It's the holiday!

As the end of the semester approaches, I've been seeing a lot of chatter online from my friends who are still studying about the stress and terrors of finals week.  What a blessing it is to be done with school!  My days are certainly full of activity, but I remember the feeling of days that were overflowing with activity and I'm glad those days have past.  Good luck on your finals, everyone!

Instead of writing up essays and preparing for exams, I'm spending my time writing up lesson plans and preparing for camp.  It's so exciting, and it's just around the corner! Personally, this holiday season is going to be fantastic for me.  I get to go home for Christmas (I leave in ONE WEEK!) and then I get to come back and go straight to camp. As if that wasn't exciting enough, guess who's coming back with me?

Wyatt and a sheep. Why? Bleats me!

That's right! My one and only beloved little brother Wyatt! If everything goes according to plan, he'll be coming back with me at the end of the month (THIS month, it's all happening so quickly!) to help at camp and meet my friends and family here.  Little does he know (and he won't know until he gets here because he admittedly doesn't read my blog, that bum) that he's going to be Peter Pevensie, High King of Narnia.  It's pretty exciting, let me tell you.  Here's our camp poster:

Our official camp poster, courtesy of Madi

When Wyatt and I arrived, after a day or two of recovery, we'll head up to the base on the 31st to celebrate New Years.  In Russia, their biggest holiday of the year is New Years Eve, instead of Christmas, but there are many similarities in the ways they celebrate, like having a tree, putting up lights, Santa (Father Frost over here), presents, parties... The Christians here celebrate Christmas, but it's a very private family holiday without all the above-mentioned accoutrements that we find in our American Christmas. 

New Years Eve on the base will be excellent; most of the people volunteering as counselors and helpers are my dear friends, and I can't think of anyone else I'd want to spend the holiday with.  I also will be spending this New Years with someone special; we're not quite ready to shout it from the rooftops, but I think it's fair to let you know that I've been going on a lot of long walks with a certain someone.  One day I'll write about the perils of dating in the conservative Church culture here, suffice to say that it's very very different from our way of doing things. But enough on that subject, I'm still shy!

Christmas, camp with my brother, New Years with my friends. In short, this is going to be an excellent Russian Christmas.

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

What a weekend!

Normally for the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Blevins family heads up to their cabin, chops down a Christmas tree, and finishes off the Thanksgiving leftovers.  This year of course was different.  The parents stayed home over the weekend, and Mom and Wyatt or going to buy a tree together this year.

I love this cozy weekend at the cabin, and look forward to it every year.  While I was disappointed to not be headed into the woods this last Friday, I can't say that I sat home and moped.  This was a weekend to end all weekends.  Tima came home after a year in the army.

Tima and Masha

Tima is the Ivanyenko's oldest son. After graduating from a two-year technical school at the age of 19, he packed up and headed off to the army for a year, as all Russian men from ages 18-27 must do.  I remember when I got here in June, Tanya said to me, "Only four more months and Tima comes home!" and suddenly, it's here.

And let me be clear, this was Tanya's day.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have your child gone for a year.  He was serving not too far from us, but the army doesn't give the soldiers leave.  Tanya saw him once or twice while he was serving, and that's a miracle.  Fortunately, he was working in an office on a computer during his service, so he could Skype the family often, and what a blessing that was to them! But enough of that, Tima's home.

Friday was pretty quiet, but on Saturday things started shaking.  He was coming home that evening, so we planned a big party at the church for him, and what a party it was!  I'll spare the details, but suffice to say Tima has a lot of friends who are thrilled that he's home.

Tima and a buddy at the church party

The next day, our youth group went paint-balling, Tima included (to the delight of many).  I spectated and took photos, because my brother Wyatt is crazy about paintball and I've seen far too many welts and bruises to willingly subject myself to that kind of torture. But a good time was had by all! Our youth group is mostly guys (really, we have two girls who come) which as many of you know is rather unusual for youth groups or churches in general.  This was a great activity for some male bonding (and female bonding for Katya and Anya who clung together through the whole thing, but they were great sports!)

Tima, Kai, Roma, Senya, ready for action

Anya and Katya, you go girls!

This creepy abandoned building was perfect for paintball

Our fearless leader Vasilev (with paint on his nose)

Go Red Team!

