Arbat Street, the Kremlin, and the International Ward.

I admit. I'm terrible about remembering to blog. I use Facebook and call it good. I promise to be better!!

Arbat Street:
Every day I don't finish teaching until 6:30pm. And I usually spend my mornings getting supplies ready for my lessons. Hence, the only time I really have to explore is during the evening. And what better time to explore than Friday night? :) So Jessica, Jennifer, and I went to Arbat Street! Arbat Street is one of the most famous streets here. It's pedestrian only and quite tourist-driven. There were street performers, some awesome and some lame... Haha. We started on "Old Arbat Street" and ended at the metro station on "New Arbat Street."

Street Performer

We love Mu Mu's! (Cafe)

Old Arbat Street

New Arbat Street

They have a Starbucks on New Arbat Street.

The Kremlin:
On Saturday we met up with Guyla (our local coordinator) at the Arbatskaya station. We then walked to the Kremlin where we bought tickets to tour the cathedrals there. We visited three cathedrals - the Cathedral of Assumption, the Cathedral of Annunciation, and the Cathedral of the Archangel. All three were beautiful.

Entering the Kremlin.

After we visited the cathedrals, we made a quick pit stop in Red Square for some pictures before we came home for an hour to change and eat before our ballet. We saw "Giselle." It was a wonderful performance.

International Ward:
Since it's Sunday I thought I'd take a moment and describe how I attend church here in Moscow. There IS an English ward, but it also happens to be the international ward. So we have a mix of languages here. The best part is that I can go to FRENCH Sunday School. Although the teachers speak insanely fast... But I try to follow along. :) I live about an hour and a half from the church building and our meetings begin at 9am. So I have to get up pretty early in order to leave on time. The missionaries here are super nice though! I've made friends (sort of) with a couple of them and the elders said they'd help me go shopping for a satchel (EVERYONE HAS ONE HERE) since I don't speak Russian and so I don't get ripped off. Haha. Oh, and there's this metro station called "павелецкая." Which in English is Paveleskaya. Pavel is the Russian version of Paul. So it's a bit of a stretch, but basically Paul Station. ;)

Other Random News:
We leave for Latvia and Lithuania on Thursday night! So expect some pictures of that in the upcoming week.

ILP (my program) announced that it will be opening up a NEW program in a NEW country. The official announcement (with all the details) is tomorrow. I know I've only been here 2 weeks but I know I'd love to do something like this again. After my mission I'll be ready for something new. Maybe this new program will be my next adventure? Only time will tell. :)

Miss and love you all,

Paul (aka Pavel/павел)

P.S. If you want to learn more about my program and what I'm doing here in Moscow, check out www.ilp.org :)