The Orphanage Grounds

We all took a break and went for a walk around the grounds of the orphanage and met a couple of friends.

Snow!

We took a walk around the orphanage grounds and enjoyed the Russian snow. Unfortunately, this was the most snow we saw the whole time we were there. They were having a very warm December and January and were very happy about it - the Russian people don't like cold winters any more than we do! The temperature stayed in the upper 30's F during the day. I took way too many clothes.

Nesting Dolls

The town of Sergei Posad is also the home of the Matrioshka or Nesting Dolls. Several of the ladies who work at the orphanage also make the dolls and they brought them to the orphanage to sell to us. I bought all my dolls here; I might have paid less for them later at the market in Moscow but I wanted to help these ladies and to be able to say that the ones I bought were made in the toy capitol of Russia. They were all beautiful - it was hard to choose which ones I wanted to bring home!

The Kids

What can I say? They were awesome!

Packing Presents

Our first evening at Sergei Posad was spent putting together packages of presents for the 250 children in the orphanage. We opened all the boxes and emptied our suitcases of all the presents you helped us gather together. We grouped the goodies by gender and age and had a great time putting together all the neat things you donated. We couldn't go to sleep till we were done because we had presents sorted out all over our beds!

Our Team

Our team at Sergei Posad Psychological: Front row - Ginny and Jan; Back row - Shannon, Chris, Susan, Jan (my roommate) and me. Ginny was our team leader.

Anya

Anya was our interpreter at the orphanage. Her mother works there and she is a student concentrating in political science and languages. The children at Sergei Posad adore her and call out her name every time she walks through. Her English is excellent but she enjoys learning slang and colloquialisms from the American visitors. She stayed with us day and night while we were there.

Moving in to Sergei Posad

Some of the older boys at the orphanage helped us carry our bags into the orphanage. The staff had cleared out their dining room and put seven cots in to accommodate us. (Chris, the only guy, had a cot of his own in the office next door.) The pillows are square European pillows - isn't it neat how they poofed them into triangles on the beds? The beds weren't that bad once you got into them, but mine sagged like a hammock and I didn't move much once I got into it! These were the same kind of beds that the kids use.

On the Road to Sergei Posad

Once the buses were loaded with our luggage and the presents for the orphans we squeezed in the best we could and headed off for the orphanages where we would stay for the next three days. Our team was headed for the Psychological Orphanage at Sergei Posad, about an hour and a half northeast of Moscow.

Sherematevo Airport, Moscow

After we landed in Moscow and retrieved our luggage we gathered outside to meet our Russian hosts from the Russian Peace Federation and the orphanages. There were four small buses to take our teams (7 or 8 in each team) to our individual orphanages.

In the Air

We got up at 4:00 a.m., ate breakfast at 5:00 and made it to the church a little after 6:00. While we were waiting Tom Clark passed out our name badges (with our names in Russian - cool!) and our passports, complete with Russian visas. When everyone gathered we headed for Reagan National Airport and made it there around 7:00. It took a while to get everyone through security and bags checked in. We all got our team sweatshirts to wear so Tom could keep track of us. They are a lovely blue with the VIM logo on them. We decided we all looked like big smurfs.

We flew from D.C. to Atlanta and then waited for our connection. The pictures above are Lyndsey and Susan, Jan (my roommate), me and John, and JuliAnna. I got to sit with Jan and get to know her on the flight to JFK in NY and then on the flight from NY to Moscow. We were seated toward the back of the plane on both flights; it was a good thing because we were close to the restroom and that's a good place to be on an 11 hour flight!

The 11 hour flight (12 hours coming back - head winds) was the worst part of the trip for me. You can get up and move around from time to time but I wasn't able to get any sleep and was worn out when we got there. However, it was awesome to watch the sunrise from the plane window. We were just about over Helsinki, Finland when I could start to see a faint glow in the sky ahead.

Getting on Our Way

Here's the bus waiting for us outside Christ Church UMC in Charleston. We pulled out about 10:oo on the morning of Wednesday, December 27, 2006. Lyndsey was there and I got to meet my roommate, Jan Blount, for the first time. Rev. Barry Moll was the last one on the bus at 9:59. ;-) We headed north on I-79 to pick up passengers at Flatwoods at a little after 11:00 and Weston at noon. We made a pit stop at Fairmont about 12:45 and picked up one more passenger. We had some great conversations with the "veterans" telling us what to expect during the next two weeks. About 1:15 we stopped at the Ramada Inn in Morgantown for our last W.Va. passengers, then on to Annandale, Virginia. The lovely folks from St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Annandale put us up for the night. Jan and I stayed with the Associate Pastor and her family; they fed us a wonderful dinner and we went to bed as soon as possible so we could get up at 5:00 the next morning.

