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.