April 22, 2012

Dear Comrades,

Isn't there something significant about this date? ...  Isn't it Ле́нин (Lenin's) birthday or something?

Ah, ha!  It is Lenin's birthday.  Even when I am trying to make a joke I am right.    Good grief!  Maybe I have been here too long?

It's 8:30 this evening in Moscow.  The park  below our back window is full of strollers, or strollee's, if you like.  It's almost 70 degrees and the sky is fairly bright.  I don't think it will be dark for at least another 30 minutes.

The Walker's have just left to go to their flat.  They were kind enough to let us feed them and then subject them to watching pictures of our trip to the mid-East almost exactly three years ago.  They pretended to be interested but I became suspicious when I heard Brother Walker snoring behind me as I prattled on and on.

Church was nice today.  The speakers were well prepared and there were several visitors, as there always seem to be in the Moscow Ward.  Two of the African brothers were confirmed today, having been baptized yesterday.  The President of the Dnepropetrovsk mission and his wife were in the meeting.  He came for a 20 year reunion of a group he had helped form 20 years ago that had something to do with the Russians and nuclear power.  They are kind and gentle people.

Last week was the Orthodox Easter.  For the real Saints it was a day to watch the Sunday sessions of general conference, which had had time to be translated into Russian.  That is how the world deals with the time difference between themselves and SLC, and any language needs.  The Church translates the sessions into X number of languages and then rebroadcasts them around the world a week after conference at a time convenient for the Saints to watch in their native languages.

Our broadcast was an extra week later because the 8th of April was Easter for the rest of the Christian world--so we had our Easter Sacrament meetings on 4/8.

We had a very interesting afternoon yesterday.  We decided to visit Moscow State University because one of the brethren in the office, a young member of the Moscow stake presidency, gave us some suggestions for places to see, and the weather has taken a wonderful turn for the good.  He said there was a lovely overlook of Moscow from a hill to the south of the city and, MSU sits on the bluff above the river, creating the overlook.

So, we (us + the Walker's) took the Green line to where it connects to the Red line and went south west to Universitat station and got out.  It was a typical Moscow intersection--enormous and busy.  There were students everywhere.  We hunted up the best looking passers-by to ask directions.  We found lots of English speakers  and all of them were very willing to help us.  We walked through the campus, and and finally found ourselves at the city overlook.  Along the way we passed several wedding parties, as this is a very popular spot for brides to have their pictures taken.

We knew, however, that something unusual was going on when we began to be passed by numerous 4-wheelers, motorcycles, and scooters, all headed in the direction we were going and all driving at what must certainly be illegal speeds.

We found the cause of the commotion at the end of a long walk-way leading from the main building on the campus, one of Stalin's 'seven sisters.'  (The story is that in order to impress foreign visitor he had seven enormous and pretty tall buildings built around the city.  The one we saw yesterday, was enormous.)

Anyway at the end of the long avenue leading away from the campus we came to the overlook.  There were probably 100 motorcycles there, as well and what I assume was a campus-sponsored Earth Day troop.  There were lots of spectators and participants.  The Earth Day crowd had a band gearing up to play American rock and roll.  The motorcycles, 4-wheelers and scooters ran up and down the street doing about whatever they wanted, under the benign gaze of a bunch of policemen.   I think we stumbled onto the most happening place in Moscow yesterday.

When we got home we had an email from one of the senior couples with a link to a YouTube video of a performance of a flash mob just two months ago on the site where you will see motorcycles later in the post.  I think you will find it interesting:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oacelnX3VSQ

Well, on to the photos--

This is the hallway between the Green line and the Red line stations.  It is about a 10 minute walk between the stations.

Two weeks ago on Sunday we had arranged to feed the Walker's dinner.  They came to the apartment before we got home by about 30 minutes,and of course could not get in.  Two weeks ago winter was still with us.  With a perfect fashion sense Elder Walker asked if he could borrow his wife's hat.  She kindly agreed.

We found another McDonald's not far from the Central building were we go on Thursday nights to be with the other senior couples.  Ben would call it a geezer fest.

This is on our way to the Metro two weeks ago.

Here is the path we use for a short cut from the flat to the Metro.  We are very glad for the moderating temperatures but spring does have a down side.

Is this conspicuous consumption, or what?  I was doing somethings simultaneously  last week on the PC, the iPad, the laptop and the iPhone.  Ridiculous.

This is how they disguise the trash cans near the large shopping center we pass on the way to the Metro.

This is how they disguise dinner on the way to the Metro.  I swear I am becoming a meat snob here.

I should have asked the gentleman if I could borrow his jacket for the prom.

Ben's mother noticed this in the store the other day.  We did not buy it.

Here is Ahmed the nut and dried fruit shop owner.  We have bought a lot of walnuts from him as well as some almonds and pistascios.  He speaks reasonable English so we get along fine.

Since most of the shop owners know we don't know the Russian words for numbers they punch the total into a hand calculator and show us the number.  That works well.

