Thanksgiving 2009

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This was our first big holiday in Russia and we missed our family, but we had a great time with new friends! We gave thanks and ate with a group of 15 or so Russians and Americans. For some, it was a life-long tradition, for others, everything was new. Click on the link below to view a video created by the talented Blake Haas...

http://www.vimeo.com/7882117

Pictures of late...

Backstage after seeing Swan Lake, with a group of children from a
nearby village and the lead dancers from the ballet.



A man a park about a block from our house.

The main Orthodox church in town, which happens to be at the end of our street. During Soviet times, it was turned into a movie theater, but now it has been restored and is operating as a church once again.

One of the main bus stops near our house.


Thanks to Blake for his mad skills with the camera. He is awesome!

Trying to keep the main thing the main thing

These past couple of weeks have been busy despite the fact that we have not had our usual language lessons. We have two groups meeting at our house now, one on Saturday evening and the other on Sunday afternoon. Along with teaching our regular classes, it now seems like teaching is all we do and think about. All this activity has reminded me of how important it is keep our focus and how even some seemingly good things can keep us from sharing the Good News. We have quickly learned that the business of life gets in the way of what God has called each of us to do, tell others about him. Please pray that we will learn to keep what is important in the forefront and put the rest after.

In other news, our supervisor Chris Carr and his family left for a six month assignment in America, leaving just the Woodall family and us in Ufa until the Bauers return in January. I am sure we will be fine, but it is a little intimidating to think that we have only been here two months and now we are the only Americans here. We are blessed to have a network of local people we can call on if we have a problem.

We have many things to be thankful for here, one of which is the extension of our visas. Our visas were approved last week for another nine months without us having to leave the country. Praise God!

Thank you for praying for us and please continue as we explore this new place and meet new people.

Funny story of the week: Last week we had the privilege of accompanying a group of school kids from a nearby village to see Swan Lake performed at the ballet theatre. Of course it was wonderful and as an added bonus, we got to meet the lead dancers backstage after the show! The group we were with consisted of 20 students and three teachers. After the ballet, the bus was supposed to be sitting on the street outside the theatre for the students to board. Well surprise, it wasn’t there. Here’s the funny part. As the students were running around like crazy people, the driver and the bus were nowhere to be found. He was from the village also and was unfamiliar with driving in the city. Instead of telling him EXACTLY where he needed to meet us, the leader of the group just told him to park “somewhere near the theatre.” This would be acceptable under normal circumstances because one would think that the driver would have a cell phone. Not this driver. Not only did he not have a cell, he was mute, so the poor guy couldn't even ask for directions! This is really funny now, but not at the time. Finally, at about 11:00 pm, the bus was found, the students boarded and began their two-hour journey back to the village. I'm glad I wasn't on that ride. :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Movie Night!

Last night we went to our first Russian movie, “The Book of Masters.” It is the first Russian-made movie with a Disney partnership. The movie was live-action, but had a little bit of a Shrek feel to it…a fairytale, but also kind of modern. We went with some teacher friends of ours from the Intercollege and we had a great time. I thought we may get bored because we couldn’t understand most of the movie, but it was a great learning experience! Below is a link to the movie trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nv9JHxTeKQ

First snow and horse bean update

This week brought the first snow to Ufa this year! It didn't stick, and we have had flurries on and off since then, but nothing to speak of. Nonetheless, this is very exciting for me! Also this week, I was out of commission for the second part of the week due to something like the flu. (It was probably just a cold, but I felt really bad and saying "THE FLU" these days sounds way more dramatic!) :) All I know is, I felt really bad, but thanks to a medical consultation with my mother over Skype, we determined that I did not have Swine Flu and that I would indeed live to brave another day. This is funny to me because I never got sick living in America and it seemed to me that Blake was constantly sniffling in Savannah. Now, it is quite the opposite situation, with this being the second cold I have had since we arrived six weeks ago...which brings up a funny cultural comparison. Given this situation, an American would say, "You need to wash your hands more often." A Russian would agree with that statement but would say, "Yes, washing hands is good, but the real reason you are sick is that you must not be wearing warm clothes." Two solutions to the same problem. I think I'll wash my hands and wear my hat and scarf to be on the safe side. :)
Blake was so nice while I was sick! He taught my classes on Friday and Saturday so I could get better!...what more could a girl ask for? Seriously, please pray for our physical health this week as the weather is changing, a virus is going around with the school kids, and our bodies are still getting used to the new environment here.
In regard to our previous post about "horse beans," we found dried pinto beans tonight! We found them at a store that is kind of far from our house where they sell a lot of western products. They're kind of expensive, but it's comforting to know at least they exist here. :) Blake told our language teacher he would bring them to class tomorrow as proof that the "horse beans" do exist! :)
Thank you for walking with us for another week!

Fellowship and Horse Beans

Thursday night we had our regular womens' club gathering at Chris and Eileen Carr's home. One night every month, we have a dinner and a bunch of women come over to the Carr's apartment. It is a good chance for women believers from local churches to come and meet some of the nonbelievers that have been coming to English classes throughout the month in an informal environment. Last month we had just arrived in Ufa when the ladies met together, so I didn't help, I just attended. This month I helped. We were making Mexican food (or the closest thing to it in Russia) for about 30 women. My job was to bring refried beans. In case you're wondering, I've never made them before. In Georgia, I like to leave that to the restaurants. I think they do a much better job than I could anyway. I looked up a recipe online and I called Blake, who was coming home from class, to pick up some pinto beans from the store. He looked up "pinto beans" in the dictionary and went to the store to get them. When he got there, he said the word for "pinto" to the lady and she gave him a strange look. I'm sure you know where this is going. He came home without the beans and a bit frustrated. The next day he asked Lily, our language teacher, what he had done wrong. He showed her the word he had asked the lady in the store. She laughed pretty hard and said, "That is the word for a type of horse!" So I guess Blake asked for horse beans. Needless to say, we had kidney beans and corn mixed together instead of refried beans for the party. Oh well, even the dictionary can lead you astray sometimes and apparently there are no pinto beans in Russia.

Below are a couple of pictures from the October womens' club Halloween Mexican dinner.

group of ladies finishing dinner


Tara Woodall, our teammate from Texas, being a servant and washing dishes :)...while I'm taking pictures

So you think you can dance?

Last week we were able to attend a Bashkir folk dance performance at one of the local theaters. The first half of the show consisted of Bashkir folk dances, while the second half was a mixture of Russian, Tartar, and other groups. Here is a taste of what we got to see!

Enjoy! We certainly did!