Яussian Update

And guess what. It's not about President Trump and impeachment! People in Ukraine aren't concerned with the phone call between Trump and their president.


They are more concerned about running water in their cities (Here in Odessa, the entire city was without water for 24 hours the day after we arrived.) They are more concerned about electricity for their homes. (The power was off for 18 hours on a different day.)


We've been sitting in Odessa, Ukraine for the past week and a half while my husband was doing a seminar here. I took the opportunity to visit several churches of the city and will share what I saw with you.


The main religion here is the Ukranian Orthodox Church which is similar to Russian. We stopped in the cathedral in the city. It was very beautiful on the inside. The arched ceilings were decorated with pictures and gold ornamentation.




Domed ceilings and golden chandeliers lined both sides of the main altar. It's a very impressive structure. However, as alw…

During the summer months, the Летний Сад draws crowds to walk in the cool of the beautiful tree-filled gardens. The Summer Garden was designed by Peter the Great way back in 1704. He wanted a French style garden outside of his Summer Palace. The garden was started in 1712 and completed by 1719.











Sculptures and fountains line the walking paths filled with tourists and city-dwellers alike. The sculptures that we looked like Greek gods and goddesses.












Several paths in the park are covered over with decorative archways overgrown with ivy. This gives the park a romantic evocative aura. It's a wonderful place to enjoy the beauties of creation.








The garden is located on the banks of the Neva River in the center of St. Petersburg.









A railing separating the Summer Garden from the walkway was built in the late 1700s. The columns supporting the grille are made of granite topped with vases. This has been considered by some as a symbol of St. Petersburg.

This is definitely a place in our city to…

Many things have changed in the last year. The picture on the left shows the hulk of a building that we looked at every day when we moved here in June, 2018. Over the course of the winter, we could see changes taking place. In my blog dated December 4, 2018, I wrote about the makings of a school.



Now we're at the beginning of the school year. Our hulk is indeed a school. On opening day, the doors were adorned with balloons to welcome the children. The colorful painted school coordinates well with our apartment complex.


Now five days a week we see children walk through the complex toward the school. I know that school starts at 9:00 because children enter the building between 8:30 and 9:00. But I'm not sure how long the school day lasts. I've seen children leave the building anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00. That much is still a mystery to me.



A lovely playground was built on the side of the school. I imagined that there would be children running and screeching during recess time…

To continue the update on our apartment complex, we were very surprised when we found the welcome addition of a sunning deck added to our community. Pictured on the right, the deck is suspended over the river adjacent to our property with risers on the riverbank side for people to sit or lie on for getting a sun tan.


Looking at the new addition from our bedroom window, I can see people out there reading books, napping, or playing with their kids on the deck.


A couple weeks ago, there was a person on a loud speaker speaking to a group of people gathered on the seats. It is a very nice addition to our complex.


Of course, this is St. Petersburg which has more rainy days than sunny ones, but it's beautiful to be out there when it is sunny.





While you're out sitting on the new deck, you do need to be careful which direction you look. When you look upriver, you have the gorgeous view in the picture on the left. The river is lined on both sides with lovely greenery. It is quite pretty…

After several months of traveling across the United States, we've returned to St. Petersburg. We're glad that we can unpack our suitcases and put our clothes back into the drawers they belong in. Once again we sleep in our own bed every night. We're "home."


Upon arrival at our apartment complex, we noticed several improvements that happened during our absence. The maintenance staff added flowering plants to our landscaping in front of our building. Hostas, ivy, ferns and something that reminds me of sage now grow in the lawn area between the entrances of our apartment.

Since the growing season is so short here, I don't know how well they'll do from year to year, but they are a welcome addition this summer.


The trees growing behind the new flowers were planted last summer, but as you can see they aren't very tall yet. At least all four of the ones in the picture are still growing. So many of bushes and trees didn't even last the first winter.


The g…

By the time you read this, we'll be gone from St. Petersburg - temporarily. Our Russian visa has expired which means we are out of the country.


We are headed for our home service to visit several states and many of our donors in the US. We will be gone for several months to return mid-August.


While we are traveling in the States, I won't be writing my blog posts. I'm not sure what will happen when we return. I may be persuaded to continue this blog in fall when we return to St. Petersburg.