Down to Moscow

Yesterday (Wednesday), it was decided that Julie, David and I should come down to Moscow and visit the deaconess convention that was being held at Holy Trinity Church. We had been planning on coming down this weekend, but my boss Brent thought that it would be better if we were able to meet some of the pastors and leaders of the church.

So, at 4:45 this morning (it is now about 9:45 p.m.), Julie and I got up and got ready to catch a 6 a.m. taxi in order to make the 6:30 electric train to Moscow. We went with the local pastor (and the district president for our region, Pastor Sergei--whose church we have attended before) for the 2 1/2 hour ride. In fact there have been serveral noteworthy thoughts that have popped into my head during all of today's goings-on:

1) The train we were on today reminded me very much of the trains of the Czech Republic (except, surprisingly, the had hardly any graffiti on them) because in fact, I just realized, Russia built many of the Czech trains. Anyways, it was relatively cheap to get to Moscow ($9 for the both of us--David was free). The only bad thing was it became increasingly crowded--for the last hour and a half it was like sardines in a can. But, since the train started in Tver, we had no problems getting seats, while dozens of people in our car had to stand in the aisle.

2) Moscow has extraordinary Metro stations. When we got off of the train, we took two different metro lines to get to the streetcar which got us to the church. The metro stations we were at were quite exquisitely crafted, with vaulted ceilings and ornate carvings throughout. That was quite a beautiful surprise!

3) Driving in Moscow is pretty crazy. Brent does a good job of driving, but I have been amazed at how even he is becoming Moscovian in style (not nearly to the degree of most Moscovites, however). There is a Russian joke that says that the lane lines on the road are really only for the foreigners--something that I can attest to. There are constantly new "lanes" being formed, especially in rush hour traffic when people get impatient. A 4 lane road usually has 5-6 "lanes" of traffic. People in Moscow are stuck in traffic a lot--it is a highly congested city. But, when they have the open road ahead of them, it is off to the races! Quite insane.

4) Holy Trinity Church in located in the midst of a rather large cemetary (roughly 3 or 4 square blocks). As we walked through the cemetary to get to the church, it was very interesting to see the Russian style of tombstones. By far, they spend a great deal more time and money invested in their grave markers. Most had a picture of the person accompanying the information--some even had images carved into the granite/marble: a bust of the person, activities the person enjoyed, scenes of the family, etc. It was much more decorative than I have seen at American cemetaries.