MR. H Social Studies

Gdynia to Gdansk to Frankfurt to DC to La Plata to Mechanicsville!

2009-12-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

This is the travel day (Sunday). I guess the worst part is that on Monday morning I have to be up and out of the house by 6:00 ....ugh!

My watch alarm actually woke me up at 5:00 am Poland time. After getting ready and all my bags packed, my taxi picked me up at 6:00. I bid farewell to Monika. She had done a fabulous job organizing and arranging the conference and all of our wants and needs. She is definitely a 'mover and shaker'! The 30 minute taxi ride was comfortable and I was ready to fall asleep again. I didn't have enough zlotis to pay and I had to pay by credit card. 142 zlotis = about $50! Yikes. I was WAY early to check in for the flight at 8:15. The line to check in was short and the line for security was even shorter. I sat and read the last part of my book, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. A very enjoyable read, especially since it is about DC and all the symbols in and around the architecture.

The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful. The Frankfurt airport did not list my gate number. My ticket did not list my gate number. So area A has 65 gates. The guessing game commences! 1 through 42 were Lufthansa - I was looking for United. So I had to actually ask! The person I asked said I was in the right place, but I still didn't see a sign that proved I was. Walking, walking, gate after gate you get that feeling that it will be the last one. Not this time. Gate 57 was easy to detect - lots of American looking people with American looking garb. I had to wait another hour and a half for the next flight.

The nine hour flight to DC was movie - rrriffic! The Time Traveler's Wife -cool movie. UP was a wonderful diversion! Inglorious Bastards I got tired of quickly. And another film with the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun. It seems I start watching these movies after the opening credits, so I really don't know what that last film was called. I will soon find out!

I landed in DC - Dulles - after watching with amazement that there was snow on rooftops! What happened to Global Warming? There was a medical emergency on board and we were asked to stay seated until the sick person could be evacuated. We had landed early and no one questioned that decision. After that it was out of the plane, down a maze of small hallways, on the tram, to the main terminal. Passport Control was quick and easy. Waiting for the luggage took the most time. Customs was faster still. I found Judy quickly - cell phones are great inventions when you are surrounded by hundreds of people in a large venue like an airport. We paid for parking, found the car, and Judy drove as I was feeling like it was 10:30 at night!
We made our way to the Outback in La Plata and ate real American food, all the iced tea I could, and shared our week apart from each other. We made it home to Mechanicsville by 7:30. It is always fun and exciting to go overseas. But it is always great to be home!

Conference DAY 4 and more!

2009-12-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

I started the day with a HISTORY RUN! Since I had not been in the Old town when it wasn't raining or dark, I ran with my camera and took still pictures and videos as I went. In a little over an hour, I took 50 pictures and 10 videos. But with only a half day left in Gdansk, it was the only way! It's kinda like running in DC or Williamsburg - it gets you in the mood of the place where you are! A la Mr. Smith!

Back at the hotel, the order of the day was to review the transcription process of their interviews, orient them to their new FLIP cameras, show them how to upload their video onto the FLIP software, and answer any questions. We managed all of that before 11:30. It was funny teaching them how to set the date and time on their cameras since the instructions are only in English and French. They all got it and were eager to receive this new piece of technology. We announced which two would be coming to America in February/March for the opening conference with all the partner countries. Very exciting. Others may come later. I also uploaded all the rest of the interviews onto my laptop. In case we can't make DVDs in Poland, I can make one in the states and mail it.

I packed all my bags and moved them to another room as we had to check out of the hotel my noon. Larry, Wanda, Arkady, and I walked again down to the Old Town Square for lunch. We didn't realize that Monika had lunch prepared for us at our usual restaurant. But we had a lovely luncheon at a fancy place on the square. On our walk back, Wanda, Arkady, and I stopped at the "Road to Freedom" museum underneath the Solidarity office building. It is a great little museum dedicated to the Solidarity movement. I took even more pictures!

When we returned to the hotel we waited for taxis to pick us up. Larry and Wanda were flying out today and I am flying out tomorrow. Monika's car died and so I had to find an alternate form of transportation back to her house for the evening. Arkady took me to the train station and we paid for two tickets to Gdynia. We found out that we took the wrong train. This train broke down and we had to wait longer for a replacement train. But we finally arrived in Gdynia and Arkady helped me hail a taxi. The taxi driver missed the house just like I missed the house when I was running here several days ago. It's a little confusing as Monika's house looks like it is in the subdivision, but it has a different entrance than the rest.

This evening, Monika served up some Greek appetizers - flaky biscuits with Feta cheese inside. Tea, juice, more homemade vodka and later Pizza - no sauce here in Poland - just crust and toppings which are covered by the cheese. She ordered ham and mushrooms. The Polish pizza ranks right up there with the best. I enjoyed it. Monika showed me a movie of Polish comedy. It's like we talk about British humor - if you get it, you get it. If not, oh well! We spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to take the interviews on my computer that does not create DVDs and put them onto her computer that DOES make DVDs. I was successful in moving the videos onto a flash drive and then walking them to her computer. She was unable to make a DVD from those files. Even with the FLIP software on her computer, it would not create a DVD. We must be doing something wrong. I will figure it out at home and make sure we know how this process works. It WAS nice to know that you could load a video onto a flash drive. Students would be able to make a copy at school and take it home to transcribe!

The taxi is coming at 6:00 am tomorrow morning. It takes me back to Gdansk airport for my flight that leaves at 8:15. I fly to Frankfurt, layover to switch planes for a couple hours and then fly to Dulles by 3:17 in the afternoon. It has been a grand success here in Poland. But I am looking forward to iced tea, driving, understanding the language, my own home, my own bed, American food. I try not to be too whiny. I never want to come off as the ugly American. I will come back to Poland if I ever have the opportunity. A great country with great people!

To Gdnynia Conference DAY 3

2009-12-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

Since we had to leave early on a bus to Gdynia at 8:00, the sun had not risen early enough for me to run. Running in the dark on cobblestones can be dangerous to one’s ankles. Injury is never an option to take. Play it safe and you can keep running. Stupidity keeps you on the sidelines!

We boarded the bus to Gdynia soon after 8:00. The ride took us from Gdansk through Sopot (richest of the tri-city area with a Porsche dealer) and then to Gdynia. This is Monika’s home town. She arranged for us to meet at the Mariner’s College where there is a beautiful hall, complete with electronic translation. It was a large marble lined hall with nautical motifs all around. The Civic Voices banner was prominently hung to the right and on the screen was the Civic Voices slide. There were four seats on the stage, one for me, one for Monika, one for the vice-mayor of Gdynia, and one for a professor of history. Conference Day 3 started at 9:30! Larry and I both signed in to the conference. We assume that we will get paid for our work now!

The vice-mayor spoke first. He described city governance as a ‘consent of the governed’ lesson. Whatever the people want, that’s what Gdynia gets. He mentioned the economy of the area that is growing – economic freedom! He also talked about the growing number of NGOs that have formed and have solved problems in and around the city – freedom of association. Taking care of the different sections of the city was a difficult chore – so many interests and trying to be fair to all was the most problematic – multiparty system.

Madam professor spoke next and she eloquently described the struggle of 1980 and the beginnings of Solidarity. She described the events of that year by categorizing them into five themes that were powerful as the unrest unfolded. The first theme was UNITY. Of course the name of the union speaks powerfully about that theme. Next was RESPECT of every human being – human rights. This matched directly with Ackerman and A Force More Powerful! Her fourth theme was PRAYER and the power of the Catholic Church in Poland supporting the people of the union. This became the backbone of the movement. Her last theme was much broader but I have seen it each time I have been in Poland – the inherent GOOD of the people of Poland. Certainly the Poles saw this struggle as good against evil as Ronald Reagan and Americans did too.

Then it was my turn to speak. Monika had added to and changed the focus of my remarks a bit. But I compared what the two previous speakers said and transitioned from the values of the past to the values of the present. I reiterated the concepts of democracy that we all need to teach our students and that we must link one or two of those concepts to each interview. A also discussed some classroom techniques and a strategy to help them collect at least three interviews by the end of the school year.

Then Monika reviewed the general program over the next three years. Then a break for coffee and tea with sweet pastries made and served by the culinary school on the premises!

Wanda spoke about her observations and also related an oral history project she completed when in college. Her class made a documentary about a man that tried to assassinate Hitler before WW II started. Very interesting! He failed, of course, but think of the world today without WW II. Whoa!

Wanda’s talk paved the way for the introduction of a film made in Gdynia with students that will be unveiled to the world later this month. We got a sneak preview of the film today. It was an excellent example of students interviewing activists that were there in 1970 when the workers went on strike only to be violently dealt with. There were interviews of those who were hurt, shot, and of those who saw the dead, killed by the communist forces militia. Students commented on the grave markers and the memorials of those who died protesting against the totalitarian regime. It was very well done. We should look into this for showing in the US in the future. It does need subtitles, though.

Lunch was served in the student union ‘club’ area of the building. Hot soup in bread bowls, different kinds of meats and pastries were served Smorgasbord style. We had our last English conversations with one of our interpreters, Dorota. She was wonderful.

We spent the afternoon stuck in traffic for 2 and a half hours which should have taken 30 minutes! We were able to discuss quite a number of topics with Wanda, who lives in Berlin. Topics ranged from the Holocaust and how it is taught in Germany to, “Your 26 (Her birthday is today! We sang at lunch!) and you don’t have your driver’s license!”

We are having our farewell dinner tonight at a nearby restaurant. A few of the teachers have already had to leave, but most are staying until tomorrow. It should be a lovely evening of eating and toasting to our mutual success!

Conference DAY 2

2009-12-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

What a day! I thought yesterday was an amazing success. Today was even more amazing! Monika and her colleagues at the Solidarity office are to be congratulated on putting together a stupendous day of meaningful events! From beginning to end, these teachers of Poland have proven themselves to be of the finest caliber!

I got up late (7:40) and realized that if I am to run this morning, I better get to it! I had to meet the group in the lobby at 9:00. So run I did down to the center of the old city at the crack of dawn. What a place! The waterfront and the market give you a sense of a 17th century Baltic seaport. The architecture is Scandinavian port with so many variations on a theme! I thought I was lost on the way back, but managed to gauge the tall buildings back to the hotel. A quick shower, quick suit on, quick breakfast and I was ready with the group on time. As we always said in Russia: We were born ready!

We entered the office building of Solidarity in Gdansk and walked to a reception hall. The hall was adorned with a 10 x 5 banner with the Civic Voices logo, Solidarity logo and all the other partner countries listed. The banner was hung in the middle amidst many red and white Solidarity banners. Larry and I were seated in front along with the president of Solidarity (the whole trade union, not just the educational arm), a representative from the US embassy, and a professor involved with the ‘Memory’ program in Poland. Some of you may know that Russia has had a similar Memorial interest group since before the fall of the Soviet Union.

Almost like the UN, we wore headphones to hear simultaneous translation through the entire program. A wonderful guitarist/singer began the program with some very special songs related to the struggle 20 to 30 years ago. Some of the audience joined in at the chorus on the first song. That never happens in America. Now I have seen it happen in Poland and Russia. Something about strong cultural roots. The president of Solidarity spoke for 5 pages of speech, sometimes apologizing for being so long-winded. He recounted the tough times of the 70s and 80s and charged teachers to use the Civic Voices program to keep the memory of those days alive for future generations.

Next to speak was Craig Conway, First Secretary attached to the US embassy in Warsaw. His words were very well chosen and also agreed that Civic Voices was a valuable endeavor. The professor from Memory spoke about his experiences with recording the past. Larry had left the room (to fetch presents for guests back the hotel – I did not know this at the time) and it looked like I would have to speak in Larry’s place. It was nice to see him return in time! Larry discussed the presentation we put together the night before without any problems. Then question time from the audience and we all had to answer questions for a while. Interesting questions: Why was Poland picked? Why Mongolia? Whatever I said seemed to satisfy their query!

Following all these discussions was yet a press conference. At first it seemed as though there wasn’t much interest by the press. But a radio station recorded our statements and asked some questions. A reporter from a local newspaper was on hand with a recording device and taking lots of notes. I saw her later, typing her story into a laptop, possibly getting ready to send it to publish in the day’s paper. When I thought we had completed the easy task of dealing with the press, in saunters a tall, striking, confident woman with an older cameraman in tow. I was asked to report to the back of the hall. She spoke excellent English and interviewed me right there on camera. Monika said later that I was on the 5:30 news on TVP and maybe her father recorded it for us!? The TV reporter did not stop there. When she saw one of the FLIP cameras she wanted to know all about it and how this process was taking place. She had one of the teacher groups set up a camera on a tripod and she filmed the camera with a snippet of an interview from earlier that morning. Larry thought that since the FLIP camera is getting free advertising, that the company should donate a number of cameras for the project! Shannon may be on the phone at the moment she reads this!?

