Tuesday, at last

Tuesday is the first day of our "weekend"- alway a day looked forward to. It's a day our household is closed- meaning that young people aren't welcome to visit today, only those who are living here. When all 4, or even 6 of them are at home, it hardly feels any different!

But today Trac, Beckles and I got a good few hours to ourselves.
And we coloured our hair- I've learned a lot from Trac already. it's great living with a hairdresser!



**
Yesterday Jenya and Anton started working in Holmsk- a port city on the west coast, north of Yuzhny. They're working in a team renovating the interior of a 5-star restaurant. They'll be away for a month! It's usual practice for workers to live in the building they're working on - they'll need blankets and pillows to sleep on.
They called last night- to tell us they miss us, that they love Holmsk, that we should go there to visit them on the weekend, when they have time off... maybe they will!
They came back this evening and will stay until tomorrow, to deal with some legal matters and documentation. We miss them when they're away! But we hope they'll learn a lot while they're away-especially that they'll learn to find satisfaction in their work, and learn to rely on God for their needs.

We might see them fairly often throughout the month ;-)

Now he's Home

He came home today. And, well, not many of my questions are answered, but here's the story I got (just to set our minds at rest)

He went to Korsakov with his uncle, who's the same age as him.
His uncle went back Saturday evening to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Rome stayed in Korsakov with friends and got rip-roaring drunk.
There were four friends.
Mobile reception in the area is dodgy so he left his mobile at his friend Andrei's house, while he and Dima went driving to the sea. They had a car accident- due to copious amounts of alcohol, Rome (conveniently) doesn't remember what happened. He woke up in hospital in Korsakov at about 1pm Sunday afternoon.
Dima was in the bed next to him. They got up and left the hospital on their own.

Went to Toli's place, their other friend. Apparently Toli had driven the car back to his place. Maybe he took them to the hospital??
They called Andrei to say they were coming over, and arrived at Andrei's at about 6pm. It seems that we'd missed Andrei on the road where he really was going to meet us and give us Roma's mobile.
It would seem Andrei didn't know how Roma and Dima were at the time.
Roma doesn't know why he told us he'd been transferred to hospital in Yuzhny...
All the ends still aren't meeting, but- that's the story I've got and I'll have to make do with it.

Thanks everyone who kept in touch and I'm sorry- very sorry! for getting us all concerned about very little.
Tracy and I explained to Roma how worried we'd been and how everybody had already heard about it, and he'd better be ready to answer everyone's questions for a long time to come.
I don't think he realises - cares? - how big a deal it was.

Times like this really make me wonder...

Roma's not in a coma

This is good news, is it not?
I'm trying to look on the bright side.
Let me tell you the long, sad story.

We were in church. The singing part had finished and I'd scooted around the back of the church to sit with Tracy and Simon and Ira, who translates the sermons for us.
2 minutes into the sermon, Trac got an sms from Anton who was at home, asking her to call home right now.

So Trac and I went out the back to make the call. I spoke to Jenya- he had just had a call from Roma's girlfriend (well, ex-girlfriend by one day) Alissa, to say that Roma had been in a car accident in Korsakov (port town, to the south of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) and was in a coma in Korsakov's hospital. It wasn't long afterwards that I, Simon (who kindly offered to drive us for the day!) and Tracy, Anton, Jenya and Alissa were in the car, headed for sunny Korsakov.

We found the hospital- but there was no such young man, named Roma or otherwise, admitted to the hospital. Our one source of information was the man answering Roma's cell phone, which was intermittently available throughout the day. His name was Dima... or was it Andrei? There seemed to be a name change at some point. We called the police, but they had no record of a car accident yesterday in the area. The second time we spoke to Dima/Andrei, he said Rome had been moved to a Yuzhny hospital because it was such a severe situation. He would meet us on the highway at a bus stop near the site of the crash to hand over Roma's phone.
He didn't show.

