out of his mouth, looking at us with a confused expression on his face.
Before we moved to St. P, I was trying desperately to get him to drink from a cup. (A special thanks to those of you who graciously listened to my panicked questions and helped me!) Last week I came home from my language lesson to hear the good news that Thomas had been able to get him to drink from the cup BY HIMSELF! I know that this is a wonderful accomplishment for every child, but this has far-reaching implications for Isaiah. He must drink a great deal of fluids every day as a preventative from UTIs, since he is at increased risk for them due to cathaterization. We have been standing on our heads (figuratively, of course) to get him to drink. Hopefully now that he can do it some on his own, he will drink even more!
Thomas and I have been hard at work studying Russian. Isaiah doesn't want to miss out on all the fun. He loves to look at my Russian workbook. I have to keep a close eye on him to make sure that he doesn't love on the book too much and eat my work! He does seem to understand a lot of Russian though, maybe even more than I do! We go to the park together and the Russian babushkas all talk to him, and they say that he understands them.
I don't have a picture or video of this, but Isaiah is also starting to talk our ears off! As soon as I try to video him, though, he starts posing for the camera and stops talking. I'll have to sneak up on him sometime. We don't always understand him, of course, but he's quite a chatterbox. The other night as I was putting him to bed, I laid him down and he looked up at me and in the sweetest voice ever to be heard said, "Mama". Melt my heart! He still says "okey-dokey" a good bit and "Dada" more and more, and then he has his own language. We look forward to being able to talk with him more and more.
A friend reminded me the other day that children all develop at their own pace. They all do things a little differently, and that is absolutely OK.
So here's what Isaiah is up to:
His upper body is getting stronger and stronger. He can lift his trunk up all the way off the floor and do "push ups". He's also getting really good at "pull ups". With a little bit of assistance, Isaiah can pull up from the floor and reach something on the couch. We just have to support his knees a little bit. Then he sits on his knees and plays with the hard-earned object.
We're trying to encourage him to be independent in whatever ways he is able. We've been working with him to eat on his own with utensils. Trying to get him to use a spoon has been quite entertaining. It didn't take him long to figure out that he needed to put the spoon in his mouth. As my grandpa said about him when he was eating a waffle with his hands one day, "He sure knows where it goes!" Once he got the spoon in his mouth, however, he didn't seem to know what to do next. He sits there with the spoon sticking out of his mouth, looking at us with a confused expression on his face.
Before we moved to St. P, I was trying desperately to get him to drink from a cup. (A special thanks to those of you who graciously listened to my panicked questions and helped me!) Last week I came home from my language lesson to hear the good news that Thomas had been able to get him to drink from the cup BY HIMSELF! I know that this is a wonderful accomplishment for every child, but this has far-reaching implications for Isaiah. He must drink a great deal of fluids every day as a preventative from UTIs, since he is at increased risk for them due to cathaterization. We have been standing on our heads (figuratively, of course) to get him to drink. Hopefully now that he can do it some on his own, he will drink even more!
Thomas and I have been hard at work studying Russian. Isaiah doesn't want to miss out on all the fun. He loves to look at my Russian workbook. I have to keep a close eye on him to make sure that he doesn't love on the book too much and eat my work! He does seem to understand a lot of Russian though, maybe even more than I do! We go to the park together and the Russian babushkas all talk to him, and they say that he understands them.I don't have a picture or video of this, but Isaiah is also starting to talk our ears off! As soon as I try to video him, though, he starts posing for the camera and stops talking. I'll have to sneak up on him sometime. We don't always understand him, of course, but he's quite a chatterbox. The other night as I was putting him to bed, I laid him down and he looked up at me and in the sweetest voice ever to be heard said, "Mama". Melt my heart! He still says "okey-dokey" a good bit and "Dada" more and more, and then he has his own language. We look forward to being able to talk with him more and more.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Quite a Treat!
Since we have been in St. Petersburg we have been able to communicate with our families via webcam usingWindows Live Messenger. Being able to see our parents' faces has been grand. Isaiah even recognizes them and plays with them, which delights everyone involved.
Well, Sunday evening we were able to talk to people from my home church Beacon Baptist in Burlington, NC! My mom took her laptop and webcam to church, and our friend Greg Phillips set everything up. Being able to see so many friends at one time and hear first hand their greetings and prayers and love ministered to our hearts. I don't know if they could tell or not, but with every knew face that came on our screen, I had to brush tears from my eyes. Not sad tears, but what can I say, I'm an emotional person! We were able to talk with all the pastors of the church, and so many members!
Imagine just 10 years ago the lack of instantaneous communication between people separated by such a great distance. I know that lots of bad things are on the internet, but I must praise God for His gift of letting us talk to our friends and family so easily. When homesickness nags at our hearts, Isaiah starts doing something really cute or on special holidays we can feel a little closer to home.
So thank you to all our Beacon family for taking the effort to enjoy some technology with us! We loved seeing you! We hope to be able to do it again very soon. Thank you for your love and for your prayers--God is definitely using them! We love you!
Well, Sunday evening we were able to talk to people from my home church Beacon Baptist in Burlington, NC! My mom took her laptop and webcam to church, and our friend Greg Phillips set everything up. Being able to see so many friends at one time and hear first hand their greetings and prayers and love ministered to our hearts. I don't know if they could tell or not, but with every knew face that came on our screen, I had to brush tears from my eyes. Not sad tears, but what can I say, I'm an emotional person! We were able to talk with all the pastors of the church, and so many members!
Imagine just 10 years ago the lack of instantaneous communication between people separated by such a great distance. I know that lots of bad things are on the internet, but I must praise God for His gift of letting us talk to our friends and family so easily. When homesickness nags at our hearts, Isaiah starts doing something really cute or on special holidays we can feel a little closer to home.
So thank you to all our Beacon family for taking the effort to enjoy some technology with us! We loved seeing you! We hope to be able to do it again very soon. Thank you for your love and for your prayers--God is definitely using them! We love you!
Friday, September 07, 2007
On becoming a "ruskaya mamichka"
One of the things that I have really enjoyed since living in St Petersburg is taking walks in the parks with Isaiah. This activity seems very popular among all the Russian mothers. Always however there have been several obvious differences between me and the Russian mothers, besides the fact that they can all talk to each other with ease. One thing immediately identified me as a foreigner: Isaiah was not bundled up as if prepared for weather in the movie Day After Tomorrow. That's right, this crazy American woman didn't even have a hat on her son's head! The horror! After receiving many scolding looks and even a few admonitions from both of our language teachers, I decided that it was finally time to submit to the cultural norm; besides, the weather really is getting chilly now.Thomas and I headed off to the market the other day on the hunt for a fall coat for me and proper accessories for Isaiah. As in everything thus far, God directed us to just the right vendors. We were able to find everything that we were looking for. Here you see Isaiah sporting his new Russian hat. He has adjusted fairly well, and he doesn't even try to pull it off his head any more. We also found him some snazzy shoes for now and boots for colder weather.
So when I went to the park yesterday, I didn't receive any scolding looks, but I'm sure that they will begin again soon, because I don't have Isaiah in a snow suit in 50 degree weather. :)
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Be Our Guest
Over the past week and a half, we have had the pleasure of entertaining guests in our home. First Robin Harris came to see us, then Dave and Kay Henry. See, St. Petersburg is not too far or too difficult to travel to from America! (ok, I have to admit that these friends were headed out to Siberia and using our home as a pit stop, but that doesn't mean that you can't come just to St. Petersburg to see us!)
We were privileged to celebrate Robin's birthday with her in between her many visits to friends in the city. Unfortunately, we didn't get the greatest picture of her, but here you can see her enjoying meeting our friend Luda before we went to church. Isaiah is of course trying to steal the shot.
A couple days after Robin left us, the Henrys arrived very early on a Thursday morning having taken the overnight train from Moscow. We didn't know how long they would be with us, but thankfully they didn't have to leave until Monday afternoon! We were excited to be able to get to know this very experienced missionary couple and benefit from their wisdom. We had briefly met them in 2005 when visiting Siberia, but this extended weekend visit gave us lots of time to chat and get to know them much better. We were also able to tell them about some great tourist spots to see, since this was their first time to St. Petersburg. Here they are in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Having familiar faces visiting in our home refreshed us a great deal. Being able to talk with these other missionaries about our cultural learning experiences and language study encouraged us. Talking with people who have experienced very similar circumstances as we now find ourselves experiencing helped us realize that one day we will be able to communicate with people without struggling to think about what word we need to use and which form or tense it needs to take. How I long for that day!
So, now that you know that's it's possible to make it here, when should we reserve the devan for you?
