June 15

It's off to an early anniversary start. Not really, but I did wake up at 7:30 to start my last load of laundry so it would have all day to hang out to dry. But I cheated & crawled back in bed 'til 9. Tee hee! I'll bet you all wish you could've done that today. It was my anniversary treat. Though I must say I haven't slept as soundly the last couple days due to all the thinking & working that goes into our leaving. You know. . .not wanting to forget things, collecting everything from all over the house, cleaning, etc. It's all a process.

The morning brought no shower. Actually there's water so I could technically wash off with a cloth, but that's not as much fun as waiting all day 'til we go to the hardware store to buy a new shower head.

Yesterday & much of today have brought rain & lots of it. I must say that's a fine way to end our stay since we didn't have trips to Moscow planned--let it rain as much as it wants. And rain always makes me feel like cleaning, so that helps Christy out. We've spent our a.m. getting more of the house cleaned up, etc. Leo came by 10 or 11 & immediately asked how he could help clean. He spent much time dusting & finding his own way to clean. He's such a polite kid. I made an apple cake to aid in the celebration of my anniversary & also Patrick & Christy's since we didn't have a special dessert that day. Lunch brought a break from cleaning & Christy made something wonderful out of what she called "nothing in the house." We will go grocery shopping today to help stock up for their next company. Even just a couple of extra mouths eats a person out of house & home. Madeleine's been doing amazingly well eating the food here.

The internet has not been cooperating super well today; of course, on a day when we have many things to get done via internet--confirming my flight for tomorrow, e-mailing my husband of 16 years, finding a map from the KCI airport to Mom & Dad's for my jaunt when I get home, etc. I'm squeezing this blog in & hoping that the connection continues long enough for me to post. Cross your fingers!

Now we're getting ready to quit cleaning for a time & head to the various stores. And yes, we will make one more stop at the chocolate store to finish buying our last confections. You really must come to Russia sometime just to try their exceptional chocolates. Patrick has gone to get the car at the parking place & will return shortly. We will shoo Leo away one last time before we leave tomorrow & know that he will show up to meet the rest of the "parties" coming in the coming weeks. It will give the kiddos something to do & someone to play with while their parents do their schmoozing & showing people around, etc. He's an answer to prayer & has become a part of the family very quickly. He's a boy all the way around--wanting to play wrestling games & razzing Ethan, Megan, & Madeleine almost immediately. He loves to tell jokes & he really is a talker--not really caring if you can understand him or not. He wants the family to meet his parents soon & Patrick assured him they'd be honored. We will miss his sparkly, mischievous eyes, ready laughter, & dimpled smile when we leave for Kansas. But pictures make a memory last longer.

Errand time ends up taking longer the older I get. Is that right? We went first to the chocolate store so I could stock up on my faves. Oh my goodness--I will be happy for quite some time & have plenty to share. Plus. . .then we went to the grocery store & I bought some bars of fine chocolate for souvenirs for a few of my friends. Might that be any of you? We'll see! We made a final stop at McDonald's for a final cherry pie for the kids before Mad goes home tomorrow. And I bought an extra one for her to eat as breakfast on the way to the airport in the morning. She is one spoiled girl.

The rest of the day has consisted of packing, re-packing, wrapping souvenirs to protect them in flight, showering, finishing the book the kids have been reading each night together, etc., etc., etc. In the meantime, after our double cheeseburger supper from McD's, some of us fested on the apple cake I had made earlier in the day. The recipe is a keeper.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in this Neifert household & the great Russia they represent. Thanks to any & all of you who have contributed to making this trip a possibility--from finances, to consignment donations to prayer support to holding the fort down, etc. This has been a wonderful time of learning another culture that I would definitely visit again if ever afforded the opportunity. Thanks for taking the time to hear my story of our summer of 2007 in Russia.

Peace out!

June 14

Up, up, & on to our new day. It's gotten away from me & I don't recall much that we did. The kids played almost all day with Leo & I got pictures to remember him by. Christy even played Wii against him & Ethan some. Much of the day has brought lots of rain, complete with thunder & lightning. We even got a sample of the local civil defence drill whistle. The kids went out to splash & get soaked in the rain. All of them were dripping at the door. They came in & changed immediately, but Leo had nothing. So he unabashedly just took all his clothes off but his underwear. I guess he feels comfortable here. We were all giggling, but the kids didn't seem to even notice; they looked much like shorts so it was not big deal.

