Day Four in Russia
Friday, April 14th, 2006


We woke up this morning and met Yuli in the front of our hotel. We walked to the government building because we had a meeting with the mayor, a friend of Yuli. We were so lucky to have this opportunity. It was extremely cool and very different than meetings I have had with government officials in the States. We had Zina there who translated the fifteen minute conversation we had with the mayor and from there we left and had lunch. It was an unique experience and I was happy we were able to meet with such an important man in this community. After lunch, we were dropped off at the community center where the seder would be taking place. However, we were three hours early and had nothing to do. This was a very boring and wasteful time for us, however it pumped us to do the seder when the time came. There were thirty eight people including the cutest little ten year old, Luba, who loved playing with Josh and David, even though she did not speak much English. She really enjoyed teaching David Russian while he taught her English words. They played this game for over an hour. It was fun to watch.

The seder was great. I imagine it will be similar to when I have a pulpit next year. Many older couples who get together often but were very happy to have us there. It was conducted in English translated into Russian by Zina. The food was all cooked by the community members and reheated on burners in one of the rooms in the community center. They were incredibly sweet to us and loved having us there. In fact, after the seder they sang three or four songs for us as a gift for us coming to lead a seder with them. What sweet people! After the seder we met up with Elena who was a participant at the seder and wanted to spend time with us through out our stay in Murmansk. She grew up there and took us to a play on Communism bar called the Red Pub. It was a fantastic evening. There were all sorts of Communist propaganda, including a statue of Lenin (we had drinks with Lenin’s statue head next to us) that were all there as a joke from the Communist days. At first I was a bit reluctant to go there, however, it was all in good fun, and with great drinks and a great live band.

 

This page was last updated on April 30, 2006

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