Update #1

Hello there!

It took longer than we thought to get this blog updated. For that, we apologize. Life has been very busy. We were training for several days, and the training took all day. For those of us who were local to Grand Rapids, training was especially demanding. We still had to take care of many things that those who had come from a long ways away had long finished and forgotten.

Training was good though. It was nice to see face-to-face the people who had made many arrangements for us and who were working for us. We were surrounded with other kids who were going to other different corners of the world. It was neat. Unfortunately, many of us did not get much sleep at night! During the day we had devotions individually, then went and had language training with someone who had spent many years in the field where we were traveling. Then we would come back for an "ethnic" lunch--there was some curry and I handled it well ; )

The Russia team was the first to fly of the 5 different teams, and our trek was a long one. We flew from Grand Rapids to Detroit, then from Detroit to JFK International (New York; this is the airport where The Terminal was filmed, we think). We spent many hours there, about 9. We had some trouble at the British Airways desk finding Mandy's bag and getting it to the right airplane.

After that was settled, we split into two groups: one to camp out in the terminal, the other to explore Manhattan. It turns out that it was the Canadians who wanted to see NY the most. They had some adventures on the NY subway and visited the WTC site. Very cool.

We waited for that flight for and hour and a half extra; it was late taking off. That was a long flight, but the treatment on that 747 was amazing. British Airways knows how to do it. They still don't have tall enough seats for my big dutch self to sleep without dislocating my neck, so I stayed up the whole trip long.

In London we were rushed, and had a special escort of two yellow-vested B.A. employees taking us to the next gate. We were the last ones on the plane. That flight was a short one of only 4 or 5 hours ; )

We exited the airplane, and immediately realized, "It's different here." There were a few soldiers in bold green uniforms and ties, and with the tall Russian style officer cap. The faces were wider and less pleasant. The colors of the airport were more earthy and dark.

We made our way to customs, being aided by a nice young man who was bi-lingual and visiting his fiancée. We stood in line, looking obviously like foreigners. We each took our turn looking an officer in the face while they took their time to make us sweat, but each of us got our stamp and made it through.

None of our baggage was through yet, so we waited. And waited. And waited. Then we realized that we had a problem. A few of the clerks knew English, and we followed their instructions to go through the final checkpoint and go to lost and found. Gary was there beyond that checkpoint and he worked things out with the clerks who worked in lost and found. Gary is a nice, goal-oriented guy, by the way.

We drove to a Russian magazine (that means "store") to buy some sleeping bags. That was quite an experience. We were all dead tired too. During the ride, if I even blinked, I would fall asleep. I had been up for 30 hours.

We finally got to where we were staying, which is a house owned by a Christian school director and which is very nice actually, and ate, and hit the sack. We were out.

Then today we took our first trip into the city. We took the metro. That was neat. The metro's are very deep, since they were built to double as bomb (nuclear bomb, that is) shelters. People in Russia dress much differently. The guys wear tighter clothes and collared shirts without undershirt, mostly open. Many of the girls are dressed as if they were going clubbing. And this was on the metro! There were not many smiles either.

The destination of our trip was to the Christian school where we were going to do our first work project. It was pretty cool. There are only about 200 students, and many of them are MK's (missionary kids). Still, many are Russian kids who don't have Christian parents. For that, this school is very good. One thing about Russia is that many of the fathers are absent. They are either dead, alcoholics, or working 24/7 to pay the bills. Brian and I were specially admonished at training by Natashia Buscher to invest in the kids. The girls of course also have much to offer.

After scoping out the school, we split up. Gary and I (I was chosen for my pack-mule traits) went back to the airport to retrieve whatever bags we could, and the rest got dinner going. Gary and I rode the metro partway and then came up to the street level to ride a bus. We opted instead to hitch a ride. Gary walked up to the street and stuck out his hand. After a minute a man driving a normal looking car drove up. Gary negotiated a price and we hopped in. In Russia, anyone with a car and who wants to make some money can be flagged down. The price was reasonable, only 2 bucks American. The car had a plastic (cheap) panel of icons on the dashboard. In Eastern Orthodoxy, icons are quite prevalent. Icons are pictures of Christ, Mary, and the saints. The Russians are superstitious people, so I couldn't be sure if this driver was a believer or not.

We got to the airport and that episode began. There was a dispute between Gary and one of the older female clerks over a certain form that we had supposedly not filled out the day before. Bribing is a big deal in Russia, when Gary and I were aside, he told me this was common. I said we could wait them out. He said, "That's right." We did, and we eventually got nine of our eleven bags. The other two are still missing. They belong to Brian and Kelly.

Gary had called a driver who worked for one of the schools to meet us. We stuffed his car with he large bags, and I sat there with him alone for a good twenty minutes while Gary went back inside to argue about the other two bags. I tried some Russian. He motioned that it was hot, pulling his shirt collar up and down. I did the same. Later on, he asked me if I was from California. I said "Da" and did the same motion indicating "hot." We both laughed. He had a button near his head which said in English, "The Lord is my shepherd." I pointed to that, and read it in English. I took it off the wall, held it in his hands, said something, and contemplated for a little while.

Gary came and we drove home. Kelly and Brian are upset, which is understandable. We had dinner, had a short meeting, and went to bed. I'm typing this on my PDA with a foldable keyboard, to be cut and pasted next time we get a chance. Communication will be spotty for the next while.

The Lord is our shepherd. Please remember us here in Russia. Please pray that our bags are found. Please also pray that we remember that we are representing someone of great importance. We are here because our shepherd has led us, for one reason or another. Please also pray that we are not so homesick. You know who I'm missing. Pray that the people who miss us hold us in their prayers and have joy in our current mission.

Addition:

Today we got up early to go to the school and get to work. We were a little late, and Gary accidentally took a longer than usual route on the metro. We got there and got to work. It was raining, and some of the teachers and students were already outside, shovels in hand. We were shoveling away loose asphalt to make way for a knew stone path. We worked and worked. I was a wheelbarrel guy, the others were shovelers and rakers. The rain eventually stopped, which made everyone happy. We were happy to finally be doing some actual work, although we were initially shocked by its intensity from the getgo.

Eventually, lunch time came. Russians eat late, at about 1 or 2. We had soup and noodles and as much loose tea as we could drink. Russians are tea drinkers. I also tried a special dish which was cold and jelly like, but also had bits of pork in it. Truthfully, it was kind of gross. But hey, it's a good thing to be adventureous. We also had some good conversation and made better friends with Sam, a jack-of-all-trades missionary who is attached to that school. We also had some contact with Russians: the doorkeeper, one teacher, the schoolmaster. The schoolmaster was a rather "particular" lady. She wanted things a certain way, and even came out and showed us how to rake up the stones. Gary and Sam rolled their eyes a little bit. It's a Russian thing to make a big deal sometimes. Not that people don't do that in America, so perhaps I was unfair just now.

We finished lunch and worked outside for a few hours. We were running out of energy. Sam(antha) was up last night from 1am to 5am due to jet lag. She was a little bit giggly today ; )

When we were finally finished with a good day of hard work, we headed home. We called and found that the remaining two bags were waiting for us at the airport. Very good news.

We are home finally, and we had some spare time, so I thought I'd update this first blog entry. We are waiting for Gary and Brian and Kelly to bring back the bags from the airport.

We miss you all back home.

Peace and love,
Ryan on behalf of the Russia team.