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Name: Rand
Interests: Serving the Lord, growing in my faith, the Bible, my family, twins, Anything Minnesotan or Swedish, Eating weird food
Expertise: Making Swedish Food
Occupation: Pastor/Auditor
Industry: Non-profit
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/7/2006
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| I just completed the audit exit conference with selected members of the administrative staff for the EET and I am in the process of winding everything down and packing up for my last night in Moscow. I was able to present the consolidated audit financial statements and the audit recommendations. I have some work yet to do from my office in the States to finalize the audit report. Also, the Territory is suppose to send me additional information that I need to put into the report.
I don't know if I'll be able to write tomorrow before going to the airport or not, so I thought I would write before leaving THQ for the day. I won't be back at the hotel until later tonight, so I may write a little more this evening before going to bed. When I leave the office today I'll be going with the TC to his quarters. He, or his driver, will take us to the quarters for supper tonight. When I am through eating and visiting I will then be taken to the subway system were I will be taking my last Moscow subway excursion to the hotel.
Tomorrow morning the officer driver will be picking me up at the hotel to take me to the airport. Rich Herivel was going to pick me up, but he looked at his calendar of events and found out that he has another commitment that will not allow him the time to take to the airport and then get back for the scheduled event. | | |
| I went to THQ via the subway system, just as I have done each day that I have been auditing in Moscow. I was glad to have the time to work on the audit report statements. Tomorrow is really my last day to get things together before the audit exit conference in the late part of the afternoon. I am thinking that I will need to finish some items when I get back to Alexandria. I have the information I need, but I'll have to put it into the narrative format of the audit report. Tomorrow I will have, at least, the main part of the audit done for the exit conference.
For lunch today we took a short walk to an Italian restaurant just a little distance from THQ. The Territorial Finance Officer, Natasha, joined Rich and I for the meal. I ordered the grilled trout with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes as my meal. It was nice and the restaurant was not crowded or, better yet, smoky. When we were done eating we walked to an ATM machine where I could draw out some Russian rubles that I needed for the rest of the time I am here.
After working late, I was taken by the Chief Secretary to his quarters where a meal was provided for me. It was good to have the time to visit with the CS and his wife. They are originally from New Zealand, but they have served overseas for a number of years. The meal consisted of roasted chicken, boiled potatoes, and mixed vegetables. For dessert we had apricot cake with apricot fruit pour over it and ice-cream. We spent most of the time talking about family, where we are from and, of course, the Army. We also watched a DVD that the CS just brought back from Oslo, Norway that has been running on Norwegian television and has The Salvation Army part of the plot.
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| It is the beginning of another week of auditing the EET. Before going to the office this morning I tried to get money from the exchange station at the hotel with my Visa, but I couldn't because they require a PIN number that is given out to individuals while traveling abroad. Debbie called Visa (at 1:30 a.m. in DC) to inquire about the problem and they indicated that it would take ten days for them to get me a PIN number. The only alternative is for me to call the Visa company directly and they may be able to arrange to have someone locally meet me with the cash that I need. The amount I wanted isn't enough to go through that hassle, so I am working on other ways to get the money I may need while I am here, apart from begging on the streets.
The subway ride to THQ today was longer than normal. The train had to slow down and, at times, make complete stops along the way. There must have been some problems with the line or too many people loading and unloading that it slowed down the trains and made them get off their scheduled times. I finally made it to the office and I set up for another day of auditing. That is, basically, what I did all day - that and ask questions on specific items when I needed answers. I had lunch, again, in the THQ luncheon room. The Chief Accountant, Olga, made the meal - it was meat-stuffed peppers with mashed potatoes and cucumbers on the side. It was another typical Russian meal and it was very good. In many ways it wasn't that much different then what I ate growing up. I sincerely appreciate her willingness to make me a lunch. While we were eating our lunch, news came that an active officer in the Ukraine Division died suddenly. It was sad and solemn moment when it was announced to the staff. We prayed for the family, and we need to continue to uphold them in our prayers.
During the day I was able to get a lot accomplished on the audit report and analyzing the financial records. I was happy in the progress I made because earlier on I ran into some difficulties that made me fall behind in where I wanted and expected to be in the audit process. I am almost back to my projected time schedule. Yeah! I still need to do a lot of audit work with the property fund and then prepare the combined financial statements, but I think I can get them done tomorrow and I can work on other areas I need to cover in the audit report on Wednesday prior to the having the scheduled audit exit conference late in the day on Wednesday afternoon.
