Несколько из моих подруг

Anne showcasing our homemade strawberry shortcake. We made a model bowl to show the rest of the congregation how it's done ;)  Needless to say, it was delicious and a big hit; how can a dessert go wrong with strawberries and cream?? I had a great time going over to the Cottle's, who were gracious enough to run with my idea and offer up their oven, as I don't have one.  Easter at the church consisted of a nice service with some great musical numbers followed by LOTS of very good food! 

Anne comes on Thursdays with me to the orphanage and I am so grateful for her help! She's fluent in Russian and translates for me when my Russian fails me.... which happens more than I would like to admit ;)  But more than that, Anne is a great sister in Christ, super fun, and a competitive frisbee player.

 

Though Easter had officially come and gone both in the States and in Russia, Janae was set on using the egg-dyeing kit her mom had sent her. On a snowy, snowy Tuesday in late April, Janae came over in the morning (we didn't have class!), we whipped up a batch of berry pancakes, and dyed just over a dozen eggs. Janae is my good buddy here; we sit together in class, eat chocolate and Russian pastries, wonder around downtown and have basically just shared most of our Russia experience with each other. She's flying home next weekend and she will be greatly missed!!

Julia (on the left) reminds me so much of Violet. Beautiful, utterly sweet, very honest and open, and yet very street savvy, Julia has helped me out in so many different situations (including my Post Office Adventure!).  Marionne (on the right) is a relatively newcomer into my life--and how thankful I am that she did! From Lyon, France, she and her boyfriend are studying and working here in Irkutsk until the summer. She started studying in my group a few weeks ago and earlier this week we celebrated her 23rd birthday! It was quite the chic boom, if I do say so myself ;) 

Springtime for Candace and Siberia... :)

A rather short season for Siberia, but all together a pleasant one :)

It has been 3 weeks since my last post; I have had not had a good hour or two to sit down and record my thoughts to share with everyone. I'm writing this in the reading room between my 1:00 and 4:00 classes. The room is quite interesting: long and narrow with rows and rows of fake-wood desks and black chairs fill nearly the entire space. One wall has a series of windows with old glass that have yet to have their spring cleaning. Near the front is a rather diverse collection of potted plants and trees. (It certainly is warm enough in here to function as a green house!) The light fixtures look pre-Revolutionary and give the otherwise nondescript room--that I just described to you^^--something worth mentioning :)

April 1st I shed my cocoon, and have not had the need to wear it on a regular basis since then. Some days have been remarkably hotter than others; temperatures here change rather fast: one day in the 70s, the next back down to the 40s. And even when it is that warm, it's hard not to feel that at any moment the cold cold return, the wind could pick up, and snow flakes could start to gently fall to the ground. 

April brought about a whole new perspective about my time here. It feels like a sort of accomplishment making it through my first 2 months in Irkutsk and through the tail end of my first Siberian winter. (And I wasn't even here for all of it--it started snowing here in October!) My calender has started to fill up as I started tutoring two girls in English a few times a week and am planning more trips now that both the weather is improving and I am feeling more comfortable navigating Siberia--well at least Irkutsk :) Only 8 weeks remain and they are shaping up to be an exciting 8 weeks!

I still have so much to be thankful for here, and the Lord keeps blessing me tremendously with new experiences, wonderful relationships and fellowship, time in His word, providing for me financially, and by simply enjoying all of the little, almost unnoticeable things in Russia that have enriched my days. 

