Latest Moscow Travel Journal Updates -- April 25th and May 2nd, 2010

Down to the River April 25, 2010

Wishing You Joy, Peace and Love . . . Now and Always

Dear One—

I hope this finds you and yours well and happy! Please write and let me know how things are going if you get a chance.
It’s my Dad’s eighty-third birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dad!!
Thursday night I looked up through the window in the ceiling where the roof slants at the south edge of the building and for the first time since I have been here the sky was completely clear. Instead of just being able to see one or two clouds between wispy clouds slightly illuminated by the reflection of the city lights I saw a whole constellation. The Russians and many other cultures call that group of stars “The Little Bear Cub”, but it is better known to us as “The Little Dipper.” I was happy to be able to get oriented to the night sky here. Since it’s spring the rains have been coming and going, and the evidence of the power of the effects of warmth of warmth of the sun and the life-giving rain is all around us. The grass is green, and the trees have gone beyond producing whatever type of pre-leaf growth they bring forth. The spring green of new leaves is everywhere. The top branches of cluster of birch trees on the edge of the yard of the Methodist Building are adorned with what looks like little jewels. There are more varied bird songs I can hear from inside the building. And I can see many varieties of birds now when I look out one of the windows on the first or second floor of the building or go for a walk.

Friday night as I looked up through the window in the ceiling where the roof slants at the south edge of the building, I saw big fluffy clouds briskly flying from north to south. Later in the night it rained off and on. Sure enough, yesterday morning the weather front that made the clouds from the north pass over us so quickly had led to cooler temperatures. I needed to go to the store to pick up a few things, so for the first time since I’ve been here, I donned my heavier jacket and went down the stairs to head outside. For some exercise I decided to take a walk down to the river before I went to the store. If you had been with me, this is what we would have seen together:

As we give my key to the lady who watches the door and keeps all the keys to every door in the building, we then go to the front door, and push a button to unlock the door. It’s good that we have on warmer coats. The waterproof jacket with the quilted lining I used for most of the winter is northern Georgia is perfect for the colder weather brought in by the front. We walk out the door and are on a portico. As we turn right toward the main gate of the fence around the building, we walk down four steps and cross the asphalt walkway. It’s about twenty yards from the portico to the gate. We step through the gate and notice that the lawns and the pathways through the park in the middle of the courtyard are a bit wet. There are two driveways on the outside edges of the inner courtyard, and we begin walking in between muddy tire tracks.

All along the driveways cars are parked. There is also a big tarp covering a huge motorcycle contraption. The other day when one of the students named Artur and I went for a walk, he pointed to it and said, “Monster”. We laughed.
We’ve now walked about forty yards and, coming to the intersection of the two driveways, we turn right and stroll underneath an arch that connects the two building on the southwest corner of the courtyard about nine stories above us. Now we cross Khamnovichesky Val and head toward a roofed-over staircase that goes down to a pedestrian walkway under the busy, four-laned Komsomolsky Prospect. Advertising banners strung from one side of the wide boulevard to another look very decorative. One says that you can buy a new apartment in a building called “Gulf Stream” Another advertises cars, and another tells you that you can find a loan for whatever you need one at a certain bank.

On both sides of Komsomolsky Prospect there are one-way side streets. The only other cities where I have driven on streets configured like that are Washington, D.C. and New York City. I always found it difficult to get from the side streets back into the real traffic, but that’s a hazard of driving in a bustling city.
Cars are parked on the edges of the sidewalks along these side streets and there is a little thin barrier island between the side streets and the Prospect that opens up every few blocks to accommodate a bus stop shelter of chrome and glass. We cross the smaller one-way street and head down the stairs to go under the Prospect in the pedestrian tunnel. The stairs are made up of steps that are not very high, but wide so that they are easy to walk down. On the left side there are two parallel steel plans with edges lain on the staircase so that wheel chairs can go up or down them. Once we have come down all the stairs we turn left and traverse the pedestrian walkway.

Often in pedestrian walkways under the street or in the wide underground hallways in the Moscow Metro stations you can find little kiosks along on wall. They are usually about maybe 8 feet by five feet large. The longer side is along the walkway and has a window in the door. Although it seems like two people could probably fit inside in the midst of the merchandise displayed in the windows that begin about two and a half feet above the floor, most of the time you can only see one person inside each kiosk. At the kiosks you can find all sorts of things including lingerie; Russian “fast food” (little meat and potato pies and other pastries); eye glasses; magazines and newspapers; and toys like you would find in a drug store in the U.S., or that you might have found in an old 5 and dime store way back when there were such stores.

