Adventures of the Day

Once again....we are heading off to bed while those at home are getting ready to enjoy their Wednesday.  Seems a little odd.

Today was a full day.  We were all awake about 3:00 once again, but this time we all stayed in bed and hung out trying to get a little more sleep.  Didn't happen.

Finally we crawled out of bed about 8:30 ready to eat our feast of yogurt and juice.  Dad and Jason walked to the grocery to buy a loaf of bread and some butter so we could at least broil some toast for a little variety.

Breakfast over, we all were getting a little weary, but decided that we didn't want to sleep today.  It would be nice if we could get a decent night's sleep.  Instead of napping, we hopped on the train and took off for downtown Vladivostok. 

What an adventure!  We've taken the train several times, so that in itself really wasn't an adventure.  Different than what we're used to for sure, but nothing too odd.  Better than walking as the temperature today was a high of about 10*.  Brr.  Really brr.  We found out in a hurry why everyone here dresses like eskimos.

The train was warm, but the instant we stepped off we got a little chilly.  Not a big deal, though.  We walked the streets of downtown Vlad and whenever we got too cold we darted into a store to warm up a tad.  Worked out well.

One store we always go to is called GUM.  It's a big building with lots of little stores in it...similar to a mall, I suppose, though it's three or four stories tall.  Soon after we got there a security guard stopped me to tell me to not take any pictures.  No big deal, as we got told that in every building that we were in it seemed.

We browsed the stores and right as we were ready to leave the top floor to head to the exit, the same security guard stopped us again.  Oh great, I thought.  What now?  He started jabbering at us in Russian and finally stopped and said, "Ch-dist-ee-ans?"  I didn't get it, still thinking that he was chewing me out for something.  He finally pointed to my head covering and said again, "Ch-dist-ee-ans?"  Christians.  We said that, yes, we are Christians, and he grinned great big, jabbed his finger in his chest, and said, "Me too, Ch-dist-ee-an."  He kept trying to chat with us, but with us not knowing Russian and him not knowing English, chatting was a little rough.  Mom walked up...and he pointed to her head covering and gave her a simple thumbs up.

It was so impressive.  He, a security guard, in a very public building, went out of his way to follow us just to find out if we were Christians.  We asked him if there was a church that we could go to, but weren't able to decipher his answer.  A bond with a security guard.  Only God.

Off we went to explore some more.  Down a little back alley to an indoor flea market.  Across the street to an unheated store.

Under streets on underground sidewalks to hit some more stores.  Crossing streets like true Russians....just go and pray that the cars will hit their brakes.  They did.  One got stopped a mere six inches or so from my right leg.  Not wrong, I guess.  Just different than we're used to.

Found a Baskin Robbins that we used their public restroom at...and Dad bought some ice cream to pay for it.  Who doesn't want ice cream on a 10* day when you're walking around outside?  Too bad he couldn't read the flavor signs, though.  He thought he got butter pecan and ended up with coconut...which he cannot stand.  Addie and Will were thrilled.

From there we headed up an unknown street in search of a known grocery.  Little did we know, the street we chose to take was the exact street we needed.  Through an outdoor market where they were selling whole fish, chickens, eggs (which I'm sure were frozen), candy, green beans, cauliflower, you name it.  What a cold job.

We found the grocery and stocked up on food for the next couple days.  A whole chicken, macaroni, cheese, eggs, bread, juice, bananas, carrots, potatoes, sausage, milk.  All things that we were able to pick out without having to be able to read the labels. 

Then the fun began.  Our train back home didn't leave til 4:35, which was 1 1/2 hours away.  No problem, though.  We lugged our groceries into the Trans-Siberian train station and sat and froze while we watched all the people.  It was warmer inside than it was outside by far, but still pretty chilly.

About 4:20 we thought it might be about time to head for the train station.  Off we went, bundled to the hilt.  Though we soon discovered the hilt wasn't quite enough.  It was so cold.  Freezing.  Bitterly freezing.  The wind was whipping through the platform and there was really no way to get warm, let alone stay warm if we could get that way.  The poor children were stomping their feet in an effort to get warm while we adults huddled around them to protect them from the wind.

Finally a train came.  Dad whipped out his little paper to see if this was the right one, but we couldn't find the right numbers anywhere on it.  #6325.  Not there.  So we asked a kind fella if this was the right train.  He was sure it wasn't.

The hundreds of people loaded onto it, and we stood there watching.  Wondering if we should be loading on too.  Stomping our feet.  Flapping our hands...though they were nearly too cold to flap by that point.  Stomping some more.....and finally the train left and we were the lone rangers standing on the platform. 

We still had five minutes til it was time for our train to get there.  Five minutes came and five minutes went.  There was no train.  After a few more miserably cold minutes, we accepted the fact that we had stood there and watched our train pull away....and we were now stuck in downtown Vlad. 

No phone...and no phone numbers even if we had had a phone.  Not warm enough clothes.  Nobody that we could talk to.  We were stuck.

It wasn't really very funny.  Poor Addie picked up pretty quickly that we had missed our train and started crying and crying.  Took a little positive talking to finally get her calmed down.

We trudged back up the seemingly endless flight of steps to the street and headed into the mall to get warm....and to try to find just one person who could speak English.

Didn't happen.  We did find a fella who claimed to speak English, but he only knew a couple words and none that helped us at all.

Our only option was to head to the bus station to flag down a taxi.  Off we went again into the bitter cold.  A short walk later we reached the taxi strip, found one that looked halfway friendly, and tapped on his window.  Jason handed him one of our registration papers that has the address of our motel on it, he told us how much it would cost, and we all piled in.  It was tight, but it worked.

That dear taxi driver was a superb driver (which seems to be rare in this country) and he safely delivered us to the front door of the Vlad Motor Inn.

It was an adventure.  A very cold one.  One that we don't feel we need to repeat any time soon.  It worked, but it definitely wasn't the most stress-free option.  If you ever take a train into downtown Vlad, I'd strongly advise that you check out the trains a little closer than we did....and don't wait to take the very last train of the day.  Not smart.

But God took care of us.  We are safe and sound in our little motel room that we call home.

Supper was a simple yet delicious fare of mac-n-cheese, carrot sticks, sausage links, and hot tea.  You know, we had to have the tea in order to warm up after our afternoon spent out of doors.

Now it's ten til nine.  The children are snoring....Addie on the couch which doubles as her bed, and Will on the floor wrapped up in our bedspread.  All have showered except me.  Jason is sitting here 'reading'....though he's doing more sleeping than reading.  In fact.  He just headed off to bed.  Without me.

I think that's my sign. 

Blessings on your Wednesday.