Back in the USSR

Thursday 26 July 2007

2007-07-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-30T04:10:00.000-07:00

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.

25 July 2007

2007-07-25T06:10:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Me wandering around Moscow. Picture with Karl Marx statue.

My trip to Voronezh

2007-07-24T04:59:00.001-07:00

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.

Every night, Nikolai, Yulia and I had tea and icecream in their back yard. Mmmm. So delicious.

Sunday 22 July
Brother Boris Kolokolnikov and I.

Zhenya Kharin and I

The Gimpels and I

Brother Parfyonov and I

Yuri and I

Ira and I

Masha Lzhenina and I

23 July 2007
Saying goodbye
Time to go back to Moscow :(
Yulia, Nikolai and I

Playground in Voronezh.
Goodbye fair city.

Leninsky Prospect

2007-07-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

18 July 2007

Word to the wise, don't park on Leninsky Prospect after 10pm and more importantly, don't park in the way of the trolley buses. Some nights there are 6 or 8 of these tow trucks hauling cars away. I've wanted to get a picture of it all summer but there's always a cop standing there. (He's behind the little vendor on the right.)

Some days you're the dog, and some days you're the hydrant.

17 July Victory Park

2007-07-18T06:23:00.001-07:00

Walking to the WWII museum.

Kid crawling on a fountain. It doesn't look so funny as a picture but it seemed funny at the time.

Artillery cannon and big memorial in the shape of a bayonet.

Chase and Nick anxiously awaiting entrance to the museum.

Don't forget your ticket Alla...

Just reminiscin'

Look, there's godzilla. Or wait,,, no it's just a super tall, car crushing white legged American guy with glasses. (Me in my first Mission area. I first lived in the building behind me. The one I'm about to sit on. 11th floor or something.)

This is not the Russia that I left 5 years ago. (6 story European Mall by Kievsky trainstation in my first area. )

16 July FHE

2007-07-18T05:50:00.000-07:00

FHE at the Novokuznetskaya building
Lane, Tanya, Chase, Katya, Zhenya

Chase and Nick get all the ladies...

Americans are wierd

Katya is moving back to Chelyabinsk. Don't be afraid of the camera Katya. It won't bite you.

Cheese..

The Pilgrimage

2007-07-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Foreword: Several months ago, I think it was February or March, David and I ran into each other in the hall of the JFSB. We talked for about 2 hours about this internship thing and about going back to Russia. He mentioned that he wanted to go to a town called “Izhevsk”. I personally could have cared less about going there until he said why he wanted to go there. Izhevsk is the home of the AK 47. No more explanation needed. I’m in…

Do you remember when you were a little kid and they told you there was this guy called Santa Clause and how he wanted to bring you presents and you couldn’t wait till he comes? Yeah, it’s kind of like that.

So, a couple of days before the trip (Thursday), we were in the train station checking on prices. There were only a few tickets to get there (for Sunday) and none coming back. We bought the tickets not knowing where we would stay or how we would get home. Things just kind of worked out though.

And so the pilgrimage began….17 hours on a train to a city which up until recently has been closed to foreigners.

Sunday 08 July

Me in my cubby hole getting ready for the big 17 hour trainride to Izhevsk

Dave up above me

Monday 09 July 2007

Lane, Dave, Aleksandr, Alyona

We made friends with them during the trip to Izhevsk. We had a lot of fun talking, arguing about politics, laughing at jokes etc. By the end of the trip we were all good friends. It turns out that Aleksandr was a cop in Izhevsk he teaches in the police accademy. I told him I would drop his name if cops hassle us while in Izhevsk. He said he'd come bail us out if we had problems.

Me by the Izevsk lake/pond

Izhevsk lake

Old Izhevsk arms factory. Used to make rifles here in the early 20th century

WWII memorial overlooking the Izhevsk Lake

David

Lane

Temple that is being rebuilt after having been demolished during Stalin's regime. Will be done in a couple of weeks.

We walked around the town the first day. Here is a track/soccer stadium that we ran into.

Just picking up some ol' narcotics syringes so the kiddies don't step on them.

Me and Gena (a popular Russian cartoon crocodile) we found Gena in a park. Some girls were cuddling with him but we quickly dispersed them so we could chill wit' Gena.

Oh Miller.....

The Kalashnikov museum was closed on Monday so we just wandered around as you can see.

