25 Years Ago in Moscow, USSR

July 20, 1984
Moscow, USSR

Twenty five years ago today, the world celebrated the 15th anniversary of man's landing on the moon, and Miss Gloria Diaz's crowning as the first Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown. There was no such celebration much more euphoria that day when we arrived in Moscow from Zaporozhye (Ukraine). It was after all, the age of space race, and this time around, Russia lost to America in their race to put man in the moon. We were homeward bound, after 4 months of in-plant training in Zaporohztal Works and other big steel plants all over USSR. By the graciousness of our hosts, (UNDP, Moscow), they book us last to leave, a good one week stay at Rossia Hotel with nothing to do but count the days and explore the city.

Moscow was all white when we came in March, the minus 10 degree C considered already as spring time, not winter time. Now the city is in bright summer, the boats merrily cruising along Moscow River, passing the walls of the Kremlin. This is the sight we always watched every afternoon.



Moscow is big and beautiful, rightfully the capital of the mighty Soviet Empire. Here lies the greatest symbols of its power; the Kremlin and Red Square, and the famous Lenin Mausoleum, where its top leaders stand and view the greatest parade they perform every year, in celebration of the Great October Revolution, marking the communist rise to power from the czars. Red Square, ancient as it is and deriving its name from the Russian word, "grazeba", meaning beautiful, is the mother of all squares in this world's largest country. It continued to amaze us, enclosed by St. Basil's cathedral at the south end ( this cathedral is itself a beautiful work of art and architecture), the Kremlin and the seat of power at the westside, the GUM shopping mall ( Russia's largest) in the east, and the north entrance where downtown Moscow starts. From the restaurants in Rossia Hotel, we would view its splendor in the night, with another famous attraction, the changing of the Red Guards at Lenin's tomb.



Everyday then, we would accompany our co-trainees to the airport for their flight home, to Brazil, India, Peru, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Mozambique, Laos, Egypt, etc. When it was our turn, there was nobody left to bid us goodbye.

We left Moscow on a bright summer afternoon on July 26, 1984 for our trip back home via Bombay (India) and Singapore. I was at the window seat, the sight of the city from above I kept on staring. Images of our 4 month stay keep on flashing; predicting that in the near future at the turn of the century, something big which will rock the country and the world will happen. Finally, just as our Aerofloat plane was about to be lost in the clouds, I muttered in silence, "Dosbedanya, Russia. Spaseeba, Spaseeba Bolshoi." (Goodbye, Russia. Thank You. Thank You Very Much)

Holy Week Memories of Russia

We returned to training class in Zaporozthahl Training Center the day after we arrived from that enjoyable and educational trip to Kiev. Though we've been away only for a short period, so many changes it seemed happened especially in our surroundings. The plants and the trees had grown again and the leaves appeared so full of life compared to those early days of our arrival when they looked dead and lifeless, covered with snow. It was a beautiful springtime and a Holy Thursday. But there is no holy week in Russia.

Before Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Russia was a Christian orthodox country. Testaments to this were the beautiful and grandiose cathedrals with magnificent domes (often gold plated) and exotic architecture. The czars and their empresses were closely related by blood with the monarchs of central Europe and in those olden times, intermarriages between relatives in monarchies were common. Even at present time, it is not uncommon to see women with crucifix necklaces worn publicly, despite the ban on religion.

In our hotel, which is always frequented by tourists from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc. (the so called Communist bloc), I would often see elderly women wearing such necklaces. At one time at the elevator, just to show to these women that I am also a Catholic, I greeted them with the only words I know they would understand: "Viva El Papa John Paul." They were surprised yet fully delighted to return the same compliment.

Still feeling the Kiev hangover and to break the boredom of the training class, Mike and I found a reason not to attend the next day's class. Every Friday, our three Egyptian and one Pakistani classmates would excuse themselves from class before noon and return to our hotel for their Friday noon prayers facing the direction of Mecca. We always tease them about this but we understood and respected it. So we asked permission from our training director, Comrade Soroko, invoking our Catholic faith and religious practice.

So, on that Good Friday, April 20, when everybody in the city didn't seem to know about it, we rested and prayed in our hotel.

Note: Photos of the cathedrals are HERE.

The Russia-Ukraine Gas Row and My Russian Diary

The recent feud on gas supply between the Moscow and Kiev governments which threatened and affected Europe's own gas supply amid the cold winter season evoke memories of my unforgettable experience in this once mighty superpower called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). I once attended the 27th UNIDO (UNDP) Training for Iron and Steel engineers in Zaporozhye, (Ukraine), USSR from March to July 1984. I was with a group of 17 other engineers from 10 developing countries and one of the two Filipino engineers representing our country.

It was post Brezhnev and pre-Gorbachev time. Glasnost and Perestroika were then unheard. It was Tavareesh(Comrade) Chernenko's era. When I arrived Moscow on a cold freezing day of March in 1984, I couldn't forget the voice of the stewardess of out Aerofloat flight originating from Singapore with New Delhi as stopover.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed at the Shereyetmevo International Airport. Ground temperature is 10 degrees below zero.Welcome to Moscow."

In our taxi to our hotel, (the Rossia Hotel, just overlooking the Red Square, at that time was reportedly Europe's largest hotel with 3000 rooms), I was complaining to Oleg, the UNIDO guy who fetched me. "Mr. Oleg, but I thought it's already spring as per the aide memoir!" His answer was strikingly remarkable, as it dawned on me that not all people in the USSR were Russians. "Mr. Delid, to the Ukrainians, it's still winter time. To the Muscovites, it's now spring."

We were based in Zaporozhye, a large industrial city in the southwestern part of Ukraine, with Zaporohtahl Iron and Steel Works as our base plant. This was an integrated steel complex with about 20,000 workers. All throughout our 4-month stay however, we traveled far and wide the soviet territory to such cities as Kiev, Krivoi Rog, Zdhanov, and Odessa, all parts of Ukraine and Moscow, Liepitz, Cherepovets, and Leningrad, all parts of Russia. Many of the largest steel mills in the world were found in these cities. In all of these visits, one of the things that stuck to our minds was the abundance of gas and minerals. So abundant that even in our written and verbal reports and informed discussions, we would then report that there was no such thing as energy conservation there. There was no need for it. They had lots of it; excess in fact. And we were not referring only to our usual enercon programs of shutting down lights and airconditioning when not in use. We were talking about energy usages on big and various reheating furnaces, etc.

I bid goodbye to Russia on a warm sunny afternoon in July 1884. But as I looked out of the plane's window, trying to catch a last glimpse of this beautiful city by the river, I could then sense that in not too far future, something big will happen that will transform again this country, something in the scale when the October Revolution of the early 1900 took place. Finally, when all I could see was a blurred vision of the city, I closed my eyes, took a long deep breath, and silently told myself; "Doshbedanya, Russia. Spaseeba. Spaseeba Bolshoi." (Goodbye, Russia. Thank you. thank you very much.")

That was 25 years ago. Now they have split up into two different nations under different leaders. Obviously, they have to split up too these resources. But they are still interconnected with pipelines that stretch far and wide to Europe. Fortunately enough before the dispute erupted into a full blown crisis, diplomacy worked and the situation hopefully will return to normal as before.