Ch-Ch-Chernushka!

Hello fellow internet users, YWAM Hockey's resident goalkeeper Matt will be providing you with a fun-filled, action-packed summary of our week in Chernushka, Russia.

The team spent most of it's time in one of three places...

1) The church. This is where we spent most of our down time, and where the majority of the
team slept at night. Krista however stayed in a flat with Inga, the host extraordinaire.

2) The rink. Here, we spent our time either running practices with the local team (who are currently without a coach), or we were playing games against teams from Chernushka and the surrounding area. One interesting thing about this rink is the dressing rooms are ex-bomb shelters. So if any kind of air attack ever occurred in Chernushka, the rink would be the place to be.

3) The host's house. Two words can sufficiantly describe our time at Andrei's house: 'Yum yum'. Andrei and Galia (a cook of legendary proportions) were incredible hosts, opening up their house and serving our team day after day. Not only did they provide us with great meals (and introducing us to 'shashlick'), but they also allowed the team to use their banya, which after a long and tiring day, is pure bliss.

YWAM hockey also ventured into some new territory in Chernushka, visiting some local schools this week. We visited the 'Chernushka Gymnasium', and a cadet school as well.

We got invited to play some basketball and soccer with the students at the Gymnasium. What we didn't know is we were playing organized games against the school's respective teams, with crowds of students watching. I can distinctly remember walking into the school, looking to my right and seeing a poster on the bulletin board saying something about 'Canada vs. Russia'. It was just then that I knew those games would be something special.

So that is how our week went. We are taking a few days to rest at the base in Perm, and then we will be off to Kungur on Monday.