Lenin's Tomb

Lenin's Tomb is along the Kremlin wall across Red Square from the Gum. It's only open for tours two days a week for about four hours each day so we didn't get a chance to go inside. Our guide said that she thinks his body is still in there somewhere but that what you see when you go in is really a wax figure. Although most other monuments to the Communist era have been taken down or destroyed, they will keep him there as long as he attracts tourists!

I didn't walk over to see it, but behind Lenin's tomb is the Kremlin necropolis (cemetery). Most of the Communist leaders from the past several decades are buried there as well as the American John Reed. (He was the subject of the movie "Reds".)

St. Basil's Cathedral

We parked the bus and walked up the hill to Red Square - Krasnaya Ploschad. The word "krasnaya" in Russian means "red" but it also means "beautiful". It is indeed a beautiful place. We in America think of military parades and Communist leaders on the reviewing stand above Lenin's tomb when we think of Red Square but the days we were there it had the atmosphere of a family park. A temporary ice rink had been built on one side of the Square in front of the Gum Department store with a huge decorated tree towering over it and it reminded me of the skating rink at Rockefeller Center in New York at Christmas.

The first building we saw as we entered the square was St. Basil's Cathedral, the building with the magnificent multi-colored onion domes pictured above (and yes, I was there!). It's really nine churches, not one. Each dome is a separate church and the name is far more complicated than just "St. Basil's". If you're interested in the history of this beautiful church you can Google the name and you will find several interesting pages about it.

The Kremlin

Our bus stopped across the Moscow River for our first look at the Kremlin. Many Americans think the Kremlin is one building but it's not. The red brick Kremlin wall was first built in (I think) the 12th century. Several acres of land are enclosed by the wall and within it are four churches, at least three palaces, an armory and several government buildings built during different eras. What you can see here are the main government building (the flag flying shows that President Putin was in residence) and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower on the right. I think that is the Church of the Assumption between them.

Speaking Dates

I'm finally getting around to doing some speaking engagements about my trip! This Sunday, March 4, I'll be the speaker at the United Methodist Men's Breakfast at my church, Central United Methodist on Bigley Avenue in Charleston. Breakfast is at 7:30 and I'm supposed to start speaking at 8:00. Later that morning I will be speaking at the Traditional 11:00 service at Central. I get to speak for 30 minutes at the breakfast and 15 in the service. My problem is going to be holding it down to 30 and 15 minutes - I could talk all day about my experiences! Everyone is welcome at both the Breakfast and the Service.

On Sunday, March 18, I'll be the speaker at the 11:00 service at West Side United Methodist Church on Roane Street. Again, everyone is welcome to come listen.

I will also be the featured speaker at the March meeting of the W.Va. Women's Insurance Group on Monday, March 12.

Ballet and Prisons

This is a shot of the facade of the Bolshoi Theater under wraps for renovation. It's been under renovation for the past two or three years with no end date in site. (Bolshoi just means "big".) The Christmas tree (New Year's tree?) in front of the Theater is typical of the beautiful trees we saw all over town. Some are decorated in a traditional style and some have modern psychadelic designs.

Later we passed the infamous Lubyanka Prison (sorry, I couldn't get a good picture of it from the moving bus). The statue of Lenin that used to stand in front of it is gone and the KGB has a new name, but you still don't want to be invited to spend time there.

Touring Moscow

On Tuesday, January 2, we hopped on a tour bus to see the sights of Moscow. We drove through the city while our guide, Elena, told us about the various buildings we were passing. This picture is of one of Stalin's "Seven Ugly Sisters". There are seven of these buildings around Moscow of this type of architecture. This one contains apartments, stores and offices all in one building. Western architects of the time didn't like the architectural style, hence the nickname. Personally, I thought they were rather grand old buildings. Of course, we didn't get to go inside any of them so I don't know what it would be like to live or work in one.

Moscow - Hotel Ismailovo Delta

On New Year's Day we drove back into Moscow and met the other teams at the Hotel Ismailovo Delta. We had quite a time exchanging stories about the different orphanages we had visited.

The hotel was built for the Olympics in Moscow (the one that the U.S. didn't participate in); it's not first class but it had all the amenities we needed. The picture above was taken in the lobby as our group sat and waited for our tour bus to show up one morning. We stayed two to a room; we had key cards to get into the secure hallways and our rooms. We were on the American plan which included breakfast in the mornings. They had a buffet line and there was always something that I wanted to eat. There were always boiled and scrambled eggs, toast (several different kinds of bread), kashi (a kind of oatmeal/cream of wheat cereal), breakfast meats, juices, coffee, tea (of course!) and broccoli (what isn't served for dinner the night before winds up on the breakfast buffet!).

