(no subject)
Long day. Good day. Tiring day. I planned to go to bed an hour ago. Life can go wrong, I don't think I should be criticized for being concerned about the security of others in a city the size and with the reputation of Moscow. Kind of upset right now, but I'll get over it after I leave Europe and go home for a bit and not have to deal with people...I won't finish that, it would be unfair and untrue. I'm just tired, and I'm afraid I won't remember any Amharic except "be'al" and stuff like hello :-(. I don't know if Cairo is really capable of handling e-tickets (I have two - one to Cairo, and one from Cairo to Athens :-/ ). I want to see certain people in Addis when I'm there, but I have the feeling they won't be there when I am (like the Volkmanns :-( ).
Today was beautiful. Did I say that already? I don't think so. It was gorgeous this morning. Kind of chilly compared to what it has been, but incredibly sunny. Red Square was beautiful (it really lived up to the other translation of its name - the Beautiful Square), and the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon and St. Basil's Cathedral were both magnificent in the winter sunshine.
I spent too much money at the Sofrino outlet :-(. Affordable icons and gifts are bad - they encourage to buy many of them :-/. Christ the Savior Cathedral was beautiful in the late afternoon sun though, and that made up for spending too much time in the Metro and the Sofrino store (planned though that was).
I did make it back to the Danilov Monastery, and I figured out why I didn't find St. Daniel's relics there before :-) - they have a unique upper/lower church arrangement. What I thought was an overly nice flight of stairs to a hidden choir loft was actually a flight of stairs to an upper 'summer' church at least two or three times as big as the lower church and much more beautiful. The frescoes in the narthex connecting the main upper church and the two smaller side altars were some of the most beautiful and touching I've seen here in Moscow and Russia, and it was good to ask St. Daniel for his help and blessing.
It's been wonderful staying with Igor (or Ihor :-) ) and spending so much time with him and Sarah Jo, and I'll miss them both. I hope we're able to connect many more times - either here or in the States or in the Ukraine, wherever.
I just wrote a whole bunch about home and different kinds of homes and attachments to them, but I've deleted it 'cause it was too much and kind of rambling. To sum it up, I'm envious of those of you who have places with a fairly set group of people that you can always call home no matter where you live and can identify with no matter how many other places you live in for however long. I don't have that and that's great and it hurts all at the same time.
Anyways, enough babbling. I should take a nap before we leave for the airport. God bless Igor and Sarah Jo for being willing to help me and Shannon get to the airport so early. May God help us sinners.
Господи, спаси и сохрани мя! Your prayers, as always, especially for my day and a bit in Cairo and my plane changes in Frankfurt and Constantinople ("Istanbul").
Today was beautiful. Did I say that already? I don't think so. It was gorgeous this morning. Kind of chilly compared to what it has been, but incredibly sunny. Red Square was beautiful (it really lived up to the other translation of its name - the Beautiful Square), and the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon and St. Basil's Cathedral were both magnificent in the winter sunshine.
I spent too much money at the Sofrino outlet :-(. Affordable icons and gifts are bad - they encourage to buy many of them :-/. Christ the Savior Cathedral was beautiful in the late afternoon sun though, and that made up for spending too much time in the Metro and the Sofrino store (planned though that was).
I did make it back to the Danilov Monastery, and I figured out why I didn't find St. Daniel's relics there before :-) - they have a unique upper/lower church arrangement. What I thought was an overly nice flight of stairs to a hidden choir loft was actually a flight of stairs to an upper 'summer' church at least two or three times as big as the lower church and much more beautiful. The frescoes in the narthex connecting the main upper church and the two smaller side altars were some of the most beautiful and touching I've seen here in Moscow and Russia, and it was good to ask St. Daniel for his help and blessing.
It's been wonderful staying with Igor (or Ihor :-) ) and spending so much time with him and Sarah Jo, and I'll miss them both. I hope we're able to connect many more times - either here or in the States or in the Ukraine, wherever.
I just wrote a whole bunch about home and different kinds of homes and attachments to them, but I've deleted it 'cause it was too much and kind of rambling. To sum it up, I'm envious of those of you who have places with a fairly set group of people that you can always call home no matter where you live and can identify with no matter how many other places you live in for however long. I don't have that and that's great and it hurts all at the same time.
Anyways, enough babbling. I should take a nap before we leave for the airport. God bless Igor and Sarah Jo for being willing to help me and Shannon get to the airport so early. May God help us sinners.
Господи, спаси и сохрани мя! Your prayers, as always, especially for my day and a bit in Cairo and my plane changes in Frankfurt and Constantinople ("Istanbul").