Hi St. Peter’s
Hi St. Peter’s
I have been in Smolensk for about a week and things are moving well for me at this time. I have found a “flat” to live in with 3 rooms, which is a big deal! I have my bedroom and a second room that I can use for my teaching supplies and other things. I have a large living room that I can use for Youth group, Women’s Bible Study and a church meeting. I have gone over to my “flat” a couple of times to clean and move things around to make it feel more like my home. I have gone food shopping without any help and did a good job. I only had difficulty understanding one time.
I am really looking forward to getting everything started here. I am hoping to start teaching English to the children that are part of the UMC in Smolensk but working out the time when to do it is a little hard. Children in Russia go to school at all different times. Most younger children go from 8 to 12:30, the Middle School goes from 11 to 4 and the High School goes from 1 until 6. The children here also go to clubs, sports, dances and have many other activities. I am trying to work around many things because I would like to get the youth group and Bible study meeting held each week at the same time. After I have this together, I can start working on another project.
My friends Olga and Helen have lined up some meetings for me to talk with students and teachers of English. I have been asked to teach some students one-on-one for a couple of hours each week. I will have free time in the morning and I think this will help with my cost of living. It’s not much, only a couple of dollars an hour but it’s something. I would like to get someone to help me learn Russian so maybe one of my students will teach me Russian and I will teach English.
I have to keep reminding myself that I need to be moving at the speed of the people. I feel that I am going too fast with some things and other stuff I’m very slow! I am still learning about the culture. My host family has been great to me and has been helping me with so much!
I have also heard from a lot of people in my St. Peter’s family. Thank you so much to Andrea Bell for bringing me to the airport and Lori Loveland for coming with us! It was great to have them with me and it helped me not to cry about leaving! I would have been a mess with my parents. I have been blessed with a group of youth that just keeps giving to me. Ally, Chelise, Jerome and Jesse have been sending me emails and talking with me on AIM. It has been great to talk with them. All have been a real blessing to me, helping me deal with all the changes going on! I can see how God has grown in them over the last 6 years! If these youth are our future, we do not have to worry!
Talk with you soon!