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First off, this trip has been amazing! There are two things that have really impacted me on this trip. First I have a super sweet roommate. Her name is Sveeta ( or something like that ). She is in her 20′s, 21 or 23 I think, and she teaches 4 classes here and Geography to the 9th grade class. There is another girl named Ira but I don’t really see her because she is usually gone and doesn’t know any english. But Sveeta is wonderful. When I first moved into the room she told me she was going to the shop( they say shop instead of store ) and when she came back she had cheese and bread and tea. She asked if I wanted any and at the time I said no but she said later she wanted to sit down and have tea. Than that night while I was sleeping she put one of her blankets on me so I wouldn’t get cold. She invited me to go play at the gym with her and go to a concert which I wasn’t able to go to but we went to another one that we sat together and talked about the music. She always offers me food and one night she cut up bread and cheese and made tea and asked me to sit down and show her my pictures of London and Russia. She told me that her dream was to go to Prague and live in London. She always makes sure I’m comfortable and has been so great. Just last night she invited Emily to go to a tea party with us. She has such a funny personality and is very animated. She does devotions every morning and I can just really see God through her in the way she treats me. So that is just a bit about her and the good time I’ve had with her.
The second experience came when we went to the correctional facility. It just really touched my hearts when I saw those kids. We sang songs for them and as I looked out over their faces my heart went out to them. In that moment I realized that there has to be a God, a God that has something better in store for these beautiful children. A place where all their hurt and pain will be taken away and they’ll have someone who loves them more than they can imagine. After we sang we were told to find a child to teach us an english word. I walked up to one who was blind and the lady that was sitting with him told me that the kid beside him could teach me. So I sat by them and the one little boy taught me some words, which of course I’ve forgotten and I can’t remember his name. I let him and some other kids look at my pictures and they really enjoyed taking them. I took a picture of him and the other little boy who was blind. When I think of that blind boy and his beautiful smile my heart melts.
Danielle Beaudette ’11
About a twenty-minute drive by from the Zaoksky seminary is the Obidemo Orphanage, and after slipping and falling on the icy walkway, all 65ish of us made it inside. Now I’ve never been in an orphanage before, and to me it looked rather dinky, but then again, I didn’t expect anything luxurious. And as I looked around while the choir was setting up, the kids looked with curiosity and amazement at us Americans. Their faces also told unknown stories of what they were going through and what they had been through, and that’s when sympathy overtook most of my emotions. The other challenging factor during the orphanage visit was the fact that for most of the songs that we sang, the keyboard’s power was out due to the city’s electrical supply I believe, so Cameo couldn’t accompany for all the songs that needed it. So we sang most of our songs accapella in some farfetched key that Mr. K came up with… The highlight of this trip however, was in a little boy I met named Sasha. When Mr. K had given the orphanage children the opportunity to find one of the choir members to acquaint themselves with, I suddenly found myself in the arms of this 11 year old boy who barely spoke any English. From the get-go, he absolutely would not let go of me, and personally, this was one of the weirdest but most comforting feelings I had ever experienced! With every tidbit of information he knew about me and I about him, it drew our newfound bond closer and closer together; even more so when I gave him a scarf and a “goodie bag”, one of our priorities that we were to take care of in the orphanage. Sasha graciously said, “Spasiba!” (“Thank You!” in Russian) and again, I was touched. We played with whatever he found in his bag, and his other three bags (which I have no idea how he got them…). “Paka” was our parting word, but I will never forget the constant lesson that Sasha taught me: how our Heavenly Father never lets go of us from the time we draw near to him…
AJ Valcin (bass), Class of 2011