We were privileged to celebrate Robin's birthday with her in between her many visits to friends in the city. Unfortunately, we didn't get the greatest picture of her, but here you can see her enjoying meeting our friend Luda before we went to church. Isaiah is of course trying to steal the shot.
A couple days after Robin left us, the Henrys arrived very early on a Thursday morning having taken the overnight train from Moscow. We didn't know how long they would be with us, but thankfully they didn't have to leave until Monday afternoon! We were excited to be able to get to know this very experienced missionary couple and benefit from their wisdom. We had briefly met them in 2005 when visiting Siberia, but this extended weekend visit gave us lots of time to chat and get to know them much better. We were also able to tell them about some great tourist spots to see, since this was their first time to St. Petersburg. Here they are in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Having familiar faces visiting in our home refreshed us a great deal. Being able to talk with these other missionaries about our cultural learning experiences and language study encouraged us. Talking with people who have experienced very similar circumstances as we now find ourselves experiencing helped us realize that one day we will be able to communicate with people without struggling to think about what word we need to use and which form or tense it needs to take. How I long for that day!
So, now that you know that's it's possible to make it here, when should we reserve the devan for you?
Friday, August 31, 2007
A Great Deal
Well, I must admit that I am feeling quite proud of myself today (and excited about what God has provided). Since Isaiah’s infection we haven’t taken him out much, which meant that most of the shopping was done by Thomas since he can understand and speak Russian better. This arrangement however was beginning to give me a case of cabin fever. Today Thomas stayed home with Isaiah while I went and did some shopping at one of the stores he told you about in a previous post, Okea (pronounced OK). My list wasn’t long, so after I had found the items that I needed I decided to look around a little bit and see what was available. The store was pretty crowded since school starts here very soon. There were tons of children there with one parent or the other looking for school supplies and school uniforms; I had the unexplainable urge to buy pencils or something.
Anyway. Okea sells some children’s clothing, so I headed in that direction since Isaiah needs a winter coat. I maneuvered my way through the mamichkas with their children who were also on the hunt for a good jacket or coat. Most of the coats were too big for Isaiah and cost beyond what I wanted to spend. Then a shorter sleeve caught my eye, and I pulled down the hanger to take a closer look. To my great surprise it had a tag inside that told the European size, the French size and the American size! “This coat should fit Isaiah!” I excitedly thought to myself. To my even greater surprise, the coat was on sale for only 399 rubles (about $16)! I could not believe that price. I checked all the zippers and pockets and snaps to be sure that nothing was wrong. Then I tried to find any other coats to make sure that I was really getting a good deal. Every other coat was at least 1200 rubles (about $48), and most of them cost more than 1200 rubles. Being careful not to smile too big or show too much excitement with so many people around, I called Thomas to double check the deal that I thought I had found. Upon hearing the price, before I could even describe the great features of the coat, he said, “Buy it!”
This might seem like a small thing, but I was concerned about
getting the right coat for Isaiah. I thought we would have to spend a great deal more money than we actually spent. I forgot to mention that this was the only coat that was on sale. This wasn’t just the only STYLE of coat that was on sale, this was the ONLY coat that was on sale. There were no other coats of this style on the rack.
I love how God uses experiences like this one to remind us that He will take care of us. He wants our family in St. Petersburg, and He is going to provide everything that we need to do His work here. Isaiah will be warm all winter!
Anyway. Okea sells some children’s clothing, so I headed in that direction since Isaiah needs a winter coat. I maneuvered my way through the mamichkas with their children who were also on the hunt for a good jacket or coat. Most of the coats were too big for Isaiah and cost beyond what I wanted to spend. Then a shorter sleeve caught my eye, and I pulled down the hanger to take a closer look. To my great surprise it had a tag inside that told the European size, the French size and the American size! “This coat should fit Isaiah!” I excitedly thought to myself. To my even greater surprise, the coat was on sale for only 399 rubles (about $16)! I could not believe that price. I checked all the zippers and pockets and snaps to be sure that nothing was wrong. Then I tried to find any other coats to make sure that I was really getting a good deal. Every other coat was at least 1200 rubles (about $48), and most of them cost more than 1200 rubles. Being careful not to smile too big or show too much excitement with so many people around, I called Thomas to double check the deal that I thought I had found. Upon hearing the price, before I could even describe the great features of the coat, he said, “Buy it!”
This might seem like a small thing, but I was concerned about
getting the right coat for Isaiah. I thought we would have to spend a great deal more money than we actually spent. I forgot to mention that this was the only coat that was on sale. This wasn’t just the only STYLE of coat that was on sale, this was the ONLY coat that was on sale. There were no other coats of this style on the rack.I love how God uses experiences like this one to remind us that He will take care of us. He wants our family in St. Petersburg, and He is going to provide everything that we need to do His work here. Isaiah will be warm all winter!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Feeling Russian, sort of
Well, I have now completed 3 language lessons (15 hours). Thomas and Isaiah accompanied me to my first lesson so that I wouldn't get lost. My teacher lives about an hour away from us. I travel by metro and then by tramvai (sort of like a cable car).
Monday I headed off on my own for my second lesson. I had done all my homework and tried to memorize as many vocab words as possible. I was nervous about traveling by myself, but I felt very Russian with shopping bag in hand carrying my books. Cultural note--most people carry things in shopping bags here. I felt like I blended in a bit better with my nice bag that formerly carried my jeans (see previous post).
My language lesson went very well, which means that my brain was completely oatmeal by the time the lesson was over. One of our friends described learning Russian in the beginning as making baby sounds, and well, it's true. My teacher had me make sounds over and over and over again before I graduated to real words. She was very patient and encouraging. My favorite sounds were goola, goola, goola, goo. She told me to practice this with Isaiah. :) (yes I understood her instructions in Russian!)
On my way home, I stopped by a store and bought a few things and even talked to the lady checking me out, sort of.
At the metro a man asked me for directions, I think, and as I tried to tell him what I thought he wanted to know, he looked more and more befuddled, before I finally pulled out the old trusty "I'm sorry, I don't speak Russian well", which earned me a laugh and kind smile.
Wednesday I got to learn tons of verbs, which will keep me very busy until my next lesson on Monday. I'm thankful that God is tuning my ears, so to speak to this language. He has provided for our learning in so many ways, and I pray that I will honor Him in my learning.
For those of you interested in what the rest of our flat looks like, I have finally posted the rest of the pictures. I hope that you enjoy your "visit". We would love to have any of you come and really visit!
Monday I headed off on my own for my second lesson. I had done all my homework and tried to memorize as many vocab words as possible. I was nervous about traveling by myself, but I felt very Russian with shopping bag in hand carrying my books. Cultural note--most people carry things in shopping bags here. I felt like I blended in a bit better with my nice bag that formerly carried my jeans (see previous post).
My language lesson went very well, which means that my brain was completely oatmeal by the time the lesson was over. One of our friends described learning Russian in the beginning as making baby sounds, and well, it's true. My teacher had me make sounds over and over and over again before I graduated to real words. She was very patient and encouraging. My favorite sounds were goola, goola, goola, goo. She told me to practice this with Isaiah. :) (yes I understood her instructions in Russian!)
On my way home, I stopped by a store and bought a few things and even talked to the lady checking me out, sort of.
At the metro a man asked me for directions, I think, and as I tried to tell him what I thought he wanted to know, he looked more and more befuddled, before I finally pulled out the old trusty "I'm sorry, I don't speak Russian well", which earned me a laugh and kind smile.
Wednesday I got to learn tons of verbs, which will keep me very busy until my next lesson on Monday. I'm thankful that God is tuning my ears, so to speak to this language. He has provided for our learning in so many ways, and I pray that I will honor Him in my learning.
For those of you interested in what the rest of our flat looks like, I have finally posted the rest of the pictures. I hope that you enjoy your "visit". We would love to have any of you come and really visit!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
So What's Been Happening
There's never a dull moment here in the Slawson household these days. The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind of events as you can imagine. Tomorrow marks four weeks since we have arrived. For those first two weeks about 90% of our energy was devoted to just figuring out how to live. Week three was down to about 50%. Now, as we have just about completed our fourth week here in SP we are starting to establish a routine and a way of life for ourselves.
Language Lessons
Our language lessons are in full swing now. Both of us are taking 6 hours of one-on-one Russian lessons per week. Mine are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. My teacher Galina, comes here to our apartment. Cristy's lessons are on Mondays and Wednesdays, but for longer periods of time. The reason for this is because Cristy has to travel about an hour one way to go to her teacher, Ludmilla's, house. When we're not taking lessons, we're studying and doing our homework for the next lessons and taking, care of Isaiah and living. So far both of us have really enjoyed our lessons, and feel like the Lord is granting us real progress in our Russian.
Forming Relationships
Our friendship with Luda continues to grow, especially between Cristy and Luda. Yesterday Cristy had the opportunity to spend the day with Luda. They visited at Luda's apartment. Luda and Cristy read some sermons and discussed them together. It was a very profitable time.
Church Associations
We have been attending Light of Christ Reformed Church here in SP. The pastor, Mikhail, has welcomed us into the congregation. Right now, it being summer, a number of members of the congregation are out, and so an average Sunday attendance is anywhere from 10 to 20 people. When everyone is present there are over 40 people. The church meets in the sanctuary of the historic Lutheran church downtown. Since the Lutheran congregation meets in the morning our service does not take place till 3PM on Sundays.
The whole service is in Russian, of course, so we don't understand everything. But each week, especially after starting our language lessons, we understand more and more. I am meeting this Friday afternoon with Pastor Mikhail to discuss ways in which I can help with some pastor's conferences he wants to conduct here in SP. He's also stated that as my language develops further that he looks forward to me teaching some.
So that's the big news for now. We love and miss you all.
Language Lessons
Our language lessons are in full swing now. Both of us are taking 6 hours of one-on-one Russian lessons per week. Mine are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. My teacher Galina, comes here to our apartment. Cristy's lessons are on Mondays and Wednesdays, but for longer periods of time. The reason for this is because Cristy has to travel about an hour one way to go to her teacher, Ludmilla's, house. When we're not taking lessons, we're studying and doing our homework for the next lessons and taking, care of Isaiah and living. So far both of us have really enjoyed our lessons, and feel like the Lord is granting us real progress in our Russian.
Forming Relationships
Our friendship with Luda continues to grow, especially between Cristy and Luda. Yesterday Cristy had the opportunity to spend the day with Luda. They visited at Luda's apartment. Luda and Cristy read some sermons and discussed them together. It was a very profitable time.
Church Associations
We have been attending Light of Christ Reformed Church here in SP. The pastor, Mikhail, has welcomed us into the congregation. Right now, it being summer, a number of members of the congregation are out, and so an average Sunday attendance is anywhere from 10 to 20 people. When everyone is present there are over 40 people. The church meets in the sanctuary of the historic Lutheran church downtown. Since the Lutheran congregation meets in the morning our service does not take place till 3PM on Sundays.
The whole service is in Russian, of course, so we don't understand everything. But each week, especially after starting our language lessons, we understand more and more. I am meeting this Friday afternoon with Pastor Mikhail to discuss ways in which I can help with some pastor's conferences he wants to conduct here in SP. He's also stated that as my language develops further that he looks forward to me teaching some.
So that's the big news for now. We love and miss you all.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Shopping in Tongues Part II
So by now you've learned about the little "ask the lady behind the counter for what you want" shops here in Russia covered in Part I, now on to the other types of shops here in Saint Petersburg. These other stores are very much like markets on planet America only they come in many shapes and sizes. There are two big chains here. One is called Lenta, which interestingly enough means "tape" in Russian (haven't figured that one out yet), and a store called Okay, which translates "Okay." Both of these stores have sluffed off the cozy idea of piling into a tiny little shop and waiting in line while the tzarina of the establishment gets each person's items one at a time. No, these "shops" are quite different. We passed a Lenta on our way into town when we arrived three weeks ago. Our driver, Planton who had been to America several years ago pointed to the store and said Eto kak Wal-Mart. I'm not even going to translate that because it should be obvious.
Yes, Lenta and Okay are not "supermarkets." They're geepermarketi, which translates "hypermarkets." And, no, they're not called that because everyone inside is excited all of the time. They're called that because they sell a bunch of "stuff." Yes, Russia too has entered the realm of cheaply made goodies produced somewhere in the orient. I'm not kidding. I bought something at Okay last week that was made in Japan that must have had instructions in close to 40 languages, with the English instructions being so outrageous one would assume that some comic genius wrote them. But I digress.
Anyway, at Lenta, Okay and other lesser but similar shops, one does not ask anyone for anything with the exception of the butcher's counter. The layout is very similar to big stores on planet America, but with just a few differences. First, there's the process of checking one's bags. So many people use public transportation over here that it's very common for one to have bags from other shops on his person when he enters the store. To remedy the hassle of one having to carry his bags through the store (and to thwart the temptation to steal), there are lockers setup that have keys in them, free to use. One simply puts his bags into the locker, locks the locker and takes the key with him. Don't worry, the key can only be removed from the locker when it is locked, so no one can steal the key. The other major difference that one would notice is the shopping carts. While they look the same they don't operate exactly the same. On Russian shopping carts all four wheels turn 360 degrees, not just the front ones. This is in some ways handy, and in some ways annoying. It's handy in that if one has to get out of someone else's way, he just slides his cart left or right without convoluted maneuvering that's often more difficult than docking an aircraft carrier. But it's annoying in that unless all four wheels are perfectly aligned (and they never are) the thing wonders all over the place. I can't begin to tell you how many people I've crashed into with my cart.
Upon entering the shopping area things are pretty much the same with one minor exception; almost everything is in Russia. I say almost everything, because there are a number of western products available, and quite often major companies are not interested in contextualizing their logos. So there are bags of potato chips that have Lays written on the top, however all of the ingredients are in Russian. There are boxes of Cocoa Puffs, but again with Russian ingredients.
In some ways this kind of shopping is easier, but in some ways it's more confusing. It's nice to be able to take my time and examine the various products. But sometimes the choices are so many that I'm not sure what to choose. The little shop on the corner has 3 different types of bread. Okay had over 50. But then there's also the problem of still not knowing what everything is even when I'm looking at it. Trust me, "stuffed capers" is not one of the first words one learns in Russian when he studies the language.
Enough already, let me fast forward a bit.
So I did my shopping, loaded up the basket and headed for the checkout stand. Just like home, a line forms behind a moving conveyor belt with various trinkets to the left and to the right. There's candy, lighters, flashlights, etc. There were packages of dried squid, which I thought was really nifty. I thought before I ever went that checking out was going to be the easy part. After suffering under the tyranny of the dragon lady at the corner shop I thought this experience would be pain free. "What could possibly go wrong?" I asked myself. "She'll just ring up the items, tell me the total, I'll pay and be on my way." Not exactly.
Like I would in America, I unloaded my cart onto the moving belt. Immediately the lady asked me a question, which I didn't understand. I was perplexed. "Why is she asking me a question?" I thought. "There's no need for all of that. Just ring up my stuff and I'll pay you." Well, she kept asking me the same question, and I had no idea (nor do I to this day) what she was asking me. I had already presented her with my lovely shoppers card. I had already told her that I needed three bags (In Russia you have to pay for your plastic bags). Frustrated she began ringing up my items, and I began bagging them. Total time rolled around, 585 roubles, about $23. I handed the lady a 1000 rouble bill. She immediately showed a look of consternation on her face and asked me if I had any smaller bills, which I didn't. For some reason over here the ATM machines always give out 500 and 1000 rouble bills, and people who run shops always get mad when people try to spend them. Banks don't like to exchange larger bills for smaller bills for people because there's no profit in it for them, and a store certainly won't do it for free. So my cashier friend wearily had to take out four 100 rouble bills along with a 10 and a 5 rouble coin. I felt so sorry for the extra stress of counting I had to put upon her. Thus ended my shopping extravaganza...so I thought.
I've failed to mention one little detail. Remember, we don't own a car over here. We take public transportation everywhere we go. Normally when I've stopped by the corner shop on the way home I'm ever mindful of the fact that I'm traveling via foot and only need to get what I can carry. Also, standing at the front of a line of tired, hot and frustrated Russians as I jabber away in some kind of Tarzan tongue to Mrs. Hitler behind the counter is also a great way to keep from buying too much. But at places like Lenta and Okay it's easy to get lost in the moment. There's just so much stuff, and there's a shopping cart just waiting to be filled. As it turned out I had filled my cart a wee bit too much and now had three rather filled bags along with the bag that I had brought into the store in my locker. I now had to carry all of those bags to the metro station, ride four stops and then walk home from the metro near our apartment. I learned my lesson quickly.
So shopping this way has it's pluses and minuses. Recently we've discovered a good store close to our apartment that I think will become our new main grocery shop. It's a "pick your own items yourself" kind of store, but it's much much smaller than the mega marts. While it's a couple of roubles cheaper on some items, it's, in most cases, not worth the time and the cost of the metro ride to travel to Okay.
So there's shopping life in St. Petersburg. There's so much more that could be said, but I won't bore you.