Later, when we got home, Natasha tried Roma's phone number again and Dima/Andrei answered it, then put Roma on! Something is true: Roma's not in a coma. Roma told Natasha that he IS in hospital in Korsakov, he'd just woken up and spoken to the doctor, and he would be there for at least 2 months. So we called Alissa who had gone home herself, to let her know the latest news- Trac could hear her yelling at Natasha over the phone- it's not true! Alissa had called Roma's phone again herself, and one of his friends answered- maybe Dima/Andrei. He told her that it was all a joke- that when Alissa had called Roma late last night, they were pretty drunk and Roma didn't want to talk to her. He told his friends to say he had been in a car accident and was in a coma.

So- what to believe?
There are a lot of un-accounted-for facts here.
Did Alissa hear about the accident from Roma's friends late last night, or at about 1pm today as she'd told us?
Was there a car accident? Or was it not reported to the police because the car was driven off the scene? If there were narcotics involved they would want to steer clear of the men in navy blue.
Why did the hospital tell us he wasn't there, if he was?
Why was Dima/Andrei going to meet us on the highway to give us Roma's phone if he was with Roma (in the hospital?) when Natasha called him, about an hour later?
Why did he tell us Roma had been transferred to a Yuzhny hospital?
And another point, which seems seems insignificant but still doesn't make sense- did Roma and Alissa break up 3 days ago, which is what Roma told us three days ago, when we last saw him, or yesterday, which is what Alissa told me?
Where is Roma? He is probably in Korsakov, at a friends house, or at the hospital?
Is this true? Or completely fabricated?

Only one thing we know for sure: Roma's not in a coma.

How to celebrate a wedding

I felt a bit roped into the situation. It was announced at music practice one day that we were playing at a wedding. I kind of understood, but wasn't sure that I was included, or... what, really. I didn't know who the bride and groom were.

Well, I was included.
And now I'm glad I was.

We met at our church at 3pm to practice. At 4pm we were to go together to the place, wherever it was, and set up to be ready for the party (bride and groom). Then Olyessa (pastor Peter's daughter) happened to mention that we'd be outside- it looked like rain, the wind was picking up and Trac and I agreed that we needed to go home for jackets! What a palava. I had no idea what was going to happen.
At this point we were getting late, so Trac and Bec took a taxi home and back to the wedding and I went there in the van with all the other musicians.

Becky, looking lovely

We headed into the are of the wedding- it was in one of areas of housing in the city that are unsealed- making everything on the road and open to the air, dirty. We drove into - the backyard of the bride's father's house! Which had a big under cover area, like a big kind of patio, with canvas sheets around the poles to create walls (great windbreaks!) Long trestle tables were set up, the rough wood covered in brown paper, groaning under the load of food and drinks (no alcohol though- this was a thoroughly Christian wedding! The bride's grandfather is Sakhalin's oldest pastor). There was a bridal table decked in white, with balloons and streamers and the word 'love' decorating the canvas wall behind it. The other walls had hand-painted posters of love, happiness and wise sayings. And along one side was a raised platform, with speakers, keyboards, guitars, a sound desk and microphones aplenty.
The stage (I'm tucked away there at the back)

The evening was filled with songs, puppet plays, skits, games (where the groom, Slava, had to find his new wife from among a group of women, while blindfolded. Or where the mothers of bride and groom had to guess their son or daughter's voice from a group of voices.) Ira and Slava even sang a couple of songs together! And you know what? No one really cared too much. Some people wore jeans. A couple of singers were a bit off, I know one of our songs plummeted to death, but it didn't matter. We were there, contributing, feasting, talking, laughing, rejoicing.


Slava and Ira, overlooking our trestle table

Beckles, me and Olyessa

At church on Sunday morning, I looked around, and recognised so many people who were at the wedding last night. I'd never met them before.

Worst things? It was jolly cold, and because I didn't actually know the new couple I didn't want to take photos.
Best thing? I get to do this again next month, when Ira's sister Tatiana gets married!!
Woohoo!

They've gone

It happened this afternoon, at 2. They had to come back to get the projector, of course. Wouldn't be normal if something hadn't been left behind.
*sigh*
Happy camping to them.

Someone must have packed playing cards, coz it is really raining down.
That heavy sound of dropping rain. Warm, still air. The upbeat of each drop from the ground. A couple of lightning flashes have broken the darkness.

***Katya, Roma, Trac and I just rushed outside to catch a glimpse of lightning, un-window-pane-fettered. Trac found a mud-puddle. Katya's still in shock that Trac went out there bare-footed. Trac's covered in mud.

