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Our apartment building -
fourth floor
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We've been into our apartment almost two weeks now, and it is already feeling like home. The day the Pierson's left, we moved from our temporary apartment in a pretty upscale part of town to our apartment right downtown Moscow. From recessed ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and white leather furniture to our Ikea furnished flat. It's all pretty simple but we wouldn't trade where we live with any of the other couples. We are just a three minute walk to the central building where we seem to be more often then not, especially at night when the young singles have their activities, firesides, game nights and institute classes. We are right in the middle of everything that happens in Moscow.
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| Our permanent apartment's living room |
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| Our temporary apartment |
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Our rather large kitchen. The table will seat 8 and there's adequate counter space for preparation,.
A pleasant surprise.
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By Saturday night, we were all settled in with pictures of our family hanging on the walls. Now our apartment really felt like home.
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Paul eating the first meal cooked in our new kitchen.
Scrambled eggs was about all I could manage by Friday night.
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On Saturday morning, we were off with two
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| Outside the walls of the Kremlin |
other couples and two elders to do some
sight seeing in this beautiful city. We all
met at a nearby station in the metro and
walked right up and out to the Kremlin.
We decided to buy tickets to see the Armoury
which is a historical museum within the
walls of the Kremlin. There were so many
gorgeous things displayed - crowns filled with
precious gems, suits of armor, and luxurious
carriages and gowns. The opulent riches
we saw were amazing - gold dishes of every
shape and kind, huge scripture cases inlaid
with jewels, and glorious icons of biblical scenes. There was even a display a some magnificent faberge eggs
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| The Grand Palace from afar |
We only paid for a tour of the armoury so we didn't see anything else inside the Kremlin except the Grand Palace. We understand you have to have a special invitation to go inside; but we will go back to see and tour the many cathedrals within the walls of the Kremlin.
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Walking to the Red Square, we passed
this eternal flame complete with
standing guards
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The two office elders in
our district.
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This is Goom Department Store (spelled RYM in Russian) in the Red Square.
It's a notoriously expensive store in a mall of equally upscale stores.
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| The Russian Historical Museum at one end of Red Square |
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The pinnacle of Russian architecture
SAINT BASIL'S CATHEDRAL
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We kept pinching ourselves as we walked closer to this magnificent building asking if we could really be here in Moscow seeing this symbol of Russia. It got more beautiful as we got closer. The inside was equally as breathtaking with it's Christian icons and intricately painted walls.
Such a day we will never forget!
We had a district meeting at our home this week. We love these days, even though it is a lot of work for me in the kitchen. I served spaghetti and noodles, Olive Garden salad and breadsticks. I was up half the night on Monday making the breadsticks as I was afraid to leave them till Tuesday morning, having not used my oven before for any serious baking. It all turned out great. The Elders and Sisters were blown away
with the dessert......a cookie pizza.
This week I finally found time to cook a full meal. Our schedule is such that we are gone most evenings before dinner so our eating schedule is a little off. Often we are eating fruit and cheese late at night, instead of dinner. Maybe with all the walking we do and our eating schedule we'll loose a few pounds.
One of our responsibilities every quarter is to check the apartments of the Elders and Sisters in our district. We make sure they are clean and organized, that they have sufficient cleaning supplies as well as a two week supply of food in case of emergency. We even have to check their area book to make sure they are keeping it up to date. Of course, I decided to make cookies and take with us for the Elders and Sisters. Probably not a good tradition to start but it's so fun to see the excitement on their faces when I pull them out of my bag after we check their apartment.
We checked Elder Mark's and Moe's apartment this week and found they only had the typical Russian type broom to clean with. These brooms are used everywhere in public places to keep the areas clean. Elder Marks had made borsh the night before and insisted we take some home with us. We took it home, blended it up (there were big chunks of lots of interesting things in it), heated it and ate it for our lunch. It was surprisingly good.
We have learned to appreciate the simple things in life here in Russia like
........Bells ringing several times a day from the many churches in our neighborhood.
....feeding the pigeons at our kitchen window. They will follow the breadcrumbs right into our kitchen if we are not careful.
...... listening to music as we have no television. We brought a remote speaker that picks up the music from our Ipad so we can hear beautiful music where ever we are in our apartment.
We have also decided we will never take some things for granted ever again, like.........
