Hello everyone!
I'm sorry for the delay, but since I'm in a bit of a pattern, "bloggable moments" are a bit further apart than they were during my first months. That's not to say things aren't a blast over here. It's hard to believe I've been in St. Petersburg for three months already! It really does not seem like it's been that long. November has felt like the longest month so far, though. Maybe it's due to the fact that I'm participating in a Camp Babochka fundraiser, Movember. According to the rules, you can't shave above the lip for the whole month. Kurt is doing a full out "no shave November", and I have to say, you should see his beard. John also has an elegant stache. Even though I've been true to the game, no one can tell:). But I'm looking forward to getting rid of what's there.
By titling this post "fickle weather," I mean that the weather is so fickle that it's not fickle at all. Let me explain. I thought that by this point we'd be under 3 feet of snow and below zero for awhile now. Much to my surprise, it's still raining, and still in the low 40s. I always knew that the weather at home was crazy, but I've never realized how crazy. It's normal in Northwest Ohio to have a 15-20 degree difference between lows and highs, blizzards one day and tornadoes the next. In St. Petersburg this is most definitely not the case. All last week, the biggest gap between the high and low predictions was 4 degrees, and cloudiness was predicted every day. The darkness, however, is more than I expected. It's only November (so we have a whole month for days to get shorter), and the days are already ridiculously short. If I go to school at 11am, the sun is just rising. When I go home at 4:30, the sun is nearly gone. At 12 o'clock noon, my shadow stretches around 30 yards (if the sun is actually shining)!
I made a couple of neat purchases this month - with no help from a translator (this means there was a lot of charades)! At the metro station, I bought a monthly transportation pass from a cashier. I originally wanted a simple bus/tram pass, but somehow I ended up with an all-inclusive (rather expensive) pass that allowed me unlimited access to the metro, trolley-buses, trams, and autobuses. Although I spent more rubles than I'd planned, it has been an extremely handy card to have.
The second purchase I made was a haircut! After some telling signs that I needed a trim-up, (a strange dream where Kurt was my barber, John finding a great deal at a nearby salon the next morning, and of course seeing my shaggy self in the mirror...) I decided to make a go for it. I walked right into the salon (my first salon EVER by the way, thanks to Mom, aunts, neighbors, and cousins) and said я не говорю по-русски (I don't speak Russian)! That really seemed to stress out the girl at the desk, and though I'm sure she knew some English, she was too uncomfortable to try it out. It was funny that I felt like I was the one who was sure of myself, and the salon workers were flustered trying to help me. It was a small place with only one barber (the first male to cut my hair). It was fun to just sit there and watch as my hair began to look super Russian. I really liked it, and since my hair is already quite long again, I'll be going back soon.
Wednesday chapels keep getting better and better. The speakers are great, and the kids are so fun. My schedule is really picking up this week as the Christmas concert approaches. Again I will accompany several songs, and even have the privilege of directing and teaching the middle school choir a song! I am thrilled with this opportunity, and so far it's been a success. I love the people I work with at school, as well as those I don't work with as directly. Everyone has unique and insanely interesting stories. They've all been so many places!
Kurt and I always sing as we wash the nightly dishes, and one night we listened to the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?. John liked the sound of us singing "Down in the River to Pray," and convinced us to record ourselves singing it. So, if you would like to hear some good ole acapella singing, you can click the link below. Thanks so much for reading! Your prayers are truly felt and appreciated.
God Bless,
Caleb
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIKOAgRfzyM2TO1OaZC-xjA