I took Daisy for a walk earlier; had to shower the dirt off her legs afterwards. Yeah, she loves that.
I had a lot of practice last time we took care of her, so today was bez problema.

Tomorrow Trac, Bec and I are going to a wedding! A young couple from our church are getting married. We don't know them at all. But I'm playing with the music team at the dinner part (it's going to be a new cultural experience, for sure!), Bec is singing with several other young girls, and Trac may be called upon to make some sort of speech/greeting.
That's all we know.
I'm praying that whatever we choose to wear will be appropriate, that I'll remember the songs I have to play, that Bec will be able to find and practice the words in the morning, that we'll have someone there who can interpret for us...
I'll let you know how it goes ;-)

Camp

Tomorrow Pete and Luke and Jake are heading out to a 2-week Chrisitan summer camp.

Summer camps are the go here- most kids spend at least a month of their holidays away on camp, and Chrisitan kids are no different.
Pete's going as a team leader, and the boys are along for the ride.

The camp is held in tents, by a lake, close to the middle of nowhere. I've heard lots of stories about it- the little flies that bite your bum, the warm lake water- the best for swimming in! Washing clothes by hand, good food, crazy amounts of time cooped up in a hot tent learning old russian hymns, and an awards evening where all the little campers don their evening dresses, suits and ties for a formal dinner.

It's like no camp I've ever experienced. Thank God, that's not about to change!

Trac, Becky and I are holding the fort on our own for two weeks. We'll miss the guys. A lot.

Happy Birthday Luke!

July 25th 2007- Luke's 13th birthday.

Finally, Luke is a teenager. Ooohhh, he's been waiting for this moment for a long time!
Finally, Pete and Trac truly are the parents of a teenager. They hadn't noticed the moment sneaking up on them.

We spent the day at the park! Eating Russian BBQ, Luke chose a ride, back home for pizza ala Pete, hanging out with a couple of our friends Luke had invited. It was a chilled-out day, no full-on party, no crowds of people, no great demands. Just like Luke.
He's my kind of guy. You're the best, Luke!

2-2

Hey there, lil bro- Happy Birthday!

I hope you're having a blast, a ball and a wheel... ;-) All your favourite things.
Wish I could be there with you today!

(mum, don't worry- this photo was taken late at night!! LoL)

Birthday

My friend Ryan is flying back to Perth today, for a holiday. As usual, I loaded him up with personal belongings for him to carry back to Australia for me- I feel bad, we treat him like a delivery service! He can’t go to Australia without ferrying this or that across the equator on our behalf. He says it’s no problem, though. Well, due to some unforeseen circumstance, he missed his flight, and so he’s leaving today- take two. But because of the delay, he’ll be spending his birthday tomorrow in Hong Kong.

Happy Birthday Ryan- we’re all thinking of you!!

200 m

Have I mentioned that we live 200 m from a forest?

You can walk up hill for 10 mins and stop seeing other people, or hearing city sounds other than the nearby military base’s rifle practice. It’s all just there, and if you come prepared with mosquito repellant, quick reflexes to brush away the ticks, and keep an eye out for bears, you have nothing to worry about but enjoying the forest you’re in.

It truly is lovely and, though I know little about flora, especially here, I find it quite remarkable. There are plenty of coniferous trees, typical of cold climates- but then there are huge herbs, and plants I would describe as tropical. I like the way a friend once put it- there’s so much energy in the ground here, that all this greenery leaps up, and shoots enormous stalks and leaves into the air, making the most of the short summer months.

Our friend Ira invited us to join her for a picnic in the forest this week. We ended up walking nearly to the top of the hill, when Luke found a trail leading down to a river, with an open grassy area (that the bears had cleared ;-) just perfect for eating in. It’s only an hour’s walk from our house!

Horses

Janet has a horse, Chaika, who gave birth to a foal last week. She took us out to see the young one- he was very shy, and quite appealing to her dogs ;-)

At less than a week old, he was already past the wobbly stage. I don’t know that I’d ever seen such a young foal before. He’s beautiful.

