May 30 & 31

Today is our first outing into Moscow--the excitement is mounting! Thinking we might be out of the house by 10, we didn't actually leave 'til 11:30--it takes a lot of primping to even come close to looking as polished as the Russian people do on a daily basis--and Mad & I did actually forget our stiletto heels/wedges that seem to be the rage for women from about 10-55 years old. After our bus trip to the metro station, we took the metro to another stop to catch authentic Russian food at My My (pronounced Moo Moo's--yes, Mom we got to eat here). It had cow decor all over with spots on the chairs, the dishes, etc. Madeleine was thrilled they had chicken noodle soup & mashed potatoes--that's really all she got. Moo Moo's is a cafeteria-style restaurant with excellent food & we ate down in the dark basement simply because it was cooler. It has been uncharacteristically hot while here--we were warned it would be 80's (nice & balmy I was thinking & packed appropriate clothes for that), but it's only been in the 90's since getting here & most of Russia does without air conditioning. Not to complain. My menu choices included a mushroom wrapped tomato & fresh herb bite, pork fritatta-type thing with rice & a mushroom/cheese bake which was both sweet & rich tasting.

On to ice-cream for the kids which gave them a tremendous amount of energy. We also browsed a bit in the small open market souvenir shops before heading on to better things. Here we bought a couple of neat items for the fam & sent Patrick on to buy our tickets to the river cruise tour of Moscow. While waiting on Patrick--who braved the traffic element for the tickets--we splashed & played in the plaza fountains. We all got wet to the core, which kept us cool at least through the river tour. We got to the tour a bit early & Madeleine taught Megan & Uncle Patrick the entres chacat ballet move, but it was harder than Patrick imagined, especially with his heavy clod sandals. It should be hard, Mad just learned it this year & she's good.

The tour doesn't have any guides--just Patrick & Christy pointing out the sights & letting us know all the fun things we could do on our 3 weeks here. It was refreshing to have the breeze to keep us cooler & we sat on the top under the open awning section of the boat. This was relaxing & took over an hour. At the end, right before our stopping point, there was the hugest billboard/advertising space I've ever seen for PS3--we have a picture, but the magnitude of it can't be captured; sorry, Davis & Connick--you should've been there.











From the tour, we walked a good jaunt to Red Square to look around at touristy sales booths--again--& then to just see many of the typical Moscow tourist attractions--St. Basil's, the Kremlin, the museum of history, countless statues depicting many Russian heroes, the huge gold-domed Christ the Savior Cathedral, countless fine arts theatres (Bolshoi ballet), etc. Madeleine was jumping all over the place with every new thing she saw. It was fun to see how much it was worth bringing her & that she appreciates the beauty of this historic city. But her most excitement came when we walked by & into the biggest, most opulent shopping mall of Russia--Gum (pronounced Goom)--not air conditioned in the halls but some of the stores were. We walked around a bit & saw a tremendous Mac display (pictures captured for our dear Seth) with plenty of technology through the years--almost a museum of Mac through the ages. Patrick & Christy wanted to go look at the Mac store so the rest of us ventured through the malls to see what could be seen. There was even a dance outfitting supply store, but we found nothing there to buy Madeleine. She was beaming the whole way through the mall; we met back at the entrance (3 stories back downstairs) & then went to explore more of the plaza area before hitting a McDonald's & Sbarro's for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the metro to catch our train. We all got super wet (except Christy--she kept all our bags & cameras dry) walking underneath sprays of water that go over a pathway. Even though all of this sounds like it took little time at all, by the time we left Elektrostal at 11:30 a.m. (remembering that we had a one-way trip of 1 1/2 hours to Moscow & then that again for the ride home), we didn't walk through our home doorway 'til well after 11 p.m. But also remember that dusk doesn't even set in 'til after 10 p.m. each night with complete darkness by 10:45-ish. We arrived home to personal graffiti decorating the hallway outside the door & the doorbell button detached form the wall to Patrick & Christy's apartment. They know the kids who do this--used to be close friend of Ethans, but don't really know why this 13-year old boy started being mean & defacing their property. I couldn't read the messages, but saw the picture & knew it was directed toward us. Christy spent 10 minutes washing the art/writing off the walls.

Needless to say we had a full day.

May 31

Today we slept 'til 9 a.m. again while Patrick & Christy accepted a Skype conference call from their home team who will be visiting them the day I leave to go home. It was a good call & they also learned this a.m. that the first half of their money needed to buy their car was successfully wired from the U.S. bank. So. . .we're thinking that by tomorrow they should have the full money & we or just Patrick will go pick up & drive home their new Nissan Quest. Nice for them after such a lenghty process of getting approval, etc. from the home mission organization. It will simplify their life much but will not take the place of all the walking they already do to get their daily life accomplished. Breakfast is usually on our own with the kids eating theirs earlier than us lazy adults. We knew today would be a free, catch up on relaxing & odds & ends phone calls, etc., so we did just that. I started my blog--with a little help from my techy bros, but with a few glitches hopefully to be corrected soon so you will get pictures to go with my daily entries. Christy spent some time on the internet to find a day, place, & time for us to go to a ballet. We were successful & will go to "Sleeping Beauty" on June 13--just the girls.

