Elektrostal Public Library

After the party on the 30th we went on an excursion into town to see the local public library. You can imagine what a treat that was for me! Actually, I wasn't going to go because of my knee - they were going to walk a couple of miles through snowy woods to get there. As beautiful as it was going to be, I was afraid I wouldn't make it hobbling along on my cane and would hold them back. Director Nina wouldn't hear of me staying behind and ordered me a taxi! The rest of the group never let me live it down! Irene, our translator, rode with me and we sat in the lobby talking to the librarian till till the others got there. That's Robyn in the picture sitting in the main reading room beside the librarian.

Party Time!

Most of the children at our orphanage were at "Winter Camp" while we were staying at Elektrostal but we still had plenty of kids when it came time to have a party! The children had prepared a marvelous program for us and we had seats of honor at the front of the gym. The program was a traditional story of the Snow Maiden getting in trouble with the evil characters and Grandfather Frost coming to her rescue. Grandfather Frost came riding in on a sleigh and circled the room to deafening cheers and shouts of joy! Afterwards, we presented our puppet show and gave out presents.

We Interrupt This Blog...

Sorry, another non-Russia post, but I want to let everyone know I'm home from my outpatient surgery on my knee and all is well. I'm sitting here with a brace and ice packs on my leg and Frances is taking good care of me. I have a walker to get around with and good pain medicine if I need it. They called me to come in early today because another patient didn't show up so I was home by 5:00. I'm going to get to bed in a little bit and get my rest - I go back to the doctor on Wednesday. Thanks for all the prayers - they worked!

Eating Again!

I wanted to use this picture because it shows all the lovely juice boxes that were on the table at every meal. I especially liked the strawberry juice (and managed to spill it all over the white table cloth!). The orphanages apparently go through juice by the caseload - it's a convenient way of getting lots of vitamins into the kids.

Me and My Puppet

I started out with two puppets to work with. This is the Host - he hired the musician to play for his party and got to dance to the music. To make a puppet dance you have to dance, too! I really liked the Host but we had another lady join the troup after we came together in Moscow. My other puppet was the Sea Captain - I've got a picture of him later on.

Recognize these guys?

These Russian versions of Minnie and Mickey Mouse were painted on the wall of the play room where we practiced our puppet show.

Where's Waldo...er, Margie?

Delphine wanted to know where in the world I was on my trip so here's a map showing the Moscow Region. Last year I stayed at Sergiev Posad, northeast of Moscow, and this year I was at Elektrostal, almost directly east. After we moved into the hotel in Moscow we took day trips to several other orphanages, including Almozovo. (Double click on the map if you want to enlarge it.)

Puppets!

This is Chris Arveson, our puppet master. Each year, Chris finds a folk story, has it translated to Russian, and reads all the parts (in Russian!) onto a CD. Then he makes puppets for each of the characters and backdrops that he can transport by air. When we settled in at the orphanage he pulled it all out and started to train us to be puppeteers. This year's story was about a musician who played for the Sea King and fell in love with his daughter, but had to decide whether to stay with her or go back to his beloved city. He chose the city but sat on the bank of the river and played and thought he saw a beautiful face in the water. Chris always puts a Christian message at the end of the story and we wound up singing "Silent Night" in Russian. There will be more pictures of the puppets later on.

Sad News

This has nothing to do with my trip to Russia but I want to share this sad news with you and ask for your prayers for the family. My friend Frances called me about 7:30 this morning to tell me that her best friend, Lanora, passed away from a heart attack at 5:30 this morning. Lanora's daughter Carly was with her when she had the attack and called 911 but there was nothing they could do. Of course, it's too soon to know about arrangements. Carly will be with loving friends but it will be hard for her to deal with all this; please keep her in your prayers.

My Knee

Thanks to everyone on the trip who put up with me poking along on my cane. You'll be happy to know (I hope!) that I have arthroscopic surgery scheduled for February 1 to fix it. I have a bone spur on my knee that is pressing against a tendon and it's making my whole leg hurt. The surgery should be straightforward and I should be back in (limited) action in a couple of weeks but I do covet your prayers. At least I should have plenty of time at home to blog and publish my pictures!

Bring on the Food!

The kitchen ladies always placed lovely cloth napkins on the back of our chairs before the meals were served. I like Russian food - even borscht! There are cold cuts and cheese on little rounds of bread, pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers among the appetizers. The main dish is usually pork or chicken and always some kind of potato on the side. The best desert is ice cream but there is always lots of chocolate candy to eat while you drink your cup of tea after the meal. Oh, and who could forget the chocolate covered marshmallows? Yum!

Don't Waste Bread!

On the wall above the kitchen serving window is this mural that reminds everyone of the importance of bread to life and that it should not be wasted. Apparently, it was a concept left over from Soviet days.

Dining Hall at Elektrostal

We ate all our meals at the orphanage in the dining hall that the kids use when they are in residence. One wall is covered with these beautiful murals of scenes from Russian fairy tales.

