Thursday, December 18, 2008

Our apartment is just off the main street of St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, which is very busy with people walking, cars and buses driving all the time. We live just a little ways off it on a walkway called Malaya Sadovaya. To get to our apartment you have to go thru a locked gate which you unlock with a "black" magnet key, thru a little tunnel, then into a courtyard with several apartments and a few businesses. We even have a tatoo parlor in our complex. To get into our building you go thru two doors which you have to unlocked with a "gray" magnet key, similar to the one that you open the gate with. We live on the third floor behind a front door made of steel which has to be opened with two locks using two different keys. We then have another steel door but we have no key for that lock so we just lock in when we are inside. All of this for two people who have homeless men living in their house because they never lock anything in Wapello. If anyone ever came to see us they would ring a doorbell out by the gate and it would open the gate. Then when they got to our building they would punch in our apartment number on a keypad and it would ring a phone by our front door and we can talk to them (that is if we could understand them which we can't) then we would push a little button on the phone and it would open those doors then when they got to our door they would ring a doorbell and we would look out the little peephole and see them, but we have no light in our hall so we can't see anything out there. So I guess it is a good thing we have no visitors but if any of you come to visit we will be sure to open our door (that is if you speak English). Taped on our front door is a paper with Russian written on it and if anyone ever knocks on our door and says they are the police we are supposed to say what ever it says on the paper. But since I can't read it or say it, I am just going to hide, behind those two big steel doors.

1 comment:

Karen's Korner said...

My, My--What SECURITY!! Dennis and I just discovered your Blog this morning, (Tuesday) and I'm delighted that you HAVE one!! Judging by all the locks you have to go through, it'll be best if you don't ever have to HURRY home to use the bathroom, eh?? (And--oh yes---Wapello area IS a little less secure, we've noticed!)

It's gonna be fun to keep up with you this way, so we'll keep checking in! Sunday at church Katie told me that you guys are all using Web-Cam, too, so...How Wonderful!

All of us are thinking of you and talking about you, and Wade and Kam are here and they both say to tell you "hi"! So Merry Christmas to you from ALL of US. We love you and have you in our prayers! Love, Karen