Vacation: With Pictures!

This is going to be a bit of a long post, but I wanted to let everyone know how our vacation to Ukraine went. In a word: great!

Molly and I left Vladimir on Sunday and got to Odessa late on Monday after a long train ride. Odessa is a beautiful city in May. Temperatures were warm, but not so warm that we could really enjoy the beach too much. Spring was in full bloom with many big beautiful trees lining the streets of the old part of town and flowers everywhere: flowers in beds, flowers in pots, flowers on restaurants,
flowers in the hostel where we stayed.

We visited a few restaurants and went biking on rented bikes in a park.The hostel where we stayed was cool and we met some interesting people. It was also nice because, even though it is in Ukraine, most people in Odessa speak Russian.

After a couple of days and nights in Odessa, we took a night train to L'viv, the major city of western Ukraine. We arrived early in the morning and made our way to the center of town where we had arranged to rent an apartment for a few days. We found that the apartment was in the very center of the city, in a buiding that faces the medieval town hall.




We did some walking around, following the guide book to some of the touristy spots: churches and such. We found a square with a book market and bought some old Russian books for very cheap. We also spent time visiting restaurants, cafes, and so on. We bargained (not really, because we don't speak Ukrainian) with street vendors to buy fruits and vegetables for the meals we cooked ourselves and so on. One of the cafes had a cool wall full of old coffee mills. As many of you know, I'm a hopeless addict: while it was European style coffee and not the American style bucket of java I like, it was still great!

Ukrainian is pervasive in the city and that part of Ukriane has a reputation for having strong pro-Ukrainian feeling. We were able to get buy with our "Pleases" and "Thank yous" in Ukrainian, often understanding with difficulty onlythose parts of what people said that was similar to Russian. Many people, including Russians, don't think of Ukrainian as a separate language, but it is!

Finally, on the Saturday and Sunday that we were there, the city was celebrating a festival "City Day" complete with banners, singing, dancing, food, and street performers, like these guys and gals, who were doing sword fighting demonstrations outside our door in the town square! Also prominent in the town square, these lion statues: they appear to be kissing...perhaps connected with the town's name: lev=lion.

Lviv/L'vov/Lwow...however it's spelled in Latin letters!) is a cool city, it's only drawback being that it closes down early, which was cool with us: we took the evenings to relax in our apartment and rest. Having seen some of what the city had to offer, we headed on a night train to Kiev and the way home. We arrived Tuesday morning in Kiev, spent the day in the city seeing a little slice of it and spending our last few hryvna and then took another train for Moscow that night, arriving back home in Vladimir in the late afternoon on Wednesday.

In Kiev, we saw several cool things, including the ancient Kiev-Caves Monastery, where monks dug caves to live in and then were buried in their caves. You can see a tiny part of it as well as the churches and buildings that they took the time to build above ground. We also checked out a few slices of the rapidly modernizing city that is Kiev. One of my favorite spots in the city was the Adreevsky uzviz, a steep winding street lined with artists and people peddling souvenirs, paintings, and other art (it might be a bit strong to call it all "art," but nonetheless, it's a charming spot.)

All in all an amazing trip. We spent about ten days traveling to places we'd never been (with the exception of Molly's trip to Kiev), seeing new things, hearing new languages, and so on. I think I've caught the "I-want-to-learn-Ukranian disease" It's a lot like Russian, with elements of the little Czech that I know thrown in. There's no help for me now. Once I start learning a third Slavic language, it would all be over!

A Vacation Update and Some News

So, we're here in Odessa on vacation. The city is beautiful and interesting with lots of old buildings and pleasant streets with trees everywhere. The weather is still a bit cold for the beach, but we braved it for a while yesterday. Today we are hanging out a little and then we are catching a night train to Lviv, a city in the far western part of Ukraine that is reportedly very beautiful and not crawling with tourists.

In news, Russia and Estonia continue their spat over a monument to Red Army soldiers. The Russians seem to feel that the monument is in memory of those who died fighting the Nazis, but Estonians see it as a reminder of their occupation by the Soviets both after the 1938 Nazi-Soviet Pact and again after the Germans were driven from Estonia by the Red Army.