Yes, Lenta and Okay are not "supermarkets." They're geepermarketi, which translates "hypermarkets." And, no, they're not called that because everyone inside is excited all of the time. They're called that because they sell a bunch of "stuff." Yes, Russia too has entered the realm of cheaply made goodies produced somewhere in the orient. I'm not kidding. I bought something at Okay last week that was made in Japan that must have had instructions in close to 40 languages, with the English instructions being so outrageous one would assume that some comic genius wrote them. But I digress.
Anyway, at Lenta, Okay and other lesser but similar shops, one does not ask anyone for anything with the exception of the butcher's counter. The layout is very similar to big stores on planet America, but with just a few differences. First, there's the process of checking one's bags. So many people use public transportation over here that it's very common for one to have bags from other shops on his person when he enters the store. To remedy the hassle of one having to carry his bags through the store (and to thwart the temptation to steal), there are lockers setup that have keys in them, free to use. One simply puts his bags into the locker, locks the locker and takes the key with him. Don't worry, the key can only be removed from the locker when it is locked, so no one can steal the key. The other major difference that one would notice is the shopping carts. While they look the same they don't operate exactly the same. On Russian shopping carts all four wheels turn 360 degrees, not just the front ones. This is in some ways handy, and in some ways annoying. It's handy in that if one has to get out of someone else's way, he just slides his cart left or right without convoluted maneuvering that's often more difficult than docking an aircraft carrier. But it's annoying in that unless all four wheels are perfectly aligned (and they never are) the thing wonders all over the place. I can't begin to tell you how many people I've crashed into with my cart.
Upon entering the shopping area things are pretty much the same with one minor exception; almost everything is in Russia. I say almost everything, because there are a number of western products available, and quite often major companies are not interested in contextualizing their logos. So there are bags of potato chips that have Lays written on the top, however all of the ingredients are in Russian. There are boxes of Cocoa Puffs, but again with Russian ingredients.
In some ways this kind of shopping is easier, but in some ways it's more confusing. It's nice to be able to take my time and examine the various products. But sometimes the choices are so many that I'm not sure what to choose. The little shop on the corner has 3 different types of bread. Okay had over 50. But then there's also the problem of still not knowing what everything is even when I'm looking at it. Trust me, "stuffed capers" is not one of the first words one learns in Russian when he studies the language.
Enough already, let me fast forward a bit.
So I did my shopping, loaded up the basket and headed for the checkout stand. Just like home, a line forms behind a moving conveyor belt with various trinkets to the left and to the right. There's candy, lighters, flashlights, etc. There were packages of dried squid, which I thought was really nifty. I thought before I ever went that checking out was going to be the easy part. After suffering under the tyranny of the dragon lady at the corner shop I thought this experience would be pain free. "What could possibly go wrong?" I asked myself. "She'll just ring up the items, tell me the total, I'll pay and be on my way." Not exactly.
Like I would in America, I unloaded my cart onto the moving belt. Immediately the lady asked me a question, which I didn't understand. I was perplexed. "Why is she asking me a question?" I thought. "There's no need for all of that. Just ring up my stuff and I'll pay you." Well, she kept asking me the same question, and I had no idea (nor do I to this day) what she was asking me. I had already presented her with my lovely shoppers card. I had already told her that I needed three bags (In Russia you have to pay for your plastic bags). Frustrated she began ringing up my items, and I began bagging them. Total time rolled around, 585 roubles, about $23. I handed the lady a 1000 rouble bill. She immediately showed a look of consternation on her face and asked me if I had any smaller bills, which I didn't. For some reason over here the ATM machines always give out 500 and 1000 rouble bills, and people who run shops always get mad when people try to spend them. Banks don't like to exchange larger bills for smaller bills for people because there's no profit in it for them, and a store certainly won't do it for free. So my cashier friend wearily had to take out four 100 rouble bills along with a 10 and a 5 rouble coin. I felt so sorry for the extra stress of counting I had to put upon her. Thus ended my shopping extravaganza...so I thought.
I've failed to mention one little detail. Remember, we don't own a car over here. We take public transportation everywhere we go. Normally when I've stopped by the corner shop on the way home I'm ever mindful of the fact that I'm traveling via foot and only need to get what I can carry. Also, standing at the front of a line of tired, hot and frustrated Russians as I jabber away in some kind of Tarzan tongue to Mrs. Hitler behind the counter is also a great way to keep from buying too much. But at places like Lenta and Okay it's easy to get lost in the moment. There's just so much stuff, and there's a shopping cart just waiting to be filled. As it turned out I had filled my cart a wee bit too much and now had three rather filled bags along with the bag that I had brought into the store in my locker. I now had to carry all of those bags to the metro station, ride four stops and then walk home from the metro near our apartment. I learned my lesson quickly.
So shopping this way has it's pluses and minuses. Recently we've discovered a good store close to our apartment that I think will become our new main grocery shop. It's a "pick your own items yourself" kind of store, but it's much much smaller than the mega marts. While it's a couple of roubles cheaper on some items, it's, in most cases, not worth the time and the cost of the metro ride to travel to Okay.
So there's shopping life in St. Petersburg. There's so much more that could be said, but I won't bore you.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Time with Friends, and a Sneak Peek
We are really getting settled in now to our new home. Our friend Will has been such a big help. We were very sad to see him go. Before he left though, we were able to have our first dinner guest! Sunday night after church (which is at 3pm our time) our friend Luda came over for supper. Thomas cooked up some stir fry, so Americans and Russians were eating Japanese food with Ukrainian decorations. We all got a good laugh about those circumstances.Monday Thomas and I were able to take Isaiah to the American Medical Clinic in St. Petersburg. The clinic maintains western standards of treatment.
We were very pleased with the care that we received. The doctor spoke enough English and Thomas spoke enough Russian for us to be able to communicate what we needed. She was able to help us get some medicine for Isaiah (that he takes regularly, nothing was wrong), and she referred us to two possible physical therapists.
Monday night we had a farewell dinner with Will. We already miss him very much and look forward to seeing him again very soon, Lord willing!Thomas has had two language lessons as of today (Thursday). I hope to have my first lesson tomorrow. I've had several "experiences" lately that have increased my desire to learn Russian. Thomas, Isaiah and I went to Mega (the equivalent of an American shopping mall, but add Lowe's and Wal-Mart in the same building). I was on the hunt for some jeans, and I really wanted to be able to find them without leaning on Thomas for translation. Now, jeans shopping in the States can be a challenge at times, but that's nothing compared to what I experienced.
First, I had to figure out the European sizing (I'm going to keep my size to myself, just in case you're wondering), which uses much larger numbers. For instance, imagine once being an 8 (for example purposes only) and suddenly you're a 30. If not prepared for such changes, it can be a real blow to the female ego. Add to this trying to communicate to the sales clerk that you don't know your size while you don't know any of those words in Russian. Thankfully the sales clerk that was trying so graciously to help me was indeed gracious. She quickly picked up on the fact that I am "americanski" and helped me narrow down the size options. Once my size was discovered, I tried to say that I didn't want jeans with designs on them and that I wanted a higher waist. Jeans without design would not be a problem, but a higher waist?! What was I thinking?! Apparently jeans in Russia come one way--low, low waist. For you ladies out there in America, I hope you understand my dilemma. Modesty over here is not a top priority, not even close. So I continued my search, and finally found one pair of jeans that was in my price range, had no design and was at least a little bit higher in the waist than anything else that I had seen. Whew! I was exhausted!
So besides jean shopping and a few other things, I have also been trying to get our flat to look like our flat. One great thing about Russian flats is that many of them come furnished. One down side to that is that landlords often use the flat to store some of their stuff. Our flat is very nicely furnished, by the way, but almost any space that could be used as storage is being used for storage. I've enjoyed the challenge though of finding a place for our things. I'm still working on where to put the extra suitcases, but I'm sure that something will work out. I've posted some pictures, but just to whet your appetite, here is a picture of our kitchen; complete with adorable little man:
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Shopping In Tongues Part 1 1/2
It's now Sunday night here in St. Petersburg. Sorry for the delay in giving you the exciting sequel to the previous story, but things have been quite busy. We moved into our new apartment this past week and somehow writing witty bits about shopping didn't make it to the top of the list.
But permit me to whet your appetite for more juicy tidbits to come with this humorous antidote. Tonight we had our friend Luda over for dinner. Luda speaks impeccable English and is fast becoming a good friend of our family. She has also been a great help when we have language questions and are searching for cultural insight.
Anyway, the subject of learning language came up tonight after dinner and we began to share our funny stories of making complete idiots of ourselves. Just down the road from our new apartment is a store like I described in Shopping in Tongues Part 1 only a good bit larger. I've already been in there a number of times, and each time I go in all of the ladies behind the counter get a "Mona Lisa grin" on their faces. I'm fast becoming a celebrity there I imagine. I can just here them every time they see me coming, "Hey, Lena, here comes that crazy American who always points and mispronounces things, isn't he just the cutest thing?"
