Russia Day 1, Feb 27th

Left DFW and flew to JFK. 30 Minutes to get from one gate to another to make the plane for Russia.

JFK to Moscow- 9 Hours. Dang, that's a long time on a plane.

Moscow- We were advised to check our drums and guitar through Customs. Get to the desk and the guy is reading a book. Great, we just interrupted the Customs guy in the middle of his busy day. Kelly asks if we need to declare our instruments. "Are they new?," he mumbles in broken English. They are not. He points and motions us to the "Nothing to Declare" line. We are not disappointed.

Greeted by Dema, our interpreter for the week, and Masha, CHC financial coordinator for Moscow. Driven by van to drop off luggage at the Train Station and made our way, via The Metro (underground transportation) all the while singing "Riding on the Metro" in one big flashback from the 80's.

Spent some time in Red Square in the 30-ish degree weather. Freezing rain, etc. Met with Mark Sprinkle from Alpine, TX, at the Eternal Flame memorial to fallen WW2 soldiers. Mark is living in Moscow doing Church Planting and evangelism. Went to Moo Moo's for lunch. Luby's style cafeteria dining, Russia style. Tried Meat Jell-o. Yes, it is as strange as it sounds. Clear Jell-o with a shredded meat surprise in the bottom. Mmmm, yum. The spicy mustard is a must to off set the idea that you are eating Jell-o stuffed with meat.

Rode Metro to Christ the Saviour Cathedral just in time to make the 5PM Saturday service. Russian Ortho service, very cool. Nice break from the hectic traveling of the day. In the Ortho service, you either stand or are on your face. Sitting down (like on pews or couches) is considered disrespectful so, since we had been walking at that point for about 8 hours after a 14 hour plane trip, we decided to only stay for about 15 to 20 minutes of the service to save our legs from just completely giving out.

Walked back to Red Square and made our way to the mall (Gum, pronounced "Goom") and had dinner. Chicken Balls and Chicken Letters are an International Language spoken by most Fast Food Chicken chains.

Rode Metro to Train Station (after hours and hours and hours of walking), said "Dosvedonya" (goodbye) to Mark and loaded onto the train for the 5 hour ride to Kostroma where we would base our activities for the week. After adjusting our luggage situation to accomodate the 6x9, 4 bunk cabin, we settled in for a few Z's.

Feel the rocking of the train car, the steady rythm of the tracks beneath the wheels. Hear the SCREECH of metal on metal as you stop for the fourth time in some unknown town at some unknown time, with an unknown amount of time to try and get a little more sleep. Ahhhh, life on the go. Kostroma, here we come.

I could not imagine how the coming 5 days would change me.