A Military Tattoo????

No it isn't body art! A military tattoo is a military music festival and although I've never been to one anywhere else, I would say that Moscow's must surely rank up there with some of the best. Bands (and really, some were more like theatrical productions, some were straight off the (American) football fields. All were great and some were fabulous! Some of the countries represented: Russia, Kazakhstan, India, Israel, Finland, Italy, France, UK, combining GB and Northern Ireland (representing mechanical and electrical engineering,) China...those are the ones I can remember (no Americans....financial crisis, maybe??) Ranks up there as one of the top experiences for me in Moscow.

A Late Summer Update

Summer has slowed down to a crawl. Nice, though. It's good to have some quiet time before the busy-ness of fall. Yes, even for those of us without children, fall just seems to get busier. AWO signup will take place early September and the new year will be off and running. We are definitely gearing up for that. Fall always means the Craft Fair, our big fund-raiser for Nastenka, the childrens oncology hospital we support. I have no specific role this year (for the first time since I moved here!) but I attend the meetings to offer the wisdom of years past, to fill in where needed, and to just "keep my hand in."

Meghan has made the big move to Dallas. She also has a job! She will be teaching 3rd grade at Ethbridge Elementary in Garland. As I understand it, she will be teaching everything but math, which makes her MORE than happy! She is excited about teaching science which she has never taught before. Of course she has only been at school one day, the kids don't start til the 24th and I've only spoken to her briefly, so she may not know much...and I know less! But she is very happy to be settled in Dallas and not having to drive every other weekend to see Jacob.

We hear from Drew even less frequently than we do Meghan! He is 5 hours ahead of us in Korea, and believe it or not, that makes it more awkward to get ahold of him. Plus, he is working (duh) but his Blackberry only works at his hotel. Go figure! Anyway, last news was that he was heading back to the US around Aug. 20th. He will be happy to see "what he pays for" (his words) and sleep in his own bed. He has been gone since first of March, if I remember correctly. We haven't seen him since Christmas! Hopefully that will be remedied soon.

I thought of a couple of interesting things I've done this summer. On Tuesdays, my friend Bonnie and I get together with a Russian Language teacher, who has been around the ConocoPhillips group a long times and knows most of us. She knows Bonnie and me well....we ONLY want language in a fun environment (shopping, sightseeing, cooking.) So among the many things we have done this summer, one of them is to learn a couple of classically Russian dishes. One is called pelmeni, which is a little meat (or anything else you wish to put in it) dumpling wrapped in a dough that is alot like a noodle dough. It was fun, tasty, and dinner was cooked for that night. These are very traditional and are sold everywhere.....restaurants and stores. I enjoyed learning how to make them. Will I ever do it again....maybe. They are time intensive! But sometimes I get motivated....so maybe. The other thing we learned to make is called cirniki . Cirniki is a kind of cheese (tvorog....kind of a cross between a cream cheese and a cottage cheese...has some small curds in it, but creamy) pancake. You mix it with egg, flour, a bit of sugar, and fry them, potato pancake style. They are served with sour cream and jam. Really good! I haven't made them at home yet, but will do it soon. Maybe I will even take pictures like my friend Kerry!

We have enjoyed a run of beautiful weather the past week or so. Warm, sunny days. We try to get out and enjoy. I've taken Abby to the park a couple of times, we try to have coffee or eat outside when we can.

Hope your summer has been full of fun things as well and that you are ready to face YOUR busy fall, rested and refreshed.

We've had a great summer here in Moscow. The "kids" came and went, the summer finally got here and the weather has been lovely for the most part. The trees are beginning to lose their leaves and some even have touches of color!! It's still July. But I know full well that fall is very close. I'm not ready! Too cold a spring and early summer. But I shouldn't be whining yet!!! Something about having a positive attitude.....

Been on a couple of bus tours....if you are on FB you can see the pics. Seen a couple of "new to me" monasteries in Moscow. Enjoyed the outdoor cafes every chance we get. We have a Friday Afternoon Happy Hour here at our courtyard. It includes snacks, wine (lots of it,) beer, and singing!! Yes, singing! Friends Megan and Bonnie and I end up singing to country favorites. See what too much wine will do to you! It's fun....I wonder what the neighbors think? At least they are tolerant of us.

I am always fearful that with many people traveling out of Moscow during the summer that it will be boring. Hasn't happened so far! In fact I yearn for some quiet days at home. Most weeks I have to make that happen by turning down an invitation to do something fun. Oh, well, such is life! The Moscow Life, anyway!

Kids are coming!

I'm sure they really appreciate me calling them kids since they are 25-30-year olds, but guess they will always be kids in my book!