I have been trying to remember to tell you that I have been wearing my BYU hoodie (above) all over Moscow and not a single soul has shown any sign of recognizing the initials of the Lord's university.  I am astonished.  What is the point of  having a football team if they don't know who you are in Moscow?

Ummmm.  Yummy.

Fruits and veggies.

Marlene noticed some twins and could not resist getting their picture.

The Saturday before Orthodox Easter there were folks lined up for blocks to get their Easter cakes, and sometimes eggs, blessed by the priests.

Something just for Rachael. 

Someone (a babe) on her way to the office.

A small portion of the amusement park out behind the apartment building.

The front yard of our apartment complex with some interesting looking duck-like birds.

The Russian's are on to something with these recycled broom parts. We see these about everywhere.  The branches are held on the staff by some (I presume) used nylons.

Marlene notes that we pay too much for our brooms.  We can use the branches that fall off our trees instead of just throwing them in the trash.  I will expect to see Emily put one together in the near future.

An interesting sculpture in the park behind our building, which is seen between the legs of the two figures.

A lovely sunset out our back windows.  Boy! are we enjoying the warming weather.  You can see that the lakes behind us are still frozen, even thought about two weeks have gone by w/o the temperature descending below freezing.

The statue in the previous picture is right being that copse of three trees just to the right of the middle of this picture.

Ah, the first flowers.

Here we are starting on our journey through the Moscow State University campus.  That is a  statue of the headless horseman behind Marlene.

A couple of  co-eds.

More co-eds helping us find our way.  Everyone we talked to was helpful and friendly.

Obviously, one of the seven sisters.  The wings of the building go right and left for about 75 yards beyond the margins of the photo.

One of the many wedding parties taking photos.  The big building is behind us and the city overlook is ahead of us.

Nathanael's dream car.

One of the boys heading for the fun at the end of the road.

The end of the road and, we were told, one of the ski-jump ramps for the last winter Olympics held in Moscow, in 1897, I believe.

One of the views from the overlook.  I think that cluster of buildings might be New Moscow City, but that is just a guess.

A bride and groom, and interested (not) spectators.

We offered to take a sample drink but could not get an okay from anyone.

A cluster of fun.  I talked to one of the riders.  He said that once the weather turns good thousands of bikers come to this overlook each weekend.  He claimed that you can hardly walk between the lines of bikes.  He drives a CBR 1000.

Two of the Earth Day folks.  I guess the bike means low carbon output.  The girl in the angel costume with the white-face symbolizes ???

A  band set up on this truck bed.  They only played part of one song while we were there and did it pretty well--"Born to  Be Wild."

Some model  cars drifting around a track on the walk way.

This guy did numerous high-speed passes and looked like he was having a great time.

Ben, what is it?

Another Earth Day thingee.  This man's walking propelled the contraption ... with a little help from three guys pushing.  I wonder if he is part of Obama's green energy staff?

The front of the truck with the band on the flat bed behind.  Everyone was having a great time.

Some of the folks having a great time.

Marlene took this picture.  The lady on the left is typical of the youngish Russian women we see all over the place--stylish, high heals, etc.

Wheelies, with a little help, plus our enigmatic white-faced angel on the two seater bike.

A MSU coed  (I presume)  in black, studying crowd behavior.

A Russian Rolls-Royce.  I loved the bumper (trunker) sticker--below.

The path down from the bluff toward the river.  We are headed for the one Metro stop in Moscow that is built on a bridge.

Out our back window when it was still winter, but there were signs that spring would come.

A venoochka.

Good Evening.  Monday April 9, 2012.  Moscow, Russia.

We are still here.  Have not escaped yet.  We really love it here don't we Mrs. KGB?  (We're testing the Kremlin's sense of humor.)  Speaking of the Kremlin ... we got close last Friday.  More on that in a minute.

We did not blog last weekend because nothing of note happened.  I think we were trapped in the flat by marginal weather.

But, we are fine.  We messaged with Emily and Becky this evening (Moscow time) and Ben this morning.  Becky and family are headed for Disneyland.  (Ben and family are coming home from Arizona.)  We Skyped with Andy and children a few minutes ago.  Andy is home for the weekend and will return to Afghanistan/West Texas tomorrow.  There is a reason the Army trains in west Texas.

It rained today.  This is the first 'real' rain of the spring.  So far this year our signs of spring have been snow that melted within a few days, instead of being on the ground for months.  We are, in fact, able to see patches of mud surrounded by snow.  So spring cannot be more than a month, or two, away.

We learned over the weekend that President Schwitzer will return to the good ol' US o f A in July and begin an assignment with the Temple Department.  The current first counselor, Larry Lawrence, will become the Area president.  President Bennett will become the first counselor, and Per Malm will be the 2nd counselor.  These are all good men, so we should continue to have a wonderful experience here.

Some pictures.

Now I remember what we did last weekend, besides being held in by the weather.  We moved all of the furniture in the flat around so that we could 'mark' our space.  We inherited an odd configuration.   The master bed was in the room with the only couch in the joint.  (See below.)