My morning bus ride to school takes me over the dam bridge, the longest bridge in Irkutsk. It's on the southeast edge of town (near where I live) and on the other side of it is the wide Angara and hills covered in aspen trees. The sunrises in the morning are breath taking. When I cross the bridge every morning at about 7:20, the sun still hasn't fully risen and the colors are at there boldest. Last week, I was reviewing some vocabulary while riding the trolleybus, not realizing that I was crossing the bridge. When I happened to look up from my book, I saw the most stunning sun rise yet! I started praying and thanking God for His immense creativity, that each sunrise each and every day is different and that I happened to see this one! I was so overwhelmed and I looked to around to see if anyone else on the trolleybus with me was as in awe as I. Not one person was looking out that side of the bus. Just to there right was (to me) such an obvious gift and sign of God's glory, but no one cared to look. I felt so shocked, and taken aback really; to me God is so evident in nature. Here was this vibrant red sunrise reflected on the water and ice on the Angara, piercing through the clouds and filling the air itself with color, just as signs of God himself fill the earth, but we humans are too often oblivious, whether consciously or unconsciously.  Well there's some food for thought  (mmm...food...) that I will leave you with :) Truly hope everyone is well and enjoying spring in his or her corner of the world.

God Bless!

P.S. Христос Воскресе! Christ is Risen! 

(Today is Easter in the Orthodox world) 

Детский Дом № 1

Located not far from the university is “Children’s Home, Number 1.” A yellowish building set back from the street, this house is home to 60 children ages 3-18. Some are orphans and some have abusive parents; a fact that you often forget when you see their smiling faces and sparks of mischievousness in their eyes.  It’s truly heart wrenching when you remember the painful reality in which these children live.

The children are preparing for their annual “Yarmarka” or “Market Day” fundraiser. Volunteers come to the home every day with cute crafts for the children to do and to just simply spend some time with them. I spent the last two Thursdays making “God’s Eyes” from yarn and bamboo sticks. I really couldn’t come up with a way to market them, besides pure ornamentation. One clever girl, Tanya, cut out cute illustrations from a children’s magazine and put them in the middle of the God’s Eyes; they make really cute picture frames! This week we (Anne, me, and whoever else wants to come!) will be making ribbon stars and pinwheels. 

(Any suggestions for simple, but sellable crafts are greatly appreciated! Thanks Dasha for the photos!)

Spring has definitely arrived in Irkutsk, though there is a startling lack of things blooming. How spoiled we are in Washington with such beautiful flowering trees! *Almost* all of the snow is gone and I haven’t needed my long johns for a few days now :) The “lake” (really the Angara River, the part before the dam) is still frozen over, but the look of the ice is much changed.  The lack of snow has unveiled a lot of mud, which is about as lovely as it sounds. But as soon as the temperature stops going below freezing every night, the dry air and bright sunshine should dry everything up in no time.

Lena had her birthday on Sunday (I never did catch how old she is now, but I think her early 40s).  I made her a completely American Breakfast Sunday morning, at least as American as I could :) I made buttermilk pancakes, fried apples with “Amerikanka” apples, and Starbucks coffee thanks to Jake (thanks again Jake!). Lena loved it all! The pancakes turned out really well, praise God, considering that I guessed on the measurements. I had bought the ingredients the day before, and early that morning (even earlier for us, as we had daylight savings on Sunday) I got the butter out to start sautéing the apples. Much to my surprise the butter was brown! Turns out I bought two packs of “chocolate butter,” which I didn’t use with the apples, but it did taste quite good on the pancakes :) Pancakes have never tasted so good.

That afternoon, I joined Lena and her family for a birthday dinner at a Mongolian restaurant. Her dad is a well-humored doctor who, being in a family of all women, has rather selective hearing :) Her mom is a German professor and would translate into German for me if I was having a hard time understanding the conversation. Lena’s younger sister is also a teacher, of medicine I think, and she has a cute, strawberry blonde-haired, freckled, 11-year old daughter named Sonya.  It was such a pleasure to meet them and to be included in the family for those few hours. After a meal of good meats, “spicy” salads, and the highly caloric traditional Mongolian tea/broth made from butter, milk, and pieces of fat, Lena, her sister, Sonya, and I went for a stroll along the Angara to enjoy the sunshine and to walk off the tea. Russians have two different speeds: one for when they have somewhere to be, and one when they “gulyat”. To gulyat translates as “to stroll” but also means “to walk” and “to have a good time.” There is an art to strolling and I had fun finding the right rhythm in my stride, unhurried, methodical, and graceful.