Tuesday 10 July

We were almost to the museum when I decided I couldn't go in there on an empty stomach so we went to this cafeteria. We each ate for about 2 bucks. Hooray for cafeterias

After months of talking, hours of daydreaming, seconds of planning, we had waited out the 1 day in Izhevsk and finally made it to our destination. The Kalashnikov museum.

Me and the AK 47 in the main hallway

Look at that happy face...

Guns

No cute captions,,, just me and a gun

Dave and a gun

Dave in the main hall. We're going down to the basement where we hear there is a shooting range.

Shooting range #1 gas powered guns

That's a face you can trust with a gun

BB projector range. One of 2 shooting ranges in the basement of the Kalashnikov museum

Lane shooting AK BB gun.

Big boy range, with real guns. (And real price tag for that matter) but hey, we're in Izhevsk

David at the range.

Today David Miller, you have become a man.

Breath out slowly. Pause. Squeeze, don't jerk the trigger. Let the bang of the guns surprise you.
One shot, One Kill

Me shooting Dragunov sniper rifle. (Basement of the Kalashnikov museum)

David shooting Dragunov sniper rifle.

David with an AK 47 in Izhevsk

Right now I'd be asking myself one question... do I feel lucky? well... do ya? punk...

Gettin the ol' flex on.

Lane, David and Izhevsk girls at the eternal flame in Izhevsk.

Me, David, and some Izhevsk girls that we met and hung out with on Tuesday in a park by the eternal flame.

Lane and the hunnies.

Dave, Lane, and the Izhevsk girls chillin at the cafe by the Izhevsk lake

Wednesday 11 July 2007

The note we wrote to the missionaries for letting us stay at this empty apt. David decided to give them a gift. A little glass mouse and cat that Diana, a girl on the train to Izhevsk gave us.

It was hard to part with those cute little guys. Kinda pulls at the ol' heart strings

"Welcome to Izhevsk"

This is the Udmurt history museum and it has an arsenal section with lots of guns too.

Mommy, I want one of these for Christmas...

Me and the guns

Miller by the old rifles

Picture of the Izhevsk train station taken from the train as it is about to leave for Moscow.

Thursday 12 July 2007. Back in Moscow.

Statue of Tsar Alexander II in front of the Orthodox temple

Temple of Our Saviour the Redeemer. (Moscow)

A bunch of foreigners in front of the cathedral. (no one allowed who's wearing shorts)

Home again, Home again, after 4 days of adventure to Izhevsk

04 July 2007

2007-07-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

Ducks July 3rd 2007. River Moscow.

04 July 2007

Happy B-Day America

Independence day just isn't the same when you're not in USA. I started my day with the national anthem though. ooh, play it for me Jimi.

David, James, Chase, Nick, and Lane at TGI Fridays

I once thought that Russians were logical and good judges of character, I changed my mind when I met the girl who was crazy enough to sell us these sweet boy scout treasures. Woo hoo....

Only one babushka yelled at us for loud noises. Successful night.

Raise 'em high for America boys
Dave, James, Justin, Nick

Nick and Lane with sparklers

Ooo look at me write my name..

Here is James with "The Jupiter" the $10 super rocket. This is going to be good.

Or not... After lighting it, we all realized that it wasn't flying off (it was stuck too deep in the ground) so we scattered to avoid the explosion. Not exactly what we were hoping for but hey, what's 250 rubles anyways?

Miller with a roman candle. I liked this the best.

Happy Birthday America... Your displaced sons in Russia love you.

01 July 2007

2007-07-01T07:32:00.001-07:00

Interesting story: This statue was dedicated to Ivan Tunoguls, who throughout his life, successfully accomplished every task laid before him. The Soviet government, knowing his abilities, presented him with the task of understanding women. (His was a martyr's cause) After years and years of work, he threw his hands in the air and gave up...... Just like the rest of us.

Okay, it's actualy a WWII memorial by my house.

Oh so fine... walking to the metro from church.

I've already taken a pictue of this one but the sun was working to my advantage and I figured I could get a better shot today.

30 June 2007

2007-06-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today I traveled to my last area and took a picture of myself in front of the last place where I lived. You can't see her, but there is a babushka sitting on a bench behind me. She was giving me the evil eye as I walked around trying to figure out if this was the place where I used to live. Babushki are the gate keepers here.
I don't worry about dying and ending up somewhere that I shouldn't be. I figure there are Russian babushki chillin in front of most of the gates who aren't afraid to reprimand you if you're going somewhere that you're not supposed to or if you aren't dressed warm enough for the weather.