After a chicken nugget lunch, we walked to the chocolate store again to do some more sampling, too. That's a fine Russian tradition, if you ask me. We go buy a couple pieces of various kinds & come home. Then I cut the individual pieces into 3 so all we adults get a sampling. Then we in our own way vote yes or no. It's helping Patrick & Christy discover some new favorites, too. But this trip was to find a few more samplings to take home & also to stock up on the 3 we know we love so far. Yum! Much of my souvenir-ing is chocolate, but I think that's a great way to bring Russia home. The only problem I foresee is eventually (probably sooner rather than later) this souvenir will run out. Shucks!

On home to eat leftovers for supper. We got part of the fridge cleaned out, but not all. Then it was on to cleaning mode. Really. . .it was only supposed to be the kids getting started on their room, but it turned into super organize mode for all of us & we got a good start on getting their house whipped into shape for their next company who comes the same day I leave. They will not have a break from company 'til sometime in August. I must say I'm glad I got in on their first good graces. I only made them start getting tired of company, but they aren't completely tired of it yet.

Christy voted us to watch a movie tonight; we did but didn't get started 'til after our super cleaning mode. We watched "Cheaper by the Dozen." It was cute & we were all in a laughing mood so it worked out great. Bed at 11:30 with big plans to finish our super cleaning & launder & pack our clothes for the trip home. I'm ready to go home but will totally miss being here a lot. And Leo has been asking if we'll come back soon cuz he wants us to. We explained it took almost 2 whole years to save the money to come this time. His eyes got big as he deciphered this. I'm thinking most Russians think all Americans are rich--and we probably are by their standards.

Off to bed.

June 13

With our plans well orchestrated, we woke up by 7:30 & 8 a.m. to start our last day to discover Moscow. We ate our breakfast in shifts & took showers, dressed, packed a small sandwich snack pack for everyone & were off by 9:30--well within our range of time to leave to reach our 12 noon Red October chocolate factory tour. Getting out of Elektrostal & much of the way to Moscow was fine; then the traffic started. The kids were busily watching Spongebob on the DVD player while Patrick & Christy weighed the options. It was finally decided partway into the city that we'd park farther back than originally planned & catch the metro to the chocolate factory. After snarfing down our sandwiches & lemonade, we quickly got going with that new plan. With many little factors weighing in, we weren't able to keep our appointment so completely missed the chocolate factory tour. Hey, little things happen & add up to "these things happen." Then we were so worn out from hoofin' it to make our tour that we sauntered back to the Kremlin/Red Square area to try our hand at our next tourist plan for the day. The thing about Russia, is that you can't book everything in advance & simply have to play into the plan of whoever is in charge for the day. Long story short, we couldn't get tickets for the day to visit the Armory either. But that final decision didn't happen 'til hours later & many tries to gain access to this tour. Shucks! It's a collection of many of Russia's valuable treasures--gilded carriages, weapons, Faberge eggs, Bibles, etc. So already our planned day was going everything but according to plan A. However, in the meantime, Patrick & kids had found a bus tour of the city. Madeleine & I were pretty tired of all the walking back & forth we'd already done to try to do the chocolate factory & the Armory, so instead of doing a bus tour (we had a boat tour at the beginning of our time here), we were right next to the Museum of History so opted for that. It was very affordable & we paid the extra that allows us to take pictures inside. It was a nice stroll through of many similar treasures to the Armory, so it ended up being a great alternative. Of course we just did our own strolling & didn't know what all the placards said since we don't know Russian, but it was fun to see all the cool treasures. Patrick actually prefers this museum now to the Armory. They'd never been before to the museum so now they have a different place to tell their visitors about.

