Last post about trip to Russia

Trip home started at 5:30 am on Tuesday, Oct. 12 and ended at 8:30 pm Tuesday, Oct 12 with the losing of the nine hours I lost on the trip over. I was very tried by the time I got to Sioux Falls, SD.

Discovered in Atlanta that my luggage was not there and probably still in Moscow. Fill out a lost luggage form in Sioux Falls. Well the luggage came on Wednesday night through JFK. They broken the lock which Kerry said was the lock that the TSC people had a key for and almost repacked the whole suitcase. Everything came through ok except for two globe candies for Conrad and David.

I had to be on Campus at 8:30 Wednesday morning. Needles to say I crashed about 2pm. Went home and rested for an hour. On Thursday I crashed at about 3:30 but had 1 1/2 hours of lab left to do. On Wednesday night I finally got to sleep most of the night so Friday was a much better day.

Thank you Kerry for a great visit. Thanks Jakes for putting up with "Grandma".

Pediatric Clinic

This morning Kerry and I met Galina, a retired doctor who specialized in TB. She gave us a tour of one of the children's clinic where she used to work.



There were general Pediatricians, and specialist in ear, eyes, lungs, heart, kidney, bone and possibly of others. Kerry was our interpreter and between the two of us we did ok. I helped with some of the medical terms and she took care of the rest. They had x-ray, ultrasound, EKG, a surgical room and a laboratory. Also physical, light, wax, magnetic and massage therapy rooms. Other rooms were for checking sleep apnea, immunization center and well baby checks. Some of immunization they give are polio, flu, and TB, The general Pediatrician's would see the patients at the clinic and then make house calls. The clinic runs from 8 am to 7 pm. It was a walk in type of clinic. No appointment and you waited your turn. From our observation there were no men working. However we did not see everyone. They also had a area that you could come for the day and receive treatment and then go home at night. A lot of the medications are given by injection.

Afterwards we visit about the type of training they have here. For nursing there are three levels. The first one sounded like our LPN's with vocational training which took three years. The second one was more like our RN's which took one more year and was able to do more nursing. The last one is similar to our Nurse Practicer or Physician Assistant and took 5 years. This person could provide care in villages where there was not a doctor if the problem was not serious. All levels have a test to pass.

The physician goes for 6 years and has to decide before beginning if they want to work with children or adults. After the 4th year, they need to decided if they want to specialize in something.  The 6 years they spend working with a doctor somewhere. After that they get a diploma. Then they spend one more year working as a doctor but under the supervision of another doctor.  After that year, they take the medical exam and get a license. Every five years they have  to renew their license.  Also during those five years, they have to take some type of continuing education courses.

At this point they can continue with their education giving them three different titles.  The first title they can receive is "Second Level" by receiving some special training in some area. After they have this they can get the next title which is called "First Level" and this is done by writing a research paper and defending it before a committee.  Then after this they can go on to get the next title called "Higher Level."  I'm not sure what was needed to get to this title. After this there is one more rare title that some receive. She wasn't sure how to translate it but something like "Highly Respect."

Came home and had lunch and then went shopping for few things. I started packing but Kerry finished due to the fact that everything needed to get in the suitcase. Home tomorrow.

Church and Impressions about Russia

Went to church this morning and enjoyed the music. Even if I did not understand the words I know that they were worshiping God. The team that went to Central Asia gave a report about their trip. Anton, the pastor, also gave a short devotion reminding us that Jesus allowed the people to crucify Him.

