To Тверь (Tver) and Back.

I got the chance to go to two different orphanages with the power lifters so I took it. We took off from Snegiri at like 9 in the morning and drove half way to St. Petersburg to a town called Tver. We dropped off our stuff at a hotel and got on the streetcar to go to the orphanage there. We were first greeted by only older kids so we didn't really know if they were going to want to hang out with us or not. Then I saw three of them had futbol stuff on so I immediately grabbed a futbol I saw and that was all it took. We must have played for 2 hours then went inside for чай (tea) and snacks.

We sat and talked with the kids for maybe about 30 minutes, then it was back out to the futbol field. I think the main reason the kids loved playing so much was because they put the hammer down on us so bad. The teams were me (who doesn't play very often) and 3 power lifters (who don't "run" very often) against 4 kids who play everyday... if you had to put money on one team...hmmmm... I wonder who would be the smart pick? I think the final score was 28-2 home team.
                                           
THIS KIDS NAME WAS TYRMAN AND HE MOST LIKELY COULD HAVE BEATEN US SINGLE HANDED... BUT HE HAD HELP, SO IT WAS REALLY HOPELESS FOR US AMERICANS.

After soccer I got to play with the little kids also which was so much fun to chase them and tickle them. The big hits were coloring, drawing, tickling, and badminton. All of these kids are living here in temporary because their parents drink and this place is just a holding spot until they can find a different relative, if none exist who want the child, then they must do to a permanent orphanage.

                                      WE HAD TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE SOCCER MASTERS

CHASE (BIG ONE) PLAYING BADMINTON WITH MARINA AND RINOK. THE KIDS LOVED BADMINTON BECAUSE HMMM GUESS WHAT, THEY WERE REALLY GO AT THAT TOO!!!

I didn't know the emotions I would go through being there, however I knew it wouldn't be easy to deal with them. Even as I'm writing this blog right now I can't say that I am over the sadness of having to leave those kids back in that home. After we left the kids home I felt this extreme sense of clarity of what I want to matter in my life and what is complete vanity. I could have been King Solomon writing Ecclesiastes at that very moment questioning humanity and why we chase after such meaningless things when there are so many of God's beautiful creatures sitting at orphanages waiting for someone to care for them and love them. All of a sudden walking back to the streetcar I saw advertisements and all I could think of was disgust at myself for being one of the target market for profiteering by big companies instead of giving up truly my life in order to make these kids lives better.

GALYA, IRINA, AND NATALYA SITTING DRINKING CHAI... ITS PRETTY FUNNY TO ME THAT BUNNY EARS ARE FAMOUS ALL OVER THE WORLD

I felt as though I had much clearer picture of what the "gospel" really is. At the moment of leaving the orphanage, I would have given everything and I truly feel everything just to try to make their lives a little better. This to me is what Jesus was talking about when he said "whoever wants to gain life must lose it." I felt disgust within myself for wanting the American dream of comfortability when there are beautiful children who have so little they are happy to get candy as a present. I guess I could go on but I hope you get the idea of the things that hit me from going to the orphanage. It truly was "life changing".

After the orphanage we ate some dinner and then set off for a 20 minute walk to the Volga river so I could swim. It was one of the things on my "to do" list in Russia, so I was so excited to get the chance. There is so much history in this river (like most things in Russia) I was so honored to be swimming in the spot where possibly czars boats crossed over as they were traveling to other towns to seek alliances or start wars. I was just so stoked to go swimming in such a cool spot.

THE WATER WASN'T AS COLD AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE... SOME RUSSIANS ON THE SHORE THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY, BUT I KNOW THEY JUST WANTED TO SWIM TOO.

The next day I got up early and went for a walk through Tver trying to still think through some of the stuff I was going through the day before. I laughed at myself because I could not figure out when to cross a street. You see cars in Russia "do not" stop for walkers so I am always on guard walking around anywhere. But sometimes they do stop and I still can't figure it out. All the бабушки (babooshkas) have got it down but I can't seem to figure it out.

We then drove about an hour to a different orphanage in a town called Starstkaya. There we were met mostly by younger kids so I knew I was going to have a fun day of chasing and tickling. We played games like
утка, утка, гус (duck duck goose), ошибал (dodgeball), and горячая картошка (hot potato).

THE TWO GIRLS I AM HOLDING IN THIS PICTURE WERE TWO OF MY FAVORITES. I WOULD HAVE TAKEN THEM WITH ME IN A SECOND IF GIVEN THE CHANCE.

 I was wearing a green t-shirt, then one girl found that if she called me зелёный огурец (green pickle) that I would chase her and tickle her... that is all it took and all of sudden I was chasing about eight kids calling me green pickle for about a two hours. I would have taking about 13 kids home with me if allowed.
IRA (GIRL IN RED) WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND OUT IF SHE CALLED ME GREEN PICKLE I WOULD CHASE HER AND TICKLE HER. KIDS SURE LOVE BEING CHASED AND TICKLED.

 They were all so beautiful and I just wanted to be the one to help them have a better life. So to say the least the orphanages changed my life for the better, most definitely.