Logos camp Fear Factor: there were bugs

My life in Russia has me constantly doing new things I never thought I'd be doing, and working at a kid's camp adds a whole 'notehr level of, how do I put it? Weird.  But don't think I'm complaining; one of the things I love most about my Russian life is that it's always an adventure.

Logos camp began on July 29 and it's two sessions ran until Aug. 18.  The first ten-day session was for kids, the second session was for teens.  What, one might ask, does an American do at Bible camp in Russia?  In English camp, my special skill-set is more obvious, but what do I have to offer Logos? As it turns out, my American-style organization.  Somebody had to organize our very own Fear Factor, and the task fell on me.

All-camp picture of second session at Anya's baptismE

very day we picked 10-12 kids randomly from a box to participate in our own version of the reality show, filmed everything, and then watched the results at our evening meeting.  At the end of camp we took all the winners (a boy and girl won every day) and they competed in a grandiose, terrifying, dive-in-a-pool-of-milk eat-pig-feet final.  The two ultimate champions won free tickets to next year's Logos, which is a really sweet prize if you ask me.  I was the Fear Factor Coordinator.  This means that I thought up all the games, gathered the supplies (I had two fantastic helpers, Lena and Camila, who saved me bacon numerous times), coordinated the participants and took the blame for making kids put boiled chicken heads in their mouth.  Chicken heads in their mouth? Yes.

Let me give you some examples of the challenges the kids had to face: a teetering platform suspended 40 ft in the air, where the kids had 30 seconds to collect yellow flags velcroed onto the board; transporting boiled chicken feet in their mouths from one table to another; finding the keys to  padlocks enchaining their wrists while sitting inside a closed box in the dark, and the keys are, of course, in an aquarium of cockroaches.

Water games quickly degenerated into mud games (this is Ernie, we first met him last summer at English Camp!)

The kids in first session took it pretty much in stride (though Revekka, my pastor's daughter, burst into tears and refused to compete in the crawdad-catching round) but the teens were hilarious, especially the girls (as is to be expected).

On a more serious note, the theme of fear was really well thought out.  There was a sermon every night about different kinds of fear; fear of failure, fear of punishment, fear of God, and it was good to see the kids and especially the teens learn about overcoming their fears.  I'd by lying if I said I didn't come away with a lot of great insights for my own life.

Pulling names out of the Fear Factor box; it made me feel very Hunger Games

Well, I feel like I just got back into "normal" life and I'm already preparing for my trip back to the good ol' USA! I'll be home until mid-October, so I hope to see as many of you as I can before I come back to Russia and start planning winter English Camp (if you have any theme ideas, send them my way!).

See you stateside!

Пока ребята,
Russian Jane

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself"

Everyone is afraid of something.  Adults are afraid of things like losing their jobs, illness, and a whole host of scenarios that only exist in their minds; kids are afraid of their balloon popping, or of one of The Avengers getting hurt (a friend of mine recently put on facebook that his little boy prayed for all of the superheroes of The Avengers by name the other night).  Whatever age you may be, there’s something you’re afraid of.

And how do we deal with these fears?  Teetering 40ft above the ground on a rope bridge and putting bugs in our mouths, obviously.

Can you guess what the theme for Logos camp is this year?  That’s right, Fear Factor! For those of you blissfully unaware of what Fear Factor is, it’s a reality show that involves three different kinds of scary stunts, may the best man win.  There are stunts with heights, stunts like something out of Hollywood, and most famously, gross stunts, like eating cockroaches or guts. 

I've had almost three weeks of vacation after English Camp, and I've been using that time to plan mini-episodes of our own Fear Factor.  Media is always a huge focus for us at camp, so this year, we're going to film an episode of Fear Factor every day.  All the kids will cycle through the competitions, and on the last day, we'll have a big finale with the winners.  

Examples, you ask? We plan to suspend some 2X4s high up in the air, strap the kids to a harness, and have them roll around in the stratosphere on a scooter.  The kids have to bob for bananas in a tank of  milk.  A competition to see who can move the most worms from point A to point B, with their mouths.  Get the idea?

Of course, it won't be all cockroaches and ropes courses.  Every day the kids will learn about what God has to say about how to handle fear, and how they can overcome what they're afraid of.  I'm particularly excited to get in on this process in the second session, where I'll be a counselor.