Lunch was served at a restaurant at the top of a tall building with massive windows on each side of two large dining rooms. The view of the shipyards and the Old part of town were incredible. The food was okay – mushroom soup, pressed salmon, vegetables, and, of course, plenty of potatoes!

After lunch, it was time for the five civic activists that Monika invited to the conference to address the entire group and tell a little bit about their stories. We probably should have had the cameras rolling at that point since it made some of their later interviews shorter. But what fantastic stories! Strikes, with Walesa, organizing in Gdynia, in Gdansk, in the southern regions, mistakes made, successes that became the glory of Poland - WOW! When they were finished ( and each one talked for at least 20 minutes!), four groups each took their activist to another place to interview them according to the guide! One group had already finished their interview during the morning as the interviewee had to leave early.

So, it’s 5:00 or so at the end of the day and it’s not over yet! Unbeknownst to us, each group wanted to report back to us all of their findings and tell us how it went. I think they read the guide. They’re already reflecting!! They were so pumped up! All were very excited about what they had just accomplished. It was incredible to see 25 teachers who don’t know each other, from different regions all over Poland come together and be enthusiastic about the project! The word teamwork was mentioned more than once! I complimented Monika on her organization and her ability to put this all together so magnificently! Again, an English speaking person from another country can communicate with Americans so well. Konstantin, are you reading this?

A little Internet time and off to dinner we all went. We walked down to the Old town and went to a lovely little restaurant. Two men were playing accordion (Larry’s favorite! Ha) when we entered. We sat at two long tables that were next to the walls so the middle of the room was somewhat open. We toasted with a shot of something that we equated with cherry cough syrup. Other than that, the food was delicious. Mushroom soup, fried pork, potatoes, meatloaf of some kind baked around a large carrot, herring salad, cabbage, dessert, and later a gift of a bottle of Sobieski Vodka. They presented Solidarity shirts to us – I wore mine immediately. That seemed to please the crowd a bit. The musicians played a Kashubian song that was written on four staves, all with a treble clef, but – no notes. Only symbols were used and the song seemed to go through each staff and then do sort of a repeat through the staves. Some of the Poles were singing along as if it were a folk tune they remember from their childhood.

And if that wasn’t enough music, I was asked to play one of their rhythm instruments – a pole that has a pair of cymbals together like a trap set. It also had some hanging metal things that twinkled like a wind chime. There was a black face painted on one side and a box on the bottom that had two strings attached to the top for twang effect – but the strings were lose. This pole was called a “Devil’s Violin” and to play it all you needed to do was to stomp it on the floor in good rhythm with the song. That wasn’t enough for the effect. They dressed me up with a long, blue, decorated vest and put a hat on me. Then they played the song and I pounded the “Devil’s Violin” in good rhythm! There will probably be some good blackmail photographs making their way around in some emails in the near future! The dinner and entertainment were lovely ways to end a magnificent day!

On our walk back to the hotel, we chatted with Arkady (interpreter) and Wanda (German observer).

Conference - DAY 1

2009-12-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

No running today. It was pouring rain, windy, and about 35 degrees! I spent the morning just waking up and organizing my thoughts for the conference. I got a copy of the Polish version of the teacher's guide that we created during the summer. I had to coordinate page numbers of the Polish guide to what I was going to speak about so we could literally 'be on the same page!'

Larry Specht, my colleague from the AFT Foreign Affairs department, went to lunch with me before the conference began. We borrowed two umbrellas and made our way through Gdansk to the same little restaurant as yesterday. They speak English so it makes service and ordering much easier.

We met later in the conference room at our hotel. I had to work out some PowerPoint glitches and Internet worries, but all worked just fine. My little Charles County issued IBM Think Pad is performing in Poland like a pro! Who would have thought?

Monika introduced the President of Solidarity to open the conference. I didn't realize who this man was as he had just sauntered up to me before the conference started and shook hands. We sort of introduced ourselves in two languages that we didn't understand. The smile and the look in his eye were all that was necessary!

Larry then gave some background on AFT in America and the background of Civic Voices. Then it was my turn to train 25 Polish teachers how to use this program with their students. They were an excellent class. Dorota, my interpreter, did a great job staying with me all the way. We went through the first three parts of our guide. I gave them Freedom House maps and shared the World Digital Library and DemocracyWeb with them. They were VERY receptive! I finihed right on time and then we took a snack/late lunch break! Some of them speak English very well and we discussed Poland's neighbors, Belarus and Ukraine.

It was then the Polish teachers' turn to introduce themselves to everyone. Monika has already told them that we Americans are helping her make the decision as to which two of them will travel to the US in the spring for the next conference. So each one introduced themselves and told us of all the fantastic things they already do with their students to preserve the past and the memory of those who fought so hard against the Soviets (and the Nazis) for freedom in Poland! I was in awe of them as they are surrounded by the history of WW II and the Cold War. It was an honor just to be in the room as they told what they do in their schools. WOW!

Monika divided them into groups of five. Each will interview a Polish Civic Activist tomorrow! They immediately dove into preparing their questions and discussing who will ask the questions, who will monitor the camera, who will transcribe the words, etc. AS they discussed and planned, Monika and I pulled each group up to a table and went over the technical issues of using the FLIP cameras with the tripods. They were all so interested and ready to execute each task. I was so impressed with them. I was having a hard time immagining a group of American teachers going about this process with the same ferocity - but then there was that group that met over the summer at the Labor College. :)

Later we met to go out to dinner. A nearby reastaurant had prepared a smorgasboard of food - they called it Swedish, but most Americans equate smorgasboard with Norwegian. The food was great and I got to sit and talk with Dorota and Arkady, our two interpreters. They speak English so well. Wanda, from Berlin, is also an English speaking German that was with Civic Mosaic II this past summer and is here this week as an observer. We discussed Christmas traditions between Poland, Germany and the US. Such different ideas about Santa Claus!!

Larry and I were successful in piecing together a PowerPoint presentation for tomorrow. Each day, Monika has all the participants AND more guests for us to talk to about the project. So we don't want to sound redundant day after day. So we created something new! I think it will be just great! We used some of Deb's presentation (two maps) and pieced together some other slides that were translated into Polish! Very Sharp!

The rain has stopped and it's almost midnight NPT - Northern Polish Time. I'm going for a run tomorrow to the Old section of Gdansk as the sun rises tomorrow. It should be fantastic. I hope to upload some pictures of today's event soon.

Gdynia to Gdansk

2009-12-01T13:28:00.001-08:00

Sleep is good. However this is a working vacation in more ways than one. I love those students that are emailing me their homework assignments this week. Keep up the good work Westlake! This morning, before the run, sitting in Gdynia, Poland, I graded about 50 homework assignments from Waldorf, Maryland. Isn't the world a connected place! It seems as though any problem should be able to be solved because we have got the world communication system in place. What could possibly be holding us back? Yeah, I hear you making a list now....

The run this morning was interesting. I started in a planned community of nice middle class homes built near what we would call an industrial park. I ran next to a gated community of white brick McMansions and then into the town of Gdynia. Small narrow streets of almost row houses. It is definitely an industrial town. It may have been healthier to stay inside rather than subject my virgin lungs to the coal burning, diesel spewing, and smokey odors I was inhaling.

Monika was up and in a hurry to get to her office in Gdansk. So fast breakfast, fast shower, fast packing and stuff the car full of people and luggage! Then the terror starts... Monika is a poster child for how not to drive and talk on the cell phone! Oh yeah, it's a manual transmission as well. It's a good thing she didn't have a drink and a cigarette - then I know we would have crashed! I think we set some landspeed records between Gdynia and Gdansk! My knees are still shaking! :)

We arrived safely at the Solidarity office building and got a peak at her office. This is the place where the union began its push against the Soviets in the 70s and 80s. Over the next few days we will hear some of their stories and be amazed!

Our next hotel is very comfortable - Gryf Hotel. I unpacked for the next few days as the Civic Voices conference begins tomorrow! Larry and I took the recommendation of the hotel staff to go to a restaurant on the way to the old part of town- Swojski Smak. The city has a history of going back and forth between being German, Polish, Russian, and even a free city on its own! Lots of history here, even before the Soviets leave.

Larry and I checked out the old part of town. The architecture is amazing almost matching some cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen and other Baltic sites. We hit a cafe for dessert and hot drinks because it has been gray all day and the rain has steadily strengthened. Since it gets dark at 3:30 in the afternoon, it seems as the whole day is like a long evening!

Tomorrow our conference starts. 25 Polish teachers are coming to be trained for Civic Voices. Each will learn how to train their students to find civic activists from the 70s and 80s, interview them with video cameras, and upload the video and transcript to the Civic Voices Website. This will create (over the next few years) an International Democracy Memory Bank to be enjoyed, researched, and used by all those in the future who have a stake in democratic principles! I think the project is so special and profound. Deep implications lie here!

Training to Gdynia

2009-11-30T14:28:00.000-08:00

Today was all about traveling north to Gdynia. Gdynia is farther north of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea.
I got up at 8:00 and ran a couple of miles. From Soviet times, they built roads with wide walkways on either side of the streets for pedestrians. It makes a great place to run without knowing where you are. I started at the hotel near the CADILLAC dealer - who would have guessed that GM is selling Caddies to Poles? I run towards the center of Warsaw and return. It makes life easy...EXCEPT that I had one of those Soviet moments. I have heard of a movie that Russians watch on New Year's Eve about a bunch of guys who get drunk and decide to play a joke on one their more inebriated fellows. They put him on a train and send him to a different city. He doesn't notice. He gets off the train at what he thinks is his stop. He doesn't notice anything is wrong. He walks to his apartment building (they all look the same all over Russia from Soviet times). He doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He takes the elevator to his flat, goes in and crashes until the next morning....all in the wrong city that looks the same as all the other cities.
Well, there are two hotels in Warsaw that look exactly the same. When I came back from my run yesterday, I went to the wrong one. I didn't notice anything was different. I took the elevator up to my floor. I looked for my room, but couldn't find the right number in the right place. It was good I hadn't had anything to drink that morning. So, it finally dawned on me that I must be in the wrong place. But for a minute I was reliving that movie which is entitled, "The Irony of Fate". Some day I will actually get a copy and watch it. It probably isn't funny with subtitles anyway!

The breakfast room was empty of people this morning. The conference was over and they all must have gone back home to work on Monday (today). So we had the breakfast buffet to ourselves.

I packed and got ready to leave for the train station. We taxied to the station around noon. We bought sandwiches, snacks, and water at the station. The train was about 15 minutes late and we had a struggle getting all of our luggage in our compartment. One lady with less luggage found another empty compartment so that we could have room for all of our luggage. The train was slow and showed mostly farmland of northern Poland. It got dark at 4:00 and then I continued reading the next hundred pages of The Last Symbol. Monika's dad and boyfriend were waiting to help us with our luggage and to drive us to Monika's home. I rode wtih Vyshek (sp?) who spoke no English. He did speak a little Russian so we attempted to converse with a smattering of Russian. That didn't last very long, much to my dismay. Use it or lose it. I think I've lost much of what I had learned!

Monika lives on the outskirts of the town of Gdynia. She has a lovely little house where she lives with her 16 year old daughter, Magda and her 7-year-old son. Her father had prepared a dinner of turkey casserole with peaches - it was very good - potatoes, a ham and pasta salad, and homemade vodka in two varieties! We spent the evening watching a Polish-made film that received an Oscar nomination last year about the Katyn Forest Masssacre of Poles by the Soviets at the beginning of WW II. THE saddest story of the war possibly, because even after the war, the truth was buried - literally - and the Soviets tried to blame it on the Germans. Great film, excellent actors, very graphic ending of course. Film called "Katyn".

Monika was very pleased to show us the banner that she had made for our conference and the signs and posters that she will post outside the conference room. Civic Voices is proudly displayed with all the countries partaking in the program! Nice!

Warsaw is Wonderful!

2009-11-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

It was a lovely day in Warsaw! I went for a run this morning before breakfast. The shower is wonderful, hot and I used it for an extended session! Breakfast in the hotel is buffet, but filled with veggies, cheeses, meats and other mystery things. They did have yogurt, and bread, and hard-boiled eggs that made it pretty good! Something like orange juice (like tang +) was availble and then I found the tea station which was in a different place than the coffee. All in all a good breakfast.