So, who is coming to visit? Meghan and her boyfriend Jacob are arriving in a few hours! I'm excited for Jacob to see Moscow (and St. Petersburg.) He has heard alot about it, I'm sure. Now it will fun to show him "our town."

Tomorrow, 4th of July, Harry's 1st cousin Jan's oldest daughter Leana is coming, from around the world...I will have to get the story straight before I tell it! Her friend Maria will also fly in from DC. So we will have a house full and I'm so excited. I love people this age! They are so smart and open to the world. They will experience Russia in a totally different way than I do. I'm excited to see Russia through their eyes.

Monday-Thursday next week they will go to St. Pete's...without me or Harry. I hope all goes well! They are set up with a way to get there and a place to sleep. After that....they are on their own. Free to explore the city as they would like. A few guidelines from me on the must-see's....and some contact numbers in case of trouble. But not expecting any....they will have a great time, I'm sure!

Meghan and Jacob head home July 12 and Leana and Maria head out to their next destinations on July 14.

Tomorrow, the American Women's Organization will hold a 4th of July Pot Luck celebration right here in our little courtyard. We are happy to have them and even happier that someone else is in charge!! But we will have bathrooms to share, so that will be good.

So my days will be filled with sight seeing for the next couple of weeks. I will catch you up when I can...and hopefully learn to post pics.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, AMERICA!!!!!!

Repairs finished....sort of.

So finally the repairs are what they called finished in the spare bedroom.  True, wall paper has been hung, half of the lights work, one outlet works, part of the floor is still bowed from the leak, which means the baseboards along one wall don't fit.  But hey, it is at least now it is fit for guests.  I need an attitude adjustment I think.  Thanks to Tammy for reminding me that the plumbers in America don't look like Brad Pitt either.  So, off to get some liquid attitude adjustment!!

Why Can't Everything Work at Once?

Why, oh why can't everything work in this ghastly expensive apartment? Have I been away from America too long? My memory says everything works perfectly there... and when it doesn't, a repairman shows up immediately when called, is perfectly nice and polite, brings appropriate tools, cleans up after himself, and looks like Brad Pitt.

Bring me back to reality, America-dwelling friends!

It's the Monday following a 3 day weekend. Always hard to get going. The weekend was lovely, the weather warm. Harry and I spent Friday and Saturday on the move, exploring this city of ours.

Friday (the actual holiday,) we went to the Troika mall. Now I've been several times, but Harry has yet to see this mall. So, I figured this was as good a day as any, and Dima is asking for overtime, so he would get that if he worked a holiday. However, a few mintues before Dima was to arrive, I get a phone call from him. The street getting to our street is blocked. He doesn't know why. He tells me where he is parked and we walk down the street and around the corner to where he is parked (maybe 5 minutes away.) We think, well, surely...when we get back from the mall and grocery shopping, the street will be unblocked. But no....several hours (and lots of groceries and misc. items) later, the street getting to our street, has a big truck blocking the path. But Dima hops out of the car, confers with the "police" and soon we are invited to squeeze the car past the truck and get to our street to get home. Whew! We had packed the bags so that in the event that we would not make it down the stree with the car we could carry the perishables in. We are learning......

So, after putting the groceries away, we thought we would wander around and see what was causing the streets to be blocked. As it turned out, the events of the day caused the Moscow government, in it's infinite wisdom, so shut down various streets for the festivities. Never could quite see why our street was blocked, but I've lived her long enough to know that no one really knows.....not even Dima! When I asked him he drew a big "?" in the air and sounded totally disgusted. The walk yeilded nothing really to look at. It was hard to get on Red Square. Can I say that I have lived here TOO long if I am unwilling to stand in a long line to get through security to look at one of the most fascinating places on earth? Well, I have. I just wasn't in the mood for the pushing and shoving, etc. I can go down there ANY time I want! So we wandered back home, stopping for dinner at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants....which is now close to us! It was a hot day and it was fun to sit in the cool shade of the outdoor cafe and watch the world go by.

Saturday, we had a nice, leisurely morning, ended up picking a park on the map and heading out to see what we could see. We went to Sokolniki Park. We saw what they call a Rosaria...a rose garden. The roses are not quite out yet but the peonies and irises, and some bush that smelled alot like honeysuckle were in full bloom. We promised ourselves to go back in a few weeks and hopefully the roses will be out. This was a lovely park full of all sorts of people, biking, rollerblading, riding in a horse drawn carriage, pedaling something that looked like a big tricycle; lots of different modes of transportation. Lots of walkers, like us. Lots of children. They had an amusement park at the end of the park and a place where pensioners were dancing. Lots of fun things to do on a Saturday afternoon.