Hello!

It is that time of the week again – doesn’t time fly! I hope that you all had a great Easter, and are feeling full of chocolate…

Things have improved since I last wrote, mainly because I have re-gained my trust of marshrutkas, and haven’t been dumped at any more random points in the city. I’m not sure if I am ready to trust the 175a again just yet though.

In fact, it has been an interesting couple of weeks really. We had our Easter break in there and my Dad came out to visit – we enjoyed rushing around the city in between the snow storms, minus 5, and meals. We had a really great time though, despite the weather, and took lots of good photos! I can also now safely say that I have visited most of the sights of the city. We even managed a walk on the ice of the Finnish Gulf at sunset the other night to take some pictures.

Between all of this, there has not been a lot of time for ministry, but we have started to make some plans for the Summer Project that will be arriving here, oddly enough, in the summer – towards the end of June. We are hoping to run an English camp, which we will be inviting Russian students to come to shortly. I also visited the orphanage where Indira has been taking a few students each week to play with the kids there, and help them with their homework. I really enjoyed my visit, and hope that I will be able to go every week. I am of especial use when it comes to English homework!

Accommodation-wise, I have run into a few problems because my landlady has said that she is really not comfortable with me having any guests over at all, so I think I will have to move out – I’m a bit disappointed as I really like living here, but I think it will be really hard not to be able to have anyone around to visit at all. So I’m looking for somewhere to live again, hopefully finding somewhere before Jo and Aaron go, as then I will have an extra pair of hands to help carry stuff!

It is scary that now, we only have one more week really with them here – the last two months have gone so quickly. It will be very strange with them gone though, and life will be very different.

Right, I need to do my language homework. Have a good week!

Sarah

xxx

Marshrutka no 175a

First off, I need to explain what a marshrutka is. It is a cross between a taxi and a bus, usually in the form of a minibus, that you can hail wherever, but it follows a set route. They are much faster than going by bus, although they can be very dangerous as the driver is a skilled multi-tasker, talking on the phone, taking money off people and giving them change, and going round a corner all at the same time. My new language teacher has told me that they will no longer exist by the end of the year, as they are so dangerous. But, they are very convenient, and good for language skills, as they force you to interact, as you have to tell the driver where you want him to stop.

We had a meeting last Thursday afternoon on the other side of the city for all the women involved in the student ministry, to keep them up to date. It is a journey that would normally take about an hour. However, I decided that the best option would be to go by marshrutka.
My problems started as soon as I walked out of my flat, as the lift failed to materialise. After about 10 minutes, it finally appeared. I got down to the bottom to be greeted by a lady in a gas mask, who had been cleaning out the shaft. The answer to why I didn't go down the stairs is that they are locked at the bottom, and I don't have a key. I choose not to think about that.
In the meantime, I think I missed at least one marshrutka. I probably waited another 10 minutes for another one, resigning myself to the fact that I might not be early to the meeting, but it would save me walking to the metro. Finally the bus turned up, I got on, paid, and sat down with my book. After a short distance, the driver stopped, I think in the hope that some more passengers might get on. Vain hope, as we waited for about 10 minutes. We got to the next metro stop, where the driver decided to have a cigarette, and a chat with another driver. I kept looking at my watch, thinking I would be lucky if I was to make it on time.
Traffic was not in our favour, and as we progressed further, it began to be plain that I would not make the meeting on time. We travelled further, and I sat comfortably reading. 20 minutes after I was supposed to have arrived, I stopped reading, as the scenery was looking familiar and I didn't want to miss where I was supposed to get off. The driver turned round and said something, but no-one heard except one guy who answered him. Then he almost took off (I think he may have been running late...) I stopped recognising the scenery, and was wondering where we were. Then a lady turned to me and asked me whether Muzhestva had already been (where we were going). I said that I didn't think so, but then someone else said it had. Horror of horrors, I asked the driver. He said that we had missed it (that must have been what he had asked...) and three of us got off, to catch something to take us back. The other two promptly disappeared, and I crossed the road, walking through the mud and the rain, until at last I found something going back the other way. I made it to the meeting an hour late, putting down the delay to bad luck.
On the way home, I decided that the journey on the way was a one off problem, and that it would be easier to go home by marshrutka, as it meant again, that I didn't have to walk from the metro. We waited another 15 minutes maybe for one to come, and were on the point of giving up when it appeared.
I realised after going a short distance that it was the same marshrutka as on the way. My memory was helped along by the fact that the driver lit up as he was driving, and then appeared to stop again. But, as we were waiting to go on again, the door opened, and a policeman came in. We were really worried by now, but he just told us to take our fares back and go. Luckily we were close to a metro station. There was a tow truck in front, so something must have been missing. So we ended up coming home by metro after all, and not only did I spend 2 hours getting to Muzhestva, but we then spent 2 hours getting back. That will teach me to be lazy about walking to the metro!
Aaron and Luke had another bad experience the next day, when the door fell off the marshrutka as they went down Nevsky. I opted for the bus.
Sarah
xxx

Happy Women's Day

Hello everyone!

Happy Women’s Day. This is the Russian equivalent of Mothers Day, and it is a great day, where basically all the men give all the women flowers and cards. It is a bit like Valentines Day, but for everyone, and it is a public holiday and everything. It should be good fun.

Well, this week things have changed a little in our flat. My landlady’s daughter and her family have been staying, as their bathroom has been undergoing “remont” – the general word here for either repair, redecorating, rebuilding, which can be used for anything from clothes to buildings. That has mostly involved her granddaughter Masha, who is 10, and has been off school with sinus problems being home. It has been very funny, especially as she walks around a bit like a model, will disappear up the stairs, and reappear with a completely different hairstyle. There has been the odd tantrum as well, but it is good having more people around. I was asked to speak a bit off English to her, as she has started studying it, so I tried out a “Good Night” the other day, to see what she would understand. She looked a bit confused, and I think she has been avoiding me since…

On to some happy news now. We spent a great weekend in Helsinki (with a few precious hours playing monopoly, because we were locked out of our hostel room as the lock broke, and they had to call out the key company to fix it) and returned to a six month registration. That was what we had been hoping for, and it means we can stay here until the end of the summer project in mid July. Wahooo!

Helsinki was really nice. It was good to get away for a short time, and it was interesting to see another city. We didn’t have time to see very much, and everything seemed to be closed on the Sunday anyway, but we did make it into a few churches, and had a good explore outside, as well as the aforementioned Monopoly. Most of what we did seemed to revolve around food, which was good too – we found a really lovely café, with amazing pastries, and also a noodle bar. It was nice to go out to eat something that wasn’t either a burger, pancakes or sushi!! We got there by train, which was good as the customs people board the train, and so you don’t waste any time there. It was really comfortable, and we even managed to watch the whole of the long version of Pride and Prejudice on the way…

Talking of Pride and Prejudice, the first session hasn’t happened yet, as it turned out that the girls couldn’t come last week, and we haven’t yet pinned down a time when they can all make it. Hopefully we can do it some time this weekend. Ministry-wise, it has been a quieter week, as we had to recover from the weekend, but I went to an Orthodox church youth group on Thursday night, with a girl named Olga. It was really interesting, as it is the week before Lent starts here – the whole week is a festival where the idea is that everyone eats lots of pancakes. Mmmm. The East Asian girls group happened as usual, and apparently an Evening for Hungry Men was a success again, with spiritual conversations sparking off everywhere, without the boys even putting in any special effort!

Right, time to go, as I need to go to the other flat, where a Women’s Day breakfast awaits…

Have a good week

Lots of love

Sarah

xxx