We spent about an hour and a half this morning getting Monika(Polish Coordinator of Civic Voices) to review just what she had planned at the conference. We hammered out all four days and it sounds like it will be a dynamic conference. She has already translated the guide (107 pages) and is very familiar with all of its parts. So as soon as we discussed the schedule it was easy to make sure that she include important parts that were important to me. She is very organized and I will fill you in as it happens.

We took the bus downtown (like I did in Russia in 07 - nicer busses, less people crammed on them). We walked in the main park in Warsaw where a sculpture of Chopin sitting under a willow tree is a central point of interest. The kings of Poland lived in the palaces and buildings on these grounds. We tried to catch a concert in one of the halls, but we were too late.

We visited the museum dedicated to the Warsaw uprising during WW II in August of 1944. It is a wonderful museum with excellent displays and English descriptions of everything. Propaganda films made by the Poles during the uprising were shown - very helpful in understanding just what happened and where it happened exactly. Of course, the Germans finally cracked down and then a year later, the Russians defeated the Germans and took over Warsaw and Poland. Sad history. We had coffee, soup, and apple cake at the cafe in the museum. I just partook of a mocha coffee.

After the museum, we once again headed to the Christmas Market in the old square. I exchanged some money and bought some Christmas presents! We sampled some baked goodies being cooked. I took a video of a musical group playing Polish folk tunes- they reminded me of the pictures of my dad in the Ooompah band with Austrian garb. We caught dinner at a restaurant away from the square - too crowded near the square. I had beef steak, french fries, and a salad. Red wine and water was good. After dinner we went back to our favorite little cafe for hot drinks and desserts. This time I ordered Cinnamon flavored black tea and a dessert called Chocolate Temptation - chocolate, vanilla, and coffee-whiskey flavored ice creams with various toppings and whipped cream - luscious!

The same cab driver as the night before took us to a lot of points of interest. So much to see, so little time. When I arrived back to my room at the hotel, my room key would not work again. So we had to go back to the desk and have them re-scan it.

Tomorrow, we head to the train station at noon and head to Gadinia, a suburb of Gdansk. The train ride will take 6 hours to get to Gadinia. Monika lives there and her father is cooking dinner for us. Her mother makes homemade vodka and we look forward to that! I think we will be staying at her home for the night.

At 52 degrees latitude, Warsaw gets light around 7:00 am. By 4:00 in the afternoon it is already getting dark. We will be traveling north which means that there will be even less light. It is dark in Poland, but not because of previous invaders and Soviet communist ways. Warsaw is a hustling, bustling, positive place! A lot of energy is seen everyhwere you look!

Out and about in Warsaw

2009-11-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Memories of my last trip to Warsaw are flooding my brain as we walked downtown this evening. We ate typical Polish cuisine at a restaurant called Zgoda. Pork hand (ham) with mustard and horseradish, tongue with sauce, duck with sauce. All had some sort of potatoes with dinner. We had two soups: borscht and egg + sausage. There was a salad bar with typical Polish salads and cucumber and pickled dishes. Vodka was served as well! We walked down to the old part of the city with its beautiful classical styled buildings and churches. We shopped at the old square where vendors sold everything from jewelry and crafts to breads and sweets and honey. The temperature was chilly, probably bordering on freezing with a light breeze. We stopped in a coffee shop and finished the evening with coffee and hot chocolate (more like hot fudge with whipped cream with cinnamon - yum!) Our taxi driver went out of his way (higher fare?) to give us a tour of interesting sights of Warsaw after dark. Dark comes early at this latitude. Sleep will come quickly as jet lagged brain is ready for any rest at all. Tomorrow to the Uprising museum, parks, and palaces of Warsaw!

Flying to Warsaw, Poland

2009-11-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

A Friday night flight from Dulles International was very UNcrowded on the day after Thanksgiving. Our flight was full, but fairly comfortable. We stopped over in Frankfurt, Germany and had a two hour lay over before continuing on to Warsaw. The 737 was about 3/4 full and I had three seats to myself.
Larry and I arrived in Warsaw, collected our bags, and met Monika, the head of the teachers' union here in Poland, tied in to Solidarity. We haven't discussed our conference yet, but it sounds like it is well organized.

We took a "Happy Cab" taxi (American made Dodge van)to our hotel which was holding another conference. The hotel staff was a bit overwhelmed and two of our three room keys and assignments were botched. We changed rooms and got several chances to ride the elevators which are better than some Russian elevators but not as good as western. A door had to be opened, like a room door, to enter. When you get to your floor, if you don't push the door open manually, the elevator simply goes back down. I am now an expert in operating hotel elevators in Poland!

Tonight's plans include a "Polish" restaurant (imagine!) and a stroll through downtown markets! Shopping! Anything we can do to improve the economic crisis!

So far, Warsaw is wonderful! Just like I remember three years ago, Poland is a great country full of friendly and lively people who are ready to help and be of assistance to Americans far away from home. Looking forward to sleeping and beating the jet lag situation! Until tomorrow...

July 26th: New York City to Mechanicsville!

2007-08-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

We landed at JFK and stood in long lines that really didn't take that long. I picked up my bags and headed out of the claim area to find..... no one waiting for me!! I went outside, no one. I cruised around a few hallways...but my wife was nowhere to be found. I called her cell phone from a pay phone because there was no reception in the terminal. So I found a seat near where all the people from my flight were slowly coming out. The man that sat quietly next to me for 10 hours came out and was looking for his daughter. He sat down next to me and we began a rather late conversation for two people who probably won't ever have any more contact. It turns out that he was waiting for his American daughter and that he was a physics professor at the U of Moscow. His university had started a special high school in Moscow just for higher math and science. They had tried to make some connections with American high schools, but had not been successful. I told him about my experiences and videoconferencing with Russian students in Penza. We exchanged emails and will try to connect this fall! Obviously, we should have started talking in Moscow and we would have had lots to talk about for 10 hours! His daughter came around the corner and we were introduced like we were old friends. She said that a lot of people were waiting in area C - our flight was exiting from area A. I went to area C and found my wife and my brother who were waiting for me to arrive at the wrong gate! Welcome to America!

We trained and subwayed to Penn Station. We went to the Hampton Inn in Manhattan. And then.....DINNER in AMERICA!!! The most amazing thing happened at a nice deli/restautant in Manhattan. The deli serves cucumbers and pickels for a snack/appetizer to everyone - Russians had cucumbers with everything! They also gave each of us a small dish of cole slaw. Now, what is slaw made of????? CABBAGE!!!! And then, the waitress comes to get drink orders. Her name was Iryna and her accent was definitely from somewhere in Russia!!! It is hard to leave Russia, especially when coming to NYC!!! Well, I had a Philly cheesesteak with onions and mushrooms, kethcup, fries, and all the ICED TEA I wanted to drink!! It was wonderful to be back the US of A!!

My wife, Judy, and I went to Ground Zero the next day and saw one big construction site. They were definitely in the foundation mode for the new building. Not much history to see. We took the subway north and took a tour of the United Nations. The Broadway shows we wanted to see had no seats together so we went out to dinner again and just relaxed.

The next morning, we took the Acela train to the BWI airport stop. Judy's sister and brother-in-law picked us up and took us to their house where Judy had left our car. We drove home, picked up our daughter Megan and promptly went out to OUTBACK for a great steak and shrimp dinner. It was great to be back home!!

July 25th: Education in Penza/back to Moscow

2007-08-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Sleeping in is one of my favorite things to do, especially during the summer months. My students always complain that I am way too perky in the morning. The secret is out: it's the only way I can be ready to teach that early in the morning. I am so agreeable to my students who want to sleep in and start school later. Studies show....not now.

We took the mini-van to down-town Penza and went to the floral shop. Svetlana thought it would be a good idea to take flowers when we visit their boss, Marina S.! When we got to her office (air-conditioned - yes!) S gave me the flowers and ushered me through the door towards Marina. Marina had visited the US in the spring and had been to dinner at my house, so I wasn't a total stranger. However, I wasn't aware that I would be giving the flowers. But, flowers do amazing things to people when they are given as gifts - smiles, hugs, laughing - S knew what she was doing!!

We sat down with tea and sweets and discussed our two school systems and our connections through relationships and with videoconferencing! They wanted to expand that line of communication! I said it would not be a problem (my own BOE is struggling to get it together this week) and we could expand forthwith! I spoke in front of a video camera for a video that they wanted to show their social studies teachers at the beginning of the school year. It was an incredible meeting and visit!

We went to lunch at the BierHaus, a lovely restaurant in the heart of Penza. I ordered a salad and an entree thinking of all the tiny little salads I've eaten in the last month. The salad was as big as the entree and I made a bit of a pig of myself. Dessert was fantastic as well! Chocolate is always good. Is there anyone in the world who doesn't like at least one kind of chocolate?

I packed at the flat and Igor picked us up in his 4x4 Lada again. This time to the train station. K and I shared a compartment with two total strangers, but they were very friendly. Sleeping on the train again was not a problem for me! We arrived in Moscow at 8:20 and our cab driver was waiting for us. Again, K was the master of logistics in Moscow! He went and fetched my big suitcase that we had stowed days earlier, went to the cab. We were worried that I would not make it to the airport in time, but the cab driver assured us that the big traffic was coming IN the city and we were on the way OUT. We arrived at the airport almost three hours before my flight! I took some time to even out the weight in my bags and then waited in several slow lines to have my bags checked. Packed the bags again and went to the check in. I didn't even show them my ticket - the passport number is entered and the computer knows that I have a ticket!
Another passport check. Another carry-on luggage search. Russian security seems a little more extreme than the US. Every two gates has a waiting area that you cannot leave once you enter and go through the metal detectors. As I was waiting, an American started a conversation and we found that he lives in NJ right across the Delaware from where I grew up in PA - small world! The flight was fairly enjoyable. I sat next to a man, a Russian, and I didn't think he spoke English. So there were no conversations on this flight. Ipod, movies, food and drink....home is coming soon!

July 24th: Back to Lermontov's Estate

2007-08-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

It was great to sleep in! A driver named Anatoly picked us up at 11:00 and we were on our way to Mikhail Lermontov's estate. Lermontov is Russia's 2nd most famous poet behind Pushkin. Lermontov lived in the generation after Pushkin, early to mid-19th century. The road seemed smoother than I remember three years ago. But now we are riding in a Volga and not a cargo van. Anatoly, our driver for the day, was a smooth machina operator! Passing on Russian two-lane highways takes some finess. There are basically three lanes. One on the right, one on the left, and one gray area in the middle for passing. When you do pass, it is expected that oncoming traffic will give you enough room to pass. Lines on the highways are not as defined as they are in the US. The drive to Lermontov's took a little over an hour, still in Penza region.

We toured all the buildings except the private chapel, which was being renovated. We liesurely walked around the grounds and enjoyed the weather. It is a quiet place, good for writing poetry! We had a meal at the kitchen which provided us with a 19th century meal. AND, we had pie for dessert! Pie in Russia isn't like pie in America. The pie was mostly bread, circular in shape, but the inside was filled with.......CABBAGE! My sweet tooth wanted to scream! I was thinking sweet apple pie, maybe blueberry pie, or strawberry pie...but not cabbage!!

We arrived back in the city of Penza around 7:00 and went shopping at a new store reminiscent of Wal-Mart. It had an entire grocery store on one side and a warehouse side for non-edible goods on the other. It was a fairly new store and was in walking distance to their flat. Dinner was great again...red caviar!! Although I am not a fan, I learned how to eat it properly the Russian way....bread....butter....and a half inch thick smear of caviar!! K and S discussed a lot educational possibilities with our new videoconferencing scheme!

Monday, July 23: Moscow with Konstantin

2007-08-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

I was up at 6:00 am and helped get some suitcases on the bus. I ate a last breakfast in Moscow with my fellow Fulbrighters. I said my goodbyes to all of them as they went to the airport to catch an early afternoon flight to NYC. After they left, I was alone in Moscow! I was alone in Moscow for nearly two hours - it's kind of scarey!! Konstantin, my exchange teacher from Penza, met me a little earlier than our agreed time in the lobby of the Vega Hotel. It was a joyful reunion! I have seen him several times in the US in the past few years, but this is the only time that I have been back to Russia! We then embarked on a luggage logistics exercise designed to get rid of my luggage at all the right places so it would be there when I returned to Moscow for my flight in three days! We took my large suitcase and put it in a locker at the train station (we would be coming back to Moscow on the train). We then placed my other suitcase at another train station, the one that we will take to the airport in the evening. After we had secured the big pieces of luggage, we were free to see the rest of Moscow! All of this was done by taking the Moscow metro all over the place!!