The Orphanage at Elektrostal

We arrived at the orphanage in the town of Elektrostal in mid-afternoon. The van pulled up to a back door close to the stairs where we had to carry our luggage up to the third floor where we were going to stay for the next three days. Unfortunately they hadn't cleared the ice off the steps and I took one step and slithered right on down! (My knee has been giving me some problems and I used a cane for a lot of the time in Russia - canes don't help on ice!) The orphanage director, Nina, grabbed me and walked me around to the front door where the steps were cleaned off. (You don't say "no" to Russian orphanage directors!) That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Nina "adopted" me as her "American daughter" and she is now my "Russian mama". She made sure that I had taxis into town when we went on excursions to see the library and attend church on New Year's Eve; John Wratchford teased me and said "Some people will do anything to get special treatment!" ;-)

When we got all the baggage upstairs we took a breather in our room with the pretty lace curtains. My bed was better than last year - last year I may as well have had a hammock but this year the bed was very firm. The bathroom was across the hall; the toilets aren't like ours here in the states but they serve the purpose! The sinks were in the next room where there was also a free-standing shower stall. It was a decent shower but you had to make sure you gave the water a chance to warm up!

Unfortunately, most of the kids were at "Winter Camp" for the holidays and we didn't get to play with them but they came back to give a program for us and let us do our puppet show for them. More on that soon!

All Squeezed In

I think that was Wendy's hand poking up from behind the suitcase. Robin, Jenn, Kelly and Janie had to hold back the bags behind them every time the driver made a sudden stop!

We made it to Sherametevo Airport

We finally arrived in Moscow at Sherametevo International Airport, made it through customs and security and met up with our hosts for the next few days. The group I was with was headed for the orphanage at Elektrostal with Director Nina and our interpreter, Irene. We loaded our luggage and boxes of presents onto luggage carts and rolled down the sidewalk to find the van that was transporting us to the orphanage. I don't think they planned for us to have as much luggage as we did because we barely managed to stuff ourselves in for the hour and a half ride.

Dulles International Airport

On December 28, Leon dropped us off at Dulles where we met old friends and new as we gathered to wait for our flight on Air France to Paris and connecting to Moscow. Tom Clark had our passports and electronic tickets and after running the gauntlet of check-in, baggage check and identification, off we went!

Grand Central Station

The featured display at Grand Central was a winter scene from Norway, complete with gnomes!

Off We GO!

On December 27, 2007, Jan Blount and I drove from Charleston to Falls Church, Va. to spend the night with my friends Missy and Leon. We had plenty of time that night to drive around and see the Christmas lights in Washington and stop in Grand Central Station to see the displays there.

Feeling International

What a week this has been! As I'm getting ready to go back to work tomorrow I've been thinking back over where I've been and what I've done this week. On Tuesday morning at 3:00 a.m. Moscow time I was in the lobby of the Hotel Ismailovo Delta waiting for the bus to take us to Sheremetavo II Airport. Later that day I was sitting in Charles De Gaulle Airport outside of Paris eating a sandwich and Coke Lite that cost me $10.00. I finally made it to American soil about 7:00 that night (about 24 hours after we left Moscow) and was so happy to see Missy and Leon there waiting for me and Jan. We spent the night with them and drove home to Charleston on Wednesday. I have rubles, euros and American coins in my pocket!

This afternoon I attended a wonderful Community Music concert presented by Her Majesty's Cold Stream Guards and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. It was fantastic regimental band music and highland flings from the British Isles. I'm feeling very international!

I'm going to start posting pictures of the trip with the next blog entry. I'll try to move along a little faster than I did last year! I'm also planning to put all my pictures up on Shutterfly and will send invitations to view them to all my friends and my buddies from the trip.

I'm Home!

I actually walked into my house last night about 7:00 p.m.! It was so nice to climb into my warm bubble bath and my big, clean bed! I had a wonderful trip and want to go again, but right now the comforts of home are very welcome.

We arrived at Dulles in D.C. sometime after 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening; Missy and Leon were right there to pick us up after our trek through passport control, customs and luggage retrieval. Jan and I are really grateful for their hospitality. We slept in on Wednesday morning and left Falls Church about 11:30 for the drive home. I dropped Jan off at her house a little after 6:00 p.m. and then stopped by Kroger's before I came on home. (I knew that I didn't want to go back off the hill once I got home and I had pretty well cleaned out the fridge before I left.) I hit the bed about 11:00 and was out like a light!

I stayed home from work today but I may try to go tomorrow - we'll see! I have tons of pictures and video to post and talk about. I'll try to get started on that this weekend. More info soon!

Merry Christmas (Again!)