Personally, I'm really excited for this.  This is not actually the first large-scale Fear Factor I've organized; Eli Spire and I put on a show for 400 kids a few years ago for our churches annual All Night Party.  Come to think of it, I think anyone who has been in youth ministry long enough has probably brushed up against this theme.  All part of the job!

English Camp, Working a megaphone during Rugby

Camp starts on Saturday for the workers, and lasts until the 18th, so you won't be hearing too much from me.  Never you fear, you'll get a full update with all the juicy details and the photographic evidence at the end of August!

Good bye for now!

Пока ребята,
Russian Jane

Another English Camp come and gone

I can't believe English Camp is actually over!  All those months of preparation, then 20 days and boom, that's it.

Let me break down English Camp by the numbers: 2 sessions, 157 kids total, 20 days, 7am-11pm, 8 Americans.  Holy buckets.

What can I even say about English Camp?  The first sessions was with the little kids, and it went fantastic, though it was really exhausting.  We usually have a sport team responsible for sports on base, all-camp games, evening meetings and morning exercises.   First session however, we were short-handed and my team of Americans had to step up as the sport team.  There were so many kids that they couldn't stay in the cabins with the children, but that turned out to be a blessing because between organizing sports and playing games, they wouldn't have had much energy for anything else.  They did really great; I'm so proud!

Team leader Lauren Pfahlert (AKA L-Phizzy) at the rock wall

My costume for "Crazy Football" included a housewife dress, a snake, and balloons on my bum

The rules of Crazy Football? Camp workers and counselors vs campers, they have to follow the rules and we don't!

Here's the camp team in their game costumes; we were obligated to weep every time we scored a goal

Our director (and my boss) Andree Slabiy dressed as a giant hand; Semyon with his newly-shaved head (he's off to the army)

Second session we had half as many campers, and they were teenagers.  Needless to say second session was much calmer, but presented its own difficulties.  My team was able to bunk with the kids in their cabins, but this of course presented its own challenges because not all of the counselors spoke fluent English, and even those that did had their hands full with their campers.  We intentionally plan something every moment of every day, and counselors must be with their kids 24/7; it's when a camper is out of sight of their counselor that problems typically occur.  This was tough for my team, but some of them really rose to the occasion and made due with what they had, even if it meant something as simple as learning names and asking to learn phrases in Russian.  An inexperienced and at times immature sport team added some difficulties to the session, but really all of camp went without any major incident.

It's not camp if we don't play baseball!

Eric Wheeler (AKA Free-Wheeler) and the team leading morning exercizes

Personally, I love morning exercises

Team-member Cady Hayes relaxing on the beach

Kiley Woodward (AKA Woodzz) on the football field

We did have some problems with one teenage boy named Roma; yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the flood, and he lost a couple young cousins, after which he took up smoking.  He also found out on the second day of camp that a best friend of his had been paralyzed in a freak accident.  He was constantly sneaking off for a cigarette, or distancing himself from the group and refusing to participate.  It was not rare at all to see Roma off to the side with his headphones plugged in, separate from whatever was going on.  But our heavenly father has a plan for Roma, and put him in my dear friend Andree's group.  Andree was able to help him work through some of his problems and offer some solutions, and the relationship they were able to build will extend beyond camp.  All of the stress of camp is worth it when you can make those kind of connections and get kids the help they really need.

Alicia Medeiros (AKA Club Med) working her space look on registration day

Luba, Andree Vasilev, and Artur on registration day, three of my dearest friends and fellow workers

Our photog Anya and Lauren Weatherly (AKA L-Dub); I call this look "Lauren-on-the-half-shell"

Zach Pryor (AKA Pry-bar) and Arseney at a camp meeting

Andy Woodford joined us from Krasnodar, and was a great addition to our team second session

In addition to my team of Americans, we had a lovely fellow named Larry come from a huge camp down in California to do some consulting; his daughter was a member of my team, and our camp has had a connection for about five years when our camp director and the former English Program Coordinator Anya (my friend from English Studio) went to their camp for training (on their trip they stopped up at our church, which is how I got connected with Mountain Springs Camp in the first place).  On Wednesday we have a leadership meeting to discuss camp and prepare for Logos, and I'll be interested to hear what advice Larry had for us and how we can begin implementing it.

