White Nights 2009

I'm leaving for the States in a few days! But the weather in St. Petersburg has been just tantalizing lately. I suppose it is best to leave with pleasant impressions!

Here are a few photos I took around 10pm last night, after worship practice (okay, my friend took them).




I asked Vanya to capture some of the blue sky, and this was the result:

A Psalmist to sample

A few years ago, my mom introduced me to the music of Marty Goetz, a Messianic Jewish musician. His tunes are set to Psalms and other scriptural themes, and are quite pleasant and worshipful.

But what drew me in was watching his concert DVD. With some artists, what you get in concert isn't going to be much different from what you get on CD. But Goetz has a gift for storytelling and interacting with the audience. As he imparts knowledge about his Jewish heritage, it is clearly something he has not just memorized, but lived. I get choked up hearing him speak of holidays like Passover and Chanukah, and there is a reverance in his voice that testifies to his love for Yeshua.

Please note that I don't consider perfomance skills to be a mark of godliness. But if they are present, why not use them in ministry? God took a secular career and used it for His glory.

Check out Marty Goetz on YouTube, or buy the DVD, if you have the opportunity!

No more pencils, no more books...

My Russian visa expiration coincides with the end of the school year. The kids are feeling antsy and packing their bags for camp.

I was trying to plan a final lesson for the orphanage, and felt lethargic and uninspired all morning. I didn't want to embark on a "what are you doing this summer" kind of topic.

With an hour to go, I had a few ideas, and went off to the orphanage armed with a birthday snack, a board game for reviewing all the old material, craft supplies, and certificates for finishing the course.

Thankfully, I left the house in plenty of time. When I got to the train station, my train was leaving 13 minutes earlier than usual, and the next one was canceled. I was in time for the first one, and used the train ride to finish writing questions for the board game.

The kids were in the playroom watching MTV (or a Russian equivalent, I don't know what the channels are called). The boys were in there too, and they hadn't been coming to class, so I decided to scratch the review. The birthday girl was not there, so we enjoyed the snack without her.

I decided to get out the craft supplies. The girls had been asking me for earrings all the time, and I had recently reclaimed some belongings from the apartment where I used to live, including jewelry-making supplies. So I told them they could make some earrings if they wanted. They grabbed and whined, but stayed busy for close to an hour, so maybe that means they were happy?





The boys hung out for a little while, making bracelets and other manly things out of wire. Then the kids decided to start testing my limits and asking me to play with my cell phone.





This is me sternly saying no (for some reason I remind myself of my mother here):





I made myself walk slowly to the bus stop so I could enjoy the nice weather. These hand-painted signs are one of the distinct features that I notice in Russia. You see them in stores, forms of transportation, and parks like this one. It always gives me a sense of nostalgia as though I'm in school or living in another time.

It's a lovely little park.

Glad I didn't take the tram today...

...there were about 10-15 of them lined up on my street as far as the eye could see, waiting for some sort of maintenance (you can see 5 in this photo. Or maybe it's 3 since a couple of them have 2 sections).



When I left the house again about 20 minutes later, they were gone, as mysteriously as they had appeared....