Second snow of the winter

January snow.

Deep south freeze.

Erosion damage from heavy rains.

Last night January 29the we had our second snow for winter 09-10, we had 10 inches. Although this is only our second snow fall, this has been the worst winter in my 20 years of living in NC.

From the end of December through the first two weeks of January we had temperatures that rarely went above freezing. At night, we were in the teens, and single digits with the wind chill factor. We carried water to the horses and pigs twice a day, our pond was frozen solid.

Last week, we had hurricane like winds and 4" of rain one night, the bridge over our little creek washed out. None of these are great hardships, they are however, out of the ordinary for what used to be a pleasant season.

Scenes from Belarus

This is the home of Angelina's grandparents, Victor and Lidia. This is the room that I slept in every night while in Belarus. Their flat consisted of this room, another smaller room, and an even smaller kitchen. Angelina's grandparents were very nice to me and reminded me of American grandparents. Standing are Victor and Lidia.


Here is a photo of me and some of the Atroshkins in front of Soviet Square, a very nice park and memorial to the The Great Patriotic War Against Fascist Aggressors, WWII. The buildings in the background are museums. When people get married in Belarus, it is customary for the newlyweds to leave flowers at a war memorial. This is the park that Angelina's parents left their flowers.

Sorry to be so delayed in giving you some pictures of my trip. Work has me very busy. Let me say it was an adventure to visit Belarus. I will first post some pictures, then as time permits I will add some additional commentary.

I stayed in the city of Mogilev, population about 400,000, the third largest city in Belarus. Even in winter you could see that it is a beautiful city. The Atroshkins live in a flat in the center of the city, and everyone we visited lived in the city. Except for when I visited the orphanages I was always in the city. Yes, it was cold and snowy, and we either walked or drove, despite the weather. (those of us in NC wouldn't understand this, snow means stay home).

With ABRO we visited two orphanages - one was state run for children that had some learning disability. The second was privately run. Some of the children are true orphans, and some are children who had parents, but had been abandoned or were removed from their home for their protection. In both places we were given a performance relating to their January 7th holiday of Father Frost, and lunch. The children were kind and gentle, and buying their arts and crafts and giving them gifts did not seem to be enough.

Although I stayed with Angelina's grandparents, I spent most of the days with her family. With the faimly, we visited some of their friends, toured some areas of the city, did some shopping and went sledding a few times. I went to worship with them one night and met their pastors and was invited back to one of the pastor's flat for Chai. (a common tea everywhere).

There was a great deal of time that I didn't do much. Unlike in the US, the people of Belarus don't go out unless there is a need, and as I wasn't allowed to go anywhere by myself, I would have to convince someone that I needed to go do something.

Update on the Belarus trip

I have talked to Jeff on the phone once this week and heard from him, via email, several times druing his first week away. Unfortunately, he is unable to use his laptop, and only has limited time to use the desk top computer, with dial up service, of others. He is doing well and has been enjoying himself. He really enjoys being with Angelina's family and their friends, they are all very attentive to him and a lot of fun. An ex-police man gave Jeff his old winter police hat, and another acquaintance gave him a hand made wooden knife, fork and spoon.

Jeff says the most fun and relaxing days are the days with the ABRO group. He said those days he actually knows what is going on and where he is going. He has only seen Tony and Evan one day, last Tuesday, for the first orphanage visit, and they were doing well and enjoying their stay. They will be together again tomorrow for the second orphanage visit.

They will all be leaving Belarus next Saturday and arriving home on Sunday night, late, or early Monday morning.