Spring Break: Russian Style

So I have waited so long to post about my Spring Break trip to Russia because I’m not even sure where to begin, but since I can’t put it off till April, here’s my go at it.
Russia was everything and nothing like I expected. To be honest even though I now live so close I still have not learned a lot. Our SA leaders did a few presentations for us about Moscow and St. Petersburg and taught us at least the few basic phrases, but I still was very unsure about what I was stepping into.
Overnight train:
Amazing experience. It was tons of fun! We walked into the train and there are little sections, no doors or curtains, just walkways. There are four beds nicely bunked and a table on one side and on the other there was a table with bench that folded down into a bed. We had a lot of fun on the 17 hour train: told stories, chatted, played cards, ate, drank tea, napped and went through two border controls.
Moscow:
The city is HUGE! After being in Chicago last summer I was shocked that another city could be 4 times its size. The metro itself was an experience. There were escalators that stretched so long that you could not see the end of it. There were also beautiful mosaics and stained glass pieces around the different stations. Red Square was somewhat like I imagined, red and brick. But in all honesty, it was really pretty. You walk under the arch and you stare at St. Basil’s cathedral. This is truly a work of art. It was beautiful! The colors were so bright and rich! The Kremlin is a large estate that is full of beauty and history! We had a great, long and cold tour through it which was very interesting. We also went to a circus! It was so fun! There were animals doing all these crazy performances. Even monkey riding tricycles (Chunk)! The performers were great as well and it was all around just a really fun experience! Our stay in Moscow was short, but sweet then it was time for our 5 hour train to St. Petersburg!!
St. Petersburg basics:
The city itself is beautiful! It has a very interesting mix of history, while being modern at the same time. All the buildings around the city are different fun colors like pink, green, yellow and orange. It made the city come to life since they only get about 30 days of sun a year (we were blessed to enjoy one of them). Walking is the preferred mode of transportation. We got to the point where walking 30 minutes was an incredibly short walk. There were SO many cafés all around the city! Everywhere you turn and they were all different! It was so fun to go and hangout at these cafes every night pretty much!
Churches:
All around the city there are beautiful historic churches. I felt like we were always walking into or around the churches. We even saw a Mosque and attended a Russian orthodox service. It was quite an experience and I’m really glad that I got to go. St. Isaacs Cathedral was beautiful! We got to climb the 200 steps to the top and look out on all St. Petersburg. It was an amazing experience and so incredible to look around the city from such a different perspective.
Hermitage:
2nd largest art collection to Louvre and we got to spend a few hours exploring it. We did not even begin to see the whole museum in those hours. The art in it was beautiful and you go to see pieces of art that you’d seen in history books. I’m not the biggest art fan, but through Arts in the City (yea, I said it Clairebear :P) I have grown to have a much greater for art and the story behind it.
Food:
The food was great!! Some of the faves were “American-style” pizza (I know, I know), an orange Russian soup, huge pastries type food (one filled with meat and another with cheese), Russian pies (Jenn and I split a lingam berry one), tiny pastry pies and ice cream!
Church of Split Blood:
Ok, we need to just google this to check it out! It is beautiful, my favorite part of the city. From the outside you can see the beauty of it and also a piece of the destruction of it. (Google or ask if you want to know about the history) The story is incredible. Inside the whole church is mosaic, all these tiny little pieces that when put together create a masterpiece. Each piece of art is significant, they all tell a story. As you stand, walk around and turn you are just in sheer awe of what you see. Once we went outside Emas had someone read Psalm 139 and it truly blew me away! God’s presence was just so strong in those few moments, it blew me away!!
Those are the basics…if you want more details just let me know! (There are some that I decided not to post, but may be interesting to some :P )
Happy April Fools 

Please enjoy these pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037339&id=1236840181&l=982f55cf0b
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037316&id=1236840181&l=f30bded177

Joy Rolls On

Here's a little bit about what's been going on at the orphanage!!