The first place we went was Gorky Park. I had always heard of it, but had never been there. Before we went there, we went to an outside park full of statues from the Soviet period. Some of these statues were very interesing. One statue was of Felix Derzshinsky, the founder of the secret police in the Soviet Union. I thought I would not see any statues of him since they tore one down in 1991 in front of the Lubyanka, KGB place of terror and execution. Gorky Park was like a small Central Park in NYC. It was a relaxing place with amusements, ponds, fountains, and cafes.

An interesting side activity involved Konstantin signing papers at a nearby realtor's office. He is in the process of buying a flat for his daughter, Marina. He told me some great stories of how difficult this buying process was. He had bought a flat in his home town last year. This year he sold it for double what he had paid for it! This gave him some down payment cash to make it easier to secure his daughter's flat. Marina has said that if you have a flat in Moscow, you have arrived!

We lunched at My My (pronounced Moo Moo). This chain of restaurants has a cow theme similar to our Chik-Filets in the US. The restaurant was really a big buffet with many things to choose from.

We metroed to Red Square and walked the Alexander Gardens adjacent to the Kremlin. Beautiful flowers were well in bloom. July is prettier than April in Russia!

K and I took a speedier train from Moscow to Domodedovo airport. It was as nice as any airport in the west. We were bussed to our little Aeroflot jet on the tarmac. We entered the jet from the rear. Our luggage was loaded in the back of the plane in a big cargo net. There were no reserved seats. First come, first served. K had movies on his blackberry, so we watched most of the movie 'Hero,' each of us with an earphone on the tiny screen! Smooth take-off and a smooth landing - nice! We reached Penza by 10:30 pm. Svetlana, K's wife met us at the airport. Igor drove us to K's flat in his 4x4 LADA. A late night dinner was prepared by Svetlana! Wonderful salad, meat, cheese, olives, AND..........MINT ICED TEA......with ICE CUBES! As E.B. declared with his beer earlier in the trip, "It was a beautiful moment!" I later would tell K that having iced tea with ice cubes in Russia, "Blew me away!" Translation = It was a very pleasant surprise! Sweets, hot tea, and toasts with cognac! Bed in another living room in a flat in Russia! But, this was not your usual day in Russia! Thanks to Konstantin and Svetlana, my very good friends in Penza, Russia! They are the BEST!

Saturday, July 21: Kremlin Tour/Red Square

2007-08-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

We toured the Kremlin with its Cathedrals, Walls, Bell Tower, Tsarbell, Tsargun (largest cannon), Government buildings, and Towers. Troops marched in the kremlin as a band played. I saw a soldier with a falcon on his leather-bound hand that was used to keep the pigeons away. We toured through the Kremlin Museum. Peter's boots, Catherine's dresses. Crowns of the tsars and fancy carriages of the tsars. Faberge eggs and gold and silver and pearls. I took pictures in here three years ago. Now it is forbidden to take any pictures at all. A small group of us went to Red Square, Gym (pronounced goom), the fancy mall next to Red Square, and took pictures of St. Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's tomb. We walked to an Italian restaurant set up as a cafe on a traffic-less street near Red Square. I had what was the closest thing to a pepperoni pizza I could find on the menu - not bad. But, $3.50 for a small 10 ounce bottle of Coke Light!! We metroed to our hotel for the evening.

Friday, July 20th: Moscow

2007-08-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

I have written about some of my experiences in Moscow in previous blogs due to the availability of computers and Internet Cafes. These blogs may be brief, but complement the earlier efforts. The computers in our hotel (Hotel Vega) had Internet capability, but not all of them worked all of the time. When I did log on, they worked very well. One night, I blogged and worked on answering emails from the hotel next to ours which had many more computers and worked very well.

On Friday morning, our train arrived in Moscow at 7:00 am pretty much on time. We boarded a bus with all of our luggage and went to the Vega Hotel which is in the Ismalovo area in NE Moscow. I got a shower and left with the group for a dicussion with a non-profit group called New Eurasia Foundation. This group wanted to help Russia realize its social and educational potential. We listened to their stories and their progress. We discussed our observations in Vladimir and Murom and came to the conclusion that there was still a LOT to be done to raise the social and educational potential of Russia and Russians.

On return, I went shopping at the big flea market close to our hotel with a bunch from our group. I bought a shawl for my daughter as a Christmas present. Even if she reads this she won't know what color or design is on it....or will she be able to guess? I used Nina's cell phone to call Marina Ulanova, the daughter of my Russian exchange teacher from Penza. She lives in Moscow and is employed by the Ministry of Agriculture as an interpreter. Marina met me at the hotel and took me to a fabulous restaurant near downtown Moscow, the Pushkin Cafe. Fantastic dinner! $40 entrees! $5 bottles of water! $10 drinks! $10 salads! $4 scoop of ice cream! $4 cup of tea! Did somebody say this city is expensive??

Thursday, July 19th: Pushkin/Catherine I Summer Palace

2007-08-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

We bussed to the town of Pushkin which was just outside the line where the Germans had surrounded St. Petersburg. We first went to the summer palace of Catherine I, Peter the Great's wife. In later years it would be called Tsarkoe Seloe or Tsar's Village. The palace was extraordinary! It was like a mini-Versailles! This palace was actually even more impressive as we learned that the Germans had burned most of the palace out and what we were seeing was the restoration from the last 50 years! The Amber room was the most impressive as everything inside the room was cut and decorated with amber! Each of the other rooms were decorated with gold leaf and mirrors were used extensively to capture as much light as possible. The ball room was extravagant. It reminded me of Versailles on a smaller scale!

Very close to the summer palace was another palace that was not open to tourists or even important hostorians and teachers like us. Alexander I's palace was yellow (the summer palace of Catherine was blue) and was important more than being lived in by the defeater of Napoleon! Alexander Palace, as it is called, was the 'holding cell' for the royal family of Nicholas II in 1917 and 1918 before they were shipped off to the middle of the country to a town called Ekaterinburg. There in 1918, they were murdered, all shot to death in the basement, by the Bolsheviks to show that there was no going back to a tsarist reign. As I have written, the tsar's family's remains have been identified and reburried in the Cathedral on Peter and Paul Fortress with all 0f the other tsars from Peter to Alexander III, Nicholas' father.

On the way back to town, we stopped at the Memorial to the Defenders of Leningrad (WW II), a very moving memorial. On the top level, there is a circle that reminds them of the 900 days and 900 nights that St. Petersburg was surrounded by the Germans. There is a very tall obelisk with the years 1941 - 1945 on it. Farther out from the circle are two groups of statues of soldiers from the Great Patriotic War (what Russians call WW II). Underneath the circle is a museum complete with artifacts and a film without sound made of documentary material showing some of the hardships Leningraders had to deal with during the siege. Very emotional and educational!!

Nadia, our guide in St. Pete and Moscow from the American Home in Vladimir, took us to SUBWAY for dinner. It was the fastest way for us to eat, get to the show (Folk Music), and not have to stop before getting to the train to Moscow at the appropriate time! The folk music show was great. I had seen the same show three years earlier and was impressed then! Lots of singing, typical Russian dancing with the leg kicking, balalaikas, bayans!

At 11:00 in the evening (it's St. Petersburg 62 degrees north) it was still light as we boarded the train that would take us to Moscow!

Wednesday, July 18th: Peterhof and the Russian Museum!

2007-08-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at the hotel buffet is fantastic compared to Murom's breakfasts, but I can see that the buffet would start to get old if we stayed a long time. We left at 10:00 for Peterhof, Peter the Great's palace 28 kilometers outside the city. Peterhof is impressive for its many fountains, over 150 of them. The palace overlooks the Gulf of Finland and has a 'canal' built right up to the palace lined with fountains. The fountains are propelled not by electrical pumps - no electricity in Peter's time - but by gravity. There must have been some smart engineers on the scene to make all of these fountains work without modern day pumps. They are beautiful!

We came back to the city and toured the Russian Museum - everything Russian! We had a fanatastic tour guide that shared the stories behind many of the paintings.

Dinner at the hotel with the same buffet, different night! Most of our group attended the ballet. I chose not to spend the money as I had been to the small Bolshoi in Moscow three years ago. I attempted the Internet Cafe again, but blogger still refused to post my blogs! So being the party animal that I am, I got myself some Nestea, went back to the hotel and watched the only channel in English, the BBC!

Tuesday, July 17th in St. Petersburg

2007-08-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

I was up by 8:30 for our buffet breakfast - no more typical Russian breakfasts - at least until I get to Penza! We all met at 9:30 to board the bus for our day in St. Petersburg! We stopped briefly at the Smolny Catherdral which looked more like a western cathedral than a Russian Orthodox one. It was colored in a stark blue color along with the other buildings around it. Most of them are used as offices today. The Cathedral is only used once in a while for special concerts and events.

We traveled to Peter and Paul Fortress, the fort that was built first in St. Petersburg before the rest of the city began to be built. We were able to tour the inside of the Cathedral there which is definitely of western designs with a very tall steeple. Inside the cathedral are all the tsars of Russia, their bodies entombed in marble sarcophagi (sp?) all across the floor of the church. There was a special room for the most recently interred tsar and his family, Nicholas II, whose remains were identified recently and brought here in a special ceremony with the old flag of the Romanovs. It is an interesting move on Russia's part to make the history come full circle. Much of what Russia deals with is righting (and writing) the past so that it is closer to the truth and not a pack of lies and propaganda.

We took a fabulous boat tour of the Neva River and many a canal. What a great way to see the city! Again we came upon the Church of the Spilled Blood. What a magnificent sight! From the water, we viewed the Winter Palace, Michael's Castle, Peter and Paul Fortress, and many a low bridge over the canals. After docking, we lunched at the Hermitage Museum before embarking on a tour. A few of us decided to stay until closing and seek out fabulous art work by Monet, Picasso, and van Gogh, among many others. Some of us dined at an outdoor cafe on Nevsky Prospect - good salad and shashlik (chicken/ myasa!). We walked down Nevsky Prospect stopping at book stores and an ice creamery. I actually paid 20 rubles to use the bathroom in a nice mall off of the street. Somebody had said something about the water here...it may have been something else I ate!

I used an Internet Cafe (a few dollars for an hour) to blog, but it wasn't posting my blogs. I gave up early and went to the hotel and sleep!

Monday, July 16th: Train to St. Petersburg

2007-08-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

There's something about sleeping on a train. The constant movement makes it very easy for me to sleep. This was not the case for everyone else. As we left the train, some of our Americans were noticebly ready for some R + R. Breakfast on the train was not like I remember on the train three years ago from Penza to Moscow. Today's breakfast was tea, a small package of cookies and a small wrapper of chocolate. It could be worse... We had pulled in 15 minutes late after hearing stories of derailments in the area. It must not have affected us. Took a van to the Moscow Hotel which catered to foreign tourists. So in less than 24 hours, we went from Murom, the town visited farthest east (a bit rustic in its accomodations), back to Vladimir (not bad for its accomodations), to St. Petersburg with all the accomodations that westerners expect in a modern hotel. The restaurant downstairs had a huge buffet filled with any kind of salad you can imagine, many kinds of meats and potatoes, fruit, drinks, and desserts! We toured the city by bus. The first stop was very sobering - the huge cemetary where thousands are buried unidentified in mass graves marked only by the year: 1942, 1943, 1944, the years of the Nazi siege that killed or starved on average a thousand Leningraders a day for 900 days. Yes, that would get you near a million people that perished in WW II just from the city of Leningrad!! Americans don't have the same perspective on WW II (The Great Patriotic War in Russia) as the Russians do. Nobody attacked the US mainland and killed 30 million of our people!! So everywhere, the Russian state acknowlegdes the sacifices made during WW II. It is why all weddings take a visit to a memorial or special site to pay their respects to those who served and gave their lives during the war against the fascist invaders.

We visited Pushkin Square, the Church of the Spilled Blood, a Russian Orthodox service as it was in session during worship. We ate dinner at the hotel, walked Nevsky Prospect (main drag), drank Nestea (Swiss Nestle Corporation has a huge investment in Russia), and to sleep with curtains closed to keep out the light of 'white nights' in St. Petersburg. Being the largest city above 60 degrees latitude, the sun never really fully sets in the summer months. So to get the most sleep possible, it is important to close those curtains. At midnight, you can still see quite a bit across the city. By 4:00 am, the sun is up and shining! Imagine this city in January - only a few quality hours of sunshine per day! Winter must be tough to live with. This may explain some of the reasons why Russians seem to people of extremes - dark, brutal winters and bright, beautiful summers!