We're back in the hotel tonight after a day of VERY COLD shopping at the Ismailovo Market (-20 Celsius, about -4 Farenheit). Yes, I was COLD. Write it down! For those of you who wanted scarves, I managed to buy those before my hands froze but I'm going to do the rest of my shopping in the hotel shops even if it does cost a little more. I don't think I've ever been this cold in my life! Last year was one of the warmest winters they've had in a long time and this is the coldest they've had in five years. There's some snow on the ground but not a lot in town because it's too cold to snow. Part of the group is going to ride the metro back into town tonight for Christmas services at Christ out Saviour Cathedral but all of us old women are staying in and staying warm. We're supposed to go into the Kremlin tomorrow to see the cathedrals and the Armoury but it's supposed to be this cold again and Jan and I are debating whether or not to go. We'll see.

Yesterday we visited two orphanages. One was at Almozovo and is a boys' orphanage. They put on a wonderful program for us and of course fed us way too much food for lunch. In the afternoon we went to a different orphanage that VIM has not seen before. These children were developmentally disabled but the teachers are training them in dance and culture and they put on one of the best programs we've seen. The facility was impeccably clean - we were all really impressed. I have tons of pictures and video that I'll share when I get back.

I didn't get online last night because thousands of kids from the provinces are in Moscow this week for special Christmas programs and I think most of them are staying in our hotel. They swarm the lobby and the internet cafe to play computer games and you can't get close to the machines. I beat them to it this evening!

Tomorrow after lunch we will shop on Arbot Street, have our farewell dinner and come back to the hotel to pack. We have to leave for the airport at 3:00 a.m. the next morning so I probably won't blog again till I get back to Missy and Leon's in Virginia.

Love to all!
Margie

A Day at the Orphanage at Sergei Posad

Remember the orphanage I stayed at last year? It was Sergei Posad Psychological. That's where we went today. It is about an hour and a half north east of Moscow by bus and all 31 of us went. There has been a little confusion about our schedule because of some disagreements within the Russian Department of Education but Director Valentina at Sergei Posad welcomed us with open arms. We unloaded all the presents and candy from the bus and then met with a large group of the kids in the gym. There are over 300 kids at S.P.P. but many of them are severely handicapped and could not come down to see us. (They will get presents, though.) We put on our puppet show for them and then sang some American Christmas songs. Mike Richards is the music person on the trip but he has generously allowed me to help so I led a couple of the songs while he played by ear (Jingle Bells, The 12 Days of Christmas, etc.) and then I played some numbers from the hymnal while he led the singing. The Russian Peace Foundation provided a keyboard for us to use while we are here. The kids loved the puppet show and wanted to hug and kiss all the puppets when we were done.

We all had pieces of candy and small toys in our pockets to give out and we were swamped! The older kids also wanted to take pictures with our cameras and we let them. Some of the shots turned out pretty good! They are all fascinated with cameras and want to see their faces on the digital screens when we take their pictures. The best part of the afternoon for me was our visit to the second floor where the more severely disabled children live. I know we still didn't see the kids in the worst condition, but I got to see my Pasha from last year. I think he recognized me (but maybe he was just happy for anyone to pay attention to him!) and I got to hug and kiss him a little bit. They were all down for their afternoon naps but they knew we were coming and nobody was asleep!

There have been many, many improvements made in the physical facilities since our visit last year and the staff was very proud to show them off. I've got to figure out a way to come back next year!

Tomorrow we will go to another orphanage - I don't remember the name but I'll make sure to write it down tomorrow - and we go to the ballet tomorrow night. I have tons of wonderful pictures but I'm not sure how to download them to a computer in a Russian Internet cafe so you'll have to wait till I get home to see them.

Blessings!
Do Svedanya!
Margie

Snovum Godum!

Happy New Year! I'm here in Moscow!

I'm fine and having a wonderful time. My team stayed at the orphanage at Elektrostal this year and had a good experience even though the kids were at "winter camp" and we only saw them the day they came back to give their program for us and watch us do the puppet show. We had a great party and gave out lots of gifts. For all of you who gave me presents for the kids, believe me, they are greatly appreciated! Lyndsey, I gave your gift to Nina for all the kids and she and Irene and Helen were very happy to get it. They remember you well! The director, Nina, adopted me as her American daughter and she is now my Russian mama. (More about that later!) We attended a church service at the Orthodox Church on New Year's Eve and the day before toured the town library. I have a picture of me with the librarian.

We came back into Moscow yesterday to the same hotel as last year - Jan Blount and I are roommates again and have a very nice room on the 21st floor. (We stayed on the 3rd floor in the orphanage with no elevator - the hotel has lots of elevators!)

Today we toured Moscow including Red Square and had lunch at Patio Pizza. This evening we went to the Moscow Circus Christmas program (I bought a program for my collection!) and came back for a late supper. Tomorrow we should be going to Sergei Posad Psychological (the orphanage I stayed at last year) and maybe one other. The night after that we have tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet at the Tchaikovsky Theater. We're all tired and my knee hurts but it's all wonderful. I'll try to blog again tomorrow or the next day but lots of kids will be in the hotel for holiday activities this week and I may have a hard time getting to the computer.

Love to all,
Margie