The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of joy and laughter at the orphanage. We have really been having a good time and enjoying each other! We got a grant to go bowling so Alina invited me to come and help out with the children. We took us bus downtown to the bowling arena. It was really cute and pretty empty which was good because we were very loud. The children had lots of fun bowling. The skill level ranged from managing to get a gutter ball with guardrails to being able to spin to ball and get a strike. It was quite an experience and I found myself somewhere in the middle. We laughed a lot though which was great. When he got back we had a very relaxing rest of the day. We hung out and just chilled which was rather nice.

Friday was movie night! I borrowed Ice Age in Russia and Cars in Lithuanian from one of my friends that lives here. The two older boys figured out how to hook up the DVD player while me and a few girls popped the popcorn. This in itself was quite an experience because many of the children had never had popcorn from a bag before. I’m not sure that the microwave knew how to handle it either because it was struggling to fully pop the bags. Alina brought in the soda and once we had finally popped all the popcorn it was movie time. First we watched Ice Age. Even though some of the children don’t speak Russia they still wanted to watch it. Even though it is a cartoon movie there is a lot of physical comedy and they really enjoyed it. I think we all picked up a little Russian as well. Cars was great as well and it was fun to be able to watch something that they all really understood. It was a very fun and relaxing night.

Over the break I definitely missed the kids and Alina. They are just amazing! I have really grown to love them more and more as time continues. Alina had a birthday over the break and I had talked to Igoris about planning a party for her after I got back. It was so great and definitely an adventure trying to plan a surprise party with our limited language skills. We were able to work together pretty well though. I had prepared a birthday banner for all the children to sign and they were able to stealthily get everyone to sign it without Alina ever seeing it. The cake was interesting because it needed to be in the fridge but we didn’t want Alina to see it so the children told her not to look in the fridge. While she was looking after the other class I was able to set up the kitchen and had Rolandas on door duty. After racing around the house we finally found everyone. They all waited in the kitchen while I ran to ask Alina to come in for a minute. She was shocked and so happy. Sandra handed her the poster and as she opened it she began to cry, tears of joy of course. She was so happy and we sang to her in Lithuanian as well. Then it was time for cake and more fun. Alina was so surprised, but very happy. I think she felt loved and appreciated which is just what she deserves. She does so much for the kids and everyone in the house that she really deserved to be surprised and appreciated. We did some after party clean up and then played a charades type game while Alina did paperwork. It was a great night. I can’t wait to go back on Thursday!

Next post:
Spring Break: Russian Style :)

Sending much love and huge hugs to where ever you may be :)

Lietuviu Kalba

From the curiosity of what Lithuanian actually looks/ sounds like here you are!!
This is a speech I will be giving about my family tomorrow :)
If you are super curious feel free to ask for a translation!

Mano tėvo vardas yra Thony. Jis yra iš Bahamos. Dabar, jis gyvena Bostone. Jis kalba creoliškai ir angliškai. Jis yra stirprus ir triukšmingas. Jis megsta studijuoti. Jis megsta važuoti miestą. Jis yra technikas. Jis dirba biure.

Mano mamas vardas yra Madlyna. Ji yra iš Haitis. Dabar, ji gyvena Bostone. Ji kalba creoliškai ir angliškai. Ji yra maloni ir žema. Ji megsta skaityti. Ji megsta važiuoti į muziejų. Ji yra patarėja. Ji dirba ministerijoje.

Mano sesės vardas yra Elise. Ji yra iš Bostono. Dabar ji gyvena Floridoje. Ji kalba angliškai ir šiek tiek prancūziškai. Elise yra mano drauge. Ji yra laiminga ir įdomi. Ji megsta šokti. Elise megsta eiti prie jūros. Ji yra studentė Floridoje. Jai yra aštuoniolika metų.

Aš turiu du brolis.

Mano brolio vardas yra Julius. Jis yra iš Bostono ir jis gyvena Bostone. Jis kalba angliškai. Julius yra greitas ir aukštas. Jis megsta važuoti į sporto klubą. Jis megsta sportuoti. Julius yra mokinis. Jam yra šešuolyka metų.

Mano brolio vardas yra Antonio. Jis yra iš Bostono ir jis gyvena Bostone. Jis kalba angliškai. Antonio yra mielas ir linksmas. Jis megsta kalbėti. Jis megsta važiuoti bažnyčią. Antonio yra mokinis. Jam yra septine metai.