July 15th: Murom to Vladimir to St. Petersburg

2007-08-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

This the front of the Murom Institute, affiliated with the Vladimir University, on the morning of the 15th of July. Irena, my hostess, came to see me off. It has been a short visit, but memorable for many reasons. Irena, an English professor at the Institute was a great hostess. She, her sister Elena, and her daughter Dasha were very gracious and willing to put up with an American for a few days. I enjoyed discussing many a topic at Elena's flat. They are very proud of their accomplishments in and out of the classroom and the piano studio.

On that morning, I was up for zaftrak at 8:00. They had bought me exactly what I wanted for breakfast: Strawberry yogurt, bananas, and tea! Thank you, Irena! We ended up waiting an hour longer than we thought for the bus to come and load our luggage. Long goodbyes are not easy. Post 9/11 goodbyes in airports have been made shorter due to security checks. Goodbyes on busses and trains seem to be too long for words and are a little uncomfortable at times. Such was the case today with the bus and later the train to St. Petersburg. It was a two hour bus ride back to Vladimir for the afternoon. We ate lunch at a tractir (bar/restaurant) that we had not been to before. It was excellent! Thanks to Alexei! When we arrived "home" at the American Home, Galya said that I should go "home" to Olesya's flat. So I took the bus one more time to the flat I had stayed in for two weeks. We had tea, sweets and exchanged even more gifts - shot glasses made in nearby Gus- Krystalny and a sand painting done by Olga! It was nice to relax during the afternoon. We took the taxi back to the AH for our last supper in Vladimir, a pot luck of sorts. There were more gifts and presentations with vodka. We walked to the train station and said many goodbyes. We boarded the train and were on our way to St. Petersburg. Vladimir had been an amazing place to call home for two weeks. My host family, the Mayorovs, were the best possible Russian family for me to stay with. They weren't just hosting, they were 'family!'

In the picture, Olesya, Olga, and Alex surround me in front of the flower garden behind the American Home. Olesya, the English teacher, made my stay so incredible! I hope that Olga remembers the American states I taught her with a map of the US and lots of US quarters from each state! Alex, the independent truck driver, was so easy going and welcomed me into his home like a best friend. I challenged him to be able to own his own trucking company in the years to come. It could happen!! Thanks for a great visit to your wonderful city!

Saturday, July 14th in Murom!

2007-08-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

I was up at 8:00, had tea, and reported to the Institute for zaftrak - not very exciting. We then walked to another building used for the university for a roundtable discussion about education. The discussion boiled down to the fact that it is very difficult to afford a college education in Russia. What used to be free is becoming costly. Graduates in education also find that when they graduate, they find that teachers are not well paid. $1,000 - 3,000 PER YEAR is the range of teacher salary for most Russian teachers. Some had graduated with a sociology degree and were paid even less than teachers. Their hearts are huge for helping and teaching others, but they cannot survive on such small salaries. I felt embarrassed to think of how much I make as a teacher and yet when I get my paycheck, I always think that tripling it would not be enough!!

Lunch today at the Institute was surprisingly edible! Chicken breast stuffed with prunes sounds odd, but was pretty good. We went back to the same room for more discussions about education, mostly centered around the Americans in our group and the American educational system. We stayed in the same room for an amazing concert! A soprano soloist sang wonderful Russian songs accompanied by another piano built in Vladimir! A cellist also shared some very nice old Russian melodies. But the show-stopper was a 15-year-old pianist who blew us away! She was preparing for some judgment coming soon. She played flawlessly! Absolutely amazing! She played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, not the slow easy second movement that is recognized by most, but the first movement which is exciting and incredibly difficult! She also played Rachmaninoff and Kachiturian (sp?) which were splendid!

Our farewell dinner at the Institute was very nice! Wine, salad, a small pot of pork and potatoes, and - a special cake. We toasted our hosts and bid a fond farewell to Murom!

In the evening, Irena, Elena, and I walked and bussed to the Fire Department of Murom! I had more t-shirts, patches, and hats to give as gifts and possible exchange. Two women and an American were not the usual visitors to the fire department. But after we discussed why we were there and started passing out gifts, the tone of the men changed quickly. I remembered to bring the special year book from my home fire department. Pictures from an American fire department made it easy to compare and contrast without too many language barriers. They went scurrying like those in Vladimir and came back with a Russian fire-fighter hat and three patches from their uniforms. One semi-triangular patch for each shoulder and small circular patch for the chest. Giving gifts is an amazing ice-breaker for foreigners! It causes the personal walls to give way for at least a few moments. It was like, at least for a few minutes, that we all had something in common as human beings. We weren't Russians and Americans, we were all humans who had the same interest in keeping people safe on some level. I had doubts about this exchange. Irena had looked very apprehensive about even attempting the visit. But this was a very successful 15 minute exchange!

At home that evening, our last together in Murom, we shared tea, sweets, AND I made cream of crab soup for everyone. It was a little taste of Southern Maryland from a can! Everyone tried some, even Dasha, the 13-year-old! We talked until late comparing and contrasting our lives in two very different countries. Elena got her last chance to take notes to share with her friends at school! It's an interesting feeling discussing American things with someone taking notes down, sometimes furiously, about life as you know it. Life as they know it is definitely on a different level!

2007-08-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

This is Ilya Morametz, great defender of Russia! Namesake of the city of Murom! Legendary warrior for the early Russian state! This statue overlooks the River Oka and is the centerpiece of Murom. We have heard his story many times from many historians. And what a story it is!

Murom: July 13th

2007-08-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was up at 8:00. The room is darker and the sunlight doesn't get through to wake me. I can now ask, "Moozhna Ya Doosch?" (May I shower?) And they actually know what I am asking! The funny part is that Irena always answers me in English! I had compote, tea, and fruit before going to the Institute for breakfast - ugh!

We heard the legend of St. Peter and Fevronia - miracle - they were buried together - true love! We heard a report on economic development in Murom -getting better very slowly. We then heard the legend of Ilya Morametz. Lunch - ugh!

Later in the afternoon we visited the Crafts and Culture Center. They shared a wonderful show of crafts, traditional dress and folklore with folk music. Fabulous! We then boarded a boat on the river Oka. The trip was pleasant with all the sights down the river. Dinner - ugh!

At home we watched the movie, "Catch Me If You Can". I attempted to make brownies by adding too much water. It overflowed in the oven! AHHHH!!!! I think Elena was ready to throw me out of the flat! But she watched it and saved it! When she served it, it was actually edible! We then talked and answered Elena's questions until midnight!

Murom on the 12th of July

2007-08-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

I was up at 7:15 and did not get the feeling that running here in the morning would be easy. So I spent my time getting to know how to use a new bathroom in Russia. The toilet is always in a room by itself. The sink and tub are in a separate room. This flat had a window from the kitchen to the bathroom and a window from the bathroom to the toilet room. These windows are all high on the wall and not that big, but it was a bit annoying. I shaved and showered with HOT WATER! Lucked out again!

I was provided with compote (fruit drink) at home before going to the Institute for breakfast.

We heard a lecture about the history of Murom, one of the oldest cities in Russia! We watched two videos on Murom, one by professionals and one created by English students.

Lunch was not very exciting - bread and water are the best bet at the Institute. We walked to the river on the hottest day yet in Russia. It felt like it was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. There was an amusement part there and the imposing statue of Ilya Morametz. Toured the historical museum with many icons and Murom through the ages. The museum was the former house of the inventor of television, at least that's how the Russian story goes.

Dinner at the Institute was fried fish and not very edible for me! At home we watched an American movie: "School of Rock". Irena asked questions about different American sayings and slang. We talked until late. Elena has a lot of questions and takes notes about all my answers. Apparently, she will have a lot of great discussions with her fellow teachers in the fall!

Our trip to Murom!

2007-08-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Events of July 11th:

Up at 7:00. Ran later than usual so there were more people and more cars. They don't stop for you when you want to keep your run going. They force you to run even faster - so you don't become road kill!

I had my last breakfast in Vladimir! SAD. But those strawberries are fantastic! I took the bus, as usual, to the American Home with my small bag of luggage. The big bag stayed in Vladimir until returning from Murom.

We had a class on things that were surprising to foreigners in Russia! This class could have gone on for a while. There are a great deal of surprising things here in Russia. Every day is full of surprising things!!

A press conference was held in the back yard and we discussed the role of the press in Russia today. A radio station and a TV station were represented. (We heard later that we made the news in Vladimir, although we never saw ourselves on TV). We ate lunch at the next door Traktir, filled out our evaluation forms. Downstairs, Alexei had organized a slide show of all of us as we trekked through Russia the last two weeks! Lots of pictures! We toasted with vodka and boarded the bus to Murom.

I met Irena Tolkachova and walked to her flat, a five minute walk. She and her older sister, Elena, served dinner with salads, bread, meat, potatoes, tea, cake. Elena played the piano extremely well - she had taught piano for 30 years!! Irena sang along on some songs. I hummed along a little, but most songs were not familiar. The TV is on all the time here. In two weeks in Vladimir, the TV was only on for 2 hours! I shared pictures of my family and trips around the US with map. I presented gifts, brochures, pens and was in bed by 11:00.

Filling in the holes!

2007-08-04T19:22:00.001-07:00

Events of July 10th:

It rained all night and rained all day! There was a CRASH sound near midnight which sounded like a car had crashed nearby. There were excited voices and other vehicles approaching quickly, but I could not see it. (The next day there was auto glass broken all over a walkway - another day there was a report of a stolen vehicle. ???)

No running this morning in the rain. Zaftrak was tea, strawberries, cheese, kleb.

We had a class on food and words dealing with things around the table.

We visited a dentist's office that has been a private dentist and has been open for 11 years. Since they offer better service than the state-run dentists, people are willing to pay for that better service! They have thrived! Private Medical Enterprise in Russia!

We visited an open air market with all kinds of fresh cut meats some cut with a BROAD AXE!! All the red meat, chicken, pork, and fish you could imagine. Some of the sights and smells were a bit on the not-so-pleasant side of things. In another building, there was another open air market filled with fruits, spices, nuts, veggies. Great smells here!

We also visited a photography studio, specializing in portraits for special people and for those who could afford it - the wealthy and the connected!

To eat lunch today, we had to buy our own food on a scavenger hunt with the goal to build an American style sandwich for all to eat. Dierdre, Audrey, Katia, and I took off and tried to figure just what kind of sandwich we were going to be able to build. We finally decided on a ham and cheese sandwich. I used a little of my Russian language skills to buy ham, cheese, mustard, lettuce, Dierdre bought the bread. We were one of the first teams to return to the American Home and construct our sandwiches. We won a bottle of champagne for our efforts!

Percy came back for another fascinting talk and discussion on recent Russian Politics!

This was to be our last night in Vladimir. My host family took me out to dinner at a fine restaurant that was close to the American Home. Dinner was very nice! Chicken Salad, wine, water, Chicken wrapped in bacon with rice. Green tea. We went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream - I'm in the US here - Jamocha with almonds covered in hot fudge sauce! YES!
At home we exchanged more gifts and coins of the old Soviet Union.

Penza Perfect!

2007-07-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

July 25, 2007

I am getting ready to leave Penza after a wonderful stay with my very good friends, Konstantin and Svetlana Ulanov. They have taken care of all my needs and are wonderful companions to discuss anything and everything about life in Russia. Right now I am typing in K's office (he is the principal of Lyceum #29) and we are preparing to return to his flat, pack, and board the night train back to Moscow. Tomorrow morning, I will fly back to New York and meet my lovely wife at JFK. Sometimes in Penza, it seems like I am in the United States. Things have changed a bit in three years.....for the better! More on the Penza visit after I return to the states! Many thanks to K and S for their warmth and hospitality this week!

I saw Lenin up close and almost personal!

2007-07-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2007

I did the one thing that I've always wanted to do. Three years ago we went directly to Red Square and it was closed. It seems it takes at least a month to clean Red Square and get it ready for the big celebration for May 9th: Victory Day over the Fascists at the end of the Great Patriotic War. But today, even after an hour and half wait in a line of a thousand tourists, I got to see V.I. Lenin lying in state in his tomb, mausoleum. More on this later!

This morning we bussed to Red Square and waited in line to see Lenin. We gave all of our cameras and pocket paraphenalia to Nadia as we headed for the metal detectors. I went through the metal detector without incident. As I walked towards the mausoleum, there were Russian guards every 10 meters or so. On the stairs, the light of day faded and the black steps were difficult to see where you were stepping. An elderly lady was unsure of herself. Several of us stopped to help her. As we tried to talk, we were shushed by each of the guards even when we still tried to help the woman. As we entered the mausoleum, I had my hands in my pockets. A guard quickly motioned me to take my hands out of my pockets. No funny moves allowed in here! We were not allowed to stay and observe. We were encouraged to keep moving as we tried to get a good look at the preserved Soviet leader. Maybe I got to spend 20 seconds in the mausoleum itself. I was very quickly outside walking behind the tomb, looking at the busts of many former leaders of the Soviet Union, including Stalin, Brezhnev, and Frunzen whose statue had stood near the center of Vladimir. As long as we had waited, the rush of sights and observations in and around Lenin's Tomb were over in what seemed to be an instant!

