The only place I've had internet access in Russia has been in Vologda with my host family, but only tonight could I decipher the Russian alphabet to get to sign in! Since I'll be leaving by train to go to Saint Petersburg tomorrow, I may not have internet again until I get home. (But I've pre-posted things for each day I'm gone.)
We got to Moscow 14 hours later than scheduled because our original flight from San Antonio left hours after its published departure time. With only 42 minutes of transfer time in Washington, DC, we missed our connecting flight by a long period. The 13 of us rushed to find a ticket counter to get re-booked, which took many tense moments in the next 45 minutes.
The first 10 people were booked on a 7 pm flight to London, but three of us were left to go on an 11 pm flight. Through this experience with Billie and Mary Jane, we became a close-knot group of friends, especially surprising since Mary Jane and I had not known Billie. With hours to wait and a long flight to London, we were exhausted and relieved to arrive in Moscow the next evening.
When we walked into the terminal after we got our baggage and with through customs, NO ONE was there to meet us! WHERE were our friends? We kept looking around and then panic began to set in--not being able to speak Russian and not knowing what to do was scary. Billie tried to use her cell phone, but could not get through to anyone. When we tried to find someone who could speak English, a taxi driver attached himself to us and followed us around, trying to convince us that he could take us to our hotel for 60,000 rubles. Feeling abandoned by our team members, none of us felt secure. I am glad to say that we did not go with the taxi driver. After 1 1/2 hours, finally Mary Jane spotted another friend, Mary Tom (such Texan names!), with a Russian woman coming towards!!
It turns out that everyone had been UPSTAIRS the entire time!! The Russian woman who turned out to be the representative sent to greet us and Mary Tom had been trying to locate her missing luggage which had come on OUR plane. But the rep. had said we'd be late and so probably showed up after we'd left the area and could not see us. At least, they all waited upstairs and checked again later.
What's odd for me was that I broke down crying--all the feelings of abandonment, fear and exhaustion overwhelmed me. None of the members upstairs understood that we'd been there the entire time, but thought we had JUST arrived! It all seemed so unfair.
The days that followed improved my mood. We had only one day in Moscow, which was spent in a bus driving around. Even Red Square was closed because groups were marching around it, practicing for today's parade that commemorated the Russsian army turning back the Germans from Moscow in 1941. The exciting moment of the day was riding the subway to the train station, where we departed for Vologda.
An all-night train ride got us to Vologda at 5:30 am where our host families met us. My wonderful host family are about the ages of my oldest son and his wife (DC and AA).I will write about them and their sweet little boys when I get back home. They have been wonderful to me.
Later in the day our conference started, which lasted until Sunday evening. It was for the Methodist pastors and some laity in this district, which comprises five Methodist churches. I gave a talk each of the three days:
- Contemplative Prayer
- Breath Prayer and "Bless_____, change me."
- Lectio Divina
And today it snowed! Only about 1/2 inch, but this was the first snowfall of the season. That must be why our host families were upset that it was below freezing (-11 degrees C.) the morning before.
Tomorrow afternoon we'll take a 12-hour train ride to Saint Petersburg.
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Go here for a listing of the China Bayles mysteries in order.