Since Saturday everyone in the house has been in a cheery mood, especially Tanya and Ilya.  I'm looking forward to getting to know Tima (who is right now outside working on installing a heater in my room, bless him) and I'm as happy as ever to be part of the Ivanyenko clan.

Пока Ребята, Russian Jane

Thanksgiving - Part Two

Considering the circumstances, I don't think I could have asked for a better Thanksgiving.

Firstly, everything turned out.  Nothing burned, nothing was dry, nothing tasted weird.  That alone was a holiday miracle.

Secondly, the people; there was my family (Uncle Ilya and Aunt Tanya, Masha, and Kostya), my dear friends Senya and Andrey, and our friend Nastya.  They fully embraced the spirit of Thanksgiving.  Ilya read a psalm and said the blessing before the meal, and afterwards we all listed the things we were thankful for and said prayers of thanksgiving.  I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for the wonderful people I have here in Russia, and I really don't know what I would do without them.

Today, I'm taking it easy.  I've been cooking for two days straight and think it's about time to cool my heels.  Besides, tomorrow is a big day; one of the things the Ivanyenko family is so very grateful for is that their oldest son Tima returns from the army tomorrow!  It goes without saying I think that we're going to have a fantastic "welcome home" party.

Here are a few photos from this Thanksgiving.  I hope that God has blessed you this year as richly as he's blessed me, and that this holiday season is a time for celebration and joy, not stress and well...stress.

The bird, a 5k (11lb) beauty, probably raised in someone's backyard

They shut off our water all day yesterday

A girl and her bird

I gave Senya the honor (chore?) of carving the bird

Our holiday table

He was no match for the post-turkey coma

Pouring tea for dessert because hey, this is still Russia

The hero of the night: Andrey, who did most of the dishes

Пока ребята,  Russian Jane

Thanksgiving - Part One

Personally, I'm crazy about Thanksgiving.  Nothing beats Christmas, but for me, Thanksgiving runs a close second.  So am I going to let being halfway around the world stop me from celebrating? You bet I'm not. (Note: the municipality in Madi's neighborhood abruptly shut off their water, so Thanksgiving at their home was impossible).

I've got the turkey (yes, I found a whole, beautiful 10lb turkey at the market), the potatoes, the pumpkins, the green beans; true, I have to make everything from scratch, but it should be a pretty traditional meal.  I'll celebrate with my family here and a few of my closest friends, and I'm really looking forward to it.

What's different this year, aside from the location obviously, is the multitude of big things that I have to be thankful for.  Don't get me wrong, God has blessed me and my family abundantly, but this year, having made such a big transition in my life, it's easy to see God's hand in everything.

So, what am I thankful for?

I'm thankful for the wonderful family and friends I have in America, and the wonderful church where I grew up, who are all supporting me in this new adventure (that includes all of you who keep up with me here!).  I'm thankful for the family I live with now; I couldn't have found better people.  I'm thankful for my new job, and the people I get to work with.  I'm thankful that I've always had the visas and documents I needed to stay in Russia.  I'm thankful that we have running water and electricity, especially after so many people lost so much in the flood this summer.  I'm thankful that God takes care of my every need in a foreign country where so many things could potentially go wrong.

Me and my grandmas, Thanksgiving '09. No, the matching outfits weren't planned.

For people preparing Thanksgiving dinner, for people traveling to be with family, I know these next few days will be hectic to say the least.  And though it sounds trite, I'd encourage you to take a moment and remember what you're thankful for.  It can change your whole outlook on things.

Пока ребята and God bless you this Thanksgiving,

Russian Jane

Narnia and the Real World

As much as the camp team and I are trying to live in fantasy land as we plan for Narnia, last Sunday we were interrupted by an extremely unfortunate accident.

Our camp director, Andree Slabiy, was doing some construction work on his home when he accidentally gouged himself in the eye with a drill.  A few days later when the dust settled, it was determined that A) he would have to wait four months before going to see an eye specialist in Krasnodar because of the swelling and B) there is a 1-2% chance he will see out of that eye again but C) he will not lose the eye.