BBC has the details

Moscow Times Commentary

End of the Semster...

...is upon us. I wanted to post some pictures of me and my classes before heading for Ukraine for vacation, but we are losing Internet here shortly, so I guess it will have to wait until later. It might be a few days before I get a chance to get on and blog!

R.I.P. Boris Nikolayevich

It will be interesting to see how the Russian government and people react to Yeltsin's death and how his funeral and things go. I think it will be interesting because it will bring memories of the rough years of the 90's back to the forefront. You have to give him some credit for helping to bring down a totalitarian state with a minium of violence and blodshed. (You can imagine the "Yugoslavia in 11 time-zones" nightmare."

NYT on Yeltsin's Death

Gates Showed Up in Moscow to talk to the Russians about missle defence.

We'll Always Have...Murom

This weekend Sara, Joanna, Eric, and I took a little trip to Murom at the invitation of the English teachers and students at the local college. We left Vladimir at what seemed like the crack of dawn on Saturday morning on the 2.5-3 hour bumpy bus ride. The afternoon we spent listening, and judging, presentations by some of the students followed by by some more presentations and so on. In the evening we went to stay with host-students and their families. Each of us had a different one. I spent the evening hanging out with my host and her friends at a cafe, talking about the kinds of things that we usually talk about when meeting Russians for the first time. Sunday morning we took a little walk around the city and such. It was pretty cold and rainy and by the end I was ready to hop back on the bus to Vladimir and get home to a hot meal, a shower, and a book. All in all, despite a few moments, it was nice to get out and do something and see a place we've never been.

As is my habit, here's some news:
More Fun With Media and NGO's

News Will Be Happy, Or Else!

Commentary on Russian-American Relations

Commentary from the NYT on Chukotka and Russia's Far Northern expanses.

Опять политика...

This article in The Moscow Times gives a pretty good impression of the situation here in the wake of the government's crackdown on last weekend's tiny protests. The powers that be seem nervous. It goes a long way to explaining the government's reaction to opposition and the reaction to events in Ukraine and other world events.

Also, here's an interesting article about Eastern Europe and it's growing position as an outsourcing area for Western Europe-based businesses.

...and Monday Morning

I've got a picture from last week's trip to Bogolyubovo. Picture credit to Molly.

Also, another picture from a while back when we were in Moscow, also one of Molly's.

Russian language news seems to play it as a few members of a "radical opposition," painting anyone who would oppose the current order as an extremist. For those who can read Russian there is Rambler.ru which makes things sound orderly.
On the other hand, there is The Moscow Times on this weeekend's festivities, which seem chaotic. Also interesting is this story, by a photographer who was swept up by the police and then released. I wasn't there, so I'll leave it to you to decide.

P.S. The NYT

Also, let's save polar bears by killing them.

Sunday...

...this week, I'm not working on Sunday, just killing some time on the Internet before heading of to spend some time relaxing and reading in our favorite cafe. It's sunny, but cold, so the thought of spending a lot of time outside is a non-starter.

Also, if you didn't catch this, you might want to read about Moscow events from yesterday in this story from the NYT

P.S. There's another related article that just appeared.

Bogolyobovo

Today was Wednesday and we had a little bit of free time, so Nicole, Molly, and I headed for Bogolyobovo. It's a small village just to the east of Vladimir that was once the seat of the aptly named Andrei Bogolyobsky (the Pious). It's is most famous for the little white church in the picture. It is praised by many as the epitome of medieval architecture in this part of Russia. The location, at the confluence of two rivers, adds something to it too. It took is a long while of tromping around (part of the time on the wrong side of the river) to get on the right side and on the path to the church. When we headed back to the AH, we arrived just in time for Russian lunch, which was delicious. In addition to lunch, we were celebrating Molly's birthday, which is today. ;)

Also, Jessa, to answer your question: Yes, there is "Russian Dressing" on Russian salads. Russian salads rarely have any lettuce in them. The constant ingredient is the dressing. By dressing, I mean "mayonnaise." I'm not a big fan of mayonnaise anyway, so it's like a holiday when we find way to order vegetables in a restaurant that lack this all-important ingredient in every salad.

