trips. first days...

Sunday - k...so we got in about 2:00 a.m. this morning and promptly crashed in the nearest bed. not the greatest of beds, but miles better than what i slept in two years ago. we all got up around noon here, and decided to tour the city for a while. we had a pretty good time, and i took lots of pics. (someone apparently left a camera in the lobby down here, because the lady taking care of the lobby just handed me one.) we had lunch at a place that was kind of buffet style, but you had to buy a new plate for every station that we went to. not real sure what i ate, but it seems to be agreeing with me so far. we went to the Church of the Blood, which has dedicated to Czar Nicholas and his family and built after he was canonized several years ago. Then we went down to the river and walked around there for a while before we came back. Darin came by then and we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things (mostly water 'bis gasse') and then we headed to dinner with the rest of the staff and most of the STINT team that's here. did a little coordination for the week, and by then most people were pretty wiped, so we came on back to the hotel.

Monday - It's pretty chilly here - 40s-50s in the daytime, and 30s and below at night. it can be a welcome change from home though...

Food's pretty good - lots of variety, and i haven't had anything bad yet - although John got some lamb shashlik the other day that he wasn't real thrilled with.

Monday was TOO long for our second day here! after breakfast, we went to one of the local schools (k-11) and spent some time in several classes talking to the students and teachers. One of the teachers really prodded Sara to share her testimony for the kids - pretty neat to see that. we did that until 1:30, and then we went to lunch, but by the time we finished lunch and walked back to the hotel, it was 3:30 and almost time to get back together as a team to prep for the english classes. I was DRAGGING...could barely keep my eyes open. most of the rest of the team that came with me was the same way. we all had some caffeine and walked to class, and by the time class started, i had perked back up and although not exactly chipper, was ready to go. At the beginning of class, one of the girls (who is already a Christian and speaks very good english) came in by herself and told us that she had talked to most of the other girls and that they weren't coming any more. Amy was VERY shocked! she was under the impression that she had developed a pretty good relationship with most of them and couldn't understand why they weren't coming back. after about 5 minutes of this, though, the rest of the class jumped in and yelled "surprise"...we were all VERY amused! :) The rest of the class went well and afterwards several of us went to dinner, and by the time i got back here and into bed, it was 11:00! - i was spent!

Layne