Andree at this summers English Camp

But let me tell you what kind of person Andree is: he's dedicated and determined.  Three or four days after the accident, he was already making phone calls about camp, and the Thursday after it happened we even had a camp meeting around his hospital bed (I was unable to attend, but someone said he's staying positive and even making jokes about a pirate theme for next camp).

Needless to say, we're all praying for a miracle, and I'd like to invite you to pray as well.  We're praying that he'll be able to see out of his eye again, and that this won't hinder plans for camp.

Aside from the accident, things have begun rolling.  We are planning camp in earnest, and it's very exciting.  I can't wait to begin decorating and assembling costumes!  For my part, I'm assembling the work books and trying to get my brother over here to volunteer at winter camp.  It's all beginning to happen, and I'm very excited!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

And I thought I was avoiding Halloween

Well, here's a little confession: I'm not actually any fun at all, because I hate Halloween.  I could give you the list of reasons, but suffice to say, it's not my favorite.  Imagine how happy I was to move to a country where I could just avoid Halloween altogether!  Or so she thought...

Both the English club and the youth group where I volunteer asked me to do presentations on Halloween.  I grouse about Halloween, but actually I was happy to do it because I love sharing cultures.  I sure learned a lot about Halloween (to check out the Wikipedia page on Halloween, click here, it's fascinating!).

Halloween is actually an ancient Celtic holiday that marks the beginning of winter.  They believed that the souls of the dead could come back to earth on that one day of the year and take revenge, so people dressed up in costumes to fool the spirits.  Just one little Halloween fact for you!

I gave a presentation at English Club, but the real fun was last night at youth group.  Two youth groups got together, and we started out by carving pumpkins, which of course they had never done before.  A word about Russian pumpkins: they actually eat them, so they they're much softer and meatier than our pumpkins, not quite so brightly colored, and not totally "pumpkin" shaped.  Nonetheless, we had fun.

Russian pumpkins and tea

Lera, covered in pumpkin guts

Our signature look

Look at these great pumpkins! And Veronika.

Seriously, the goggles were half the party.

After that people grabbed some tea (this is still Russia after all) and I talked about Halloween.  I touched on where the traditions come from, what it looks like in America today, and why many believers choose not to celebrate Halloween.

Andree giving a Bible teaching

Seriously, this guy is fantastic

It's a little strange being in Russia for Halloween, because in America it's so pervasive; everyone, regardless of class, race, or creed, celebrates Halloween.  Here, it's an American novelty.

I think tonight is the last bit of Halloween I'll have to endure this year; there's a party at English Club.  After that, I'm going to start looking forward to digging into camp work and Thanksgiving in Krasnodar with the Hayes family!

Пока ребята (and Happy Halloween), Russian Jane

Masha's Chicken Heart Stew

First of all, I know what you're thinking. Chicken hearts?

And I don't blame you.  In America, we don't eat chicken hearts.  Let me tell you a little story; the night of the flood Masha and I slept in the church, which has apartments.  The next morning, Masha whipped up this dish, because those were the ingredients on hand (yes, in Russia, you just have a pack of chicken hearts on hand).  As if it hadn't been a rough enough night, here I saw the next morning in front of a steaming bowl of chicken hearts.  But you know what?  It was delicious.  I liked it so much that I asked Masha to show me how to make it, and I had hearts (and livers, it was a variety pack) for dinner last night.

A word about this recipe: if hearts freaks you out, and I know they do, there's no shame in substituting cubed chicken.  Also, add whatever spices you think would be tasty; American cooking is really precise and scientific, Russian cooking is not.  Without further ado, here's the recipe.

The head chef, Masha

Mmmm...hearts...

Masha’s Chicken Heart Stew

The night our house flooded Masha and I slept in the church.  The next morning, Masha happened to find all the right ingredients to whip up this heart stew.  Yes, heart stew.  Like, made of hearts.  Anyway, she made this thing and I was as skeptical as all get out but I tried it, and you know what?  It was delicious, so good that I requested that she make it.  Here’s the recipe.

You will need:

-                    1lb chicken hearts.  Liver will work too.  Today, a liver-and-heart mixture is what we had on hand. 

