April Showers

Well, it's not quite April just yet, but the rainy season has definitely started. On Monday, we had the first rain of the year. Before that it was far too cold for rain. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday had lots of rain, and now the disgusting brown and black crusty ice that covers everything is withering away like the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Thank you Lord. I am sick of winter. Tonight I was shopping at a nearby supermarket, and while in the checkout line, I saw this monitor screen, which usually displays advertisements, had videos of canyon landscapes in Utah and Colorado. I felt an intense ache within myself. I missed my home. I miss the west. I miss so much. I felt like an Israelite in Babylon. Poor Navina had to listen to me whine, but she's quite happy herself, as she gets to leave in five weeks. Actually, she is happy and sad. I'm sure I will be too, once it sets in that I am leaving. That seems like a long way away right now.

I Have the Best Students

Tonight in my English class, we were talking about catering and food. We were all super hungry, and my students suggested going to Kroshka Kartoshka after class. These are small vending trailers on the street that sell baked potatoes. Don't laugh, I'm serious... and these are good baked potatoes. Anyway, my students asked me if I wanted to come with them. After realizing they were not joking, I grabbed Navina and we headed off into the cold Russian night.

Actually, we rode in one of my student's car. I had forgotten what it was like to ride in a car, since it was over two months since I've been in one! I felt like it was the first time I had ever been in a car, as we sped dangerously fast down the wide Moscow avenue. We came to the restaurant Moo-Moo, which was quite a step above the primitive baked potato wagon I was expecting. I wrote about Moo-Moo recently, but I'll reiterate that it is a cafeteria with some darn good food!

Navina, I and the two students we rode with were met at the restaurant by two more students. I ate two bowls of Borsch tonight, and also had good things like banana cheesecake and Georgian mushroom salad. I love my students. We had a fun time talking about life and food and jokes. Our Russian still is quite bad, and their English isn't at a high level either, but it was definitely a ton of fun. I love doing this job, but I am nonetheless looking forward to coming home in a few months too.

AWESOME NEWS!!!!

My sister Sandy, is having a second baby! Her due date is approxamately November. I will be an uncle for the sixth time :) :) :) :) :) :) I wonder, will I will finally get a nephew?

Sheep and Wolves, Serpents and Doves

Living in this part of the world -- sometimes known as the "second world" -- has given me a new outlook on many things. I realize that in some ways things are better back home, but also, things are bad everywhere, yet things are also good everywhere. I definitely think the situation of world affairs is getting worse, but on the other hand, there are people fighting hard to make their world a better place, and caring for those around them. Many people are like sheep -- ignorant, and content to follow the leader. Some people are like foxes -- sneaky, and cleverly exploiting others for their own gain. You see a lot of the first group in my home country, and you see a lot of the second in this country. However, I have seen some people everywhere I go who are great people that devote themselves to love and kindness. These are the followers of the truth, and the worshipers of the divine -- those who give of themselves so that others may benefit.

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. -- Matthew 10:16

All Around Moscow - Dodging Dodgy Subways

Today, we all decided to do touristy things all over the city. We went to the Pushkin Museum of Art, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and two restaurants: Moo-Moo and a blinchky (crepe) restaurant. I also bought a really cool Soviet officer's cap, to match my uniform I bought some time ago on Ebay. I didn't really plan on buying one now, but after the marketer's desperate bargaining, I accepted it for 500 руб or $17. Not bad at all, actually.
On the way home, we heard an announcement that the green line was not running, and we should find another means of transport. Fortunately we were able to head south and home. When we got home, we decided that on the north of the line, the roof collapsed, and caused a fire. No one was hurt, but we were on this line earlier that day, and possibly on another metro line at that time!

Hey Josephus!

My brother is in Moscow! He is visiting Russia for a week, also with him is a friend from Cornell. Though tired, and jetlagged, Vitaly and I drug them allover Moscow today. We walked through Red Square, and then went to the "All-Russia Exhibition Center" (ВДНХ). We walked through this part, a sort of 35 year long World's Fair, to promote communism and the Soviet Union. Now, the grandiose buildings and monuments still exist, but the pavillions have been emptied of their communist propaganda, only to be replaced by market stalls of toasters, DVD players, and tourist souveniers. Quite an irony! Majestic soviet buildings covered in huge brass hammers and cickles, house markets and shops. Also fascinating was the sky high titanium Space Monument.

Wishin' the Luck O' the Irish to you!

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Happy St. Patricks day to all, especially if you are Irish like me :-)
-- Arthur of the McGuire Clan

You all know I love Colorado, right? And, you know how everyone on Earth is separated by six degrees of separation? Well, a good friend of mine here works in a prominent hotel in Moscow. Last week he had the occasion of meeting Colorado's governor, Bill Owens. He had a conversation with him, but didn't realize who he was until later looking at his business card.

I guess it's kind of cool now that I can say there are two degrees of separation between himself and I. Yeah, big deal, but it's pretty awesome IMHO.

If you can't be handsome, at least be handy!

My brother is coming in less than a week. So, today being Sunday, I decided to do a little work on the apartment, the rundown Soviet-era hole that it is. I went to the hardware store with my comrade Vitaly, and we bought lots of stuff to fix up the old flat. We got a new toilet seat, among other things. The old wooden one was just plain disgusting, and it badly needed to go. The edge of our tub leaks, so I bought some silicone caulking as well.