I was regaling Luda with my tales of idiocy there tonight when I described to her a situation that had confused me a couple days ago. I was at this little store ordering some juice. I asked for orange juice (appelsinyi), then I asked for some apple juice (yablochni), which caught me some interesting looks and an immediate correction. Well, when I told Luda what I had called the apple juice she nearly had a conniption fit. As it turns out yablochni, putting the emphasis on the emboldened syllable, sounds dangerously close to a very very very bad word in Russian. Luda immediately corrected me informing me that the proper way to say the word is yablochni.
I assume, given all of the other crazy mispronunciations that I've said, that I'll be forgiven for this...ahem...little social error that I made. But these past two weeks have been a profound learning and humbling experience for me thus far. It is frustrating not being able to say what I want to say, and when I do think I'm saying the right thing wind up either nearly cussing out a shop clerk or providing dinner table antidotes when they go home at night.
Well, that's all for now. Part II will be on its way soon. I promise.
But permit me to whet your appetite for more juicy tidbits to come with this humorous antidote. Tonight we had our friend Luda over for dinner. Luda speaks impeccable English and is fast becoming a good friend of our family. She has also been a great help when we have language questions and are searching for cultural insight.
Anyway, the subject of learning language came up tonight after dinner and we began to share our funny stories of making complete idiots of ourselves. Just down the road from our new apartment is a store like I described in Shopping in Tongues Part 1 only a good bit larger. I've already been in there a number of times, and each time I go in all of the ladies behind the counter get a "Mona Lisa grin" on their faces. I'm fast becoming a celebrity there I imagine. I can just here them every time they see me coming, "Hey, Lena, here comes that crazy American who always points and mispronounces things, isn't he just the cutest thing?"
I was regaling Luda with my tales of idiocy there tonight when I described to her a situation that had confused me a couple days ago. I was at this little store ordering some juice. I asked for orange juice (appelsinyi), then I asked for some apple juice (yablochni), which caught me some interesting looks and an immediate correction. Well, when I told Luda what I had called the apple juice she nearly had a conniption fit. As it turns out yablochni, putting the emphasis on the emboldened syllable, sounds dangerously close to a very very very bad word in Russian. Luda immediately corrected me informing me that the proper way to say the word is yablochni.
I assume, given all of the other crazy mispronunciations that I've said, that I'll be forgiven for this...ahem...little social error that I made. But these past two weeks have been a profound learning and humbling experience for me thus far. It is frustrating not being able to say what I want to say, and when I do think I'm saying the right thing wind up either nearly cussing out a shop clerk or providing dinner table antidotes when they go home at night.
Well, that's all for now. Part II will be on its way soon. I promise.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Shopping in Tongues - Part 1
One of the very first things we did when we arrived in Russia was shop. Immediately upon unloading our luggage at our apartment I proceeded to find the nearest little shop and purchase the basic necessities of life; eggs, milk, bread, etc. Shopping for food over here has been one of the richer cultural experiences we have had thus far. My Russian is in the...um..."developing" stage which means I can grasp anywhere from about 20-50 percent of what's going on around me in everyday life. Yes, sometimes if the right combination of words are said I can understand everything, but currently I live in a state of having a perplexed look upon my face while I try to determine what verb of motion was just used and whether or not the word for "chicken" was just used in the genitive case.
On planet Yazoo City Cristy and I had shopping down to a science.
A. Load up the car with freezer bags and head off to Wal-Mart in Jackson or Madison.
B. Stock up on a month's worth of food.
C. Come home and load up the fridge freezer and cabinets.
D. Drop into Sunflower over the next month for milk, bread and eggs and "little" things.
Here on planet Russia things are a bit different. One has two choices of the manner in which he or she wants to buy food. First of all there are little shops where one can get items. Most of the time these are little hole-in-the-wall places that sell a little bit of everything. All of the items are behind a chest-high counter usually guarded by anywhere from one to three women. Anyone who wants a product or products will line up at the counter and when it is his turn he will tell the lady behind the counter what he wants...one product at a time. The lady will go and get the one product (everyone is still waiting in line), come back, ring it up and usually say the words "shto yesho" ("what more?"). One then proceeds to say the next item he wants. If he wants a cut of meat, everybody waits while the lady goes and gets the meat out, cuts it wraps it, rings it up and again asks, "shto yesho." When one is finally done he responds "vsyo" literally meaning "all." The final total is given, money is exchanged and the next customer is called upon.
There are a number of factors that make this type of shopping experience particularly exciting for the foreigner like me who is learning the language. First of all, just like in America, there are multiple brands of the same kind of product. Some people like Lays potato chips, some like Ruffles, and some like Pringles. On top of it all, there are plain potato chips, sour cream & onion, sea salt and vinegar...you get the picture.
So the fun begins while standing in line to order from the lady behind the counter. All the while I'm going through my list of items in my head. I want milk, bread, sour cream and some cheese. Now remember, the products are behind the counter, sometimes out of site. I know the basic items that I want, but I haven't the slightest clue as to which brand or style. Suddenly my turn arrives.
Thomas: "Hello"
Lady: unimpressed with my Russian "Hello"
Thomas: "I would like some milk please."
Lady: still unimpressed "What kind?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter." (Note: thought this little phrase would save me some stress)
Lady: even less impressed "Doesn't matter? You've got to be more specific, what kind of milk do you want?"
Thomas: "Three percent"
Lady: annoyed "Which brand and what type?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter."
Lady: rolling eyes while walking over to the milk. She brings it back and sets in on the counter ringing it up. "What else?"
Thomas: "I would like some sour cream."
Lady: perturbed "What kind?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter."
Lady: Gives me a dirty look
I soon learned why the phrase "it doesn't matter" was not the best one to use. When I got back to the apartment after this little transaction I discovered that I had been given condensed milk. The packaging looked just like the regular milk with the exception of the Russian word for "condensed" on the front. Trust me, "condensed" is not one of the first words you learn when you learn Russian.
So there's one way to get your products. The next way is more like the "American" way which I will tell you about in part two of this exciting drama.
On planet Yazoo City Cristy and I had shopping down to a science.
A. Load up the car with freezer bags and head off to Wal-Mart in Jackson or Madison.
B. Stock up on a month's worth of food.
C. Come home and load up the fridge freezer and cabinets.
D. Drop into Sunflower over the next month for milk, bread and eggs and "little" things.
Here on planet Russia things are a bit different. One has two choices of the manner in which he or she wants to buy food. First of all there are little shops where one can get items. Most of the time these are little hole-in-the-wall places that sell a little bit of everything. All of the items are behind a chest-high counter usually guarded by anywhere from one to three women. Anyone who wants a product or products will line up at the counter and when it is his turn he will tell the lady behind the counter what he wants...one product at a time. The lady will go and get the one product (everyone is still waiting in line), come back, ring it up and usually say the words "shto yesho" ("what more?"). One then proceeds to say the next item he wants. If he wants a cut of meat, everybody waits while the lady goes and gets the meat out, cuts it wraps it, rings it up and again asks, "shto yesho." When one is finally done he responds "vsyo" literally meaning "all." The final total is given, money is exchanged and the next customer is called upon.
There are a number of factors that make this type of shopping experience particularly exciting for the foreigner like me who is learning the language. First of all, just like in America, there are multiple brands of the same kind of product. Some people like Lays potato chips, some like Ruffles, and some like Pringles. On top of it all, there are plain potato chips, sour cream & onion, sea salt and vinegar...you get the picture.
So the fun begins while standing in line to order from the lady behind the counter. All the while I'm going through my list of items in my head. I want milk, bread, sour cream and some cheese. Now remember, the products are behind the counter, sometimes out of site. I know the basic items that I want, but I haven't the slightest clue as to which brand or style. Suddenly my turn arrives.
Thomas: "Hello"
Lady: unimpressed with my Russian "Hello"
Thomas: "I would like some milk please."
Lady: still unimpressed "What kind?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter." (Note: thought this little phrase would save me some stress)
Lady: even less impressed "Doesn't matter? You've got to be more specific, what kind of milk do you want?"
Thomas: "Three percent"
Lady: annoyed "Which brand and what type?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter."
Lady: rolling eyes while walking over to the milk. She brings it back and sets in on the counter ringing it up. "What else?"
Thomas: "I would like some sour cream."
Lady: perturbed "What kind?"
Thomas: "It doesn't matter."
Lady: Gives me a dirty look
I soon learned why the phrase "it doesn't matter" was not the best one to use. When I got back to the apartment after this little transaction I discovered that I had been given condensed milk. The packaging looked just like the regular milk with the exception of the Russian word for "condensed" on the front. Trust me, "condensed" is not one of the first words you learn when you learn Russian.
