Okay, I know it has been a while since my last update. Sorry! We have not consistently had internet access yet. But here is a general update of all that has happened so far…
London was AMAZING!!! I loved it so much! We had orientation with 5 other groups that are now in France, Portugal, Germany, and 2 different cities in the UK. I think the things we talked about in orientation will be helpful for my time in Russia. We actually stayed in a smaller town outside of London called Kingston Upon Thames, which is one of the coolest towns I’ve ever seen. We also got to spend a day in London seeing the sights. We were able to attend a service at Westminster Abby, see parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the new model of the Globe Theater, walk across the Tower Bridge, ride the Tube and a double decker bus, and visit Trafalgar’s square. Shannon(my teammate) and I were both excited to get to Russia, but also both partially wanted to stay in Kingston because we loved it so much.
Over all, my orientation time in London was great. Everyone was really nice and I’m hoping that each pair of teammates’ personalities can mesh well together. I have started to detach from America, but I am also realizing with more clarity that 4 months is a LONG time to be away from everything I’ve ever known. I’m hoping I can stay focused and handle homesickness and culture shock.
Our 2 flights from London into Russia were interesting to say the least. I could tell you so many stories about these flights/airports, but for now at least I’ll just give you some highlights. First, apparently the airlines’ websites lied to me and I could have packed a lot more than I actually did! (I’m only a tiny bit bitter though) We had to change terminals in St. Petersburg, which caused some confusion, but we were able to figure it out with some help from a man who had been in line in front of us at our check-in in London. But, we made it safely and were able to find the people who were picking us up and get to her apartment to sleep for the night.
We are now moved into our apartment and have spent our first night here. We are starting to get settled in. Our first attempt at cooking was breakfast this morning…. FAIL!... haha we attempted to make oatmeal, and have subsequently decided that we both hate oatmeal! Thankfully Kelly had given us some chicken salad and bread(and a few other things) to tide us over until we can get some groceries later today. Side Note: the apple juice here in Russia is AMAZING!! J Our first grocery shopping was interesting as well. I think we did rather well for a first attempt! I am actually pretty excited to try cooking in Russia.
Side Note: our second attempt at cooking (chicken nuggets and spaghetti) went very well! J
So far, jet lag hasn’t been a huge problem. J I am still a little tired during the day and haven’t slept all the way through the night yet, but it hasn’t been anything too terrible so far. So, hopefully I’ll be able to get into a rhythm pretty soon.
Kelly has already introduced us to some of her Russian friends who can at least speak some English. Shannon and I are somewhat anxious to start school and begin to meet more people and get into some sort of a routine.
Shannon and I have decided to keep a “Blessings List” and list all of the special blessings that come our way during these 4 months. Hopefully this will help me remember that we are not alone in this time and that this is for certain where I am supposed to be.
Blessings list... so far...
· English man who was on our flight from London to St. Petersburg who helped us change terminals
· English-speaking airport worker who helped us find the right check-in desk (and then double checked that we knew where to go later) and several hours later remembered that we spoke English and said “excuse me” in English
· Tired laughing after boarding our last plane
· Candy on Russian planes
· Espanol! (some great bonding time for Shannon and I!)
· Neon-colored toilet paper!
· Our field supervisor and family (Chris and Eileen Carr and their 5 kids) for so many reasons I can’t even begin to list them! They are truly amazing!
Prayer Requests
· Adjusting to time difference
· Homesickness!
· That learning the language would come quickly
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