As handy as we are, we ran into some trouble with the toilet. The base and tank were held together with corroded steel bolts with the plastic seat attachment sandwiched in between. The bolts and nuts were hopelessly corroded, and the screw slot atop was stripping. There was also a lack of space to maneuver the dang wrench too. It really sucked, but got much worse on the second bolt. There was no room to maneuver, two of us in a cramped small toilet room, and the top of the bolt snapped. Damn.

Seeing as how half the bolt-head was gone, I hoped I could break off the rest of the head, allowing the bolt to slip out of the slimy, sh**ty toilet bolt-hole. When I was trying to do this, a 4 cm section of the toilet, around the hole broke off! The main toilet section isn't broken, but the tank is only held on by one bolt, and if it shifts, the seat does too. To make matters worse, I cut my finger on the broken edge. Bleeding all over, and with slime all over my fingers, I rushed to the bathroom and found some peroxide and a bandage. Hopefully I don't end up with gangrene.

Also, I had a tube of Sillicone caulking break open, and had a bunch of really smelly, slimy sillicone gel all over my hands. It is completely insoluble to water (that's what makes it useful), and soap has no effect on it, making it damn near impossible to get off one's skin. After lots of scrubbing and many washes, it is off, but that stupid smell won't go away.

In the end, it ended up working, although I used a clever hack to keep the tank fixed in place, but the project is finished, and the bathroom clean. Tomorrow, hopefully I can tackle my room some more. Also planned: Lots of mopping, some painting, and tile repair, and of course throwing away lots of junk. Wish me luck!

Happy International Women's Day!

Best holiday wishes to my readers of the female persuasion out there. In Russia this is a big holiday, and many women in the city were carrying flowers. It was a public holiday, which meant many had the day off. This holiday also marks the anniversary of the 1917 Russian Women's strike for "Bread and Peace." This strike set in motion the Revolution which set up the Soviet Union.

To celebrate this holiday, I gave Navina some tulips and a potted Hyacinth. She likes Lilacs, and it kind of looked and smelled like one. I also went ice skating with her and our friend Alex tonight. It was fun but tiring. My rear end is ubёr sore after two bad falls.

Five Day Weekend

I am so lazy this week. I went to bed at 2:30 AM, which is earlier than the last two days. I got up at 10 AM, but left my bed at 11 AM. I need to stop doing this, but I can never seem to get to bed early, and mornings are so sleeeeeppppyyyy. I blame staying up so late on spending so much time on this blasted computer, reading news or other diversions I find online.

Anyway, after this long weekend, my time here in Russia will be one long, non-stop sprint. I was planning to leave at the end of May, but to finish my term of teaching, I will need to leave a week later, on the 2nd of June. For my May-June term, I will have to teach 2 hour classes, and two 3-hour Sunday classes, unless we get another volunteer to relieve me at the end of May.

So, basically, I really need to prioritize my time, and be prepared to get to business, becaue once I get back on the tredmill next week, I won't be getting off anytime soon. Why do I need to leave Russia at the end of May? To work hard at WWC next summer to pay the high price of college.

Spring is here (or so I am told...)

The Russians regard 1 March as the first day of spring. I'm not sure why, especially when the snow won't be totally gone for another month at the earliest. They must have known something I didn't though, because today was so bright and sunny! It was even above freezing in the sun, and stuff was melting! I love the sun, no so much more than ever. I doubt I will ever take it for granted.

Today and tomorrow are the last classes of the term for my students. Tonight we had a party with cake, cookies, and such. I showed them my collection of photos, maps, and calendar pictures of Colorado, Washington, and Alaska. Everyone was taken back by the incredible beauty of Colorado, myself included. I also showed them some pages cut from an old calendar showing Mt. Rainier (WA State), and Eastern Washington Wheat Fields. Finally, I topped it all off with my Alaska book. Russians have a keen fascination with Alaska, a land which they owned until 1867. They love to hear about it, and see pictures of it. I can tell that they feel a spiritual connection with this land. I posted an image of Alaska's Flag here for no particular reason, just because I love it so much.

My trip to Ukraine

Last weekend, Navina and I went to Kyiv, Ukraine (Kiev). This week, I was just so darn busy that I never got much of a chance to blog about it. So here I go:

We took the train (3rd class sleeper car) from Moscow. The tickets were cheap -- about $45. This was a 14 hour train ride, and my sleep was less than peaceful. The beds were about a foot (30cm) too short, and between the guy coughing all night, and the immigration officers waking us up at 04:30 and 06:30 it was difficult to get much sleep at all. Returning to Russia, at 04:34, two officers unscrewed the light fixture in our compartment looking for contraband.

Kyiv itself was totally awesome! We stayed with two American teachers (from CA and ME) who teach at the Kyiv English Language Center. They were a blast to spend time with. Eating out was tons of fun, especially since the food prices were dirt cheap, unlike Moscow.

In Kyiv, we visited places such as Independence Square (location of 2004's Orange Revolution), St. Michael's and St. Sophia's Cathedrals, the massive World War II memorial, and the Kyiv Zoo. We had a great time, and made several new friends. Something I observed was a more upbeat and cheerful spirit among people on the streets. You almost never see this in Moscow. Muscovites are quite reserved, and can seem unfriendly. Also, almost no one here speaks English. I find that the situation in Kyiv is much better. I really like Ukraine and Kyiv. I see that they have a lot of good things happening to it. Perhaps Russia would be smart to take notice. At least now, I can brag that I drank water 50 miles (80km) downstream from Chernobyl.