Culbert Report

There are moments when it strikes me just how different our life is here in Moscow than in Colorado.  Anna's ever increasing vocabulary has recently aided me in understanding the transition we've made from suburbia, Colorado to high-rise city living. As we walked home from the store just minutes from our apartment, the jarring sound of a pavement cutter finally ceased for approximately 10 minutes as road pavers took a quick break from their labor to argue over the Steamroller's alignment right outside our apartment entrance.  The pause in noise was quickly met with Anna's sweet voice saying, "All done mowing lawn." In a sense, yes.  Pavement : Moscow as lawn : Colorado.  Anna very appropriately used the words she had available from one context and inserted them into another.  It's just the lawn here is so black, so hard, and so difficult to enjoy a picnic upon. Just like that, it hit me:  we're back in the city. And in this case, I do...

Please join us in joyfully welcoming Peter "Petya" Maraman Culbertson.   He arrived March 14th, 2013 at 5:45 in the evening after a rather "uneventful" (seemed pretty eventful for mom and baby) labor and delivery. He crashed the scales at 8 lbs 9 oz and measured an impressive 21".  He certainly gets most of his lengthy features from his father, but the verdict is still out on hair color. Anna, at first thrilled with the new addition, welcomed him into our family with a laugh and a friendly pat on the tummy, and reassured him that he is indeed a "baby."  She loves his little coos and squeaks, often exclaiming, "noisy baby!" at the end of one of his bursts.  However, after helping Dad push him around the hospital hallway in his rolling bassinet, she did let us know that she was "all done Peter," a sentiment that may linger for quite some time into their youth together. We chose the name Peter primarily aft...

The Moscow Times recently came across this children's canned meat product offered by the label "Winnie the Pooh," featuring both donkey and pig meat.  Sources say Eeyore saw it coming all along, but Piglet was very much taken by surprise.  Not a happy day in the Hundred Acre Woods. On a related note, MT reports "Separately, IKEA has stopped selling sausages in Russia after finding horse meat in sausages from its local supplier. " Christopher Robin declined to comment at this time on either story.

Every time we come "home," things here seem just a little different.  It's hard to tell if we're changing or if this American life we remember so fondly is changing... probably a little of both.  This return, though, I thought I'd write out some of my first impressions of life in Boulder to glance back upon after we've been here a few weeks to see if they still stir even a small amount of culture shock. Exercise Mania!  Every trail seems crowded with runners.  Cyclists swarm every road, snow covered or not.  Hikers, walkers, and rec centers seem to amass on every street corner, showing off not only their athletic prowess, but their triple digit (minimum) gear.  It's strange to be back in an exercise culture, realizing just how different life seems in Russia.  Exercise in Russia does not feel like a lifestyle, but rather something built into daily life or a luxury for a day off.  Already, this moment from Back to the Future  has popped in...

These past few days at our Winter Bible Conference just outside Moscow caused me to reflect on the very similar conferences I experienced as a college student in Denver, Colorado an indeterminate number of years ago.  Although conference goals, spiritual atmosphere, fellowship, outcome, etc. of such conferences across the world remain very similar, I was struck this year (and perhaps every year to some degree) by just how differently these conferences feel culturally.  To provide a short glimpse into some of those cultural (or perhaps lifestyle) differences, here are some of the comparisons which come to mind. Food Hungry college students remain hungry college students every year at the Denver Christmas Conference.  There are no meals provided, however, the Adamsmark Hotel right on the 16th St. Mall in downtown Denver provides even the most particular foodie several delicious options for satisfying one's hunger.  I remember stocking up on some non-perishable...

“People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are.”  ―  George Eliot ,  Middlemarch The first 10 days of the New Year in Russia are 10 days of vacation for all Russians.  And just like every other day of the year, one celebrates within earshot of one's upstairs, downstairs, and next-door neighbors. Surprisingly, concrete walls insulate very little - there is not much that is not heard or overheard within the close confines of city life here.  Neighbors know each other here well, despite any formal introductions or intentional time spent together.  Every celebration, every argument, every bark, bawl, and cry takes place under the assumption that someone's listening.  I remember the accordion music, drums, dancing, and yelps commemorating the marriage of our upstairs neighbors' daughter when we first moved in.  About nine months later, many of the same sounds were repeated, accompanied by a recurring newborn's cry abou...

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. Wishing you hope and joy this Christmas.