Dana's Globe Trotting

First day in France

2011-07-29T10:07:00.007+01:00

I’m in France for almost three weeks. Today with my Father and Aunt I visited Mont Saint Michel about 90 minutes outside of Granville France. It’s important to understand my first exposure to Mont Saint Michel to truly grasp the significance of today’s events.

The first excursion I took overseas that I was old enough to begin to appreciate was to Europe with my father and sister when I was 9 years old and my father was close to the age I am now, he was 38. At that time we visited many locations but for some reason Grandville plays a central role in my memories. Perhaps it was watching my drunk 13 year old sister attempt to throw our passports into the ocean while yelling “it went boom in Granville” (FYI the boom was referencing a bird that was hit by a car in the road. I know, its complicated). I guess it could have been our departure from Granville when everyone on the little boat (including crew) got violently ill. Well everyone except me and one other boy my age. We spent the trip ducking and dodging projectile vomit shooting across the deck. (sorry for that visual Yo). It was like a game. Maybe it was this magnificent monastery (looks like a castle) set on an island, that is only an island at high tide.

I remember this place was so cool to a 9 year old boy. You walk up stone covered pathways to visit large pillared rooms. The Monastery looks like a castle

build with an eclectic mixture of Gothic , classic, and a bunch of other architecture. Before you ask I don’t think 9 year old me knew the word eclectic maybe Gothic, but he is not writing this, I am, so deal with it. To a 9 year old this

place looks like a castle (I found out only today it was not actually ever a castle) so I will refer to it as a castle because, I like that better. The cool thing about this castle is during high tide the place is completely surrounded by water. I imagine it is probably brackish tidal water. During low tide the water recedes and you are left with a wet sandy plain that stretches for miles. All around the castle there are signs posted about the dangers of the quicksand on the sandy plains.

After touring the castle I remember looking down on the plains and out about 2 miles was this other tiny little island. Then I saw something that stayed with me since that day. Even to this moment I can still picture this image clearly in my mind. As I peered over the edge I saw a woman walking. She was the only person out there and she was just walking across this quicksand field of death all by herself. Immediately I wanted to join her.

Did I mention I was 9 years old? Being 9 means sometimes other people get to make decisions for you, even if they are silly decisions based on their own fears and mortali

ty. What I am trying to say is both my dad and my sister were able to restrain me from running down through the castle and onto the quicksand field to join her. Instead I resigned myself to be the last witness to her imminent demise. I found out today it is only 4 miles round trip to the second island. Her sojourn could not have taken more than an hour and a half. To a 9 year old though, I sat and watched her face death with confidence at every step for hours and hours. I remember thinking that some day when I was older I would be brave enough to venture out into the unknown as this lone brave warrior woman did. (Actually, I think she was British with the funny hat and walking stick but warrior sounds more romantic here).

Back to present day. I woke up at 5:30 am (about an hour before my alarm went off) and decided to explore Granville by taking a run. We had walked the city last night when I arrived so this morning would be dedicated to the less touristy areas. I did a quick 5 miles and I think I got a feel for what the neighborhoods looks like. It is a quaint city with definite charm. It seems the entire city is just one big jumble of ups and downs on a cliff side. Makes for a great run.

We hopped on a bus to Mont Saint Michel. We had your typical bus driver who knows the secret spots and doubles as a tour guide on occasion. He gave us some good tips about the back way up to Mont Saint Michel to avoid the crowds. He gave good advice. Today there were a multitude of school children in workshops at the base of the castle on the sandy plains. For the most part they were remaining in close proximity to the castle (yes I still refuse to accept it is a monastery). I coaxed my dad and aunt into walking down to where the school children were playing (obviously it’s safe there because the kids are there). I could feel the urge to run, building in me despite the 5 miles I had done in the morning. I handed my phone and wallet to my dad and told him I would meet him at this spot in a few minutes. He began to raise objections but it was too late. I was off.

It’s hard to explain, unless you are a runner, the immediate feeling I felt of joy and exhilaration. My face split from ear to ear in a smile and laughter escaped my lips. The wide open space, the lack of boundaries, and the feel of my legs working effortlessly to propel me forward, were a rush to say the least. My plan was to run a few hundred yards then turn around, just to say I ran on a quicksand riddled plain. Then I saw a group or horses up a head about a mile. I had to check it out. When I reached the horses, I saw tour groups on the sand even further out, I had to check them out. After a while I had run past every group out there and I found myself at the island. The very same island my warrior woman of 26 years ago had walked to. What I felt was a quiet accomplishment of a life goal I’d not realized I had set, until this moment. I did jump around a bit in celebration. It may have looked odd but since I was the only one there, It was the normal thing to do as accepted by majority vote. Then I turned and ran back to the castle that’s not a castle.

