Krasnodar

:: Privet! ::

To you dear reader: I cannot express how much I have missed thee.
I simply do not possess enough time or energy to have written updates
these past few weeks.

Today was a crazy-no-sleep-airport-coffee-costs-how-much-i'm-still-sick-
blin-what-time-is-dinner-what-about-this-problem
kind of day.

I've been pretty sick since Sunday night. Pretty nasty cold with a high fever and sore thoat. Feeling much improved today, but not nearly 100%.

We had Alpha weekend at this sweet Dacha last weekend, it was so much fun!
They had an American pool table there, imported and everything (yes, Russian billiards are different). So, we had a good time playing fun group games including a new version of Mafia that I had never played before. It involved running around the dark house until you found a dead body, then yelling out that you found the body and having the constable come in from a different room to examine where everyone is and ask questions. The Mafioso were mixed in with the regular guys, but they would whisper in someones ear "you're dead," then, that person simply squats where they died after a short delay. Then, play continues until someone finds the body. The Mafia can kill as many people in one round as they desire, They actually win by being the last one alive. It was fun, but, the place you are in must be pretty dark for it to work right. We had some good discussion with the kids that came, ate together, and everyone got a good schooling in American Pool. (Of course, there were some... "house rules" that the Russians believed were real rules that they wouldn't budge on. I actually lost a match because I didn't understand the rules regarding the eight ball that they had put in place. They graciously allowed the match to continue when I expressed my misunderstanding... and I ended up winning on an amazing end to end bank shot.)

We left bright and early, 5am to be exact, this morning for Krasnodar (1300 km from Moscow to the South), we are hosting a cross cultural worker training seminar here similar to the one all IT USA workers go through before going to the field. Tomorrow at 9am starts the madness of 12 hour days of lectures... The schedule is quite... hopefull at best. Its full. 9 to 9, 45 minutes at a time, with 45 minutes for lunch, and 40 minutes for dinner. The advance team (like that military jargon) got here with me at 10am this morning. We quickly got settled and got a tour of the seminary we are using to house students, professors, and our team. We have been trying to iron out logistical details most of the afternoon after lunch. Tonight we still need to set a few things up in the conference hall, and get some materials prepped for the students.

We are blessed enough to have joining us here David Schroeder, President of IT USA; and Gani Sison, the President of IT Philippians. The next wave of teammates arrives tonight at 1am, and over the next week all sorts of people who are teaching will be coming and going.

I feel very lucky to have experienced so much of Western Russia during my time here. I have been to a number of cities, and have loved them all. I take that back... I did not dislike Ruza... :) But, I can't say I loved it either. So far, my favorite Orthodox Church outside of Moscow was in Voronezh.

I'm still praying for guidance in regards to what I should be doing in January. I feel torn between two paths right now... I need to make a decision soon, but I haven't even fleshed out what each one would look like. They both are exciting and worthwhile in the their own way.

More about that later. Frou Frou soothes my tired mind, and I think I am gonna catch a bit of sleep before dinner.

As I am writing this offline... I will post it when I get a chance.

Really written: 5:52pm 23 November 2006.

Tagged: Thoughts, The Road