Back to Blogging

He'll be rooting for Brazil, of course!

So, now that we've gotten off that other website that we used to use to keep in touch with y'all, it's back to the blog. And back we are, with a vengeance! Or at least, with a lot of pictures. I don't know which of those is more threatening.

The fun never stops in this part of the world, and now that spring has sprung (and pretty much gone by now; we only get about a month of spring before it's warm enough that it has to be called summer) the whole world has opened up and we can go outside again!

Recently we had the huge celebration for V-E day where all of Russia celebrates the end of World War II. In the US, this holiday has sort of fizzled as all the veterans die off, but here it's still a very important day. Remember, as many people as the US lost in the war, the Soviet Union lost almost 60 times as many. Seriously. So the holiday commemorating the victory is a very big deal. Here the students line up for the parade in the schoolyard outside our window.

And then there's the parade itself. Also a big deal, with all kinds of different troops and schools and things.

Steven managed to find a decent vantage point high above the rest of us.

Of course, you can't have a holiday celebration without grilled meat! And here's the shashlik lady, right on cue with skewers of it for us to enjoy.

A couple of weeks later, the schools had some sort of big celebration in that same yard right outside our place. Russians (and, by extension, people in the T school system too) love to give out what are called "gramoti," like certificates of achievement, for almost anything. They gathered all the schools in the area together around a bonfire and spent an hour handing them out recognizing various achievements. By the end I figure almost every student and teacher there had gotten a certificate for something or other.

Another big thing that we've been "up to," or more accurately "down to," is being sick. This month has been a bad one for our health; the boys and I were sick off and on for quite some time, and even Bobbie had a week of feeling poorly. Thankfully there were DVDs to put on for sick little boys, and a bed to lay on for the sick parents. We're all feeling better now, so thank you SO much to those of you who were thinking of us.

I never put video on here, since it takes so long to upload, but I decided to put this one on to upload while I went and did other things, and came back and here it is! Just the boys being cute, mostly for the grandparents.

Oh, and one more cute one of Matthew, who managed to get into Mommy's clothes this morning. I like his expression; sort of a "Really? You're going to take pictures of this?" look.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and be sure to do so more regularly. We're planning to get back to updating every week or 10 days, since we're now solely available to you on here.

A Birthday Picnic and Other Photos

The view from our window the other night - spectacular!

The Wandering Family, from time to time, manages to wander themselves silly, to the point where blog updates are left by the wayside. That's my excuse, anyway.

And really, it's not like our lives have changed dramatically in the last two weeks. Well, we did make another trip out to "Paradise," the village we've been living/working in recently, and our coworkers are back, but that's getting ahead of myself. I should just let the pictures do the explaining:

Yes, our long-lost coworkers are back! With their twins in tow! And they are predictably cute.

And our boys enjoy them being back as well. Steven and Matthew had missed some of their favorite playmates, but no longer.

And, just to prove that the seemingly-interminable winter is actually over, here's an outdoor shot.

Of course, it's not all been fun and games since they got back. D and C's apartment is exactly the same layout as ours (not as rare as you'd think, since they all had to be approved by a bureaucrat in Moscow back in the Soviet days), and they decided that they'd like to remove the wall in between their living room and kitchen. We had also been thinking about making that change, and now we really want to after seeing how it makes their apartment feel.

Anyway, this photo is not of the work going on, which I don't have pictures of, but the work "glove" we constructed out of duct tape for lack of better options when hauling broken concrete out. It worked great!

And we have managed to convert some of our village friendships into town friendships; this is our host family enjoying a meal at our apartment recently. I don't know how much they enjoyed the American-style baked beans and fried chicken, but they didn't really give us enough advance notice to cook a more T-palate-friendly dish, so I guess they're stuck with it!

We did manage to wander our way out to the village where we've been teaching English and studying T culture and language. Somehow the student on the right doesn't seem to be appreciating the dynamic nature of my teaching style. I can't understand it.

Steven thought he could do a better job of holding their interest. Unfortunately, he's only qualified to teach the lower-case "l."

We happened to be out in the village for Matthew's 2nd (!!) birthday, so we took advantage of some nice weather and went out for a picnic. Two of our students fell in with us on the way, and we hiked up into the hills as far as the boys' little legs would carry them.

We tried to get some birthday photos; I like this one of Daddy and Matthew, who seems to be intent on tasting the flavor of his bubble thingy.

Like all good boys, Matthew likes bubbles. Here, one of the students is helping him blow some.

Meanwhile Daddy and Steven were playing in the dirt with sticks. Because that's what you do when you're a man.

Matthew managed to cap off the day by setting an international record for cuteness.

We brought him home to tuck into some birthday cupcakes and milk.

