July 12: The Open Market (Charles)

Today Olga took us to a HUGE open market on the outskirts of Moscow. There were tons of handmade items and traditional Russian gifts, as well as just about anything else you can imagine, all outdoors. This was Jacob's favorite part of the trip. He actually got to barter and negotiate in the open market! We got some pretty good deals. We bought gifts for friends and family and a few souveneirs for ourselves, too.

The boys had their spending money ready. Zachary got to matrushka dolls: one sports (Ken Griffey, Jr and other Reds players) and one Pooh (with all the characters getting progressively smaller down to a tiny Piglet). Edna also got them some great handmade toys that they enjoyed. Jacob got a Russian hat -- a big mink one. As we've mentioned before, the older people here really love kids, and when the kids "negotiated" they pretty much always got a good deal (that wasn't always true for us adults!). The man selling the hats showed Jacob this beautiful hat and said "750 rubles" (that's about $32.00). Jacob looked at me, and then looked at the man and said, "I can give you 500" (that's about $21.00). The man was a bit shocked! He paused, smiled and said, "It's a deal." I handed him a $20 (American) and was going to get the other dollar, and he just stopped me and shook my hand. He wanted a photo with Jacob, so that's what we did (we'll post photos later). Jacob walked away happy, and so did the hat man!

We had great food there, too: grilled shishkabobs!

Tonight we get to have dinner with the directors here: Davide and Tanya Cantarella. We've been blessed to have great hosts and tourguides from the Nazarene district office. They really have been sweet to us all. Pray for us tomorrow (Sunday). We get to worship with Moscow First Church, and I will preach in the morning. Then, we will get in a van, and go straight to the countryside near Chekhov (about an hour and a half from here) to the Student Center, where the theology class begins (the first lecture is Sunday from 3PM to 6:15PM!). While in Chekov, we probably won't have any internet access (we'll be there from July 13-18, and then we'll hop on an overnight train to St. Petersburg, where we'll spend a few days before returning home to Seattle). We'll probably have some access to internet in St. Petersburg, Lord willing. If so, we will "catch up" on our blog posts, since we will continue to write each day. We'll cram in a few more posts from the family before we go to Chekhov, though.

By the way, a funny thing that we learned: the outdoor restrooms (port-a-potties) are set up just outside the market area. There is a person who sits outside them. The reason: TO COLLECT MONEY! There's a sign: 15 rubles. This is the case all around Moscow, in fact. So, in order to use the restrooms, you pay 15 rubles -- per person! Talk about pay as you go....:-)

Blessings,
Charles