Here's a short little article I found on BBC.com http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5167784.stm

We have regular access to the internet now, not where we live but where we'll be doing the camp--one computer that is.

Stay tuned.

Hello there!

Firstly, here’s a sincere apology for not updating sooner. We are staying at a church in a town called Tambov, which is south east of Moscow. You should look it up on a map. It is much smaller, and less intimidating, Moscow. There is a computer connected to the internet here, but the connection is dial-up, and when we do get a chance to get on, most of us frantically try to send emails to loved ones. The computer is not very reliable; it’s already “disappeared” some longer email drafts.

But we’re here in Tambov, and all is well. We’re staying at this church, like I said. The church is an evangelical church, which is an oddity in Russia. The church is putting on a camp for kids, and we’re helping out. Mostly I think we provide entertainment for the kids. We ride a bus to the camp every day (we’re not allowed to stay overnight because the camp fails fire regulations). We’re at the camp from about 10am until 8pm. During that time we help the kids develop skits for the evening meeting, with the aid of translators, thankfully. We also help with sports. Two days ago we taught the kids baseball. It’s weird for us to watch kids, especially 15 and 16 year old boys try to catch a ball with a glove on—it’s completely foreign to them. At the same time, however, every 13 year old can dribble a soccer ball like nobody’s business. Besides structured things, we spend a lot of time with the kids, and especially the little ones like to climb all over us. They especially like it when we try Russian on them: “Ya ne gavaroo pa ROOsky” (I don’t speak Russian!)

We’ve been here since June 30, and on Wednesday we’re leaving to go back to Moscow. There, we will take on more responsibility and be teaching an ESL (English as a second language) camp at the Moscow Christian Library that Gary talks about on his website. We will be staying at an apartment 2 metro stops away. We should have some free time there, since the kids go home in the middle of the afternoon. Hopefully we’ll see some cool things in Moscow! We should also have better access to phones and the internet. We’re sort of dependent on the church for these things, and using the phone to call home is expensive. It will get cheaper and easier when we’re in Moscow.

We love you all and miss you desperately. Personally, I am greatly looking forward to seeing my friends and family when I get back. Lou and Hannah will have been married. I’ll be home just in time to see Jason and Jo get married. Jerm and Jackie are engaged. Life has been going on and on since I left; I’m ready to get back into things! I am SUPER excited to see my family in August. And of course I want to see someone in particular.

Peace,
Ryan Schreiber on behalf of the Russia Team