Day at the Carnival!!!

Well today started out with another Sunday at church. This time we attended the afternoon service, which was all in Russian. After that we all went out with Natasha to eat lunch at a place called Moo Moo. Eating these days has become quick tricky when trying to stay in the budget because of LST. But we ate fine for lunch. After lunch we took a FOREVER long walk to get to the Moscow river where we could take a boat-ride tour of the city. It was really nice and quite relaxing. Close to the end of our ride it was getting pretty cold but it was all good because we got to the metro and it was warm in there. We made it to the circus in just enough time. There were tons of amazing acts. They have some really talented, really flexible, boarderline crazy folks working at this circus. We saw some things that probably none of us have ever seen before. The acts were nothing short of amazing! The gymnasts and flying trapeze acts and porcipines(sp?) and clowns, etc kept us all captivated. Unfortunately video and photography were prohibeted at the circus so we dont have any cool pics to share from inside, sorry :(. We took a picture of the outside of the circus building so that is going to have to sufice!

D. Jay

Half way mark!

Dennis and Natasha were successful in getting their Visas so they can return to the US. There hasn't been a lot of activity here. We have been reading with our students and working on our Pirates of the Carribean party. Its hard to find decorations and food to follow the theme. We had our Texas Party which was not too hard, but we are struggling to get ideas and with in our budget. The best idea so far that was developed after hours in the supermarket was fruit salad and tuna fish salad on crackers.
Our new friend Sashka ate dinner with us last night. He is an absolute hoot! Go to my my website at www.gynnalyn.blogspot.com to see a video of Sashka singing Hank Williams and telling a joke.

US visas

Please keep Dennis and Natasha in your prayers. They are going to the embassy tomarrow to get their visas renewed. This is a nervous time because the US goverment has total control and does not pass out visas easily. I know how nervous and difficult it was to get my visas to come to Russia and the US is twice as hard. Please keep them in your prayers. ~ gynnalyn

Red Square

This is Denise, the rookie blogger. Today was our first day off for this trip and we went to Red Square. The picture is of St. Basil's Cathedral. We went inside the "rym" department store--in the US we'd call it a mall. We also got to see the changing of the guard at the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". It's a neat thing to watch.

Our really fun part of the day started when we tried to get back to the church building/apartment. Let's just say that some Russians--i.e.Dennis--have trouble finding their way around the Metro system in Moscow. The fact that it was "rush hour" didn't help. Can anyone say SARDINES??? We were literally packed in so tight that I couldn't move. The subway in New York City, even after a Yankees game, was never that crowded.

Tomorrow we start in with some new readers that signed up at the "Texas" party from Saturday. It's such fun to talk to these people. They all have jobs that sound so intimidating to me--stock market analyst, scienctific researcher, etc. They all seem to enjoy practicing English and are a joy for us to talk with. We've learned quite a bit about lots of different areas of life in Russia. I'm looking forward to metting the new readers tomorrow and the other people we'll be encountering during the next 2 weeks.

Stay tuned!

So I Was Right

So if you read the previous blogs you might have noticed that Gynnalyn and Aaron thought it would be fun to write about how I thought that honey could be homemade. The night that we were at dinner when I said that, maybe it came out sounding like I was under the impression that humans produced honey in factories, but I clearly tried to explain to let them know that people own their own hives and "make their own honey." So they went on and on laughing for a good day thinking that I was the slow one until Gynnalyn's reader came back the next day and told her that the honey in fact was homemade. LOL!!! I think I was very respectful and graceful in not rubbing it in their faces even though I really wanted to. So we have almost successfully finished Gynnalyn's "HOMEMADE HONEY!"

