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