Tales from Moscow

I just realized that my last post was our trip to St. Petersburg - and that was a month ago!  So of course, a lot has happened since then. The weekend after that was Father's Day and Stephanie and Aiden surprised me with a wonderful breakfast, some very nice gifts, and a trip to Moscow's botanical garden.  One of the highlights was the Novoslobodskaya Metro Station, which is decorated with murals and stained glass windows (lit artificially of course).

The Botanical Garden was more of a forest park than a botanical garden.  There were no signs to say what different specimens were and there weren't any cultivated gardens.  But it was a beautiful day, and the forest itself was nice, so we had a very nice time walking around.  It was a great way to spend Father's Day with my family. 

Work has been quite busy.  We've been very focused on the pending ratification of the bilateral agreement on international adoption between the U.S. and Russia (it was ratified last week).  There's been a fair amount of press coverage in both countries, and it's a rather contentious issue with a lot of incorrect information surrounding it in the public sphere, so it's required quite a bit of attention.

As far as my regular duties go - interviewing immigrant visa applicants, I seem to have it down fairly well.  Sometimes I'm still amazed that I can have these whole conversations in Russian and understand and communicate well enough to make a decision. While I won't discuss any particular cases, I will say that there is a wide variety of work involved.  I've had to investigate some very disturbing criminal backgrounds, had threats against my life (none were credible so don't worry), and on the bright side I've gotten to give many people the good news that they are going to receive an immigrant visa.  This is one of my favorite parts, especially for Russians who are going to be with their fiancees or spouses in the U.S. They're often the most excited.  I also enjoy processing visas for children who are adopted from Russia.  Knowing what the adoption process is like, it's a great feeling to tell these parents that they can go home with their child.

Another big event was the Fourth of July party.  It's much bigger and more elaborate than what we did in Dushanbe.  It's held at the Ambassador's house, which is enormous.  I was assigned to the receiving line, which basically means that I helped greet people after they met the Ambassador and show them to the rest of the party.  The most I can say about it is that it was hot.  I know before I write this, that the heat here has been nothing compared to the U.S., but after a summer that rarely has gotten above 70, to suddenly jump into the upper 80s with high humidity was a bit of a shock.  To have to wear a suit in that heat for an entire afternoon was downright unpleasant.  Luckily, Bacardi was one of the sponsors and they were making some very refreshing mojitos, which took the edge off after I finished my official duties. It's a little bit disappointing to work on our nation's birthday, but hey, it comes with the job. To celebrate at home, we had pancakes with red and blue fruit sauce, and McDonalds for dinner (the most American food we could think of), and we did have a nice picnic to celebrate at the embassy on the Friday after.

With the hot weather, my 1.5 mile commute on foot has become far less enjoyable, as I arrive at work drenched with sweat every morning.  Considering that $25 for dry cleaning a suit is considered cheap here, the warm weather could get quite costly.  It doesn't help that locals aren't very big on air-conditioning, so my office routinely exceeds 80 degrees in the afternoon.  And my colleagues tell me that this summer is cool compared to the usual weather - yikes!

The weekend after the 4th of July, we set out early before the heat set in and walked along the pedestrian-only Old Arbat street, and enjoyed frozen coffee from Dunkin Donuts (still on the America kick).  It's a really nice street and just about every American  food chain is present.

We had a nice walk down to Christ the Saviour church. Aiden too. He is fully fledged walking now, and even likes to push his own stroller.  He enjoyed walking through the park that runs down the middle of Gogolsky boulevard, and wanted to climb into a fountain with horse heads sticking out of it.

 If you think you've seen the picture before, you're right, but if you'll recall, we were inappropriately dressed last time and couldn't go in.  This time we were prepared.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside, but it was very beautiful.  We also lucked out and happened to be there for a service.  There was a beautiful choir singing in response to the service being sung by the church officials.  Even Aiden seemed to enjoy it and stayed quiet and still for a long time. 

After the church, we took a walk along the Moscow river for some new views of the Kremlin.

Summer is bringing many nicer things than hot weather. A wide selection of produce is one of our favorites.  Stephanie noticed these berries that look like tiny watermelons, so we got some.  Turns out they are gooseberries.  For those who haven't had them, they're quite tart, and remind me a bit of kiwi.

Last week, we also got the sad news that our dog, Xena, had to be put down.  She was 17 years old, and had been slowing down, so it wasn't too unexpected, but it's still hard to think of her not being there.  I found her in a newspaper notice from the pound when she was 2, so she's been with our family for 15 years - half of my life.  She was a wonderful dog and I think she had a happy life, so while we're sad she's gone, there are a lot of fond memories.  I'm glad we got to see her when we were home in the spring, and that she got to meet Aiden.

This weekend, a cold front came through and left a beautiful rainbow in it's wake, which we could see from our bedroom window.

It also left much cooler weather, which inspired us to get out this weekend.  We went to Tsaritsino park, which is the sight of a centuries old estate, that was bought by Katherine the Great at one point.  It fell into disrepair over the years, but has been restored recently.  Once of the first things you see as you enter the complex is a beautiful fountain that is programmed to synch with music played over loudspeakers.  The selection is a bit limited, and seems to alternate between songs those guys play on the pan flutes in subways, and Kenny G, but the fountain is still nice to look at.

It is really a fantastic park. There are these amazing ornate bridges...

There is also a nice church with a beautiful flower garden.  Stephanie went into the church, but I couldn't because I was wearing shorts.  She said it was nice, but didn't take any pictures because there was an ongoing ceremony. 

Then, of course, there is the palace itself, which is quite impressive, and a handful of surrounding buildings.  I know that everything is fairly recently reconstructed, and based on a model of the original complex, it isn't entirely faithful to how things looked originally, but it's still impressive. 

Behind the palace, there is a very nice forest with plenty of winding paths, great views of the lake, and wildlife...

For that matter, you never know what you might see in the forest - like this bride in a see-through gown. And just as a disclaimer - Stephanie is the one who made me take this picture.  

But speaking of strange things, summer seems to bring that out here.  In addition to other very bizarre dress codes, there was an impromptu memorial to Michael Jackson that sprouted up near the Embassy around the anniversary of his death.  People wrote messages to him on the wall of a building, posted full size pictures of him, hung balloons and head shots from the trees, and placed dozens of bouquets of flowers on the ground.  It went on for almost a week. I had no idea he was so popular here. 

Back to the park, we left by way of the graceful bridges crossing the lake that surrounds the fountains. 

Despite the few complaints, there are a lot of great things about living here - the parks are definitely one of the best!