I have a habit of just doing stuff like this that may seem dangerous to others but to me the risk seems minimal. Let’s look at it logically, I am still alive, therefore the perceived risk must be higher than the actual risk. I have to admit I have been previously entrapped by quicksand up to my waist but, I lived to tell about it. On this jaunt I avoided the stuff as much as possible. Unfortunately, my father has been witness to several of my excursions of this death defying nature. When I found him, he was staring out over the plain searching for me. Turns out he had me in his sights until I made it to the island, then he lost me and lost hope. Poor guy has not figured out yet, I am immortal.

The rest of the day was touring the Monastery and taking a train to Paris. After my accomplishment of the morning, everything else seemed to pale in comparison.

Cheers

Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally

2011-05-29T19:12:00.001+01:00

So I made it to DC in case you were wondering. I have been here for
several days now.

I'm at the:

Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally
Http://www.RollingThunderMotorcycleRally.com

Right now. It's a ride through DC originally established after the
Vietnam war to bring attention to the POW/MIAs. It has since turned
into a support the troops ride. The first year there were 2,500
riders. This year they expect in excess of 250,000 riders and I'm one
of them!!

The people here are hard core cool! A couple of guys have set up a
lean to tent with their bikes and are sleeping now. The ride started
at noon but we are in the back of pack so we have not moved at all.

Jane and Joe to my right rode up from southern VA. Actually Joe drove
the truck and Jane rode the bike up. I love it!! They told me about a
ride down to Venezuela where they were headed through a mountain pass
to the city of La Jolla. They came around a corner and saw a group of
people lined up against the mountain. National guard were holding them
at rifle point. J&J just kept on going. Man that would be scary!!

Francois and Steve are on my left. One owns a Harley touring bike and
the other a Honda Goldwing Touring bike. We spent an hour comparing
the various gadgets and gizmos. Turns out they have the same cool
stuff just in slightly different places.

In front of me is Mark and his wife "Miss Fairfax county 2010". They
have invited themselves to join me on my ride back to LA. Well mark
did, the wife said hell no. We exchanged emails. I'll see how that one
pans out.

This is my first motorcycle rally ever. It is by far the coolest thing
I've ever done on my bike. Thanks to my friend Cox (cool name I know)
for telling me about it.

I wish you could all be here to join me and enjoy this with me. Since
you're not, live vicariously through me !!

Cheers

Day 4 : Make Sure You Buy the Right Gear

2011-05-19T03:54:00.001+01:00

653 miles today. Longest day yet. Tough ride but the end is in sight.

I was planning on regaling you with tales of mental math and how much
work this trip has been. Instead of all that, I will share only a
single tale with you. When I realized what happened, I laughed out
loud in the middle of a gas station.

In case you are not aware. The gas (throttle) on a bike is on the
right hand grip. You twist it to give the bike more gas. The left hand
is used only occasionally but if you want to keep going, the right
hand must be on the grip. This means, the right hand gets,
potentially, a lot more weather exposure.

Someplace before flagstaff I lost one of my snowboard mittens. It must
have flown out of my bag on the road. I was bummed because these are
my favorite snowboard gloves and they were my rainproof hand gear for
this trip. Of course I lost only one, the right hand one.

Luckily there was a big 5 sporting goods store across the street from
my hotel. I stopped by on my way out of town. This late in the year,
they did not have any snow gloves left. I settled on some neoprene
diving gloves. They seemed warm enough, and proved to be so today. I
tossed them in my bag and left flagstaff.

Now fast forward to today. I've been racing the weather this whole
trip and it finally caught up to me. I was freezing cold and miserable
but I really wanted to keep going. I stopped to put on all my rain
gear and hopefully warm up a bit. Still shivering and now covered with
multiple thick layers of clothes I went to don my gloves for the first
time. I pulled the left one on and reached down to pick up the left
one.

No, that's not a typo. I had bought two left gloves in flagstaff. This
coupled with my remaining original left glove gives me a total of
three left hand gloves when all I really needed was a single right
hand glove. It was at this moment that I started laughing. It was one
of those deep earthy belly laughs. As I am typing this, I'm still
giggling.

