Long Time No See

So about a year ago when I found out we were going to Moscow for our first assignment, I posted on Facebook that fact and put out an invitation for anyone to come visit.  We had some half hearted interest by some, but one said she would definately be here.  Well Connie was true to her word and came out last week.
We started with a bang on the 4th of July.  After a bite to eat and a walk down the pedesterian Old Arbat Street.  From there we met up with Jolene and wound up at an after party at some cafe and from there we took a cab to some other bar that was decorated in Red, White and Blue for our Independence day.  Needless to say it was a VERY long day for Connie, but she hung in there.  We also met another American visiting from Turkey (I think).  He tagged along and came out with us.

We were up the next morning (not to early) site-seeing over the next couple of days, taking in all the touristy sites and some off the beating path.  I took her to see the Changing of the Guard at the Eternal Flame, Red Square area, the Armoury and the GYM (pronounced GOOM) mall.  We also made it out to Gorky Park and the nearby Statue Park.  The embassy community had an Independence Day picnic and I think Connie had fun there too, as you can see.

Unfortunately the first couple of days, Jolene had to work, but on Friday night, she was able to head out with us.  We made it to one of our favorite cafes SIM-SIM, for dinner.  

All in all, I think Connie had a good time and it was nice to see her again after 21 years... yeah we hadn't seen each other since high school.  It was nice to catch up and hear about everyone.  And thanks again to Jolene for being such a good sport too!

So hopefully in the next week or two we will be finding out what our next posting will be and the offer will be out there again, anyone wanting to visit and see the country we are in, just let us know!

Our First Visitors

Well we have had our first family visit, Jolene's sister Nickie and her husband Scott came and spent a week with us.  We were able to hit the major touristy sites like Red Square, the Kremlin and the Armory.  We also saw the changing of the guard at the WWII memorial, which was pretty cool...

Right before the changing of the guard a local woman went up to the Leningrad Marker and dusted off the snow.

Here they come down the path

Not sure why they cocked their heads, but it was a precision movement, if I had to guess it represents passing on orders or something.  If anyone knows please comment and share.

and away the go . . .

We finished off at Izmaylovo where they were able to get all their souvenirs.  Nickie actually came in under budget, which is a  major accomplishment.  The weather has been great too.  For two coming from the Midwest, our mild Russian winter was nothing to them.



Now after a 4am drop off at the airport, I'm back awake and enjoying my day off.  Crystal is back in school and Jolene went back to work today so it's just me and the cats hanging out.  So I took this opportunity to upload a post and check in with those few that follow this blog.

So if any of you reading this would like to know something, see pics of anything in particular or want me to try to pick you up a souvenir, post a comment and we'll see what we can do.  And if you want to come see it all for yourself, send me an email (link in the top right) and we'll get things rolling.  Outside of family, we've got one daring lady getting set up to come this summer.

Playing in the Snow

Ummm who grabbed the tree?

There's ice in that snow ball

Yeah the swing almost smacked us in the face

Ooops

He winds up...

Like dust... snow on a ....  I got nothing

Nap  time

Time to get up

Oooops

Thats better

You can't see me

Ahhh That's just cute

Exit stage left.

Ooops Crystal fell ... again.

Staying in touch

I gotta say it's great being able to stay in touch with friends and loved ones.  Last night I was able to Skype with my mom for an hour and a half.  Video chat brings a bit more "closeness" than just talking on the phone.  After that I was able to talk with my grandparents and aunt in California.  Again it's so awesome to be able to stay in touch that way.  I think it's good to use different mediums to keep in touch, but you have to find a balance.  Right now we have this blog, Facebook, telephone, and Skype.  Those are our main methods of keeping in touch with friends and family.  Oh and now I'm using Picasa to post my pictures to the web.  (By the way here is the link to my Web Albums https://picasaweb.google.com/mwalls88).  I think I'll add it to the margin area to make it easier to get to. 

So whats new?  Tomorrow we should receive our HHE (House Hold Effects)  This is all the crap... I mean our belongings we shipped here from Iowa.  It's not everything, we put a lot in storage, but it is the rest of  our stuff we planned on having here.  It will be nice to have all our pots and pans and sheets and blankets and our Bed!  We haven't been going without, the Embassy actually furnishes the houses and we have what's called a welcome kit.  In the kit there is towels, sheets, dishes, pots and pans and a lot of the items you need.  It's almost like all the belonging you had in your very first apartment, you have pots and pans, but the quality is not quite the same.  So I get to take Monday off and show the movers where to put all the boxes, then we get to start the arduous process of unpacking.  It's gonna be a little like Christmas, because I don't remember everything we shipped here.  Once we figure out what we have we'll venture out to get what we forgot.  I do know we need to get a TV, our old ones went to storage.  Now we need to get a Multi-System TV that will work in the different parts of the world we could wind up in.  Right now we are using a borrowed TV, but we watch most of the shows we like online. 

Well enough chattering for now, I'll post some unboxing pix so you can share in the fun and excitement of unpacking.... I wish it was easier to convey sarcasm in writing.....

До свидания!

Time goes by fast...

Time really does get away from you when you are at training...  I've had a few requests asking what type of training I am actually doing.  Well to be on the safe side, its mostly IT realated with a dash of other courses teaching the ins and outs of what I'll be doing at post.  I'd say its kinda like college.  It's not gonna teach you everything you need to know when you get a job, but you get a broad base and understanding of how things are done. 

I know there is a new class starting in a couple of weeks if any readers are in that class feel free to drop me a line and I'll answer any questions you got.

So back to me and the family... Oh yeah the family is finally here!  Since my last posting I have had my wife visit me here, I've flown home and had a nice going away BBQ (Thanks for everyone that came).  We packed out our house and the family, as I said, has moved out here.  I moved from my studio appartment to a larger one and my mom is out visiting for the weekend.  This past weekend we did a whirl-wind tour of the Mall and some of the Smithsonian museums, lots of walking in the heat, so feeling kinda worn out now.  I'm starting to look forward to the 10 hour flight to Moscow so I can get a good nap in.

Training is coming to an end only a few weeks left.  I've applied for all our Visas for Russia.  I've heard some horror stories about the time it takes for those to come back, some it the several months time frame.  So hopefully we will be on the shorter end of a week or two.

Well class is about to start, better pay attention.

Do svidaniya!