WASHING MACHINES that can do more than one large towel at a time (but at least we have a washing machine, right?).......
and AUTOMOBILES. We have sore feet from all the walking we have to do. Thank goodness for the metro system. We are becoming quite proficient at getting around on it. Also with a car at home, you can go to the grocery store, buy whatever you want in whatever large quantity you need, roll a grocery cart to your car, put the groceries in your trunk and drive home. Not so here......This is our method of getting groceries home to our apartment.
and CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP. I had to make it from scratch the other day to use in a favorite recipe.
and FULL SIZED, WORKING ELEVATORS. We live on the fourth floor and twice now, in a week, our tiny elevator has not been working. Going up the stairs isn't too bad unless we are carrying groceries, which we usually are. We have been caught in the doors several time as they, like the subway doors, close very quickly. Also, as soon as the doors close, the light inside goes off. If we haven't pushed our floor button, we have to use the braille method to find and push it. Interesting experience.
and GARBAGE DISPOSALS. We take several trips to the trash bins across the street so as not to have stinky garbage in the kitchen.
and STOVE FANS THAT ARE RECESSED. Paul is continually hitting his head on the stove fan as it sticks out several inches beyond the stove. It is at a height that my head clears it but Paul's does not. It is also right by the kitchen sink so as Paul reaches for dishes on the counter, his head often gets in the way of the fan. OUCH!
and GROCERY STORES WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF PRODUCTS. We have two little grocery stores by us and we get so excited when we find what we want and what we are used to finding easily in the states....ie: corn tortilla shells. We found these the other day and couldn't wait to have tacos for dinner.
and, last, BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US. When we got this call, we were surprised because we had requested an English speaking mission. We talked to the CES area supervisor about the language and his comment was....'no problem, everybody speaks English.' NOT! These shirts were made for us by Andrea for Father's day before we left. We haven't had the nerve to wear them but often think of their message. It is frustrating to want to communicate and not being able to, especially ordering food in a restaurant.
Sunday, Paul spoke in church through an interpreter, except at the end when he bore his testimony in Russian. We know the Bishop's invitation to speak was an answer to our prayers. We were in need of a few more students to apply to the Pathway program in order for us to begin a new group (cohort) through BYU Idaho. Two students who are already registered moved to Moscow, specifically, to begin Pathway so we felt a real need to gather more students. We needed a total of 10 students to begin a new group and we only had 8 in the application/registration process. When the Bishop called, he asked Paul to introduce us and to talk about our responsibilities in the Church Education Program (CES). This was a great way to introduce the Pathway program and let the members know we were still in the English testing mode and they could still take the test and apply to the program. The Pathway program is a BYU Idaho sponsored program where students, here in Moscow, can establish residency at BYUI by attending a year in an Academic Start program. They earn 15 college credits by taking online classes for 3 semesters. Every Thursday, they attend our English institute class and stay for a gathering meeting to discuss the online learning of the week. When they complete this first year, they can continue with their education with online classes until they have attained the degree they desire. The cost is greatly reduced for them and they can earn an associate or bachelor degree. All the classes online are in English, hence, the English Proficiency Exam is a prerequisite to joining Pathway. After the meeting we had three people approach us with interest in starting the program. It's a good start. We have until August 21 to get 10 students to apply. Just a little pressure.
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This is where Paul spends a lot of his time....in our office at home
on the computer. He has had to learn the Pathway program fast
because of the application deadline facing us.
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Our ward is really special. It's a very young ward. Our Bishop is probably in his 20's and the stake president is 31. The young singles hold many leadership positions and are the backbone to all the wards and branches in the stake. We are excited about the ward's zeal for missionary work and the good examples they are to the world outside. The primary children sang in church and there was a total of 5 children. We're thinking that some families are on vacation as this is the time they travel to their daccha's (Small homes on small plots of ground given to families decades ago to farm). It's a way for them to get away from the busy and pressured life here in the city. What we have learned is that the church is true all around the world. It was exciting to hear the same Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood lessons given here as were being presented back home.
We had a district meeting at our home this week. We love these days, even though it is a lot of work for me in the kitchen. I served spaghetti and noodles, Olive Garden salad and breadsticks. I was up half the night on Monday making the breadsticks as I was afraid to leave them till Tuesday morning, having not used my oven before for any serious baking. It all turned out great. The Elders and Sisters were blown away
with the dessert......a cookie pizza.
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| This was all that was left of 4 cookie pizzas.....GONE! |
This week I finally found time to cook a full meal. Our schedule is such that we are gone most evenings before dinner so our eating schedule is a little off. Often we are eating fruit and cheese late at night, instead of dinner. Maybe with all the walking we do and our eating schedule we'll loose a few pounds.
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Baked chicken with Bernnaise sauce (brought from home),
broccoli and fruit. Pretty simple but really good.
