Thursday, July 30, 2015

Russia: At first glance

Good morning (dobroye utro)
Given all the recent news about changes in Russia, the brothers encouraged us to send home all of our JW.org gifts and souvenirs home before we depart Tallinn Estonia.  They also suggested that we minimize the JW.org apps and links on our electronic devices.  While large tour groups rarely have trouble at the border crossing, we wanted to make sure we didn't cause any additional issues for the local friends.

Our mode of travel to Russia was via bus.  It was only a 5 hour drive (according to google maps), but our itinerary showed it was a full day adventure.  And oh what an adventure it was!  It started at the beginning of the day when friends were confused about the true departure time.  When we were finally off, we met up with one of the other tour bus groups just before we crossed the border.


That's Russia - in Russian!

Of course, there were many border patrol on duty and the lady that was checking my passport refused to smile. It was a bit uncomfortable, especially as she looked at my passport picture, then at me, then at the photo on my visa (which looked very different from my passport picture because I had a different hairstyle - of course), then back at me, then at the computer, then back at me.  I felt particularly bad for one poor sister was very anxious about the potential for inspection.  The dogs sniffed out her seizure medication!  I imagine that she looked like she might faint when they asked to check her bag.

Here are some pictures taken while driving through Saint Petersburg (on the bus so pardon the perspective)









Surprise and Spasibo (Thank you!)
After a few more hours on the bus, the tour guide announced, "We are almost at the Kingdom Hall".  This was quite a surprise as we were not expecting to get this treat!  Especially after we had been travelling for most of the day - wiith no chance to freshen up.  And since we were later than orignally scheduled, the friends delayed the start of their meeting in order to receive us and show us some hospitality.  The congregation perforrmed a few songs (and we even got to see a real Russian ballet) and we left after a few more hugs and tears of joy.

This young brother ran out to the bus to greet us!















No comments:

Post a Comment