Where's My Hair?

So after having had one haircut since I got here in August (and that one months ago) I finally broke down and went and got a haircut. If you know me, you know that it's usually pretty short, but I had gotten used to looking like the fifth-Beatle or somthing like that. So, here are the before and after pics:

Politics Again

Yushchenko's Opinion Piece about why he chose to call for elections. There is also a piece in The Moscow Times about the Situation in Kiyv. As an American I am inclined to see it from the pro-Western Yushchenko's point of view, but clearly there are a lot of people in the country who support Yanukovich.

Here in Vladimir, winter has made an attempt to return as the temperature plunged yesterday and there were patches of snow here and there on the ground and on buildings this morning: another day in paradise.

More Ukraine

More Ukraine Fun Another article in The New York Times about what seems to be a developing Ukrainian political crisis.

Here'sWhat The Moscow Times has to say about it.

It's hard to tell right now, but it seems like the normal growing pains of a functioning, if tumultuous, democracy. This is of course in stark contrast the politics of many of the other post-Soviet countries.

Other than that, a warm, sunny day at work.

Bagpipes?

Molly, Nicole, and I were headed to the coffee shop Sunday afternoon for a cup of coffee and some relaxation when we came upon this guy:
I'm not sure how a bagpipe-playing guy showed up in Vladimir, but we put down a few rubles and listened for a few minutes.

Here's a picture of Nicole and Molly that I snapped at the same time. We're all sad because we are going to be losing our Nicole at the end of the month as she goes back to the States to claim her Master's and find what is known as a "real job!"

Also in the news today is more political turmoil in neighboring Ukraine. The pro-Western president, Yushchenko, is facing an over-assertive parliament and it's leader, the pro-Russian Yanukovich. (You might remember that Yanukovich is the guy who was Yushchenko's opponent in the presidential election back in 2004.) As a result of a further strengthening of the opposition majority, Yushchenko is calling for new parliamentary elections late next month. It may not be as scandalous as Italian politics, but it is very interesting because Ukraine is riding the balance between pro-Western, EU-facing influences and East-leaning, pro-Russian ones. Read All About It

April Begins

It's hard to believe that March has come and gone and April is here. We've had some of the best weather I can imagine lately. It's been sunny and cool for two weeks straight now.

Yesterday I gave a presentation here at the American Home about College Sports, something near and dear to might heart that doesn't really exist here. We followed that up with Rudy and a game of whiffle ball in the back yard. All in all, a fun day. Other than that, we have several busy weeks to finish up this semester. We've got about two and a half weeks of class and then a week and a half of exams and other semester ending fun! The good part is ten or so days vacation at the end of April/beginning of May.

So in all, another Sunday afternoon to work a little, read a little, and hang out a little before diving back into another week of the madness that is the AH.

Here's a Contrast

Pro-Kremlin Nashi Youth Organization Rally in Moscow

Not-so-pro-KremlinRally in Nizhniy Novgorod broken up.

Blogger Ate My Last Post...

...so this is what I have. I was writing about a man who somehow managed to break into the Moscow Zoo, get drunk on a bottle of vodka he brought with him, get into a fight with a rare owl in its cage, and then fall to his death. I suppose it's possible that 's what happened, but it seems fishy to me. Unfortunately, the Moscow Times' stories are archived very quickly, so I can't link back to it. Amanda has a little about it too.

There was apparently yet another fire in Russia. This one at a nightclub in Moscow. Add this to the one at a pensioners' home in the south and the mine explosion in the Kuzbass and it's been a rough week for Russia. NYT

An Update, a Little Belated

It's been a while since I blogged. Not a lot to report, just very busy. Things are great. Spring has finally come. The last couple of days have been the beginning of Spring. There was little grass to be seen in the AH yard on Monday morning due to snow, but by yesterday afternoon it was all gone due to a couple of Sunny, 50 degree days. Today is much the same. A beautiful day and I took advantage of it to walk a good part of the way to work!

