Neighborhood Suharban Celebration

     The day after our summer team arrived, we took the morning to give them a bit of a briefing on the upcoming English Club on Baikal.  We had planned on taking them to one of the local Buddhist temples in the afternoon.  But our plans changed, as we were invited to a gathering in our neighhorhood. Our neighbors had planned our own little Suharban (that's the Buryat yearly sports festival).  It was so special to be able to show the team both this part of the culture here and the people who live around us.   The events started with wrestling.

     It was fun to see different kids cheering for their papas.  =)  I also loved to see neighbors all joining together.

     Ike and his buddy, Bulat decided to have their own wrestling match with some of the boys while the adults wrestled.  The two of them are in the foreground here, while the men wresters are in the background.

     I love how several people from our short term team joined in and played in the volleyball tournament (the next of the day's events).  They didn't win, but they didn't get last place either.  And they came home with participation certificates.  =)

Ella, sitting with friends and watching the volleyball game

     During this time, Anneka made a new friend and they set out to find a home for one of the stray puppies who lived at our house.  They succeeded!





     Next in the day's events was a time of musical and dance performances, both by these ladies as well as others from the neighborhood.  They asked us to perform something, too.  Next time we need to be more prepared!  Maybe we can always have a song on hand, ready to go... as situations like this often present themselves.

Traditional Buryat Attire

      These ladies had many questions for our American friends.  They were delighted to have us all join into the festivities.

One of the Singers Posing with her Granddaughter

     One other special part of the day was that some of the neighbors gave a crash course on how to dance the yohor (a traditional Buryat dance) .  I love how our visiting team jumped right in and danced!

Fun times were had by all!

     While the team was here, they took pictures of things from our ordinary life, but it's fun to see them through their eyes.  Here are a few they took...

     This is our little local store.  We send the kids here often to pick up things we need.  We have become friends with the owners.

This is the gate to our church.  The top floor is the new addition, with rooms for the kids.

These last three pictures are the view from our house!

Beautiful Spring Village