(Moscow) Russian Recap 2019

Joy and I met up  at the airport. I love this photo, because you should always Dream it and Live it! It is your choice after all!!

The trip to Russia this year got started in the airport, as always. I met several cute kids at Chicago O'hare, JFK, and Helsinki. Kids just always seem to know what to do with a clown, even in the unusual context of an airport. So, I played my way to Russia with as many kids who invited me. Joy joined in from JFK onward. She has never clowned before, but she was fairly natural at it :0).

Sergei. Our taxi driver in Moscow. 

The trip got started at my friend Justin's house. Yes, the spy house! We gave a tour of the spy house to Joy, which was fun. We ended the night with a poker game. Playing poker in a "poker" cabin at a Spy House in Russia just seems exotic and wildly exciting to me.  You should try it.

Poker at a Spy House cabin. Fun!

The next day we took a walking tour of Moscow with Justin's friend Masha. She is a delightful 19 year old film student who showed us quite a bit in 3 hours. Joy had never been to Russia, so we did the usual Red Square, St. Basil's cathedral, and so on. We ended up at Maria's studio in downtown, which is always a fun place to hang out a bit. Later that evening we finally made it to Maria's dacha. Ahhh.

Red Square, with St. Basil's cathedral.

This year I went a few days earlier than normal. This allowed me to spend some wonderful one on one time with Maria. She is a busy woman, so I treasure that time. I also got to hang out with Joy, Debbie, Pluk, and others. I spent a day at the old studio in Moscow and an evening at Maria's new studio. The rest of the time I lounged around the dacha in the country. I ate delicious food prepared by Vera and Shariff. I was treated to a banya and massage. Basically, I am treated like royalty there. It is quite embarrassing actually. I think I will go again next year, even with the embarrassment. :0)

Maria at her dacha. A true treasure.

The Wednesday before we headed out to Beslan, kids from the Filamanki orphanage came to Maria's studio at the dacha to do art. Maria also made special arrangements for some adults from a group home to come. The adults grew up in the Filamanki orphanage and now have to live in an adult group home. It was fun to see the two groups interact. It was like a fun reunion as they smiled and gave each other big hugs! As bad as an orphanage can be for some kids in Russia, it was nice and refreshing to see they do develop friends and relationships there. We had cookies and tea all ready for them, and they still spent 30 minutes greeting each other before they wanted to eat. And don't worry, we also fed them a real meal of spaghetti and soup. It is just funny to me, that children who rarely get treats would rather hug old friends, laugh and catch up before eating some yummy treats. Proof that Love is more powerful than sugar! Ha. Human nature astounds me!

Such joy to see an old friend!

 The girl on the left lives in the orphanage, the girl on the right lives in the adult group home.  They were so happy to see each other! And I love the quote on her shirt :0).

After having cookies and tea, the kids did some art. Some did mosaics. Some did ceramics. Some did drawings. Vadek asked me to pose for him so he could do a drawing of me! I happily obliged, and oh what talent this kid has! It always amazes me to see kids who have been abandoned by their parents, living in suppressed conditions with not a lot of hope for a future, come to Maria's and just flourish and shine! Vadek is one of the many children Maria helps.

Vadek is impressive!

He did this in about 10 minutes!

Sad news did hit this trip, unfortunately. Maria's father-in-law, Ilya's dad, Valentin died two days before we were to leave for Beslan. He had been ill and suffered the past 6 months, so it wasn't a shock. It still made for a sad start. Maria missed the first 3 days of Beslan, but we played on the best we could without her. She did join us at the end of the trip, and all was well in the end. 

                                                        R.I.P my dear friend Valentin!

Valentin with Donna and Yulia in his home a few years ago.

We hopped on a plane on Thursday morning and headed to Beslan.... To be continued...

                      Now Go Out and Hug a Friend Today!!!