-                    2-3 C chopped white or yellow onion

-                    2 C carrots, sliced thin

-                    1 C tomato paste

-                    3-4 C water

-                    4 cloves garlic, minced

-                    2-3 TBSP flour

-                    Tomato juice (if it’s on hand)

-                    Oil (for frying)

-                    Salt and pepper

-                    A bay leaf

-                    Macaroni

Here’s what you do:

Clean the hearts (and livers if you have them) of any fat and rinse them in water.  Add to a pan with oil and fry.  Add a little water so they cook but don’t brown.  Careful, there will be splattering.  Let them simmer until they are red (they will turn gray, then back to red).

When your hearts are red again, add onion.  When the onion begins to brown, add carrots.

Mix 1 C tomato paste with 2 C water.  Once the carrots are “done” (brown? Soft? I’m not sure) add the water-tomato paste mixture.  I’m not certain that you couldn’t use tomato sauce for this instead of mixing water and paste, but I could be wrong. 

If the sauce is too thick, add some water or tomato juice to thin it.  The idea is that everything will stew together, so if the sauce starts off too thick you’ll run into trouble.  Once you get the right consistency, add 2-3 TBSP flour to give it some substance.  Add your minced garlic and your bay leaf.

Let the whole thing simmer and thicken up, 7-10 minutes in Masha’s book, but really, until you think it’s ready.  You may have noticed that this recipe isn’t exactly precise, because Russian cooking usually isn’t.

Serve the whole thing over boiled potatoes, rice, or macaroni, whichever you prefer.

Bon appétit!

Emily, taking care of some leftover hearts and livers

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

"And the beat goes on...

...and the beat goes on.  La di da da di, la di da di da..."

In 10 days, Serafima, Oleg, and Lena will be moving from the Caucasus further south to Novorossyisk to work at the camp. Oleg and his wife Lena will be sports instructors, and Serafima will be the emcee for camp meetings.  That is when the real fun begins; we'll be meeting every week to plan camp activities, and I couldn't be more excited!

Until then, my tasks have been somewhat open-ended.  I've been compiling data on C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", the theme of our camp in January.  This means reading the book, watching the movie, and surfing the internet for ideas.  Do I have a great job or what?  The more research I do, the more excited I'm becoming.

The main body of my work consists of compiling the workbooks for the kids.  We'll have four days of lessons, and I've decided to split up those four days by focusing on characters from the book, and on their character traits.  I like Narnia, because for  task like this, not only is it very interesting to talk about the characters from the story, but it's a good opportunity to talk about deeper things like personal character.  What are good and admirable character traits?  What are poor character traits?  I'm especially excited for the final lesson, which will focus on the lion Aslan.  Those of you familiar with the deeper meaning of the story will understand my excitement.

On a related note, youth group is going quite well.  I helped last week and in a few minutes, I'll be off again.  My friend Andree (a different Andree, Russians only have like 15 names that everyone has to share) is leading it, and it's wonderful to see how many kids from English Camp come who otherwise wouldn't have had any connection to a youth group.  That's why I love English Camp!

At the base with some friends from Krasnodar getting ready for baseball

Some of our girls from camp who happened to be on the base while we were; we roped them into baseball!

Look at this guy!

In other news, I've been reassured by the director of Mountain Springs herself, Alysea, that my document process is "under control".  Hallelujah, because I was really worried for a while!  But God is good, he's taking care of the process!

That's all everybody, I'll be sure to keep you updated!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

She lives! ...

... with the Ivanenkos!

That's right, after praying about it, thinking about it, and talking with my parents about it, I've made up my mind; I'm not going to look for my own apartment.  Instead, I'm going to live "at home" with the Ivanenkos.

You may recall the flurry of building activity this summer following the flood; pouring foundations, putting up walls, all to build a new kitchen.  Or so she thought...

Imagine my surprise when we pulled into the driveway Sunday night and I saw this looming out of the darkness:

Through a series of blessings from God and fortunate events, they were able to expand their kitchen project into a "make-the-house-100%-bigger" project.  Upstairs will be a kitchen and living room, two guest bedrooms, a bathroom all for guests (which they have very frequently) and then a large room with it's own bathroom and balcony.  This last room is RESERVED for a certain Amerikanka!  

