july 17-18

July 17 – 18

Thursday, we spent most of the morning packing up and saying some last minute goodbyes. Kira’s train didn’t leave until after our bus did, so the three of us and some friends went to the bus station to say our goodbyes before the 8 hour trek to Syvtyvkar. After a very long and sweaty ride, the pastor and his wife from the church greeted us and led us to where are staying. Sushka, a youth from the church who is studying at the university in Kirov, that we had met in the Pentecostal camp is letting us stay with her at her flat and will be our translator for the week, as she is studying to be an interpreter. We went to a small cafe last night for bellini’s (pancakes like crepes filled with meat or fruit or salad or some kind) and then unsuccessfully tried to buy our train tickets for Moscow. We decided it would be best to do in morning and called it an evening.

Friday we met up with some of the youth and the pastor to get our train tickets for Moscow (we leave in the morning on the 24th and will arrive in Moscow in the morning on the 25th). The pastor left us for the day and the rest of us walked around the city, visiting the main square, the center of the city, and some memorials from “the great patriotic war” as they call it and the war with Afghanistan. We had lunch at a small cafe in town before going to meet up with another member of the church. We visited with Dema, a young man in the church who is ill, and talked and had tea and cake and watched some videos from the church and got to look at a lot of pictures of their church. After a long stay, we parted for the day and got some groceries on the way home. we had some pelmini for dinner and have just chatted for the rest of the evening until making our way to the internet cafe in town. Keep us in your prayers as we are getting to know the people here in Syktyvkar!