Then we got in a cleaning mode, mostly because there was grape juice that had been spilled the night before, so Patrick swept, I mopped, & Megan & Mad super-cleaned & vacuumed the kids' room. The kids being home all day & not going outside much were hyper nut beans but in a good way. They wrestled, chased, screamed, etc. & I believe it became girls against boys. Ethan's job was to vacuum the living room, but his lovely cousin Madeleine took that job over for him so he was out of luck.

The late afternoon missed us a couple of calls from home, but the 4 of us oldest people (Mad included) left for errand-ing: grocery store, internet flex card & then home to have orange-pineapple julius'--Christy's an excellent cooker/hostess--and on to make fajitas for supper--even homemade tortillas & guacamole. It was heavenly! More chocolate! I love this place--again! With darkness settling in around 10:30, supper often comes late. Generally we have 1 big meal a day & leftovers or snacking the rest of the time. I tried a yogurt snack bar: kind of a cheesecakey innard with yogurt-coated outside--yum!

The great Mikey called this evening to try to help us with my blogging issues--picture loading. And then we called home to see the Kansas fam--this free calling is super cool. Skype, to the rescue! They're paying me to say that. Off to bed by 10:30--early by our usual standards so far. I thought I lost all my blog, but Mike found it this a.m. & said everything had posted, so thank goodness there cuz my first attempt at recording my thoughts/memories is always best.

1st 4 days in Russia

May 26-27

Waking up is hard to do: 1:15 a.m. to shower, pack, & leave by 1:50 in our trusty red Geo to drive ourselves to the parking garage near the KCI airport. Only a couple of wrong turns later--of course our webmap was wrong--we made it in plenty of time to arrive the standard 3 hours prior to an international flight. Wow--whoda thunk? --the airport was empty, but thankfully open; however our 3 hours early info didn't take into consideration that the individual airlines' service desks don't open 'til 5 a.m. That only gave us the 1 hour prior to our 6:05 a.m. flight. But we weren't the only ones who got the memo to arrive 3 hours before their flight, so we groggily visited with a family from Iowa & people-watched through zombie eyes. We made the right line & only had to take out one contraband item from our checked baggage--the Pam cooking spray was taken from us, but we admitted our crime before they could jail us so we were good to go.

Our flight left on time with no hitches & we made it from KC to Dallas in 1 hr. 11 min. We left the plane to grab a quick McD's pancake b'fast & then back to the gate where they were waiting for us (not on us!) to fly to Newark, NJ (3 hrs.-ish). We got in our plane on time, but had nightmare kids behind us who screamed spoiled screams & fits the entire 3 hr. flight while we tried to sleep through their noise & their kicking on the backs of our chairs. Ugh

In Newark we had to claim our baggage & find a shuttle to get us to NYC-JFK airport--a bit crunched on time. We had 4 hours to get from here to there, but the shuttle takes 1 1/2 hours, so we got to the desk just in time to catch the 1 p.m. shuttle to get us to JFK by 2:30, with no time to relieve ourselves. On the shuttle to NYC, Mad took pics of signs, bridges, & ships. And. . .the bus driver knew we had to pot-tay, so he let us in at one of the other shuttle stops along the way to use the restroom before we burst.

We had a huge line to go through to check into our Moscow flight (at least 30 min.), but made it through & grabbed a quick drink/snack (no Root Beer--sorry, Patrick) not knowing when our next meal would be.

On board we were in the very last seat in the middle smack dab between the 2 bathrooms in the coach section of the plane so we were fortunate for the bathroom, but had no windows anywhere near us--Madeleine didn't even get to see the ocean she thought she'd be so scared to fly over. She was actually disappointed.

Mad's getting excited about arriving & wants badly to "talk" with Russian people; we're surrounded by Russians but she's too shy to try her words. Now we're waiting for our 8 hr. 39 min. flight--complete with gourmet meal (see menu) on time (even though we had a 25 min. baggage wait for someone whose paperwork didn't go through & they couldn't board though their baggage was already on--of course it was on the cart loaded first so all the other carts had to be unloaded first to get their luggage out).



May 27

We got to Moscow on time--10:15 a.m. Going through passport control we nabbed a woman & her girl who we knew spoke both languages. It took 20-ish minutes then we got sent through the Russian citizen line & got Ms. Grumpy Brithces who wanted us to be detained cuz our Registrations were torn apart & we didn't give her both at once. But I dug the others out & she let us move through--with a 'tude! On to baggage claim & through cutsoms easily to immediately get a picture of Ethan's smiling face plastered to the glass as our Russian greeting. On to the outside where Patrick flagged a taxi to get us to Elektrostal in 1 1/2 hours. We visited a bit first & set up their new Wii game system & tried to stay awake 'til bedtime--we made it to 9:30 by their insistence to best get used to the time change, start living right where you are in the day you arrive. I snoozed a bit while visiting--sitting up & my eyes rolling to the back of my head. I unpacked & organized for our stay. We had supper--IKEA meatballs (yummy!), veggie salad (with mushrooms--I could love this place), & potatoes. Wii, Wii, & more Wii finished most of the first day.

