I can’t believe we’ve already been here 3 weeks! How the time has flown! First impressions of Ufa: it’s bitterly cold and there’s more snow on one block than I’ve seen in my entire life. Outside of those obvious observations, I’ve grown to love this city as if it were my own. I love how friendly the people here are; perhaps not at first, but once you get to know them and show interest in their lives and what’s going on in their world. I love getting to see behind the cold, harsh mask that they wear in the streets. The mask they slowly let down as we’ve invited them into our apartment and gone out to do stuff. The students especially seem so very eager for companionship and friends! I don’t know how much of that is just due to the fact that we’re Americans and a “novelty.” I hope it’s more than that. I love the history of this city, the union of the Bashkir, Tartar, and Russian people groups. I love the historical monuments and stories behind every building and street. I love the eagerness with which our new friends have shared and explained their culture to us! Since we’ve been here, we really have not wanted for anything at all. From our sweet landlady giving us her extra fridge when ours broke, to people helping us out learning the bus routes, guiding us around the city, and being so patient with us, we have just been amazed at the kindness of the people here! I was surprised at how much people want to communicate with us! They want to go to movies and discuss the concepts afterwards. Strangers on the bus or on the street or in grocery stores hear us speaking English and come over and try to communicate with us. Though everything’s cold and frozen outside, I’ve never received a warmer welcome. School has been great! The grammar can be somewhat of a nightmare, and I feel like I learn better just hearing stuff from friends and language spoken and learned on the go rather than in a classroom. But our teacher is amazing, and even though she speaks no English and we speak no Russian, she already has us reading the Russian alphabet and getting words down and conjugating stuff! We’ve already had an incredible amount of opportunities to share and talk about religion with people. I’m amazed at how open they are in wanting to discuss this with us. Now that it is February, many people (*cough cough* including two FROZEN lil southern gals) are already looking forward to Spring with anxious expectation. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia... "Aslan is on the move." God's moving in Ufa and I’m so excited to get to see it firsthand! I’m thankful for all that we’re learning and the friendships God has given us here already. -Kelsey Abbrat

When I first arrived here in Ufa, my immediate impressions were the following: it’s pretty cold, Russian is especially difficult to learn when your professor knows no English, there’s a lot of snow, this is such a busy place, confusing bus systems and the people will not so much as look at you on the streets. I now type this in my apartment in Ufa, having now been here nearing three weeks, and I realize that while these things have not changed, my initial perspective of them has. Yes, it’s still cold (by my native south Georgia standards), but one gets used to it quickly. The other day, it was in the 20s Fahrenheit and I was actually hot. Yes, Russian is difficult and one will embarrass herself countless times within the course of three weeks with her terrible language skills, but only patience and smiles have been given once a local sees my attempt. And my professor has gotten easier to understand. The snow is still here, but it looks like the famed fantasy world Narnia before the beloved character, Alsan, arrived to save the land. That is actually a good description of the city of Ufa. This city is a busy place and there are a lot of people here. People are everywhere-jammed together on that last minute bus, rushing across the streets before the light changes, grabbing a few items from the local stores. At a glance, they don’t seem to desire more than their usual daily pace. Behind the security of one’s home, however, a foreigner sees quickly that they desire much, much more in this life. They desire spring, in the spiritual sense. They are inspired-you can see that plainly by all the theaters here and their discussions on their latest readings. They are passionate-you can see that by the light in their eye when they speak on a subject that they care dearly for. They are curious-you can see that by the way heads turn my way once I begin to speak English. They are also loyal and kind-I have want for nothing since I have been here due in part of the locals and their desire to see that a stranger in their city is cared for. They are a people who desire spring, but who do not realize that this desire for spring is a desire for God. The people of Ufa have begun to tug on my heartstrings more and more each day. My only desire is to see these people come to spring-to come to a relationship with Christ. –Melissa M.