The pedestrian walkway near the corner of Khamnovichesly Val and Komsomolsky Prospect doesn’t have any little kiosks, though. It’s not busy enough, probably. We walk for maybe fifty yards under the street and turn left to ascend the twin roofed staircase to the one when have so recently descended. On the right side of it there are also two parallel steel planks with edges for wheel chairs. Inside the pedestrian tunnel I was surprised to see something I have noticed in many cities in the U.S. and in other countries, but that probably didn’t exist in the Soviet era – some graffiti on the walls.

As we continue walking on the sidewalk in the same direction the stairs took us, we notice that the on first floor of most the apartments and office buildings there are banks and stores. People are no longer just wearing jackets or light coats as they were in the past two weeks since I arrived. Most of them have winter coats and hats. We notice a little boy with an older woman (his grandmother, perhaps). She is trying to get him to put on a wool cap. They are on the corner where a driveway comes out between two buildings as a woman driving a car pulls up, rolls down her window as she stops and says something to the little boy and the older woman. They wave as she turns to drive down the side street.

We keep walking for about two more blocks to Frunzhenskaya Ulitsa, (Frunzhe Street). From that corner it is about three blocks to the busy boulevard that runs along the embankment of the Moscow River. The street has a wide sidewalk running down the middle of a tree-lined park punctuated with raised flower beds in the shape of the petals of a daisy. Beautiful multi-colored pansies had been planted sometime recently. As we reach the end of the road near the river, we see seven or eight park workers in their green uniforms putting rakes and shovels into a truck, getting ready to get move on to their next assignment.

As we get close enough to see the hills on the island across the river from us, we notice the red jacket of a bicyclist moving swiftly along a path part way up the hill. Perhaps if the trees were fully leafed out we couldn’t see him or know that the path is there, but today he is visible. We have to wait for the traffic light to change before we can cross the busy thoroughfare along the embankment. And we have to step lively once we see that the cars have stopped and the little green light shaped like a person walking is shown. There is a big river boat called “Gisele” docked right in front of us. A banner under the big windows of the top deck of the boat advertises the price of its dinner cruise.

The river is wide and quickly flowing to our left, which surprises me because I thought it would flow the other way. I have to remember to look up on a map where it comes from and where it ends up. We are no longer protected by large buildings so the strong cold wind now coming from the northeast helps push us as we continue our walk along the embankment for a couple of blocks. If we had time to go a few more blocks we could cross the river on a pedestrian bridge and enjoy some time together in Gorky Park. But remember that I still have to go to the store.
I got up early and wrote a paper for one of my independent study courses for almost four hours. So I appreciate being able to take a nice walk with you down to the river!

Maybe I’ll write about the walk back home and the trip to the store later. Thanks so much for joining me.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Blessings and Love – Kathy

Walking Humbly

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8



Worship, Field Trips and the Theater May 2, 2010

Wishing You Joy, Peace and Love . . . Now and Always!

Dear One –

How are you? I hope all is well with you and yours. What’s new?

My kids sent me some new photos of my two youngest grandchildren. You can see the latest photo of my son’s son, Colin at this website:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15945&id=100000104723008&l=df33429954

And on my Facebook page, you can see the latest photos of my daughter’s son, Jude:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22426&id=100000104723008&saved#!/profile.php?id=100000104723008&ref=profile


I feel like I am so often on “send” that maybe you don’t feel like I am open to “receive” Please know that I am always very happy to hear from you, and write when you feel like it. Also, if you have any prayer requests, please let me know. It is always a privilege to pray!
Since I last wrote to you, the time has flown by so fast, I can hardly believe it. I only have a week more in Moscow before I head to Vladivostok, God willing. Sometime last week, I realized that I could share the photos that have been taken here with you by posting them on my Facebook page and telling you about the link. So here are the photos from the trip to the Tretyakov Art Museum:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22264&id=100000104723008&l=164a21cb0e

It’s Sunday again, and I am looking forward to worshiping with the congregation called “Raduga” (“Rainbow”) this afternoon. The Raduga Church holds its services in the Seminary Building. A Korean/Russian congregation holds another church service on Sunday mornings in the building. In addition, on Wednesdays at 11 AM, the Seminary students have a worship service, and they also have the Bible study and communion service on Thursday afternoons. In all the services both hymns and contemporary praise songs are sung. One of my favorite praise songs is also a favorite of Artur and several other students. You may know the lyrics by Heather Headley:

“Here I am to worship,
here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that you’re my God.
You’re all together lovely,
all together worthy,
all together wonderful to me.