But I have plans to kick it up a gear and start running now that the streets are finally clear :)  

March 21, 2009

Another eventful week in Irkutsk has come to an end. Ah, how good it feels! 

Lena too has had an eventful week. Last Friday she started to process of remodeling the kitchen and today it is “finished.” But, of course, like any home improvement project, much still remains to be done :) But what a difference! Before the kitchen was filled with a random assortment of furniture and 30+ year-old appliances. Now she has countertops, cupboards, “railing” (which she pronounces with an exaggerated, rolled r), new appliances, new flooring, and tiles along the wall!  The workman today had quite the time installing the cupboards, as the angle in one corner is ever so slightly obtuse and one wall is not perfectly flat. That’s a Khrushchev apartment for you: built quick and built to last, but lacking in craftsmanship.

Most of my week was spent trying to accomplish two tasks: first, mail Jacob’s birthday box, second, find all the supplies for my craft time at the orphanage. I thought the latter would be the harder of the two tasks, but boy was I wrong! It’s a long story, so I’ll try to be like concise.

I bought Jake a random assortment of goodies from the local market and the candy store (^^), wrapped everything in newspaper, tied them up with string, decorated the inside of the box, made him a little collage from the Russian equivalent of National Geographic, and wrote him a letter. Lena keeps extra Declaration forms, and I filled out the required three in Russian before taping up the box and heading to the neighborhood pochta.  This post office, however, is unable to process international packages. I was on my way to class, so I brought Jake’s package with me to the university and to my 1:15 ecological problems class.  I actually didn’t have a class that day, but rather an “excursion” to see some local manufactures and heavy industrial sites with Julia, whom I had already met through Paul (another contact by way of Paul….) After explaining why I had a bright blue “POCHTA RUSSII” box in my hands, Julia offered to take me to the post office before heading out on our excursion. Julia is utterly pleasant to be with, and I know God’s hand was in this, because I definitely would have died (well, figuratively) that day at the post office without here running interference for me. Like most post offices, the lines are long and move very slowly regardless of how quickly the workers work. Also, Russian queues have a culture of their own, something that I still do not quite understand. Lines don’t really exist, and if by chance a line has formed behind the counter, this line can be disregarded by anyone who walks right to the front of it. Go figure.  Upon reaching the counter, I learned the *correct* way to fill out the declaration forms and received a slew of instructions, including recording the exact weight of each item using a scale at the end of the counter. Julia and I set out to complete these tasks, and, feeling like they had been accomplished, jumped back into “line.” The forms were accepted, the lady stamped the box, opened it up, and gave me a long look. Starting from the very top, she began to take everything out of the box, informing me (and everyone in the post office) what was wrong with each item. First thing wrong: the letter I had laid on top didn’t have an envelope. Second, the collage didn’t fit into any category, really, and therefore was not acceptable. Third, packages cannot be wrapped, and I had wrapped *everything* in newspaper. Fourth, I had grouped chocolate and candy together on the forms when they are completely different items. Fifth, the extra newspaper that I crumpled up and used as packing material must to be declared. She really seemed puzzled by the extra newspaper, holding the wad in her hand and looking inquisitively at it and then me. Julia took my side. “No zachem??” she kept asking as I put all the pieces of Jake’s Birthday Fun in a Box back, remembering to get my extra newspaper back. Julia was ready to unwrap everything and try again. But after an hour and half in the post office, I was ready to take everything home and try again later. So I did. Well, first I walked to my favorite bakery stand, bought myself a meat filled pastry and a piece of cake, and took a stroll along the Angara to clear my head. Cake and fresh air can do that.

The next day, I received a slip from that very post office informing me that I had a package from Prague waiting for me. So back to the post office I went, and this time I had great success!!! :)  It appears that I can receive packages without any problems, but sending them is an entirely different matter. But not to worry, Jake, I won’t give up!!

In other news, we’ve had a few days of big, fluffy snowflakes. It is still in the 20s during the day, though many have already switched to their spring attire. I, however, am still dressing like I did upon arrival :) Not until I see the temperature hit 50 degrees will I shed my cream-colored cocoon. This is already a very long post, so I will call it good :)

Poka from Irkutsk! 