The other room (see above) held a day bed and the office stuff.

Bed and couch.

Now the bed is in the bedroom and the couch and office stuff are in the living room.  The day bed is in here also, awaiting the arrival of unsuspecting tourists.

Marlene eating one of those ridiculous Cinnabun cinnamon rolls with caramel and chocolate sauce and nuts.  I begged her for some but she would not give me any.

This is a very high-end shopping center only two Metro stops from where we can get on.  I think it is called Megalopolis or Metropolis, or Mall of America.

We took this picture for Jacob.

As we were  walking out we heard some pretty loud rock 'n roll and made our way to the noise.  There was a fashion show going on.  We are looking down on four 'models' dancing/prancing on the runway.  The girls in the swim suits came out next but Marlene claimed that her camera was out of pixels so she could not get any shots.

This was hanging on the wall of one of the Metro stations.  I think it says, "This is Ben on his next bike."
Pretty striking ad I thought.  I wanted to rush out an buy one right away. 

Marlene is captivated by the pay-toilet attendants.  When it was really cold a few weeks ago there would be a tandem set of toilets and one would be occupied by the attendant (to keep from freezing to death) while the other was available for rent.

One can find them on the main streets, even near the 'malls.'  I guess this is entrepreneurialism at its height, or depth.

Flowers.  Flowers.

Cute boys in the elevator.  There was a third boy behind the adult to the left of the picture.  He did not appear until everyone got off the elevator.

The view from our new living room window.  (I guess the view was always there but the living room wasn't.)  This was a week ago.  Now the same scene shows patches of mud puddles.  Progress.

The main office babe on her way to the office last week.  We have just left the flat ... behind Marlene.

The missionary old couples meet each Thursday evening at the "Central Building."  I have shown you pictures of it previously.  We are on our way to a Subway store to get dinner ahead of going to the meeting.  We had not previously noticed this Adam and Eve statue in the little park adjacent to the Metro stop.  I think we had been walking head down to keep the snow out of our eyes.

Notice Adam sitting on the snake and the snake's head to the right of Eve.  It is really quite well done.

We are on the 14th floor of the Meridian Office Tower.  We had our windows washed last week, on the only day it did not snow.  This is Olga at work. She is the nice young lady who took our Turkish treasures to Becky.  (Those are the treasures that none of the rest of the family has seen.   Rod reported that they could be viewed on Ebay.)

Most of the office staff.  It was Maryann Walker's birthday on the 6th of April.  I was working while Marlene was taking the pictures.

The Walker's invited us to go with them while they went about celebrating Sister Walker's birthday in the afternoon/evening.  Friday was a cold, but sunny, day.  We took the Metro down to one of the stops near the center of the city and walked around a bit.  I have been waiting for over three months to get to see some of what we saw on Friday.  My spirits were lifted at the prospect that there is more to Moscow than the dreary apartment buildings we see stretching to the horizon, from our dreary apartment building (exterior only.)

This is the famous Bolshoi Ballet building.  It had been closed for years, undergoing a multi-billion dollar renovation.  It has opened for the season and the tickets are dear.  We are going to see Swan Lake here on Marlene's birthday, whenever that is.

Bolshoi means 'big.'

Here is a statue of Mr. Marx looking toward the ballet theater.    Behind him are some building that abut Red Square.  We are headed that direction.

An interesting structure--a restaurant.

We are about to enter Red Square. St. Basil's cathedral is seen through the archway.

A couple of tourists entering the square.  The square itself is an enormous open space, paved with foot-square paving stones.  The eastern Kremlin walls are seen over Marlene's head.  I don't know how much space the walls enclose but they looked to be to be about a half mile square.  We did not get in this day.  Mr. Putin was busy.

Some older folks admiring the scene.

Lenin's tomb.  It's a striking building.  One has to pay to see the great man.  We passed.

Another cute child, dressed for an evening out.

A little closer to St. Basil's.

Very striking.  I read somewhere that the best view is from the outside, in that the interior is disjointed and cramped.  We will see in the summer.

A really good photographer should be able to get some striking pictures of this building. 

Looking back, north, to where we entered the square.

Just off the SE corner of the Kremlin wall.  This is Friday afternoon traffic.

Marlene and Maryann just outside of Red Square.

The Walker's at the restaurant where we had her birthday dinner.  It was a kind of Chuck-o-rama, but with charm.

We are about to enter the Metro station by the Adam and Eve statue.  This gentleman was trying to get paid for playing Beatles music.  I contributed about 20 rubles, or sixty cents.

Waling home last night we saw this worker (he seems to be responsible for the walks around our building) throwing salt on the walk way, using a piece of cardboard and an old tin container.  I guess the whirly-bird spreader has yet to be invented.

Marlene learned the other day that the Russians have a cute way of expressing their feelings about an elongated winter. Today, for instance, is the April 9th for most of us.  For the Muscovites it is the 68th of February.  Pretty good, I'd say.