Oh what a difference......

Just a few days, weeks or months can make. I was reading my journal entries from when I first got here and I am in such a different place. Life is still hard but God is greater and I am closer to Him than I was and He is still blessing me by allowing me to draw closer and hear Him more. :-) I met an awesome guy who just so happens to be Canadian. It is wonderful being able to speak the same language. But besides the mushy girl talk, I will not bore you with all those details. I only have 4 weeks and I am just getting settled into life here. Here are some mini-adventures for ya.......

My outdoor key was broken and we do not have a intercom/phone in our apartment to call to let us in. Well, there are times when I am walking home alone and that means I have to call some random persons apartment and ask them to open the door for me. By this point, I am decent in communication. I, of course, can understand soooo much more and sometimes even answer people in English be/c I know what they are saying. I digress..... The apartment door. I found one number where the lady was nice enough to let me in, when she was home. When she was not home well, I had to wait for someone going in or out. Not so fun in the snot freezing cold. We eventually got new keys but didn't know a guy had to meet us at the apartment to put the code on, it's an electronic key. Again, I am calling and waiting. This went on for 2 or 3 weeks. We finally get an appointment to meet the guy but he wasn't there when we got there and yet again, we had to call. Luckily this was after church one night and I didn't have to wait by myself. We called so many people. One lady was so angry with us she was yelling at us through the intercom and she said she was tired of opening the door for us and she was going to "give it to us" when we got off the elevator. She lives across the hall from us and you know what, she was out in the hall waiting for us. She was actually changing a light bulb but the instand we got out of the elevator she started in on us. I didn't really catch all of what she was saying but there was three of us and one of her so, I think she decided against "giving it to us" and just stuck to yelling. :-) That next morning the man came and I haven't had to call anyone since.

Last Sunday, my roommate gave her key to a girl that stays with us sometimes. Well, this girl didn't know we don't lock both locks on the door. I don't have a key for the second lock and I got home around 10 and no one was home, and no one but me was coming home. I waited in the hall way an hour until Ilya found the extra key to come let me in. I think I may have even fell asleep sitting on the stairs. He came with one of his neighbors just in case it wasn't actually the lock and we had to do something else. Well, it turns out that this man just had a birthday and was having the Bantseev family over for cake. Since he was there, he invited me to and I couldn't say no even though it was 11 and all I wanted to do was just be in the apartment. So, I went. We were trying to leave around 12:30 when someone knocked on their door. It was one of the guys from the church who happens to be a cab drivers. Well, his car got stolen from him that night from the police! He has a twin brother who is always owing people money and he owed the police some. Since they look just alike the wrong one got beat up and gets that quite a bit. So, there was a little more drama that night. I finally made it home a little after 1. Oh man, there are some crazy times here and then there are the times I sit at home all night and ponder the meaning of life. hahahaha

Today, I did not go to the drug district be/c there wasn't going to be anyone to translate for me. But last week, the couple that we talked to came to the service and both of them were drunk. The guy had the thickest, scariest scars all over his arms and he was broken on the inside. He told us he tried drugs before but just drinks now. Apparently his mom is dying of cancer and he drinks be/c he doesn't know how to handle it. And when these people drink here, THEY DRINK. Friday around 3 in the afternoon, I saw 2 men out the window who could barely stand up. They were talking on the phone and trying to hold each other up. It is so amazing that people can still function in that state. It is a blessing in disguise that they pass out so they will stop drinking. There are a lot of deaths here from people passing out in the snow and freezing. The youth pastor's mom died that way. One of the church members doesn't have hands be/c he fell in the snow drunk. I can't imagine having frostbite. There were several days here that were below -30, even -41 one day, and my hands hurt so bad! Honestly, I can't believe I am living in such a cold place. Crazy.

Well, I am sure there are things I am forgetting but I figure this is long enough to keep you entertained for just a bit. :-)