Now it was late enough in our day that we headed to one of the local TGIFridays restaurants--perhaps a late anniversary dinner for Patrick & Christy & an early one for me to celebrate without Seth? Thanks Aunt Ruth & Uncle Ed for this dinner treat. Orginally you were treating us to the chocolate factory tour, but alas plan B had to come into effect. We had some good ol' American food (I had Bruschetta Pangonisi--white fish with a tomato-basil topping) before heading to find our theatre for the ballet. We knew at least this one thing would go as planned today since we actually had pre-purchased tickets. We did find the theatre not far from our restaurant & were 30 minutes prior to showtime. It was put on in the Pushkin theatre. We saw "Sleeping Beauty," & it was as probably not quite as good as the amateur ones I've seen at Friends University--not what I would call a professional calibre, though it was put on by a professional company of Moscow. The first half had many technical foibles for many of the dancers with only 1 dancer showing any talent at all. Madeleine could've done anything from the first half. Our seats were in the same row as each other, but Madeleine & I sat separately from Christy & Megan. At intermission we went up to the small cafe area to get drinks & a small snack, but the bartender wouldn't accept 1000 ruble bill & that's all Christy or I had so we went back to our seats for the second half without any refreshment. The second half showed more technical promise, but ballets do tend to get long-winded due to all the solo work & featured dances of only a few dancers at a time. It had more technical difficulty & was funner for me to watch. I laughed inside because at curtain call time, one of the worst dancers there (who actually had a prominent dance role throughout) received a huge bunch of roses (probably 50 or so) from an admirer & the lead role received barely a handful. We saw Megan's 1st grade teacher on the way out of the ballet.

Next it was time to call Patrick & Ethan (who had spent their time during the ballet at a former classmate's house from their time living in Moscow) to meet up with them. Christy got her metro instructions & transfers all straight--catch the green line, go 2 stops, & meet at the platform of the yellow line--and we were off to find our way back to the car to head home.

June 12

Happy Independece Day, Russia! & Happy Birthday cousin Brianna in Argonia, KS.

This a.m. Patrick made us all our own personal omelets for our morning meal. He's got th s down to a fine art and is perfecting it to an art. Now he has a reputation that he has to keep. We had a small ceremony of the grand unveiling of the computer, but basically I've been reading a bunch this day already. We've been watching the TV a bit trying to find out if anything is happening today in the town center for celebrating independence day. So far, we're seeing nothing, but we may venture into the center later to see if it's bustling.

Since we forgot toilet paper on our outing last night, Christy & I went to the store to get some this a.m. while Patrick is busily re-formatting his new computer. It will take lots of time to get eveyrthing redone for this, but he's been working on it diligently & playing Wii in between while the data installs. The kids have spent some time outside & are now taking turns with Patrick on the Wii.

Christy & I have been reading, reading, reading & then took a Wii break to practice our tennis skills on each other & then turns with Patrick. We beat him a couple games, but never a whole match. Shucks! We gave him a run for his money.

Then it was on to making our big meal of the day, yummy pork chops, sauteed mushrooms, fresh veggies, & potatoes--topped off with of course our daily after-meal chocolate. You really would not believe how much selection of really good chocolate is so readily available. I've been in heaven & still have so many more kinds to sample before leaving. But tomorrow we go to the chocolate factory for the tour. Most excellent! Can't wait for our last adventure of Moscow. The kids have been busily entertaining themselves with outdoor play by themselves, with their new friend Leo, & creating their own music on Garage Band--a Mac music maker.

After supper, which we invited Leo to but he declined, the kids went back out to play with Leo while the adults (mostly Patrick & Christy) tidied up the meal. I slunked back to get more of my book done. I love it! Then my family from Kansas Skyped us & we caught up on their exploits as of late. Patrick & Seth talked Mac talk & the business of getting the internet up & running on his new computer. Nothing has worked here in Russia so far in the Mac area of internet for Patrick. We'll keep trying. A little sleep & a break always brings more results later, eh? While Patrick was trying to do that with Seth, the rest of us took an end-of-the-day walk. We had called friends earlier to find out if anything of a celebration was going on in the town, but they said they'd been to the center & absolutely nothing is going on. We walked a different route than normal & hit a store along the way that has a totally different chocolate stash. Now Christy knows a closer store that has a pretty good selection. I haven't tried any tonight, but from the looks of things, the kids must've found the stash. It's not all gone yet but could be if we're not careful & get our tasting in soon.

Now at the end of my day (& frustratingly no internet for Patrick yet), I'm merely pages away from finishing my book, but with it being so late & with us actually have to follow a bit of a schedule tomorrow (i.e. a wake-up call & no sleeping in), I need to hit the hay. I will see some of you soon with many adventures to tell. 'Til then . . .