This may not look like too much, but it's my room!  I'll have space for a bed, a wardrobe, a table and desk, plus my own bathroom!  The deal is, I pay about 6 month's rent forward so that they can finish the space, but it'll be done in about a month and Ilya promised me I could pick out the carpet and wallpaper myself (girls love that kind of thing, maybe boys do too, I couldn't say). 

That right-hand corner is where my bathroom will be.  The place has lots of windows, it's very bright.

I'd been thinking and praying about whether to live with the Ivanenkos (Ilya offered me this apartment deal right away, they really want me to stay home!) or find an apartment, and I keep feeling like I really didn't want to leave the Ivanenkos who truly are my Russian family and have been such a blessing to me.  Then I talked to mom about and she said "what are you crazy?  Why are you even looking elsewhere!  Live with them, it's an answer to prayer!"  That was the confirmation I needed.

Thank you to those of you who have been praying about my living situation.  Now all that's left is to raise the money to finish the project.  If you'd like to help put a roof over my head,

you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Missoula Alliance Church at 100 E Foss Court, Missoula MT, 59803.  Just attach a note to the donation with my name on it; DO NOT write my name in the memo.  This ensures that the donation is tax-deductable, and that it gets where it needs to go.

In other news, look at my cat!  He looks pretty good for having just had a, ahem, rather sensitive operation.  His mom also had a similar operation, and they put her in this ridiculous cat-sized hospital gown onesie thing to keep her from licking the wound.  I want to take a picture of it so so badly, but she's been AWOL since coming home from the vet.  As soon as that onesie comes into view, it hits the internet post haste.

Also, today there were two guys with monkeys in the mall today.

That's all the news for now, I'll be sure to keep you updated on the housing project and any other big happenings!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

Vacation is over, fun time has begun!

I'm baaaaaack! In Novorossyisk, that is!

As I write, I'm sitting surrounded by piles of miscellaneous junk that I can't find room for in Masha's bedroom: velcro rollers, a pack of pens, measuring cups, towels, Halloween decorations and bottles of vitamins, and that's not the half of it.

I arrived in Krasnodar on Saturday, spend the night at my friend Madi's house, then on Sunday three of my very favorite Russians, Andree, Senya and Artur, came to get me and take me to Novorossyisk.  I would have taken the bus back but weeeelllll...I had 100lb of luggage.  Winter stuff is heavy! Not to mention all the other weird things I had to bring, like marshmallows and water bottles.

Now, I'm settling back into the Ivanenko household.  Let me tell you, it's good to be home!  It was great to see Tanya and Ilya and my icky little kitty!  Unfortunatly, Masha has landed in the hospital with some sort of stomach infection, but hopefully is coming home tomorrow.  I'm going to go visit her in a moment.

So now that I'm back, what's on the docket, you ask? Or didn't ask?

     - Find and apartment for me and my cat
     - Begin working on English camp
     - Help Andree with the new youth group that has sprung up out of Logos camp
     - Get my work visa secured

Not a small list if you ask me, but I'm excited to do it all!  It's good to be back in Russia with such a clear sense of purpose.  Once something more interesting happens, I'll let you know!
Пока ребята, Russian Jane

(PS, interested in joining my support team? Shoot me an email at j_blevins_mt@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook, and I'll get you the details!)

Home sweet home

There really is no place like home.  Friends, it is so good to be back.

I've had my first full week back home, and the dust of arrival is just beginning to settle as I start looking towards departure.  I still have a lot to do, but mostly, I'm trying to decompress.  It was a busy summer!

So after all the transpired, camp to flood to studio to camp, I needed a break, but I'm already excited for the future and what's to come!  Here's a quick run-down of my short-term and long-term plans:

-- On Oct. 7, I'll arrive (bleary-eyed) in Krasnodar and hop the bus or get a ride back to Novorossyisk.

-- I will move into or start looking for an apartment stat

-- In Novorossyisk, I'll begin preparing for winter English camp.  I'm going to be the English program coordinator, which means I need to write the curriculum and try to find Americans to come serve at the camp.

-- On Dec. 15 I fly back to the US for Christmas and a new visa

Working at the camp will be a full-time job.  For now I'm volunteering, but hopefully in January I will be returning as a camp employee with a work visa, which will let me stay longer.