Shutterfly Problems

If you can't get to the pictures, don't feel bad. Nobody seems to be able to see them! I don't know what I didn't do but I'll work on it this weekend. In the meantime, I'll start posting them here on the blog.

Pictures on Shutterfly

If you want to look at the pictures I took on my trip go to:

http://margiesrussiaadventure.shutterfly.com

You do not need a password.

I think I'm actually back on Eastern Time now. I haven't posted anything the last couple of days because I've been cleaning out suitcases and I had to go to work yesterday and today. I'm glad this is a three-day weekend - maybe I can get caught up!

I'm Home!

I'm home, safe and sound, tired and sleepy, and ready to go back next year. I shouldn't be home this early (it's just after midnight on the 9th) but three of us from Charleston missed the connection from Atlanta to D.C. and wound up on a direct flight from Atlanta to Charleston. I just called Tom Clark to let him know I was home safe and the bus is just now passing through Cumberland, Md. Talk about a problem turning into a blessing!

I'll give more details later - right now I'm headed for a hot bubble bath and MY BED that is more that 12" off the floor and wide enough to roll over in!

Wow!

That last post was done while I was surrounded by about a dozen Russian kids from Baikal. We were looking for web pages about West Virginia, Lake Baikal, California's Governor Schwarzenegger and all kinds of other things. They spoke English a whole lot better than I speak Russian! What a joy! That is part of what this trip is all about - making friends and showing each other what God's love is all about. I don't know that they really understood what I was doing here but I know they had some fun with a strange American and they will remember that.

I was going to use this time to describe the Kremlin, Christ the Savior Cathedral and the art gallery we toured this afternoon but this was MUCH better!

We go to another orphanage tomorrow, the ballet tomorrow night, church services at the Cathedral the next day and a folk dancing performance, then services at a Methodist church. We leave on the next day and I will be home in W.Va. in the wee hours of the 9th. If I don't post before then I'll see you then.

All my love,
Margie

From My New Friends from Baikal

We live on Baikals thia a cool on BAIKALS very beutufual fish, animals, Hello you My Names Nastya,Regina, Alex, Anton , Misha, Ksenia, Vlad .

For all my friends: Marsha, Elaine, Freda, Ed, Pastor George, Frances Betty, Ginny and all:

I met these lovely children while I was trying to get on the blog tonight to tell you about my day. We don't speak each other's language but we don't need to. This is wonderful fun.

We went to the Kremlin and Christ the Savior Cathedral today. Awesome! More tomorrow.

Love,
Margie

From My New Friends from Baikal

We live on Baikals thia a cool on BAIKALS very beutufual fish, animals, Hello you My Names Nastya,Regina, Alex, Anton , Misha, Ksenia, Vlad .

For all my friends: Marsha, Elaine, Freda, Ed, Pastor George, Frances Betty, Ginny and all:

I met these lovely children while I was trying to get on the blog tonight to tell you about my day. We don't speak each other's language but we don't need to. This is wonderful fun.

We went to the Kremlin and Christ the Savior Cathedral today. Awesome! More tomorrow.

Love,
Margie

From Russia With Love!

It's so neat to write that! We've had a great day. Our half of the group started out to the orphanage at Pushkin, north of Moscow. When we arrived we were immediately served tea (chai) which is more like what we would call a light lunch. Then the children presented a Christmas program for us. The group was small because many of the children go home to relatives (sisters, brothers, aunts & uncles, etc.) for the holidays. When they finished we gave our puppet show (The Talking Totem Pole) and they loved it. When the show is over we take the puppets out into the audience and let them hug and pet them. Most of the characters are woodlands animals; I have the American Indian mother, Nawaca, and they love to hug and kiss Nawaca (and her puppeteer!). It's hard on my knees to do the puppet show but the rewards are great! After the show we gave out candy provided by the Russian Peace Federation (our sponsoring agency) and left enough gift bags with the staff for all the children when they return from holidays.

We loaded up the bus and headed on to Sergiev Posad Blind and Deaf Orphanage for the afternoon. Again, we were served food the minute we walked in the door. This was a full lunch - salad, cold beef slices and huge potatoes, fruit and candy for dessert. They have wonderful apple juice and hot tea to drink. They gave a marvelous program for us, we gave our puppet show and then we participated in the traditional dance and games around the Christmas tree. The children here are all deaf and blind but the staff are wonderful with them. The children participated in the program and dances - each child had a staff member to help them onstage; during the Christmas tree party the deaf children helped the blind ones and vice versa. I have wonderful pictures. This facility has been greatly improved over the years and many of the veterans on our trip had friends here on the staff.

