From Russia, With Love

Sochi in Summer
I love watching the Olympics.  It has been especially fun seeing them in Sochi, where I had the opportunity to visit in 2005.  I spent a couple weeks in Russia with my friend, Tina, visiting her parents who were living there at the time.  There are so many things I could share about my time there, but I have narrowed it down to one story.

Tina's parents did all sorts of good work in their community there. Her dad was a pastor and her mom was a nurse by trade.  But really, they were simply great at loving people.  They somehow got connected with an alcoholic rehab center and took Tina and I there to visit.  The center was for men who were looking to turn their lives around. It was in the country - what appeared to my foreign eyes as the middle of nowhere.  The center was run by 2 former Olympic athletes who had devoted their lives to helping these men.

The center itself was essentially a farm.  The men were learning to live on the land and the goal was for the center to be entirely self-sustaining, and it was darn close when I was there.  They had animals to provide food (chickens for eggs...I don't think they were slaughtering anything but perhaps my vegetarian mind has blocked that out). They had a wonderful, luscious garden with fruits and vegetables.  I had the opportunity to go in the fields with them and pick raspberries.  I never liked raspberries before that moment.  Something about eating them right off the vine in the hot summer sun made me fall in love with their flavor. I always think of Russia when I eat raspberries to this day.


Tina and I did some sort of skit with her parents. I have no recollection as to why we did it or what the skit was about. And I don't really think any of the men spoke English, so I can't imagine they understood us.  But we made fools of ourselves, and that translates quite easily across language barriers. We sat around the table and shared a meal with them.  It was wonderful.

I'll be honest, there were a number of things in Russia that unsettled me.  But the Russians I met were all so kind, warm and inviting.  Tina's parents graciously introduced us to so many people during our time there, and I remember all of them fondly.  I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend there.  I don't know that I will ever go back.  But Russia will always occupy a little piece of my heart.

Walking in Red Square.  It was incredible!

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