Springtime in Siberia

Let’s begin with a little weather update. (This is for you Dad!)

The temperature regularly climbs into the 30s F during the day, though the nights are considerably colder. I’ve had a lot more Winds-days than normal, some of which have been pleasant while others (like today) have been rather miserable. Walking along the bank on the Angara this past Saturday, I was rather shocked at how much the river looked more like an ocean (the Artic Ocean to be exact!) with its dark, rough waters and chunks of ice breaking of off the shoreline and floating down the river. I kept expecting to see a glacier float by and a large chunks splash into the water :) Before it began snowing yesterday and continued today the roads had become completely clear of snow and ice, exposing a myriad of potholes, sink holes, and just simply bad roads. Road crews are working hard to fill and repave the major roads, a task I’m sure must be down every year around this time. Riding the bus is now more fun than ever! :)

 

Paul, my friend from South African with whom I go to church, has a heart for the children of Irkutsk. He’s in contact with all of the orphanages in the Irkutsk area and really is phenomenal at planning, coordinating, listening, and meeting needs. The orphanage closest to the university has an annual fundraiser called “Market Day” held in April. The children make crafts and sell them to the community over the period of two days. Using all of his contacts, Paul has set up a schedule where everyday four people plan a craft, purchase all the materials, and spend two-hours a week for a month helping the children prepare. My day is Thursday :) I had a hard time coming up with a craft, something fairly simple, with simple materials that might actually be worth buying :) I was racking my brain, but I just kept praying about it, and like always, God heard my prayer and brought to mind these ornaments we made as kids out of pencils and yarn. In a sewing store near my apartment I scored some great deals on colorful yarn! Finding a substitute for the pencils, however, was a different matter.  I checked out a few home improvement stores looking for dowels or anything similar.  After walking through the maze of the outdoor markets in the city center today, I went into a big shopping mall to get warm and get out of the wind. In a “padarok magazin” (literally a “present store”) while looking for something for Jacob (^^), I found these bamboo place mats, which once taken apart are perfect! Such a relief :)

 

I have been to this particular orphanage twice now. The staff is very friendly and don’t seem to mind that I can’t really communicate :) The children, of course, are such treasures and I will be praying for them for the rest of my life (as if I could ever get there faces out of my mind!). I will write telling how Craft Time With Candy goes at the orphanage, and will write more about what I’ve been up to; just wanted to assure everyone that I haven’t given up updating my blog. Until then!

Вера, Надежда, и Любовь//Faith, Hope, & Love

I have lived in Irkutsk for a month.

 

February was a month of transition: new environment, new people, new language, new climate, new food, new system, new apartment, new pets. But of course the best additions to my life over the past month have been new friends. Within my first week in Irkutsk, I met Paul, a middle-aged student from South Africa, who attends a small evangelical church here.  Paul was more than willing, of course, to let me tag along and we have since met up every Sunday morning and ride the antique street cars to church together. The church, named Faith, Hope, and Love, meets in the basement of an apartment building and has about 40 members. All 40 are wonderful, God-fearing, warm-hearted people :) The church currently does not have a pastor, and a missionary couple from Beaverton, Oregon is currently filling that position. There is also a missionary family from Minnesota with a daughter my age and a 13 or 14 year-old son.  A good portion of the congregation are young, educated adults who speak English; such a perfect place for someone like me! I have never been a part of such a small church, and I must admit it is rather nice to already know everyone’s name and have the chance to catch up with everyone every week :)  Prayer request for the church right now: the couple from Beaverton was just called back this past week by their home church to lead all adult ministries. Their church is in a bit of a leadership and financial crisis and attendance is way down. They are leaving in two weeks, meaning in two weeks FHL church will be going into a new phase, to say the least.