Things that are different from the last times I've been to Russia:
-Crosswalk really do mean that the cars will stop for you instead of you having to find a time that is clear.
-cars, the numbers have increased
-Shopping is similar to ours. There are lockers to place your items in before you go into the store. Then you take a cart or basket and pick out the items you want and go to the checkout and pay.
-There are small stores that will show you the item and then you decide if you want it or not. Also there are stores, like the candy store, where you tell them which candy you want and how much and then they will get it, weigh it and then tell you the price.
-The building may be old and appear not to be kept up on the outside but inside the people really do care about there apartment's. Around the building people are are paid to clean the leafs from the street. The garbage goes to a public garbage spot
-there still is the public transportation; trolley, buses and taxis; a person collects the money to ride, On the first time we, Jim and I, came to Russia the fair was passed to the front and the change came back to you. the cost of a ride to anywhere you want to go is 10 rubles, 33 cents in American money
-there is still a lot of walking, apartment buildings that have more than 5 floor are required to have an elevator, otherwise you walk the stairs, even if there is an elevator it might not be working but it will be there
-people are friendly inside, however outside there will not be a lot of eye contact and smiling at each other
-I need to watch were I walk because the sidewalk is not alway level and you need to know where you are stepping
-there are many paths made by the people because it is shorter
-Mushrooms grow wild in the forest and people go mushroom gathering
-ESPN America shows football(college), hockey, basketball, and baseball
I am sure there are other things but for now that is all I can think of

Kerry and I are going to Anton and Inna's for supper. We are taking the bus.

Village, Mushrooms, and People

This morning, Saturday, Oct. 8th, Nastya, Kerry and I went to visit the babushky's in the two villages that the Stephan Ministry is working with. In the village Nikolo-Ushna we visited with Nastya's grandmother Rita. She enjoyed telling us stories about herself and showed us pictures of her family. 

After awhile two other ladies joined us for tea. They all felt the need to bring something to the tea. One brought candy and the another brought current jam and a jar of carrots and squash. They visited and Nastya shared about her trip to Central Asia and how God had helped the team.



We then went mushroom hunting in the forest. We found a few that were eatable and few that were not eatable. However we can honestly say, when the ladies from the church ask me if we went mushroom hunting, yes we did. Walking in the forest reminded me of walking in the Black Hills.



After mushroom hunting we drove to the other village, Karpovo. At this village we visited with Nastya's grandmother Lilya and Olga, her husband and Lilya son-in-law. Again we had tea. Olga brought along some strawberry jam and sent it home with me. I will be leaving it at Kerry's house.



It was fun to see them interact with each other and with Nastya and Kerry. Kerry is becoming a good interpretor. They laughed, showed expression on their faces, and enjoyed telling us about their life. I saw the steps that Kerry and Nastya fixed and the garden spot that they dug up.  Also saw the truck that brings food to the villages. Used a outhouse and ate a half of a cabbage piroshki.



At home I made myself some soup for supper and drank some more tea. More tomorrow.

Team Meeting and Shopping

Attended the team meeting with Kerry this morning and had dinner with the team. They celebrated her birthday with cake and presents. Went shopping for two gifts. Found what I was looking for at a small shop in the downtown area. The shop was very neat and small.



Came home and watched some cartons with bugs. Studied the inside of my eyelids for a few minutes with Kerry's cat, Jaccapo.


Had supper and now we are watching football. Kansas State and Neb. are planning. From the looks of the score Neb. will win 48-13. This evening Nastya is coming to make piroshki with cabbage for the village tomorrow.  Piroshki are bread things with different filling in the middle. They can be baked or fried. These will be baked.

Got my workout in today with stairs to the 4th floor and 3rd floor plus walking about 20 minutes. Also stopped at a small candy shop by Kerry's apartment. Got some candy to take home.

Babushky Tea

Thursday, Oct. 7th: This afternoon was the tea with the elderly ladies where I presented a health seminar.
The topics were Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and foods to help prevent or make them worse. Talked about how to help with swollen feet at the end of the day and exercise. The ladies appeared to enjoy the talk. They would agree with what I had said by head nodding or facial expression. I tried to answer some of their questions. I am hoping that I answered them correctly. Nastya translated for me. It was fun again to work with a translator. You need to say short sentences and allow them to translate. Actually I enjoy working with a translator because it gives me time to think about what I want to say next.



I then checked their blood pressure and blood sugar. We did not realize that they used a different table for the blood sugar. Nastya found a conversion table on the internet. Now I will have to study it so that I understand the conversion. Thank you Nastya. The blood pressure they understood.