28 June 2007

2007-06-28T12:21:00.001-07:00

Old school Soviet architecture, and blue steel.

Ooo, so pretty. Nick and Lane at Patriarch's ponds. I guess this place is the setting for the opening scenes of Master and Margarita. I've never read it.

The left half of my face, and some swans

Nick, Chase, Lane at Patriarch's Ponds

Crossing the river to Red Square

Kremlin (notice the time)

View from off of the bridge

Sunset on Red Square

Moscow time... 10:00 and that's not AM. You can't stop partying till it gets dark. And it gets dark late...

Lane in front of Lenin's lenin's mausoleum. (Can you believe it's 10pm?)

Just me being a cutie pie

Random 26-27 June 2007

2007-06-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

26 June 2007

You know those times when you take a picture only to find out later that some weird soul was behind you making a silly face? Yeah...

So that blue building behind us was built and condemned. Now it just sits there.

The latest in advertising on Leninsky Prospect. ( Translation): Only 6.6% of families in Russia have 3 or more children. Happy adding! (to your family)

I thought it was interesting when in his State of the Union address a few months ago, Putin called on families to have more children, however, I never figured they would advertise on the streets.

And in other news, the national anthem is being changed to include excerpts from Barry White's "Best of" album.

23 June 2007

2007-06-23T12:10:00.001-07:00

Cool statue of Russian partisans (WWII) in the metro "Partizanskaya"

At the entrance to Izmailovsky Park (big open air market) they had some bears. The darn bears kept moving whenever I had a good shot set up.

This poor little guy just wanted to go see the sights in Moscow but he's got that big metal cable around his neck. "I think that means he's married or something."

This place is awesome. It's got everything from matroshka dolls and souvenirs to swords knives and army surplus stuff. Almost like a grown fellar's Chuckee Cheese.

This is the clothing section of the market. This row alone stretched about as long as a large city block. (Male reader's cringe) Now I know what you're thinking guys, cuz the thought went through my head a few times as well. "That's even worse than Super Target" but let me reassure you. Two rows over, you've got old army hand grenades and gas masks. Now she's going to be the one whining "Haven't we been here long enough?" "No" shall be your reply. And with the best Darth Vader impression that you can muster up, you'll command her to hand you your light saber and prepare the thrusters for light speed.

Yes, this is why girls question our place in a species of intelligent beings. But, is she going to want to go shopping again next weekend? I think not... And if she does, will she want to bring you along? Exactly... Now that's what I call intelligence.

This guy had his arm around the bear and was smiling for the perfect camera shot, then he saw me pull out my camera and walked away. Maybe it was my "Stop exploiting the animals" t-shirt that did him in.

Is it just me or is there something strangely hot about a girl in a skirt with a machine gun?

22 June 2007

2007-06-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Today someone at work was sitting at "my desk" so I went outside and ate my lunch, peach juice and honey cakes, by this playground. Figured I'd take a picture.

Playground

Alyosha and I in front of a painting. Somebody painted it on a brick wall. This was at an old Wine factory that is being renovated into modern art galleries.

Alyosha Vargin, James Tippets

21 June 2007

2007-06-21T12:53:00.001-07:00

So I'm really tired and am not about to attempt the whole detailed captioning thing. Here it is, good night all.

This guy played at a concert last night at the main meeting building here in Moscow

Lenin's statue on the street where I live "Leninsky Prospect"

Walking home along the Moskva River. Speedo row just ahead and to the right.

Me taking a picture of myself.

Wierd building

Statue to Gagarin on Leninsky Prospect

Oooh, that's nice

Alyosha, James, Alyona, David

James, Alyosha

Bird... I named him Clarence

Cathedral near Clarence's place of dwelling

Clarence and his friends come here for religion

Some street that I was walking on

Electric train going through a bridge under me.

Me and the train

17 June Sunday in Podol'sk

2007-06-17T11:03:00.001-07:00

Подольск

Podolsk, welcomes you

Olya from the Podolsk branch

Lane, David, Sveta, and Sasha (Sveta's husband)

Lane, David, Sveta, Dima

Snezhana, Sveta's daughter (party pooper)

Ah...Lilia, i'm glad to see you too but uh... you're tugging on my cheek...