So there's one way to get your products. The next way is more like the "American" way which I will tell you about in part two of this exciting drama.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Past Few Days
We've found an apartment! Praise the Lord.
The search both began and ended yesterday. We had been put in contact with an agent named Svetlana. An agent over here helps people find apartments to rent, and for said services also gets a full months rent as commission, but it's the only way to go. Svetlana proved to be very helpful in the process.
We started out going to see a place on the south side of the city just about 15 minutes walk from a metro stop. This is important as the metro is the way that we will do most of our traveling around the city. As we walked to the place Svetlana told us it was newly renovated, but it was on the 23rd floor. The "lift" (elevator) apparently work, but in all my ventures in Russia I've learned that elevators are not very reliable. But we pressed on.
We arrived outside of the building and met the owner of the apartment. He was a man, mid-forties, and the first words out of his mouth were "I didn't know there was a baby." In less than twenty seconds the transaction ended. He told Svetlana "nyet" and walked away. Svetlana explained that the man was afraid that Isaiah would tear up his newly renovated place. We recognized the Lord's hand of mercy. Even if this guy had conceded to letting us stay there, he didn't seem like the kind of guy we would want as our landlord.
Svetlana immediately suggested another place that she said was "very nice." It was also located closer to a metro stop, and we could go see it in about two hours. We agreed to meet her at the metro stop in two hours, and we headed off to that section of town.
The metro stop was Petrogradskaiya (if that means anything to you). This stop is just two stops down from the downtown area, which is great. Sure enough at 2:30 we met Svetlana and went to see the apartment. I'll summarize the details.
-It's a two room apartment (two bedrooms, and a kitchen, no living area which is normal)
-The apartment is already furnished with antiques and fine china that we are free to use.
-There's a grand piano
-The landlady is putting in a brand new bed
-It has an almost new washing machine
-The apartment has its own water heater so that when the hot water gets cut off we'll still have hot water
-The landlady is a trained musician and singer
-Her husband is a physicist who speaks English
-Both were taken with Isaiah
-The agreed to lower the rent 1000 Roubles for the first six months.
As we examined the situation, it just got better and better.
Now the price of the rent was a bit more than what we had originally wanted to spend, but we had discovered when we arrived here that all rents had gone up significantly over the past few months. But as we looked at the situation something quite amazing made itself clear. We had originally expected to have to furnish our own apartment as well as buy a washing machine. In all we were expecting to spend about $1000. When you subtract that amount from what we're spending on rent the monthly average goes down to just about what we had hoped to spend on rent each month. The Lord has truly blessed us.
So last night at 8 o'clock Will and I went out to the apartment again and signed a year lease. We made a deposit, and the rest of the money should be transferred to our Russian account by Monday. We'll then pay the rest of the first month's rent. Lord willing we will move in Tuesday or Wednesday.
The next step is to start our language studies. We've contacted one of our teachers, and our lessons should hopefully begin by the second week of August.
The Lord continues to be faithful. Thank you all so much for your prayers and love.
The search both began and ended yesterday. We had been put in contact with an agent named Svetlana. An agent over here helps people find apartments to rent, and for said services also gets a full months rent as commission, but it's the only way to go. Svetlana proved to be very helpful in the process.
We started out going to see a place on the south side of the city just about 15 minutes walk from a metro stop. This is important as the metro is the way that we will do most of our traveling around the city. As we walked to the place Svetlana told us it was newly renovated, but it was on the 23rd floor. The "lift" (elevator) apparently work, but in all my ventures in Russia I've learned that elevators are not very reliable. But we pressed on.
We arrived outside of the building and met the owner of the apartment. He was a man, mid-forties, and the first words out of his mouth were "I didn't know there was a baby." In less than twenty seconds the transaction ended. He told Svetlana "nyet" and walked away. Svetlana explained that the man was afraid that Isaiah would tear up his newly renovated place. We recognized the Lord's hand of mercy. Even if this guy had conceded to letting us stay there, he didn't seem like the kind of guy we would want as our landlord.
Svetlana immediately suggested another place that she said was "very nice." It was also located closer to a metro stop, and we could go see it in about two hours. We agreed to meet her at the metro stop in two hours, and we headed off to that section of town.
The metro stop was Petrogradskaiya (if that means anything to you). This stop is just two stops down from the downtown area, which is great. Sure enough at 2:30 we met Svetlana and went to see the apartment. I'll summarize the details.
-It's a two room apartment (two bedrooms, and a kitchen, no living area which is normal)
-The apartment is already furnished with antiques and fine china that we are free to use.
-There's a grand piano
-The landlady is putting in a brand new bed
-It has an almost new washing machine
-The apartment has its own water heater so that when the hot water gets cut off we'll still have hot water
-The landlady is a trained musician and singer
-Her husband is a physicist who speaks English
-Both were taken with Isaiah
-The agreed to lower the rent 1000 Roubles for the first six months.
As we examined the situation, it just got better and better.
Now the price of the rent was a bit more than what we had originally wanted to spend, but we had discovered when we arrived here that all rents had gone up significantly over the past few months. But as we looked at the situation something quite amazing made itself clear. We had originally expected to have to furnish our own apartment as well as buy a washing machine. In all we were expecting to spend about $1000. When you subtract that amount from what we're spending on rent the monthly average goes down to just about what we had hoped to spend on rent each month. The Lord has truly blessed us.
So last night at 8 o'clock Will and I went out to the apartment again and signed a year lease. We made a deposit, and the rest of the money should be transferred to our Russian account by Monday. We'll then pay the rest of the first month's rent. Lord willing we will move in Tuesday or Wednesday.
The next step is to start our language studies. We've contacted one of our teachers, and our lessons should hopefully begin by the second week of August.
The Lord continues to be faithful. Thank you all so much for your prayers and love.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Life in the Burg
It's now Monday afternoon here in St. Petersburg, and most of our friends and family back in the States are either waking up or about to in the next few hours. What I can say is this, that God has been very gracious and merciful to us thus far. He continues to sustain us, and he has made our landing here in St. Petersburg to be a very "soft" one.
There is no way we could tell you everything that has been going on and everything that we've learned. So from time to time we will simply try to answer some of the big questions that come up.
Living in General
It takes a fair amount of time to just live over here. What takes an hour or two in the States generally takes three to four times that amount of time here. For example, there were four things that we needed to get the other day, a rain jacket for Cristy, a boiling kettle for boiling water, cups, and house slippers. There's a "mall" of sorts just down from us that sells these products. The raincoat goes for about $100, the boiling kettle for over $50, the cups for about $35 and the house slippers for about $10 each. These are extremely nice shops where the few Russians who make extremely nice incomes go. But most Russians do not make extremely nice incomes, so what do they do? They go the Renok.
Renoks (pronounced "ree-knock") are kind of like open-air markets where people set up little booths and sell their products. In one section of a renok you might find clothes, in another shoes, in another hardware type products. At renoks you can bargain, talk the vendor down, and if you don't like the price walk down about ten feet to the next place. The renoks seem to almost always be much much cheaper.
So here were our two options.
1. Walk down to the "mall" and buy all of our stuff for about $205, be done in about an hour and a half and come home.
2. Walk to the metro (10 minutes), take the metro ride down town (30 minutes), walk from the metro to the renok (30 minutes), spend two and a half hours looking around the renok for the items we needed.
We chose option two. "Inefficient" you say? Of course it is. But here's hour our journey turned out.
We paid about $32 for Cristy's rain coat. We found a boiling kettle for about $13, a set of glasses for about $16, and two pairs of house slippers for about $8. All total we spent about $69, and the whole ordeal took about 5 hours.
But you say "what about all of that time?"
Granted we could have saved a lot of time and energy just paying more down the road, but there are a number of things we would have missed. First of all, most Russians do not make a lot of money. By going to the renok we were going to the place where most Russians go. We got to practice a lot of Russian. I got the opportunity to bargain with a woman about Cristy's coat. In short we got to see and experience more of what real Russian life is like, and learn about these people with whom we hope to communicate.
When you email us and ask us "What did you do today" and we say "We went grocery shopping and washed clothes (that's a whole other story by the way), don't be shocked. We are learning fast that life runs at a different pace here. If we move at that pace we will move with the people who live here. If we, because we can "afford to" choose to move at our own pace we will pass them by.
There is no way we could tell you everything that has been going on and everything that we've learned. So from time to time we will simply try to answer some of the big questions that come up.