After which he was so tired he fell asleep standing up. Actually, this was taken a few days later, but I still like how he can manage to fall halfway off the bed and still not wake himself up.

Paradise

Yep, paradise. I bet you wouldn't have guessed you could find it in the middle of Siberia, but it turns out that's where it is.

What am I talking about? The village we've been spending all this time is actually named for the mythical Buddhist paradise of Shambhala. You can check out what that's about here, but the short version is that it's the inspiration for the Shangri-La that was popularized by Western writers. It is rumored to be anywhere from Tibet to T-land, but of course the people here claim that we're living in the real thing.

Which judgment, of course, we're inclined to agree with. I don't know about the New Age "energies" of the place, but as far as life goes, it's pretty good there. We've started to get the hang of our English classes which take up our mornings, and the kids are starting to make some progress. More importantly, we're getting lots of chances to learn language and culture. Culture more than language, probably, since most of what's going on around us goes over our heads, but it's still really good. On to the pictures of our latest week out in Paradise:

Unfortunately, paradise does have a few minor drawbacks. Especially this time of year, otherwise known as "The Swamp Period" as all the snow and animal droppings start to melt and combine to make the town a massive smelly marsh. Not so nice.

Oh, and the food. Yeah. Also not so "paradisey." This is the famous "Congealed Pressed Fat" dish. Served raw, in slices. Mmmmmmm.

But apart from all of that, it's great. This is our most "rowdy" class of kids, the ones in 5th class.

And back on the home front, the kids love it out there. Steven even volunteered to sweep the floor!

The family we live with keeps the television on pretty much 24-7, so it's not like their kids haven't seen it, but they almost never watch kids programs. So, when we get out a movie for the boys on our laptop, they tend to get on the bed with them to watch.

This has been a very harsh and long winter here, and it's taken a toll on the animals. Our hosts have lost over 40 sheep and a few cows as well. Our coworkers recently bought 2 of their sheep, in an effort to start their own "herd" and mainly to help out our hosts. They were able to buy some hay to see them through the rest of the winter until things melt enough for the animals to go out and forage for themselves.

However, the cows have almost starved to death by this point, and they are too weak to get up if they lay down or fall. Seems like about once a day we all have to go out to pick one of them up. Here we're setting up for the lifting process, which takes at least 3 people and is quite difficult.

One of the odder things to us, culturally, is the way they deal with the sheep that starve to death. Rather than skin them for the wool or try to get what little meat is left on them, they just throw them into a pile and give them to the dogs. Here, what I initially thought was a nice sheepskin bed this dog was lying on turned out to be merely a pile of dead sheep. Looks comfortable, though.

If you'll recall, a few months ago we had a picture of me looking ridiculous dressed up in a local outfit. Now it's Bobbie's turn!

And this one is just a bonus. Congratulations to John and my sister Rachael on your wedding! Sorry we couldn't be there, but on second thought, considering the stock of pictures and stories I could share, maybe it's best for y'all that we weren't. ;-) We love you and will be lifting you up as you start your life together.

The Village

Well, I'm sorry to say you have to read another blog from me (Bobbie). We got back from the village last Saturday but Jesse has been sick so it is now up to me to keep y'all up to date.

As most of you already know, our team here had been invited to come teach English in a village. We've been really trying to find opportunities to get into natural cultural situations, so when we found out we could live with a T family while we were there, we jumped at the chance.

Steven in a "natural cultural situation." Not loving it.

Our coworkers went the first two weeks (to see their pictures click on "Privyet" to the right) and then it was our turn. We arrived there on a Sunday evening and got settled in. It was a interesting set up and one that we had to get use to. Our "bedroom" was actually in the living room at the end. There were 3 other rooms in the house which were all attached to the living room and only one had a door (the room where they keep the baby sheep and cows so they won't freeze).

All the other rooms were open to each other so we had to get use to changing and even using the bathroom (aka a pee can) with other people in the house. It worked out pretty well as we figured out each other's schedules. Life in general is pretty flexible there. Well, I would have to say VERY flexible there. No set time to eat or go to sleep.

Our bedroom

The lady of the house would usually fix a pot of soup around 10:00am which was eaten by the family (and friends) as they came in and out. You never knew when people would show up or how many there would be but you had to have enough food to feed all of them. I had to learn this as I fixed several meals while I was there. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way, as a couple of times the poor lady had to whip up something really quick since I didn't fix enough. Now I know!

Another example of how laid back people are there was our schedule at the school where we were teaching. It was posted every day what classes we were to have but as the days went on we quickly saw that we had to be ready for anything since the classes that were supposed to come didn't and classes that were supposed to be in the afternoon came in the morning and vice versa. Some classes we would have only 3 children but the next day there would be 9 in the same class.

