с новым годом


with love from Russia

Christmas in Moscow

Before 1917, Christmas was celebrated in Russia in much the same way as it was in the rest of the world: on December 25, with Christmas trees and Christmas gifts, Saint Nicholas and the like. During the years of Communism after 1917, all formerly Christmas traditions were transferred to New Year's Eve, which became the traditional winter holiday. New Year's Eve is now to Russians what Christmas is to most people in the rest of the world, with one exception: there is no remnant of Christianity in the holiday. New Year's Eve is simply a chance to celebrate, to bring in the new year and get rid of the old. It is a chance to exchange gifts, have a day off and enjoy oneself.

Christmas is once again celebrated in Russia, but not near to the extent it once was. All the traditions have been firmly settled in New Year's, and very few people take advantage of the new freedom to celebrate Christmas as they wish. The Russian Orthodox Church has made Christmas an official holiday, but it is celebrated on January 7th. A few Russians have begun to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.

Josiah in Moscow

Josiah and Terry standing in Red Square with St. Basil's Cathedral in the back ground. It will be fun with Josiah here for the holidays.

John Quincy Adams

The Embassy received a gift a statue of John Quincy Adams, America’s first Ambassador to Russia. The statue was created by noted sculptor Alexander Burganov, a People’s Artist of Russia, and its casting was made possible through the generosity of American corporate sponsors. The statue commemorates the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States in December, 1807.

John Quincy Adams – diplomat, politician, and sixth president of the United States – served as U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary in St. Petersburg from 1809 to 1814. After representing the United States at the court of Tsar Alexander I, Adams served as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain and later Secretary of State. In 1825, he was elected President. After being defeated for a second term, Adams won a seat in the House of Representatives, where he served for 17 years until his death in 1848.

Toys for Tots

Pat is standing with 2 of the Marines during the Christmas party at the Spaso House. These Marines, stationed in Moscow for security of the embassy were collecting Toys for Tots toys for the children in need here in Russia.

Don't forget you have an opportunity to help the children in your area.

Happy Thanksgiving

The reason we like Thanksgiving is because it’s not centered around gifts and expectations, but is focused on ‘just’ being thankful for your family and friends all around you. What an interesting word ‘just’!! We’ve actually tried to take it out of our vocabulary (but it does slip out occasionally!). The word ‘just’ tends to downplay some very important matters. Our friend Alberta shared that insight while in Mercy Ships. It’s a HUGE deal to be surrounded by family and friends that you know love you (lest we forget that there are those around you who might not feel that they have that support). We are thankful that even though we won’t be by family this year, We have wonderful friends around us. We encourage you to reach out to those around you and never ‘assume’ that they have that kind of support system. If you have it, count yourself blessed!!

Our Thanksgiving started out this year going to the chocolate factory. Pat is all dressed up ready to enter the factory where we saw how they made two different kinds of candy. This candy factory will be closing this year and it's been open since 1851.

After the tour they gave us candy bars, a cd and tea.

Donna, a fellow worker, invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. I think this is the first time, in along time that I haven't had to fix anything. It was a pleasant and relaxing afternoon.

Here is Terry relaxing with Dean Pryor and Terry White, other fellow embassy workers, as the final preparations are being made.

We took a tour of this church in the village of Angelovo in a northwest suburb of Moscow. We learned all about icons and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox Church buildings differ in design from many western-type churches. Firstly, their interiors are enriched with many sacramental objects including holy icons, which are hung on the walls. There are no pews. Most churches are lit with candles rather than electric light. Russians sometimes speak of an icon as having been "written," because in the Russian language the word pisat (Russian: писать), meaning "to write", can also be used to mean "to create paintings". Icons are considered to be the Gospel in paint and since many of the people couldn't read this was their Bible in picture form. While we were in the church the priest came in and our tour guide asked him if he wanted to say a few ords. And as a good minister of the word: he spoke to us giving us a sermon about Love. You can see all the beautiful icons behind him. There is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons.

ICA

Here is a group picture of the Diplomatic Fellowship. This is part of the ministry of the church, ICA, where we attend.

We won't starve

People told us that bad weather was coming and getting snow bound, we weren't taking chances on running out of food. So, we spent a weekend making: chicken mole, Italian chicken rice soup, brisket, tandoori chicken, BBQ chicken, lentils and sausage, stuffing, and a few things I don't remember. All together there were 21 dishes giving us about 150 servings.

Do you think we will starve?

Spaso Ball

We attended the annual Spaso Ball the last week of October. We danced all night to a live band playing big band music. The Spaso House was built in 1913 and has been the home of the US ambassador since 1933.