Living in General
It takes a fair amount of time to just live over here. What takes an hour or two in the States generally takes three to four times that amount of time here. For example, there were four things that we needed to get the other day, a rain jacket for Cristy, a boiling kettle for boiling water, cups, and house slippers. There's a "mall" of sorts just down from us that sells these products. The raincoat goes for about $100, the boiling kettle for over $50, the cups for about $35 and the house slippers for about $10 each. These are extremely nice shops where the few Russians who make extremely nice incomes go. But most Russians do not make extremely nice incomes, so what do they do? They go the Renok.
Renoks (pronounced "ree-knock") are kind of like open-air markets where people set up little booths and sell their products. In one section of a renok you might find clothes, in another shoes, in another hardware type products. At renoks you can bargain, talk the vendor down, and if you don't like the price walk down about ten feet to the next place. The renoks seem to almost always be much much cheaper.
So here were our two options.
1. Walk down to the "mall" and buy all of our stuff for about $205, be done in about an hour and a half and come home.
2. Walk to the metro (10 minutes), take the metro ride down town (30 minutes), walk from the metro to the renok (30 minutes), spend two and a half hours looking around the renok for the items we needed.
We chose option two. "Inefficient" you say? Of course it is. But here's hour our journey turned out.
We paid about $32 for Cristy's rain coat. We found a boiling kettle for about $13, a set of glasses for about $16, and two pairs of house slippers for about $8. All total we spent about $69, and the whole ordeal took about 5 hours.
But you say "what about all of that time?"
Granted we could have saved a lot of time and energy just paying more down the road, but there are a number of things we would have missed. First of all, most Russians do not make a lot of money. By going to the renok we were going to the place where most Russians go. We got to practice a lot of Russian. I got the opportunity to bargain with a woman about Cristy's coat. In short we got to see and experience more of what real Russian life is like, and learn about these people with whom we hope to communicate.
When you email us and ask us "What did you do today" and we say "We went grocery shopping and washed clothes (that's a whole other story by the way), don't be shocked. We are learning fast that life runs at a different pace here. If we move at that pace we will move with the people who live here. If we, because we can "afford to" choose to move at our own pace we will pass them by.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Ten "Random" Things
Years ago during the undergrad days I kept a "blog" that only about 7 people read. I started doing a regular post that I called "Ten Random Thing" which allowed me post information for people to read without having to worry about putting it in some nice neat paragraph replete with proper layout and pictures. Don't worry, we'll still continue to do those kinds of posts, but on a day-to-day basis being able to simply communicate a bunch of information to you without paragraph transitions will be helpful to us. So here they are in no particular order, Ten Random Things.
1. The hot water in our apartment still does not get hot, though occasionally it gets tepid. Sometimes it doesn't even come on at all.
2. The metro system is great. We've had no problem getting around on it with Isaiah. People will always give up their seat to Cristy when she's holding him.
3. We saw some Russian graffiti on the side of a building yesterday. One phrase said lyoubov yest' Bog which means "God is love." Someone had spray painted a line through that phrase and had written above it Bog nyet, which means "No God."
4. 2008 has been declared to be "The Year of the Family" in Russia. With one of our main emphasis being family ministry could the timing be any better?
5. We found a Rynok (a mostly open-air market) yesterday that sells products quite a bit cheaper than one can find in the stores. We bought a boiling kettle for 370 Roubles (about $14.57). Later in the day we saw them in the store a store for no less than 1300 Roubles (over $50.00) We are pleased.
6. When our stove is plugged in all of the burners turn on. Therefore we must unplug the stove whenever we're not using it.
7. Isaiah continues to make people smile everywhere we go.
8. The less sensible the shoe, the more popular it is.
9. We're headed to church today at 3PM. It's the same church I visited when I was here in March. We pray that this congregation might be one that we could perhaps connect with.
10. There is a delegation of about 15 people here from the PCA for the next week, exploring how the Reformed Faith can be furthered here in St. Petersburg. They are trying to find a local Reformed Church to connect with.
-The Slawsons
(Thomas, Cristy & Isaiah)
1. The hot water in our apartment still does not get hot, though occasionally it gets tepid. Sometimes it doesn't even come on at all.
2. The metro system is great. We've had no problem getting around on it with Isaiah. People will always give up their seat to Cristy when she's holding him.
3. We saw some Russian graffiti on the side of a building yesterday. One phrase said lyoubov yest' Bog which means "God is love." Someone had spray painted a line through that phrase and had written above it Bog nyet, which means "No God."
4. 2008 has been declared to be "The Year of the Family" in Russia. With one of our main emphasis being family ministry could the timing be any better?
5. We found a Rynok (a mostly open-air market) yesterday that sells products quite a bit cheaper than one can find in the stores. We bought a boiling kettle for 370 Roubles (about $14.57). Later in the day we saw them in the store a store for no less than 1300 Roubles (over $50.00) We are pleased.
6. When our stove is plugged in all of the burners turn on. Therefore we must unplug the stove whenever we're not using it.
7. Isaiah continues to make people smile everywhere we go.
8. The less sensible the shoe, the more popular it is.
9. We're headed to church today at 3PM. It's the same church I visited when I was here in March. We pray that this congregation might be one that we could perhaps connect with.
10. There is a delegation of about 15 people here from the PCA for the next week, exploring how the Reformed Faith can be furthered here in St. Petersburg. They are trying to find a local Reformed Church to connect with.
-The Slawsons
(Thomas, Cristy & Isaiah)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Time Has Come
I'm sitting here in bed at the home of our friends Bill and Robin Harris on the eve of our departure. My mind is so full right now it could burst. There is so much that has gone on over the past few months that I could not begin to put into words everything. This event of packing up and moving overseas ranks right up there with other major life events. On the way here I commented to Cristy that I was feeling almost like I did before our wedding day. There is an overwhelming sense of excitement coupled with an overwhelming sense of terror. Fatherly concerns roll around in my mind: "Am I going to be able to care for my family? What if this or that happens? Am I doing the right thing for their benefit?" etc.
When things get complicated I need to go back to the basics. I need the fundamentals rehashed in my mind and heart to give me clarity and focus again. So here are my points of clarity.
1. God is Good - He has never failed me yet, and he never will. He is always faithful, and will continue to be. We rest assured that he will give us no situation above what he has given us grace to endure.
2. This is Our Calling - We've prayed, sought counsel, prayed, took vision trips to Russia, prayed, pursued what burdened our heart for the kingdom, prayed (you get the picture). I have neither the time nor the energy to recount to you the events that have led to this day, but they are astounding, and nothing but the divine hand of God's providence could have brought them about.
3. We Are Blessed - In so many ways, of course, but specifically in that we have this amazing privilege to take the gospel to Russia. What an amazing thought that God is bringing to pass what he has prepared and enabled us to do.
4. Our Hope Lies Beyond - Yes, we have said some very sad goodbyes to family and friends. Yes the "what if?" thoughts have crossed my mind regarding our own lives and the lives of others. What greater comfort to know that, come what may, this life is only the beginning. We're simply preparing for eternity.
5. All Things Work Together for Good - Nothing can happen that is not part of God's perfect plan and will. Whatever frustrations may come, whatever stresses my arise, whatever moments of hardship may erupt, all is working together for good for us.
6. Jesus Wins! - It's settled. It's done. The "not yet" is as sure as the "already." The elect will be saved, Christ will return, Satan will be destroyed and the saints will reign forever and ever in the New Heavens and the New Earth, sinless, perfect and happy. Nothing can stop this. Amen.
I know that some of the points overlap, but these basics are a source of great comfort right now. I pray they are a comfort to you.
-Thomas
When things get complicated I need to go back to the basics. I need the fundamentals rehashed in my mind and heart to give me clarity and focus again. So here are my points of clarity.
1. God is Good - He has never failed me yet, and he never will. He is always faithful, and will continue to be. We rest assured that he will give us no situation above what he has given us grace to endure.
2. This is Our Calling - We've prayed, sought counsel, prayed, took vision trips to Russia, prayed, pursued what burdened our heart for the kingdom, prayed (you get the picture). I have neither the time nor the energy to recount to you the events that have led to this day, but they are astounding, and nothing but the divine hand of God's providence could have brought them about.
3. We Are Blessed - In so many ways, of course, but specifically in that we have this amazing privilege to take the gospel to Russia. What an amazing thought that God is bringing to pass what he has prepared and enabled us to do.
4. Our Hope Lies Beyond - Yes, we have said some very sad goodbyes to family and friends. Yes the "what if?" thoughts have crossed my mind regarding our own lives and the lives of others. What greater comfort to know that, come what may, this life is only the beginning. We're simply preparing for eternity.
5. All Things Work Together for Good - Nothing can happen that is not part of God's perfect plan and will. Whatever frustrations may come, whatever stresses my arise, whatever moments of hardship may erupt, all is working together for good for us.
