Dear One –
Do you believe it’s the middle of May already? Time is flying by so fast for me here in Russia, that I can hardly keep track.
Hope all is well with you and yours. Please let me know what is happening. I am always happy to hear from you!
This has been an amazing week here in Vladivostok.
Photos from the first part of my week here can be found on this web site:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23464&id=100000104723008&l=2796453696
Getting used to being the time zone has been a bit of a challenge, as usual. Moscow is eight hours earlier than the U.S. east coast. Vladivostok is seven hours earlier than Moscow! So in the last five weeks I have had to adjust to life on new time zones twice and I think I am getting too old for this!! A few mornings this week my friend came up to my room to see if I wanted to join her while she did some interesting things, but I was just dead to the world.
Thankfully, she’s a world traveler and understands, but I was sorry I missed the events. Nevertheless, I was blessed to go to two concerts, see some presentations given to some Russian teachers who teach children how to speak English, and to take part in a fund-raising event for babies and young children who were born suffering from AIDs. Then this morning we did some Saturday morning shopping in both the kind of grocery store you would recognize, and in a more traditional shopping complex that included a bazaar area.
It’s been really interesting riding around town and also out of the city to a town called Artyom where the presentation for the English teachers was.
You can see some more views of both Vladivostok and Artyom by going to this web page:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23514&id=100000104723008&l=e7c43f784c
I mentioned how lovely the first concert we attended was. It was so cool to listen to not only a Russian band, but also some of the U.S. Navy’s finest musicians. Arriving here on a holiday made things very interesting, too.
A few days later, my friend knew of a concert being given by a local orchestra and a solo violinist she admires was playing with them. The concert took place at the Pushkin Theater downtown, and it was delightful. Russian culture is well known for its symphony music, ballet, and opera, of course. Even in a remote city like Vladivostok, there are many classical concerts, plays and even concerts by rock groups to enjoy. Because my friend loves art and music, it is a joy to go with her to the cultural events and exhibits she delights in, and I felt very blessed to attend the concert.
Afterwards we met a friend of hers, a young university student and went out to dinner at a restaurant at the Hotel Versailles. We had a great time and the food was delicious. I had shashlik, which is the Russian version of shish kebob – marinated meat on skewers. My friend and her friend had yummy dishes, too. We all shared tastes of one another’s choices.
The first night I was in town we also ate out and I treated my friend for her birthday which as several weeks ago. I had black rice and seafood which was a gourmet dish, beautifully presented. What they call “black rice” turned out to be wild rice, cooked with the hulls so that it looks black or dark purple). Grilled vegetables and a delicious torte for dessert rounded out the meal. My friend shoes black spaghetti with seafood, pumpkin soup and tiramisu. (Don’t ask me how they made the pasta black, but it tasted good.)
One thing that was very interesting, too, is that we met up with another friend of my friend and had dinner out at a third restaurant (you can see I have been living it up here this week!!) It was another gourmet place with a very contemporary menu – not traditional Russian cuisine, and delicious. We split an excellent dessert, made with mangos, crème and layers of sponge cake.
After that we checked out a health club my friend is thinking of joining. It was very modern with a pool, state-of-the-art exercise machines, a wi-fi health food bar, and many types of exercise classes including spinning, yoga, Pilates, and every kind of offering you can find in my Life Time Fitness Club, Gold’s Gym, or LA Fitness back in the U.S.A. I had seen health clubs advertised in Moscow, too, but didn’t take the time to check any of them out.
More and more, I have noticed that there are fewer and fewer differences between the lifestyle of people with jobs here in Russia and the way the majority of people in Europe and the U.S. live. This should not be surprising, I guess, because it has been nearly twenty years since the break-up of the Soviet Union. But over the years since I first came here twice in ’94, lived in Kazakhstan for five months in 2005, and spent the month in Moscow in 2007, the similarities and differences have been more or less pronounced. It’s been very interesting.
More views of Vladivostok from a hazy Friday evening and a sunny Saturday morning can be seen on this web page:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23608&id=100000104723008&l=edbb8566f0
One of the things that has been interesting is to watch the Armed Forces Network on television here, and to see “Good Morning America from earlier the same day at 11 PM! *smile*
Time is INDEED relative, as I have noted before!
There is probably a lot more to tell you, but maybe that is enough for now.
Hope you have a great weekend.
May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.
Blessings in His Love -- Kathy
Your Love, O Lord!
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Psalm 35:5-10
Kathleen Ware Harris © 2012
kwharris777@gmail.com
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