One more sleep deprived post :)

Before we head to bed I wanted to say we accomplished all our goals for the night! We found a Ritz-Carlton while we were exploring, so we walked in like we owned the place and in one fell swoop we exchanged our money, got our copies made and got a map and directions to a grocery store.

They don't have crosswalks across the big roads here, instead you go underground to cross the roads. Little babushkas selling flowers are at all the main stairways down and if you make it through the clouds of cigarette smoke you will see people playing music for money and little stores lining the way through. This is where the grocery store was.

When we came out of the store, we took a different exit that came out right by the Kremlin. Here we found a crowd listening to a military band. Elderly couples and children danced in front of the band. Many of the women danced with other women. Here in Russia 19-year-old boys have mandatory military duty. They looked very young in their bright red uniforms. It was a striking image against the Kremlin wall.

Then we took our groceries back to our apartment and headed out for dinner. We found a T.G.I.F and decided this was a good, easy option for two very tired people. In fact, I believe we looked a bit like zombies by this point. As we were leaving we met 2 other American couples who were each adopting a little boy. They were both on their second trip.

As we walked back to the apartment we heard another live band and stopped to listen. I managed to sound out "Central Moscow Immanuel Center" on their banners, and then we heard what sounded like Christ in the words they were singing. We realized it was some sort of church group, and after a couple of songs the leader spoke very passionate, heartfelt words. We could only pick out words here and there, but it was simply amazing to be in Moscow of all places, hearing this kind of demonstration go on about Jesus Christ.