Over a decade ago, I served a mission for my Church. In Russia. In Siberia. It was amazing. I loved the time I spent there. It was wonderful, and I love the people that I met.
There were a few crazy things that happened, however. The last couple days a post has been circulating on social media about the experiences journalists have been having. For anyone who has been to Russia, we say, "Par for the course. We would expect nothing less!"
I have just a few pictures that help tell this story.
Playgrounds from the 9th floor:
This building was in this same state from the time I arrived in Russia until the day I left:
The graffiti was sometimes, less than correct:
Um, this playground is not safe:
The biggest head of Lenin is in a land called Ulan Ude:
I am amazed these pipes never burst, lots of painted rust:
Water after they turned the hot water back on after summer (yes, we did not have hot water in the summer). We washed our white shirts in this water:
One time, a cat came into our apartment. Stray dogs in packs are scary, but stray cats that sneak into your apartment, that's a-whole-nother story:
It took a long time to get rid of this cat.
And the milk was sold in cartons (or bags), not refrigerated, and look at that, 4% milk fat. It was like drinking half and half, but without sugar:
My first month there, the heater for the city of Ulan Ude was somehow destroyed. When it was about -40 degrees Celcius outside, we had minimal heat, no hot water, and we thought we may not survive. Yet, we did. It took about two weeks to get the part they needed from Moscow and to repair it.
Have a Good Life.