Another week has come to an end. It has had its ups and downs. I did manage to get into a host family on Monday. This has proved to be successful so far. They are an older retired couple and have been taking in students since around the time of the collapse in '91. It is interesting to hear their perspective on life here in post-soviet Russia. It is also interesting to hear about their experiences during WWII. Although they were both too young to serve in the war, they were both directly touched by it. My host mom lived in Moscow and remembers the German bomber attacks. She also told me about going hungry. They would often only have a few potatoes to eat. She said that all of the evacuations and chaos in Texas and Louisiana from the hurricanes reminds her of the mass evacuations to avoid the tide of Nazi soldiers. I can only imagine what life would have been like under such conditions. My host dad also lost his father and his uncle was seriously wounded in combat.
On the local friendship front, I have finally made some local contacts who look like potential long term friends. Yesterday we went to a pro-soccer game; a big sport here like many countries around the world. It was a good experience, but the language barrier that still exists is a bit of a hindrance. I am able to communicate with them fairly well for a little bit, but after a couple of hours it becomes very difficult and my brains feel like they are going to melt out of my ears. This language is just so hard.
I have still not found a local church here. People just do not know where they are other than the ones that are museums. In fact, after telling one guy I met yesterday that I was looking for a church to attend, he told me he did not know where one was located and also added that the last time he went to church was for some museum excursion several years ago. There is certainly a lot of work to be done here.
I finally had one incident with some drunk folks trying to attack me the other night while I was walking home after a late night ballet excursion. It was nothing too scary; just a bunch of drunk college aged girls looking for a guy to make out with. I managed to get away without too much trouble. I simply told them it was too late and I wanted to go home. The one girl who was the most aggressive and insistent was Bulgarian and said her name was Lena. She told me that she had a great pain in her heart and I needed to go with her for about five minutes. When I told her no, she made a pass at me. I managed to pull away, which lead to her calling me a few names and telling me that I was weak and just afraid of women. I must say that this will probably be one of my memorable moments here. It is not everyday that you get jumped for a kiss.
And so, I sign off again. Dodging drunk Bulgarian women, so long from the wild wild east.

Today we rode a boat up the main river to see the sites. It is amazing how different downtown is from the south side of town where we study. Downtown is very modern and clean. The south side is very Soviet and well...not so clean. But the people there are interesting. This to me is more important than any national shrine or stone fortress in the center of town. In fact, I would say the real stone fortresses are the hearts of those I interact with on a daily basis. It is this that makes all people worth-while.
The most interesting attraction of the day was not the boat ride. What we saw off the boat was most interesting and almost a throw back to Soviet times. Literally hundreds of soldiers and police were blocking the central area of Red Square (the area surrounded by GYM, Lenin's tomb, and the big basilica). You would have thought that a terrorist attack had just taken place, but it turns out it was all for a concert-a Joe Cocker concert! I don't think he would draw this much security in the States, but here they bring out everyone.
About my health; it seems that I have finally been touched by the new germs. I feel like I am running a little fever and have a bit of a headache. My stomach is also not doing so well. This happens to me when I leave the country, but the fact that it has hit me so late is most unusual.
Now, about the people. The people here are not nearly as friendly as they were in Kazakstan. The students in the dorm are very standoffish. They just don't seem to know how to respond to us. Since I am getting a little more comfortable with the language, I will probably try to be more assertive to introduce myself to them.
My other goal this week is the enquire about finding a good church. I have asked one student where a good one is located, but she had no idea. It is so strange not to see an obvious church building on the street corners like in the American south. Maybe this is a good thing, as it may indicate that folks here don't compromise. God has always been very faithful to me in guiding me to sound churches that not only encourage me, but keep me looking within myself to see that I am making my calling and election sure.
And so I sign off. For those who tune in, my next blog will be about the Kremlin...the inside!!!!! For those who are gun fanatics, they supposedly have a killer national armoury museum in there, so I will be sure to let you all know about that.
Peace out from the Wild Wild East

I am sitting in an internet cafe in the underground mall right next to Red Square. It is very hard to know how to describe this place in a few words. Perhaps words can not describe it all to the fullest extent.
So here I am. In Moscow. Former capital of the Soviet Union. The place where the communist ideology was tested...And utterly failed. I don't want my blog to come across as overly negative, but I do believe that the short comings of communism; its flawed foundational ontological assumptions, its misreading of human nature, and the overly idealistic hope of a total classless society (tied to the previous assumption) has contributed greatly to the problems that I have already seen. I could write for hours about why this is, but will have to resort to elaborating more on this as time permits.
I will mention one situation yesterday that was most disturbing to my American ears. After arriving back at the dorm yesterday afternoon, there was a loud knock on our door. Two young Russian students requested to use our phone. It turns out that the house of one student had been broken into (she apparently lives with her family off campus) and she was trying to call home to inquire about what was taken. Apparently, the thieves took everything of significant value. I asked her whether the police had been contacted and if there were any witnesses. Since virtually everyone lives in multi-story flats here, there must have been someone around to see guys carrying home items out of the building. Giving me a strange look, she said, "What are you talking about. We are afraid of the police here. They only help you if you have money. If not, they are not your friends. If there were witnesses, they will never come forward out of fear."
I made me reflect on the fact that although our country's value system is on the decline, we can still trust in our police to try to live up to the task that they have been called to do.
Despite this fact, I will say that this city is one of the most interesting places I have ever been to. The dowtown area is beautiful. Red Square is stunning. I know that these next several months with be some of the most memorable of my life.