6. Jesus Wins! - It's settled. It's done. The "not yet" is as sure as the "already." The elect will be saved, Christ will return, Satan will be destroyed and the saints will reign forever and ever in the New Heavens and the New Earth, sinless, perfect and happy. Nothing can stop this. Amen.
I know that some of the points overlap, but these basics are a source of great comfort right now. I pray they are a comfort to you.
-Thomas
And, we're off!
In an hour we will be pulling out from Baton Rouge and heading for Atlanta! Thanks for all your prayers as we continue our journeys, this time the big one! We will post again as soon as we can, maybe from Atlanta, but definitely from St. Petersburg, to let everyone know that we arrived safely.
Packing has been a challenge, but thankfully I had some wonderful help!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Christmas in July
Well, Thomas has been working hard the last two days to make something extra special for Isaiah. But first a little history...
Whenever Thomas opens his guitar case, Isaiah gets really excited! If he's not close to his daddy he tries to get to him or at least be able to see him. He has excellent hearing; he really does hear the case being opened. Then when Thomas gets the guitar out and starts playing, Isaiah thinks that he MUST touch the guitar. He reaches for it with such strength that if I am holding him he nearly throws himself out of my arms. Thomas will sometimes let him strum the guitar, which immediately brings Isaiah incredible joy.
Well, we want to encourage Isaiah's apparent love of music. Thomas called me the other day to tell me that he had a surprise for someone else that I would really like. When I came home, he showed me the largest part of the body of an Isaiah-sized guitar. He finished it last night, including a paint job, strings, and tuning (yes, it really plays "just like Daddy's").
This morning, Thomas gave Isaiah the guitar. Isaiah was enthralled. You would have thought that it was Christmas morning. He has played with it off and on all day with more attention than anything else that he has. Yes, he seems to LOVE his guitar.
Once I figure out how to upload videos, I'm sure that there will be video posted! We're so proud of our little man!
Whenever Thomas opens his guitar case, Isaiah gets really excited! If he's not close to his daddy he tries to get to him or at least be able to see him. He has excellent hearing; he really does hear the case being opened. Then when Thomas gets the guitar out and starts playing, Isaiah thinks that he MUST touch the guitar. He reaches for it with such strength that if I am holding him he nearly throws himself out of my arms. Thomas will sometimes let him strum the guitar, which immediately brings Isaiah incredible joy.
Well, we want to encourage Isaiah's apparent love of music. Thomas called me the other day to tell me that he had a surprise for someone else that I would really like. When I came home, he showed me the largest part of the body of an Isaiah-sized guitar. He finished it last night, including a paint job, strings, and tuning (yes, it really plays "just like Daddy's").
This morning, Thomas gave Isaiah the guitar. Isaiah was enthralled. You would have thought that it was Christmas morning. He has played with it off and on all day with more attention than anything else that he has. Yes, he seems to LOVE his guitar.
Once I figure out how to upload videos, I'm sure that there will be video posted! We're so proud of our little man!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Visa, Visa, Visa!
We have our visas! Wooooohooooo! We are good to go as far as paperwork is concerned.
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Monday, July 09, 2007
A cry in the night
There's nothing like being awakened from a sound, coma-like sleep at 5:00am (or earlier) by the frantic cries of your child. Sometimes the cry is obviously one that can be "ignored" as a cry that will soon disappear. Other times the cry is not as easy to figure out, like this morning, for instance. Let me elaborate, as briefly as possible, I promise. Sunday morning about 5:30am Isaiah let out a terrified cry that set my heart racing. I went into his room to check on him to discover him cold and, I think, scared. I took him into our room (I didn't want to have to clean off the extra bed in his room), and he snuggled in and went back to sleep while still whimpering a bit. It was clear that something was wrong.
This morning at 4:56am Isaiah began to cry again. This time I couldn't tell what was wrong. I stood outside his door for a few minutes, knowing that as soon as I entered his room all hope was lost of him returning to sleep on his own. He stopped crying. I went back to bed. Ten minutes later he started crying again. I remained in bed this time for a few minutes, listening to my baby on the monitor. After 5 minutes or so, he stopped crying. Ten minutes later he began crying again. This time the crying had intensified to high-pitched squeals that could have been pain. After getting advice from my husband (making this decision at 5:30 in them morning is never easy), I went to check and make sure that Isaiah wasn't in a position in the bed that he couldn't change (this happens occasionally--he'll be sort of stuck against the side of his bed, and once moved, he'll stop crying and go to sleep). Well, I peeked in, trying desperately not to be noticed by my ever-vigilant 17 month old. Nothing doing. He was in a slightly awkward position, but I don't think that was the problem. He actually didn't notice me at first, but rather he heard the door close, I believe. He continued to cry. I couldn't hold out any longer.
(Sidebar--for those of you who are wondering what kind of a mother I am for letting him cry it out, I just have to say that that method has worked well for us, and until recently Isaiah has been sleeping really, really well. In the last week or two there have been some random occasions such as the one that I am describing to you.) Back to the facts...
I took Isaiah into our room. He had the "crying hiccups" (for lack of a better word) for several minutes before I felt his body relax back into sleep. His breathing was still slightly troubled, but nothing in comparison to before. A while later, maybe 15 minutes or more, he began crying in his sleep, even though I was holding him. At this point I became convinced that he was having a nightmare or some type of bad dream. I felt so helpless. I tried to comfort him and pray with him and asked Thomas to pray, too. I didn't know what else to do, and finally he calmed again to sleep for an hour and a half, I suppose.
I was thinking about this today, trying to decide what to do if/when this happens again. As I was thinking about it, I was again struck with the utter helplessness that I felt in wanting to do what was best for Isaiah, but having no idea really what that was. I started to think about how as parents we often give our children a picture of Who God is (don't worry, I'm going to be careful here!). By being trustworthy and good to our children, we can help them learn faster and better that they can trust God and that He will always do what is best for them (as we are teaching them about Him, of course). I am thankful that even though I don't know what is best for Isaiah in this situation, that God does. I pray that He will help me to know what to do. I pray that He will reveal Himself to Isaiah. I am thankful that God isn't up in heaven looking down and feeling helpless like me. Praise God for His sovereign wisdom and care for His children.
This morning at 4:56am Isaiah began to cry again. This time I couldn't tell what was wrong. I stood outside his door for a few minutes, knowing that as soon as I entered his room all hope was lost of him returning to sleep on his own. He stopped crying. I went back to bed. Ten minutes later he started crying again. I remained in bed this time for a few minutes, listening to my baby on the monitor. After 5 minutes or so, he stopped crying. Ten minutes later he began crying again. This time the crying had intensified to high-pitched squeals that could have been pain. After getting advice from my husband (making this decision at 5:30 in them morning is never easy), I went to check and make sure that Isaiah wasn't in a position in the bed that he couldn't change (this happens occasionally--he'll be sort of stuck against the side of his bed, and once moved, he'll stop crying and go to sleep). Well, I peeked in, trying desperately not to be noticed by my ever-vigilant 17 month old. Nothing doing. He was in a slightly awkward position, but I don't think that was the problem. He actually didn't notice me at first, but rather he heard the door close, I believe. He continued to cry. I couldn't hold out any longer.
(Sidebar--for those of you who are wondering what kind of a mother I am for letting him cry it out, I just have to say that that method has worked well for us, and until recently Isaiah has been sleeping really, really well. In the last week or two there have been some random occasions such as the one that I am describing to you.) Back to the facts...
I took Isaiah into our room. He had the "crying hiccups" (for lack of a better word) for several minutes before I felt his body relax back into sleep. His breathing was still slightly troubled, but nothing in comparison to before. A while later, maybe 15 minutes or more, he began crying in his sleep, even though I was holding him. At this point I became convinced that he was having a nightmare or some type of bad dream. I felt so helpless. I tried to comfort him and pray with him and asked Thomas to pray, too. I didn't know what else to do, and finally he calmed again to sleep for an hour and a half, I suppose.
I was thinking about this today, trying to decide what to do if/when this happens again. As I was thinking about it, I was again struck with the utter helplessness that I felt in wanting to do what was best for Isaiah, but having no idea really what that was. I started to think about how as parents we often give our children a picture of Who God is (don't worry, I'm going to be careful here!). By being trustworthy and good to our children, we can help them learn faster and better that they can trust God and that He will always do what is best for them (as we are teaching them about Him, of course). I am thankful that even though I don't know what is best for Isaiah in this situation, that God does. I pray that He will help me to know what to do. I pray that He will reveal Himself to Isaiah. I am thankful that God isn't up in heaven looking down and feeling helpless like me. Praise God for His sovereign wisdom and care for His children.
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