We then toured the famous St. Basil's Cathedral. Amazingly enough, it is not one big space inside, but 13-15 smaller 'chapels,' each one under one of the domes of the cathedral. It was a labyrinth inside that was mainly set up as a museum, not a working church.

We were then bussed to the Old Arbat and the Hard Rock Cafe, tourist trap #1, but a good stop for more Christmas presents: Hard Rock t-shirts from Moscow are pretty cool! A small group of ours walked the Arbat, stopped for dinner. I had a chicken/veggie pizza and Coke Light. This meal was actually reasonable. I was surprised to be able to order so much food for so little in Moscow! We metroed to the Ismalovo Flea Market. I shopped and found everything that I had been interested in a few days before.

Our last evening in Moscow took us the CIRCUS. This circus is a privately owned circus, owned by the son of a famous clown and film star of the Soviet Union. There is a state owned circus that is having privatization issues. The circus we saw was wonderful! High trapeze, tumblers, clowns, dogs, and tigers to close! We had our last dinner together at a nice restaurant. I toasted my fellow Fulbrighters. All of them are great teachers, great travelers, and great people!! It was late farewell dinner. Ron gave us Soviet pins and banners, and, of course, questionairres to fill out.

Pack, sleep!

Moscow: One Expensive City!

2007-07-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2007

Last night's evening was wonderful! Marina met me at my hotel and we went to downtown Moscow to find a nice place to eat. She guided us through the maze of subways. It isn't hard for Muscovites, but for the uninitiated, there are too many lines, too many colors, not enough signs even in Russian, and I'm glad I did not have to navigate them by myself. My wife knows that when given the choice, I usually make the wrong decision on turns and I would be going the wrong way most of my life!! I'm good with a map, but this country boy says the subways are for the city folk.

Anyway, we went straight down to Red Square (near it) and walked through many streets to Cafe Pushkin. It was a lovely restaurant with beautiful decorations and impeccable service. Never mind that I was paying $5 dollars for a small water. It was opened for me, poured for me, but I still had to drink it myself. A wonderful salad, a dish of lamb that melted in my mouth. Marina had trout and said it was very tasty. Ice cream and sorbet, tea and the bill! When I write about Murom in the days to come, you will realize what a contrast of lives are lived in this country. Here in Moscow was fabulous food, service, and bathrooms fit for a king, sorry tsar! Our group has been comparing toilets ever since we have arrived, most in a negative view! Marina caught up with all the news of our families, her job in Moscow, and her recent trip to Western Europe. A great evening of discussion food and the most expensive city in the world! Yes, that was a 20% value added tax added to that bill - OUCH!

Today, we toured the Kremlin, the Kremlin Museum, took a bus tour of the city, and visited the Museum to the Great Patriotic War (WW II). The WW II Museum is HUGE! I could have spent another hour reading and looking at the displays. The dioramas were HUGE and very impressive. I had been to the Kremlin and its museum but should add that it is there where one can see Faberge eggs, crowns of the tsars, thrones of the tsars, carriages of the tsars, coronation dresses of the lady tsars, the boots of Peter the Great and more! Dinner was Pizza and Coke Light for $3.50 a small bottle!! Did I say expensive? YES!

Blogging backwards!

2007-07-20T07:46:00.002-07:00

About yesterday - Thursday, July 19, 2007

Our van took us the summer palace of Catherine I, Peter the Great's wife! It was splendid! A mini - Versailles with many lovely surprises! The Amber Room was especially wonderful!

On our way back we stopped at the Memorial to the Defenders of Leningrad, a very special historical monument to the city from the siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. It was quite remarkable. On the outside, it was just a few statues. On the inside and underground, there was a marvelous set of historical collections and a film about the siege. It was moving and made you realize what this city went throught during WW II.

Time is up! Gotta go to dinner!

2007-07-20T07:46:00.001-07:00

Blogging in Russia is Hard with Cyrillic Alphabet!

2007-07-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2007

So this computer thing is difficult when you can't read the words on the screen!! The blog worked in Vladimir, but the Internet Cafe in St. Petersburg wouldn't let me post any blogs. I thought I had lost two blogs, but only saved them as a draft. Now, I believe I just erased them totally from the blog site. It is frustrating typing all of this and not knowing whether or not it will post. I spent two dollars to use the Internet for 30 minutes and it may two dollars lost!!

We took the overnight train from St. Pete to Moscow and I slept pretty well. Got to the hotel, showered, and met the group to go to a discussion with an NGO called the New Eurasian Foundation. They support a variety of social issues in Russia, education being one of them. It was interesting to hear how many projects they have going and how many programs they support or work in conjunction with. They may have been the most positive people we have met since leaving Vladimir!

Spent the afternoon shopping at the big flea market on this end of town. I've decided to do some important Christmas shopping while I'm here. I know my family will have a truly Russian Christmas and they will love it. :)

This evening Marina Ulanova is meeting me at my hotel and we are going out for dinner to talk about her family, her new job, and to remember our last visit to Penza. She was our interpreter when we were in Penza. Of course, her father, Konstantin, exchanged taught with me three years ago and we have been in touch ever since. Konstantin has been back to the states three times since the fall of 2003 and we have recently hooked up webcams on both sides of the pond, connecting the students of our classes. We are planning a year long venture with many topics for our students to discuss and learn from each other.

Less than one minute on the clock. I hope this works better than in St. Petersburg!

2007-07-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2007

Running with an Ipod in Russia is an odd thing. There is no one running in the morning. There are a few young people who have MP3 players on the bus. But no one has put the two activities together that I’ve seen at 7:00 in the morning. Most of the Russian women are on their way to work. Most of the men are smoking their cigarettes while waiting for the bus. They are not allowed to smoke on the bus. If they did, I would have found an alternative form of transportation in the morning and afternoon. The bus is already a dreaded activity twice a day. I long for my own car keys, my own climate control, my own music, my own seat to sit in, my own personal space. So, (how many Russians will start a sentence in English) I have put myself in a Russian’s shoes and I am giving the shoes back soon!

Our first class this morning was on Russian proverbs and trying to determine the state of the Russian soul! We determined that there are even more contradictions about this country than when we started! We discussed among ourselves most of the problems and carry-overs from the Soviet period.

Lunch was at the Golden Gates Restaurant: salad, cabbage soup, pork chops, potatoes, ice cream with tea. (chaikoo!!)

After lunch, we heard a speaker that had cancelled his lectures three times last week. He is 88 years old and a professor at the local Pedagogical University. He told great stories of his imprisonment by the Nazis and by the communists. He talked almost lovingly of Khruschchev who attempted to de-Stalinize the USSR. He was at several meetings and events when K was there. He discussed the role Brezhnev played after K. Fascinating! He was supportive of Gorbachev and supports Putin for the stability he has brought Russia. He is coming back tomorrow for an encore and so we can ask him questions. Questions have to be loud and he must come quite close so he can hear you, but the answers are priceless!

Our last discussion was on the role of women in Russia. Of course, there are many women who have had a tough time with men, the dominance of men in the system, and the lack of true equality. I made the observation yesterday at the dacha that a Russian mother’s work is never done! Ludmilla cooked and cleaned up after the whole family throughout the day! At our first meal, she didn’t even have a chance to sit down and join us. Some Russian women have managed to find the right husband and balance a job, the home, and a family, but it is a delicate act like many women in America. I have not been allowed to help much in the kitchen. I insisted on taking my dishes to the sink each meal. This evening, I was allowed to cook a bit only because I had brought Cream of Crab soup from Southern Maryland. I think they liked it, but it was a bit spicy for their taste buds! Olesya has also done the laundry without help and insisted on ironing shirts and pants even though they were headed to a suitcase and doomed to a future life of wrinkles. A Russian mother’s work is never done and the men seem to revel in their relaxation!

Some of us went to a B league soccer game between the Vladimir Torpedoes and the St. Petersburg Dynamos. It was raining through the first half harder and harder. We left at half time after a pretty girl won a prize…..or some such exciting Russian thing that happens at half time?? The score was 1 to 1. If the home team won, they could move into 2nd place and take home an extra $500! Stay tuned for the exciting outcome!

2007-07-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2007

Sunday at the dacha was great!! I slept in and had a leisurely zaftrak with my host family. We were driven to Olesya's parent's dacha near Suzdal by Alex's army buddy, Andre. Upon arrival, we ate salads, soup, and veggies. We were then off to the River Nerl for swimming. Alex is fond of 'diving' and dons a full wet suit with mask, snorkel, flippers, and SPEAR GUN! Fishing is serious business in Russia! He went looking for catfish of some Russian variety. The rest of us went into the 60 degree F water. Refreshing! After 15 minutes my thumbs were starting to feel that numbness. But overall it was a good swim!

After the swim, we prepared for the true Russian Banya experience! Basically it is a sauna, homemade, that gets a room over 100 degrees Celsius! So, five times we sit in the heat for 5 to ten minutes and then take a cold shower. One time we went to the river instead of the shower. The last time it was wash and scrub. Super clean by that time. What a rush!

After the Banya, shishkabobs of chicken wings, pork chops with more salad, cottage cheese Russian style, veggies, and cake. We toasted each other. Ludmilla and Igor (Olesya's parents) break the Russian mold. They are always smiling and talking and trying to make everyone comfortable! A wonderful day in rural Russia!

2007-07-07T12:53:00.001-07:00

July 7, 2007

Today is 07/07/07!! Several Russians chose to get married today. We were touring several new hotels in the area and weddings and receptions were in full gear! Luck 7 day!

Roads in Russia: As a rule, they are bone crunchers! I had the extraordinary pleasure to sit in the back seat on a two-hour bus ride yesterday. Not fun. Air time out of my seat was measured in feet a few times! Digestion is easier this way. Kidneys got a real workout. Sleep was impossible. Today I beat everyone to the bus and sat near the front!

We visited a dairy farm today. To see the sights, we were asked to don blue suits like a team of surgeons preparing for a major surgery. We saw the cows and we saw the product of the cows (not the milk – the other). We trekked in it as we saw the milking area being prepared for milking. All that trouble to wear the suit (hat and booties included) just to see the cows and their milking area. The bonus came when they served us the dairy products that are produced by the milk: cheese, yogurt, kafir, cottage cheese, sour cream. Of course, my favorite was the strawberry and blueberry drinkable yogurt!

We then visited a rural farmer, some calling him a ‘peasant.’ He, in fact, called himself a peasant. We saw a few cows, some fields with potatoes and a house that we would describe as a ‘rancher.’ Going behind the house, there were plants, flowers, vegetables, turkeys, geese, a dog, fruit trees. What we did not notice right away was a table about 30 feet in length that was stocked full of all the bounty of a Russian rural farmer in the summer time! What was supposed to be a tea (chai) break turned into a major meal. Blini with blueberries, homemade rolls with berries inside, other larger rolls with other delicious tastes inside, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, ‘baked milk,’ tea, vodka, compote, kvass, potatoes, moonshine, honey, and more!! We were blown away! The family had originally balked at the idea of hosting some ‘outsiders’ but then when they made the decision to let us see their place, they decided the only thing to do was to do it up right! Many in our group were making comments like, “This is best Russian experience we’ve had!”

After seeing another hotel in the area we went for lunch. This will be the 5000 calorie day! Another new and fancy hotel followed by a stop at a ceramics producer and store, a little shopping and our day was coming to a quick end.

Olesya and Alex took me to her Granny’s dacha on the south side of town. Tea, cake, ice cream, and coffee were the bought snacks there. Alex and I started with the red raspberries that were ripe and moved through two rows eating the largest ones we could find. We scoured for strawberries, but they were mostly done. We found the cherry tree and took some samples and also tasted something I had never seen: goriviches?? (sp and pronun.??) They were like grapes growing on a bush with thorns, but they were not grapes. Some were green while others were turning a bit red. New species found in Russia today!

Grocery store: breakfast goods, a movie ($4), and toilet paper for a curious American in our group. More on that later! Home for sleeping and sleeping in on sleep-in Sunday!

International Investment!