Also, there are a couple of News stories I thought I would link to:
I wrote a while back about conditions and education in Russia's university system.University Students in Revolt not just in some out of the way place, but at MGU, which is like the Harvard, Yale, and MIT of Russia.

Also, more on the Curbing of Russian Media. It's still in process, but it seems that each year of Putin brings less and less independent and critical media.

Finally, a couple of recent tragedies. If you missed, there was a Fire at a Retirement Home and a Mine Explosion, both of which claimed many victims.

Election Day Results

Election Day Results are in and, not surprisingly, United Russia cleaned up. I like the part where the leader of United Russia is indignant that they only won in 13 of 14 regions and is demanding that the governor of that one region be sacked.

As I said before in my post about Petersburg, most of the advertising there was for United Russia and what little was not was for the other party that backs the Kremlin, "Just Russia." (See the picture below of me with Plushenko: He's endorsing "Just Russia.") The powers that be seem to be trying to play it as if these two parties oppose each other, with United Russia, the majority, as a center-right group and Just Russia a center-left "opposition." I'm not sure exactly what they oppose though, because they clearly support the Kremlin and Putin. Oh well, the winds of Russian politics are never easy top read. It seems that the Kremlin is trying to build a two party system and force out the two real, but very weak, oppositions, the liberal Yobloko (Apple) and the Communists, who are a long way from being a power, but are popular amongst older folks.

In large part, these are judged by most commentators to be a dress for the federal legislative elections in the fall, followed by the presidential contest next spring. We'll just have to tune in again and see how it unfolds.

Education System

Reforming the Russian Educational System which is the same system that operated during Soviet times. For example, we went a few weeks ago to sit in on a lecture of an introductory literature class. It was just that; a lecture. There were no questions and no pauses during the entire hour and a half. The professor clearly knew her stuff, but I'm not sure how much the students will learn by writing down everything she said and then repeating it in a few months when it comes time for the exams.

My limited experience observing it and talking to students and Russians in general is that it has some serious problems. Two of these is that it is narrow and vocational. Once you finish high school and enter the university, you enter into one department and one "specialty" which you are set into. It's hard to change and you don't take very many classes at all that are outside that field. It is in this way very different from the ideal of a liberal education that we pursue in America. There's no such thing as the student who switches from Chemistry to Philosophy and Biblical Studies in the middle of their third year of college. (I knew a girl who did it.) It just can't happen here.

They are talking about changing the system so that it is different in many ways from the American scheme, but much more flexible than the current scheme. I think it seems like a good idea, but implementing it may be very difficult.

Petersburg Adventure

So, back from our trip to Petersburg and back to the real world. Molly and I had a great time. I love Petersburg more every time I visit it and look forward to having a chance to live there some day for a while. We saw a lot of fun stuff, wandered around, and hung out in cafes and things. As you can see from this traditional "Aaron with coffee" picture, I decided that the beard was getting too itchy and shaved it.


One of the cool things that we found was this group of lions. The real marble lions are on an embankment overlooking the Neva not far away. These replicas had been painted by various groups, including some young students, which was pretty cool. We took pictures next to a couple of our favorites.





Another prominent feature of the city was election posters. The trick is that even though there were many parties running, only two actually had campaign materials out. Surprise, they were the two pro-Kremlin parties. In Indiana, I often get told I look like Larry Bird or Peyton Manning. (My common response is to say that I wish I could play and or get paid like they do.) In Russia, I am told that I look like Evgeniy Plyushenko, the Olympic Gold Medalist figure skater.

Along the way we visited a museum to Anna Akhmatova, the poet and searched out several used bookshops where we made interesting discoveries like Czech textbooks and books on Soviet economics.





All in all it was a great trip and we had a blast. The weather was typically Petersburg-like, but other than that we had a great time. This last picture is from one of our evening walks in search of a bar that has been opened in the boiler room where our favorite Russian rock singer, Viktor Tsoi, worked. Come to find out, it was a block from where I used to live when I was a student in Petersburg. Sadly, the bar was closed because of a private party there.

We caught the train back to Vladimir on Saturday night and arrived before the crack of dawn, a little tired but happy!