We finally finished our first week of LST and today we had our first LST party. The theme was Texas. The day started out a bit hectic with everyone having individual minds that were thinking in a million different directions. Everyone was a little stressed out, and I am sure wondering how this party would actually turn out. Once all of us put our efforts together and tried to chill out and stop stressing so much, and guest started arriving we finally jumped in and each of our individual gifts came rising up. The party was a great success and from reactions that we got numerous times as people left, they really enjoyed the time we spent together during this party. Everything from the unique cuisines of Texas (beans and cornbread) to the Western style games (laso the boots, count the boots, etc) to the line dancing was a big hit!

We are very exhausted from the week. Tomorrow is the longest day of church service ever. Starts at 11am and runs until almost 7 at night so we will go to the main service for the two hours and do other things around the city during the smaller Bible classes that are conducted completely in Russian. We are looking forward to another successful week of LST to come and another great party next Saturday. The theme for this next party will Pirates of the Carribean so that should be a lot of fun, as soon as we figure out how to execute all of this in Moscow. Please continue to pray for us and our readers!!!!

~D. Jay~

Hello, this is Gynnalyn. I wanted to let you all know that I have a blog as well, it is www.gynnalyn.blogspot.com

This morning we went to the Monistary a few blocks from where we are staying. It was beautiful and breath taking. We went into the temple and unfortunatly we were not able to take pictures but it was beautiful. Amazing! There was a golden casket and I asked Dennis about it and he explained it was the remains of a holy person. He said it was ok to go and see it so we stepped up and were looking into the glass covered casket. A very old man with a gold cap and long gray beard accosted us in Russian. Luckily, Dennis talked to him and explained we were just curious and didn't mean to be disresectful. I had no idea what he was saying but I did understand that he was saying this is not a museum and that we were not to step up near the holy casket. We began to walk away and younger monk like person. A deacon or "half-monk" I learned explained that the remains had a holy smell because this man lived such a holy life. He was very interested in educating us and I would have loved to of been able to tape record this entire scene. And yes I smelled the golden casket in the hole created to allow people to smell the remains and recieve grace and healing. It smelt like incense but seriously how many people can say they bent over to smell a holy person's remains throught a tiny hole in a golden casket with a half-monk holding your arm.

Today we had our first round of readers and many of them were economists, doctors, mathematicians and engineers....oh and a Korean missionary who has been in Moscow for 12 years. Her Russian was impeccable as she and Natasha quickly got along. One of my (Aaron) students got lost and with the help of another reader (Sasha) we found her and were able to have the English lesson. Today, Dennis, D.Jay, Denise, and I went around the street posting up fliers and invitations for LST with about 4 bottles of glue. The highlight of the day was actually after the English lessons when Sasha stayed for dinner. We had chicken, rice, and brocolli along with some chai. We talked with Sasha about Moscow, but somehow, the conversation went to talking about rodeos, bulls, and the theory that bulls chase after red. It was hillarious. We didn't start dinner till about 10 and so he left around 1115. Oh...the reason why we dont start dinner is because a) LST lasts till about 9ish and b) in Moscow, during the summer, the sun rises at 4 am and doesn't really set until about 1030 at night. So yah, our circadian rhythms have been completely jacked up. If any of this doesn't make sense, it is probably because of how tough it is to speak and write in English after being in Russia. Yes, we are teaching English, but we have been rather dyxlesic and unedjumacated....(yes, I am joking with the spelling) Whether we are saying "I am going to cold this drink" or asking if honey is "homemade," at least we are learning some Russian, so it is all good! And if I am going to make fun of others (like D.Jay -- previous honey coment), I might as well make fun of myself. I had a series of bloopers where I 1) poured too much hot water into Gynalinn's cup, 2) spilled my hot water cleaning up the mess, 3) knock down a bag of sugar 4) knock Gynallin nearly out of her seat with my butt, and 5) with the falling sugar knock a glass lid on the floor (which did not break, thankfully). Yes, it is almost time to go to bed... clearly, but we will update you more on the fun we are having, and we will also update you more as we continue to get to know our readers in Moscow. Thank you for your encouragement and support.
Aaron