Recap of March 2009

OH MY GOSH! I can NOT believe I haven't posted a blog since March. Wow, I am a slacker. Or not, perhaps I didn't post because I was so busy working hard, teaching and studying harder =) Hahah. A little of that is true but mostly, I have been away because I have been loving a good

life!!!! That's right, loving life!

I figure the best way to update you is with bulletpoints & photos, so here goes. The highlights of the last 2 months in my world:

March 2009 - visited Kameshkovo Orphanage with our Friends of Kameshkovo team... We were a small team this year but we had a great time with the kids! The kids were surprised by my Russian, of course, it's not fluent but they understood me and I them. Of course, thankfully we had translators for the big things: like family time, lessons and games. But talking to the kids on my own was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I can't explain it unless you've experienced overcoming a language barrier. I have a long way to go but I'm up to it!

Kameshkovo Photos:

With Andrei, Alyosha and Maksim

The Red Family Group

Front L to R: Maksim & Mekhti; 2nd row: Alex, Valya, Alyosha and Yulia; Back row: Korvan, Veronika, Oksana, me, Katya

Our "Noah's Ark" Skit Group: Mekhti, Valya, Oksana & Alyosha
Alyosha, aka The Greatest Child Ever, was Noah... He and I created the ark =)

With The Greatest Child Ever, Alyosha

At the Nadezhda Fund with the Kameshkovo Grads

Again at the Fund with Lena (L) and Anya (R)

With the senior boys: Vanya, Andrei, Vitya, me, Sergei, Maks & Artyom

The end of our camp at Kameshkovo was sad because I don't know when I will visit again. I still don't have permission to visit on a regular basis. I have resolved to give up on pushing/trying for that because I have done everything I possibly could and nothing came of it. So it's in God's hands now.

Another reason it was sad, my host mom Manana, got very ill during this time and was hospitalized. She has a severe heart and blood pressure problem. She was in the hospital a very long time, nearly 3 weeks. She came home in mid April. Since she and I her husband gave me their master bedroom, they needed their space back so she could recover. So on April 24th, I moved into my own apartment. It was sad to leave my host family because I loved them as my own family. They are AWESOME! The saddest part was leaving her and having her cry and cry. I have visited them since and I try to call them at least once a week to say Hello. She still is not well, so please keep her in your prayers. She will be going to Moscow later this week for more tests.