Palm Sunday March 2011

After church on Sunday all churches gathered to march to proclaim Jesus as Lord and to show the unity among Christian churches. This was the second Palm Sunday March since we have been here. The march goes down the main street through the center of our city. It took us close to an hour to walk the route.

People waiting for the march to start

Some of our church people

The poster says, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

Getting in line

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" Traffic waiting for the march to pass
Aggie took a nap that was cut short
The march proceeded to a square in front of a theater

Several pastors and priests spoke about the unity of the churches

Several of them prayed

People waved willow branches in place of palm branches

April 12, 1961

Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit the earth 50 years ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQQbcXOR8aw He strikes me as an unsophisticated kind of man who was very careful about what he was saying. Friendly, but careful. On a side note -- when I was growing up, I was always aware of the fact that a lot, if not most, important people in the Soviet Union (party leaders, cosmonauts, millitary generals) came either from small villages or from Moscow. I think I know why. Those in Moscow had connections to make the cut; those from country side were 'convenient' for the party. They were usually unobstructed by critical thinking and, on the other hand, very grateful for the opportunity to serve their Motherland. Thus they obeyed the orders without questioning. The ruling elite did not want to deal with the intelligencia who had their own opinions, different from the party line. I actually met a woman here who was thankful for the Soviet regime, because it provided her with a college education. She came from a farm family of seven children, and she knew that her parents would have never been able to give her that. I think the Communist party's bets were on people like that: humble origins ensured thankfulness and obedience. Yuri Gagarin, I dare say, is a prime example of that, not to deminish his accomplishments as a pilot and a cosmonaut. Thank you, Y.S., for the link!

A Couple of Pictures Taken Today

We had a heavy hail storm this afternoon. It was short-lived, and the sun shone shortly after that. There is no damage, as far as I can tell.

Update From Nadia: Shooting Classes

Hello, friends and family! This is Nadia writing. I now take rifle shooting. There I’ve been able to make some friends, so I see them about 3 times a week. My rifle range is located about two bus stops from the house, so that’s one convenience. It is also in the same building as Timmy’s gymnastics and is only a few yards away from the kids’ art class. Anna’s table tennis starts at about the same time, so she comes with me. The bus stop is four blocks away from the house. Anna and I take a bus for two stops. Then we head about half a block to Anna’s table tennis, and then from her place it’s about a block and a half to mine. The classes take place in a basement area that is used expressively for shooting. A guard is at the door, and he checks to see who’s allowed to come in and who’s not. There are five targets in the area, located about 75 ft. away from where you stand to shoot. Since there are a lot of people taking shooting, many of them are sitting on benches waiting to shoot and most of them are playing on their smart phones. When I come in, I usually head to the girls’ dressing room to get ready. Then I go to the training area, where about 5-7 kids are waiting for the guy who hands out guns. Each gun has a certain number you’re supposed to memorize so the hand-out man knows which gun is yours. As the man comes in, there is a mad race between the boys in my class to see who gets to the storage room first… which means they are shoving everyone else aside. Fortunately for me, the man makes the boys step aside for us girls. After I get my gun (my number is 895), I head back to the training area and get my place ready. When the teacher comes, she tells me how long to warm up (that is, shoot the gun without the bullets), and until that is done, she takes care of the other children by getting their bullets ready for calibration or telling them what to do. When I finish warming up, for safety reasons I have to tell my teacher that I’m finished. The teacher gives me the bullets. After calibrating them, I go back and start shooting after receiving her instructions on how I have to shoot today. When I’m done, I tell her that I have finished shooting and go to change the target. I usually count the scores that I shot and figure out how well I did. Then I clean the gun and give it back to be stored. After putting the gun away, I have to work out some. I have to do squats, sit-ups, and pushups, in groups of ten. And the teacher usually gives me three sets. After I finish, I go to get Anna and walk with a friend to the bus stop.

A target from a successful day of shooting.