Lane, Lilia, David

16 June monastery and such

2007-06-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

I call this post "A day in the life of a devilishly handsome young American with strikingly sharp features, in a Russian Orthodox monastary" Come... Enjoy...

A cathedral

Cathedral in the background, Headstone and other thingie in the foreground

Picture taken in the monastary

A lot of people come here for wedding pictures it seems

Babushki... the heart and soul of Russia

Chillin

Throw a couple pictures of me in there..

yyyep...

Babushki hangin' out... I totally overheard their conversation, "Did you watch Oprah yesterday? I tell you what, that woman is off the hook yo."

(rough translation)

Kinda cool lookin', so I had to take a picture

Monastery guy: So uh... You ladies come here often?

Babushka: Quick, we can lose him at the gate.

So tranquil, so serene, still water reflecting the majesty of a landmark whose history dates back into the centuries. The makings of a perfect picture... and then that cunning dive bomber of a bird comes along and spoils everything. And tonight, over a dinner of ground worms and river bugs, he's going to laugh it up with his whole family. Argh.... is there no justice in life?

Now here's a guy worth mentioning. His thoughts and stories have probably influenced numbers in the millions. His name will go down in history not only in Russia but throughout the world. Just look at the magnificence, the splendor. Just think of the time and effort needed to create such a stone chiseled masterpiece.

Oh yeah... And that Tolstoi statue in the background is worth noting too.

yeah... I know what you're thinking... and.. uh.. I have no idea.

15 June 2007 Flashmob Near Red Square

2007-06-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, let me explain this for a second, I got off of work and met some people near Red Square. They gave me some chalk and said, "at exactly 7:30, start drawing on the ground for exactly 10 minutes and then stop" I thought it was a wierd idea and I figured the 8 of us would be the only ones doing it and all of the hundreds of people who were hanging out by Red Square would think we were crazy... It turns out,,, everyone was in on it and at exactly 7:30, everyone hit the ground and started drawing.... the wierdest thing.
After exactly10 minutes, everyone stood up and went on their ways.

When in Rome....

Look at the little girl in the center of the picture. I thought it was hillarious that she came with her little bag of chalks, participated in the festivities, and went around afterwards gathering all the chalk that everyone left behind

I don't know who wrote that...

Right to left: Lane, Alla, Chase, Nick, James, Alyona

Just me and some fly hunnies... No big deal

No time for pouting,,, It's happy time

13 June Walking around Moscow after work

2007-06-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

With shrubbery

Without...

In this photographic masterpiece, you'll notice the old to new contrast of this cathedral which is being refurbished.

Throw a little shaddow action in there

A little dom action. ( I swear, every time i take a picture and think it is lined up properly, it ends up being off-center.)

Lubyanka (KGB headquarters)

Lubyanka from the side... Apparently the building to the left and a building to the right(not pictured) are also used by branches of the former KGB. But if you ask the cop whom I talked to a few days ago, these three are merely "administrative buildings"

Picnic at Butovo 12 June 2007

2007-06-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

Picnic with people from Kaxhovski branch. (used to be Yuzhni branch)

President Protopopov jamming.

Shashliki baby yeah. Laney likey kabobi..

Yummy
Nelli Protopopova and Tatiana Seruto Diaz
I can't remember his name, but he's awesome. I think he and his family just started taking the discussions when I was leaving almost 5 years ago. They're strong members now. He makes one heckofa mean kabob too.

Today, I wandered around Moscow. 11 June 2007

2007-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

В нескучном саду

I began today's journey by walking through the park to get to the Moscow river. I had to stop and watch the fella's playing chess, dominos, and cards.

I thought it was interesting seeing the old school vs. the new school. The man with his hand in his back pocket was smoking cheap filterless russian cigarettes that come in a little cardboard box. The guy accross from him had slim, fancy cigarettes with plastic wrapping and fancy case.

Cathedral of our Saviour the Redeamer

This guy has been selling matroshka dolls on Arbatskaya street for the last 18 years. I got a picture with him 5 years ago when I bought some dolls from him so I figured I'd get another one. He made me buy a 30 ruble keychain before I could take the picture though. I figured that was fair since 30 rubles hardly buys a soda pop in Moscow these days and a man's got to make a living right?
These two kids were jamming away on Arbat street today. They were both pretty young. The kid playing the violin was really good. He told me that he is studying at a music school. I got the impression they were orphan kids.
I recognized a couple of the songs they played. One was the birthday song from the Russian cartoon Cheburashka. I also recognized one of the songs from a movie that we watched in my Russian film class "Burnt by the sun"

Sunday 10 June 2007

2007-06-11T03:25:00.000-07:00

Bogdan Rudenko and I outside the meeting house on Novokuznetskaya. He served in my mission. He came up to Moscow for the weekend from Kiev to visit.