2007-07-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2007

Russia is uncharacteristically warm! Shorts, t-shirts, and sandals are all that are needed. I have even seen some young Russians dress this way. Humidity levels are relatively low so that sunny days in the low 80s are very comfortable. As we traveled today, the shorts and tanks tops were coming out everywhere. There is a rumor going around that it will get cold soon, but I have no evidence to support that rumor! I’ve told Olesya that Russians have been spreading this rumor for hundreds of years in an attempt to keep other Westerners from coming to enjoy the fine weather in this country!

Today was international investment day. What countries have invested in Russia with businesses and factories in the Vladimir Region? Our first stop was in the town of Kirzhach, about halfway between the city of Vladimir and Moscow. There, a large, modern factory has been built by the Turkish people. The factory produces small, efficient washing machines and employs a few hundred people. Starting pay is 60 rublay an hour ($2.50). The monthly salary gained here would be more than teachers are paid in Russia! Most of the employees are women! They have some high expectations to gain more and more sales and profits over the next few years. The name of the factory is BEKO. Not a household word in the US, but becoming a household word in Europe and in Russia.

The next stop was absolutely amazing! I could have stayed and played there all day. We visited a dirigible manufacturer. You say, “What?” The building looked very plain as we arrived. We left the bus, not expecting anything unusual. When each of our group entered the building, all their eyes looked up, their mouths opened, their jaws dropped in astonishment! Inside were two ‘blimps’ like the ‘Goodyear’ blimp being readied for flight. They were held in place by sand bags and a truck with a large pole in the front of each blimp. It made me think that you were on a 007 movie set and James Bond was about to take a blimp for a daring ride to spy on the bad guys! Each of the cabs was being hooked up with controls, computers, and seating. No rides today. But what a neat job. The skin of the blimps was made by an American company. This Russian company was making it cheaper to fly over and use infrared for various purposes of land usage. Very exciting!

Lunch: Yes we're still in Russia: Salad (but shrimp today!), borscht with biscuits, potatoes, mushrooms, and some meat (I don’t know what kind – in Russia, it is meat – don’t ask what kind – it’s meat – that’s all you get – meat!) There was fresh fruit on the table and we snatched it up very quickly!

A brick factory is a very good thing to have in Russia right now. Imagine that 15 years ago, no one owned any property. Now, many Russians have property and want to build a larger house. Brick seems to be the right material that Russians want to build with. An Austrian company has built a brick factory near a clay pit and Moscow and is starting to reap the benefits.

Our last stop was at the home of Zhukovshy, the father of Soviet Aerodynamics. He was working on how to get something to fly around the same time the Wright Brothers were working on their flyer. The Russians seem to think that Z beat the Wright Brothers to flight. Some living history, some great tour guides, a Mig 17, and a nice home. I got to play the piano in the parlor!

In the evening, Olesya took me to the nearest fire department. I came with patches, shirts, and hats from the Hollywood, Maryland Volunteer Fire Department. I was instructed by John Gatton to just give them as gifts from America. If the Russians want to trade something for them, all the better. Firemen must be of the same mind all over the world. We met half a dozen firemen at the local fire department in Vladimir. They were surprised and shocked to see an American and to be getting gifts from an American! Two ran inside for patches to trade. I handed out patches, a hat, and two t-shirts. In return, I received three patches and a hat from the Russian fire department. The entire exchange with handshakes, trades, and some picture taking took all of ten minutes. Imagine how international relations could prosper if we spent ten minutes like this on the top levels of our countries! Fantastica!

Laws and Bribery: A tenuous mix!

2007-07-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

July 5, 2007

Today dealt with law, law enforcement, lawyers, police, and jails! We heard about law enforcement in Russia from a retired general. We visited the police academy in Vladimir. After lunch we visited the jail in town. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling walking into a jail in Russia. We couldn’t take any bags or cameras with us. We had to leave our passports at the office. Are we staying for a while? We actually got a great tour of the jail’s museum that had some cool (klassna!) stuff! Francis Gary Powers of U2 fame was held here for a year or so in the early 1960s. Stalin’s son was held here on embezzlement charges and returned later after the death of his father! Our end of the day discussion was with two lawyers who have worked in the Russian system, one older, one younger. Both agreed that bribery was the way to get something done. It is a tremendous problem that goes all the way the Russian Supreme Court!

Something I neglected to mention the other night: I boarded the bus, as usual, prepared to deal with the loss of personal space on a new diminsion. I paid the ticket lady my 7 rublay (I got the ending correct!) and held on to the nearest pole. The next thing I knew, the ticket lady, who was like an overzealous discplinarian in the classroom, took the teenager near me out of his seat. He was in his upper teens with earphones on, a bookbag over his shoulder. The skin color he had was comparable to someone from Pakistan, but I guessed that he was what the Russians call Tatar, aremnant from the Mongols of 12th through the 14th centuries. My strong-willed ticket lady then, without listening to any protests from me, ushered me to his seat. I sat for three miles and my young Tatar was forced to stand for the rest of the bus ride. He did not protest or question the act. He merely stood quietly and waited for his stop. If this was America....incredible differences for racism and discrimination! Everyone else accepted it as the usual course of events! Rosa Parks to the Russian rescue!

Happy Birthday AH and America!

2007-07-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2007

Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday American Home! 231 years for the ‘old’ country! 15 years for the American Home! Everyone knows how to say Americanskaya Dom! The celebration started at 4:00 in the afternoon. So I’ll put it into chronological order below.

I had a fried egg for zaftrak (that’s breakfast for you non-Russian speakers). We had discussed the making of scrambled, but Olesya reverted to what she knew how to do best. Still good. The eggs are sold in the продукты store (that’s products) without being refrigerated! So when you cook an egg here, it will be cooked well done all the time!

Today we traveled to Gus-Krystalnaya, a center for producing crystal and glassware. The factory tour was fascinating with all the colors and shapes produced. I watched a glazier make a small heart shape pendant with a happy face on it. More souvenir stores than I needed, but the goal here is to help the Russian economy.

Lunch was the usual salad, soup, meat and potatoes. But when they brought the dessert out I balked. It was very similar to what Konstantin ordered for me three years ago – sneerg (snow). When your brain and taste buds are thinking chocolate, sweet, ice cream, you don’t want to flood your mouth with sour cream with prunes stuffed with nuts. So I left that dessert for another brave soul.

We toured a crystal museum that had once been a small cathedral. When converting it, they took off the domes and crosses on top (steeples) and changed some of the outward appearance. I didn’t even know that it was a cathedral until I saw the layout of the inside. Nice crystal; too bad for the church!

We returned by 4:00 for the BIG celebration at the American Home! Tents, tables of food, an Emcee, singers, bands, folk dancers, drinks of all kinds, games, prizes – the American Home celebrated with panache! Ron Pope was ‘immortalized’ by the staff of the American Home. Ron returned the favor, praising his staff as the best in the world! Galya and Alexei Antonen were astonishing hosts all evening! What great dancers they are together! The rain threatened and then poured and then died away for a wonderful evening of festivities! We sang Happy Birthday to the American Home, which was first dedicated on July 4th, 1992! What a success it has been to further the ties between our two countries!

Religion and Globalization!

2007-07-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2007

Today is Religion in Russia Day – that’s our topic of lectures and discussions. I am comfortable enough with running in the morning that I am even using my Ipod when I run. Running in the rain this morning was refreshing. How will I dry these clothes?

Our first class centered around the main holidays in Russia. Fist-fighting is a favorite pastime? We were shown a part of movie that showed hundreds of men lining up against hundreds of men. A whistle was blown and everybody began to punch each other. What fun! Where do I sign up?

Our second class was on Orthodoxy – religion or culture? We came to a 10% - 90% conclusion throughout the morning!

We lunched at ‘Shesh Besh’ a popular Armenian restaurant. The tastes and spices were a welcome change to the Russian lunches that have become too common.

A tour of the monastery and convent were interesting as the priest who spoke to us was VERY candid about everything. 80 years old and tellin’ it like it was! He claimed to be a product of the Soviet Union, but the culture led him to the church, faith, and the priesthood. We viewed the oldest icon in Vladimir – 12th century. Very well preserved. As the group was standing there with the lead nun, it was okay to take pictures. When Tom and I were the only ones left standing in front of the icon, another nun appeared and ordered us out without any more pictures to be taken!
Tonight it was globalization night! We had pizza at Sbarros, ice cream from Baskin Robbins, and shopping at ‘the mall’ just like in America! I taught my hostess another American favorite – I scream, We Scream, We all scream for ice cream! We walked through a new park with grassy areas and flowers and fountains near the mall (Trade Center). We headed to the park on the edge of town that overlooks the surrounding area. A Chinese group was making a lot of merriment and took lots of pictures of each other and with the young Russians who were out in the park. We all agreed that we probably need to start learning Chinese, and soon!

Educational Experience!

2007-07-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

July 2, 2007

We all had a dacha story to tell this morning. Most stories were quite similar. Misha seemed to have the ‘best’ banya story to tell! Getting naked with the guys and drinking them under the table was quite satisfying to him!

The day’s subject was education. We heard a lecture about the facts and statistics on Russian education on the whole. We then visited an orphanage. 95% of the ‘orphans’ still have parents living in the vicinity. The parents were deemed not competent to care for them and they became wards of the state. Such caring and devoted people work there. I colored a bit with a boisterous 3 year old named Maxim! He made several attempts to color the lens on the camera instead of his coloring book that we had brought him. He was definitely an ‘outside of the lines’ colorer.

We then visited a kindergarten (ages 2 – 6) after lunch at the Hermitage ( a restaurant). The children were taking a nap and we did not get to interact with them. Later we discussed educational issues at the American Home. Had iced tea (YEA!) and we were on our way home. I paid for five of us to ride the bus so I could break a sto (100) rublay. Soup, salad, tea, sweets. Olga came home from grandma’s (Grandma is 43! Six years younger than me! Ugh) We went out for a walk and got ice cream. The nights are warm and comfortable!

Dacha Day Two

2007-07-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2007

Slept until 11:00. Alex’s father (an old “Cold Warrior”) comes to the door of the dacha and I greet him but he does not greet me. He asks Olesya who is in the bed and after he hears he pretty much ignores me and walks away!

The brownie mix I brought was a hit. We finished the rest for a late breakfast! We then went to the woods to pick wild strawberries and blueberries. I am now fluent in Russian berries! Had tea when we returned and then decided to take a tour of the dacha community. All shapes and sizes. One had vinyl siding, stone walkways, a pond, a bricked area that begged for a big grill and everything in its place! Most were less than impressive. But our dacha was comfortable and ‘cozy!’ Had an early dinner of soup with beef, salad, veggies, bread, and wine. We packed up, cleaned up, watered the plants (they must ask for the water to be turned on for usage), and waited for the taxi to pick us up. While waiting, there was one dacha that displayed a Soviet flag prominently. Tea and sweets and to bed!

Suzdal и Bogolubova

2007-07-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2007

Once again the Russian busses are packed and difficult to board, ride, and pay for the ride. There are so many commuters heading the same way that it becomes a 20 minute sauna with 50 people who do little talking and mostly staring straight ahead of themselves! I went on the bus all by myself! I am finding out how to be a stern Russian in public. A product of 75 years of Soviet life!

Our daily language lessons are beginning to bring back some of the headway I had made into the Russian language three years ago! However, there are some inconsistencies I have found. Maybe I missed something before, but the small m that I remember making an mmmm sound for has now somehow changed into the ‘t’ sound. Some of the ‘g’ sounds are substituted with a ‘v’ sound. But that is the only problem so far.

Sometimes I think of American food and drink too much and I miss it much too much at this point. Fantasizing about a tall glass of iced tea with plenty of ice just frustrates me even more. I bought Nestea little mixes for a small bottle of water. DO NOT…. I repeat DO NOT under any circumstances mix one of those with a bottle of water that says ‘mineral’ water (carbonated). Yes, I made a small mess at my seat today at lunch. I did manage to have some fairly interesting tea. No ice, but tea flavored, partly carbonated brown drink. I’ll be working on that situation.

Another class on Russian crafts was very interesting. Dolls, jewelry, scarves, towels, porelain, and more were shared.

We took the bus to Suzdal, an historic city with 120 churches! There were many monasteries as
well. Most of the churches date back to the 12th century. We heard a quintet of men sing in one of the churches. The acoustics were amazing. I think we better get rid of all the carpets and seats at GSPC and install stone as soon as possible. I also saw a man play 20 bells all at once in the top of one of the churches. It had an interesting sound. In Suzdal we had a very good lunch with salad, blini stuffed with fish, soup, pelmenie (sp?) and black tea. It was the best lunch yet! The market square offered 30 vendors or so, some things actually of interest. But I still haven’t bought anything yet. I had my fill of those ‘Russian’ things three years ago. I am a more conservative souvenir hunter now! We also visited a Wooden House Museum which was a small community of all sorts of houses made of wood representing every style in Russia. There were also two wooden Russian churches on the grounds. All the buildings had been deconstructed carefully, brought to this site, and reconstructed exactly as it had been before. Way cool!