For supper we had pork chops, bread, cauliflower and broccoli. Well some of us had cauliflower and  broccoli and others had bread. I will let you guess who. This evening we are visiting and working on the blog.

Moscow by Walking

Yesterday, Wednesday, Oct. 6th, we, Kerry, nastya and myself, left for Moscow on the 7:30 am train. 

Arrived at 10 am.  Went to a Mall across from the train station to use the little girl's room. The Mall is three stories high with a theater, food court and other stores on the third floor. On the way home Kerry found the "Dunkin Dounts" shop in the Mall so she was very happy about this!

Next item of business was to find dinner. Even though it seems early for dinner, we had eaten breakfast at 6:30AM so we were ready for some food.  Kerry and Nastya had "Shaurmua". A floured type toritta with cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers and boosted chicken with sauce. I had chicken "Shleka" and cucumbers. We ate in a kind-a-park with our fingers. Fingers were made before forks.



Then on to shopping. We did this at a big outdoor souvenir/craft market. I got some things for the family, clinical group and the usually gift for my office mate. That was interesting. At one shop we stop and bought something the sales lady forget to take my money because she was trying to work it out to get change so Kerry had given her some too and she had taken that part but not the other part.  We had left the store before I realized that she had not taken my money. We went back and gave her the money. She was surprised. At some of the other shops we got a discount if you bought more then two items. Wednesdays is the day that the small shops around town come and buy to stock their shops.



By that time we had to decide if we where going to go site-seeing or eat at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut won out. By that time our feet had climbed many stairs and walked many miles. :-)  On the way to Pizza Hut we stopped at the Moscow House of Books on Old Arbot street. Kerry bought her birthday present there. BOOKS both Russian and English.



Then it was on to Pizza Hut. On the way there we walked by a "Adam and Eve" statue.



The salad bar at Pizza Hut was slightly different than in the states. Lots of cabbage salads, beet salad, and the like. I had been waiting for a long time for my one piece of pizza. It was good. It was pepperoni.



Then back to the Mall and the train station. Our train left for Vladimir at 6 pm and we got home at 8:30. The trolleybus we needed was waiting for us and of course we got on to go home.  Home for tea and bed. Since this is actually Thursday morning I can say that I slept form 9:30-8:30 without being awake for a couple of hours during the night. Felt good.

Globus and Apples

Tuesday, Oct. 5th: This morning Kerry and I went to the "WallMart" of Vladimir, Globus. Bought some food for tonight's supper. Looked at other items in the store but found nothing that I could not live with out. Kerry said that Friday nights is the busiest she has seen the store. They have 77 cash register with about 55 of them opened on Friday nights.

On the way home we happened to drive by Anton and Inna's house in the village. We did not stop because the children were ill and had to cancel for supper tonight. Later in the afternoon we got in trouble from Anton because we did not stop. So we said that we might have to take the scenic route home again from Globus.

In the afternoon Kerry and I went to the church to work on apple jam and juice from some apples that Nastya and Kerry brought from the village. We worked from 1- 6 pm on 9 quarts of apple juice and 16 quarts of apple jam. I washed and Kerry cut the apples. After awhile I cut the apples and Kerry cooked the juice and jam. Had to figure out how to use the lids first but finally figured it out. Needless to say we were tried on the walk home.

Made supper and are watching the second part of BBC's "Sense and Sensibility". Kerry found football on so now we might have to watch Football. 

Tomorrow will be a long day in Moscow celebrating Kerry's birthday. More on Thursday.

Coffee, Cathedral, Chats, Cake

Sunday evening went to bed about 8 pm and slept until 2 am. From 2-5 am tossed and turned. It was warm under the covers but I needed something to take away the achyness. Got up and took some Tylenol and then slept until 9:30.  Well then it was time to get up and start the day.

