Market Collapse: I'm Safe in Ukraine

This morning, the roof of a huge collapsed in Moscow, trapping over 80 people, and killing 50. I have been to this market, it is huge and very crowded. I am safe, quite safe. In fact, I am not even in Mosocw, nor in Russia. I am in Ukraine this weekend, visiting the beautiful city of Kyiv (Kiev). This weekend is a long holiday weekend, and Navina and I decided to do some traveling. We are staying with student teachers at the Kyiv English Language Center. They are really awesome hosts. Josh is a student from Maine, and Jane is from Loma Linda, California. Fortunately, everyone here speaks Russian, and some even speak English. The atmosphere here is definitely friendly to tourism, much more than in Russia.

So, tomorrow, we are getting up early and going to the Zoo, then visiting Kiev's oldest Cathedral and its underground cave monasteries, then visiting the World War II museum, and its 62m high towering monument.

Saturday night we will ride back to Moscow by train, in the oh-so-comfortable third class sleeper cars of Russian trains. Lets just say, its an interesting experience.

Last Weekend and Next

Last weekend my church, the Moscow International Church dedicated its new building, which is shared with two other churches. We had quite a dedication service. Even though its quite a large church, there was not even room to stand. Most of the service was in Russian, and translation ear pieces were avaliable for English speakers. The sermon, however was in English, and was given by the President of the global Seventh-Day Adventist church, Jan Paulsen.

There were also, a number of representatives from the Russian government welcoming our new church. There included a rep from the Russian Presidential Administration, a rep from the Russian Parlimentary Ministry of Culture, and a rep from the City of Moscow. Also present, were people from the Euro-Asia Division, and The head of the Commitee of Protestant Churches in Russia. Lots of big-wigs! But most important was the presence of the spirit and the atmosphere of worship of belivers from all over Russia. This new building will house three of Moscows ~15 SDA churches.

After lunch, I and several friends went to Navina and Monica's house for lunch. Her potato casserole was really really good! Lunch was super good.

As for Sunday, I slept in really late, and not a lot happened. I was researching train tickets to Kazan, then St. Petersburg, but we ened up decided to go to Kiev, Ukraine for this weekend's long holiday. It is National Defence of the Motherland Day on Thursday, and we get a four day weekend. Navina and I are going to visit the English Language Center in Kiev, and do some sightseeing.

Sad News

I got an email late last night from my Dad. My grandmother was hospitalized after a very bad car accident. Her sister, my great-aunt Hazel was killed. My sister Vanessa was in the back seat, was relatively unhurt. These relatives are on my mom's side of the family. Please pray for them, and for the other members of my family as well. I hope, most of all for a speedy recovery for my grandmother. I heard that she sustained a broken femur, and injured pancreas.

My Old Blog

Up at the top of the page, there is a link called "My Blog." This link is my first blog. I have paused writing in it while I've been in Russia. I have decided to resume my writings in it. This blog will still be used to describe my experiences here in Russia.
My old blog will mainly be used for for issues such as thoughts, politics, religion, and other things which are not specific to my adventures in Russia. Please check out both!

Remarkable Russia

On Wednesday's post, I think I did a lot of complaining. Yes, life here can be hard, and it does make you appreciate some of the luxuries back in the West. Well, I'd just like to say that it is actually a lot of fun being here, and it certainly a neat opportunity, if you can stay optimistic about things. It's really not that different than back home. Most of the differences are little things like being without veggie meat.

Today I made Borsch. I love Borsch, even if I did add too much pepper. I really enjoy Russian food, and it is very simple and mostly healthy. Russians, like myself, have a big sweet tooth though. Tea is also huge here, even more so than vodka. The friends you make here are also incredibly hospitable and will spare no expense in hosting you. Generally, strangers and new people you meet are quite reserved though.

I don't speak for the rest of Russia, but Moscow is very dense, with over 10,000 people per sq. km. We all live in high apartment blocks. This many people live surprisingly well together. Crime happens, like any large city, but the hordes of police keep crime down... Although, what you hear about corruption and bribery is all too true. Fortunately, I haven't been "asked for my documents" yet. I can't wait to see more of Russia once it gets warmer.

