Победа

It's kind of freaky that I took those pictures in the last post in the morning before a car was found that was rigged to blow up a block away.  I ate breakfast right next to where the car was found (I kind of wish I had been taking pictures and captured some vital evidence).  With everything that has happened since the March Moscow Metro bombings (the list is growing), I'm thinking someone doesn't want me around.

Oh well, I live.

Monday, May 9th is День Победы (Victory Day), the day when we celebrate the end of The Great Patriotic War (aka WW2).  The whole city is decked out in patriotic colors, which is a little strange considering that the Russian Federation was the USSR in 1945, so there are СССР posters everywhere.  It's quite soviet.

A choir made up of WW2 veterans comes to my school every year and I got watch in the high school assembly.  There is a male choir too, but I got to see the women perform.  Oh they were a beautiful, lovely group.  Their motto, which is taken from one of their songs about drivers on the front line, goes "We're can't die yet, we still have things to do at home."  I like that.  They said that they could deal with everything that's going on as long as they can sing.  This is so amazing considering the older, retired people have some of the hardest lives here in Russia.  They believed in the Soviet Union and were very proud to be a part of one of the greatest countries in the world.  Now all they get is a lousy pension that can't begin to cover the costs of living today.  And they still sing...