 

The weather is much improved. The streets are dotted with muddy puddles and patches of brown ice and snow are slowly disappearing. The temperature is often without the minus, though remain in the single digits. Last Saturday I went with Janae (a classmate from Anchorage), Lena (who Janae lives with), and Igor (a friend of Lena’s who drove us) to the small town of Listvianka on the shore of Lake Baikal. And what a beautiful day it was. All my photos are on Facebook, so take a look! (Loading photos onto this blog is a rather slow process with my current internet connection.)  Baikal is completely frozen over right now, and won’t thaw completely until May. Such clean air, pristine views, and mass amounts of smoked fish were a welcome change from city-life in Irkutsk. I pray many more trips to Baikal are ahead!

Irkutsk State Linguistic University

Sitting on a bench in the main hallway of ISLU I feel a bit like I’m in high school. While the students are more or less my age, the girls seem to compare themselves to others, always trying to fit in. You see very few people trying to stand out for different reason than being the envy of all the other girls. Tall, noisy boots (the shinier the better) and long fur or fur-trimmed coats are absolutely necessary. A few dress more “alternatively” by way of industrial looking boots and changing color schemes rather than the standard shiny-black. Ah, how I love to people watch! Fashions are similar to what I saw in Krakow, but not quite the same as in Prague. The large fur hats men wear five their heads such a funny shape. Women, too, wear fur hats but of a different shape. Theirs often match the fur of their coats and have details of sequins, felt flowers, or embroidery. Boots, again, are a necessity. It’s lunch hour and the clang on heels on the rock floors echo loudly. How they walk in heels on the snowy streets of Irkutsk, я не знаю! Even I slip sometimes in my Patagonia boots, though only when the squeaky snow fills the treads. There's a group of good girlfriends on the other side of the hallway talking pictures and laughing. They all have rather dark hair, though each girls is shaped quite differently. There are by far more girls than guys here at ISLU. I know all men must serve in the army—it might be hard to get out of service for scholastic reasons. I'll have to look into that. The ratio must be 4 or 5 girls per guy.  There are security guards at the entrance and a few other places around the university. They wear camo uniforms—a little intimidating, if you ask me! I don't think they do much outside of checking everyone’s student ID every now and then. How to tell the difference between security guards and police officers? The shoes: the security guards wear comfortable, slipper-like shoes that are not uniform, while police officers where uniform black boots over their pants.

In the main foyer there are 2 counters to drop off your coats. Getting to these counters during “peak hours” is near impossible for those not bred to fight though such “lines”. For example, 6 people can fit at the counter, with their coats on the counter ready to be picked up by the attendant in exchange for a plastic tag with a number on it. At least 10 students, however, will be crowded in front of the counter. When one of the ten has completed the process, the other 9 don't leave that space open, but rather fill it themselves, not allowing anyone else space at the counter to place his or her coat. This will occur with even 5 or 6 people at the counter as they block all others. Therefore, one must literally shove his or her coat onto the counter and hope the attendant takes your coat before you are squeezed out of your place. And retrieving you coat isn't any easier, either. The coats go on rows and rows of hooks ( I think there are 1300 hooks) and three or four women operate the system for within the room. I don't think I have ever seen so many fur coats in my life!

 

неделя в Сибири

A few characteristics of Irkutsk: 

1. Beautiful sunrises, everyday.

I cross the Angara River every morning on the way to school. The river is quite wide and against a frozen landscape the red sky shines even brighter. The sky is a beautiful blue most of the day (occasional clouds a few snowflakes). For all the cold weather, the weather here is anything but bleak. Talking to Lena (my host) she said nearly everyday in Irkutsk is sunny! That’s something I’m going to have to get used to, lol!

2. Taking the correct bus is a must.

Bus stops are sometimes marked, sometimes not and often the bus numbers on the sign do not coordinate with the buses that stop there. After missing the #77 bus that I normally take to the university, I took a chance on the #24. On the sign in the window with the main stops, I read “University Street” and decided that must take me at least to the center. I just needed to get across one of the bridges and to the city center. The windows on the buses stay frozen all day, inside and out. I don’t know how the ice forms inside the bus, but it does. This makes looking out of the window near impossible, and when one doesn’t not know his or her way around this city, this is not very helpful. After determining the #24 was not going to cross the bridge, I got off and caught a bus going in the opposite direction. An hour later, I arrived at school. I missed my first class, but oh well, I made it! A bus ride costs 10 rubles and you pay the driver directly when exiting. It’s a pretty efficient system and one doesn’t need paper tickets. Bus stops are full of buses and mashrutkas (like minivans that costs 12 rubles per ride and are a bit faster than the city buses) jockeying for position and fighting traffic. The buses are quite old, yet on a few there are small flat screen tvs; such new tvs in such old buses is quite strange!

