Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Hey Y'all.
I leave the 5th of June! I can't wait. Please keep me in your prayers as it will take me 2 days to get home. I miss you all, and can't wait to see you!

pete

Nine Months of Pure Bliss

Its 23:07. I sit here in a friends apartment. I just finished eating a big chocolate bar. I need some milk to satisfy that sugar high that I am experiencing. I drink some milk. It goes down my throat as satisfying as it ever could be. Milk, I love it. I read an interesting story today by Turgenev called "A Living Relic". I highly recomend it. It will take you about 15 minutes to read. 

As you all know, I have decided to come back next year. However with the current situation with incoming teachers, and housing issues, I will be moved to another city. I will be living in the quiet little city of Vologda. I have already begun to move my stuff there. I will greatly miss all the friends that I have grown to love here in St. Pete, and hope to visit them on numerous occasions throughout the year. My stay here in St. Pete has been fantastic. For those of you who might ask my apartment and living situation was great. More than I ever needed. Rarely too cold - usually too hot. Cozy bed with a big bedroom. A good kitchen in which I always entertained myself trying to make new creations. The water system has a mind of its own, with a personal vendetta to burn you or freeze you. You must always watch for the ocasional mosquito coming out of the toilet as you might be itching your butt the rest of the night. The fascinating fights, bands, and traffic jams out your window always provide the perfect amount of laughter and a good view for those sleepless nights. I loved living there. The center of the city - not to far - not to close. I wish you all could have visited. I must now hand the fort over to new teachers. I have visited Vologda many times now, and I love it. It is a 12 hour train ride east of St. Petersburg with a total population of about 300,000 people. I really look forward to it! My students here have blessed me beyond belief! I hang out with them 90% percent of the time, and will miss them all so much! As far as eating here it has been an interesting experience. I receive about 8000 rubles a month from the school for food. As a bare minimum I need about 600 rubles a week for food. Plenty left over. However, I soon found out, that this wasn't very fun. I now live comfortably with a good balance of comfort and frugality. I pray that next year will be similiar. For those of you who I won't see this summer and want to know more, just shoot me an email or drop me a line. 

These last two months have truely been fantastic! I have had a chance to go to the Russian museum. WOW! That was great. I have never seen such beautful and perfectly painted pieces of art! So big and full of power and emotion. I highly recomend it!

As usual, the subway has the most interesting happenings. I have been stopped by the police now about 12 times, and never with many problems. Just a few laughs. 

Just a two weeks ago, a quite large man hit me across the face for not getting out of his way. haha. Life never without its excitment!

May 9th - Victory day for Russia over Germany. Similiar to our 4th of July in celebration. I watched the parades on tv, as they paraded their ballistic missles and tanks down the roads. Really cool! Why doesn't America do this? haha. It would never happen! Thats just a national security issue waiting to happen! :) But it was truely a beautiful parade! I have been walking around alot in the city as I have only a few weeks left! I have one more week left of school. I am so excited to see my family again! I miss them so much! I had the chance to teach and play baseball with my students last week! It was a great experience for not only them, but for me also. They all had doubts at first with fears of failure, but after about 10 minutes - they loved it! I was so happy! What a great day! Life is good! 

Most of the same students had a school conference today. It was all about American culture. It lasted about 3 hours and covered many interesting aspects of our life. It made me so proud of my country, and miss home! 

Oh! Just a few weeks ago I went to Vologda, and visited various monastaries and churches. These weren't just any monastary or church, they were built in the 14th century! The monastary was like a huge castle. And some churches in the mountains were made of wood, and were still standing as if they were made 30 years ago. Great engineering! I loved it! 

