One Hundred Things Revisited

While in Russia I was impressed with how simply Zach and Julie were living. It may be that they made a conscious choice, or it could be because they're young and don't have much junk. Either way, when I came home I saw that we, again, or as always, simply have too much stuff.

"One Hundred Things" is a challenge to, in the next couple weeks, get rid of --you guessed it-- 100 things. My challenge along with that is to not buy anything, either.

There's a list of my things on the right of this post, and I am up to 26 things already. [It's neither to brag nor disgust you, it's simply to account for the 100 things.] Let's see how fast this 100 Things thing can be done!

Do you find your life cluttered with stuff? If so, how do you manage it? If not, what makes or helps you not accumulate? 

Books I've Read Lately

I saw this book in the bookstore on Bainbridge Island and thought the cover was so funny! A donut with a fuse.... I requested it from the library and it came pretty quick. Does that mean others aren't that interested in a book about self-control? I'm not sure.

One thing that was intriguing to me was that it said that children don't learn self-control in our modern American lifestyle, with electronics as babysitters and every hour scheduled with lessons, sports, and clubs. The author stated that back in the olden days, like when I was a child, kids learned self-control through free play.

 This was a quick little fictional account of two women, mother and daughter. The mom was from Japan, and married an American serviceman and moved to the US. The daughter, after the mother begged practically from her deathbed, went with her own young daughter to Japan to reconcile with the family the mother left behind.

I found the book charming and difficult to put down. It took just a day and a half to read!

This was about how much food is wasted in our country. Do you have a kid who has worked in fast food? Or any part of the food industry? They will know what the author is talking about. In a way it's disturbing to think about people being hungry in our communities, country, and world, when so much perfectly edible food becomes garbage. Restaurants, school lunch programs, harvesting practices, marketing and other food arenas are all addressed in this interesting work.

This made me more aware of what I can do to not waste so much in my own home, and which food-waste issues may be most important to me.

What have you been reading lately?

Monday at the Outdoor Market

Part of an outdoor market in Moscow. They sold all sorts of things. Notice the plumbing and hardware booth at the end of this row.

 I wanted the experience of an outdoor market, so Monday Allan and I headed out on the Metro to this one. There were lots of booths, not just food ones (these were just the most interesting). Clothing, luggage, hats and umbrellas, cheap plastic toys, used books, bras, you name it, it could pretty much be found here. The merchants, especially in the produce booths, were vocal as we walked by, asking us to buy stuff. Many knew some English, and one woman charmed us into buying fruit from her by trying out her German on us.

Rainy day at the market. The word on the blue building is TOILET. I wouldn't use that one....

Inside a little shop at this same market.Lots of cheese!

Allan purchased a hat. The saleswoman knew some English, and the more we tried on hats, the more comfortable she became using her English. We went away and came back, and she pointed at Allan and said, "Ah, 58!!" This was his size, which she had remembered. She was studying English, and knew her numbers for sure.

Toilets

It's somewhat annoying to have to pay to use these kinds....

We are home from Moscow now, but there are some aspects of our trip that will always be unforgettable. One of these is TOILETS. As unappealing as this may be in a blog posting, I can't have reported completely on our trip without reporting on them.

This photo doesn't quite capture the whole picture, but it is enough, I think. At the zoo, the train station, and other locations, mainly the pay units on the street (which, blessedly, I didn't have to use) they have these types of toilets. They are simply a paved hole in the ground, and involve some gymnastics for us women to use effectively. They wouldn't be so bad, except that it seems as if 1,000 years of urine remain in the paving around the actual hole, and even with windows wide open it's horrible-smelling . There is a flush, so in theory it shouldn't be awful, but it pretty much is.

There were wonderful ones in the expensive train, complete with seat covers (yes, it had a SEAT), and pretty good ones in the cheaper train. And, of course, Zach and Julie's home had 3 bathrooms with standard Western toilets. It was a bit of a chore planning our sight-seeing around how bad the bathrooms might be.

Here is what I learned. The older the place, the more primitive the toilets. Newer museums and churches had modern and clean and FREE bathrooms, and were a pleasure to use (after paying the entry fee). The street toilets are worse than our porta-potties here in the States, and I avoided them at all costs.

Just one reason it's so good to be home.

Sabbath

Our church buildings are in industrial/business areas and are somewhat well-disguised.

Sacrament Meeting started at 9:30 AM, and Bro Hopkinson, Zach and Julie's neighbor picked us up at 8:30. It was quite a long way to the building, a different one from where the baptism had been the day before. They attend the Moscow Ward, which is considered an international ward. Anyone who is not Russian attends this ward. Even people who are married to Russians end up coming to this ward, for the Americans are not to attend the Russian wards, according to church rules. Julie and Zach have been disappointed by this policy, but can see the good reasons for it.

The meetings went well. We could see that there are all ages here, maybe except the elderly. There are many church workers and a number of mature missionaries, along with quite a few young families and couples. Primary has about 30 children, and the youth program has only half a dozen. There is a group of about 20 student teachers from the US (Utah?) who teach English to non-English speakers in Russian schools, as well, here until later in December. And all non-Russians who join the church here are incorporated into this international ward, so there are quite a few Africans, Filipinos and others who are young in the gospel as well. It is a wonderful mix of people who help each other manage. 

Gospel Doctrine is taught by an older man who happens to be the Temporal Affairs person from the church over this area. It was a good lesson, with SO MUCH participation. (That is very different from my own ward!) Relief Society was a special meeting where all the sisters from the other auxiliaries joined for a lesson/experience on sisterhood. There were many visitors, and we all had a good time comparing notes on our experiences in the city and with not being able to sleep when everyone else is.

A dreary day outside, but great inside

After church Julie and Zach had their neighbor's children over to play for a couple of hours to give their mother, whose husband is working out of the area for three weeks, a break. The kids are 10, 4 1/2, and 1. It was cute to watch Zach and Julie have such a good time and do so well with children. We can see that they will someday make wonderful parents! Later we went to the children's house, where their mom had made pizza for our dinner, with pan cookies and Russian ice cream (which most of us had) for dessert. It was a wonderful, dreary day.

Baptism and Honey Festival

Zach and Julie were committed to going to a convert baptism yesterday, and a neighbor brought us there in the car his employer provides him--his employer being our church! Driving through the city is a completely different experience than going underground (mostly) on the Metro. Three African young adults, all from different areas, were baptized. They, like Zach and Julie, are now members of the Moscow International Ward. Zach has mentioned a few times that black people have a difficult time here because of prejudice. Except for the church event, I don't believe I have seen a black person my entire time in Moscow!

 After the church activity we changed into street clothes and walked to the Metro and zoomed to Ismailonov, a prime tourist shopping area, sort of like an outdoor bazaar. It poured on us off and on while we shopped. It was fun to hear the foreign languages, mostly Spanish and a little French, that I actually understood.

In Bremerton we had the Blackberry Festival last weekend, where all things Blackberry were set up on the waterfront and sold. This weekend we witnessed the Honey Festival on the way into Ismailonov. Booth after booth of honey peddlers/producers had their honey out for taste and for sale. I have never seen anything like it! I tasted some pretty interesting stuff, but even Zach couldn't identify the names of the types of honey. I suppose school and missionary work and just plain conversing don't include herb, flower, and tree names!

Pretty buildings always seem to be in the skyline

Closer and closer to the actual market area independent booths were spaced closer and closer together. It cost 10 rubles each to get into the official, gated selling area, the equivalent of $.40 or so. On the street level were booths with vendors selling mostly new things, from hats to nesting dolls of all types and sizes, knitted cashmere scarves, memorabilia from communist times, wood and glass work, etc. Upstairs, in a permanent covered area was kind of a jumble, where it looked like people emptied out attics and garages and put stuff out for sale. We didn't buy much, but I enjoyed seeing what people had out--it was the closest thing to a thrift store I have seen here. (There is no market for thrift stores.) 

Mastrushka for a special person. The littlest doll is smaller than a pea!

A calendar to remember all the places we've seen.

Nativity set requested by a friend.

Red Square and The Kremlin

Today we took the Metro (subway) to the Kremlin and Red Square, historic and political centers of Moscow for centuries. The cathedrals are amazing, and surprisingly close together. The grounds were lovely and well-maintained. The oddest thing was that one building, that is used for some current political business, and another building in Red Square were surrounded with special canvas facades painted to look exactly like the building. This is because of a rule that when buildings are having work done they need to cover them, so as not to be unsightly. [We checked our cameras in with our bags so didn't get photos here.]

Lenin Library

A citizen at the eternal flame honoring heroes fallen. Notice the guard on the right.

 St Basil's Cathedral

Moscow Zoo

"Moscow's Zoopark" 

We headed off on our own to the zoo yesterday, right near the US Embassy where Zach had taken us the day before. Thanks to Allan's navigation, we got there just fine.

The zoo was interesting. There were some animals we all have seen at zoos before, and there were unusual animals from Russia and Asia that I had never seen. I had also never been so close to some of the critters as I was in this place.

I have noticed that Russians in general (in public, at least) keep to themselves, do not make eye contact, nor smile. But at the zoo it was a bit of a different story. A class of school children was there with teacher and helpers, and the children were typical and
 cute and fun to watch. Adults and children were all over, and the interactions were, I suppose, universal and very sweet.

The workers across the way at a not-busy concession stand were 

laughing at us sounding out all the words of the felines' names.

 

 Very tall (5 ft?) cranes--the photo doesn't do them justice

Allan couldn't help taking a photo of this one.There are children's rides all over the grounds.

Visiting Moscow, Russia

 Pronounced "Vendy's," because there is no "w" sound in Russia. Zach
 thinks it's funny that they put in the apostrophe.

They're everywhere!!

It is amazing the franchises of American businesses that have made their ways to this place. If you are afraid of eating unfamiliar food, these places have what you're used to.