First Impression

          --map showing only Moscow proper--
Humongous.  That's the first word I think of when I think of my new surroundings in Moscow, Russia.  I've lived in some pretty large cities, like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., but they pale to me in comparison to Moscow.  I didn't realize just how huge this place was until I was flying around it on my Singapore Air flight a few days ago.  Looking out the window down onto Moscow, I could not even see the middle of the city, and the buildings stretched as far as the eye could see.  Little did I realize then, but I was looking down into a labyrinth - a maze of streets, metro lines, and rivers leading to and fro.  As I've begun exploring the labyrinth,above and below the surface, I notice just how many people there are.  They are everywhere!  It seems like I am am always walking around someone on the sidewalk, or in the grocery store, the plaza, the metro, or crossing the street.  Crossing the street is a whole nother matter entirely - the drivers here are reckless, with little to no regard for anything or anyone else.  Cars are cut off all the time (which means horns are non-stop blaring), the white lines on the road mean nothing as a 4-lane road is turned into a 6-laner, stoplights hold little sway, and the sidewalks aren't even safe for walking, because the cars drive there, too!
 Along with the crowds comes a constant noise, yet you can't pinpoint it to just one thing, the masses certainly make noise, but the vehicles and all the construction going on contributes as well.  The minute I walk outside it reminds me of a 2010 World Cup match, with those annoying horns blowing every second of every game.  It's just constant noise that you can't escape!  So all I do to 'escape' the noise is cover it up with more noise.  I'm glad I brought my iPhone and my in-ear headphones, they are keeping me sane.  But I may need a bigger playlist, I'm thinking about the size of Moscow.

Heroes

We all need heroes.  Yep, that's right - you, me, everybody.  Dionysus, god of wine, admitted, in The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan,  that even the gods need heroes.  Every one is in need.  Why, we might ask?  Heroes save us, sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively, and they also give us hope.  There comes a time in each of our lives when we run out of our own strength and need to look to someone else.
Some people will be looked at as heroes for the rest of eternity, while others may only be considered a hero for a few years, months, weeks, days, or even just moments.  Our heroes who are dead are easy to call heroes, but to call someone who is living, a hero, really takes greatness.  When people die, we generally pass over most of their flaws and focus on the positive things, and then call them heroes, assuming they were always one.  When we remember them, we sum up their lives by calling them heroes.  Why can't we do that when people are living?  Why can't we looked past their flaws and see them for the heroes they are, unless they do some grand, amazing, incredible thing?  We are so quick to pounce on people once they make a mistake, that it really comes as no surprise you don't hear many persons being regarded as a hero anymore...  Yet every day, you hear that somewhere, somebody does something heroic, but that's different.  They make the newspaper or television for jumping in a pool to save someone, for standing in the line of fire, for pulling a friend out of trouble, and other heroic acts.  And when asked about it, they just say something like, "It's nothing," or "It's my duty," or even, "Hey, nobody's that heartless!"  
Dictionary.com calls a hero 1) a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities, and 2) a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.  One word sticks out to me in each of those definitions: 'and'.   It's not just the acts performed, it's also a person's character that makes a hero.

Some of my heroes are ordinary people, who, yes, do extraordinary things occasionally, but are those who stand up for what is right, even when they're standing alone; those who know what they believe, and live it, even during testing times; those who have everything bad tossed at them, yet somehow make it through with a smile on their face and encouraging words on their lips...  Some of my heroes are my neighbors, some are in my ward, some I even taught in my classroom.  Heroes are everywhere, because we each need them.
So, next time you need a hero, maybe a little closer than those who are serving our great country, or those who have passed on, look around - the hero you need may be closer than you think ;)

Shirts and Skins

Whoever it was that came up with the idea, 'Shirts and Skins', for men playing sports, was a genius.  It works with so many sports as the easiest way to differ between teams: soccer, ultimate frisbee, flag football, quidditch for muggles, water polo, airsoft/paintball :) j/k, lacrosse, etc.  But I played one where it didn't really work for me anymore.  Bright and early this morning, at 6:00, I went to a stake center across town to play some basketball..  I walked in, saw about 15 guys, of all ages and sizes, warming up and shooting hoops.  I saw a few tall guys, so I decided to stay and give it a shot.  Once they had divided up the first teams, 5 guys took off their shirts.  This was not a pretty sight - none of them had showered and some were already sweaty before even playing.  On my very first defensive play, a skin ran into me and now, I had his sweat all over me before I had even started my own sweating.  Part of the game, right?  I paid no attention to it, until I was posted up by a rather portly man with a water fountain coming out of his back.  That's what it seemed like anyway, as he was drenched in sweat.  He could've pulled up his shorts, too.  Well, needless to say, throughout the two games I played, I collected the sweat of at least 8 different skins.
In the good old days, when basketball wasn't such a contact sport, I was fine with playing shirts and skins, but now, if you're not bumped or rubbed, checked or charged every other play by a guy on the other team, it's not basketball.  There was so much closeness and contact it reminded me of being in an overstuffed club.  Now don't get me wrong, a little male bonding now and again is great, I had a fun time playing, but I just think it's more appropriate to use a towel instead of my shirt to wipe off your sweat.  Next time, if there is a next time with this group, I might just play in a bathrobe.

School's Out For Summer!

It's almost been a week since school let out.  Some of my students and my fellow teachers 'checked out' weeks ago, yet I find that I still haven't completely checked out yet.  I still wake up (automatically, if I'm not already awake) at 6 am, I've gone back to school twice, and I still edit some of my friends' text messages :)  I haven't done anything 'vacationy' yet, because I'm still trying to recover from surgery on Tuesday.  What a way to start summer, huh?  Doctor tells me I can't do any strenuous activity or any kind of exercise for 48 hours.  My summer break is usually synonymous with strenuous activity and exercise.  It's been killing me, to not be able to do all the things I want to do on these beautiful days: hiking, biking, swimming, rollerblading, boxing, working out, etc.  I think, when I start doing those things daily, it'll finally feel like summer has arrived.   Here's to hoping!