Celebrating Gagarin's Space Flight: Fifty Years Later

Fifty years ago today, Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Here in Russia, we have been bombarded with that information for weeks now. No complaints from me. See, I managed to get myself photographed with Mr. Gagarin, himself. Well, in a manner of speaking. . .

Today a ceremony was held here in Rostov-on-Don at Don State Technical University, pictured behind the statue above. Yep that's me there with Gagarin. Oh, and when Flat Stanley comes to visit, he insists on being photographed with Gagarin too.

Thanks to Russia Today, here's an interview with Victor Gorbatko, one of Gargarin's fellow pilots. Gorbatko tells about the competitive process of selecting the final cosmonaut. Oh, interesting videos abound. Another favorite is the RT interview with Ada Kitovskaya, Gagarin's personal physician.

A favorite post is Remembering the First Cosmonaut. There you'll find links to the celebration dinner honoring our hero and the special song written and song in his honor. Over the weekend, New York Times had an interesting piece, In Space, Nice Guys Finish First ~ and I'm wondering if it was there that I read about Gagarin's removing his shoes when he and other candidates first toured the space capsule. Apparently that move won him some points, here in a culture where shoe removal is Rule #1 when entering a home.

ABC News outdid themselves with this story, Yuri Gagarin: The 7 Top Things You Never Knew about the First Man in Space. Of special interest was Gargain's alleged remark upon return to earth, something about there being no God because he was in space and didn't see him. Apparently those sentiment came from Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev.

The statue of Gargarin looks south over Voroshilovski Street, above. Not surprisingly, the area is known as Gagarin Square.


Folks of a certain age remember that day in 1961. I asked Olga Michaelovna, my language teacher, if she remembers the day. She would have been in elementary school at the time. She said, Oh, I remember it as though it were yesterday! We were called out of our classes, out into the hallway and the principal made a big announcement on the PA system and we were absolutely overjoyed.

How about you, dear Blog Reader? Do you happen to remember that day in 1961? Or, have you met an astronaut? (I haaave! Get the scoop on that, too!) Or. . . do you dream of going to space, yourself?

Gearing up for March 8th, Women's Day

Oh, March 8th is a huge holiday here in Russia. All have been gearing up for it over the weekend.

Myself, I've got three cheery bouquets of yellow chrysanthemums chilling out on the balcony, ready to deliver tomorrow to special friends. Looking forward to a special day tomorrow! (And hoping No More Candy Gifts, please! I've scarfed down way to much already!)

Now Showing at Rostov Theater

Rostov Kino, below, is the biggest theater in the city center. See the red word that looks like POCTOB? Well, that's really Rostov, pronounced Ros-TOV in Russian. Mixing up the two alphabets can provide such entertainment. . .

Speaking of entertainment, let's get up closer and see what's showing inside. (Click photos to enlarge.)

See anything familiar?

So, on the left is I'm Fourth. And then on the right is Invasion: Battle for Paradise (or something close). I'm not seeing that at Cineplex home page, so unsure of the title (not that I'll be losing much sleep over that, mind you). But would you happen to know the title in English?

By the way, here's a fun tidbid about the Russian alphabet, or the Cyrillic alphabet, to be more precise. On the left, in the I'm Fourth poster, the letter Я, that looks like a backwards R, is actually the vowel prounounced ya. And Я (ya), the last letter of the alphabet, is also first-person, singular pronoun, that is, the I in English. Okay, you would know all that, of course. Of course! But I've heard that sometimes a Russian mother will put a child in his place by saying something like, Don't get too big for your britches, buddy boy. After all, remember that я is the last letter of the alphabet! Another interesting thing the я is not capitalized when used as the first-person pronoun. It's like writing, for instance, i find that surprising! ~ without capitalizing the I.

Meanwhile, a mile or so west of the movie theater. . .

Here is a KFC location. I need to check it out sometime. What's noteworthy here is a word on the window. It's just above the sandwich, written in gold. It's transliterated from English straight into Russian. It's meant to be pronounced longer - or at least close to it, with a Russian twist. And that's exactly what it's meant to convey. Although that's not a Russian word. Or at least, not an official word just yet.

How about you, dear blog reader? Into KFC. . . after a movie? Or have you seen either of those movies?

Russia Honors *Defenders of the Fatherland*

As we approach midnight, the celebratory fireworks have faded away here in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. You see, February 23rd is an official Russian holiday, a red day on the calendar, known as the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland. Originally the holiday was to honor members of the Red Army, but nowadays, all men are pleased to be congratulated. Including little tykes who are defending nothing more than their own honor out on the playground.

The card says, 23 of February. (Congratulations) with the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland!

Now, if I had my act together, I'd have baked a double-batch of brownies and sprinted up the stairway here, delivering treats to the neighbor guys. But come to think of it, I did all that for Thanksgiving. So maybe they'll forgive me.

Fortunately Russian President Demitry Mevedev was busy congratulating the guys. He's got his act together, that's for sure.

Happy Valentine's Day ~ John 3:16 with a Twist (Russian)

For beloved friends who are speakers of Russian, here is John 3:16 with a twist. I think you'll enjoy this!

(Click image to enlarge.) The best thing about this perfect love is that it's unconditional. God loves us whether or not we love Him. He loves us when we're in the prime of our youth or already past it. He loves us skinny, just-right or carrying a few extra pounds. He loves us regardless of our wealth or position.

In a relationship, one person is more in love than the other, they say. That's how it is with God's love. And he's stark, raving, crazy-in-love with each of us. He initiated the relationship in the first place and longs for us to respond. He's hovers near the heavenly phone, as it were, hoping we'll reach out to Him. He's always watching, scanning the earth, looking for those who would be His.