Scattered leaves

"All mankind is of one Author, and is of one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another."
--John Donne

Back

Just letting y'all know we made it back safe and sound. We're in Texas for the next week, then off to Philly for Matt's job stuff, back to Texas for another week and should be in so cal again around the 10th of January. Our old cell phone is back on if y'all need/want to reach us. Thank you for your prayers, and we'll post more once we've had a chance to process some things.

Love y'all-
Makinzie

Goodbye, Moscow

We're leaving in about 7 hours for the airport to head back. Thanks for supporting us on our journey. We love you all.

-Matt and Makinzie

Sadness

I sit here, three days left to go out here, trying to process the incredible sadness I’ve been feeling in my soul over these last few days. This past weekend was filled with last conversations, times of encouragement and being encouraged, laughter, tears. As we were all praying on Friday night, I acknowledged that part of my heart will remain here—with these beautiful people that have allowed us to be a part of their lives. This I say to you, dear friends. . .

“I still remember all the wonder,
The glorious thrill of meeting you,
The momentary spell of splendor,
Spirit of beauty pure and true.

When sadness came upon me, endless,
In vain society’s direst days,
I heard your voice, your accents tender,
And dreamt of heaven in your face.

Now once again my heart is racing,
Proclaiming the renewal of
My former tears, my inspiration,
My sense of God, and life, and love.”

-Alexander Pushkin

I love you all.
-Makinzie

Turgenev

"Can their prayers and their tears be fruitless? Can love, sacred, devoted love, not be all-powerful? Oh, no! No matter how passionate, sinning, rebellious is the heart hidden in the grave, the flowers growing on it look at us serenely with their innocent faces; they speak to us not only of that eternal peace, of that great peace of 'impassive' nature; they speak to us also of eternal reconciliation and of life everlasting. . ."

Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev

Father, thank you for peace, reconciliation, and life.

-Makinzie

Class Today

Today in my second to last Russian lesson, we learned about how to use comparative words (bigger, newer, best, etc.). As I was trying to get these words into my brain, it got me thinking. . .do we really need these words? “I have the fastest car, newest home, better work. . .” Hmm. . .

-Makinzie

"Coffee, please"

A quick anecdote from today's "Russian Excursion". Enjoy this one while you're sipping your Starbucks (Joe) and reading our blog before you start your day.

I asked my my Russian teacher, Nelly Alexandrovna Roslyakova: "Do Russians prefer tea or coffee?" She answered "tea" and then went on to explain that tea is traditional in Russia while coffee is imbibed usually only in the cities; it's a "foreign" drink. She continued to explain that Peter I introduced coffee and had a special plan for guaranteeing its popularity in Russia. How? He gave his nobles a choice: "Pi'ye ili v tyiurmu". The phrase is funnier in Russian, but it roughly translates to "Coffee or prison." The favorable reception of coffee in Russia was thus secured.

I never know what I'll learn when I ask questions here.

--Matt

Penultimate

(Matt)

We have just over a week left and I'm beginning now to process our experiences in broader terms than what I need to know to make it through the next week. Last evening, Makinzie and I had a discussion about the ways in which our time here has impacted our own life-decisions and the direction we want our lives to take in the future. We both agreed that living in Moscow is not so much different from living in any Western city, and yet I still believe that acclimating to life in Russian culture has made the most minute details of our "usual life" in America stand out in greater relief. The biggest question for me right now is how this defamiliarizing way of viewing our past will affect what we accept as "standard" for our lives in the future. I know I will be dwelling on this question for a long time in the weeks to come, and I would welcome thoughts from your own experiences.

I leave you with two words of wisdom from what I've learned in Russia:

• You can say to a person Вы хорошо выглядиш (Voi Horosho VOI-gliadish) but never Вы хорошо выгладиш (Voi Horosho voi-GLA-dish). The difference in pronunciation is subtle but crucial. The first phrase means "you look great today"; the second phrase, oh-so-easy to mispronounce, means "you iron clothes well today", and carries the implication that your addressee should consider doing your laundry for you.
• I was reading a Christmas Card in Russian today and translating some of the words I didn't know. Wanting to practice the phraseology, I told someone "мечты ваши заветные испoртяться скоро" ("Mechti vashi zovetniye ispolnayayutsa skora"). I had wanted to say "May your precious dreams soon come true." Ah, but the crucial Russian verb is испoлняться, which looks very similar to, but is not испoртяться. Anyway, what I had said was "May your precious dreams quickly come to ruin."

We goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

This past Saturday morning I had the blessing of getting to hang out with some really cool kids, parents, and volunteers at a zoo here in Moscow. A group children with disabilities (similar to the students I have in my own classroom back in so cal) and people that care about these kids get together for outings in parks around Moscow to provide relief for the parents, promote social awareness, and to serve the kids.

Oh, how my soul was refreshed to be a part of this! I miss my students and the special light they reflect in others. I had great conversations with people about the status of services for these kids in Russia as well as practical ideas of how they might be better served to live life more independently. Over the course of these past few months here, I have also been blessed to have been able to dream with students and friends whose heart is with these children.

Father, it brings warmth to my spirit and a smile to my face to see people’s hopes to change the system. I earnestly ask your guidance and blessing in these friends’ lives along with the children they so beautifully strive to serve. May You be glorified in all that is done here to seek justice!

-Makinzie

Firsts

This weekend we had several firsts (at least firsts in a while). . .

We visited a house for the first time outside of the city of some friends my parents knew over 20 years ago.

I tried холва (halva) for the first time brought over by some students this past weekend. How could something made from the byproduct of sunflower oil and that has such a strange greyish-greenish color actually taste good?





We took our first car ride in 3 months going to the ouside of town, and we both felt queasy--really queasy; guess we'll have to take car riding slow when we get back.

I got to go to the zoo with some kids this weekend—first time I actually saw character people standing around talking with their heads off more—made me laugh.

-Makinzie