A Crowded House

It's summer and ... that's why it's raining. Go figure

So we're all inside, there's a movie on, no one's talking to me and I can spare a thought for our crazy week! Anton and Nastya got kicked out of their apartment this week, for reasons unexplained, and rather than have them sleep on the street, of course they came to stay with us! And their dog Gruff. We had the questionable pleasure of taking care of Gruff when he was a wee little one, and that's what he did, everywhere- that and yelp. Well the weeing has become less than constant in the last three months, but the yelping has kept pace with his body size. Thankfully they only needed to stay one night.
It was good to see them though. Anton used to live with us, but since moving out and getting a job he doesn't have a lot of time to visit anymore.
How does the proverb go? Distance and the heart...?

Our days off got a bit sabotaged by the whole event, and others (non-youth) needing to visit and talk, etc. I decided to take some drastic measure to preserve my sanity, so I went walking.

"Gulat' " is a concept I've only encountered here. It may be a Russian thing, a youth thing, a lower socio-economic thing... I don't know. Our young folks here fall into all these categories. Gulat' means to go out. Usually with someone else, but I went on my own. To go out and to hang out, walk around, not do anything but just spend time. It's often related with drinking binges... I won't go into that here. But basically, what I did was I walked around town, ALL afternoon. I wouldn't want to do it every day, I couldn't walk much at all the following day!! But I got my much-needed time out, alone. And- I might just do it again sometime.

Because he lives I can face tomorrow- because he lives, all fear is gone! Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives.

Home Groups

Our church has organised home groups to meet across the city- we host one at our house on Monday nights.
Pastor Peter gave us material for the first three weeks, and he came to lead our group himself last week- which was our first meeting. There was only he and ourselves there- although that's no mean number. 10 of us altogether. And he spoke in Russian, explaining the message to us in limited English as he went along.
We sang songs together. In turns- English and then he sang in Russian.
Jenya, Anton and Sasha began to really listen, and Pastor Pete's jovial nature and Belorussian background brought out a few smiles.

As he left he gave me a pile of material for the next two weeks. He'd be away, and I may have to lead the group.

I have spent the last three days on the sofa with a dictionary, trying to translate the four pages of stuff for Monday night. Last night I finished and typed in English the first two pages. Hopefully the second half uses a lot of the same words (>_<)
Today my task is to find and type out songs that we know in both English and Russian.
Please help me God!

Khabarovsk

Pete's family came to visit us early in June- just a couple of hours after the Grace team had left! Several days later, we trooped off to Khabarovsk, to visit a young man there who is having a hard time serving his country.


I found Khabarovsk to be a beautiful city; far more European in appearance than Sakhalin! Sakhalin, full of buildings we fondly call "Soviet blocks" - Sakhalin, with a different history to the rest of Russia- settled over the last 60 years at first as a penal colony, later advertised as a land of new opportunity... sound familiar? But Khabarovsk has old buildings and infrastructure, lovely facades, wide paved streets and built along the river Amur.

And it's hot. It was hot in early June, reaching 36 degrees on our last day! High humidity and a large mosquito population make it a curse for some, but for me it was a slice of hope- summer has finally arrived!

Khabarovsk is quite a remarkable place. About an hour drive north of the Chinese border, Khabarovsk experiences temperatures of -40 degrees in winter, and +40 degrees in summer! That is... a difference of 80 degrees. Celcius.
The cost of living there is two thirds, or sometimes even half to cost of living in Sakhalin. Now that I've been there, I understand why so many Sakhaliners are moving to the mainland. Soon only the wealthy will be able to afford to live on Sakhalin.

We had the great joy of spending the week with Helen, a young woman who just graduated from university and acted as our interpreter and guide while we were there. She made it possible for us to visit our young soldier. Praise God, after many threats and interviews with the bureau of National Security, he was released to visit us for three days!!


Now that we are back in Sakhalin, we are waiting for the next 4 months until he completes his time and comes home.

Gently gently

Call it paranoia, call it a love of conspiracy theories, call it an inflated sense of self-importance.

But the three of us here have discussed it and decided that, taking evidence, recent circumstances and political forecast into account, it is best to be less forthcoming with facts, names and pictures on this blog than I have been. So please- read between the lines, and try to guess the rest ;-)

Felicity