The Orthodox services are very different from a Protestant service. The most striking difference is in the interaction between the priest and the parish. In a service in Sweden there is a natural interaction; the priest talks directly to the parish, they sing together etc. In Russia it is much more like a staged ceremony where the priest does the chanting, praying etc. without really addressing the people directly and the people are more bystanders and passively watching.
After the service we took it easy in Peshma. Some of us went for a swim in Volga, we read some books and updated our diaries. In the afternoon we all gathered for Sashlik (barbeque) and then we went back to Ivanovo.
Once back in Ivanovo Oskar and I went to visit the Rotarian Darius and his wife Lena. We hanged in their garden there for some hours and had some beers, did some shooting with their air rifle and talked. All the sudden the hour was getting late so we continued directly to a pool hall where we played pool with Sasha and his friends. Also Christian, his host Alex and some of his friends joined us. We got the opportunity to try the Russian variant of pool with much bigger balls, bigger tables and smaller holes. The holes are actually only 3 mm wider than the balls. Try hitting that from across the other side of the big table.
As always we had a great time with Sasha, Alex and all their really relaxed and nice friends, and before we knew it the vodka was on the table and after that there is only one way forward; time for night clubbing. Although it was Sunday and Ivanovo is not a very big city we were able to find a nice little club with good atmosphere and we had an awesome night and was coming home way too late.
Best Regards,
Anders
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