Jordyn (AKA Jordache) and Larry Birch (AKA Mr. Birch) , chillin' in the airport

Which brings me to Logos; it's only three weeks away if you can believe it!  Our theme this year is "Fear Factor"; in addition to discussing the topic of fear, I'm there will be lots of bug-eating and activities along those lines.  I hope to be sports team for the first session and a counselor for the second session.

I have to go the beach every day; my life is so hard!

In other news, it's blistering hot here in the Kuban region, and of course, I have no air conditioner.  I asked Uncle Ilya yesterday about installing one, and he said "well, we're just worried it would blow on you".  Well yes.  That's the point.  I would give my left arm to have my own air conditioner blowing on me.  But of course, the Russians believe that if there's air blowing on you, you'll catch a cold.  If they knew that I'm currently sitting with my fan about a foot away from my face, I think they'd have me institutionalized.  Cultural differences, people.  This is what I live with.  We'll see who wins the fight of the AC. 

Well, it's time to rest up.  I had some of my girlfriends from Krasnodar stay with me for a few days after camp before they headed home, and while I was thrilled to see them, I'm now ready to sit back and do nothing.  I've got a fan blowing on my face, snacks, and reruns of The Nanny to help me regain my strength. 

Aunt Tanya, Masha, and Tima came to visit me on my birthday, AND THEY BROUGHT THE CAT BABY!

I hope you guys are having a fantastic summer!  Next time you're having a BBQ eat an extra burger for me!  Remember, if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments or send me an email direct at russian.janie@gmail.com.

Пока ребята,
Russian Jane

PS Thank you Madi Hayes for all the beautiful pictures!

Go team go, Pictures from Odessa

They're here!  They're here!  My team from America is finally here!

Today at noon my boss Andree and I drove to Anapa to pick up 8 travel-weary Americans and bring them back to camp.  It's 9pm, and just about now they should be headed to bed (I gave them strict orders not to nap, not to sleep until 9pm, and not to sleep later than 9am; it's the best way to get over jet lag!).  They seem pretty peppy considering their 27 hours of travel.

On an embarassing note, I somehow mixed up the schedule, so we actually went to Anapa yesterday and waited outside the gate for our team.  Only when they didn't show up did we realize our (ok my) mistake.  Oops!

Tomorrow we'll be assembling my lessons into little booklets for the kids and get supplies for camp.  It's less than a week away and I can hardly wait!  Camp is going to be great.

And now, here are some photos from my trip to Odessa and my reunion with my dear friend Margarita.  Enjoy!

The famous Odessa steps

We have an almost identical statue in Novorossiysk! 

Do you like my yacht?

Rita, showing you my yacht(s)

Odessa is known for it's charming courtyards

I know Odessa because of one charming girl!

Rita and I with her roommate Elya

The beautiful central square

The Odessa Opera; we got to hear a rehearsal!

Odessa was untouched by WWII, so its beautiful buildings are still intact

This is a memorial to bribes!

We managed to find some time for fun

You know I love black cats, and this one has a squished face!

Well, there's my trip to Odessa!  Camp starts soon; you'll hear from me before then.

Пока ребята, Russia Jane

Feast and famine

"There once was a girl with one little curl,

right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good, she was very very good,

but when she was bad she was horrid."

For the little girl (with the little curl), there is not middle ground; very very good, or horrid.  I feel that way about camp work; at least, this poem has always reminded me of that.  Not that it can be good or horrid, it's never really horrid, but that kind of extreme describes the nature of working at camp.  The phrase "feast or famine" sums it up as well.  If I'm not up to my eyeballs in work or living at camp, I'm cooling my heels.  There is no middle ground!

I have been busy up to my eyeballs since the beginning of the month.  I have had 20 separate lessons to write for camp; a pretty tall order!  I write all of the lessons myself, from scratch; there is no ready camp program for us.  So that's where I've been the last month, locked in my room on my computer, writing lessons.

Today, I'm going to give you, my faithful readers, a sneak preview of this years lessons!  The theme of camp is "Star Tours: Route 66".  The kids visit a new planet every day, and each planet has a different theme; communication, water conservation, a planet of wild animals, even a planet where Darth Vader has stolen the sun!  

So here you go, a little taste of English camp!

Well, I sure hope we can get the sun back!  This is day five of the second session, which is kids aged 14-20.

I'm excited, I don't know about you!  I head off to Ukraine on Tuesday for more document jockeying, so expect a report and pictures of me with my dear friend Margarita (she's from Ukraine and studied at UM; we became fast friends).

