Rostov English Camp 07 Photos
Kolomenskoye Park Photos
Maslenitsa Photos
Moscow English Camp 07 Photos
Poland Hiking Photos
Summer English Camp 07 Photos (Poland) and Kiev, Ukraine
The rats got a brand new home!!! It is much larger than their old home. It took them a couple days to get used to it, but now they love it! They have more room to run and play. We also don't have to clean it as often.

February 5, Dasha taught us how to create a Siberian food called Pelmini. It is like a ravioli with sausage mixture in it. You boil it in chicken broth and eat it with sour cream.	Click here to view the page of photos.

February 16 - Maslenitsa Celebration at IKS.	Click here to view the page of photos.


February 23 - Birthday Celebrations	Click here to view the page of photos.


Friday Club Meetings	Click here to view the page of photos.


New Year's Eve Celebration Katuyah M.'s house.	Click here to view the page of photos.

Anya & Marina have been translators for English camps over the years. Marina is one of my roommates for five months. Now we are close friends who enjoy a weekly Bible study together.
My friend Julia who is a translator for English Camps.
John (JG) Porwoll- Director of Student Venture Russia.
Kyle and Irina after their engagement. They celebrated their one year anniversary in early December. Kyle and Irina are both on staff. Irina is currently the only Russian on staff. She was also the only female on staff before I arrived. Now we have been joined by Mandi so there are three of us! :-)
After safely arriving, I was pleased to find my new apartment is on the first floor of a 9 story building. :-) This is the entry way. The bathroom and dining room are to the right in this picture.
The bathroom doubles as the laundry room where the washer is also the dryer. We are totally into space conservation around here. Sofas become beds and trunks double as coffee and end tables for added storage space.
The dining room is nice and cozy. There is also a little sofa in this room that can become a bed if needed.
Aahhh...our kitchen. :-) I've finally figured out how to cook in our gas oven with no thermostat that you have to light before you can use it. The trick is to turn in on early, let it heat to the temperature you need, then adjust the flame to keep it at that temperature for the time you will be cooking. Then, turn what you are baking halfway through so it bakes evenly. ;-) Not much space to store things, so that means frequent trips to the grocery are a necessity. Thankfully, we are blessed with a great little grocery across the street from our apartment that has nearly everything we could need. I have learned enough Russian to get most anything I need there. They even have a meat counter now! It is very convenient and I am so thankful that the workers are patient with me most of the time.
This is the view of our living room from the bedroom doorway. This is where Addie sleeps when she is home. she travels a lot for her mission work with Mission Possible.
This is the view looking toward the bedroom. Anya and I sleep in the bedroom. There is a balcony off our room that we use for storage. I sleep on the top bunk which is referred to as "the top floor" by most Russians. ;-)
Yes....(you can click on the photo for a larger view)....those really are rats. Not my choice of pet really, but we get along rather fine. The white one (Josy) likes to sit on your shoulder. Chucha isn't nearly as social, but we have become friends. She knows me enough now that she will pick to come to me over a stranger. Anya calls them the Princess rats: Chuchanila and Jozifina.