Uncovering Joy in Following the Rules

Posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

July 19/August 1, 2012, Uncovering of the Relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov

We travel to our friends’ house today in the afternoon and evening to celebrate the Baptism of their son and my new godson. That’s right. I became a godfather of a child in Russia! Another reason to keep coming back: heavenly family added to my earthly family here.

I was talking with our friend at the Baptism on Sunday, and she pressed me for the answer to the question I posed earlier in the blog about why Russians love St. Seraphim so much. I confessed to her that I had been working on the answer and had come to some conclusions, but I was pretty sure they were not correct or merely one-sided. Then I asked her what she thought. Continue reading →

The Harvard Square of Moscow

Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

Novokuznetskaya metro station

What is it about a city square which gives it such life and vibrancy? More often than not it happens not by some kind of grand design imposed from without, but by a more organic development from below and within the city itself. One of these great urban centers of culture in Boston is Harvard Square with its proximity to the oldest American university, its abundant street musicians, libraries and bookstores, museums and laboratories, and everything else that contributes to a volatile, teeming place to meet and get inspired. The Zamoskvorechye region near the Novokuznetskaya metro station is the Harvard Square of Moscow. Continue reading →

All Up to Date Finally!

Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

Thanks for hanging in there with me, everyone. I have finally posted all of the reflections from the Sochi trip. Am presently in our Moscow apartment enjoying the recovery from such a wonderful time on the Black Sea. Had some posts that were more like rants, so I decided to pitch them. I feel like there is plenty of negative material on the internet, and not enough positive culture building.

Hope you enjoy this and all the future posts.

Oldest Daughter’s First Post

Posted on Monday, July 30, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

Here is my oldest daughter’s first attempt at blogging. She wrote this herself first on a piece on paper, then typed it both in English and Russian. The Russian still needs some work, so check back in a few days, and it will all be correct, I am sure…

July 17/30, 2012, G. M. Margaret

In the morning we went to 3 different playgrounds. In the afternoon we rode the tramvai to a monastery.

17/30 июль, 2012 Д М Маргрет

утром мы пошли на 3 других пащадак

“Perhaps We Could Drink Some Tea…”

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

I have given up finding the perfect cup of coffee in Russia. Such a thing just does not exist in a culture so based on drinking tea. A wikipedia article I researched reports that 82% of Russians drink tea on a daily basis.

Sure they have coffee available for the token foreigner who shows up and prefers it, but it is always an after-thought, a concession, appealing only in its exotic qualities. Tea is the native drink for Russians. Has been for over 300 years, and it is always available in large doses, the larger the better. Continue reading →

Celebrating an Anniversary with Singing

Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

We celebrate the anniversary of our host’s marriage in the Orthodox Church. By all rights, not the “real” anniversary date since people in the Soviet Union were almost all married civilly, outside the church and then after the fall of communism came back to have their union blessed by a proper church sacrament. You wouldn’t know that this was just their second wedding anniversary from the celebration and the songs that accompanied it. The old-timers really hammed it up in a big way. Continue reading →

Extreme for Us, Normal for Russians

Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

As Bilbo the Hobbit is known to say, “Dangerous thing leaving your front door. You never know what adventure might await you.” I have always loved this combination of the momentous with the ordinary, of a risky adventure with something as commonplace as closing the front door.

The Russian definition of adventure is very different from the American one. When our cousin invited me for a walk through the forest to see a waterfall, I knew my American visions of well-traveled paths, safe overlooks, and points of easy return were all illusions. It was more like a bush-wack than a stroll. What made it more difficult is the very steep landscape in this mountainous, seaside region. Continue reading →

Family Reunions in the Kingdom of Heaven

Posted on Sunday, July 22, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

In America, we like to start and end our events “on time”, and whenever things don’t strictly correspond to the clock, guests and hosts alike can get pretty disturbed. In Russia and especially here in Sochi, we follow a different kind of clock and feast in a very different way.

Today is Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, which is by default always a feast day. After going to morning Liturgy, we return to our aunt’s home to a table laden with delights befitting the day, but as I posted earlier the point is not the delicious food, but the company gathered, which for Sochi allows the largest amount of family not only to gather for a single meal but to live for a while in close proximity to one another.

Continue reading →

Extended Family in Hollywood Pictures

Posted on Friday, July 20, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

In Sochi now long enough to reestablish our usual family patterns. It is interesting how much our daily routine is tied up so much with the place in which it happens. When that place changes, an inevitable alteration in routine results to adapt to the new setting. We have been staying with aunt and uncle and will move down the street to make room for the arrival of cousins tomorrow. It has been good to get our own family patterns established in this new place before we intersect with our cousins’ family patterns.

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Continue reading →

Sochi on the Black Sea: A Place to Call Home

Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 by Mendicant Monk

Port of Sochi

En route to Sochi and I am beginning to remember all the good and the bad from my first visit four years ago. Sochi is a seaport on the Black Sea, one of the few in a country mostly bordered by land (and lots of it). It is also the vacation destination for most Russians who spend the winter in sub zero temperatures and enjoy only a mild summer respite. Sochi’s subtropical climate makes it akin to Florida in the US. Continue reading →