After working late into the evening, after THQ was closed, I had a late supper with the Herivels. They took me to a Ukrainian restaurant in walking distance from their quarters. It was an enjoyable dining experience. A lot of the Ukrainian foods are similar to Swedish food. It may date back to when the Swedes occupied the Ukraine for a period of time and part of the Swedish culture was engrained into the Ukrainian people. Even today the colours of the Ukraine flay are the same Swedish blue and yellow. I was able to have herring with boiled potatoes, pork shank, potatoes with salt pork, and a pork fritter with a mushroom and cheese sauce. The service was great, the food was great, the atmosphere was great, the fellowship great, . . . do you think I likes it!! but the smoking in the restaurant was something that I did not appreciate. It was like going back to the sixties when people were allowed to smoke anywhere and everywhere they pleased.
After having supper, which took the better part of two hours, Rich was able to secure one of the floater vehicles from THQ and he took me back to the hotel. He thought that the trip wouldn't take too long because of the time we left, but there were three different accidents along the way that held up traffic. In Moscow when people have vehicle accidents they are not allowed to move the vehicles, but they must wait until the police arrive to examine the accident site and make a determination as to who is at fault. All this is done while the vehicles are blocking traffic and before they are, if needed, removed. What normally would take a half-hour or so to get back to the hotel took us one hour and a half. In spite of the extra time, it was good to have the time to talk and I didn't have to ride the hot and stuffy subway system.
A special Happy Birthday to my eldest brother, Jim in California! I love ya!
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| It is Sunday evening, October 12, 2008, and I just got back into the hotel from a day of Sunday meetings. I was picked up this morning around 9:00 a.m. and taken to the Moscow Corps building where I helped set up for the morning meeting. On Saturday there is a Jewish congregation that meets in the building and so it was necessary to set up the chapel for The Salvation Army meeting.
After helping to set up I went with corps members to an open-air service and a 'March of Witness' in the corps' community. When everyone arrived on location there were six band members (2 cornets, 1 clarinet, 1 alto horn, 1 baritone, and 1 bass) that showed up to play. The band has other members (2 flutes, 1 baritone), but they were not available to play. Also, the Cadets from IFOT and the Corps Officers were on hand to speak to people who stopped to listen or who were passing by. When the open-air service was done the whole group went on a 'March of Witness' in the neighbourhood, with the SA flag leading the procession, around the corps building. It was a cold, wet, and cloudy-grey morning, but that was not a deterrent for those participating. There was a great spirit of joy and mission. It reminded me of the marches we used to do when we were Lts. at Rockford Temple! The march ended up back at the corps building just before the morning worship service.
The worship service began at 11:00 a.m. and consisted of praise choruses led by a praise band. Interspersed between the choruses there was time for prayer. The 'Prayer & Praise' time lasted for forty-five minutes and was followed by a reading from the Bible. The reading from God's Word was followed up by a 'Witness & Testimony' time. This portion of the meeting went on for about one-half hour. This led to the taking up of 'Tithes & Offerings' with the band ensemble presenting the offertory of music. After the offertory the congregation rose to say a doxology and a scripture passage was read. After the congregation sat down, the Associate Officer introduced the guest speaker for the service. She and her husband share in the responsibilities of being Corps Officers in Bucharest and they serve as the Romanian Region Commanders. Prior to getting saved and involved in the Army, they were professional musicians and they have been special music guests at many different events around the world (e.g., International Congress in Atlanta, The USA Southern Territorial Bible Camp, the Installation Service of the Generals, etc.). She was in Moscow as an adjunct instructor teaching at the Institute for Officer Training (IFOT). Her message lasted forty-five minutes and there was a translator sitting behind for the group of us who did not speak the Russian language. After the message there was an invitation, a closing song & prayer and then one of the Associate Officers gave the announcements. When the announcements were through we were dismissed to have a snack with a cup of coffee in the 'multipurpose room' area.
