From Gary Snyder:
“The men met the women at Dunkin Donuts near the women’s apartment. They have great fresh brewed iced tea with peach flavor.
The women had their breakfast at DD. The men had the complimentary breakfast at the Holiday Inn.
We rode the metro to a train station and rode the train to Sergei Posad. We had lunch at a beautiful quaint little inn. We ate outdoors in a gazebo. Very good food. Very pleasant time.
In the afternoon we toured the monastery with an English speaking guide. Impressive architecture.
Gary got in trouble for taking a priest’s picture.
After getting some water and iced tea, we are now riding the train back to Moscow. One hour ride with no stops.
We plan to have an early night tonight. We have lots of shopping to do tomorrow morning.”
From Gary Snyder:
“First day in Moscow is already over. We arrived at the apartment (for the girls), then the men and Irina rode the metro to the hotel. The men will be staying in the Holiday Inn on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday night will be a very short night as we need to leave the apartment at 2:30am to go to the airport. We will all be at the apartment on Sunday night. Most will probably not sleep at all.
This evening we walked around the outside of the Kremlin and on to Red Square. There was no smoke so we thought we should go see it in case the smoke comes back. We got pizza at Sbarro’s for dinner. We were all very tired and decided to get some rest.”
From Gary Snyder:
“Lee and I shared a room without AC. I think I slept much more than Lee did. My snoring kept Lee awake also. It was so hot our sheets were drenched. Lee got a towel to lay on because he sweat so badly. Estimates for room temps were high 80’s to low 90’s. Alternative plans have been made for Moscow. We will use the one air conditioned room at the apartments and we have booked a room at a Holiday Inn for the men to stay at. This way we will all have AC. You know us wimpy Americanski’s need our AC.
We men will need to ride a taxi back and forth from the Holiday Inn to the apartment.
Anyway, we are on the air conditioned bus to Moscow. We expect to arrive in about three hours. We should have some time tonight to stroll the streets of Moscow. If it is clear, I am sure we will head to Red Square.
Moscow will never compare with the joy and the love we left behind in Uhkolovo. Spending the amount of time we did with them has really strengthened our bonds.”
From Gary Snyder:
“This morning we gathered together at Andrey’s house for breakfast. They really outdid themselves this morning. We had french toast, watermelon, a different melon, fried chicken, noodles, honey, cheese and salami. After an exchange of gifts we drove to Ryazan. We arrived at Hope church and went to lunch with Pavel and Tamara. Several of us met with Pavel to discuss the state of things. Very nice meeting. We are waiting for Bible study to begin. We will have supper after Bible study.
Bible study was on the last 18 verses of 1 Corinthians. We had a very pleasant surprise. Olga Danilova and Yuri and his wife and two daughters attended the Bible study. After Bible study we had dinner of pizza and Coke. Then we headed to the Grand Hotel. Hope church was not prepared for the men to spend the night at the church. After a long extended good bye to the Uhkolovans, we headed to our rooms.
The meeting in the afternoon was attended by Phil, Denise, Gary, Andrey, Irina and Pavel. The others toured the Kremlin and took a boat ride.”
From Gary Snyder:
“This afternoon we enjoyed a swim in a lake. While we were swimmimg, Oleg, Alexei, Ella and several others were getting the pork (I think) ready on shish ka bobs. Waiting to eat at this time. Hunger is setting in.
Tonight we celebrated Andrey’s birthday with his family. We had BBQ pork, several hot dishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, another type of melon, and a delightful dessert with a definite caramel taste. The family gave him gifts and we gave our gifts to him. We then hurried home so Lee, Phil, Vadim and I could go to one more banya. Ready for a sound night of sleep.”
From Gary Snyder:
“The already difficult lives of the people of Uhkolovo have been made all the more difficult due to the extreme drought and the fires. We drove past huge (100 acre plus) fields which are all charred. Beautiful birch and pine forests are also charred from the fires. Yet our brothers and sisters still praise God in everything.
The really tough times will probably only come this winter when the shortfall from the crops could cause extra hard times.
After our very pleasant walk thru downtown Uhkolovo, we went back to Slavic and Luba for cold water, Coke etc. These have to be the most generous people I know. They give so much when they have so much less than we do. And they are so happy.
