Driving Home

After a month of Q being in Russia and the kids and I in Utah... we're back! Q joined us for 2 days before we hit the road to Ohio. And now we are a 2 CAR FAMILY! Our car #1 was a hand me down from Q's parents and has served us well. Car #2 was passed along from my parents (I know, we are loved and spoiled) and the extra space made the drive home fairly comfortable. We left Friday morning and got in early Monday morning. The kids did FABULOUSLY and we even had some fun little stops along the way.

One was a little organic farm/restaurant. It was the perfect place to stretch our legs and let the kids explore. While they cooked dinner (we were the only ones there -- so it was being prepared especially for us) we walked around the gardens and played with the chicks and goats. The family was from India and they were especially focused on vine growing plants (check out the squash!).

Another stop was right next to the Illinois State Penitentiary. It was too dark to get a picture of, but our cute little ice cream shop and putt-putt golf was merely feet from the entrance gate. We had to get a picture with the cone because the owner told us that he'd been informed it was the WORLD'S LARGEST ice cream cone... possibly. It wasn't cheap to insure anyways.

Check back tomorrow for pictures from our final stop before reaching Ohio!

I can take a hint

So maybe I haven't been as consistent in my blog posting from Russia as I imagined. Well, there's still time to make amends.

Moscow is a much different place that when I lived here 7 years ago; it's not even the same as when we came back for a visit a couple years ago. It took me close to the first two weeks to get used to many of the changes. I'll get to some of those in later postings (well...don't hold your breath), but I thought I'd share some of the things that have NOT changed.

When I took this picture in the supermarket about three blocks from my apartment, I just had to laugh. Despite all the high-tech toys and in-your-face modernization that is Moscow these days, somehow the broom handle has yet to be invented here. Instead, Mother Russia continues to sweep the dirt from her streets as she has for the last several centuries, all hunched and doubled-over with these things. For example, the janitor in my office building has earphones for her music and a cellphone, but she still sweeps the halls with a broom that is approximately 2.5 feet long. I feel guilty, like I'm hiding some big secret from her or something. "Psst...lady, wanna see a little trick I learned back in the States?"

Anyone that's been married is painfully aware of the marathon photo sessions that come along with tying with the knot. In the time-honored tradition of long-suffering, Russians take wedding photos to a whole new level of endurance -- think the Ironman of the wedding photography world. After taking the obligatory photos right there at the ceremony, the wedding party then proceeds spend hours driving to multiple destinations all over town in order to take approximately one billion shots of the happy couple in the exact same pose and with the exact same facial expressions, but with different scenic backdrops. This was one of about 10 couples that my friend and I saw on a Saturday trip we took to a neighboring city, Vladimir.


This collection of so-far-unchanged things made my day. The big thing on top is a pryanik -- almost like a big gingerbread cookie with jam in the middle. It's a classic treat, and if it's fresh, it's fantastic. The shiny packaged treat is a sirok, a small piece of cheesecake-like dairy substance glazed with chocolate. It has to be 60% fat, if anything, and I love them. And, not only are they still around, but they haven't gotten more expensive. Five rubles for a little piece of heaven. Lastly, you can see my reciept. I have never quite figured this out, but for whatever reason, every time a cashier hands you a receipt (without fail!), they rip it. I am honestly baffled by this practice (why the tear? what is it for?), but I am extremely happy to report to everyone that the practice is alive and ubiqitous as ever.

It's nice to know that there are a few islands of stability in this sea of constant change.

I'll warn you next time I leave Ohio...

When I make out-of-state trips, crazy things seem to happen. Insane winter blizzards and now hurricane wind-storms. Over the weekend we missed the intense gusts that whipped through Ohio and left people without power and with damaged property. I can report that our house is still standing (though the huge tree in the front landed a few feet to the side of our porch) and we will not be coming home to a fridge of rotten food since our power was only out for 3 hrs.

After having my sister Jessica in Ohio with us for a week, the kids and I headed out West to spend time with family. Our weather has been perfect and the kids have been enjoying non-stop fun and attention with grandparents, friends, aunts, and cousins. Q flies from Russia to Utah soon, and then we'll make the long-anticipated DRIVE back to Ohio. I'm getting a GPS as an early birthday/Christmas present and I can't wait to try it out --should be loads of fun.

Hopefully you'll soon get some updates on Russia and how things are going there.

Q and the kids before he left for Russia

Aunt Jess in OHIO

Lazy days in Utah -- I finally got to read!

Favorite activity in Utah

better late than never

As of tomorrow, I will have been in Moscow for two weeks. At some point, I really believed that I was going to give a daily insight on the blog about my goings-on. Unfortunately, my lazy, procrastinating nature managed to follow me back to the Motherland. I'll sum up the last two weeks by saying this: it's great to be back, but it's definitely not the same. I took a series of pictures during my first forty-eight hours here of some of the things that stood out to me. I'll post them here over the next few days with some commentary for you. Probably.

First picture: a snapshot of from the banks of the Moscow River of the city's North-West district. I am living across the street from where this shot was taken at the apartment of some very kind friends.



While the summer months still produce the same beautiful, green landscape, the skyline has changed dramatically. Like everywhere in Moscow, this neck of the woods has seen a spate of new construction project in the last eight years. Starting with the big blue towers and moving to the right side of the frame, all those really big buildings are new since I lived in this area in 2000. My apartment buidling was one of the orangey-brown boxes in the middle cluster of buildings here. The foreground is the Moscow River, the green area in the middle is an old airfield that seems to get more use as a location for rock concerts and fairs than anything else.

A little more history about the area can be found here for those who are interested.