After the morning service was over the Herivels and the Divisional Commanders of the Russian Division took me to a nearby authentic Georgian Restaurant in walking distance from the corps. The DCs are from the Canadian & Bermuda Territory and they were going out to eat in honour of the Thanksgiving Day holiday being observed in Canada today. I was sorry that I did not take any photos of the food we ate, but some may be interested in the type of food we ate. I'll try to explain it in the simplest terms I can, but I cannot promise anything. The writing of the words is not properly done because of the limit to our alphabet and my laziness to find a way to use the international letters. I will enclose [ ] the phonetic attempt to say the word. My niece Jamie Garrington may know how to better describe the food because she lived in the Republic of Georgia for awhile. We started with Canat [shanod] (salad) of cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes in oil. When we were done with the salad they brought out the national bread of Georgia - xayanyph [hawgepouri] (cheese bread). The bread is very tasty and comes out looking similar to a small cheese pizza pie. After the bread was eaten we were served our main course which is considered the national meal of Georgia - kenoklin [kengalic] (meat dumplings). The dumplings were similar to the pot-stickers prepared in Asian style restaurants, but they were much bigger. The dumpling is properly eaten by hand and by turning the dumpling upside down, biting into the dumpling and drinking the juice before eating the dough wrapping and meat product inside. I didn't ask what the meat was made of - the wait staff and owners did not speak a word of English and none of us spoke any Russian, so we were not able to communicate too well. The Russian DCs were DCs in Georgian for awhile, but they did not know the language well enough to speak it, but they did explain what we were eating and how it should be eaten.
When we were done with the meal we took the green-line subway to the closest stop to the Herivels', and walked to the quarters. We spent a little time at the quarters resting until one of the float vehicles was returned to THQ. When the call came that the vehicle was back, we walked to the car and left to see the inside of Christ's Cathedral next to the Kremlin and Red Square. We parked the car and walked up the steps and found the entrance of the cathedral. The guard was in the process of gating off the entrance and close down the cathedral for the day, but he allowed us to enter as the last guests. Once inside we went through security and were told that we could not take any pictures. The cathedral originally stood for centuries until Stalin ordered it to be destroyed and they ended up blowing the building up. Stalin had the cathedral replaced with a public swimming pool. During Stalin's reign as leader of the U.S.S.R. he had over 250 thousand Orthodox Priests put to death and he, ultimately was responsible for arranging the murder of nearly 53 million people. When the communist government fell, the Orthodox Church was given the land back and they built a new cathedral in the same way the original cathedral was erected. The cathedral was beautiful on both the outside and inside and there were still quite a few people lighting candles and praying while we walked around. We were not inside too long when the guards came up and told us and others visiting that the cathedral was closing and we would have to leave. We were grateful, however, that we got into the building and had the time to see the inside even though it was for a short period of time.
From Christ's Cathedral we drove to the Moscow Corps to set up for the 6:00 p.m. evening service. The meeting is basically a 'small group' meeting and is organized for individuals who can speak English. It is not exclusively for English speaking people because everyone is welcome, but the service is done in the English language.There were fifteen people that participated in the meeting. The meeting is informal and people were invited to have a snack and cup of coffee and bring it into the meeting area. The meeting started by having a prayer and then singing some choruses that took fifteen minutes. When the chorus time was over, Brenda Herivel gave a short introduction of myself and I was responsible for presenting the Bible lesson for the evening which took fifteen minutes. After I was through there was a time to express prayer concerns and a prayer was offered. From beginning to end the evening meeting took less than an hour.
After the evening meeting was over everyone was invited to go to a nearby restaurant to have a late supper. The restaurant was a small one that did not seat too many people. Everyone, except one person, from the evening meeting went to the restaurant. The food was on a limited menu, but they were noted for their wrapped sandwiches and Russian Lavash bread. The wrap was made up of cole slaw, meat, vegetables and a special sauce all wrapped together. It was a cross between a Greek gyro and a Turkish donar. While I was eating it I thought that Jim Garrington would really love this. When we were through eating everyone went their own way and I was taken back to the hotel for the evening. I was glad to be back at the hotel by 9:00 p.m. so I could have a little time to work on various things before going to bed.
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| Today was a day spent on doing an auditing analysis on the financial records for the EET and having specific questions answered by the finance staff relative to significant variances, etc. It was quite a boring day really, but I was able to accomplish something that I needed to do for the audit report. I am running a little behind my schedule, but I hope to make it up soon so that the report will be done, or nearly done, by the time I have the audit exit conference scheduled on next Wednesday - late afternoon.
It is now 9:00 p.m. in Moscow and I am just ending my audit work for the day. I need to pack everything up for the weekend and then contact someone as to when I will be leaving THQ so they can secure the building. I don't want to leave anything here in the office. Once I am done packing, I'll take the subway system to the hotel for the evening. Tomorrow the Herivels will be picking me up at 10:00 a.m. to go site seeing and shopping in Moscow and, hopefully, we will see some of the countryside as well. I am looking forward to having a break, but I may end up doing some work from my hotel room this weekend. On Sunday the Herivels will be picking me up at the hotel for Sunday meeting services at the Moscow Corps and I'll be spending the day with them. They are taking very good care of me!
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