I finally got to sleep at 9:30 &. . .

May 28

. . .didnt' get up 'til 9:30 & on to my first shower & cereal for breakfast. After awaking I was informed that while the adults were sleeping in a bit, Ethan was teaching Madeleine how to make a homemade harness & Patrick had walked in their bedroom just in time to stop them from rapelling down the apartment out of their 4th story apartment window. Later the story from Mad was that she told them it was not a good idea & they should at least first try it from their bunk beds. We vegged some more for the morning & took a gross picture of Mad's sores that started before we left America--so we could buy meds for her while here. Christy ironed t-shirts (yes, you heard that right), more IKEA food (chicken nuggets) for lunch then on to see the 1st bits of Elektrostal by foot.

Many sights--I tried cactus juice cuz Ethan didn't like it (I loved it), crossing streets, changing money, tired legs, & past the movie theatre where it was decided that we'd watch Pirates: at World's End that evening. After a long walk through much of the city (4 hrs?), we made it home for showers, Wii, & relaxing for the hour 'til the movie started. We taxi-ed to the movie but were too late to get seats for Pirates. So we pre-bought Shrek tickets (here you pick your specific movie seats by computer) & went out to the plaza area outside the theatre to watch the young-uns (teens) skateboard & general people-watching. We also texted some of Patrick's friends to see if they were out & about since we had such a wait for the movie; we did meet Sergei & Rena & their little girl. It was 10 p.m. after the movie but still light--just barely turning dark--dusk-ish. I am noticing that people here dress nicer for everyday with all the young women & girls wearing high heels all day long--I mean stiletto heels or 4" wedges for everyday life (no joke). I also notice that people don't have personal space issues but also don't generally socialize with strangers or those around them. Twice today I've been approached by Russians who want to talk to me--I must look Russian. One was a man showing me where his apartment was--probably not a great thing, & the other was a woman in the grocery store who must've thought I worked there. They were both sadly disappointed when I couldn't help them out. Shucks!

We were in bed by 11:30 with Mad climbing in to sleep with me. The kiddos stay up late into the night giggling & visiting with each other. They are getting along swell-ly together.

It is very hot here so far (90's)--much different than the 80's P & Ch thought it would be. They don't remember it ever being this hot in Russia in the 3 summers they've been here.

May 29

Up by 9 a.m. to find no hot H2O. I cloth-bathed & washed my hair in the sink & we heated water for Mad to wash off in the tub with. Often in the summertime there will be periods when they are doing maintenance on the water pipes/system & there will be no hot water. This time it's only for 3 days. And by the way, when I say cold water, I mean hurt-your-hands-icy-cold water, not just regular American tap-water cold. It felt like icy water from the fridge.

I tell Patrick & Christy to go car shopping since they've already started the process & they had wanted to have a car by the time I got here. They taught me their brute-force procedure for locking & unlocking their securty door to their apartment (I couldn't do it at first or even before they left but it became a challenge for me to let them go anyway & be stranded outside all day if I couldn't get the lock to work). We went out for hours that day just to prove I could handle the door lock situation. They installed the security door because of previous vandalism & bully issues from friendships that Ethan made--so sad & annoying but nonetheless very real & something not to be taken lightly for their family's security. Patrick & Christy left me the equivalent of $10 & one of their cell phones plus the 2-way radios if the kids wanted to go outside to play & I didn't during th eday.

Since the Wii batteries had already worn down, the kiddos made a swing out of a homemade harness technique & plenty-o-rope. They hooked it between their 2 metal bunkbeds then moved on to making hammocks in the air between the beds, too. But. . .Ethan informed me we needed more rope to make enough hammocks for each of the 3 to have their own personal one. So, I ran off to pack a picnic lunch of salami, summer sausage, cheese, crackers, apples, bananas, peppers, mushrooms (my favorite) & lemonade. We walked to the nearby forest with our fare & some matches & birch bark & of course Ethan's expert boy scout fire skills. We made a small fire & roasted a few peppers & salami then packed up to walk to the hardware store to buy more rope for finishing off the hammock project. That was about a 2 hour outing in all & we made it home hot, tired, & thirsty. I got into the door first try--wee haw! The kids then watched Night at the Museum while I took a little snooze. Then leftovers for supper & washing dishes European style & with icy cold water. In the meantime we heard from Dad, & siblings in Kansas via Skype and also heard from P & Ch who were finally successful in picking out a Nissan Quest mini van & were on their way home. They got home by 9:30-ish & immediatly called the NWYM offices to get the final approval of the funds for the new car. Money should be completely transacted in the next couple of days & their wait for their own car (actually will be used by the entire Russian team here) will be over--making our stay here with them even more adventurous as Patrick learns to navigate the streets of Moscow & surrounding areas by himself armed with a Russian map. The kids once again couldn't sleep 'til the wee hours of the night because of the new adventure of sleeping in hammocks & plenty more giggling, etc.