Even though almost no one speaks English, it is really not hard getting around on a rudimentary knowledge of Russian. As long as you know the numbers, and colors, and can point and say "Eta" (that), you can buy anything. Having Russian friends, and a Russian flatmate really comes in handy though.

All in all, living and teaching here is really awesome. There are many interesting places to see here. Moreover, I have enjoyed my friends and my students, have learned a lot, and have grown as a person. Am I glad I came here? Most definitely!

News Junkie

I consider myself a news junkie, and I am fortunate to have high speed internet access in my apartment. The internet, mostly BBC, and streaming radio. On internet radio, I usually listen to my old favorite, NPR. This isn't just any NPR, this is NWPR, the same good stuff that I enjoyed at Walla Walla, broadcast from Washington State University.

I took The BBC's end of the week news quiz, and I was shocked to see that I got 4 right out of 7. Hmmph. The news quiz is here: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4698194.stm

These are stories that I got wrong:
Jamaican honour for Marley home
Belgian town bans 'Saddam shark'
Science team finds 'lost world'

Stressful Day

I am glad Wednesday is done. Just a few minutes before I can sleep. This morning, I was going to get up at 9:30, but I kept hitting snooze, justifying it by having a cold. I finally sat up, at 10:20. I could tell this would be the beginning of another busy, stressful day. After my shower, a bite to eat, and trying in vain to fix Vitaly's computer, I finally made it out the door about 12:10. I had to be at the Division office to teach English. It was an hour away. First, I had to wait about 10 minutes for Navina to deliver a bible for this girl who works in the kitchen at the Division office. So, finally about 12:20, I got on the crowded green line metro train. Standing room only, but at least it's not the typical sardine squash. Transfer to the ring line, then to the blue line.

While on the blue line, I had one of those "hurting sun" experiences that I have recently read about. The sun, which I haven't seen totally unobscured for days, blasted through the metro car's window as we rode into the above ground stretch near Ismaylovskaya. The light hit my dilated eyes like a bullet. It made me wince and tear up. I love the sun, but this was so bright, it literally hurt. I think I've been in various caves so long, I forgot just how bright it is.

At the Division, I had a quick, but decent lunch. The potato blinni (crepes) were delicious. And it was fun eating with Rodney and his three Ukrainian boys. I think my funny faces amused the five-year old, and made us both smile.

Then, as quickly as I could leave the cafeteria, I walked into my 3A class, five minutes late. As usual, all but one of my students was even later than that. As my students trickled in, I progressed. It went well enough, but I was dog tired, and my cold was leaving my brain at 50% power. I finished the chapter half an hour early, since it is the short one before the big midterm test. Despite my doubts, I was able to find enough review material to fill the rest of the time.

My second class was the same thing, but with 2A students. I love these people, but some of them are too quiet, and I have a hard time telling how much they are understanding. This class kind of slowly dragged through its hour and a half. Finally, it was done. Alexander gave me a CD with a few Simpsons episodes with it, and while I was waiting for that CD to burn, I decided to work on my Geography report for my extra English class tonight. I finally left the division at 17:10. It takes about an hour and 10 minutes to get to the school. Damn. I'm going to be late. I thought to call my boss, but didn't have her number on my new phone. I tried calling Navina, but that didn't work. My SMS didn't get through until about 5 hours later. :( The bus I caught then got stuck in bad traffic! Ugggg....