June 11

Happy Anniversary, Patrick & Christy! We woke to the sounds & smells of children clanking around in the kitchen--making chocolate chip pancakes for the affair. Well . . . the pancakes stuck furiously to the pan so the pancakes became pancake balls & they had to start over & make a whole new batch of the batter. But by 11:30 they had 1 pancake per person & gave us another Breakfast Band ditty to get us to the table. Christy dubbed this meal Brezzert--breakfast, lunch, & dessert all rolled into one. Then we immediately snuck around & started lunch since we only got 1 pancake each to start our day. While we were starting lunch, the doorbuzzer rang & a new neighbor of theirs was here to meet them--husband, wife, 11-year-old & young toddler girls. They will not officially move in 'til Fall hopefully, but took us on a tour of their apartment right next door & showed us the work they were doing. The husband was doing all the work himself. It's a whole different living arrangement here in Russia--way smaller than any of us spoiled Americans are used to. Their apartment has some really cool features with some cool dropped ceiling designs that also have conceled lighting enclosed in them. You'd have to see it to get it.

A boy the kids befriended a few days earlier on the way to the chocolate store--Leo was outside along with a couple of other girls more Madeleine's age. Earlier the 3 had started a small "free" business outside where they had kids write down their names on a paper while Megan ran the paper up to Madeleine who artsied up their names & that was their little gift to the children of the area. This is how Leo & the girls came up to them. Leo invited them to his house for him to eat lunch. They went & played outside while he ate his lunch, then he came back & waited for them to eat lunch & then they all played together again. He's turning into a fine prospect for a friendship here & because he's such a social kid he will introduce them to many others, I'm sure.

While the kids were playing at Leo's house, we finished up our main meal of Indonesian chicken stir-fry over rice, so we ate a peaceful meal & the kids ate when they returned 30 minutes later. They were full of fun stories--I think any kid who is nice & showing them around is a welcome change from the first experience of friendship here in Elektrostal.

I spent much of this day reading a book from the Neifert bookshelf--The Poisonwood Bible. Very interesting & I really am enjoying it about a Baptist minister's family experience in the Congo in the 60's. It's fiction, of course, & if very colorful character-wise. I will read it a lot so I can finish it before heading home this weekend.

After a full day of no Wii & playing outside all day long, the kids did not enjoy the prospect of going out for errands toward the evening of our day. So we adults ventured out into town to buy groceries, etc. & in the process ate out at a chicken place before heading home. We also brought the coveted McDonald's cherry pies home for the kids to enjoy before bed. The kids stayed home while we went & ate popcorn while watching the first Pirates of the Carribbean movie. We came home, started the process of pulling the new computer out & unloading all the necessary programs & info from their old computer for the changing over tomorrow.

All in all, we had a good day & have plans to stay home much of tomorrow, too. Our stay is quickly coming to a close. I am eternally grateful for this experience of a new world & would love to be able to come back again some day. Time will tell.

June 10

Today was a wonderful outing to the countryside--a first time to a little town called Suzdal for all of us. Wow! is what I can say initially. We almost cancelled this trip thinking it would be a 4-hr. trip one way, but we're so glad we went. We also invited friends of Patrick & Christy who accompanied us in our car--Sergey & Rina--for the day trip. They left their little girl Valya (short for Valentina) home with Babushka (grandma), who lives with them in their apartment. As soon as we packed our sack lunches, stopped at the store for sausage & bread, we picked up Sergey & Rina & snuggled in for a long road trip, so we thought. The kids drew for the first few minutes & then we stuck in the 4th Harry Potter movie while Rina entertatined us with her loud exclamations of how beautiful the drive was. Much of Russia is green (from the cold, wet winters) & the birch trees cover the countryside with their tallness & splendor. Birch forests are everywhere you look in Russia--even in the middle of Moscow. And the little country towns we passed through on the way were full of older, wooden structures & houses, painted with carved out frames around the windows & many colors all over the wooden detail that outlines the rooflines & window areas. Most of the newer structures are cement & stonework. It was a nice ride with a stop to stretch our legs & take a potty break. We saw a couple of fender benders along the way--the law in Russia is to leave the vehicles exactly how & where they "crash." Some of them are more minor accidents, but. . .others are not.