I ended up wearing a left hand glove backwards on my right hand and
completed the ride in relative comfort. It's always fantastic to get
to exercise practical problem solving skills.

360 miles to go tomorrow.

Lates

Day 3 on a motorcycle

2011-05-18T04:23:00.000+01:00

I went 598 miles today and arrived in Little Rock.

I've not had a motorcycle in a while and I've only done this long
distance thing once before so I'm not well versed on the norms and
oddities of the road. In another blog I talked about the wind being
the single most challenging and demoralizing factor in riding a
bicycle. Then last night I confided in a dear friend my realization
that the wind is in fact "the enemy of all things on two wheels"

This morning after three hour of riding, I was ready to quit. I was
tired and sore and my mask was damaged in an annoying, insatiably
tickling my nose, way. I'd been riding at a 45 degree angle all
morning, just trying to hold a straight line against the wind. Every
time I passed a semi truck (seriously if those huge things are
semi=1/2 then what's full?) I had to wrestle my bike to keep from
careening down the freeway end over end. Then the most glorious thing
happened as I was filling up for gas... "How'd you like that wind this
morning, boy that was hell wasn't it? I hate it when that crap pops
up" said the leader of the group of bikers filling up next to me. He
was talking to me FYI. I was pleasantly surprised, I guess I just one
of the gang.

With that single statement I was vindicated in my frustration,
exhaustion , and despair. It wasn't just me, all the bikers hate it.
Best of all, it was NOT normal. We regaled each other with our
severely diminished MPG (I was getting 23, they had 27. Doing 85 did
not help mine).

I wonder if it's normal to have wind like that in the plains and
desert and not in the forested areas. Would be cool to see norming
tables on that data. Oops hard to play the role of hard core biker
dude when referring to potential meteorological norming tables on
seasonal winds. So just ignore this paragraph.

Those guys must have cast a magic spell with their words. After the
realization of the adversity sunk in, the wind was gone. The only
force pressing constantly on my body were generated by my movement of
85-90 mph. Happily these forces were orders of magnitude less than the
morning onslaught. It is surprisingly enjoyable to ride a motorcycle
in conditions like this afternoon. And silly me I wanted to give up
and buy a plane ticket.

***quiz time***

Q: name a type of person that initiates conversations with bikers.
A: Other bikers

Q: name a type of person that avoids conversations with bikers
A: everyone else

Next time you see a biker at a gas station be nice. Remember he may be
someone just like me (or me). Also its important to point out the
converse. Next time you see a biker at a gas station, be careful, he
be someone just like me.

Traveling alone on a bike is not scary. Think about it what are you
afraid of on the road? You're afraid of the crazy loaner bikers.
Honestly I'm probably the scariest thing out there.

Day 2

2011-05-17T06:35:00.001+01:00

I have the most fantastic friends. Today was a glorious 606 miles. I
rode from Flagstaff, AZ to Amarillo, TX. Lucky for me Albuquerque was
on the way. I was not sure when I would arrive so I did not call ahead
to let my friends know. Instead I just pulled off the highway near
their house and sent a text message.

Rain geared up

2011-05-16T16:01:00.001+01:00

Motorcycle Cross Country Trip: Day 1

2011-05-16T14:02:00.001+01:00

I rode my motorcycle 500 miles in the rain today. A few years ago I
sold my old bike, not because I did not want to ride it, but because
it was damaged by some neighborhood kids and I gave up trying to fix
it. I missed that bike and have wated to replace it since the day I
sold it. I finally decided to buy a new one (well new to me, 2005
Honda VTX1300c candy red). I have had it a few weeks and it is just as
exhilarating as I remember it being. Now that I got the hang of riding
again, I began my journey of 2,690 miles from Los Angels to
Washington, DC.

I'd like to say this an epic journey of a lifetime but actually this
is the second time I've done this. I remember only feelings from my
last trip along with a few details. Today, several details came
rushing back into my head, like the wind rushing to chill my bones,
finding every seem and gap in my armor as I careened down the highway
at 89 miles per hour. Thankfully my subconscious mind forced me to
make some wise choices on gear. As I was outfitting this trip with
things like floor boards, throttle locks, and snow board pants I was
wondering if it was all really necessary. I spent three hours in the
pouring rain, then a few in the blistering sun, all the time fighting
high winds, all on the first day and all endured with only mild
discomfort. I'm glad at least one of my minds remembered the important
things.

