As I was out walking the other day I thought about how some of the sights I see daily seem so normal now, like this little trailer in an alley where people go to buy bread.
Or these huge Lenin statues that are everywhere.................
Or people wearing so many clothes that you can hardly see their faces.
This is a typical look for me now; hat, gloves, scarf, boots, and plastic bag, with my purse hanging over my shoulder (not too attractive I know). However it's not too bad if everyone looks like this right?
All the apartment buildings that have large black garbage containers out in front and sometimes a triangular cage that holds the recycled bottles and cans. Or the small groups of old ladies who shovel the walkways.
As I was going to get my hair done the other day I was thinking about how much our lives have changed. We have gotten use to so many things that felt so strange when we first arrived.
Sometimes we see some pretty strange things. Yesterday when I was walking with the Sisters on our way to Anya's house I saw an old lady walking with a sign around her neck carrying a little plastic cup. Sister Ellison and I talked about it for a minute. She said, it really wasn't an unusual sight for her to see. I have often seen older women standing somewhere on a corner with a little plastic cup in their hands but never have I seen someone with a sign hanging around their neck. Especially a little old woman.
It makes me sad.
In some ways the sights we see are very similar to what we see at home like graffiti written on walls, or teenagers standing on the street corners. But some things I will never get use to. I have gotten use to shoving my way into the crowded marshruka, and using my very broken Russian to ask the bus driver to let me off at my stop. Sometimes when we speak the driver will slowly look back to see who that strange language is coming out of. It is no longer strange to see small groups of homeless dogs wandering the streets. Last night Bruce and I were walking to the Church to teach our Strengthening Marriage Class. It was dark, and cold out. There were small groups of men standing around drinking beers that we passed when we got off the bus. We maneuvered the dark streets trying to avoid the muddy puddles that laid beneath the surface of the snow. We were both carrying bags that contained our lesson materials and other things we may need like our umbrella and scarves and hats on the cold walk home. As we approached the church I mentioned to Bruce, "we probably wouldn't have imagined we would be doing this when we first arrived here". The strange thing was it just felt so normal.
It's hard to explain the adjustment we have made. Living in a new Country is an incredible experience. There are so many things that are so different from what we are use to. For instance, it took 3 or 4 weeks to finally get someone to come fix our Internet and it is still randomly shutting off. When we asked the guy what we owed him, he said, "there is no charge, but you can give me something if you'd like", (at least that is the translation we were given). When we go to the Pharmacy it seems we can only buy one item at a time. Bruce uses a special cream on his skin but they will only give him one tube at a time. Sometimes we see something new at the grocery store that we like and are so excited that they are finally carrying this item but then when we come back we never see it on the shelf again. You are never allowed to carry anything into a grocery store except your purse. There is a guard you watches closely and he will stop you if you try to get in with anything else. They have a little place where you have to check your things and get a little number. You can not ever go pass the check out stand to get out if you haven't purchased anything. The guard will stop you and make you go out the approved exit.
In many shops that are like office supply stores or electronic stores when you buy something they give you a little written check that you must take to another counter to pay, then you take your receipt and go back and get the item and take it to another counter where they plug it in and make sure it works because NOTHING CAN BE RETURNED. EVER.
People carry plastic bags everywhere. They sell them in the Reenik. They don't really carry tote bags or backpacks, just recycled plastic bags. We now have our own supply of plastic bags we carry our umbrellas in, our hats, and scarves and anything else we may need for the day.
One of the things that was really distressing to us is that we will not be able to do our Puppet Shows in the schools. It seems it is against the law for any church to go into the schools except the Provaslavic Church.
I am not complaining, I am just saying.......................
Life is certainly different living in a foreign country
We took the Health Fair to an orphanage. It was really fun to see the children's faces just light up. Elders Kerr and Fedotov did such a great job. Olga introduced the Puppet Show and then she talked to the children in between each scene. She would ask them questions about what they saw and what they learned. She did so good. They performed 3 separate skits. The first was on eating a well balanced diet of foods that are good for you. The characters are 1)Vitamin and Mineral, 2) Carbohydrate, and 3)Protein who is a big guy with muscles. The second and third plays are about the importance of washing your hands and food so you don't get sick. There are two cute puppets that are germs(fluffy pink and yellow guys) who can make you sick if you don't wash your hands. After the play we had the children talk to the characters (puppets) and when the girl puppet came on the stage with the germ puppets the children started yelling, "look out, get away from him" It was really cute. The missionaries had so much fun. These pictures with Elder Kerr are the children approaching him after the show to talk to the puppet. It was so fun to watch. He couldn't believe how captivated they were and how they spoke directly to the puppet. One of the teachers tried to speak to me and when I told her I didn't speak Russian she left but a few minutes later she came back with a small group of little girls who wanted to speak English to me. It was so sweet. They told me their names and one of them said, "I love you." Today was a great day. Our next show is Saturday at another Orphanage. We will be going with the Young Adults who made toys during their all night New Years Eve Ball to donate to the children. We will be delivering the toys and some homemade hats that someone from America sent. 