We also visited Bogolubova a town with two more 12th century churches. One, the Church of the Intercession was at the end of a mile hike through the fields and walkways. We had quite a sight going and also when we arrived. The cube style of architecture using limestone was BIG in the 12th century!

After returning to my flat, my host family gathered their things, called a taxi, and headed for their dacha for the rest of the weekend. Their dacha, as it turned out, was a comfy little cabin sitting on approximately a quarter of an acre. It has two stories, a porch for sitting and a porch to keep fire wood dry. The grounds are filled with flowers, strawberries, fruit trees, and vegetables. Two friends from Moscow joined us, Anna and Genya. Anna spoke English so it was enjoyable to talk about her job in an American pharmaceutical firm in Moscow. We ate, drank vodka, grilled chicken and pork, and had a grand time. Apparently we had TOO good of a time and our English attracted some young (we’ll call them) “hotheads” who wanted to ‘gawk’ at the American curiosity. We were able to discuss some things with them. When I gave them the topic of Bush and the Iraq war, thinking that we could all agree that war is bad and the American president has gone way over the line in international affairs, they could not speak about it and had no opinion. I was disappointed that I did not get the reaction I thought I would get. They left without fanfare and some shaking of hands. They did not impress any of us and one could tell that they made the Moscow folks a bit uneasy! Again I did not realize what time it was and I went to bed a little before 2:00AM!

Pot luck in Vladimir!

2007-06-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2007

Sleep is happening better and better as the jet lag wears off a bit each day! Beautiful sunny morning with very mild temps. American teachers here say that it has been uncharacteristically warm in Vladimir for the last three weeks. So warm that they don't even check the weather any more and just expect it to be warm.

In the morning, we took more language lessons and discussed Russian names. Ron Pope, our illustrious leader, gave us a talk with PowerPoint about why the Soviet Union failed. Some of the answers include The Beatles, McDonalds, Reagan, the economy, the failure of the economy, but it is probably an intricate combinatioin of all of the above and more.

Lunch is becoming very predictable: salad, soup, meat with potatoes, tea. We took some free time to become more acquainted with the town of Vladimir. We then took a guided tour of the old water tower, which is located directly behind the American Home. It has been converted into a museum that has an interior winding staircase that leads to multiple floors of history. At the top is the prize! A panoramic view of the city of Vladimir. Spectacular!

Later in the afternoon, we toured the Palace of Culture, a kind of performing arts center sponsored by one of the factories in town. Singing, folk music and dancing, modern dance, painting, and concerts were activities that are sponsored by the center. Our last class was a Russian folk song learning class! We learned three Russian folk songs and sang them with a Kareoke machine. On the screen, there were background pictures that did not go along with the songs. Bikini clad women on the beach took the attention of the men and the women on the last song. Unusual pictures to go along with Kareoke!

The evening was a big hit! The American Home sponsored a 'pot luck' dinner. All the hosts brought Russian food. We ate, we drank vodka and kvass, and even pitched horseshoes! After dinner there was a special surprise: A wonderful musician, a balalaika soloist gave a concert. He was amazing. There were many standing ovations and several Americans were buying CDs at the end of the evening!

Easy bus riding in the evening keeps everyone calm and cool! Tea and sweets, stories and jokes! Life is good in Russia! Bedtime before midnight!!

Vladimir News

2007-06-29T02:46:00.000-07:00

June 28, 2007

The weather is still very warm in Russia. Every day, shorts and a t-shirt are all that are necessary. I keep wondering when it will cool off, but each day starts with sunny, blue skies and mild temps, followed by warmer temps, a clouding over and then a chance of rain, sometimes heavy. It sounds like America in the summer!

I ran this morning in a different place along the streets. There are wide walkways away from the main streets that are used for walking. A great place to run. I ran earlier so there weren't as many cars and trucks. The worst polluters are the men who are smoking their strong cigarettes, but the smoke is easily avoidable. I was scoping out the bus stop situation for today we are riding the bus on our own without our Russians to help us.

Breakfast was water and a banana! I met Carol and Diedre, two other Fulbrighters, and rode the bus into town. It was definitely a sardine can experience! The little lady who collected the 7 rubles had to squeeze through a mass of bodies in order to make her rounds. By the time we reached our stop, we had been through a lot of body squeezing and knew who had showered and used deoderant and who had not!

Russian lessons start the day. Many words I had learned before are coming back to me! A tour of the children's museum was very interesting. A cucumber festival was shown on a film from a nearby town. It looked like Octoberfest with the emphasis on cucumbers! After the usual lunch of salad, soup, meat of the day, dessert, and tea we were off to tour the two oldest Churches in Vladimir, St. Dimitri's and The Church of the Assumption. 12th century churches are much older than anything in America. Golden domes are distinctive in the city landscape!

We later discussed how history is being taught in today's schools in Russia. Facts versus perspective and how Russians think about their history as opposed to how we think about teaching Russian history was the order of the discussion.

Again, we took the bus home on the Sardine Express. Olesya is a great cook. Great dinner of vegetables, salad, meat. We then walked and met her sister, Oxana with her 1 year old baby, Veronica. Great conversations took place about school, salaries, taxes, and maternity leave. We went shopping, mostly for me. Water, yogurt, more bananas, and more were purchased and she produced a shopping club card, much like we have for each food store in America. 3% off the total with the card! Plastic bags were available and seemed to be for free, something that hasn't been available like that in Russia before.

We returned home and I shared "Maryland Stuff" with Alex and Olesya. Alex is an independent truck driver who just bought a new, used truck. This makes two dump trucks to run as he is hired by contractors and gets paid well during the summer. During the winter, construction comes to a stop and so does Alex's work. So he is working as much as possilbe during the warm months.

The sun doesn't set until after 10:00. So when bed time was mentioned, I hadn't realized that it was already midnight! Until tomorrow!~

Day One in Vladimir

2007-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2007

I woke up early from the jet lag and listened to the waking city of Vladimir. There were the usual sounds of birds chirping and car engines starting. Little by little, Russian citizens go to work by walking to a bus stop and waiting for their bus to take them to their jobs. I went for an early morning run for 30 minutes and saw the people headed for a Wednesday workday. Diesel fumes, cigarette smoke, and regular 'leaded' exhaust made me think that running here is not the healthy alternative. I will keep giving it a try.

Another HOT shower was again a welcome pleasure. I dubbed my host "Prince Alex" because it was only last week that he installed the special hot water heater that gives their flat instant hot water. I now know the drill: plug it in, turn on the power, set the temperature and SHAZAM it's hot water heaven!! I had to learn another drill: returning from the run. Press six, zero, and # on the outside keypad, Olesya then speaks and I acknowledge. She opens the downstairs door and I can enter and then summon an elevator. There are no numbers on the selection pad. So two from the bottom on the left is 1st floor. Two from the bottom on the right is sixth floor. Then ring the doorbell and she will allow you to enter. I think Homeland Security should check this out!

Breakfast was juice, bread and cheese for me, but I have just placed an order for bananas for tomorrow. YES!! Olesya and I took the bus to downtown Vladimir and made it on time to the American Home. All of the Fulbrighters shared their first night's stories. Most wonderful, some not sowonderful. We are all learning the Russian way, though. We were drilled twice with Russian language basics. Easy for me.......Thank you Barbara and Natalia!! We also had our first historical tour given by an excellent tour guide named Pavel. We explored the Golden Gate (Not San Francisco) and a wonderful historical museum. Rain showers show up much like American regions with an afternoon downpour. A very nice couple leant me an umbrella for the walk and I was saved a wet head!

After dinner of Chicken, rice, vegetables, pickles, bread, wine, strawberries and cherry preserves, Olesya and I took Olga (5) to a small amusement park which has a special on Wednesdays: 30 rubles a ride!! Olga and I rode the bumper boats together. Five year olds can be very erratic drivers! A huge "moon bounce" was the next stop completed by a jungle gym of sorts that reminds Americans of Play places at McDonalds. Olga picked flowers all the way home so that I had a Russian bouquet by the time we got home. Several times Olga would be singing and skipping and running ahead of us. The only comment I can make is: Life is good in Russia!!

Tomorrow is an earier arrival time at the AH. So I am hoping I can rise earlier and get my run in before catching the bus.

Interesting news: I have been invited by Alex and his friends to go on a camping/fishing trip for the weekend. It should be interesting!

Until tomorrow!

2007-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2007

Two amazing flights over 36 hours have left me a bit worn out, but very happy to be here! We left on the bus at 3:30 in the morning, traveled to Bloomington Illinois to catch a 6:00 flight. FOG was our first enemy of the day. An hour and a half later we were airborn headed to Atlanta. We waited on the plane there for another 45 minutes making this short domestic flight longer than we bargained for! Atlanta is THE largest airport I have walked. It's BIG. After waithing around for 5 hours and eating airport food (not bad), our plane boarded on time only to find that we needed to wait in a large line of planes ready for take-off!

The eleven hour flight found me in one position (except for two bathroom breaks), middle row, middle seat, broken tray table, baby in front of me (well behaved and smiley most of the trip), movies I'd already seen, but great conversation with my Fulbright mates Audrey and Warner! The new iPOD helped to ease the pain of stillness that invaded my knees, hip, back and shoulders! I survived!

Those of you that have gone through Sheremetyvo 2 before know that it was a dreary place. Flat screens like you're at Disney are everywhere now, but the agent behind the glass for the passport control still has that evil eye! Bag retrieval was 100% successful. The Duct tape held and the rest of the roll has already been offered to Lori who found that her bag corners were starting to fail. We met Alexei and Galya, two delightful Russians who head the effort at the American Home. Alexei got us on the bus and on to Vladimir. We stopped for lunch (4:00) after a three hour ride throught Moscow traffic heading east. Lunch was fabulous: Chicken, mushroom, pineapple appetizers, cabbage soup, tried Kvass (sp?) - cold soup, bread, Chicken, potatoes (kartoshkas) and tea.

Alexei taught us a song to sing when we reached the American Home. It was the worst musical rendering I've heard recently, but we brought the house down! Each of us introduced ourselves (Menya zavoot Mark) and found our host/hostesses for the next two and a half weeks. Olyesa and Olga were there to meet me. They brought a friend, Andrei with a truck, to drive us to their flat. Vladimir is a wonderful city which is just smaller than Penza. Small city charm. I am staying at Building #1 in Apartment #60. Olyesa and Alexandr's flat is beautiful. The computer is Internet capable (that's why your getting this) and they have HOT water, something that many of us were worried about. I quizzed Olga on her basic English on the way here. After a fabulous dinner of Pork chops, potatoes, vegies, homemade strawberry juice, wine, tea, cookies, Olga showed me her command of the English alphabet and then we played a word association game with English flash cards.

To bed and try to beat that time zone change jet lag thing!

Going to Russia

2007-06-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

6/24/07

I've just finished packing after a week of Russian studies. We have been saturated with everything Russian. Russian politics, history, business, geography, music, resources for teaching, literature....you name it, we learned about it!

Lynda Park, the director of the REEEC, organized this week of Russian bombardment. It was an awesome display of who's who in teaching about Russia. I appreciated listening about each set of information even though I already was up on most of the info.

We are now set to board a bus this morning at 3:30 to travel to Bloomington, catch a plane to Atlanta and then sit for eight hours waiting for the plane to Moscow! We definitely won't miss our flights! I hope the luggage gets treated better this flight. My medium sized bag suffered a rip on the corner with just one flight on the way here. Black Gorilla Tape (Duct tape) in multi-layers is holding my valuables in check until we get to Moscow.

I have a large list of gifts ready for each family I will be staying with. I just bought a "Good Charlotte" CD for a 13 year old in Murom. It will be interesting to see if Southern Maryland rock translates across the time zones! I have 'evened out' my bags so that each is not over 50 pounds. I had to relocate many items in Baltimore as my one bag was 63 lbs.! Barbara would just shake her head as she knows how much I packed the last time! :)

This is my first blog ever. I will try to update on a daily basis for the next month as the trip unfolds. Computer usage in Russia will be spotty, but at the American Home, computers are available. My next blog will be on 6/26 due to the long hours of the trip and the eight hour difference.

The University of Illinois has been a wonderful center of information and resources. I highly recommend their REEEC (Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Center) and their seminars and programs.