From Paul:

Priviet (sounds like preeviet), (Preevietstuyu is a more formal adult Christian hello),

Yesterday was a partial day off for us. Most of us finally got a good night's rest. After a late breakfast we walked around Tambov with our two interpreters/guides. Anya and Misha. They are both in their early twenties but understand our language and culture very well.

When I asked how they learned it so well (they do not have teachers from America or England in their schools), they said that they read a lot of our books and watch our movies. I think that they need a little more help though as they seemed somewhat confused as I quoted some lines from The Princess Bride. Either that or they thought I was a doobdoobum (wooden head). We shopped in a few stores and visited a museum. At the museum the Americans were spending too much time laughing. We had a few frowns from the staff.

Today was a full day with day camp from 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM with prep beforehand and meetings afterward. The original plan was for us to do crafts and games in the early afternoon and then take the kids to the zoo in the late afternoon. However, during lunch, after games/crafts, we were told that we would go to the zoo tomorrow and that we would have 3 one half hour sessions teaching english as the 3 age groups rotated through. We hadn't really planned for an extra hour and a half of activity. We have found that a schedule here is more like a quideline and it can be very fluid. (Not like our more rigid planned out VBS days). Fortunately, we have so far been able to adapt quickly. We used pictionary and charades to have the children act out common nouns and a few actions and would then have them repeat them in English once they quessed them. They really have trouble with our 'r's and try to roll them on the end of their tongue.

Today we mostly used AWANA games for the sports time. We bought some makeshift supplies at a local toy store and a small plumbing store in the public market. Their play area though is a little rough as it is the parking lot which is a mix of sand and pavement. So far the kids are pretty stout without any injuries.


After dinner we walked to the local grocery store (similar to our Winco) and bought a couple of items. Anya helped me buy a couple of snacks which Jeff and I seemed to be the only ones to really appreciate. The bag of what I thought would be something like potato chips was actually toasted bread much like flavored croutons. Bear couldn't get past the flavor of the black caviar and politely refused a second try at it. We convinced him that the red caviar flavored crouton-like things were much better (and they were, a much milder flavor with almost a buttered popcorn like taste) however Bear's piece of this delicacy ended up in much the same place as the first... Waiting for a bird to come by to enjoy. Although this one involved a little more spitting trying to get the taste out of his mouth. No matter how hard we tried we could not convince him to try the flan-like sweet cheese dessert thingy. Jeff and I thought that it was pretty good as well but we couldn't seem to find any takers to share with. Tomorrow we will tackle a couple of varieties of herring with an admonition about the importance of sharing all things in Christ.

Seriously, this has been a great time of growth and love for both our team and and the Tambov and Murchansk teams. I am sure that as we continue to labor together for Christ that He will continue to turn the hearts of these children to Him and grow our love for each other deeper as well.