After only 3 hours from the 9:30-ish take-off to official landing, we reached Suzdal--a very historical city full of old church structures & a large monastery complex still operating. We drove through this tourist city to get a feel for the main area & then turned around to find a nice picnic spot off the beaten path. It tried raining on us all day long, but never really let loose. The clouds, however, made for a pretty cool day & I didn't wear enough layers to keep me from shivering part of the day. The clouds also made for some beautiful backgrounds for the many pictures we took of spires & domes that frequent the religious architecture of the country. It really was a very relaxing place to spend a quiet Sunday, especially with friends. We walked around much of the town, which is built up a bit higher than the country surrounding it. We climbed a few hills which afforded spectacular vantage points to capture the city on film. Scattered throughout the town were performing musicians, craftsmen (archers, weavers, accordian players, painters), & horse-drawn carriages taking tours of the town--Christy, Megan, Madeleine, & I took a shortened 5-min. jaunt in one of these carriages. We spent several hours in Suzdal & wish you all could've seen it, too. It was well worth the trip in the car & the drive home took only around 2 hours. We finished the Harry Potter movie on the trip home & started on Herbie Fully Loaded as our travelling movies.

The adult girls all sat in the farthest back seat of the van on the way home & we snoozed part of the way--only to awake to see an accident that involved at least one death. Remember I said they don't move the cars or the people 'til the police have inspected everything & cleaned things up. So you see a bit more of the life & death scene in Russia than I care to see again.

We were home & had our friends dropped off by 7 p.m. & got everything picked up & put away only to bring our meat & bread & vegetables back out for supper. Ethan's trying to construct his own long bow as seen at Suzdal. We've also strarted on a puzzle & are playing Wii in various forms this evening while Christy reads & I try to catch up a bit on the blog.

Greetings to you all as we start winding down our time here in Elektrostal. I know 3 weeks was just right for me to experience many sights & sounds of this area of Russia & for that I will always be glad I took the time to be gone for this long. I'm anxious to see the rest of my family again since I have many pictures & stories to share with them.

We're coming up on a national Russian holiday that we didn't know we'd get to be a part of--June 12 is some sort of a celebration of independence. Even the Russians can't tell you independence from what, but everyone gets off work, there are celebrations in each town & I think fireworks to be had. I'm sure we will get out & about to discover a bit of Elektrostal's celebration in a couple of days, but not 'til after tomorrow's celebration of Patrick & Christy's 14th anniversary--June 11. Wee haw!

June 9

A day in Moscow in order--the day Christy insisted I take to re-visit the market Ismailova because I didn't buy enough the first time & the booths were mostly closed the first day we went. This time it was busy. Patrick & I waited 'til 10 a.m. to leave (after a phone call to the Mac store in Moscow); none of the kids wanted to come so Christy graciously stayed home to hold down the Elektrostal fort--no problems there. We arrived without any major crisis in just over an hour--nice timing. We started combing the stalls & aisles of the open outdoor market to see what we could find for me to take back to America for friends, family, & myself to commemorate this trip. It was fun & we asked prices, haggled, etc. for 4 hours with a short shashleek (grilled meat shish-ke-bob style). I was pleased with my outcome & got away with some Christmas shopping, too. I won't tell what all I bought since many of you will see it when I get home & some of it is surprises. It was a beautiful, sunny day to browse & spend money on Russian hand-crafted items. And Patrick is an excellent person to have when it comes to bartering at the marketplace.

Next we were off to one of the Mac stores to purchase the computer that will be the family's upgrade & option to use for the home-schooling they will do this coming fall. Without knowing the language or very foreign Russian alphabet, I had to make my brain work very hard to keep up with reading the map & the signs to find the way. Patrick would show me the way on the map & the street names to look for & then we'd go that far. Then he'd pull over again & show me the next part of the route & we'd do this over & over again 'til we reached our final destination in one of the downtown malls that has a Mac store. The sale went okay, but there were a couple of glitches in the purchase. However, the sale was finally made & we were able to load the new computer in the back of the huge trunk area of the Nissan Quest--this car needs a name, don't ya think? Maybe a contest is in order.

Now it was time to hop back into the van for the trip home. We left at 6:30 p.m. & didn't return 'til almost 9:30 p.m. because of traffic. It was Friday, so many are leaving the city from work, but also for their weekend dacha life. A dacha is a summer or retreat home that many go to for rest & relaxation away from their weekly life. Remember the trip to Moscow only took just over an hour.

Christy kept all the kids in order & we found out that Ethan & Megan are slowly befriending Alex, the bully again. Hopefully we can change his title from that one soon. He had a friend with a small moped & they took rides with him throughout the day. Madeleine shied away from those boys not being too sure about their character & intention. The computer was brought out for the ooh & ahh factor, but then packed back away for another day to unload & set up. I know . . .that's against many of your natures, but life must be put to bed occassionally at a decent hour & with tomorrow's plans coming quickly & early (for our lifestlye here). . .