3. Make note of when each office takes lunch.

At the university, each office takes a different lunch break. The library is closed from 12-12:30; the international office from 1:00-2:00; the cashier from 11:00-1:00; the dean’s office from 1:00-2:00. Getting things done midday is quite the chore.  We check out our Russian language textbooks from the library and to check out a book, one must submit a passport-sized photo. So the next day, Jenae and I brought our photos but before we could check them out, we had to pay 13 rubles at the cashiers office. Being 11:30, the cashier was on lunch break and it being Friday, the library closes at 12. We’ll try again on tomorrow :)

4. Looks can be deceiving.

Nothing looks quite like it “should” here in Irkutsk. For example, I went with a lady from the international office to a city administrative office in order to formally register as a resident of Irkutsk. We walked a few minutes from the university, meandered through a few alley ways, went through an unmarked door, through a long corridor, opened another door, found some people in a waiting room, and opened yet another unmarked door. Inside was a counter with two workers. We handed them my paperwork, and in a few minutes I was registered. Had I gone by myself, I know I would never have been able to find this little, yet very important room. The grocery store near the apartment looks quite unlike a grocery store based on the façade, but inside it looks just like the stores in Prague or Krakow.

To continue...

To finish the story of our Grand Central European Tour:

 

Jake and I spent two days in Frydlant, and our last few hours were spent with Mark and a few other missionaries at  a restaurant in a nearby town celebrating Mark’s birthday. We had such a good time! Mark is hilarious, and when he and Jake are in the same room the joy is palpable.  Mark dropped Jake and I off at the train station and we took a train to Ostrava and then to Olomouc, a city Jake had never been too. We had booked a hostel in Olomouc that afternoon via the internet, but as we would be arriving at 1:30 am we weren’t quite certain if everything would pan out like we had planned in our minds. We arrived in Olomouc at 1:15 after a very pleasant journey, and decided to take a taxi. On the hostel’s website it said the a taxi ride from the train station to the hostel costs 100 Kc, and the ride cost 96 Kc. I noticed the driver had a cross hanging from the rear view mirror. Outside the building the hostel was in, a very nice Australian man was waiting for us. He took us four flights up to the hostel and gave us the best room in the place for the price of the dorm. The room even had a beautiful view of the city skyline. God was definitely helping us out that night!

I found Olomouc to be a very nice city with some beautiful cathedrals, a lot of students, and few tourists. Also, Jake found some awesome shoes there!  We took an afternoon train back to Prague (which was 90 minutes late) and rolled back into the capital later that evening. Ah, what a wonderful trip it was :)

Grand Central European Tour

Skating at the Eistraum!! (rough translation: Ice Dream)

Jake in front of the Hofburgtheater, across from the Rathaus. 

The Rathaus all light up!