When we left the orphanage one of our team members got sick to her stomach and we had to stop to find a bathroom for her at the monastery. I would have loved to tour the monastery but not like that! When we finally got on the road it was dark and we snoozed most of the way back into Moscow. We went to dinner at the EurAsia Restaurant; salad, beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes and ice cream! The other team (with lots of teenagers on it) chose to eat hamburgers and French fries at the American Cafe. I didn't come to Russia to eat American food! After we left the restaurant and headed back to the hotel, Rick (one of the veterans) got out his guitar and we sang country and western songs all the way back (heavy on the Johnny Cash songs!)

I didn't go out for this evening's excursion - we're touring the Kremlin and Christ the Saviour Cathedral tomorrow and I want to get plenty of rest.

Comments: Who knew that Russia was famous for ice cream and chocolate candy? Russian (European?) plumbing is strange: you flush by pulling up on a knob on top of the tank and you can't put the used paper down the toilet. You have to put it in a trash can beside the toilet. A lot of the food we've been eating would look right at home on any West Virginia table. Children just want to be loved, no matter where in the world they are and the people who take care of them love you for loving them. David, there are lots of cute Russian boys here - I'll try to make sure Lyndsey doesn't stash one in her suitcase to bring home. My half hour of time is almost up so I'll try to get back on tomorrow evening. The hotel is full of families with lots of kids here in Moscow for the Christmas holidays and it's difficult to get to the computers till late in the evening. Dos Vidanya!

Love, Margie

The Weather

I forgot to tell you about the weather! It's very warm here. There was lots of snow on the ground out in the country at Sergiev Posad and we saw it snow our first afternoon here but the temperature in Moscow has been above freezing so the roads are a slushy mess and I've been wearing too many clothes. Oh, well. I don't want it to be 30 below but I do expect snow in Moscow in January!

I'm Here!!!

Yes, I'm really here and it's wonderful! Sorry I haven't gotten to the blog before now but we've been really busy. The first few days were spent at the orphanage at Sergiev Posad and the conditions were pretty primitive (like no seats on the toilets the first night and sleeping seven to a room). But the kids were wonderful. It was sad, too; these kids all have some kind of neurological or psychological disorder and no one wants them. We got to spend one afternoon on the second floor with the serious cases - I fell in love with Pasha. I was sitting on the floor by the wall and he crawled over beside me and I spent at least half an hour rubbing his back and singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and "Jesus Loves Me" to him. He may not have understood the words but at that moment my hands were Jesus' hands to him. Later we put on Santa hats and delivered all the presents you helped me gather to the 250 orphans at Sergiev. I wish you could have seen their faces. We weren't allowed to take many pictures but I can't wait to share what I have with you.

After we came in to Moscow and checked into the Hotel Ismailovo we had dinner at the Log Cabin Restaurant across the street. I like Russian food! What we had at the orphanage and what we've had so far in Moscow would be at home on most W.Va. tables. Lots of potatoes, weiners/sausages, beef kabobs, pork chops and lots of breads and jams. Of course, we all enjoyed Patio Pizza on Red Square! We drink tea with every meal and yes, there is a lot of toasting. I haven't tried any vodka yet but I have toasted with a little bit of wine.

Yesterday we took a walking tour of Red Square. I have pictures of me in front of St. Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's Tomb. We walked through the Gum Department Store and the Underground Mall (all very expensive). Last night we shopped on Arbot Street and we'll get to the Ismailovo Market later this week.

Today we traveled about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Moscow to the town of Klim where we visited a senior citizen's nursing home and an orphanage. I'm part of a puppet show that we gave at Sergiev Posad and at both places today. I think the seniors enjoyed it more than the kids! The kids today put on a Christmas program for us that was wonderful - I have great pictures. The big secular celebration here with presents and parties is New Year's. Orthodox Christmas is more serious and religious; we'll go to church on Christmas Eve. The phrase for "Happy New Year!" is "S'lovem Godom!". (That's what it sounds like, anyhow!)

I'm getting along well with my little bit of Russian. "Please" and "Thank You" with a smile goes a long way in getting along. Most of the hotel folks speak English and we always have a translator with us when we go out.

If I have time I'll try to get back on another day and keep you posted, but Lyndsey and I are having a great time and we're planning on coming back next year! Keep us in your prayers!

Love to all,
Margie