I wear a red skull mask and black worn leathers, honestly I'm a bit
scary and I'm not very approachable. I guess at one of my gas stops I
looked pretty friendly though. Another biker dude came over to ask
about my bike and tell me about his VTX1800 at home. Today he was
riding his Honda goldwing, the yupy gold standard of motorcycle
touring. Dude was all decked out in gadgets and gizmos and tech
clothing. Translation, totally not threatening, but, he was a nice
guy. I warned him about the rain in LA. He told me to look out for
floods Midwest. It was like something out of a fantasy novel. Two
strangers meet on the road and trade news before they move on. So cool
that this tradition is still alive with today's hightec Internet
world.

I went in to pay for my gas and there was a group of French tourists
inside talking to each other. I overheard the clercs complaining
because, they had no idea what the group wanted and one clerc wished
she spoke French. I tuned I to the tourists to pickup on what they
wanted. Just as I got it, the dude clerc makes some stupid comment
like they should just learn English or stay home. Thankfully the
tourists did not fully understand him.

Thankfully also he did not understand me when I called him an A-Hole
in French. I showed them what they were looking for and chatted a few
minutes. My French production is not great but my reception is pretty
good. They were a group of friends touring the USA together. They were
from some town I. Southern France.

The girl clerc was amazed this random dirty biker guy just buste out
with French. She asked where I learned French. The dude clerc replied
"in school DUH". He said it with a bad attitude too. Just to be mean,
I looked at her and said "actually I learned it by going to France and
finding people without attitudes to talk with me". That shut him up. I
left her with a suggestion to buy Rosetta stone.

Before and after that stop I had no other human interaction. Unless
you count the bikers salute. If you have ever ridden on a cruiser for
a long distance, then you know what I mean by bikers salute. I'm not
sure it has a name but that's the name I'm giving it. Interesting
phenomena is that the same thing happens on road bicycles. Maybe
that's why I'm drawn to these two activites. There must be a similar
thread that differentiates cruisers and road bikes from other two
wheel adventures.

I'm in Flagstaff, AZ now. I whimped out and got a hotel. I'll be up
early tomorrow to hit the road again. Perhaps tomorrow I can push past
the 500 mile mark.

Dana

Last Day In Russia

2010-01-25T22:09:00.001Z

I am a confidant independant well traveled person. I have been to many
countries and experienced many cultures. I can take care of myself and
get into and out of complicated situations. This does not mean I do
not accept help.

It takes time (sometimes multiple times) for me to learn a lesson.
When I travel I want to prove to people that I know what I'm doing and
can "handle" myself. On this trip I learned a lesson in accepting help
from others. My friends here like Mehkty and Vitya and Julia give so
freely of their time and assitance, I am sometimes reluctant to accept
it. Although they have offered many times (and I should have welcomed
it with open arms) to help me I have not embraced it fully.

On this trip it took a simple act from Valya to know how important it
is to recognize the value of help from friends. I'm sure she does not
know the impact it had on me and maybe when she reads this she will
recognize the profound effect it had on my mentality for the remainder
of my trip, and my life. We often say in discovery, you never know
what repricussions even the smallest action will have, and this is
just such a case.

We were walking through St Petersburg and, of course, it was very
cold. I was bundled up in two jackets, a hat, gloves, and a scarf. She
nonchalantly reached up and adjusted my scarf around my neck and
tucked it in. Immediatly I felt a signifigant improvement in my
warmth. I guess I did not know the propper application of scarves.
This is no surprise since I grew up in Sourhern California.

This friendly gesture made me realize the wealth of information I am
lacking and the value of learning from others. From that moment on I
made a concerted effort to listen to the advice of my friends and heed
their warnings and incorporate them into my actions.

It's funny how the little things people do can embed themselves into
your soul and transform you into a different person. This will be my
last post from Russia for some time. I have grown and learned so much
on this trip, perhaps more than any previous excursion here. I am
thankful for the people that I have become close to. I look forward to
returning here and continuing my relations with them.

Today I say бака (bye) to Russia but I think the French say it better
"A bien tot" until we see each other again.

-Dana

A Relaxing End to My Trip

2010-01-23T14:54:00.001Z

I have spent the last few days in Moscow, staying at Yasha's flat with
his girlfriend and roomates. This has been a time for quiet
conversations with friends and reflection on my adventures.

