Bet you never thought it got hot in Moscow!

Can anyone read this sign? Hint: the transliteration would be "Krasnaya Ploshchad"

Yep, folks, that's right. It has been officially hot here: 34 C the other day! I don't know exactly what that works out to in Farenheit, but it's hot (maybe 90-95?).

And what have we been up to in the heat? Lots of things. An adventure downtown to Red Square and the Kremlin, suppers with our friends, and today we officially started language study. Actually, today was just orientation, so we mostly just talked about how the things will go, schedule, etc. It looks like for the first two weeks we have phonetics together, and then we'll split up for our regular lessons. We're already at a little different levels, and so I'll be there in the morning and then B will take the afternoon class shift. We have an hour and a half in between, so we need to live within a 45 minute walk from the classroom in order to give time for me to walk home, take Steven, and send B on her way to class on time. If we do end up taking some of our friends' apartment, it's only a 30-minute walk, so that'll give us a window for error.

Anyway, on to the pictures of our latest wanderings:

On our downtown adventure, we got off the metro (on which I'll post more another day; amazingly efficient!) near the Lyubyanka (sp?), the old headquarters of the KGB. Not a very nice building, and not a very nice history.

However, right down the street - evidence of how much things have changed from the old communist days. From the KGB headquarters to the new capitalist headquarters: Moscow Bentley and Lamborghini, in just a 2 minute walk.

So, here we are at the north end of Red Square, looking south toward St. Basil's Cathedral, with the Kremlin on the right and GUM (the old government department store) on the left.

B models the latest in Western tourist-wear in front of Lenin's tomb and the Kremlin wall.

Here we are in front of the spectacular St. Basil's Cathedral. The colors are even more vibrant in real life. Really something to see, and a really interesting history. You can read all about it on the wikipedia site. Obviously, Steven is not as enthused.

If you're anything like me, you've always wondered how it would look if you took an American shopping mall, and had it redesigned by a 19th century architect in a semi-Gothic (?) style. Here's your answer - the GUM department store/mall.

After that, we wandered down the Novy Arbat. I took this picture because of the eclectic mix of architectural styles. I love how the Orthodox church looks dwarfed by the boxy apartment building, and right across the street (though you can't see it in this pic), there's a brightly lit neon Vegas-esque strip.

Steven's dealing with the heat well, mostly because he's allowed to take off most of his clothing. He obviously hasn't suffered any weight loss since we've gotten here. :)

Anyway, maybe next time we'll post something about how our language study is going. You'll need to brush up on your Cyrillic alphabet, so get to it.

Some Pictures

So we haven't had that much time to go out and take pictures (and since we're limited to "I don't speak Russian" or "Please speak slower"-type conversations), I don't have a lot of stuff for you to see yet, but if you're patient, maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be able to get you more pictures of Moscow.

However, I can show you a few of our first pics of the city:
I'm a country boy (a jungle boy, to be precise), so I'm not really used to life in the big city. Here's a typical scene near our apartment. If you look closely, there's a small slice of sky visible in the corner. :)

Every apartment does have a nicely painted playground nearby, and here's the one just down the block from us. Apparently, it's a cultural phenomenon to have your kids outside at least some time every day, so in the afternoons of the nice days we've been having, these have been full of people with little kids playing.

Moscow must be booming, because everywhere you go, these giant cranes building new apartment buildings. Of course, with the prices they rent for, it's no wonder that the new entrepreneurs are frantically building apartments as fast as they can.

Here's our first haul from a grocery store - all these goodies (plus a few bathroom items not pictured) for around $60. This was from a more "Western" grocery store, so prices were just a little higher than back home, but not too bad. We've since located a slightly cheaper store, plus markets for our fruits and veggies.

Speaking of open markets, B went out to one yesterday with Steven. Several babushkas gave her grief about bringing him there (apparently, this is a cultural taboo we weren't aware of), but they had a good time, and came home with some fresh potatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, and oregano. We had a nice fresh spaghetti sauce last night with hand-picked sauteed mushrooms, fresh oregano, and minced lamb. Yum!

By the way, our baby boy is now 6 months old! We made a little video about his first six months with B's family, so here's a link to it: Link To Steven Video. Sorry about the quality of the whole thing, we had to reduce it to a lower bitrate to get it online. Big thanks to the Vonks for helping us edit this.

Anyway, that's it for now. We're planning a touristy-style venture sometime this week, so maybe next post we'll have a picture of Red Square or St. Basil's for you. Thanks for your thoughts, especially as we hunt for a place to live.

Ok, so we're alive...

Indeed, we have arrived, and we're OK.

