Volleyball and Novgorod

Hello! It's been a while and quite a few things have happened since our last update!

One such thing was the students vs. parents/teachers volleyball matches. Matt and I came since we could not be there for the official teacher game and one of my 7th grade girls told me I had to come since I was the class's mom. :-P

warming up!
Matt spiking on the high schoolers. He's actually pretty good!
setting
The junior high team.

A nice picture one of the high school guys took for us. You can see me in the top corner.

Another event was the 10/11th grade field trip to Novgorod. We just drove out there, spent the day, and headed back.

The high schoolers below:

Above and below is a statue of various leaders in Russian history who were connected with Novgorod. The city itself was founded in 859 AD so there is a lot of history there.

This coat just made me giggle. Definitely one of our students. :-)

A bell from Novgorod. Belltowers and churches are a long part of the city's history.

Old doors to the church in the fortress at Novgorod.
A tower at the monastery outside of the city.
The monastery from a distance in the sun.
An old wooden church. There is a park there that has a lot of old wooden houses and churches that have been imported from all over the country and preserved there.

Some of the other girls and I were proud because we did not have to duck going into the buildings!
And our last event was at this church. Our tour guide told us if you run around this church as fast as you can three times you will be married within the year.

So one of our 10th graders and one of our 11th graders did just that! They came back asking where "she" was. Apparently they believed this to be instant. :-)

Coming soon: post about our time at my friend Sveta's village!

If you could all keep my grandfather in your prayers. He had a stroke about a week ago and is stabilizing but can't swallow or talk. Prayers would be much appreciated!