One I will miss

At camp there was an 8-yr-old named Angelica. I’m not going to lie, she was a little obnoxious. But for some reason she made an impression on me.

She always showed up and followed us around. It didn’t matter which group we were supposed to be meeting with, she was there. But she was always interested in an activity other than the one we were offering. If we were singing, she wanted to draw. If we were playing Frisbee, she was asking for the Uno cards. And she wasn’t going to take No for an answer.

When we did face-painting, she always wanted to be a cat. And we had conversations consisting entirely of “meows.”

The day before the session ended was a stressful one, especially for the younger kids. Everyone had to pack up all their things and put them somewhere. Even those who were staying for another session had to do this, as they were being moved to other groups.

We comforted many a child who came to us sobbing about his/her friends leaving, or about not receiving a present, or another such matter.

I was supervising the crafts table alone when I heard the sound of sobbing coming from outside. I turned to see Angelica coming towards me, crying hysterically, and with a stream of blood running down her chin. Uh-oh. Where had an innocent ping-pong match gone wrong? As far as I could understand, it was something with her tooth. I started asking the other kids if the infirmary was open. Just then, a passing counselor stopped, took a look, and said, “Oh, you’re just losing a baby tooth. Go rinse your mouth out.” Whew. Once we did some rinsing, Angelica was still convinced she was dying, so I escorted her to her counselor, who would deal with it further.

The next day, as she left to go home, Angelica was all smiles, minus one tooth.

And then as we got to know the new kids, I realized that I missed a certain 8-yr-old very much!

Christian music retro

Recently I was in a Christian bookstore off of Nevskii and on impulse bought an old Amy Grant cassette. This was partly because it had one of my favorite songs on it, "Old Man's Rubble."

Although Amy's career got a little murky later on, I love these older lyrics of hers, and I much prefer them to contemporary Christian music's more cryptic lyrics (which, while edifying, are not always straight-forward about the Gospel and about which god they are supposed to be portraying).

I like how she puts simple biblical truths to music and asks questions that are convicting to believers. Sometimes I need that more than singing the same two words about God over and over and wondering if I actually mean them.


Are you living in an old man's rubble,
Are you listening to the father of lies?



Are you walking with unnecessary burdens,
Are you trying to take them upon yourself?
If you are, then you're living in bondage,
And you know that's bad for your spiritual health.

And are you trying to live by your emotions,
Are you putting your faith in what you feel and see?
Then you're living just to satisfy your passions,
And you better be careful 'cause you're being deceived.

Are you living in an old man's rubble,
Are you listening to the father of lies?
If you are then you're headed for trouble;
If you listen too long you'll eventually die.

Are you living in an old man's rubble,
Are you listening to the father of lies?
If you are then you're headed for trouble;
If you listen too long you'll eventually die.

Are you puzzled by the way that you're behaving,
Do you wonder why you do the things you do?
And are you troubled by your lack of resistance,
Do you feel that something's got a hold on you?

Well deep within you, there's a spiritual battle;
There's a voice of the darkness and a voice of the light.
And just by listening, you have made a decision,
'Cause the voice you hear is gonna win the fight.

Are you living in an old man's rubble,
Are you listening to the father of lies?
If you are then you're headed for trouble;
If you listen too long you'll eventually die.

If you're living as a new creation,
If you're listening to the Father of Light,
Then you're living in a mighty fortress,
And you're gonna be clothed in power and might.

But are you living in an old man's rubble,
Are you listening to the father of lies?
If you are then you're headed for trouble;
If you listen too long you'll eventually die.

If you're living as a new creation,
If you're listening to the Father of Light,
Then you're living in a mighty fortress,
And you're gonna be clothed in power and might.

Terms of Endearment, continued

Dear Disappointed Reader who got to my blog by searching for "Terms of Endearment in Russian" (as evidenced by my stat counter),

I'm sorry if you didn't find what you were looking for. If you're planning on finding yourself a Russian bride, I hope that your intentions are honorable. I also hope that you learn a little more Russian than "terms of endearment," so that you will be able to communicate with her Mamochka and Papochka and Babulya.

I'm sorry if you're a linguist and were hoping to find a treatise on the richness of the Russian language. Although I majored in Russian Studies, I'm far too engrossed in trying to perfect my everyday survival Russian to meditate on the wonders of this Slavic tongue. I also teach English, so unfortunately a number of my posts focus more on my own native language and how to make it accessible to Russians.

If you're still interested, welcome to my blog!

That is all.

Going to camp soon

On Sunday I'll be going to camp for two weeks with a team from my church in Massachusetts. The camp is called Uni stroitel ("young builder"), and I've been there once before. We traditionally visit a different camp. If you look in the "camp" labels in my sidebar, you can read more about the history of our visits.

Here's a photo from the last time I was at Uni Stroitel, three (I think) years ago. The girls on the far right were sisters, working in the camp kitchen. They're in college now and I keep touch with them via one of the social networks online. Some of the other kids in the photo are from two orphanages that I visit.

I'm hoping I will see some familiar faces this time!