So far, we've slept, gone out and changed money, gotten some groceries, slept some more, and come over to a coworkers house for dinner. In fact, we're at their house now, and we're borrowing their wireless connection, which is much better than the dialup phone card we have at our place.

However, I don't mean that to say that our guest apartment isn't nice; on the contrary, it's really pretty wonderful! Nice bedrooms, a lovely kitchen, a nice bathroom, really, everything nice! Of course, it's not ours, but we've been told we can stay there for a while while we look for a place.

The trip was, well, a long trip. It really can't be a terrific experience, as any of you who have taken long flights will understand, but as long trips go, it went well. Thanks to all of you who thought of us, as Steven did great! He went to sleep within 5 minutes of takeoff every flight, and slept for almost all the plane time. We didn't have any trouble with visas or luggage, other than the fact that we had to leave security every connection and go through the checks again to get our boarding pass (all our flights were on different airlines). Not to mention the strange airport situation at Stockholm; have any of you ever been there? Just strange trying to find the right line, and then the airline reps weren't even there until 90 minutes before the plane was scheduled to leave, etc. Anyway, we did eventually get to the right place, and then all our bags got here with us. All I can say is thank you for remembering us!


As far as our first impressions, I have to say that everything is more "Western" than I had expected. Our apartment really is nice, the grocery store was pretty similar to the ones we had in England (prices maybe just slightly higher than the US). So far, apart from being totally exhausted (Steven had some bad carrots for his first meal here and screamed most of last night), we're doing great. Couldn't ask for anything better.

Tomorrow, we're headed to a meeting with one of our coworkers, then the whole team is getting together for a chat. It looks like we'll have a couple of weeks before we have to start language learning (although just walking around is language exposure at this point), so that will be nice. Thanks for continuing to think of us as we begin the search for a place to live this week. Hopefully, we'll be able to post some pictures of our apartment and the town sometime next week.

We're Off, ...

...but we've gotta' be a little bit off, or we wouldn't be doing anything like this!

Aaaanyway, we need to apologize for the delay in blogging. Usually we try to get something up at least once a week or so. I know, I know, you're looking back at our history, and complaining that we've never actually accomplished that, but give us a break. What's that you say? "The road to someplace warm is paved with good intentions"? How intolerant of you! :)

Basically, the reason we haven't posted is not because there hasn't been anything going on, but rather that there's been too much going on. We leave tomorrow, and the past few weeks have been consumed in a flurry of activity; meeting with these people, packing this item, going shopping for that indispensable thing, having dinner with these folks, ad nauseum. I'm actually looking forward to a long plane ride to relax, if you can imagine.

Anyway, on to the pictures, to tell the story of our time:

This is a picture of the fishing adventure, part II, which had one of those "it'll be funny when I tell the grandkids" endings. To make a long story short, after catching some fish and having a good time, we were returning to the dock to tie up for the night. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas within sight of the dock, but the wind carried us the other way. Thank goodness for modern technology, because if we hadn't had cell phone phone coverage out on the lake, we wouldn't have been able to call some friends for a rescue. To be honest, though, I'm not sure the rescue was worth it, what with the grief the so-called "friends" gave us when they came to bring some gas. Overall, though, another thoroughly enjoyable evening, with a funny ending.


As most of you know, J's grandmother passed away a couple of weeks ago, so we traveled down to Florida for the memorial service. J's parents came up as well, so they were able to see Steven (actually, in the case of J's dad, it was the first time meeting him). Here he enjoys a romp on the beach with grandma.


One of the other features of our trip was a voyage up the St. John's River by pontoon boat, and we saw quite a few alligators (I think the total count was over 50 for a three-hour ride). Really a lot of fun.

Here Steven investigates his grandpa on J's side for one of the first times. He really enjoyed the whisker rubs by the end of the week!


Another feature of our time recently was a combined eating/camping trip with B's family last weekend. We ate at the Daniel Boone Inn (fantastic eating, if you're ever in the mood to eat approximately enough food to feed Mogadishu for a week) and then camped out near Linville Falls.

Ah, camping. As you can maybe see from the table behind us, the fact that we had all just committed gluttony 30 miles down the road was not enough to prevent us from making a delicious dessert of S'mores. Yum!

Again, with B's family, celebrating (or mourning?) our departure around a table covered with goodies. It's a good thing we're moving away, because I've definitely put on some weight living in this house. It was a fantastic meal, though! No idea what mom is yelling about, though, so maybe we should hold a caption contest for this photo in the comments section?

We did find the time to take a family snapshot before we left, so this is the new family portrait. If only we all looked this good all the time ...

I'm too tired to post a Blog Debate, so you'll have to wait until next week, when I'll do my best to think of something creative. Next post: overseas! Goodbye to all of you in this country for a few years, and please know that we've enjoyed our time with you immensely. Please do keep in touch with us and be thinking of us as we travel.

The One that Got Away ...

This is a bit of a fish story post, so you'll have to depend on our upstanding reputations as honest folk to believe the stories. B and I were recently privileged to go crappie (before you get worked up, legalists, it's a type of fish, not a semi-curse word!) fishing with a friend out on Harris Lake. Actually, the whole story isn't that hard to believe, since it's pretty standard fare as fishing trips go, but it's the mere fact that there was "one that got away" that makes it somewhat dubious.

Crappie fishing is actually not that strenuous. If practiced the way B and her twin (can you see the family resemblance?) do it, it mostly consists of throwing your lines in the water, sitting back and waiting for something to happen, wandering to the other side of the boat, eating a cracker, wandering back to your seat, then eating another cracker, until someone interrupts by saying something like "Hey, I think you have a bite," at which point they scurry back to their post to haul in said fish.

As the evening wore on, the fishing was pretty good, although our guides advised us that it could be much better. Here B shows off a decent fish.

J got into the act as well, manning a whole stack of lines at the back of the boat.

However, as it got darker, B hooked her "monster." Crappie are typically not big fighters, and once you have them hooked its a simple matter of reeling in the line. However, this was not your average bite - instead of slightly wiggling around, B's line bent double and when she began to reel in, the fish put up a fight. She managed to get it almost to the boat while we floundered around finding the previously uncalled for net. As it surfaced, we realized that this was no crappie - it was a really large largemouth bass. The resident expert got a good look at it and gave a later estimate of 8-9 lbs, which would have made him a truly notable example of his species. Unfortunately, we were fishing on 10 lb. line, and after a brief appearance on the surface to smile at B in mockery, he dove and snapped the line with ease. Now, I must say that it has gotten bigger in the retelling (I heard 14 lbs. mentioned once!), but, though I didn't actually see it, our friend did get a good look and I think the 8-9 lb. estimate to be a fairly reliable and believable one.

Of course, you can't have a J and B post without at least one pic of the young one. Here he's enjoying a bright sunny spring day with his grandpa. The only detraction to the enjoyment of the day is the destroyed deck in the background (see last week's post for details) - if you look closely, you can even see the upturned stump of the offending tree.

As far as us, we're doing well. We're halfway through the documentation process, and finally sent in all the necessary paperwork for our travel documents this week. Please be remembering that whole process, which can be a complicated one. This week, we're going to going to Florida again for my grandmother's memorial service and to visit Steven's grandparents. :) I should be packing right now instead of writing this, and I'm talking in the morning to another local family group. Anyway, we're keeping busy - only a couple of weeks to go!

This week's Blog Debate™: What are the actual lyrics to complete this Enya song: "Whooo can saaaaay, what your oooooonaaanaaaaaaay, where the taaaaaroonaaaaaay, ooonly tiimme." And no, you can't google the answer - you have to guess based purely on your recollection from the time two years ago that this came on the radio every other song (unless you are Rachael, in which case you can use your recollection for when you actually played the CD in your car yesterday).

Time is Ticking

Four weeks. That is how long everyone has to spend time with us. I can't believe it.

*****BREAKING NEWS*****

Steven has finally turned over. As I was writing the first sentence he rolled over from front to back. It's only taken him 5 months!
In other news, Steven also sat in a sitting position all by himself for about a minute a couple of days ago, so he's all out of order on the milestones. Oh, and Martha's theory about them eating a lot and then doing something special is debunked.

OK. So now the big news is out of the way I would like to continue on and share with you what we have been up to since the last blog. For one, my experience in Georgia. J shared with you most of our trip but I had an experience I would like to share. As J shared, while most of the men went golfing, the church took the women to a famous restaurant in Savannah, GA. I have just one word for you: BUTTER! Those of you who watch the food network channel know who I'm talking about. Paula Dean's "Lady and Sons". It was AMAZING! I don't think my grandma could have cooked anything better and she grew up as country as they come. Everything had butter in it. By the time we got there I was starving, which was a good thing considering what I had ahead of me. That is to consume as much as I could without throwing up. Although I came close to that line, I succeeded in my mission:
It was a buffet that had fried chicken, ribs, corn, rice, sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, gravy, black eyed peas, green beans, turnip greens, and more. We were started off with a pancake and a biscuit. Then the buffet. Then dessert which was a choice of peach cobbler, butter cake, and something else I can't remember. Although the lunch was amazing, the company was almost as good. I got to meet Bobby Dean (Paula Dean's cute and, as far as we know, single son). My sisters were upset I did not mention to him about my two single sisters (one who is my 30 year old twin and likes karate, hanging out with family, and outdoor activities and the other who is 32 years old and is loyal, hard working, and very nice and who are both pretty good looking) They are not too picky when it comes to rich, famous, cute, and single men. So Bobby, if you are reading this and would like to meet them, just let me know.

