A month already???

Hello from St Petes! I am suprised that it seems I have been here for a month already - it feels on one hand like I have been here for ages, but on the other hand like no time at all! The city itself still feels really enormous, and I'm not sure if I really know my way around yet at all, but it is really starting to feel like home. It is starting to get easier to talk to the people (although English is a very useful language!). I have made some friends, including a lady at the supermarket cake counter.

We took some of the students to a small town near the Finnish border called Vyborg last Saturday. We had a really great day there, even though we had to sit on hard wooden seats on a train for 2 1/2 hours to get there and back... It was a lovely autumn day there, complete with dry leaves on the ground to slosh through. We first went to the zamok, or fortress, which had amazing views from the top of the tower.

After that, we went for the obligatory blini (pancakes) in a cafe, and then went for a walk in a park, which was really beautiful. It was called Monrepo, a transliteration of the French Mon Repos, or my rest, and it was by a lake. The colours were all amazing!

The ministry side of things is really starting to pick up now, with appointments from our diary project starting to be made and happen. So far, I have arranged 4 appointments, made lots of phonecalls, and been sworn at once. It was very funny, as I had no idea what had been said, but when I asked Indira I was told to never say it again! Unfortunately, not everyone wants to hear what we have to say, but then we are only ringing and arranging to meet those who have said that they do want to hear the message of the Bible in 10 minutes.

Language Error of the week:

Well, this one is slightly embarassing, but when we have been handing out our student planners, we have been lending pens and pencils to the students. I realised only the other day that rather than asking for the "ruchka" (pen), I was asking instead for the "rubashka" (shirt). And no one told me!

Right, I think it is now time for me to go to bed, as Saturday is another work day for us, with Monday as our day off. We would normally have our team Bible Study followed by prayer time, but as Aaron and Jo are both away (Aaron in Finland, trying to sort his visa out, and Jo away at the church retreat they were both supposed to be on) we are meeting later just for the prayer part. And we still have about 40 diaries to hand out!

Lots of love

Sarah

xxx