But, we rolled with the flow and took everything in stride. I mean, why stress out over something that you can't change, right? So, the next time you see us, we'll be even more laid back and flexible than before - whether this is good or bad, you be the judge!

So, we got settled in and started teaching our classes the next day. Actually, Jesse taught all the classes the first day as I went and stayed with the kids at daycare since it was their first time.

I quickly realized a few things: One, I need to start potty training Matthew (almost 2) as every kid his age there is already mostly potty trained. Second, Steven loves to run. They have a large play room they use as a gym. Steven had to be dragged out crying each time (they have a schedule and only go in there during certain times). Third, I need to teach them how to share. BIG PROBLEM. I'm open to suggestions if you have a way to teach children this. And lastly, I shouldn't be in the room watching them as they act so much worse when I'm around.

They fed the boys something like grits at snacktime; Matthew loved it!

By midday I left, realizing how much better they did if they didn't see me. So, I went to join Jesse in his classes and realized he needed some help with the younger kids. That's how I got to teach grades 1-7.

Once classes were over we would eat at the school then I would head back to the house and talk with the lady of the house (A) to practice my local language. She is the same age as me and has kids the same age as ours, so we had a lot in common. She also loved to watch Hell's Kitchen with me so we got along great. Jesse hung out with S and practiced his language as well.

We also helped around the house cleaning, cooking, milking the cows (I actually successfully milked a cow!), and hauling water. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot - they don't have running water, so getting water for all the sheep and cows and people was a big task every day.

We stayed busy and slept well. We learned a lot about the culture and are looking forward to going back. Please keep them in your thoughts as this winter has been the worst winter in a long, long time. Their animals are starving and they have no money to buy hay for them. One day they even went out and just brought back pine branches and dead leaves for the animals to have at least something - they attacked it like it was alfalfa or something. This is the case not only for them but for most of Siberia. We're getting tired of all the cold and snow too, but at least our livelihoods aren't dependent on seeing some greenery soon.

Bottle-feeding a premature calf in what turned out to be a doomed effort - it died 3 days after being born

And that's about it. We'll be taking turns going out to the village over the next few months, so we'd appreciate your thoughts. Also, Jesse has been sick since we got back, so he's anxious to start feeling better and get in the office to start going though all his new language data. Thanks!

We leave you with this picture of the nicest outhouse we found in town. Chills my backside just remembering it (yes, that's snow)!

Edit: one last picture of Steven and one of their puppies, just for the grandparents.

Moskva!

Moscow got a bit of snow last week

Yep, back in Moscow. Or M-va, as we gangstas like to refer to it. And you know me - nothing says "gangsta" quite like a freckled white guy wearing jeans. It's just how I roll.

So, what have I been doing? Language, of course! In the course of training to help out with the culture and language program, I was asked to come back to Moscow to help out with a checkup for some of the students here. That meant a lot of this:

Followed by the other consultant and I listening to what was recorded, and talking with some native Russian speakers about the language sample we got. It's a lot of work, but hopefully it will help out those in the process of learning culture and language. We had a productive time here, I think, and I hope that we were able to give them some good direction and advice for their future study.

Anyway, it hasn't all been work here, and you wouldn't really enjoy the pictures of it even if it were. We did have some space in the schedule one day, and I went out to try to find some peanut butter and other things we can't get out in T-land. Amusingly, in the local mall, was this shop:

...claiming to sell salteñas, which if you'll recall from a few posts down is a famous Bolivian dish. I didn't buy any, though, as they were clearly something different.

I did manage to go to the absolutely atrocious Ashan store, which was packed with people at 2 on a Thursday afternoon. I can't imagine what it must be like on a weekend these days. To make matters worse, they didn't have any peanut butter.

One of the best things about the trip has been seeing all of our old friends here. This is our friend Nadira, making plov:

... and her sister Delia, serving it up. It was so good to see them again! (Not to mention to eat the tasty real Uzbek plov!)
I've also gotten to have some other foods that we can't get out East, including McDonald's and once, as seen below, even Papa Johns. These are our friends Gudrun and Ivor (she's had some neck problems lately and hence is wearing the brace).

Here's the whole gang, post-plov (except Shawna, who's taking the picture). It's a fun group to be with, and it's been an enjoyable visit.

But that doesn't mean I'm not anxious to get back to this:

Steven's been quite sick since I left, and Bobbie just let me know that now Matthew is coughing and hacking as well. Please lift them up in your thoughts - especially Bobbie who's very tired and needing some rest. Taking care of little ones is hard enough, but it's harder when they're sick and I'm not there to help out some.

I'll leave you with a video we took a few weeks back of our neighbor playing a common T game, if for no other reason than I have fast enough internet here to upload videos. When the T people slaughter a sheep, they save the knuckles, and over time get quite a collection of them. Then, you can play a series of games with them, one of which is similar to jacks: