IT'S SPRING!!

Parks here have grass, trees, and statues, but no playgrounds. Those are only at schools and by apartments buildings. As far as we noticed, almost very apartment building in Barnaul had its own playground for the kids. We've found that interesting since the families in Russia tend to be smaller than most families in the US. In Novokuznetsk we've seen a lot of playgrounds, but not every apartment has one. There's a lot of variety, all the way from a basic swing set and slide to more fanciful, whimsical ones. Here are some of the fun structures we've seen.

    Two playgrounds, one for each set of apartments next to each other

They often paint old tires and use them for decoration and borders at playgrounds and in gardens

They even encourage the children to play with animals
a dog, giraffes, a snake ;)

We think this is a school playground

Both here and in N'sibirsk we've seen new playgrounds installed this year

It is so delightful to hear the kids laughing and enjoying being outside.

Another sign of spring: A few weeks ago one of our missionaries got a package from home that has been sitting in the mission office waiting for someone to travel to Novokuznetsk. His family sent lots of Easter goodies. He brought them to FHE and shared it with everyone there. We don't think there is any Russian candy specifically for Easter, so it was fun to have him share so many different Easter candies with them. None of the Russians had ever seen Peeps before. Interesting reactions.

This last week we've had lots of rain. Just like in Salt Lake, all the plants and grass turned very green overnight with the help of the spring lightening storms. It's beautiful here.

Spring is great, no matter where you are!

This week in Russia:
Happy Memorial Day weekend. We know time is passing by, but it seems strange not to mark it with holidays. There aren't any big Memorial Day sales being advertised here this weekend, and at times we forget about the various holidays you're celebrating until one of us just happens to realize the date. We know it's Memorial Day weekend because it was Stan's birthday yesterday.

BLESSINGS

Several months ago we wrote about some of the tender mercies we've had shown to us here. We continue to have little blessings showered on us all the time.

*We'd lived in Barnaul for a few months and one day we passed a man who lived in the complex. We said "Здравствуйте" (hello) and started to chat with our tiny bit of Russian and his limited English. After a minute he suddenly asked if we spoke German. We don't know why because we hadn't said anything about German. His parents are from Germany so he speaks fluent German. A couple of weeks later we were at a Subway-type restaurant and he walked up and said hello to us. Arline was recovering from food poisoning and it was the first time she had felt like eating in several days. It was our anniversary, so we were trying to celebrate, but we didn't know how to order what we wanted. He asked if he could help. Arline told him in rusty German what we wanted and he ordered it for us in Russian! We never saw him again because we were transferred right after that, but we sure enjoyed our anniversary meal because of him.

*When we first moved to Novokuznetsk we saw them building something across the street. We guessed that it was going to be an office building of some sort because it was three stories high, but speculated about all the other things it could be used for, including being a larger space for the branch to meet in. After several weeks Dave noticed a sign that the store was hiring. It had the logo of one of our favorite grocery stores in Barnaul. A couple of days later a big sign went up on the same building for another store we used a lot in Barnaul, kind of a drug store without the pharmacy. It is so easy to run to the store now. If we had arrived a few months later, we would have taken them for granted.

*There is a Formica-covered board just like the counter in our kitchen. It's the wrong size to have been taken out of the counter for the sink or stove, so we don't know what it's for. It's the perfect size for Dave to use when he kneads bread, like it was made just for him to do that! He kneads a LOT of bread, and the Russians are very impressed. What the Russians don't eat, the missionaries do.

*We had a long, warm fall and then a mild winter here. The coldest it every got was -35F, and that was only for a few days. We'd been told that it always gets to -40F and have heard stories about temperatures dropping lower than that. We seldom had to go out when it was really cold. In spite of walking on snow-packed sidewalks, we didn't slip and slide around a lot. Temperatures this spring seemed much warmer than a year ago, even though the thermometer said they were about the same. It's amazing what perspectives can be gained in a year.

*On our first visa trip we were pleased to run into our neighbors from home, Kent and Barbara Michie, who were serving a temple mission in Helsinki. They finished their shift about the same time we finished our session, so we visited with them. They had a car and took us on a scenic tour of Helsinki (Kent had served a mission there 40 some years ago). Their schedule was the same the next time we went on visa, so we went to dinner together. Then they went home the following week. On our next visa trip we found some new friends. Not people we'd known before, but Arline struck up a conversation with one the sisters and it turned out she and her husband replaced the Michies. They're even from Utah! When we went on our fourth visa trip, we suggested going to dinner. There was also another American couple who are serving a CES mission at the temple that day, so the six of us went to dinner and had a delightful time. It's so nice to communicate without having to rely on a translator!

*When we got on the plane in Moscow on one of our visa trips, we saw a couple with familiar looking tags also going on their visa trip. It was President and Sister Rust from Yekaterinburg. We visited with them briefly before going our separate ways because of different schedules and hotels, but it was nice again to talk with some other English-speaking adults for a little while. We feel like we're making friends wherever we go.

*Many of the clerks in the post office and shops recognize us. Instead of being bothered that we don't speak Russian, they are very helpful and go out of their way to do what they can for us.

*Our next-door neighbors in Salt Lake are moving. We know the people they sold their house to and are glad we they're such wonderful people. And their kids are among our cutest grandkids. We couldn't have picked better new neighbors!

*Skype and Magic Jack. We are able to stay in touch with our family. That's not to say we won't love being able to hug the grandkids (and meet the three new ones) when we get home, but we feel a little less removed from them since we get to see them and visit with them once in a while. And we get such a kick out of the fact that Arline's mother is so excited to get calls from her missionary daughter!

This week in Russia:
Last week we had a double zone conference. Mission conferences for the whole mission are no longer allowed, but it is permissible to have a double zone conference, so we did. The fact is, presently there are only two zones in our mission (a third zone will be added next month when Kazakhstan becomes a part of our mission). It was fun to see many of the missionaries we've served with in the past.

President Gibbons took the four senior couples to dinner at TGI Fridays and invited newly called Seventy, Elder Gushin and his wife, to join us.

VICTORY DAY

Happy Mother's Day to all of you, those who are mothers as well as those who have mothers.

The two biggest holidays in Russia are January 1 and Victory Day on May 9. Everything shuts down for those two days, even buses and many stores that operate 363 other days during the year. Victory Day  commemorates the day Russian forces marched into Berlin and defeated Hitler.

In the past May 9 has been a lock-down day where the missionaries went to a central location (like the senior couple's home in cities where there is a senior couple) and spent the day watching movies, eating, and visiting, and then going home about 7:00. This year it was a regular working day, but we were asked to avoid crowds and especially drunks. We did have all the missionaries come over for a couple of hours to celebrate Elder Прокопцев's birthday but other than that they were busy with missionary work. However, all the missionaries were asked to be back in their apartment by 7:00.

We've been told that spring hits, the weather starts getting warmer, and then always turns cold for Victory Day. This year was no exception. We had originally planned to go watch the parade, but it was snowing when we woke up so we changed our minds (since we've already sent our warm clothing home). We found out later than President Gibbons texted the all the missionaries that morning and asked them to stay away from the parades because of the crowds, so we were obedient and didn't even know it. Fortunately it was televised. It was the first time we've watched TV in Russia and we had to figure out how to hook up the cable to the TV, so we missed the first few minutes. It looked just as cold and miserable on TV as it did out our window. Looking at the crowds along the parade route, we weren't the only ones who stayed inside!

The parade was very different from our Days of '47 parade, and not just because Utah doesn't get snow in July. It was very much a military parade with lots of military groups (some goose stepped, others marched), tanks, jeeps, motorcycles with sidecars, bands, and flags. We think it lasted about an hour, and then ended with a program that included speeches by this memorial arch. This picture was taken the next day, and life was back to normal, like nothing special had happened the day before.

They released bunches of helium balloons with short banners attached (of course we couldn't tell what the words on the banners said). There was also a program with kids singing and dancing, and lots of video shots of what we assume were vets and widows of vets. At the end of the program the parade retreated, and lots of people filed by the eternal flame and placed flowers by it.

Many cities here have an eternal flame and war memorial.

One thing we've learned here is that for births you give an odd number of flowers, for deaths you do an even number. From what we could see, most people were putting down an even number of carnations, roses or other flowers, but occasionally we saw one flower set down.

That night there were lots of fireworks. The fireworks don't go very high (or maybe it's that the buildings are taller and we're not on a hill like at home), so we only saw the tops of a few of them, but we could see reflections on some of the apartment windows down the street. They shot off one right after another without pauses between. The show lasted about 15 minutes. Unlike New Year's Eve, there was only one fireworks show and no individuals shot off fireworks.

This week's Russianism:
Russians LOVE their heat in the winter. They walk around the stores (which are often heated to what feels to us about 85-90) wearing their warm hats and coats. They looked at us funny when we took of our coats because we were SO hot. I asked someone why they like things so hot, and he said they're afraid of freezing. Believe me, there is no danger of freezing inside their buildings. Now that the weather is getting warmer (except for Victory Day), we're hoping the buildings will be a little cooler.

NOT DR. ZHIVAGO

With the weather warming up, a lot of people are heading to their dachas now so we thought this would be a good topic for the blog. The dachas aren't as romantic as the one in Dr. Zhivago. In general, people don't use them much in the winter because they're not very accessible. Also, they aren't as big or as nice or as remote as the one in the movie.

Last summer before we left Barnaul, Dave jumped at a chance to go with an investigator, Pavel, and do some upkeep at his family's dachas. Many families have a dacha. Pavel's family is the only one we've heard of with two.

Dachas are often located 5-20 miles outside the city, sometimes even farther. As you can see in the pictures, the dachas are one right after another after another. Each lot for Pavel's family is approximately 50 X 100 feet with a small structure in one corner

and an outhouse in another

The buildings are for shelter, not comfort. Usually there is no running water or heat, but most have electricity for lights (the stoves are wood burning). Some gardens have flowers, other have vegetables, and some have both mixed together. Pavel's family has one of each.

Pavel's family grows the flowers and the vegetables for their own use, but many people will take their ripened crops to the city and sit on the sidewalk and sell their corn, zucchini, tomatoes, peas, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, flowers, etc. Many of these people are older Russians who are supplementing their small pensions.

Church attendance suffers with this weekend migration, but it is a family tradition that is hard to break. As you can see, it is not for relaxing in luxury but to get out of the city. (This is the nicer of the two dachas)

This week's Russianism:
We've found it interesting the way the post office in other countries is used for lots of things besides mailing letters and packages. Here we make deposits at the post office, not at a bank. We're not sure what they use banks for. They also sell a variety of items like newspapers, magazines, greeting cards and coloring books in addition to laundry soap, some cleaning supplies, film and DVDs.