Fun With Balloons, or: Off to Petersburg

Just a funny picture I took the other day. Fun with balloons! Clearly we are easy to entertain.

On a more serious note, here's an interesting commentary column from BBC.com that I found. Mostly about ostentatious spending and ostentatious consumption of energy resources, both of which are clear to anyone who visits Russia, especially Moscow.

BBC Commentary

We also have our train to Petersburg to catch tonight. As you can tell, I am very excited as this is the second time I've blogged about it and we haven't even left. On an interesting side note, the train we are taking goes from Nizhniy Novgorod to Petersburg via Vladimir and Moscow. But there's a catch. Even though Nizhniy changed its name over a decade ago, the train schedules still call it by its Soviet name, Gorky. I love this country.

"Monday Morning Coming Down...."

The weekend was good, but busy. Friday we gave exams for the second day. I actually enjoy exams; even though they are a lot of work to grade, it is nice to be able to more acurrately guage where our students are. Sometimes they surprise us!

On Saturday, we had a celebration at the restaurant next door in honor of the two Russian holidays, honoring men and women respectively. Other than that, we've spent a lot of time grading exams and evaluating our students' progress. We have class tomorrow and then we are off on the night train to Petersburg for several days' rest and relaxation in what is pretty much my favorite city. I'll try to post some pictures and things as soon as I can.

In other news, spring has made a slight appearance. We've had some above freezing weather and the snow has melted some. If this is it for winter, we got of lucky with only about 6 weeks of the really hard stuff.

Exams and Things

Exams began today. It's always fun: Our students cheat. We try to catch them. It's pretty much like the circle of life, but without an accompanying Elton John song. The adults can sometimes be worse than the kids. I had to take away the exam of one middle aged guy because he was constantly talking to the person across from him. I leave you with another picture from me on vacation in Moscow. This time next week, I'll be doing the same in Petersburg. Ain't life cool?

I'm In

I am such a dork for telling everyone I know, but I am so excited I can't help it. I got a letter of acceptance to UNC-Chapel Hill to study history nexzt year and I am jumping up and down! I still want to wait and hear from the other places I applied, but this is sweet and I really think it is the best for me!

Smoke on the Moscow River

Well, I didn't write about it earlier because we had to find pictures to confirm our suspicions, but Molly and I had an encounter with Rock and Roll greatness in Moscow on Thursday night last week.

We were sitting in a cafe/restaurant having coffee and two or three middle aged non-Russian men came in and sat at a table in the corner. Middle aged men are not out of the ordinary, but their appearance was. They screamed: OLD ROCK STARS. Then the rest of the band came in. Then some roadies. Then some more roadies. You get the idea. Soon there was a large group of them trying to order, but the waiter didn't speak English, so they found someone from somewhere to translate. This would have been rather comical, except that it was our waiter, we wanted our check, and Deep Purple over in the corner was taking him up for half an hour ordering everything on the menu!

We finally got our check, got our coats from the coat rack behind them (pretending to be not speak English) and then left without talking to them because we weren't sure who they were!

We're not positive exactly who it was, but from some of the pictures we found on the Internet, it appears to have been some former members of Deep Purple. We also saw a poster for a concert, but I don't remember the names, just the "ex-Deep Purple" that was all over them.

There you have it...out brush with Rock and Roll fame. We have some pictures that we took, pretending to just take pictures of each other, but they are on Molly's camera: I will try to get them up soon!

Have a Nice Trip!

Our trip to Moscow turned out great. It was very relaxing. I hate to admit it, but every time I visit Moscow I like it more. The first few times, I was not a fan, but it's now becoming more familiar, if still a little overwhelming. We got in on Thursday morning and spent the day hanging out and walking around the city. We went and found our hostel, which was in a cool like neighborhood and close to a good Metro stop. (The Metro is the only way to get around Moscow.) We went through some of the regular tourist places around Red Square, went to a cool little book store, and had some sandwiches in a little shop. We also took advantage Moscow's many coffee shops to stop and warm up with coffee, tea, or cappuchino...a lot. [Pictured]

Friday we went to the Tretiyakov Gallery which has Russian art. It's a pretty cool place. We spent several hours there and then met up with Joanna and Eric for some dinner at a place that ostensibly served Arabic/Middle Eastern cuisine, so we ordered up some tabouli and hummus. After dinner we went to the Spleen concert which was pretty cool. Spleen is a Russian rock group that we like, so we were excited when we saw that they were playing in Moscow during our break. The venue was not that great, but the show was good and they played for close to three hours.

