Religion and Globalization!

July 3, 2007

Today is Religion in Russia Day – that’s our topic of lectures and discussions. I am comfortable enough with running in the morning that I am even using my Ipod when I run. Running in the rain this morning was refreshing. How will I dry these clothes?

Our first class centered around the main holidays in Russia. Fist-fighting is a favorite pastime? We were shown a part of movie that showed hundreds of men lining up against hundreds of men. A whistle was blown and everybody began to punch each other. What fun! Where do I sign up?

Our second class was on Orthodoxy – religion or culture? We came to a 10% - 90% conclusion throughout the morning!

We lunched at ‘Shesh Besh’ a popular Armenian restaurant. The tastes and spices were a welcome change to the Russian lunches that have become too common.

A tour of the monastery and convent were interesting as the priest who spoke to us was VERY candid about everything. 80 years old and tellin’ it like it was! He claimed to be a product of the Soviet Union, but the culture led him to the church, faith, and the priesthood. We viewed the oldest icon in Vladimir – 12th century. Very well preserved. As the group was standing there with the lead nun, it was okay to take pictures. When Tom and I were the only ones left standing in front of the icon, another nun appeared and ordered us out without any more pictures to be taken!
Tonight it was globalization night! We had pizza at Sbarros, ice cream from Baskin Robbins, and shopping at ‘the mall’ just like in America! I taught my hostess another American favorite – I scream, We Scream, We all scream for ice cream! We walked through a new park with grassy areas and flowers and fountains near the mall (Trade Center). We headed to the park on the edge of town that overlooks the surrounding area. A Chinese group was making a lot of merriment and took lots of pictures of each other and with the young Russians who were out in the park. We all agreed that we probably need to start learning Chinese, and soon!