I love Russia! It has such a rich and deep culture with a fascinating people group. Their knowledge base is quite different than ours. However I am convinced, as any Russian might say the same, that they are very lazy. If it wasn't for this Achiles heel of a trait, Russia would, without a doubt, be the greatest nation the world has ever seen. They are a great nation now, but I pity them for being so lazy. Its a nation full of potential with no one at the reins. In spite of everything I am deeply in love with this country, and hope to spend many a years here in the future. I hope this summer to build more support for what I am doing, and that you may see the love I have for the Russian people. I leave here June 5, 2009 and return August 22, 2009 for the next year of teaching. I will probably write one more blog after this for this semester, and start a new one begining this summer. I thank you all for all your support and prayers. Hopefully we get to catch up on old times this summer! I love and miss you all!

petya

MARCH 30th

Yes, its still almost March. March 30th to be exact. I am looking forward to my trip home. I am making a mental list of everything I want to bring next year! I am also in the process of finalizing plans for the summer. I look forward to going back to Russia in August. I am realizing that I am fortunate enough to have a job to come home to as more and more people are complaining about the "crisis". I will be working as a rafting guide again. I love this job. Its good money, and very enjoyable. I have recently found a great donut place. I am addicted. These are the kind of donuts where you can eat 10 of them, and its barely touched $3 in your wallet. Truly yummy. Church on Sunday was great, we are studying Ephesians. I have recently been noticing that my clothes are approaching their last days. Holes and more holes. My theory of indefinitly wearing the same clothes as a path to a perfect wardrobe and never needing to buy clothes again is in danger. My shoes are dying, and my socks fading away. Either the clothes dryer is hungry for my clothes or I sleep in dirt, it never ceases to amaze me on the amount of lint that it produces. It takes about two hours to dry the clothes. They produce an overwhelming amount of lint. A HUGE handful. I am begining to wonder how my clothes still exist! Its ridiculus! With spring in the air, so is the rain. I bring an umbrella with me everywhere I go. Except yesterday. The one day that it rains heavily since the past three months - I don't bring my umbrella. I was soaked! Grrrrrr. I have been sleeping really bad lately as my physical activity is slowly declining. Its still cold outside. We just pushed our clocks forward, and the little extra sunlight is nice (when we actually can see the sun). Naps are the most wonderful thing in the day... as they began to creep back into my daily routines. I miss all of you! Very much. It would be much appreciated if you could email me, and update me on your life. I am feeling kinda left out with the rest of the world. Life is good, please keep in touch! I am going to go cook some meat tonight, with some cheese and rice! Yummy! I'm starving! God bless.

pete

Almost April

Hey! Life is good! The sun is shining and the weather is trying to get warmer. I look outside, and its blue sky and sun. I walk outside, and its windy, dusty, and freezing. haha. I still try to walk around alot with friends. We just like to walk and talk. Its a good time to reflect on life and the week. As I walk down the streets, I have witnessed many things. I once saw 4 car crashes within 5 minutes! I saw a lady get hit by a car at 40 mph. I have seen girls stop cars with just a wink! haha. Its interesting where you can always just get a ride from anybody. The Russian soul is showing itself more and more to me. I love it! I sometimes get frusterated in stores at the lack of efficiency on how things are done. Talking with my room mate we concluded that Russians are so commpasionate with the mentality of not communisim, but communalism, that efficiency and other western traits are non-exsistant. Very interesting. I have recently had interesting conversations with security guards. They are scary on the surface, but a big teddy bear inside. I have had a great time making some home made pizzas with some friends. Yummy! We can make a great pizza! In our Bible study, we just finished Corinthians and it always gives us, the teachers, a chance to reflect on the week, and pray. Its becoming harder and harder to live, as the Ruble is plumeting. Some food is twice as expensive. And my wages don't go as far. I am on my last pennies this month. I never really liked the idea of rationing food. If I want to eat dinner, I should be able to eat. I'm hungry. But thats ok! The joy of the Lord is all I need! :) I recently read an interesting article in the paper here. Here is a quote from it - "President Barak Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order...there is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010...and Alaska will revert to Russian control" AHAHAHAHAHAHA. This was said by Igor Panarin. Many Russians believe this! If only they knew how unified we still are in this crisis! Crisis. I hate that word. If we stopped saying that word, maybe the crisis would stop! hahaha. Well, I miss you all! I hope you are all doing well back home! I'm praying for you! God Bless!

petinka

The best day of my life!

Hey y'all!

