sean's musings

Landed last night in Frankfurt, Germany a little early and decided we would head south toward Switzerland. Checked one piece of luggage in baggage storage, got a rental car (sort of a mini cooper thing) and we were off. Ended up pulling off in some town near Bobligen called Sindlefigen(Something like that). Amanda, Kyle, and I shared a room at Best Western Berlin. Small beds but it was fun. Got up and left around 9 to head for Rhein Falls. Stopped at a gas station along the way and met a really nice worker who gave us directions. Didn’t get gas before entering Switzerland(big mistake) so it cost 46 CHF, which was over 50 us dollars.

Got stopped by border patrol:
Army Guy: Do you have any Liquor?
Me: No
Army Guy: Do you have any Drugs?
Me: No
Army Guy: Are you sure?
Me: Yeah

After that, on to Rhein Falls. Wasn’t as spectacular as I’d hoped, but it was cool. It rained really hard while we were there. (German country side was pretty cool…lots of castles). After that, we spent a bit of time lost trying to find our hostel. Finally we stopped, and some people gave us directions, and Kyle navigated the map to our place.

Inside of the Hostel: Cool. Rooms? Lame!

I guess I’d never been to a hostel but it was bunk beds and communal showers/bathroom. The reoccurring phrase “I want to go back to Moscow” has been the buzz phrase. I miss it already!

Got on the tram to Downtown Zurich, got some food at a New York Cafe/Deli…PIZZA!! Walked around for a few and decided to go back and get our camera. Very Picturesque. Kinda like what I would imagine Venice to be like with the waterways. Narrow cobblestones, streets, had to
“bounce my eyes” a bit with all the magazines and even pictures plastered everywhere. Walked and took pictures of the clocktowers, bridges, water…saw a party on a boat. Walked up to a church with an awesome view of the city. Then the fun started….saw lightning which was awesome from far up! We thought it stopped and went down to the tram station. Then it started getting windy, hailing, and lightning right over head! It was awesome. Got off and ran back to the hostel and we were soaked. Not sure tomorrows plan, but I think Luzern then back towards Frankfurt. 2 days, 3 countries…wow

Tough day today. Went to the WW2 museum which was a very somber place. Found out that 27 million Russians lost their lives during the war. That number is crazy. The war pretty much devastated the country. There were all sorts of items from the war, dioramas, and a giant room with sculptures on the walls.

Went to McDonalds, very russian, for our last meal

Wow. To think we only spent 11 days with these people and it’s so hard to say goodbye. I know God brought us to Moscow for a Reason, and maybe it was to befriend some of the people. Sergei, Rema, Olga, Dasha, Diana, Tasha, Cinda, Tanya, Davide…I feel blessed so much to have met all these people and pray God will keep the communications lines open. Thank goodness for email!!! We have to keep in touch with as many people as possible, especially Dasha. Amanda and I pretty much adopted her as our little sister, so we have to stay in touch. We were able to bless her a little bit before we left which I won’t get into here(online).

Saying goodbye was tough. People were tearing up, and it was hard. Diana had taught us how to say “I’ll miss you” (”yah boodoo scuchayet”). All through the passport line they were all waving at us. Such wonderful people and I pray God protects them and we might see them again someday! Goodbye Mockba and new friends.

Yesterday was another wind down work day. We finished off the bathroom and basically did cleaning all day. Sergei took us on a walk to a lake. He had Amanda try some berries which were bitter, as a joke. We all had a good laugh Then we went with Dasha to a spring, which looked really clear. We were advised not to drink the water.
I’m going to really miss hanging out with Sergei and Dasha! Today I got to talk to Zareef a little bit and he gave us some Ukrainian coins to add to our collection of foreign money.

Today was Amanda’s birthday and Dasha and Cinda planned a little celebration for Amanda. It was sad, though, because apparently birthdays are pretty big in Russia, and Dasha was sad because she wished someone would do that for her. Hopefully we’ll be able to send her something for her birthday.

When we woke up, there were flowers outside our door, and the main hall had “Happy Birthday” written out in english (dasha did them all by hand) on individual pieces of paper. Sergei had gathered a bouquet of flowers and put them on the table. I had to learn some song that I guess was to the tune of a popular Russian pop song. Verna made a cheesecake. Amanda and I had to do this little dance, sort of like musical chairs, on a small piece of paper, which is the tradition. It was an awesome birthday I think, and Amanda really appreciated it.

I’m going to be very sad to leave here and go back home. We are going to swan lake tonight and Sergei, Rema, Olga and Tasha are also going.

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The ballet was a very different experience, but pretty cool. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Olga, Tasha, Sergei and Rema. Sergei gave us a kiss on the cheek, and Rema, teary eyed, gave us a big hug. No words were needed, but it seemed like we touched their lives a little bit.

Yesterday and today were good work days. Kyle and I finished the grouting on the bathroom. This place is looking a bit nicer than it did when we came. Played some basketball with Kyle, Dasha, and Tanya. Been playing lots of Rumikub. Walked over to the Orthodox Church (about 30 minutes away) and Manda, Kyle, Cinda and I made up a song sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. On the X day in Russia, we bought at the Market:
12 – Bottles Kvass
11 – Breakdancers
10 – Colored Eggs
9 – Cigarettes
8 – Wheels of Cheese
7 – Tickets to the Circus
6 – Metro Passes
5 – Litres of Vodka
4 – Boxes of Juice
3 – Matrioshka Dolls
2 – Wives for Kyle
1 – Russian Orthodox Ring

Had lots of fun with Sergei Dimitrivich. Awesome wind storm came through yesterday and we had awesome homemade pizza courtesy of Tanya. God’s been teaching me patience. Wishing I could help out more here – everyone is so nice!

Yesterday (Sunday), was another good day here. I’m really enjoying myself. Church was a lot like Grand Ronde, small, and even did a few of the same songs. Davida interpreted the sermon from his wife. Sergei and Rema gave us all gifts. We got some nice looking Russian spoons. It was a very humbling experience. It’s one thing to give, but takes humilty to accept gifts from others. The people of the church were very nice and seemed excited we were there. One of the things I’m enjoying most is the people. Cinda, Dasha, diana, Olga, Tanya and Davida are all wonderful people. Then today, we met Tasha, Lena, and a few others. I hope we can keep in touch somehow. All such wonderful people!

Had a fun (depending on how you look at it ) trip to the market..Started off getting stuck in the mall parking lot in the van. Even though we fit under the bar (which shows how tall your car can be to go into the garage) somehow the bar must have been off. We got stuck in a small quadrant of the garage, and the only way out was to scrape against the bars and drive out. Poor Davida(who was driving), just said “This is not my day”. We made it to the market, and clipped the side of the van on the gate going in. “Unbelievable” says Davida…”This is definitely not my day”. Diana and Dasha helped us shop and saved us a lot of money. We ended up paying much less than some of the others which was fun

Went back to the church to sort out the items we had brought over to meet some of the needs of the people. We brought:
- School supplies: these will be going to Armenia for kids or underprivileged children in Moscow
- Clothes: to the orphanage or second hand store
- Medicines: free health clinics

We had to say some goodbyes to people, like Tasha which was hard, even though we’d just met earlier that morning. Amazing how God can bring people together in a short amount of time!

Back to today(Monday) – worked all day. Had a wonderful conversation with Cinda about being a missionary, God, friendship, and just about anything else as we worked on painting together. Had fun learning Russian, and teaching a little english to Dasha. My heart goes out to her as well..she’s like another sister and her situation sounds rough..I wish we could help somehow.