On Friday we hung out on the Arbat and spent plenty of time warming in coffee shops before catching a train back to Vladimir in the evening. At the train station we had a conversation that could only happen in Russia.

As we go through the turnstyles:
Train Station Lady, Angrily: Not that way, this way!
Us: Okay...
Train Station Lady, Still angry, but not quite so angrily: Have a nice trip!

Today we are catching up on some reading and doing a little bit of work (not too much!) We've got exams to give this week, another teachers seminar Monday and Tuesday, and a further Wednesday-Sunday vacation in two weeks that we have no hard plan for yet!

Maslenitsa! It's a Party!

Sunday was Maslenitsa, a Russian equivalent of Mardi Gras, complete with lots of blinni. We traveled to the nearby town of Suzdal to enjoy its well known celebration. It was a big festival in the town square where we danced, played games, and spent time with some Russian friends. I'll admit that it was cold, but also a lot of fun! Some of the most interesting games were pillow-fights and a Russian version of "Red Rover." There was also a large log standing and men took turns trying to climb it...most of them removing various articles of clothing to aid them and climbing to cheers of "Davai!" (Let's go!) There was also a lot of good food and drink and lots of people just out enjoying the festivities. In all it was a great time.



We also ended up walking around the town, hoping that movement would keep us warm. Instead, Ira, Sara's hostess, set off a chain reaction by pulling me into a snow bank. The result you can see for yourself!

As you can tell from all of this stuff in the last couple of posts, we have been very busy. In addition to all of this, we of course have to do our real jobs too! This week we have class Monday and Tuesday and some work on Wednesday. Then, Thursday and Friday we have a short vacation. Joanna, Eric, Molly, and I are going to Moscow. The main aim is to go to a concert on Friday night. It's a Russian group called "Spleen" which we like a lot. It should be a great chance to relax and enjoy a few days of something out of the routine, which has been crazy lately, as you can tell.

Also, thank you to Joanna and Nicole's student Larissa for the pics!

Of Holidays, Hectic Life, and Puppy Love (Ours, for Said Puppy)

First off, the puppy has a new home. I forgot to write about it, but the Thursday of the week we had him, an acquaintance of Galya and Alexei agreed to take the puppy. They apparently have a 12 year old son, so I'm sure that little Bashi has plenty of attention these days. While he was with us, we did our best to potty train him and educate him in the ways of the world. Here we have a picture of Eric doing a reading of Rudyard Kipling's "If."

"...Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!"

Otherwise, I haven't written much lately because we have been so busy. Wednesday last week was our "American Lunch" where we fixed dinner for the Russian staff and ourselves. We went with Italian food (spaghetti and meatballs) and had some fun with appropriate Valentine's Day poems.

We also found some appropriate Valentine's cards, with "I love you" and "Be mine," which was a bit surprising because Valentine's Day is a bit of a new phenomenon here.

Our students are also pretty awesome because they give us gifts at different opportunities, one of which was Valentine's Day. Molly got these flowers from a student...pretty sweet, huh!

Thursday was Joanna's birthday which was accomanied by blinni and a trip to our favorite Caucasus style restaurant. Friday was more Joanna's birthday celebration with a group trip to steam in the sauna. We passed the time relaxing, singing kereoke, and wondering why everyone in America hasn't figured out that this is an awesome tradition! Saturday was the American Home Mardi Gras Party for students, which turned out pretty well. We had food, games, music, contests, and a whole lot more.

Glorious Day of Nothing But Relaxation!

Yesterday, I did nothing! At least work-related. I read at home. Then, I went to the coffee shop...and read. I went for a little inadvertent walk when I picked the wrong trollybus by mistake...that 1 looked like a 7 from a distance! Finally, I went back home...and read (and studied Czech and Russian). Somewhere in there I found time to eat. I also got about 10 or 11 hours of sleep. In all, it was everything I hoped a cold winter's day away from work could be!