I'm trying to be disciplined and not let myself work on camp while I'm on vacation, but I'm so excited about it I've even been having dreams about it!  It's hard not to start working on it in my mind.  And truthfully I'll need to gather materials while I'm here, but I have to keep the planning to a minimum or I won't get rested!  It's very exciting.

If you want to hear about my trip in person, in detail, please join me at the Missoula Allinace Church at 9:45, where I'll be giving a presentation about my summer and answering questions live (click the link to find directions).  

If you are interested in supporting my ongoing work in Russia, or would like to come volunteer at English camp, please feel free to email me at j_blevins_mt@yahoo.com!  I'd love to chat about how you can help!

Seriously, if English camp sounds like buckets of fun (which it is) and you want to help, contact me.  You do not need to speak Russian, NOT ONE WORD!  The English camp is happening January 2-6 this winter, and there would be time after camp for sight-seeing and fun in beautiful Novorossyisk on the Black Sea, and possibly in Moscow or St. Petersburg.  It's a great way to see Russia and a really fun way to serve.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!  I'll probably be quiet for the next couple of weeks but once I return to Russia, expect to hear from me regularly!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

Journey home

Novorossyisk --> Krasnodar --> Moscow --> NYC --> SLC --> HOME.

Ladies and gents, I'm exhausted.  I just tried to write a blog post and it was nonsense, so I'm not going to try right now, I need to get some sleep first!

I begin the journey home in about an hour, and I couldn't be more excited.  I arrive home on Friday, and once I'm rested up, I'll be sure to do a wrap-up.  For now, bon voyage!

Here are some summer highlights.

Senya, wearing Madi's shirt.  Something just slightly amiss...

Spider Sasha.

Why yes, you are indeed a Crazy Chipmunk.

I did not put this cat here!  He loves to be in or on shoes!  My kind of cat.

I am a Who.

Masha and I at the beach (that's her brother Kostya in the corner).  I'm not sure why Masha looks so miserable, she really wasn't at all, but hey, I'm happy!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

The end of my journey here is a short 10 days away, and I'm so excited to go home I can hardly stand it.  At the same time, I'm already excitedly making plans for when I come back to Novorossyisk.  Here's a breakdown of what I'll be doing when I come back in early October:

The biggest part of my work will be coordination the winter English camp.  This means I'll be writing the curriculum and working to gather a team to come help at the camp (like I did in June!).  I am very excited to take my first crack at organizing something this.  It'll be a big jump from leading English Club to organizing a course, but I'm excited and ready for the challenge!

The Conference Hall at camp

 I can't give too many details about what the theme of winter camp will be, but I can tell you that it involves a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe (hint hint!)

Lets fill these seats!

The rest of my time will be starting up an English club of my own and helping Anya with hers.  Her English club is excellent for advanced speakers, but there isn't much in town for the intermediate range.  That will be me!

The camp director dressed as a communist, accompanied by the camp tractor

And now comes that part where you can step in.  Do you love what's been going on here?  Do you want to help?  Then please consider supporting me regularly through the year 2013.  I will be working at the camp as an employee but will not be making enough to live on, and I need people who are willing to support this work from October to next January when my first year-long work visa will expire (how exciting to not need to leave every three months!)

If you would like to support me, please send me an email at j_blevins_mt@yahoo.com.  Feel free to ask me any questions you have about my work here and the options available for supporting.  I estimate that I'll need $800 per month in support to pay for rent, groceries, transportation, etc.  Thank you for reading my blog and supporting me in your prayers, please consider supporting me through the next phase!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

I love this camp

Oh friends!  I'm finally back from camp!  As I write, I'm laying on the sofa in the living room with a cup of tea close at hand -- almost all of the workers and half the kids got sick with some kind of summer cold.  Tanya just made me drink that awful-but-effective homemade cough syrup (the recipe can be found here) and hopefully I should be right as rain in no time.

So camp.  I think the people that know me well are probably in a bit of shock because of how much I love camp, because it's really unlike me.  Growing up I hated camp and campy things, and now I'm going to make a job out of it!  But more on that later...

