July 3, 2007

This is Father Innikenti from the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir.

 Nativity Monastery in Vladimir.

This icon resides in the Knyaginin Convent in Vladimir – it’s over 850 years old!

The topic of today was religion.  Most people in Russia practice the Russian Orthodox faith. Elexei Timoshchuk, a professor of philosophy from the Juridical Institute in Vladimir, spoke to us about the history of the church in Russia.  He also spoke to us about the connection to religion and the law in Russia.  FYI:  Russia is secular.  We also had a quick lesson on the traditions and holidays in Russia by Tatiana Akimova, a teacher at the American Home. 

We ate lunch at Shesh Besh – it’s part of a chain of Azerbaijani restaurants based out of Moscow.  The food at this restaurant is VERY spicy but soooo good!  Russian food tends to not be spicy or flavorful so this restaurant was a nice change from the traditional Russian food we’ve been eating here.  My favorite was the hachipuri -it’s a cheesy bread.  To die for! 🙂

After lunch, we walked to the Nativity Monastery to meet with Father Innikenti (see photo above).  He spoke very little English (Alexei from the American Home translated for him) but was very liberal (He allowed us to take pictures of him and the grounds) and had a wonderful sense of humor.  The Monastery has a “unique” history.  During the Communist era, the KGB took over the Monastery.  In the 1990’s (after the fall of Communism), the government returned MOST of the Monastery back to the Russian Orthodox Church (the KGB kept ONE building on the grounds).  When the monks returned to the buildings and did some major cleaning, they discovered some “bones and old remains” of humans on the grounds.  It’s assumed that the remains were from the KGB activity that existed during the Communist era.  Scary but made for a cool story!  He showed us one of the chapels (see photo above) and the remains are on display in the chapel.

Our next stop was the Knyaginin Convent – this was the same convent that I visited on Sunday with my host family except this time I was allowed to take photos inside the Cathedral (see photo above).  I took a picture of the icon – the icon is over 850 years old!  And, no, I didn’t wear a scarf or skirt on this visit!

The American teachers returned to the American Home where we had a heated roundtable discussion on religion.  Everyone has a strong opinion on the role of the Russian Orthodox in Russian society.  Particularily in education – should the schools be teaching the religion in public schools was one of the hot topics we discussed.  Remember, they don’t have separation of church and state like we do in the United States.

Tonight, my host family and I got invited to another flat for dinner.  The woman of the house (I don’t remember her name) is a translator and completes documents for Italian couples that want to adopt Russian children from orphanages.  It was nice to see and compare flats.  Her flat had two bedrooms.  The food served was salmon, rice, and this salad dish that orginates from Latvia.  We sat in the kitchen and enjoyed wonderful conversation and great food.  Her son, is studying to be a chef, prepared the food for us.  She spoke a little English and her son spoke English too.  They were such nice people – everyone that I’ve met in Russia has been so nice and kind to me.

Went back to the flat – off to bed!  I was very tired tonight.  I think all the running around is starting to get to me.