Pyatnitsa Concert 09 June 2007

2007-06-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

The last band of the evening. Things got a little crazy when they played.

The beginnings of a mosh pit.

The backs of people's heads

Just some other band whose name I don't know

This is what we came for (and probably everyone else there) Pyatnitsa, these guys are awesome. It's just two guys and a guitar but they sound like a whole band. They've got soul.

Beat box dude,,, he's pretty good

The crowd seemed to like these guys, I didn't think too much of them

Пятница Concert 09 June 2007

2007-06-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

So I was told that we were going to the Pyatnitsa concert. I figured we'd have to sit through 1 or 2 other groups before Pyatnitsa played. It turns out there were some 6 or 7 groups. It was a standing concert and we were pretty close to the stage so I'm sure pretty much everyone behind me was upset that the big funny looking American was in the way. It was fun.

You can't see it very well but the base player for this group kind of looks like a Russian Snoop Dogg.

I think most of these groups are kind of famous, I don't remember what their names were

Moscow Symphony Orchestra 08 June 2007

2007-06-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Miller and I at the Moscow Symphony Orchestra performance. Chase and Nick got tickets from their internship at the Moscow Times.

Me.... paintings of old composers in the background

James, me, Alla, David, Nick, Chase

panorama of the battle at borodino 1812

2007-06-09T02:05:00.000-07:00

After this battle, Napoleon went back to France and was pretty much done for.

Me at the panorama. This place is right by my first appartment from my mission. It's awesome because you stand in the middle of the room and look around and it feels like you are in the middle of the battlefield. Another cool thing is tha it is sometimes hard to tell where the painting ends and reality begins. See if you can tell what is a painting and what is real dirt and boards etc.
This one's for Laurie, don't get mad, some of the horses in the picture are still alive.
It is a little bit easier to see where the painting ends in this picture. I took this at a wierd angle but in the museum it's harder to tell.
Me and General Kutuzov. One of his eyes was wooden or glass or something.. Pretty creepy.
Thatched roof cottages. The one in the foreground is real.
This one is kind of hard to tell where the painting ends. The kettle over the fire is real.

I can't remembe the significance of this picture. I remember reading something about how it is a greek guy who cut off his hand and threw it in a fire. It had something to do with the battle at Borodino but I don't remember.

2007-06-06T02:22:00.001-07:00

Misha Sveshnikov and I. I saw him at church sunday. He was on his way to Voronezh coming from Helsinki on a temple trip
Monday night stroll after FHE to red square, justin, and zhenya walking 03 June
Blue Steal
Word

various

2007-06-06T02:15:00.001-07:00

A cathedral just down the way from my place
02 June Saturday afternoon, Nikolai Marchenko and his band had a small concert in one of the meeting houses. They were really good.
An old run down cathedral by Metro Teatralnaya
Donskoi Monastery by my place... I went for a stroll Sunday 03 June and this is one of the pictures.

01 June Fireworks on the Moscow river

2007-06-06T02:07:00.000-07:00

After all of the fireworks, they played music from old cartoons and everyone started singing and dancing. I should have got some video footage. A gagillion grown up russians singing and dancing to children's music.. it was awesome.
Walking home afterwards, following the Moskva, down past gorky park, listening to the winds of change.

June 01 Fireworks on the Moscow river

2007-06-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Quick, take a picture with me and the soldier dudes, everybody say CHEESE
By the time it got really dark, I swear there were a million people on this street

They put blue and red dye in two of the sprayers so the boat was spraying water in the colors of the Russian flag

Dogs at a park 31 May 2007

2007-06-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

dog in the pond at the park

Bonita the lazy dog that lives in my place

A Babushka on the park bench
A funny looking dog, all he needs is a cigar and a top hat.

More funny stuff from 29 Tuesday

2007-06-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

There's a long story behind this one and I don't have time to go into details. If you feel offended in any way by the content of this photograph, please contact David Miller at the following email address. davidhillel@gmail.com David loves hearing from his fans and enemies alike. So feel free to be as open with your feelings and comments as he is with his lack of tact and civility.

