So much has gone on in my life during the past week that I don’t really know how to blog about it. Here is my solution. I will give you the titles to entice you into reading. Then it is up to you. I have a feeling it might be more than you want to know but I don’t know what to leave out. I will try and post pictures latter.
Worlwind trip to Volgograd
Thursday night Rebecca, a friend, and I got on the train and headed to Volgograd for a women’s retreat. It was an overnight train and though we were in coach everything went smoothly. Neither of us slept terribly well but we arrived safely nearly 14 hours latter. We were advised to purchase our return tickets to Krasnodar in Volgograd. Upon arrival I found out that would not be a possibility. Latter I found out that all the trains to Krasnodar for the next few days were sold out. I was feeling pretty anxious.
We were taken to a dorm like hotel where we stayed with other women from southern Russia. All of the women were very nice and made efforts to include us and help us out. We had a couple of hours to relax before we headed off to the conference. The theme of the conference was “Women honoring the Lord.” The speakers on Friday night were wonderful. I was amazed at how much I understood and definitely felt blessed.
It was close to 10 pm before we made it back to the dorms and both Rebecca and I were very hungry. We hadn’t had an actual meal for about 36 hours. We weren’t told that they weren’t going to feed us at the conference. We trudged through the snow to a grocery store with some of our new Russian acquaintances for food. We took forever at the store because Russians do everything as a group. They all had to agree on every item before putting it in the basket. This was definitely a communal shopping trip, quite an experience. Eventually around 11pm we did get dinner.
Saturday the conference took a depressing turn for me. For about five hours the topic was outward beauty: How to put on makeup, what kind of makeup to buy, you must always where high heal shoes, how to eat as little as possible, how to stand proper, never sneeze but always carry a real hankie with you, what you must have in your purse at all times, how your clothes should match, never relax at home, always be prepared for company. Oh my word the list went on and on. Thankfully the women we were sitting with started to take it as a joke because it was ridiculous. No one could do all that they were saying was proper. It was another reminder of the importance this culture places on physical appearance. Unfortunately we were unable to stay to the end of the conference. There were some comments made in jest regarding physical appearance. Thankfully the statement was made that inner beauty is more important. A woman might posses outer beauty but it is all for nothing if she is not beautiful on the inside.
We left early to take the bus back to Kransnodar. After 16 hours of sitting up all night on a stuffy bus we finally arrived home in time to celebrate Easter with our team mates. 9 pm Easter Sunday I finally crashed after a very long weekend.
Taxes, a fall, and a drunk
After my long weekend I woke up Monday morning with yet another trip to the tax office looming ahead of me. I thought my tax problems were over, but this is Russia and new problems can always arise. My taxes were paid but the wrong identification number was placed on the confirmation so it shows that someone else paid their taxes and not me. We went back to the tax office and Olya, my friend, made some fairly strong threats. They agreed that it was there mistake and they are supposed to be taking care of it this week. We will go back on Monday to check on the progress. While we were there, going from office to office trying to find the right person to talk to, I fell. We were walking upstairs and I fell and hit my knee on the corner of a tile step. I cut my knee open and I felt a deep pain. Of course my pride took hold and I didn’t admit I was in pain. We walked up and down another 5 flights of stairs limping going to different offices. I eventually made it on the tram headed for home when a drunk man shoved me and started yelling at me for no real reason at all. I was mad and for the first time I yelled back. To my surprise those around me actually supported me and got the man away to calm him down. Thankfully my stop was the next one and I only had four flights of stairs left to contend with before my bed, which was a welcomed sight
Back to the doctor
When I woke up Tuesday morning my knee felt better but after stairs, walking, and public transportation it didn’t feel so good. My teachers went with me to a trauma doctors clinic. When we went into the doctor’s office my teacher Tanya told me to talk to the doctor and she would help me only if I needed it. I told the doctor what was wrong, when I fell, what was hurting. She told me to take off my shoes and lay down. Then she felt around and told me it was just a bad bruise and to keep it iced and she gave me a prescription for a gel. A simple bruise was certainly an answer to prayer. I also was able to do the entire doctors visit without Tanya’s help. Under her breath the doctor said I spoke good Russian, such a nice thing to hear.
Russian Ballet
Wednesday night I went to “A Mid Summer Nights Dream.” At least that is what I thought I was going to. To be honest I wasn’t really in the mood for the ballet. It had been a long week and I was now struggling with a cold. I had spent good money for the ticket so I went. Half way through the first act I was thoroughly confused. I don’t know Shakespeare very well but it was looking a lot more like Romeo and Juliet. At intermission we found out that it was 6 or 7 Shakespeare plays all wrapped up into one ballet. It certainly made it interesting to follow. We kept whispering back and forth, “I think this is Hamlet…. This must be Macbeth…. Do you know the story of King Leer?” Our ignorance combined with the trips and mistakes on stage made for an interesting evening. We ended the evening with dinner at KFC. All in all I guess you could say the evening was a success.
Cultural Differences with an African
Here we are at Thursday. We never have school on Fridays so Thursdays are always nice for me. I always look forward to going home and relaxing, not having to worry about getting homework done for the next day. I have had a cold all week and class was hard for me today so I was especially looking forward to my Thursday night. As soon as class let out I rushed out to spend some quality time on my couch. On the way out the door I got a call from my African “friend” Elizabeth. She asked when I was going to be home. I told her around two and she replied, “okay, maybe I’ll come over.” Then she hung up. I have never once invited her over but this is what she does to me. I rushed home to quickly to fold my laundry, make my bed, do the dishes, and straighten up the living room. Normally my house is always neat but this week has been exceptional. I was feeling a bit too stressed so I SMSed her “I have a cold. You might not want to come over.” Her response “Don’t worry. I’m coming over to do homework. I will leave your house in the morning.” She has never spent the night and that sent a new shock wave through me. I wrote back that that just wouldn’t work for me. Needless to say I have not had any guests tonight, for which I am thankful.
Thus it is the end of my very long week and the start of what will hopefully be a very nice weekend.
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