Home sweet home... of sorts

Sunday, October 21, 2007 – 12:28AM EST– Minsk, Belarus (7:28AM)

What a delightful time we had last night! After the seminars, we drove down through downtown to see the lights on all the buildings and then to an apartment of a local pastor for dinner. The downtown area is so impressive with all the imposing buildings, and it’s even prettier at night. 99% of Minsk was wiped out in WWII, so there are literally only three or four original buildings. That means that most of the buildings downtown were built by German prisoners of war or in the ear of Stalin. They are huge stone edifices that stretch for blocks and blocks. The architecture is appealing to me. Most of it is not the typical Soviet cement block monstrosity-type that you see from pictures. It is very German/Austro-Hungarian with some ornamentation. Nonetheless, everything is overly huge and screams authoritarian.

We also saw the new National Library building that was completed within the last couple of years. It is a far departure from the typical stone government buildings around downtown. The Library is a very modern building with a towering cylindrical structure that goes up probably fifteen stories. The cylinder is covered with colored lights that change continuously, and there is an enormous sign out front with scrolling messages. Fascinating.

At the end of our drive through town, we arrived at the apartment of Valery and his wife. He is a local pastor, and it was a treat for us to dine with them in their home. Boris and Bella were with us as well as Alex, a seminar attendee that we met on Friday, and pastor Pavel and his wife. The food was delicious, especially the main chicken dish, and we enjoyed a fabulous time of discussion and conversation about education, politics (both current events and theoretical principles), and general “in America…” and “in Belarus…” type questions. There was much laughter at times, much seriousness at times, and I so enjoyed the opportunity we had to talk to ordinary people in their environment and to get to know them a little better. This is the first time we’ve been in a Belarusian’s flat over all of our visits here, and it was very special. It made for a later night than we anticipated, but it was well worth it. More to come…