Here's me and Bobby Dean, my future brother-in-law (well, I can dream!) [Note: edit by J - THEY can dream! You can scheme.]

We also got to see my grandma and Uncle Steve and Aunt Patti (not pictured) in South Carolina on our way home from Georgia. Grandma took us to Cracker Barrel (yum, again!), so here Steven poses with his great-grandma.

Moving on, we had a lots of rain when the "noreaster" came through on Sunday which soaked the ground. On Monday, the wind was so strong it started uprooting trees everywhere. My parents house is surrounded by trees but we were not too concerned since we didn't have any trees fall on us during Hurricane Fran. Well, my sister and I were downstairs watching TV when we heard a crash and felt the house shake. We jumped up to see what happened and below is what we found:This tree fell right above where my parents' bathroom is. It scared us because my dad was in the upstairs bathroom at the time. Luckily the roof took most of the damage and my dad is fine. Unfortunately, his deck that he worked forever to build was destroyed. The roof took a beating, but we're thankful that it didn't rain much and hopefully it's just a matter of replacing the parts of the roof that were broken. Today they are out there getting it down. We now have lots of firewood. :)

Well that is it. I'm not that good at coming up with questions on my own so I will borrow from the coffee lady for the Blog Debate™: Michael Jackson - black or white? Discuss.

Sweet Onion Country

Yes, indeed, we are finally able to connect long enough to post a blog. And what, you're asking, is the reason for our prolonged absence? Did we stop caring about our new audience? Have we rejected modern appliances like running water and blogging in favor of a new monklike spirituality? No, you'll be surprised to find that the answer is none of the above - it's merely as simple as the fact that we weren't connected!

So, since we've been up to quite a bit of stuff since last we blogged, let's get on with it:

First of all in the list of "Interesting Things in the Lives of J & B" since a couple of weeks ago, we got to enjoy a visit from B's brother Tim and his wife Rebecca and child Meredith. Among other things, we ate a lot of good food, got our pictures taken, um, and ate some more food. Yummy. It was great to see them one last time before we head overseas!

In other exciting news, Steven had his first taste of real food. He may not have enjoyed it all that much at first, but our goal is to have him well on his way to weaning before we leave. Rumor has it that if he takes after his mom's side of the family, he won't dislike food for long! (Note: this is not a fat joke in any way, shape, or form. It is merely a commentary on an appropriate enjoyment of good food shared by B's family.)

Most of our time since last posting, however, was spent in Vidalia, GA. Yes, that Vidalia - home of the tasty sweet onions. A family group in that area took us in for a conference that would prove to be a great time for all. Here I've posted a picture of one of the tables at the ladies' meeting, where they gathered for small morsels of various salads. The men, on the other hand, were across the street eating all the fried fish and hush puppies we could eat off of styrofoam plates. I'll let you decide who got the better end of that deal.

One of the nicest things the folks there did for us was give us all a "Christmas in March" event, in which they gave us a bunch of stuff we needed/wanted. Here they're handing out the gifts to all the gathered workers.

Incidentally, we learned while there how to pronounce the name of the town (and the onion). It's not "vih-DAHL-yuh," like I had always thought. It's pronouced "vai-DAY-ya" ("vai" like as in "vine"), with NO L. If you pronouce the "L," people will look at you as if to say "y'all ain't from around here." Just a tip, in case you ever find yourself there, or discussing their tasty sweet onions in any context.

While there, we stayed with a great family, the Dixons, who practically adopted Steven as their own. It was hard to leave them this week, as we really did enjoy our time there in their home so thoroughly. Here Mrs. D plays with our hero.

We also got a chance to visit a local garden, complete with a replica tomb. It was quite an interesting place - very peaceful.

The family group has a small school attached to it, and one day we were privileged to be able to present our future work to the group. Here J gives his famous "Look at all my brownies that I'm not going to share with the starving girl" speech, the object being to compare our need to share important things with people who don't have access to them. I don't know how well received I was, but they did enjoy the brownies!

Anyway, we've also been up to a few other things, but I'll leave B to post sometime in the next week or so with her adventures to Savannah (Hint: they went to a famous restaurant and met someone you might have heard of there!) The ladies were taken there while I dominated on the golf course. Actually, I'm one of the world's worst golfers, but we had a great time. Thanks to all of our new friends from Vidalia for a great week!

This week's Blog Debate™:
Napoleon Dynamite or Search for the Holy Grail - which has the better one-liners?