Two of my favorite girls; Rita on the left, Eli in the middle.  From our college days!

Пока ребята,

Russian Jane

Spring Holidays

I feel like every time I turn around in this country, there's a holiday.   And not just some day that a few people celebrate at home, we're talking day-off-from-work, no-school, federal holidays.  While this can be an inconvenience for people (like me) who need to get government paperwork filed within certain time frames, it's mostly a lot of fun for everyone, and a chance to relax.

In the first ten days of May, there were three federal holiday: May Day (1st), Easter (5th), and Victory Day (9th).  On top of that I went to a 12-hour wedding yesterday, so it's been a busy season!

May Day is Labor Day in Russia.  All workers get the day off to relax and, if they live in the beautiful South, enjoy the fine spring weather.  I spent the day with friends volunteering at a rehab center high in the hills.  There actually wasn't much work for the ladies to do, so we had a nice day relaxing.  And when I say "rehab center", don't think some walled-in stone institution: this is a charming farm overlooking green valleys and the sea.

Photos by Anya Pyankova

Easter was on May 5th.  If you find yourself saying, "Jane's lost it, Easter was in early April!" never fear, I'm still with it.  In the Western world, the Catholic Church determines on which Sunday Easter falls.  In the Eastern world, the Orthodox Church decides.  It has something to do with phases of the moon, and is a very complex process, and even though the two churches use the same process they almost always have different dates, usually two weeks apart.  This year, Western Easter was especially early, hence the month-long gap.

Easter in Russia is a major holiday, and often one of the two times a year Russians attend church (Christmas is the other time).  There is a lot of overlap in Easter traditions; church services, dying eggs, and even a Russian version of a hot-crossed bun.  I spent the day with family and close friends.  Grandma Vera brought us a duck from the countryside.  As good as it was, it was no replacement for my mother's Easter ham dinner.  Mom always asks me for a list of the food I want to have when I'm home, and Easter dinner is always near the top of the list.

May 9th is Victory Day.  Russia's involvement in WWII began in June of 1941 when the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union's western boarder.  Their involvement lasted until the Nazis surrendered.  They lost approximately 20 million citizens, half of which were civilians involved in guerrilla warfare or victims of attacks.  Victory Day is especially important in Novorossyisk, which is one of Russia's few designated "Hero Cities". 

Novorossyisk earned the status of Hero City for turning back the Nazi front from the Caucuses region and further south.  In the cold winter of 1943, Soviet marines landed in the icy waters outside of Nazi-occupied Novorossyisk, and in a battle that lasted nearly 50 days were able to defeat the enemy and regain the territory along the sea.  95% of the city was leveled during the occupation and ensuing battle; that means that the entire city of Novorossyisk has been built, essentially, since the 50's.

The massive memorial Malaya Zemlya (Малая земля) on the battle site

I spend V-Day at camp, not working but relaxing with friends.  We played volleyball, had a barbeque, and enjoyed the day.  That evening friends and I climbed up on the roof our the church and watched the firework salute. 

And last but not least, I went to a 12-hour wedding yesterday.  I'll spare you the details (and see if I can dig up some photos later!) but suffice to say, it was simultaneously the loveliest and most tedious wedding I've ever been to.

So, busy times this May!  And that's not even work!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane

Tourist season is upon us!

Here on the Black Sea, a lot of the economy revolves around "the season", meaning tourist season.  Here, the season starts in May and ends in October.  I don't want to gloat, but yesterday it was 80. 

While Novorossyisk is primarily an industrial port city, the prime location on the Black Sea coast and the closing of Sochi for construction of the Olympic Games have resulted in an influx of vacationers during the summer. 

Mom took this from the front porch in Missoula.  Meanwhile, I was getting my first sunburn of the year.

Of course, my work at camp revolves around the season.  That means that until June, I'll be a busy beaver writing lessons for the English program, planning camp activities, and preparing for the arrival of a team from Simpson University that will brave the month of June with us as our guest native speakers.

These guys are so brave, they have no idea what they're in for.

All that said, happy May Day (a little late) and happy first day of the season!  I hope the weather gets straightened out for you guys, and that you have a beautiful Spring.

I'm headed downtown now to buy myself a fan; it's already unbearable hot in my room!

Пока ребята, Russian Jane