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One of our responsibilities every quarter is to check the apartments of the Elders and Sisters in our district. We make sure they are clean and organized, that they have sufficient cleaning supplies as well as a two week supply of food in case of emergency. We even have to check their area book to make sure they are keeping it up to date. Of course, I decided to make cookies and take with us for the Elders and Sisters. Probably not a good tradition to start but it's so fun to see the excitement on their faces when I pull them out of my bag after we check their apartment.
We checked Elder Mark's and Moe's apartment this week and found they only had the typical Russian type broom to clean with. These brooms are used everywhere in public places to keep the areas clean. Elder Marks had made borsh the night before and insisted we take some home with us. We took it home, blended it up (there were big chunks of lots of interesting things in it), heated it and ate it for our lunch. It was surprisingly good.
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| Elder Moe and Marks |
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| The broom of Russia |
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| Beet red soup or borsh |
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A church on the way to our
neighborhood Mcdonald's
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........Bells ringing several times a day from the many churches in our neighborhood.
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| Taken from our living room window. |
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A little church right by our central
building
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....feeding the pigeons at our kitchen window. They will follow the breadcrumbs right into our kitchen if we are not careful.
...... listening to music as we have no television. We brought a remote speaker that picks up the music from our Ipad so we can hear beautiful music where ever we are in our apartment.
...... and watching BYU sports on our Ipad when we are relaxing at home.
We have also decided we will never take some things for granted ever again, like.........WASHING MACHINES that can do more than one large towel at a time (but at least we have a washing machine, right?).......
and a CLOTHES DRYER.......we have a fan and a drying rack.
and AUTOMOBILES. We have sore feet from all the walking we have to do. Thank goodness for the metro system. We are becoming quite proficient at getting around on it. Also with a car at home, you can go to the grocery store, buy whatever you want in whatever large quantity you need, roll a grocery cart to your car, put the groceries in your trunk and drive home. Not so here......This is our method of getting groceries home to our apartment.
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We are so glad we bought this pull cart.
A life saver.
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Taking a break at the metro station,
from the heavy loads we were carrying
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and DISHWASHERS. Thank goodness for Paul. He's our number 1 dishwasher just as he was in Utah.
and CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP. I had to make it from scratch the other day to use in a favorite recipe.
and QUALITY CAKE DECORATING TUBES. Last week, I was so excited to find an inexpensive cake decorating kit at Ashwan's. It was only a few dollars but I thought it would work. I was filling Hostess cupcakes and on the first squeeze the whole tube split apart. Thank goodness for duct tape.
and FULL SIZED, WORKING ELEVATORS. We live on the fourth floor and twice now, in a week, our tiny elevator has not been working. Going up the stairs isn't too bad unless we are carrying groceries, which we usually are. We have been caught in the doors several time as they, like the subway doors, close very quickly. Also, as soon as the doors close, the light inside goes off. If we haven't pushed our floor button, we have to use the braille method to find and push it. Interesting experience.and GARBAGE DISPOSALS. We take several trips to the trash bins across the street so as not to have stinky garbage in the kitchen.
and STOVE FANS THAT ARE RECESSED. Paul is continually hitting his head on the stove fan as it sticks out several inches beyond the stove. It is at a height that my head clears it but Paul's does not. It is also right by the kitchen sink so as Paul reaches for dishes on the counter, his head often gets in the way of the fan. OUCH!
and GROCERY STORES WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF PRODUCTS. We have two little grocery stores by us and we get so excited when we find what we want and what we are used to finding easily in the states....ie: corn tortilla shells. We found these the other day and couldn't wait to have tacos for dinner.
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| Ohhh! So good |
For district meeting this week, I wanted to make a Mexican type dinner but I needed to find fresh salsa ingredients. That was a trick as all the labels are in Russian. I looked up the word for cilantro on Google Translate and went rummaging through all the packaged fresh herbs till I found it. As I was walking out of the small produce sections, I just happened to noticed a long, thin green pepper. Yeah, it was a hot pepper similar to a serano pepper. I could now make fresh homemade salsa. I even found tortilla chips and ripe avocado in the same store. Such of find! Oh the little things that bring such great pleasure.
and, last, BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US. When we got this call, we were surprised because we had requested an English speaking mission. We talked to the CES area supervisor about the language and his comment was....'no problem, everybody speaks English.' NOT! These shirts were made for us by Andrea for Father's day before we left. We haven't had the nerve to wear them but often think of their message. It is frustrating to want to communicate and not being able to, especially ordering food in a restaurant.
BUT......
WE WOULDN'T TRADE THIS EXPERIENCE FOR ANYTHING.
WE ARE LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF OUR MISSION ADVENTURE.
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