Avast Ye' Survey Dogs...

...Turn Loose the Prisoners or Prepare to Walk the Plank.

So, I was sitting at there kitchen table the other day grading homework, when someone (you know who you are) decided to give me a temporary tattoo: you can see the results for yourself.

This week flew by very quickly, with lots of work and craziness. Today has not been a lot better; I did sleep in a little, but I've also spent the day working and helping prepare for the Mardi Gras party that we are having next Saturday. Tomorrow, there will be no coming to the American Home at all! Instead, I'm going to read in the coffee shop, play some chess, maybe go ice-skating or skiing. Who knows what tomorrow brings, but it is a day off!

I leave you with a self-picture of Nicole, Molly, and I during our foiled attempt to go skiing at Park Druzhba last weekend. We were freezing!

Weekend Extravaganza

The has been quite a weekend so far! Friday night after class we went sledding on the steep hill that stands next to the Golden Gates down the block. (It's apparently an embankment that is one of the remains of the western city wall.) Then Saturday morning we got up and gathered at one of the city parks in an attempt to go cross-country skiing. Unfortunately that was the day of the Avtopribor(a car parts factory) company ski day. so we couldn't rent skis.

We left Joanna (who has her own skis) and ventured to the new mall that just opened in the center of town. It is new, clean, and best of all hosts a cafe called "Coffee Bean." This is nothing less than a little slice of paradise. Usual Russian cafes, as I have mentioned before, are notoriously lacking from our perspective: they often won't serve items on the menu, getting a seat is often dependant more on weather the person at the door likes the look of you and less on weather or not they have a seat. This place, on the other hand is nothing short of miraculous. It's run by an American, has great big cups of whatever you want and a plethora of big tables, couches, and chairs. In short, it's an real coffee shop! We sat for over an hour, had coffee, and the people who worked there were super friendly and helpful! It was awesome!

We followed this up with an American Home chess tournament. I acquitted myself pretty well, even though I haven't played in a while. In fact, I have a feeling I'll end up spending some free time in the future playing some more. We also had, thanks to Nicole, a delicious dinner of Middle Eastern cuisine. It was amazing too!

Finally - Sunday: not just any Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday. Now as you might know, I'm a huge fan of the Colts. I haven't missed a Super Bowl since before I was old enough to know what the Super Bowl was. Of course, now that I can't watch it, the only team that matters to me miraculously reaches the Big One. My plan is to camp out here at the American home and follow the game through Internet play by play and commentary from the family. I can't be there with them, so this is the next best thing.

The other interesting event showed up on Amanda's door this morning: a puppy, somewhere around 2 months old. It doesn't belong to anyone in her building. It's healthy but attention starved. It's some sort of Rottweiler or something related. Its tail has been clipped, so it belonged to someone at some point. I have no clue what we can do with it, but hopefully we can find someone with the space and time for a dog like that.





Things are not getting any less busy here. We have a Mardi Gras party to throw together, a vacation to plan and take, midterms to give and grade, and then another vacation. Somewhere we have to find time to work! I leave you with pictures of Nicole, Amanda, and Molly doing just that!

The Cherry Orchard

On Tuesday we bought tickets to go to the theater on Wednesday. Even thought it is right outside the window (I can see it now as I type) and I walk past it every day, I had not partaken in a trip to a performance yet. Sooo...Sara, Joanna, Sara's hostess and I bought tickets and went. Two of Molly's students had invited her to go, giving us the idea. In all there was a pretty strong contingent of AH teachers (all of us who didn't have conversation classes).

The performance was, you might guess from the title of this post, Chekhov's classic The Cherry Orchard. It's the story of a mother returning to her childhood home and finding that she and her brother cannot save the estate and its renowned cherry orchard from encroaching modernity, the rise of the middle class, and the fading of the old Russian gentry. It has its comedic and absurd moments. I really enjoyed it and found that for the most part, like most Chekhov, the language was not hard to follow. I hope we get to go back to the theater again soon.