Lannguage Lesson

We get a scheduled knock on the door at 9:30 this morning from Anna, from the Sumy University. She speaks little enough English to tell us she was here to teach us Russian. No tea, no niceties-- she sat us down with a book and started going through vowels, consanants, first words, and everything in the instruction is to be in Russian. The word for listen sounds like she's saying "Slim Shady."

Before we left Kiev, we went to an apartment across the Dnieper River on the left bank to visit Howard Botterill of SEND International, a language trainging program. This is an intensive program for missionaries, special program for SEND missionaries, yet open to all. It is an intensive immersion language program, with a quarter of the language studies being Bible/teaching vocabulary and communication for a ministry context. They have been doing this for years and they have a program that is best for the missionary's work and sanity. Russian is a difficult language say all the experts. The training program begins in September and runs through May.

So, we're just learning some through our new found friend Anna.

They shoot fireworks indiscriminately here. You can buy them-- the big kinds.

Something different than USA-- there are people everywhere. You just see people walking about all the time.

We have done a lot of shopping trying to get housekeeping set up. I feel like a massive consumer, but when you are "living slower"-- as compared to back home, you just need stuff to make it through the day. You have to cook stuff, wash by hand, the television guy knocks on your door to ask for rent for the television (I guess it was the cable guy)-- life's just a little slower and a lot different. "But you can see a babushka in the market holding a dead chicken in one hand and a cell phone in the other" (quote credited to Tim Johnson)