This camp was Logos.  There were two sessions of 90 kids each, and I worked at the session with the older kids.  The theme was "The Armor of God".  Every day the kids had small groups as a cabin, and at the evening meetings there was worship and a message about the topic of the day.  In between that the day was filled with sports and trips to the sea (or movies when it rained).  I jotted down a few highlights from camp, because there's just too much to tell it all!

Vitya and Kostya, all geared up to help carry bags

Our camp director Andree adding a little Soviet charm to the opening ceremonies of our camp

The campers lined up for the opening ceremonies

Morning exercises!  That's Serafima on the left and Andree's wife Natasha on the right

Every morning we sang the camp hymn and raised the flag, then said the Lord's Prayer together

The camp's brand new climbing wall!  It was a total hit.

-- We had "trouble kids" from day one.  There were a couple of dudes who had no idea about Logos camp (16-year-old boys are the same all over the world; the simply failed to read the info they were sent or go the the website).  They promptly informed their counselors that they were here to relax and didn't plan on participating in the program. I asked them to help a couple girls with their suitcases and they didn't even dignify that request with a response, to give you an example of their attitudes.  However, they had a chit-chat with our director Andree that night, and by the end of camp they were laughing and participating just as much as anyone else.

-- Girls from Moscow.  "In Moscow we have this, in Moscow we have that..." They were kind of pills.  Most Russians who don't live in Moscow have a fairly low opinion of Muscovites, and generally regard them as snooty.  I didn't put a lot of stock in that until I saw a couple girls at camp who upheld the stereotype.  They were snooty and kind of rude, and didn't want to participate in anything.  However, our father is bigger than Moscow, and just like the two hooligans who didn't want to participate, by about day 4 or 5 they were loving camp as much as anyone else.

-- For a couple of days we had a girl name Gulya with us.  She was from one of the towns that was flooded and she and her family lost everything.  They immigrated from Kazakhstan a couple of years ago and Gulya is wheelchair and crutches bound because of a horrible infection on her leg.  In the end, the camp didn't have the permits they needed to take care of someone in her position and she had to go home, but we were able to take her to the sea for the first time and give her a little happiness in a time of loss.

-- One of our counselors was telling us about her girls; they were going around in a circle saying a little something about themselves by way of introduction.  "I'm 16 and I have a cat".  "I'm almost 15 and I have a hamster."  "I'm 16 and I have a little boy".  This was a very different age group to work with because they are old enough to have adult problems and to have already seen a lot of life, and not necessarily the good side of it.

The best part of camp, for me, was seeing how many kids from English Camp were there.  There were probably about 15 kids from English Camp at this session, and they told me there were more at the first session for younger kids.  A lot of these kids, a few girls in particular, were really against the idea of faith, but they came to Logos knowing full well what it was because they loved their time at English Camp.  It was amazing to see what happened in their lives while they were there, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pop up in our director Andree's church here in Novorossyisk.

As for me, I had a long talk with Andree and his wife Natasha, and another camp leader named Serafima about what I could do at camp.  As it stands now, I'm going to be the coordinator of the English program starting in January.  I'm going to prepare the curriculum for English camps (one winter session, now TWO summer sessions!) and help organize teams from America.  Starting in January I'll be an employee of Mountain Springs camp (if the hiring process goes well, it's a little tricky to hire foreigners) and be able to stay for a year.  It'll be pretty full-time job, and I can't tell you how excited I am.  I'll give you all more details later when I'm not feeling I was hit by a train.

Well folks, that's the list from camp!  I'm happy to be home in Novorossyisk but I miss camp already!  Here's a few more photos.

My countryman Madi, who took photos.  Get it, girl!

I finally saw a wild hedgehog!! These kids thought I was out of my mind, because it would be like someone coming to Montana and freaking out about seeing a squirrel, but it made my day nonetheless.  Haters gonna hate.

Jousting on bikes with pool noodles?  Don't try to tell me camp isn't awesome!

One of my favorite people, Lyuba, with the sport director's kid Arsenie.  Lyuba was a counselor with me at English camp, and worked as a counselor at both sessions of Logos.  Arsenie was the cutest, and a well-behaved little kid to boot.

Two of my favorite Russians, Andree and Senya, getting ready to head to the beach in the trunk of a car the day after the kids left.  I was jammed in the back seat with four other people.  Russia.

Пока ребята, Russian Jane