Kerry and I met Ieda for coffee at a coffee shop called the "Coffee Bean". It was in a mall type of building with lots of other shops.  I had fruit tea, Kerry had cappuccino and Idea had green tea with a piece of apple strudel. Ieda was one of Kerry's Russian teachers. She is an instructor at an Art school for school age kids and teenagers.  She is also an artist in her own right. She used to paint the black boxes with very detailed work on them and other things when she was younger. It was interesting to watch Kerry speak Russian and see the exchange between the two. I showed her some pictures I brought with of the family and we talked about them and her family. She has a son, who is married with two kids, and a daughter.



We then walked to the Assumption Cathedral and took some pictures. When Vladimir was the capital of Russia, during the time of the Tsars, the rulers were crowned at this cathedral. Later when the capital moved to Moscow, they wanted them crowed in Moscow so a replica was built in Moscow of this cathedral.  There is a very nice park there. Since we took a bus to the coffee shop we had to take a bus back to the apartment. We had lunch and just talked about stuff.

We had made arrangements to visit one of the "Babushka" at 4:30. She lives in an apartment across from the church so we walked to her place. She lived on the 5th floor. Kerry lives on the third floor (57 steps) so, Gail, I am getting my workout done daily. We were there for 1 1/2 hours and ate cucumbers, dill pickles and 1/2 piece of apple cake with tea. Again I saw Kerry interact with her and it was great. I was very proud of her.

Walked home and had supper and started watching the BBC version of "Sense and Sensibility". Nastya came so we stop and visited. Wonderful news the heat was turned on in the building today. Most apartments and older buildings are heated by the central heating plant. The temperature in the apartment is rising.  It is now  19.5 degrees C in the bedroom!

Arrived in Russia

Saturday morning was the date of departure. I left Sioux at 6:40 am as planned. Found out that I had a plane change and a layover in New York. Got a good walk in at JFK and then boarded the plan for the 8 hour 25 minute fight to Moscow. Slept some on the plane but now it is 6:13 pm on Sunday night and I am tried. We flew at 35,000 feet elevation, at 584 MPH and had a tail wind of 20 miles per hour. The outside temperature was -75 degrees F.

Landed at Moscow at 9:30, about 40 minutes early. Went though passport control without a problem. My one suitcase came fine. No one was at the customs place to scan my suitcase so I walk through without a problem. I even had some of the veg's left over but could not find a throw away place so they came right along with me.

Marina, a friend of Kerry's (my daughter) meet me at the airport since Kerry had driven the car and she was waiting outside. Used the little girls room and then left for Vladimir. The traffic was not bad according to Kerry and we made it to Vladimir in 3 and a half hours except for stopping at McD's and for gas. Vladimir is mostly east of Moscow 137 miles. Kerry's car had 275 miles round trip. Arrived in Vladimir at 2 pm.

Showered and went to the church for the Retired/Elderly Dinner. Stay for a shot period of time. Kerry greeted some of the elderly ladies that she know and we sat and visited with two of them. Walked back to her apartment after parking the car in the garage.

After visiting with Nastya, we had supper and Kerry said that I could not go to until at least 8 pm. Temperature inside apartment 64 degrees F with the room that had heater going. The bedroom where I will sleep is 17.4 degrees C. More tomorrow.

First roadblock

This morning I was to start my trip to Russia. However when I arrived at the airport, I was told that the plane needed a part that would arrive around 8 am which meant that the flight would not take off until around 9 am. This was a problem because my flight to Moscow was scheduled to leave Minneapolis at 10:30 and my first flight would not arrive until 10:03. Since this was the only fight to Moscow on Friday I had to reschedule for Saturday, Oct. 2. Need less to say I was not a happy camper however God had different plans for me then I had. We (Jim and I) came home and I worked on things for on campus when I get back later in October. So it worked out better than I first thought. Now I don't have to do this things in Russia.

So we will try it again tomorrow. My daughter can still meet me in Moscow on Sunday which I thought would be a problem but it worked out ok also.

I leave at 7 am fly to Mimmeapolis, 10:30 am to Moscow with a plane change at JFK in New York. Thank you for your prayers.