Tomorrow will be a fairly restful day. We will visit Slavic’s potato farm and then picnic by a stream on his land. It should be a good day to get to know more Uhkolovites even better.
My stay with Vadim and Viola has been amazing. I love this family. They have 4 really cute kids. The kids are Nazar, Mark, Eddie and Carolina. They took me to Viola’s mother’s house. The 4 children raise rabbits and chickens to sell. They also raise cucumbers to sell. The profits from these are intended to help fund the Rainbow ministry.
Vadim and Viola both work for Daniel Slobodenko at the concrete plant. Viola works in the office located beside Pastor Andrey’s home. Vadim works at the plant downtown. He took me thru his plant. They make all kinds of pavers, concrete fences and decorative pieces to cover normal cement blocks.”
From Gary Snyder:
“We just had a wonderful lunch at a restuarant. In down time Uhkolovo. We had cold batterdipped fish, a crab salad, a chicken mushroom and cheese salad and caviar for appetizers. Chicken, a pork meatball, and mashed potatoes were the main course. Many kinds of juice, salmon etc. Tooooo much food. And best of all the room was air conditioned.
We visited a Russian Orthodox Monastery over lunch. Headed back to Uhkolovo. Will visit a WWII museum.”
From Gary Snyder:
“We had a good night last night. It was actually noticably cooler this morning. It did not stay that way. It got quite hot, but there is a breeze today. If you can find shade, you can be relatively cool.
We had a packed house for church this morning. We were not the only special guest. There was a man here who performs all over Russia and spreads the gospel via music. Fantastic voice. We got some of his CD’s.
Lee sang “God of Wonders” and we sang “Sanctuary” as a group. Phil spoke and Andrey spoke. The musicians from Uhkolovo sang several songs and then we ATE. Daniel’s wife prepared the meal. Awesome.
This afternoon we visited a Russian Orthodox Church and monastery. Just as we were entering the grounds, a forest fire started near us. We decided it was best to get out of the area. Some went for a swim on the way back to Uhkolovo.
Others stopped to visit with a woman we met at church. She has 11 children. Her oldest daughter was killed in an automobile accident exactly 8 months ago. Her husband has a drinking problem. We promised her we would pray for them.
I am relaxing in the breeze outside the church while Phil attempts to hook up to Skype. Phil forgot to bring the ‘We Love Uhkolovo’ DVD. He is hoping we can show it over Skype from church.”
From Gary Snyder:
“We are fine in ukholovo. The smoke cleared out of Ukholovo today. It looked like it would return in the evening, but it cleared out a bit and actually may be a bit cooler tonite.
We went to Kanoplino this morning. We visited the Elder care facility and dropped off the lap blankets for the people there. Went back to church for lunch. After lunch we went to Pastor Andrey’s house. He has planted grass like in Pa outside his front door and the kitchen window. We had watermelon and some time to rest. Then went to the “warehouse district” (Teleknio). We ate dinner there. We sat outside and sang songs afterword. The chickens in the yard had fun chasing Denise. She hates birds.
On the way home some of us stopped to go swimming. Alexei, Lee, Becca, Rufa and Vala and Keri went swimming.
Returned to Luba and Slavics home for a birthday party for Eddy. He is Vadim and Violas third child, a boy.
After the party, Lee, Phil and I went to a banya with Slavic, Vadim, Daniel and some other men. It is a sauna wherein you beat each other with birch leaves in the sauna. Then you jump into a pool. We did this two times and played checkers and drank tea. We left there at midnight.”
From Gary Snyder:
“We are at kanoplino with pastor andre alexandrovich. Soooooo hot. I have a towel with me to wipe sweat all the time. Shirts are soaked thru. Will visit old peoples home soon then have lunch. The harvest has been very bad this year. Still they thank god.
Visited elder care facility. Had lunch at Kanoplino. Phil drove home from Kanoplino. Resting at Pastor Andrey home. Plan to visit another church this afternoon. I think.
Gave out lap blankets at home. The smoke is fairly heavy at Uhkolovo today. Eyes burn somewhat. Still hot. It was 104 yesterday.”
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