Since my last blog life in Moscow has quickly returned to normal, in fact we were surprised how quickly normal returned! After the bombings the trains were very quickly on line, for a short period there were memorials but it seems nothing will stop the need to move 10 million russians every day. We travel the metro most weeks and I cannot say that we have ever felt unsafe doing so. Except lat on Saturday night last week - we went into the city and just happened to be at the station of one of the bomb blast. Just as the train is about to take off a man pushes past in a hurry to get off the train. My heart fluttered a moment, but I realised he must have missed his stop, and he made a mad dash for the doors bumping me on the way. Now the doors in a Moscow train are dangerous. As the train prepares to depart they slam shut and no one wants to be in the way. I once got caught in our early days here. The dilemma - you are half in and out - body mostly out - but you hands and bag are in. What to do? drop the bag and pull your hands out and escape with your life! Or hang on and save your bag? Well on this occasion there was a tough big burley man who attacked the doors and opened them for me and I escaped with just a few bruises, my hand bag and a lesson in watch the doors on the train. The strange thing about the train is that they come every 2 minutes or so - if you miss your stop go to the next station and catch one back - maybe lose 5 minutes - but stay safe.
Spring is here and we have ventured out into parks and enjoyed lots of walks and exploring.
Our work has mostly had us in the office in the recent months. Chasing paper trails, reports to be written, planning to be done. Ron is preparing for a project visit to Moldova. and then in July we both go to Ukraine. Our time in the office is mostly administration relating to our roles. For Ron this is about all the projects of the territory - be it feeding people, after school programs or equipment purchases. There is a process to follow to gain the funds and then to bring accountability to the funds. And so he spends his days chasing lots of details and processing this information. My work is a mixture - a lot of things to do with resources for the Territory, but also some PR aspects. One of the areas I see to is the magazines - I work with the editor to ensure the War Cry and Officer magazine is published on time and in a format relevant to today. That is an interesting challenge as I work across the different cultures of our 5 countries and put my western thinking in the mix. I also have responsibility for the various works of translation - books going to print. I also pick up a mixture of special small projects (odd jobs) and sit on a number of boards that have different levels of responsibility. So no getting bored. The challenge for me is to stay focussed and energised when I am not working with people and at a desk pushing papers for much longer than I would like.
Well enough of the grumbles. We are enjoying the experience and opportunities given to us and time is flying by.
I realise I have not uploaded photos for some time - so I close with a promise to work on this and share some of the nice pics I have manged since buying a new camera when home last year.
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