Lots of Lip Gloss

I attended the West Side United Methodist Church Street Fair today and they were giving away lots of stuff for kids to get ready to go back to school. An Avon Lady had donated lots of tubes of lip gloss to them for give-aways and Pastor Rhodes gave me 25 packages for the Russian Orphans. That's one thing I can mark off my list. Spacibo! (Thanks!)

This and That

First of all, many thanks to my colleagues in Richmond this week who bought lots of circus tickets for the Russian orpans. I was over there for a staff meeting and "coerced" them into it. It didn't take a lot of arm twisting - they are all warm-hearted, generous people. I still have some tickets to sell and I can take donations ($10.00 per ticket) even after I run out of the souvenir tickets to give you in return.

I ordered a couple of "microfiber" towels to take with me. They are supposed to be super-absorbent but they are finely woven and don't weigh much. (Weight is very important in what I'm going to pack!) I also got some neon yellow name tags to put on my luggage. I don't think I'll miss them on the luggage rack at the airport. :-)

During the drive to and from Richmond I got to work on a couple more Russian lessons. I'm now learning how to order in restaurants and terms I will need in a hotel. I don't know that I'll need to use much of the language on my own since we'll have a translator with us at all times but it's fun to learn.

Visa Application

No, not the credit card! In addition to my passport I need a visa to enter Russia. The application, which was part of my information packet from Tom Clark, is from the Russian government. They want to know everything about you before they let you across their borders. Among the questions asked were my parents' full names and birth dates, every educational institution I have attended beyond high school, my current place of employment including address, phone number and supervisor's name and my last two places of employment with all the same information. They want to know if you have any relatives in Russia, any Russian relatives in the U.S., have you ever had a visa in Russia, have you ever overstayed your visa in Russia, have you ever been involved in any criminal activities (especially drugs), etc. I had to provide a lot more information for the Russian visa than I did for my U.S. passport!

Many thanks to those of you who have donated to my trip, either money, circus tickets or presents for the children. It is very much appreciated!

Presents for Children and Youth

Along with winter clothes, towels, washcloths and toilet paper, each of us will be taking along at least 25 gift packs for the children. Here's what goes in each pack for the children and youth:

Make Up and Nail Polish for Girls/Cologne for Boys
Winter Gloves and Knitted Winter Hat
1 Tube of Chap Stick, 1 Tube of Hand Lotion
1 Toothbrush, 1 Tube of Toothpaste
1 Pad of Writing Paper, Erasers
2 Pencils, 2 Pens, 1 Pencil Sharpener
Socks for Boys or Girls

All of this will go into 2-gallon zip lock bags and I will add a signed Christmas card to each package. (I already have a donation that will cover the cost of the zip-lock bags.) If you would like to help me provide these gifts for the orphans you may either send me a donation marked for that purpose or, if you wish, you may purchase the items themselves and bring or send them to me. (Please let me know if you buy the items themselves so I don't wind up with duplicates of one item and not enough of another.)

There is also a list for Infants and Toddlers that includes items such as crayons, coloring books, stickers and dolls but Rev. Clark tells us that it is unlikely that we will be visiting those orphanages. However, if you prefer to provide those items get in touch with me and I'll be glad to fix some packages with those items, too.

Thank you all for your interest and your contributions. Blessings!

My Passport's Here!

My passport came today in the mail! Now I can finish filling out the rest of the forms I need to send to Rev. Clark.

This new passport looks quite different from my old one. The 1974 passport was green and a little bigger than the new one and the new one is blue. There are a lot of new security measures, too, like holographic backgrounds. There's supposed to be an electronic chip in the cover, too. With all that's going on these days it's quite an honor and privilige to have a U.S. passport.

Speaking of what's going on these days, I'm glad to see the new security measures but it really makes you stop and think about what you really need to take on the plane with you. The only thing I'm really concerned about is my contact lens solution but by December they may be able to make some accommodation for such things.

Airlines and Hotels

We will be leaving Charleston by bus on December 27 and making our way to D.C., picking up team members on the way. After spending the night in Washington, we will fly out of D.C. at 12:05 p.m. on December 28 from Reagan National Airport on Delta flight #843 to Atlanta, arriving at 1:54. We will fly out of Atlanta at 3:50 p.m. on Delta flight #46 and arrive the next day (December 29) in Moscow at 10:30 a.m. (Moscow is 8 hours ahead of us.)

Our return trip will leave from Moscow on January 7 at 12:30 p.m. (Delta flight #47) and arrive in Atlanta at 4:15 p.m. We will leave Atlanta at 6:30 on Delta flight #776 and arrive in Washington at 8:24 p.m. The next morning we will climb back on the bus for the return home.

After we spend the first three nights in Moscow at one of the orphanages, we will probably stay in the Hotel Izmaylovo in Moscow. Here's the link http://www.hotelizmailovo.ru/eng/ .

My Information Packet is Here!

Good news! I received my envelope full of information about my trip today from Tom Clark. I now know my payment schedule, what I need to pack, how we're getting to the plane in DC (by bus) and what we'll be doing with the orphans in Moscow. There are LOTS of forms to fill out including my visa application and health insurance .

I also have tickets to sell for the Moscow circus - $10.00 each! Unfortunately we won't be able to go to the circus with the children because they're going the day we leave Charleston but we still want to pay for as many tickets as possible. If you want to participate in this you can send $10.00 per ticket to me or directly to WV-VIM.

We'll also be taking nice West Virginia souvenirs as gifts for our hosts. I plan on getting some nice calendars, prints and postcards to take with me. I can't take anything too heavy; Tom reminded us that we have to carry everything we pack!

He also reminded us to travel in the spirit of humility and with a genuine desire to learn more about the Russian people. This is a mission trip and we are going to share God's love and to build cultural bridges with the Russian people.

More details tomorrow!

Comments and Advice

If any of you have tried to add a comment to this blog and been told you have to be a member that's not true any more. I changed the settings so that anyone can comment. You need to know that if you add a comment it will be published on the blog unless I delete it. If you want your comment to be private send it to my e-mail address. All nice comments are welcome!

My advice came last night from Rev. Barry Moll who just returned from the summer WV-VIM trip to the Russian orphanages. We had an absolutely wonderful parish dinner and program at Central UMC last night and I pestered Barry while he was trying to eat to tell me all about his trip. He told me about seeing "Pirates of the Caribbean II" in Russian with two little girls clinging to him during the scary parts, of all the good food we will be served at the Christmas parties we attend (at least two parties a day), about the care packages we will be assembling to take with us (more about that later - you get to help me!), shopping and wearing long underwear with lots of layers on top!

This has nothing to do with Russia, but the program last night was provided by the Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus and they are FANTASTIC. The Chorus is made up of African-American men of many different denominations who sing black gospel style music - they really brought the house down. If you ever get the chance to see them, do. They will be singing Sunday afternoon at the Capitol as part of Charleston Multi-Fest.

Scrappin' My Trip

You may know that my favorite hobby right now is scrapbooking. Of course I plan to take lots of pictures while I'm in Russia but to make a great memory book of my trip I'm starting now to collect things that will tell the story. One of my buddies at my scrapbooking workshop last week told me about an online store called www.ScrapYourTrip.com - it's great! They have specialty papers, die cuts and stickers for just about any country you can think of and I was able to order several items relating to Russia. My order just came today and it's really nice stuff. I wish I had known about this site when I was working on my scrapbook about my 1974 trip to Portugal and Spain!