On the Edge

Sudak. It's a beautiful seaside city in South Crimea. Matt and I, along with our friend and teammate, Shannon Haynie, found oursleves on the edge of a cliff for a rest during a very intense hike yesterday. The three of us traveled down from Simferopol with two other CT ladies to hit the beach and get some sun! We also had a great time visiting with a wonderful CT family who spends half of the year in Tatarstan- Kazan, Russia and the other half in Crimea running their home like a hotel. They serve you CT cuisine and coffee and you experience real CT village life right down to the outdoor stone shower (with the ant bites), to the constant nightime sounds of cows, roosters, dogs, and sheep. The stars were so bright at night, because so many people do not have electricity; we could even see the Milky Way! It was great to get away and get to know this sweet and very hospitable family. None of our cell phones had any signal for 2 whole days, it was crazy!
Some highlights: We saw Russian dolphins while we were in Sudak too! Yes, Russian, they were trained to carry one flower and a bottle of Champagne to the raffle winner during the show! It was hilarious. We played with translucsent jelly fish in the Black Sea and ate fresh nectarines and grapes from the local market on the beach. We talked for hours and hours about faith with our hosts and how it looks different in Islam and Christianity. Shannon and I rode on a 15 minute intertube going 60 mph with our new friend, Zarifye, (the couple's 14 year old daughter). We realized how old we've become. :) ahh, the water. We slept on cots, swatted the flies and mosquitos away during the night, danced CT dances after long drawn out dinners (where we sat on the floor with big pillows behind a low table), looked at famous photographs from the host, who is famous throughout all Europe, and had a wonderful time! I love living on the edge. P.S. Notice how I'm sitting in the middle, not too close to the edge...