I am having a great day! I am doing fantastic! haha. Life is good here in Russia. Recently I gave a journal assignment about describing your best day. They asked me mine...I told them that today is my best day. WHY? Because every new day is new! God has blessed me with a beautiful day; a chance to live yet another day. Its cold and rainy outside, yet the flowers need the rain to bloom. I had a great sleep last night, and I look forward to a productive day! And guess what? Tomorrow will be even better! Every new day for me is the best day of my life. I think it should be yours also! Jeff, my roommate, heads a Bible study every other week. And the other weeks, I head a sports night. Recently we have had some trouble supporting sports night, as the church that was supporting us, pulled the funds. We have a chance to build relationships with the students, as we play floor hockey, basketball, and vollyball. After sports night, we usually try to get the students to come back to the flat, to drink tea, play games, and talk. I am making some close friendships with some of my students, as we have constantly hang out - walking, bowling, eating/drinking, movies, shopping, cooking, homework help, and exploring. They all give me a great chance to get to know them better and have the most interesting conversations. Without them, I would go crazy. I have had the chance to recently meet a Brit, the recent boyfriend of one of my friends. I had some great conversations with him! Interesting fellows those Brits are - yes indeed! :) I have started to make it a habit to try to talk to a fellow metro rider everyday. Yes, its dangerous business, but it yields some interesting results. I have had interesting converstations with authors, journalists, teachers, New Zealanders, police, homeless people, and mothers. As I walk to and fro through these monotonous crowds, I try to inject a bit of emotion. Whether it is a huge smile, jumping around, sitting on the floor, talking to strangers, singing, imitating the metro driver, and other oddities. The results are mindblowing. hahahaha. It just changes someones day so much, as everyone could almost be confused as half zombie, or traveling to a prison. SMILE PEOPLE - Its the best day of your life remember? Last week I recently got over a horrible horrible flu. I had temperatures ranging from 94-105 F. YIKES! I thought I was dead. But hey, life is good. The first day of spring in Russia is March 1st. According to tradition! However, I still argue with them that it is over March 20. It snowed today, thus I think I won. hahaha. Just a few more days! This coming weekend I am going to a birthday party and to visit some families in another city! It should be a great time! This semester I have many early morning classes, and I am always looking for ways to cheer my students up, and to wake them up in the morning. Whether it is homework/presentations, a quiz, or some physical activity, we always have fun. Yes, some of them hate me now! hahahaha

I have recently been praying about different ministry work that I want to do here in the future. I have plans to visit and help a family that helped me in Latvia, to fund various projects, and build relationships with people that I encounter as I plant seeds of light and curiosity. I have commited to coming back next year with Teach Overseas, and am already looking forward beyond that to other deeper ministry options here in Russia. My heart is here in Russia for the Russian people and culture. I have been SLOWLY studying Russian, and diving into the Russian culture for a better understanding, and in preparation for long term options here. I miss you all. I am in need of all your prayers for funds and guidance. Paka!

petya

MARCH!

Hey. Russia is crazy. I am discovering this more and more. I love it here, but some things are just weird. For example...On the metro. The metro is a curious thing. With every kind of person bumping into every other kind of person, anything and everything can happen. Whether its a random puddle of blood, dancing hippies, or the the drunks that are so happy they scare you, they all provide just the amount of needed entertainment for your short ride from here to there. Today, on my trip home the metro was taking extra long. With long waiting times at each stop, each car fills up like a sardine can. Innocent me - the stupid American that wears a backpack - is hated the entire time, because my big backpack seems to be in the way for each person. Now you must take in this whole situation. When people step onto this metro car, they do so like cattle with a fire behind them. Push, shove, scream, grab, claw, and climb. Anything and everything goes. I sometimes laugh, as people are just crazy. You have plenty of time to get on and off, there is no need to panic about it. When people are on the car, they stand in rows, facing the door that they want to get off at - for the next however many stops. Like cattle. They are funny. No matter how much room you might have, they will push up against you, to get closer to the door that will open in 10 min. 10 min people. 10 min. I just want to say calm down, relax. Back away slowly. Anyway, me and my backpack. Unfortunatly, as the fates would allow, my backpack was pressing up against the big grumpy ugly guy. Him, so prissy in his new suit, thought it was wrong for my backpack to touch him. EVERYONE IS SQUEEZED TOGETHER. I have no where to go. I can not even turn around! He was yelling at me the whole 30 min, and kept pushing me away. What a jerk. Furthermore, we both get off at the same stop. Now remember, when it stops people stampede off that car, as if a grenade was about to explode. WHY RUSH? I have no idea. Do you know where they rush to? They all run about 15 meters to the slow escalator. The escalator is packed - YOU CAN'T MOVE. You must now wait 5 min, to get to the top. What is the rush to get up higher 3 steps above the next person? Why? Anyway, this man was behind me again. I am walking at a brisk pace with a hoard of a crowd. As I am about to step onto the escalator, the man screams at me, takes both of his hands and shoves me onto the excalator. I scream at him, telling him to calm down and shut up - clearing making a fool of the man in front of the other 200 people in view. We calmly glared at each other the rest of the way up the escalator. hahaha.