Winter Song

(from John Denver's Season Suite)

Cold, and it's getting colder;
Grey and white, winter's all around.
Old, I must be getting older
And all this snow is tryin' to get me down.

There's a fire in the corner
Slowly dyin' away.
Sometimes I just don't feel like goin' on
Anymore.

And yet I know it's more than worth the waiting
For another chance to see the summer sun.
Come on, shine on me!

The Children on the Second Floor

After breakfast we were asked to perform the puppet show again for the children on the second floor. We had been allowed to go upstairs to visit these children the previous afternoon so we were prepared for what we would see. The severely handicapped children are on the second floor. Some of these children are still the result of the Chernobyl disaster and others suffer from other severe birth defects. Although we were not allowed to see the worst cases, we were told that many of these children will not live past their teenage years if they survive that long. Most of them could not walk and got around by scooting across the floor on their behinds or by dragging themselves with their arms. It sounds awful and in many ways it was, but they were as clean as possible, the room was bright and sunny, and it was obvious that the staff cared for them, even if there was not enough staff to go around. They had their own decorated tree and a TV mounted high on the wall was playing a holiday movie with Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden. Even if they didn't understand the puppet show it was exciting and different for them and we saw a lot of smiles.

We weren't allowed to take pictures of these beautiful children or of other parts of the orphanage. After the first day the Director told us "No more cameras inside." We were disappointed but their attitude is understandable. The Russian Orphanage system has made many improvements over the last few years and they are justifiably proud of what they have done. However, a lot of work remains. They do not want pictures of ongoing construction areas and things that might look bad taken out of context.

Farewell Breakfast

On our last day at Sergei Posad Psychological we gathered for breakfast in our little dining area and fed the cat one last time. (We ate lunch before we left but the cat was so full from breakfast that he barely lifted his head to look at the food that was being offered before he ignored us and went back to sleep.)

Our dining area was in a corner of the big dining room that was partitioned off for guests. We usually ate after the kids had been fed and the clean-up crew was at work cleaning off tables and mopping floors. The crew was made up of the older, more capable kids and they loved to play loud techno-rock music while they worked. We couldn't understand the words but there was one song in particular that they liked and they played it over and over and over...... Just like American techno-rock there's a lot of repetition and we learned it whether we wanted to or not! The kids enjoyed their work and did as much playing as they did working sometimes.

Our Helpers

These two guys helped us carry bags and distribute presents to the other orphans. The boy on the left will turn 17 this year and will have to move to an adult facility, where he will probably spend the rest of his life. The boy on the right was deaf and mute and had the most wonderful sense of humor. Who says you need words to communicate? They are pointing to the picture of the current Director; the words above the pictures say "Our Veterans" and the other pictures are of previous directors of Sergei Posad Psychological.

Happy New Year!

S'novum godum! On New Year's Eve the Orphanage staff provided a wonderful feast for us. What's pictured above was just the appetizer course. The lady at the end of the table is the director of Sergei Posad Psychological, Valentina. She, along with Anya, two cooks and a couple of other staff members gave up their evening with their families to be there to ring in 2007 with us. There were many toasts during the evening and at midnight we heard President Vladimir Putin give his address to the nation over television. (Earlier in the evening we all sat around the TV in the director's office and watched the finale of the Russian version of "Dancing with the Stars" - what a hoot! The winner was a cute young male pop singer; you didn't have to understand Russian to know what was going on but Anya was there to translate for us.)

Parties and Puppet Shows

This is a picture of the gym where the children at Sergei Posad celebrated the holidays. When the Communists were in power in Russia they tried to destroy Church traditions and do away with the celebration of Christ's birth. The big winter celebration then focused on New Year's Eve with presents brought by Grandfather Frost (who looks a lot like Santa Claus in a blue suit!) and his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden. Children dance around the tree and sing a special song in hopes that if they sing well enough that Grandfather Frost will bring them presents. (Sometimes Grandfather Frost looks a lot like West Virginia Volunteers in Mission in blue smurf sweatshirts!) We didn't get to dance around this tree with the children at Sergei Posad Psychological but we did get to present the premier of the puppet show "The Talking Totem Pole). Rev. Chris Arveson adapted the story, had it translated to Russian and then read all the parts onto a tape. We learned how to work the puppets to coordinate with the taped Russian dialog and presented the show at the various orphanages we visited during our two-week stay. The story was about a little boy who was cruel to animals. He is captured by Bear and taken before the animal council, led by the Squirrel Chief. The animals decide that the little boy should be imprisoned for his bad deeds but then Squirrel Chief forgives him and lets him go. My character, Nawaca, is the mother of the little boy and his sister and she explains that God's love for us is like that and that is why we celebrate the birth of Christ at this time of year.

After the show was over we went out into the audience with the puppets and let the children hug and kiss the puppets (and the puppeteers!). It was great.