Jake and I just completed our Grand Central European Tour, and true to form, it was a grand adventure indeed! We began with a bus trip from Prague to Vienna. Vienna is nothing less than magnificent. The streets and buildings are exquisite and the city is easily navigable with efficient subways, trams, buses, etc. While sightseeing, we found ice rinks assembled in the park front of the Rathaus (town hall). Jake spotted a sign on a food booth for Lychee Punch. We came back later that night to try the sweet, hot liquid and test out our mad ice-skating skills. It was opening night so admission was free and the skate rentals were 6 euros--not bad! The night was clear and cold--it was quite magical!  Later the next day we took the regional train to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, with the plan of taking a night train from there to Krakow, Poland. How to describe Blah-tislava?? Well, we had a good time at the McDonalds talking to a dual Slovak-US citizen. We bought tickets for a sleeper car to Krakow, though never saw a bed. What we thought would be a comfortable seven and half hour trip to Krakow turned into a multiple middle of the night transfers in towns we'd never heard of and sleeping on train benches. The fourth weekend in January in Krakow is considered high-season. All the hostels were full (mainly of Aussies and Spaniards). We found the Mosquito Hostel at 7 am after a nearly sleepless night, who promised beds at 1 pm. We collapsed in the small common room, folded on each other in a small blue couch. We awoke at noon to rooms and slept through the afternoon. We stayed two nights in Krakow and had a wonderful time--it truly is a beautiful Polish city, complete with castles, the largest medieval town square, flocks of pigeons, and muddy sidewalks ;) Getting out of Poland was quite fun! We took a bus with no suspension on local roads halfway across the country. Poor Jake's long legs didn't fit in the seat so he sat more or less sideways for a few hours. All that said, it was the best bus ride of my life. We arrived in a Polish border town, but the last train to Czech Republic had left hours before, so we walked across the border (yeah for EU integration!) and caught a train in Czech for Frydek-Mistek. We feasted at a delicious medieval restaurant. The next day we took the 22 minute train to Frydlant. Jake lived in this area during his exchange in 2004-2005 and it was wonderful to see it. There is a little tea shop and we had tea with cinnamon, white pepper, ginger, cardamom, milk, etc and halva that was so delicious we came back the next day for more! We stayed at Mark Krupa's house (a missionary friend of Jake's). He wasn't there, but was so gracious and let us stay there. It is a local tradition to play pranks in Mark's house, and we heard it was his birthday, so we decided to bake a cake and decorate his kitchen. Baking that cake was quite the experiment. The electric oven, we later found out, has only been used once or twice to heat frozen pizzas. 

Recipe for Krupa's Birthday Cake:

Ingredients: chocolate cake mix, vanilla pudding, mango, shredded coconut, powdered sugar

1. Set oven on Broil, and broil for nearly an hour

2. Burn the milk before adding pudding mix, stir until curdled

3. Cut out of season Mango into chunks

4. Open window to air out the kitchen

5. Cut of blackened parts of cake (i.e. the whole top)

6. When removing cake from pan, make sure it resembles a bundt cake (with center missing)

7. Find something in the cupboard to fill the hole, i.e. gummies??

8. Add unripe mango chunks to refrigerated "pudding"

9. Cover top of cake with pudding mixture

10. Mix powdered sugar with a Tbl. of water, add shredded coconut, drizzle glaze over entire cake.

11. With leftover gummies, make a smiley face

12. Place in fridge

13. Decorate kitchen, close door, and flee the premises ;)

More to come.....

 

A new host

I was informed this morning that the host family I had been previously assigned is no longer able to host me. Goodbye French Bulldog. Hello Elena Anatolievna! 

Here is the description of my new living situation:

Elena Anatol'eva is 40 years old and has her education in medicine and psychology. She currently teaches in high school.

The district where Elena Anatol'ievna lives is nice and cozy. There is a market, grocery store, bank, drugstores, barbershop, dry cleaners, a cobbler and tailor, and a fitness center. There is a nordic ski and mountain ski center about one 1 km away from the apartment building, as well as the main "beach" area in Irkutsk. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the university by either bus, trolleybus, or "marshrutka". The bus stop is about 100 meters from the apartment building.

Two-room apartment on the fourth floor of a five story building. The apartment building is located in a picturesque district of Irkutsk not far from a man-made lake. The apartment is warm and bright and uncluttered. The neighbors are quiet.

I am quite excited!  A ski center 1 km away! In Germany I lived near the banks of the River Weser and spent many afternoons sitting at the riverside park with the ducks, swans, and bunnies studying grammar and reading the Bible. While it may not be warm enough for me to spend much time outside along the Angara River, but I'll know it's there :) 

Here are some pictures of Irkutsk in the winter...

Pyervi Raz

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