Ahhhhhhh........so its all over. My goodness - ever felt like you've lived a year in a couple hours? Well, I've joined the club lol. Alesya's funeral took place this morning at 11. It was very interesting, being a Russian funeral, and - believe it or not - it lasted for 2 hours.

The funeral was out-of-doors, under a portico-thingy. There were more flowers - and people - there than I have ever seen at a funeral before. There had to be like 300 or 350 people there. Alesya's casket was beautiful. When we arrived, the immediate family was not there yet - just the relatives.

We got there the same time as Amanda L and her mom did, and poor Amanda was bawling. I managed to hold out until the family arrived and I went to see Oksana - then when I saw Mr. & Mrs. B sobbing by the casket with the little cousins wiping their eyes - well, it was a little too much lol.

The ceremony was very interesting in itself. They had several people speak - 4 pastors(including Bro. Dave), the youth director, her Sunday School teacher, her hospice nurse. Everything was translated - anything Russian was translated into English, anything English into Russian. One of the pastors did not speak a lick of English. I love listening to Russian for once - its so much more calming, much softer than English. I was amused to find that the pastors were not your typical funeral-everybody's-going-to-heaven preachers. There was some judgement preaching at her funeral. "Are there any here that are not sure they are going to heaven? If you want to see Alesya someday, you must be saved!" It was nice to see that some still preach judgement. The Russian pastors are very loud and somewhat dynamic - not your traditional Orthodox priest.

Did I mention how packed in we were? Whenever you go to a Russian gathering, the first things you learn about their culture is that they are much more, um, whats the word, personal than Americans. For instance, don't be surprised if you are absolutely squashed between a 90-year-old man, his wife, or smashed against a row of teenage guys. Squished to the point where you cannot move without really pushing against someone. If your Russian you are fine with it, you're used to it, but it's not something every American easily adjusts to. There were more people standing than sitting, and I was one of the standing ones - trying not to topple over a row of elderly gentlemen while trying not to press into the row of teenage guys behind me. Neither worked - I kept hitting the old guy in front of me, and l gave the teenager behind be a nice elbow in his stomach lol. When people would try to shove their way through, you would smash yourself against others as hard as you could, and then suddenly you'd be like, um, who am I leaning against? It could be anybody lol. One other thing you learn - they love to talk close to you - make that, in your face almost. You wouldn't run into this problem with younger people. but it's a tradition with grown-ups, and I would find myself trying to back away from the lady talking to me 6 inches from my face.

It wasn't too emotional until the hospice nurse got up and talked about Alesya. By the time she broke down crying at the end of her speech, Felecia and I were sobbing lol. Luckly none of us broke down when we sang "I'll Never Miss Heaven for the World" and "All the Way My Savior Leads Me".

Then the Russian youth group got up to sing. The youth leader took out an accordion and began playing and then the group began to sing. Many others knew the Russian hymns they sang and began singing with them. If you ever want to hear a good song, go listen to some Russian Christians. Their songs are SO beautiful. They are usually somewhat minor, but they are so calming and relaxing - just beautiful. Maybe I can somehow post a video......its so wonderful. Ok, yeah, I know what you're thinking. I AM obsessed, ok, I'll admit it:-)

After the sermons (one of those pastors brought a REAL sermon! about 30 or more minutes long) Amanda L and I played Ave Maria while everyone viewed the casket for the last time and walked to the graveside. Dad grabbed the harp and carried it to the graveside where Amanda L and I played "Time to Say Goodbye". Finally the pastor stepped forward and began to speak again. This time there was no interpreter, so most of our group was pretty lost:-) Then, as they carried the casket to the grave, the whole group began to sing a Russian hymn. The diggermen came and stood by our group, one with his head respectfully bowed. Then all the children opened envelopes containing butterflies, and we again played Time to Say Goodbye while they all rose into the sky.

Then followed a long prayer by the pastor, and it took some of us a long time to figure out he was praying before we bowed our heads and agreed also. Then Mr. B prayed - and that's where a ton of people broke down, including my mom, broke down, as he tried to sob the words out with his arm around his wife. It was so sad - Amanda L and my mom sobbing beside me and him crying....

After the service ended, we all headed over to their church for refreshments, or something more like a dinner(you know how Russians are with their food:-). Our group was squashed down a bench with people the didn't know, but there wasn't enough room for Felecia and I so we just stood there until Alesya's older brother came over and invited us to the young people's bench. Again, we were squished with people we didn't know(actually, I knew some of them) and across from us sat three guys(Alesya's brother included). Oh joy! :-( No, Eva wasn't on our bench......but Im sure she was longing to be.....lol. Another thing - Russians are alot friendlier than Americans. They took us right in. It wasn't a very awkward situation at all - before long we were all chatting away like we had all known each other since the beginning of time lol. The guy that sat straight across from me though, Daniel, talked to us like most of the time and he was a little....uh....different. Make that ditsy. lol. And a little *batty*. He wants to come to church - actually, alot of people asked for the churches address/info and said they wanted to come, especially to the youth servise this Sunday night. I really enjoyed the fellowship there - I was busy writing down email addresses and making friends lol.

Oh, and the food. Russian food is, well, very elaborate. I really enjoyed the food - we had chicken and bread and desert bread and there was some dill salad(which I respectfully abstained from). And did I mention kvas? Yes, they served kvas! Once I foud out it was on the table, I immediately took a glass - and it was very interesting. VERY. Kvas is a very old, traditional Russian beverage made from black bread that they basically ferment. It's a very dark brown drink. How did it taste? Well, it was too strong for me, and after a few sips my head started spinning. It's not alchoholic, and it tastes EXACTLY like yeast! You'd know the flavor of you've ever eaten homeade bread. Oksana wouldn't touch it, but Allah said it was good and Alesya's brother downed a whole glass. It was too fermented-tasting for me though.

The procedure ended with a very old man getting up and making a very long speech in Russian that wasn't translated (our ditsy friend said he would have translate but he was talking too fast) and then the pastor got up and spoke again and then we all rose to pray.

So this has been a very long post, and if you are not obsessed with Russian people and you still read this all the way though, I highly commend you!:-) Leave me a comment!

~Nastya