Russian Missions in Orphanages

St. Basil's, Red Square, Moscow

Entry 1 Russian Mission Blog

Most of our adventures to Russia begin in an airport somewhere. This year was no exception. Instead of the usual delays and long lines that tend to start a mission trip our story begins with a page over the airport intercom system. While Donna and I were sitting in the airport lobby, an announcement came on from the USO looking for someone to drive an officer back to Fort Bragg. Donna volunteered and a captain met us at the information desk. Donna said the ride back home was really interesting and that they talked the entire time. I went through security and boarded the plane for New York. In New York I had about an hour layover and my flight to Moscow took off on time. I got to Moscow with no problem. I sat on the very last row with a young Russian woman studying at the University of Utah. The attendant in our section was an American woman who spoke Russian fairly well. She was in a pretty foul mood most of the trip and had no problem scolding someone in either language. Although she came across as rather nasty, she was dealing with stupid people who can’t follow the rules. I made sure that I behaved myself. Oh yeah, my bags arrived with me!!! J

I met Tanya, my sponsor, in the area just outside of baggage claim. She was supposed to be in Estonia defending some Russian citizens that had been arrested by the Estonian police. They were protesting the removal/relocation of a monument to Soviet soldiers who defeated the Nazis during WWII. (See Time or Newsweek if you are interested in this story). When I arrived in Moscow, it was about 93 degrees. Although Tanya’s car had air, it was still blistering and the traffic just crawled. Moscow has grown and changed so much over the past 9 years, it is unbelievable, and it is considered the third most expensive city in the world. A cup of coffee costs $3.50 at a café now whereas 9 years ago I couldn’t even find a café or a cup of coffee.

The first thing I had to do was register my visa. In order to travel to Russia, one must have a sponsor and an official invitation. Registering is very important and if you don’t within one or two working days, there can be difficulties exiting the country and very steep fines for your sponsor. Well, I arrived on a Wednesday and the visa offices are closed on, you guessed it, Wednesdays. Since I was going to be leaving Moscow later that afternoon, I had to make copies of my passport, visa and registration card and leave them with Tanya. Russians love to stamp documents, and in years past, I was used to having my officially stamped registration card on me at all times. Tanya assured me that everything was fine, because the laws had changed and that I would have no problems at passport control when I left. Since she is a lawyer, I took the leap of faith and proceeded to the train station. I bought my tickets and said good bye to Tanya. The train ride was uneventful and my roommate slept the whole way to Mtsensk. Due to the jet lag, I couldn’t sleep and when it was time for me to get off the train, I had been awake 30 hours. My roommate helped me with my bags and we said goodbye. Valya and Sergei, our driver, arrived as I was getting off the platform with a group of older children from the center. It was wonderful to see everybody, but it was time for me to crash. Day 1.25 done!!!

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