Back in the USSR

Monday, July 30, 2007

Thursday 26 July 2007

Coming home from movie night, this girl was swinging firey chains around by the metro.
She probably didn't get enough hugs as a child.

Noni.... I was walking home and saw this shattered bottle not too far from my place. Not really something that I expected to see I guess. Whoever thought this stuff up is my hero. Take a liquid that looks and tastes like nuclear waste, and convince people to spend money on it and even drink it. Who does that? And how did this stuff end up in Russia? And then it hit me... After 200 grams of vodka, even this refuse tastes like koolaid.

Donskoi cathedral from my balcony

Balcony shot
Word...

27 July 2007

Here's to being old

Iosif and I having a party.

62
It's funny...

26 backwards...

It's funny.
I figured, when you're this old, you might as well rearange the numbers.

It's funny.

29 July 2007

Sunday trip to Ryazan
(note) For those of you who think that I sleep in all the time, I'll have you know I woke up at 5:30 to catch the train to Ryazan.

Sister Irina and I

The Ryazan branch.

Me at the Kondratovi's house.

Me, Olya, Olya's parents, and Richard the dog.
When I served in Ryazan, Olya was 13 years old, now 18. Everyone is all grown up now, crazy...

Olya and I by the appartment where I lived in Ryazan. Our balcony overlooked the wall of this building.

Olya Kondratova by my old appartment building

Me waiting for my train back to Moscow

Found my train, waving goodbye to Olya.

I got back to Moscow and saw this dog in the Metro. I think I'll call him Benedict.

The poor little guy. Tomorrow he and the other neighborhood animals are going to discuss their weekend adventures.

Bowser the Bulldog: I went to the park and played fetch with my master.
Fergie the Feline: I sat around the house and sipped warm milk while my master listened to Vivaldi.
Benedict the Lowly: My master stuck a bucket handle in my mouth and made me sit in the metro all day so he could have money for beer.

And so dear Benedict, we dedicate this Blog entry to you. May you keep some of those rubles for yourself, and slobber in your master's beer when he's not looking. Stick it to the man.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

25 July 2007

The fellas and Liza (our teacher) at Academy of National Economy. Right after we finished the written proficiency test. Justin, Dave, Nick, Chase, James, Liza, Lane

Liza being buzy

24 July 2007

Me wandering around Moscow. Picture with Karl Marx statue.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

My trip to Voronezh

19 July 2007
On my way to Voronezh

Cathedral near Paveletsky Train Station. Just bought my ticket to Voronezh...All set to leave at 10:30 pm.

20 July 2007

Pulling into Voronezh with German's wife, Nadezhda, Galina, and German.
The trip to Voronezh was really fun. In the beginning, German (pronounced g as in grape) was interrogating me with questions about America and the war in Iraq but later we all made friends and played "ask the American questions" till 1:30 in the morning. (we might have kept going but the people around us were sleeping and told us to be quiet. We talked about everything from life in Holbrook AZ, my schooling and church. 1 first discussion times 5 people (Ludmila not pictured) My mission president would be proud.

Me in my first area in Voronezh. That cathedral was being built when I was here and is still not done. Lack of funds apparently.

Beem the dog. He's a popular character in a Russian book/film.

Saturday 21 July, 2007
The big hike/picnic in honor of pioneer day.

Getting ready for the big picnic

Dina, Sveta, Lane and Lena

The Sister's and Ira.

Sister Yulia and Nikolai Kuznetsovi getting the kabobs ready. Aleksei Shabanov in the background just lookin' good.

Kickin' it.

Georgi Vnodchenko eating and painting by the river.

How do you say "Bob Ross" in Russian?

The river, beckoning me.

Eating, my favorite part of any activity.

Me in the water.

Nikolai and I

Some hot dude's name, I can't quite make it out...

This little dude was livin' it up splashing all over the place (including on me) so what did I do? I splashed water in his face, that's what I did.
Just kidding, I took his picture.

Hooray for the Pioneers of Voronezh.

Driving back home in Misha Sveshnikov's new G-ride.

Sister Yulia's flower garden

Lilies at night.

So Saturday night, I had no plans so I decided to hit the road and look for sweet pictures to take. Walking on a road near the Kuznetsovi's house.

I saw this guy and his dog sitting on the corner and decided to make a new acquaintance. Sergei Vasilevich is his name. Here he is posing for a picture with his dog.

It just so happens that Sergei Vasilievich is an artist. I asked him to bring out some of his work. This is a portrait of Marshal Aleksander Vasilevsky. Marshal of the Soviet Union during WWII.

Sergei Vasilevich and Marshal Vasilevsky

Sergei Vasilevich and I. Sitting on a stool in the street chattin' and chillin'

He wanted to show me his book about Reagan and Gorbachev. If you ask Sergei Vasilevich, Gorbachev and Yeltsin were traitors, but Ronald Reagen was one cool cat.