My brother in Novorossyisk!

What a crazy few weeks its been! I can hardly believe all that's happened since I went back to America mid-December.  Here's a quick recap!

My time in America was very good, but very busy.  I had trouble getting my visa, and Wyatt had trouble with his, so we were biting our nails until the last second waiting for them to arrive. But thank God, they arrived and we were able to leave on time.  This visa drama did not, however, spoil a wonderful Christmas with my family.

My grandmas Patty (Mom's mom, right) and Lois (Dad's mom, left)

My dear family, and no, we didn't plan to coordinate

My beautiful mama

Papa and I

Not too long after Christmas, on the 29th, Mom and Dad took Wyatt and I to the airport and we began our journey to Novorossyisk.  Sitting here now, with Wyatt a few feet away from me snoozing on the couch, I can still hardly believe that it happened. But it did happen; Wyatt went to Russia with me!

Our flight to Novorossyisk was without any problems.  We were met at the airport by Masha and Ilya, who drove us from the airport in Krasnodar back to Novorossyisk. It was about a 2 hour drive, and Wyatt had the pleasure of sitting in the front seat of the vehicle, which happens to be right-hand drive, meaning that Wyatt was the one facing oncoming traffic. It was dark, the road is full of potholes, and Russian driving is not what I would describe as "gentle". Wyatt thought that after that experience, nothing would scare him.

We spent a day with the Ivanyenko family (I'm so happy to be reunited with them, by the way) before packing up and heading to camp.

What to say about camp? There's so much to tell! In short, it was phenomenal. It couldn't have gone better.  The children were enchanted by our Narnia theme, the team of Americans I had with me (8 in all) were a fantastic help and great addition to the camp, and there were no unhappy incidences with the kids.

Photo by Anya Pinkova, taken in the conference hall

Wyatt was the star of camp. He was the only American on our team not currently living in Russia, so he not only spoke the least Russia but was the most foreign of them all, and he loved it. Everywhere he went he would scream "America!", so that the kids started referring to him simply as America.  I was proud of him though, he handled the language barrier very well and was great with the kids. He was able to have full conversations with people who spoke very little English and has picked up not a few Russian words.

Everyone rushed in front of the camera! Photo by Anya Pinkova

He's definitely caught the camp bug, and is already planning to return this summer for our 10-day camp. Unfortunately, he's literally caught some kind of camp bug, and he's not feeling too hot, but hopefully he'll perk up tomorrow. We have plans to go fishing in the Black Sea, tour the former Soviet flagship that sits in the bay, and tour the marketplace. 

I can't put into words how well camp went, and how happy I am to have my brother with me. He really means the world to me, and I know we're going to remember this trip for the rest of our lives.

When my brother leaves, I'll be sure to update you on all our adventures! Goodbye until then!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane