Last Days WOWs

At the shelter they had received a load of sand for a building project, and it rained to form two huge puddles so thee was no interesting anyone in Frisbee, a ball or chalk. That completely consumed them until someone found a cat with kittens. It was like the pull the the moon on the tides - no stopping the surge of children. Fortunately Mom Cat got wind of the onslaught and took the family to safely outside the locked gates. Play in the puddles resumed.

Tonight was the perfect culmination to the trip. I stumbled into the local Russian Orthodox church as the service was beginning. Around every post and pillar and icon they had installed 15 foot limbs off the local trees. It was like walking into a new forest. Everyone had bundles of branches and flowers from home and there was a que at the Candle Purchase Window!


There were 5 guys in hats (also the sign of a Big Event) and one in full Jeweled Chapeau Splendor. There were also 6 others fancy clad clergy, one of whom was whispering directions to everyone including the Very Ancient Most Awesomely Dressed elder. Whenever this Most Big of Biggies stood anywhere he had to have a rug under him so they were constantly laying down and rolling up the rugs. Everyone was in greenest/goldest of greens/golds. Our CCS director told us it is Holy Trinity Sunday, but I can find no calendar that explains why it is not Pentecost.

They made the incense at St Mark's look like a puff of air freshener.

The usual crowd of 10-12 had swelled to 70 or so. And most amazing of all there was congregational singing! I was hoping for "Holy, Holy, Holy" but whatever it was everyone knew the words. Because there are no pews, let alone pew racks for the hymnals. This is the first time I have seen a corporate action in a Russian Orthodox Church. There is lots of active involvement in crossing and bowing at random times and very seldom at the same time, but no response from priest to congregation.

The altar guild is usually scurrying around putting out Teeny Candles before they become hard to clean wax drippings. Today even they were shooed out as everyone processed out to the entrance (my escape route) and back in. I left after an hour as they began to read the Gospel. It was so wonderfully understandably holy even the only word I recognized was "thank you." I guess that's a pretty good one to know.

So Thanks Be to God for whatever day it was - it was a great one. Signing off for home -

фастор а

I know you are wondering who won the Russian "Factor A" - AKA "X-factor" for the Brits and "American Idol" for the US. It was Sergi who was not the adorable 16 year old we had rooted for. Judges were bribed, I'm sure. But the suspense is over, and I can come home.

Which I will do in about 24 hours - leaving at 7am Sunday, trekking back to Moscow, on to JFK and locating my lost luggge at Ohare where I'd like to think they will speak English at 11:25pm on my Second Sunday. I hope I can find something better to watch inflight than Ice Age II AGAIN.

How to feel old...and then older!

At the "jazz" concert - which was 2 electric guitars and a trap set and nothing that had an American jazz beat - the singer sang a song with the lyrics "I'm your Venus, I'm your fire" etc. The youngeters at my table nodded in recognition when it started and poked each other, and I thought, "Thank goodness they know some of the real classic pieces the Boomers are handing on." After it was over they commented, "That was the Gilette Venus Commercial tune. I had no idea it was a real song." Ah youth.

11pm

Back from the concert, Pizza and dessert and The Water Poureth Forth! Yippee!

It's 11pm and still only dusk...

Departures

One group has left for St Pete, the staff is gone for the weekend, and the water has departed from the building. No idea how long that will be. So far the "solution" has been to walk 1/4 miles to Russo Costco and use the public toilets there. It is not open 24 hours. So we are headed out for the Jazz Guitar" where we will partake liberally of the rest room and hope all is flushable when we get back.

More later.....

paka-paka

At least that is what bye-bye sounds like. I only have one more placement tomorrow- at my favorite children's shelter. There are no goodbye's to the kids because they see people come and go all the time. I am the least important part of their care team. but I did teach them pop up butterflies and windsocks. Which made for some very toothless grins as they are all 6-8. It is so little in such a big problem, but it will have to be enough.

Tomorrow night is something billed as a Jazz Festival, but the woman arranging it mentioned a lot of guitar so....
Saturday I have 2 more churches to find, some last souvenirs to buy and then pack. I leave here Sunday at 7am, from Moscow at 2:20pm. I fee fairly well acquainted with the airport, its back alleys and dark halls...

I'll have more reflections after I ma home but I will say this has been enlightening in its similarities and differences from the US. Growing up with a bomb shelter under the house, talk of sputnik and Castro, to meet Russians post Soviet and next generation post-Soviet has been fascinating. The role of the church is almost museum like. Social service is what it is and no one expects any better. Persons connections are everything and forgive everything. More like us, less like us.

Counting down

We had a cultural trip today to a very clean town of 3000 that is supposed to eventually be what Russia would have been if the Soviets had never come. It is a work in progress. Several little museums with relics that were pretty interesting. and restored buidlings - or not restored but open. A singer sewing machine dry good store and home. A stream wiht little saunas by it.
A tea shop, probably a B&B kind of place. A church that we could take pictures in - that was good. The kicker is that there are people who live there, commute to jobs, plant gardens and are not part of the "restoration." So they come out to stand and look at the tourists looking at the town. It's a little strange - the back story says the community is not totally behind the development. But it was pretty colorful.

The New People are getting used to spending evening in the Craft Room awash with scissors and glue. Tomorrow we make pop up butterflies.

Different spaces and faces

Today I went to groups I have not seen before, both in the same day center.

In the morning was a senior center with a guitar concert, tea, then games and crafts featuring us. They cheered to know I had 5 grandchildren and thought the children were wonderful. Good group. 98% women but 2 engineers, 6 factor workers, a dentist and an actress. And a poet who with any encouragement (like a simple "da") would recite lovely poems with great feeling. Oh yes and 1/2 were totally deaf. So we had English to Russian to sign language and back again with 2 interpreters. 100% had been born in Yarosalvl and never lived anywhere else.

In the afternoon after borsch we went back to a disabled adult gathering. Games and crafts. Several spoke English and we had some wild games of dominoes and Uno.

The influx of talent has decreased the prep time for placements by quite a bit. Tomorrow we go to a Russian village that sounds like a cross between Williamsburg and Celebration City in Orlando.

New Energy

We had an influx of 6 new people last night - after they get past the jet lag it will be fun. Nice to have more to go to the sites and play with the kids. Nobody touches my Chinese checkers board, however. Plus cutting out 27 little butterflies has got to be easier with 3 rather than 1! 3 college students, 2 working women and a non profit consultant only here for a day or two. Hope they like glitter.


The shelter is by far my favorite place, but it may be the saddest. The kids are living in the group home because of dysfunctional families. They are normal kids who have princess ball caps and cute jeans and are immaculately clean. The place they live is open and sunny, but they have been removed from their family because the adults could not function as parents. They could be in regular school with their friends, and you would never know which ones they were. They are so close to having normal lives, and it is only the grown ups who stand in their way. So part of me thinks "What good is a paper windsock?" But for 2 hours an adult helped them make something pretty that fluttered, said words they do not hear at home like "good job", someone smiled to see them and made them smile. I can't help when they cry at night, but for a couple of hours, the attention and praise of a grown up were gift enough.

Lovely Day on the Volga

Finally some warm and sunny weather. I walked along the Volga with many, many others - all silent. In my primitive Russian, I traveled on the bus, got ice creams and souvenirs. Da, da, da.

And typical clergy on Sundays I stuck my head into ever church I passed - here that is no mean feat. There are 16 in Yaroslavl - 4 are museums, I saw 8 actual churches. Some were wrapping up services, some in full incense swinging mode. As one congregation left the altar guild dutifully rolled the tank of holy water to out of the sanctuary. There immediately formed a que of folks with plastic water bottles, and they each got a bottle full of holy water to take ...home? Drink? Wash? Save for later? No idea.

Another week begins - my last one here. Some experiences I have not even been able to put into words, and most will be better with pictures. Don’t even think you’ll get out of hearing them! It has been fascinating and enlightening...