Since the Division is at a terminal line, I got a seat on the metro. This was good. I spent the next hour with my nose in my dictionary, translating advertisements I saw around me. Then, a while later, I transferred to the gray line... just 4 stops to the school. I dug my watch out from under my thick coat sleeve... 5:55, it read! Oh man... not good. The gray line was, as usually in the evening, super crowded. I stood, like a vertical sardine, for 20 minutes. The one comforting thought I had was "Thank God tomorrow is Friday!" Then, at Nagatinskaya, I was freed! Up to the frigid street again! I waited, then got on the tram. Wrong tram! $@%#& $*&%@! Fortunately, the first stop was about 50 meters from the fork to get to the right tram. I got to school about 25 minutes late, shed my two coats, then flew to class. I showed up embarrassed, and apologetic that I had no graded workbooks, or graded tests. I didn't even have my bag. I left that in the office way down the hall. During my frantic tearing through pages, to get to the right spot to teach from, it dawned on my that it is only Wednesday. Do'h! Tomorrow isn't Friday. Ah man... Despite the hitches, class went just fine, but slowly as usual.

By the end of the hour and a half, I needed to get my handouts about Oregon for geography class. I had done this earlier at the division, and emailed myself the Word document. Downloading and printing this took about 10 minutes. Lousy 14.4kbps dial-up. My half hour geography class started 15 minutes late. It went quite well though. I wish I had color maps to hand out. I guess the B/W as a little unclear. Oh well, in Russia you use what you have to work with.

My last class, my largest all week, went fine. Because of its large size, and talkative students, the energy level is high, which is crucial for it going well and quickly. No complaints here, but after the class was over, I was more than exhausted. Navina came over to my classroom, and I asked for a hug. I needed one. I put all my teacher gear up in my cabinet for the night, and we left the school, walking in our spacesuit-like wears into the biting cold wintry air. I more than eagerly accepted her invite to their apartment to have a midnight snack, since it is on the tram line on the way to my place.

The beet salad and Gouda cheese sandwiches with tea were delicious. Hot tea is your best friend when it is -24ºC outside. I hated to leave back into the cold. I notice that the tram was at my stop, right across the street. I ran, thinking I might just have time. Nope. It pulled away. Damn, I hate this day. The next tram didn't stand until I did my 15 minutes of waiting in the horrendous cold, where a cup of water will freeze on a bus stop window before it flows 2 feet (.6 meters) down. Seriously cold. Stupid tram. The next tram smelled badly of vomit, but took me home. So here I am. I'll Call my dad, then hopefully I'll be in bed by 2:00. Goodnight.

I'm listening to NPR... I just found out that it was Nirvana Day! Ha! *rolls eyes*

Seattle vs. Pittsburg

Update: 3:00 AM Moscow Time: Found the Superbowl on BBC radio. Listened to the first quarter. Seattle 3, Pittsburg 0. Pittsburg had no first downs all qtr, and can't seem to even complete a pass. I think I can predict this game. Goodnight everyone!

Update: 10:00 AM: Glad I didn't listen to the whole game. I hear the referees screwed Seattle on this one. It wouldn't be the first time. Update: It looks like ESPN agrees with me.

Superbowl Sunday

So my hometown is playing in the Superbowl for the first time ever, and I don't get to see it :(
I suppose I could go to an American sports bar in the center, but the game starts at 3:30 AM. I am also sick, and I have to teach 6 hours of classes tomorrow, and to 2.5 hours of commuting. Tomorrow is not going to be fun. But I hope the Hawks win!

Life is not totally bad though. I discovered that I can cook descently. Navina have been cooking things all week, and this weekend. Her biscuits and gravy had some issues, but otherwise, all the food has been great. Last night I made delicious Blueberry Cobbler, and she made macaronni and cheese from real gouda cheese. That was a great meal! Today, on the menu is homemade veggieburgers and Navina's famous dinner buns. Mmmmm...

I discovered that there is no such thing as baking powder here. I found out that it can be substituted by mixing 1/4 tsp baking powder with 1/8 tsp lemon juice. The mix apporximates 1 tsp of baking powder. This is one of many western staples that we don't have here. The list includes peanut butter, soya, veggiemeat, root beer, sliced bread, and more. Things which can sometimes be found at expensive import food stores include, peanut butter, sliced bread, tartar sauce, and other stuff from Europe. Things like veggiemeat and baking powder are just plain not avaliable.

New Photos Online!

I have posted January 2006's photos online. These include friends, a "Big Ben" ice sculpture, and coooold weather. See them at http://photos.ArthurK.com.