I’ll never know just what it cost
To see my sins upon the Cross.”

Since singing it in Russian for the first time a few weeks ago it often comes to my mind, and sometimes Artur will be singing it to himself as he walks down the hall of the dormitory floor.

Last Sunday I went with Zhanna, one of the other Seminary students, to worship at the First United Methodist Church of Moscow where she is a student pastor. Moscow’s First UMC is pastured by Ludmila Pavlovna Garbuzova, a wonderful woman I met in the late 90s when we were both at a Russia Initiative Consultation. Ludmila was a music professor and helped put together two hymnals for the UMC in Eurasia. She has even written hymns that are contained in the hymnals. One has many of the same traditional hymns of the UMC Hymnal published in the U.S. in the late ‘80s, but of course they have been translated into Russian. In addition, there are traditional Russian choir hymns and some new ones written by Ludmila and some other composers. The other UMC hymnal in Russian, “Mir Vam” (Peace Be With You”) has praise songs, some of which are translated from English and some of which are original songs in Russian.

Over the years since even before the break-up of the Soviet Union, a lot of interesting things have taken place concerning the development of the UMC in the former Soviet Republics. Except for the Baltic Republics, all of the former Soviet Union is part of the United Methodist administrative region known as “The Eurasian Area.” In case you don’t know how the United Methodist Church sets things up, within the Eurasian area there are five geographical “annual conferences” in the Eurasian Area, each one separated into geographical districts. The whole Eurasian area is overseen by Bishop Hans Vaxby and the members of his Cabinet made up of the District Superintendents of all the districts and some other pastors who work directly for the Bishop.

I have been involved with the work of the United Methodist Church in the former Soviet Union since the early 90s in one way or another. It’s been wonderful to see the interactions between people from the U.S. and people here. Many folks from the U.S. have come as part of Volunteers in Mission (VIM) teams. The United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries founded what is called the Russia Initiative in the early 90s as a way that exchanges could take place between United Methodists from outside of Eurasia and those over here. Many pastors and leaders from the Eurasian area have come to the U.S. for the Russia Initiative Consultations held every year and a half or so.

Youth and adults from UMCs in Europe have also participated in VIM trips, especially in order to help remodel or construct buildings at the Russian UMC Camp in southwest Russia, and to participate in camping programs with youth from Eurasian UMCs. The people I know in the UMC here in the Eurasian area are full of joy. They share their love and faith in many ways. A meal is usually prepared for everyone to eat together either before or after Sunday worship, and the congregations are involved in actively showing God’s love in many ways including feeding poor and homeless folks, outreach to orphans, and supporting people going through rehabilitation programs.

Anyway, last week I was so blessed to be able to see Ludmila Garbuzova again, and to worship with the people in the church she serves. Then on Monday the Seminary students had the day off, so I invited four of them to go with me to see the historic Lavra (Monastery) of the Holy Trinity in Sergeev Posad a town about an hour and a half’s train ride north of downtown Moscow.

Zhanna and I had the idea of going together when we were taking the Metro back from the First UMC service on Sunday. Then, when we saw the other three students who live in the dorm, Artur, Zhenya and Sasha, I asked them if they wanted to go with us. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you can see some photos from our field trip by going to this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22426&id=100000104723008&l=8186ea1ba3

Then on Tuesday I went with another friend named Zhanna to the Moscow Art Theater’s production of a play made from Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel, “The Master and Margarita.” As you might expect knowing the reputation of the theater in Russia, it was exceptionally well done and fascinating. You can find photos taken of Zhanna and me near Red Square before we had dinner together at a “Planeta Sushi” Japanese restaurant in the “Hunter’s Row shopping mall with a view of the western wall of the Kremlin by going to this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22785&id=100000104723008&l=fa80746fe9

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Blessings and Love -- Kathy


Kathleen Ware Harris  © 2012
kwharris777@gmail.com