Hanging with the Russians

Ya so I finally went to the Friday night thing after daily Mass. I must admit I was a little freaked at meeting so many new people and whether or not I would be able to talk to them, or what would happen. My fears were pretty much baseless and pointless. If I need to learn anything, it is that when you say Universal Church that is exactly what it means. It doesn’t matter where you go. Catholics are everywhere and they are all the same. They are all ready to welcome new comers into their homes and make them feel like a part of the community. I mean you simply can’t regularly attend daily Mass, maybe even Sunday Mass, without getting to know the Priest and every single active member of the Parish. It’s great, it’s amazing, and it’s a good thing for me.

Here is how it went down. After Mass I was asked my at least 4 people if I was coming to the get together. I knew none of these people. So of course, I said yes and I was lead into the Parish center sat down and given some tea. I honestly think I have drunk more tea in 6 weeks than in my entire life, every meal and then some. Everyone got tea, snacks were served, and I meet several people. Everyone was very nice, very eager to meet me and speak to me in Russian. Many of them evening spoke some English (I am constantly amazed by the number of people here who speak English, German too). Anyways, we talked for a while and then we sang a few praise and worship songs. There happened to be some Sisters there and they quickly grabbed the guitar and got the rest of us going (Nuns rock!). After a few songs, everyone settled in for some faith talking. Ok so, I didn’t really understand anything that was said, but at least its good language practice and to be honest I still had a lot of fun. This all took about 2 hours and after it was all over of course, everyone stayed around for a while and talked. All and all, it was a great evening and I can’t wait for next week. I am also pretty happy that I can now say hi to several people at Mass.