The end of an adventure: leaving Russia for good

Almost a week ago, last Tuesday, I arrived at the Missoula International Airport after a 36 hour journey from Novorossyisk, for what will be the last time for a long long while.  I still am not used to the idea that I'm home for good, and that in a month I won't be returning to Russia, back to camp, friends, and everything that has been my Russian life for the past two years.

The decision to leave Russia has been difficult and lengthy.  Almost a year ago I began thinking and praying about my future in Russia.  I had thought for a long time that I would be in Russia long term, ten years or so, but as time went by I began to see that perhaps God had other things in mind for me, and the more I prayed and sought God and the more I sought counsel from the wise people around me who love me, the more I saw my time in Russia drawing to an end.  By May, I had already decided that I would leave in September, for good.

What I could not foresee, of course, was the rapidly escalating situation in Ukraine, a mere 400 miles from Novorossyisk.  While I never felt any threat to my physical safety, the growing tension between Russia and the US and the increased scrutiny on American citizens was making it very uncomfortable to be an American in Russia. Since English camp was finished, I decided to leave early while I could go peacefully.

Of course, saying goodbye wasn't easy.  I can't put into words what the last two years in Russia have been to me.  I think that once the shock of hurrying home wears off, the sadness of leaving will begin to surface.  All I can say is that my time in Russia has drastically changed my life for the better, and that I hope with all my heart that I will return one day.  The friends I left there are friends I'll have a lifetime, and I can only imagine how happy our reunion will be when I finally make it back.

The hurried packing process

My close girlfriends from English Club

My going away party

My beloved Ivanenkos

Uncle Ilya and Aunt Tanya

Thank you to all of you who have followed my adventure these last years; as soon as another adventure begins I'll be sure to let you know!  Until then, goodbye to Russia, and goodbye from Russian Jane.

До свидание,

Russian Jane

Russian Jane is back from camp!

Camp ended 10 days ago, and I have to be honest, I still haven't made a full recovery.  The volume of activity, roller coaster of emotions, 220 excited campers and long lack of sleep are still making their effects felt in the form of a terrible cold that just won't go away.  That being said - worth it.

Don't worry, all the wounds are fake - it was for our game, "Plane Crash"

My team from America arrived on June 2 at the Krasnodar airport.  They came from A B Simpson University in California, the same place  that my team came from last year.  There were three repeats (their leader Lauren P, Alicia, and Zach) and four new faces (Amy, Lauren M, Megan, and Daniel) plus my very own cousin Griffin!  I got them settled into their new home at Mountain Springs and from June 2-7 we got ready for the campers.

Here are most of them (we're missing Megan and Amy)

Lauren P and I - I'm so glad she came back this summer!

On our town tour, hanging out with Lenin in front of the city theater

Alicia and Lauren exhibiting both friendship and classic tourist behavior

Getting ready meant printing books, finishing the rec-room Archie and I had been working on all Spring (now called "The Cube"), and building mini-golf.  It was a lot of work, and I'm very proud of how my team got everything done in time for camp.  And a good thing they did, because The Cube and mini-golf were incredibly popular, and will be for years of use to come, and without those books my English lessons couldn't have taken place.

Assembling books for the little kiddos was a surprisingly large task

Dan at the mini-golf course that he helped build

This years theme was "The Net", all about social networking, the internet, and gadgets.  We had lessons, activities, and evening stories aimed at helping the kids to analyze the proper place of technology in their lives.  I feel that we gave the kids, especially in the second session, a lot of good information to chew on when they get home, and I hope that it leads to some positive changes in some of their lives.

The kids listening to one of Andrey's stories at our evening meeting; by far their favorite part of the day

We had two 10-day sessions of camp, the first session for kids 7-13 and the second for 11-18.  Unfortunately, we had a cool and rainy June, so we didn't make it to the sea very often, but everything else went very smoothly.  We were all amazed at the end of camp to look back and realize that we had not major traumas, no crises, and not particularly problematic children.  It was 20 days of pure and simple fun.  So fun in fact that we had about 30 new kids buy tickets to come to Logos camp in August!

Super Hero night, first session

Alicia hanging out in The Cube

I don't see her but I'm sure Megan was near- she was the queen of volleyball

They didn't catch any hedgehogs this year but look at that sweet frog!

