Day Trip to Suzdal and More Manual Labor

I've been getting some much needed rest today after another busy week of activities. Friday involved going to a three story house built by Mercy Ministries, the organization we are working with. An older couple has taken six orphans into their home with the newest one arriving two weeks ago. Manual labor continues to be an ongoing Russian theme as our group painted lacquer on some wooden shelves. Meanwhile the girls cooked a nice meal for the family.

Unfortunately I am one of the few people in our group who continues to be confronted by locals who have questions due to my slight Russian resemblance. I dont even know how to say sorry, so I simply respond with an awkward "spaceba," meaning thank you. There has been a very noticeable hostile demeanor coming from some of the locals. I am not sure if it comes from past history or jealousy, but the locals have not been nearly as friendly as the Argentinians.

On the other hand, all of the people at the church we have be staying at have been very kind to us, with some being almost too friendly. I spent about a half hour trying to explain the rules of American football to some of the men who live at the church, but they said it was just too confusing. I told them that I used to play and they asked if I was a professional player. I have now acquired the nickname of Andrei Kirilenko: the only Russian NBA player. 

We took a trip to Suzdal yesterday, a city about an hour away from Vladimir which also serves as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. We had lunch at a resort and signed up for a tour where we shot arrows and threw some spears. I about scared the guide out of his shoes when I threw the spear as I took a three step drop like a quarterback before releasing. The unorthodox technique proved to be successful however, as I hit the target head on.

We observed a good number of churches, including taking a tour through a monastery. The typical architecture consists of one large onion-domed spire, with with four smaller ones surrounding it. The large one symbolizes God as the head of the church and the smaller domes represent the four gospels. Church was interesting this morning, but a 50-minute sermon in Russian did prove to be rather brutal. We will be spending the first part of the week in Vladimir before taking a train to Moscow for the weekend on Friday.