I've spent the past week mulling over how best to share/express my experiences in Russia. I'm whatever that personality type is that causes people to sit back and only offer information when they're specifically asked for it*, so I was a bit at a loss when faced with the common prompt of "So, tell me about Russia!" Thankfully, I received a letter with some extremely needed questions that have initiated and helped me to order all of my thoughts about the trip. (Aside: my friends have been the best written correspondents ever this summer. I know I've always been a mail geek, but how 'bout all these penpals! Hats off to y'all.) As tough as it is to sum an entire month of living into a few paragraphs, here's my best take.
1. What was Russia like? It's been mentioned before that I love Russia, and really, I love Russia. The place is so singularly Russian. Nothing quite compares. Especially concerning Siberia, where we spent most of our time. With such a history of isolation and severity, everywhere you look there is evidence of struggle and hardship. And because of that you also see a strong, resilient people, immensely appreciative of all they have. It seemed to me that no possession, large or small, was being taken for granted. A big contrast from the culture we are all accustomed to. Also, God bless Russia for holding on strong to the socks and sandals trend. When will you learn, America?!
2. What exciting things happened? CAMP. True stories about Molly: I used to hate camps and camping with a burning passion. Then my camp switch was flipped sometime in middle school, and since then I just haven't been able to get enough. This camp was especially great because of the opportunities for relationship building. You can't spend all day every day with people without getting to know them pretty well - and this is true even if you can't speak the same language. Another exciting thing was just watching events unfold. We started this trip honestly having zero idea of where we would be working and who we would be working with and what we would actually be doing, but one by one elements of our itinerary started weaving together, obviously guided by God's hand.
3. Who were my favorite kids and why? Um, all of them because I love them. I'll spare myself the carpal tunnel and just report on a few. First, Daniil. I met him three years ago on my first trip to Russia, and he was a pretty constant figure in our group that trip. It was really special to see him again and reconnect. Then there's Denis, who stayed with our team for almost the entire three weeks we were in Siberia and became a part of our family. Lots of joy came from that crinkle-eyed grin. Sasha, Ilya, and Losha I'll group because they were the same age (around 11-13 years old) and from the same group of church kids on the camping trip. I could not take one step in any direction without having these three take hold of each hand and one wrist. I expected this from the younger kids for sure, but my experience with 11-13 year old American boys is that they'd sooner punch you in the stomach than hold your hand. While there was plenty of that every second of every day, I was taken aback by this painfully apparent yearning for maternal affection. (Sasha and Ilya, brothers, live with their dad since their mother passed away. I'm not sure about Losha's family other than it is either single-parent or has many children, or both.) Big Losha, who is really just Losha but we called him Big Losha amongst the Americansky's in order to distinguish him from the younger Losha, stole an extra special spot in my heart. This was a kid in desperate need of, initially unreceptive to, and ultimately transformed by love.
4. What did I learn about myself? The first time I was told that I was not an affectionate person I got super offended because don't you know that I'm, like, the best at everything? Then I got over myself because, hello, if you're around me for two seconds you know that I'm not an affectionate person. Anyway, this happened years ago and is not what I learned about myself on this trip. What I learned about myself on this trip is that, until now, I have never actually been outside of my comfort zone. Yeah, I've been uncomfortable having to make new friends or talk on the phone to strangers or give presentations or whatever, but I think that you can be uncomfortable even in your comfort zone. Leading to...
5. How did I grow? When you live with 20 attention starved orphans for over a week you get nonstop hugs and held hands and back massages and pulled arms and laps sat in. You get yanked out of your distance keeping comfort zone into a whirlwind of affection. And not only are you receiving lots of affection, you're giving it out since you really have no other means of communication. And you realize that a lot of people, in fact most people, respond to the love language of physical touch even if it sometimes makes you cringe. And you think that for the 21 years you've been asking "why can't they just try a little harder to understand I don't like to be touched?" you should have been trying a little harder to understand that they do.
And now to put some faces to names:
*this is a personality type, right? Not just a bad conversationalist?
1. What was Russia like? It's been mentioned before that I love Russia, and really, I love Russia. The place is so singularly Russian. Nothing quite compares. Especially concerning Siberia, where we spent most of our time. With such a history of isolation and severity, everywhere you look there is evidence of struggle and hardship. And because of that you also see a strong, resilient people, immensely appreciative of all they have. It seemed to me that no possession, large or small, was being taken for granted. A big contrast from the culture we are all accustomed to. Also, God bless Russia for holding on strong to the socks and sandals trend. When will you learn, America?!
2. What exciting things happened? CAMP. True stories about Molly: I used to hate camps and camping with a burning passion. Then my camp switch was flipped sometime in middle school, and since then I just haven't been able to get enough. This camp was especially great because of the opportunities for relationship building. You can't spend all day every day with people without getting to know them pretty well - and this is true even if you can't speak the same language. Another exciting thing was just watching events unfold. We started this trip honestly having zero idea of where we would be working and who we would be working with and what we would actually be doing, but one by one elements of our itinerary started weaving together, obviously guided by God's hand.
3. Who were my favorite kids and why? Um, all of them because I love them. I'll spare myself the carpal tunnel and just report on a few. First, Daniil. I met him three years ago on my first trip to Russia, and he was a pretty constant figure in our group that trip. It was really special to see him again and reconnect. Then there's Denis, who stayed with our team for almost the entire three weeks we were in Siberia and became a part of our family. Lots of joy came from that crinkle-eyed grin. Sasha, Ilya, and Losha I'll group because they were the same age (around 11-13 years old) and from the same group of church kids on the camping trip. I could not take one step in any direction without having these three take hold of each hand and one wrist. I expected this from the younger kids for sure, but my experience with 11-13 year old American boys is that they'd sooner punch you in the stomach than hold your hand. While there was plenty of that every second of every day, I was taken aback by this painfully apparent yearning for maternal affection. (Sasha and Ilya, brothers, live with their dad since their mother passed away. I'm not sure about Losha's family other than it is either single-parent or has many children, or both.) Big Losha, who is really just Losha but we called him Big Losha amongst the Americansky's in order to distinguish him from the younger Losha, stole an extra special spot in my heart. This was a kid in desperate need of, initially unreceptive to, and ultimately transformed by love.
4. What did I learn about myself? The first time I was told that I was not an affectionate person I got super offended because don't you know that I'm, like, the best at everything? Then I got over myself because, hello, if you're around me for two seconds you know that I'm not an affectionate person. Anyway, this happened years ago and is not what I learned about myself on this trip. What I learned about myself on this trip is that, until now, I have never actually been outside of my comfort zone. Yeah, I've been uncomfortable having to make new friends or talk on the phone to strangers or give presentations or whatever, but I think that you can be uncomfortable even in your comfort zone. Leading to...
5. How did I grow? When you live with 20 attention starved orphans for over a week you get nonstop hugs and held hands and back massages and pulled arms and laps sat in. You get yanked out of your distance keeping comfort zone into a whirlwind of affection. And not only are you receiving lots of affection, you're giving it out since you really have no other means of communication. And you realize that a lot of people, in fact most people, respond to the love language of physical touch even if it sometimes makes you cringe. And you think that for the 21 years you've been asking "why can't they just try a little harder to understand I don't like to be touched?" you should have been trying a little harder to understand that they do.
And now to put some faces to names:
Daniil, Denis, Sasha, Ilya, Losha, Losha (and little Vova)
Fun game: pick the pictures where Molly hasn't had a shower in five days...
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