Lauren played the sax at our talent show, second session

Wheelbarrow races during second session

We did make it to the beach a time or two...

The next day housekeeping was searching all over for their garbage can lids, but look at this rad turtle!

Tony Stark, naturally

Looking back at the previous two summer English camps I've participated in, this one stands out in terms of organization and quality.  I'm happy with the way the lessons went, happy with my team, happy with the games and evening meetings - in general, I feel satisfied that English camp this year was a job well done.  Now I have the month of July off to prepare for Logos in August - all about the life of King David and what he can teach us about friendship.

Katya was in my room the first summer I was here, and has been back for every camp!

My team and some of our staff at our home on my team's last night here

Our wonderful staff

My cousin Griffin - poor little guy was tuckered out

Пока ребята,

Russian Jane

The Rec Room

I've been going hard since I hit the ground a month ago; camp is right around the corner, there's work to do!  I've been straightening out travel documents for my team of volunteers from Simpson and my very own cousin (there's coming in 2 weeks!), writing lessons, getting my books done for camp, and working up at camp on a rather ambitious but worthwhile remodeling project with my good friend Archie, who is also on the program team.  It's not our line of work per se, and we sometimes feel overwhelmed by the tasks we're assigned to do, but the results will be well worth the effort.  We are taking a scary old "gym" and turning it into a rec room for camp!

The process has involved scraping paint, cleaning out storage, dismantlement and cleaning windows, and gluing giant banners onto the walls.  We still have to glue a few banners, hang curtains, and install flooring, and we're waiting on some furniture, but the kids will be playing ping pong in there by the time camp starts!

Here's a sneak preview of the rec room, and photos of the work we've put into it so far.

We had to take apart and wash 8 of these big windows

Archie found a mummified bat between the panes of glass

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Who knows how long he's been there...he could be a registered member of the Communist Party

Here's the smallest of all banners...

...and here are the biggest!

I had paint chips in my hair for days

This was a storage room; everything had to be cleared out to turn it into a craft room

The remaining furniture has since been removed, and the room's ready for making bracelets and bookmarks!

This is all of the nonsense that was in there

A bizarre collections of camp inventory

One of our banners across the ping pong table

"Children aren't just the future, they're the now!"

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us went up there and got a lot of work done.  It was a fun day, and at the end of it all we had a BBQ together.

The reward for a job well done

The rec room is going to be a great addition to our camp; I can't wait to put up finished photos! 

It's been a busy month and only going to get busier, but camp is right around the corner when all of the hard work will pay off!  We're currently SOLD OUT for both sessions of camp, and we'll have over 200 kids this summer.  Everyone get ready!

Пока ребята,

Russian Jane

How was your trip, Russian Jane?

How was my trip? Glad you asked!

I spent the last 5 weeks in America, taking care of business and seeing my loved ones.  I had a wonderful and refreshing time, and while I'm excited to back in Russia, I can't help but think back on my time in the States and be a little sad it's over...

I sat on a motorcycle.

My dad's motorcycle, to be exact.

Mom had a go

I saw a lot of this guy, my favorite (only) brother

I ate the stuff that Dad and Uncle Randy grilled

I saw my grandma Lois and my cousin (who's coming this summer!) among other relatives

I hosted a Russian dinner for my support time (I love you guys!)

I made Russian food for them - "Anthill Cake"...

...and "Herring in a Fur Coat"

I spent as much time as I could with these people

This guy again...

I saw my best friends

I even managed to pop over to Seattle with my parents!

These two are just fantastic

Anyone else a fan of Pirozhky Pirozhky by the market? I spoke to the owner in Russian!

We saw the Chihuly exhibit

I was there to see Maverick Motorsports move to it's new location (out North Reserve, check it out!)

And I saw Wyatt in this shirt..."World's Best Mama"... aim high

My time in America was fantastic, but it's time to get back to work! We had a camp meeting yesterday and I learned that we are SOLD OUT for English Camp already! It's only April!  I'll be busy writing books and getting visas for my team of volunteers, and then in June the fun begins.  I'll be sure to keep you in the loop about the going-ons of Russian Jane!  Until then...

Пока ребята,

Russian Jane