As Spring is here now, the snow and ice is melting. However, that doesn't mean the ice is gone. Last week as I ran across the road, then jumped a small railing, I slipped. My back foot, as it was coming over, slipped on the ice. I didn't quite reach the full height that I wanted. I have never came down so hard. Me, at full speed, full backpack, straight into mud, and concrete. Yes, I was pissed. Onlookers, shrugged and snickered. hahaha

I went to a small town of Veborg a while back, and forgot some of my papers. Recently have been stopped more and more by the police. I guess I just look like trouble. However, on the other hand, I don't know what it is about my deminour, but almost twice a day I am asked for directions. Ok, there are 50 people standing and walking near me, they come through all of them, and straight to me. Um...why? Do I look like a tour guide? No. Most of the time, I am confused as a homeless person. But these situations everyday, sometimes makes me feel at home. Almost as if they can't tell that I am lost, and have no idea what they are saying. :) I helped a friend move some furniture around his house. hahaha. Silly Russians. When Russians move, they leave most everything in the house that you can't take in a taxi. Thus, the overall moving experience is fundamentally lost. They were amazed at the simple stories I told them about moving one big thing from one side of the city, to another, up the stairs, around the corner, over the banister, and so on. I felt like a master for one day, as I helped them move things around. Teaching is going very well. I have been teaching them how to do speeches. They still don't get it yet. If its the last thing I do, I will beat it into them! My usual diet is buckwheat, chicken, milk, mixed vegi's, and peanut butter. :) I miss the mountains, friends, video games, family, swimming, and free water. Yes, I still hate that I must pay for water anywhere I go to eat. I have so many stories, but I must save some for the ones I tell around the fire back home. I miss and love you all, and you all remain in my prayers. Paka.

petinka

Adventures overseas

Well, it has been a while.

I don't have much time as I need to make this short. I sometimes feel like in writing these, I am stuffing a pillow into a sandwhich baggie. Yes, I finally got home. I had to sleep with some homeless people for a night in Latvia (YES), but I safely took the bus back the next day. I just finished my first week of teaching. It has been great. Lots of the same students and a few new classes. Again, I teach english to business, engineering, and linguistic (new) students. I am getting back into the mode of teaching, and enjoying it. 

I knew I was back in Russia, when my faucet, for some unknown reason, had an electrical current running through it. hahaha. It hurt pretty bad. hahaha. I knew it was still cold here, when the police stopped me because I didn't have a coat on, and that I didn't belong. I am now heading the friday night event of "sports night." We get a lot of students together, and we play basketball, floor hockey, and vollyball. I will be starting english club again soon, as I will look for where it best fits into my scheduale. The Bible study will also begin again soon. Its all a good chance to get to know the students, and provide a good outreach. I would ask that you might consider helping me financially. As the Ruble is plumting. I am still over $3,000 dollars short, and I have commited to coming back a second year. I pray that you pray about this, as it can be harder and harder to survive here. I miss you all. Thank you for all your prayers.

pete