I love this one, it's a pellet gun shooting range that i was going to do but didn't want the stuffed animal that comes with excellent marksmanship. I asked the guy on the bike if he'd let me braid his back hair but he declined. (if you were offended by these comments, see the above email address. David didn't write them but he may as well have)
Entry way to the park
With our powers combined, we can carry any bundle of wheat that's thrown at us.

This is the hotel Ukraine, not in the park that we visited that day, but it's still a pretty cool building

More Tuesday 29th fun

2007-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Cool fountains on a record breaking hot day

Boys plaing in the fountain
oh, no big deal, just me lifting up an airplane
Rockets and airplanes and stuff. TV tower in the background.

Adventures at ВДНХ 29 May 2007

2007-06-05T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ol' Lenin looks a lot like our good friend Karl Maeser. I can hear it now " Build walls ever so high with lots of bricks and mortar around me, and I can get out with some help from my cronies and hard earned tax payer money. But draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor that I won't leave. Can I get out? Of course, since when does my word mean anything. And then I'll send you to a labor camp for illegal use of Soviet chalk.

Golden maiden ladies representing each of the Soviet republics and a bunch of hay in the middle
I just barely noticed that Miller was in the background trying to mess up this picture
It's amazing how many people will actually believe you when you tell them that you work for an American modelling agency and are scouting for new prospects in Moscow..
Just me again..

Monday 28 May, strolling on Red Square w/ Young adults

2007-06-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

Me flexing GUM in the background
Yours Truly
Alla, Alyona, Miller, Justin, Zhenya, Nick

Memorial

2007-06-05T04:27:00.000-07:00

This is where I work общество мемориал

Archives and stuff line the small hallways

This is a view of the stair case as you are about to start walking down. It's pretty cool looking. Picutures of people who fought the Soviet system.
Map of the GULAGs in the USSR. Prison work camps
walking down the stairs

More from last night's diskotecha

2007-05-27T08:43:00.001-07:00

Above: ---- Lane, and Katya

Above: Lane, Feruz, ---, and Alla smilin' pretty fo' Lane
Above: E'r buddy in the club's gettin tipsy

Above: Feruz, Alla, Yulia and --- , Posin' for a glamour shot.

Diskotecha at sokol'niki

2007-05-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Above:Two teams trying to see who can get a string through all of their clothes the fastest...
Justin Hickins getting down with his bad self.
My hommie from the Yuzhnii branch. This kid was 14 or 15 when I left and about 1 inch shorter than me. Now he's 19 and 2 inches taller than me...
Above: Valeria his sister. She was like 9 or 10 and now 14 and going to dances... wierd
Shakin' that thang

25 May 2007 going for a walk after the classical music concert

2007-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Above: after a classical music concert we went for a stroll in Moscow. What's crazy is that this picture was taken at around 10:00 pm. The days are getting long.
Above: So we're walking and talking, talking and walking and all of the sudden I reallize David Miller is gone, I think to myself " oh never mind, oh wow what's that? a really cool WWII statue. Who is that wierdo who's trying to hoist himself up the thing by the barrel of the gun?" And that's the story of how I found David Miller. Crawling around a huge statue on a crowded square Friday night in Moscow. One guy saw me take the picture and asked if I was going to go up there with him.

Oh Miller...

Other Monastaries, Cathedrals, etc

2007-05-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Above and below: While taking a stroll through Kolomenskii park Monday evening, I decided to pretend to be a photographer. Below: I like how I made a natural frame for the cathedral domes by utilizing the branches and foliage to accessorize this portrait. Ya Molodets

This is a monestary by my old mission office. We went there on Tuesday (22nd) but they just so happened to be closed every tuesday.

Sunday 20 May

2007-05-24T04:50:00.001-07:00

above: Angelica Ditunga and I below: Me, Angelica and Katya from Yuzhnii Branch

The Donskoi Monastery right by my appartment. I went on a walk Sunday to check it out but it closed right before I got there. I'll be back though.
Look at the lady walking on the street to gauge how big those onion domes are.

Picnic with Young Adults Saturday 19 May

2007-05-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

More wandering around Moscow

2007-05-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

Wandering around Moscow on Friday 18th

2007-05-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

my crib

2007-05-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

My room, the kitchen, the family dog "bonita", view from the window

More Red Square

2007-05-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

More on Red Square... 1st day back in Moscow

2007-05-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

2007-05-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

Just getting my flex on..
Lenin's crib