Catching up on the news

Summer is here

Summer is in full swing now. This photo was taken a couple weeks ago. The grasses in the forest are a lot taller now. My favourite orange flame flowers (see the photo in the side column) are out now. We are now at the peak of the flower season, the forest is so full of colour.

The last week has seen a string of days with temperatures in the mid to high twenties. The last couple days have topped 30 degrees. So it is definitely Summer.

Our family is headed down to Kyrgyzstan for a conference. We will be staying by Lake Issyk (Issyk Kul), where the elevation is 1600m. So it will be a bit cooler there. It will also stay dark for longer at night so I am looking forward to the idea of more sleep. I find it hard to sleep as much in Summer when it is so light. (Dark at nearly 11 pm, fully light before 5 am.)  We will return home on June 20th. We really hope that our residency papers will be approved by then. Please pray for this process to go smoothly.

Footy has started

Since the end of April I have been running Aussie Rules Footy. It started with just me and a neighbour. The last few weeks we have had 7,8 and 5 come.  Yesterday a number of students could not come because they are starting their exams now. I hope to have three 9 a side teams running by the end of the Summer. You can read all about Krasnoyarsk Footy or "Avstrofutbol" here.

Our local library

One of the things I like about life in Russia is that there is often a rustic yesteryear feel to it. Our local library is a good example. No computer database for finding books here. We have taken advantage of the services a little bit to date. Abigail has attended some art classes, we have borrowed some Russian fairy tale books and also played a game of table tennis. (We could never fit a table in our own apartment!)

The library would probably also make a good location to hold an official meeting to found the Krasnoyarsk Australian Rules Football Club, and elect a president and secretary etc.

A "what the?" moment for you

Speaking of yesteryear, I was at a pharmacy in the city when I saw these leeches in a jar on the counter. What? Leeches? How far do I have to go to understanding this culture? Just when I think I am really starting to make sense of life and settle in. :)  

Multicultural festival

A few times a year there seems to be some sort of multicultural gathering here in Krasnoyarsk. The last one we made it to was a dance and music presentation from various ethnicities in the depth of Winter (minus 40 degrees). A couple weeks ago there was an indoor festival held on the top floor of one of the city's classy shopping centres. Various groups presented including our Sakha friends. They had some of their cultural food and presented a dance. The dance group is led by our friend Varya (in the close up picture). Varya is now the Vice-President of the Krasnoyarsk Sakha Students Association.

Story telling

We have been sharing various stories with out Sakha friends. So far we have shared:

1) The creation story of the garden, Adam and Eve.

2) The creation story of the heavens and earth and angels and everything in them.

3) The story of Adam and Eve in the garden.

4) The story of Cain and Abel.

5) The story of the ages following Cain and Abel, and the many things that happened in the pre-historic world.

6) The story of the fall of the angels from heaven, their taking of women as wives (Genesis 6), their war in heaven (Revelation 12), and the first angel who tempted them (Isaiah 14).

7) The story of Noah and the flood.

We have lots of interesting discussion and questions. We are enjoying the process and learning a lot ourselves. We have learnt a little of their ancient cultural stories which are very similar.