Traveling is a time for adventures and new experiences. It is also a
time for introspection and reflection. I joke with people here that I
do good things now to balance out all the bad things I do at other
times. In all honesty I think the bad things I do are limited mostly
to my thoughts of action and not to the realization of those impulses.
I do seek balance in my activites and endevours.

I spent several hours with a good friend yesterday, one who I am not
able to connect with as often as I would like to. We cought up on the
last year over 4 hours of sushi, coffee, and cake. It is times like
this that replenish my energy for moments like hoping in a cab at 3 AM
to head to a club to go dancing after a day full of drinking.

On this trip I have had quality moments with so many wonderful people.
I have heated whine on the frozen Finnish marshes. I have eaten kabobs
outside, in -20 degree weather. I have watched people juggle fire. I
have walked through a torrent of water careening down the middle of a
street. I have taught people to trust each other I little more than
before. I have made friendships that will last a life time. To me this
means I have "lived" and I will continue to do so in the future while
encouraging other to partake in their own lives.

As I write this, a very dear friend of mine is about to embark on an
epic and life changing journey of her own. She will spend the next
three months on her own in South East Aisia, touring the land and
meeting new people. I wish her the best on her journey and look
forward to reading her posts at http://sumsumterp.blogspot.com I hope
you too will enjoy what she writes about. I like to think that in some
small way I was an influential factor in her decision to uproot her
life and make introductions to the world around us.

Tonight is my final night in Moscow. I am meeting friends for a
farewell dinner at Nina's house. I will be sad to leave all these
wonderful people but they like I, must return to the semi-normalcy we
call our lives. I have already begun to schedule myself for work and I
feel the weight of responsibility looming over me like a piano being
hoisted to the second floor. I know I can bear it and I know I will be
successful, but still it is slightly unnerving to stand underneath.

I have a 14 hour stay in Frankfurt on my way home. I have already
arrange for a hotel very close to the airport. I will attempt to find
"something" to occupy my time. The last time I was in Frankfurt I
ended up in a flat of strangers with no money and no battery on my
phone. I had to walk to my hostel over several hours...it was a good
time.

-Dana

To Arive is Divine, To Depart is Descent

2010-01-21T20:51:00.001Z

As I travel, there are many goodbyes followed by many hellos. I know
each ending is merely the begining of another journey. Departure may
be the worst part of any trip.

I am reminded of my childhood when I would visit my father. My parents
were divorced when I was three and I would spend part of my summer
with my father. I knew as I left my mother standing in the airport
lobby that I would see her again and conversly the same held true of
my father at the completion of my visit. That feeling of lonliness and
abandonment never seemed to wain. I became better at conceiling it and
keeping it inside but always it prevailed, like a deep current flowing
though my sea of emotions.

As I leave the different locations I travel to, that feeling is not
omnipresent. To feel this I must have a connection with someone. As I
connect and truly feel a bond with another person, the old feelings
will resurface inside me. Today is just such an occasion. I had such a
wonderful time with my friends here. I feel that my friendships now
have grown deeper, beyond the superficial acquantance, and have now
become a part of who I am.

In time I will be able to accept my feelings, but always, the void
will be inside me with the absence of their presence.

For now I will focus on my next adventure for three days in Moscow. To
my friends, as you read this please know that you are deeply missed
and will forever be in my thoughts.

As I write this I am fast approaching 30,000 feet in a big chunk of
metal with a couple of flaming spinning monstrosities attached,
pushing me fast than any human should be allowed to travel. Well
faithful readers, I will post again soon, to let you know what
mischief I have gotten myself into next.

-Dana

Ice Skating (каток)

2010-01-21T20:44:00.001Z

As it happens, yesterday was not a total loss for me. Someone had
mentioned ice skating a few days ago. For some reason this sounded
like a Capitol idea. The plan was, to go two days ago, but I was
enjoying the sitting and talking so much, it never came to fruition.

Yesterday at about 5PM I got it in my head that I must go! Valya and
I were chilling at Anya's place and it took me a while to rouse her
interest. I found out later about her reluctance. We called Polina and
invited her to join us as well. There was an indor каток just one
metro stop down. So off we went into the wild blue yonder.

This was an indoor rink and funny enough it was much warmer on the
ice, in the rink than it was outside walking to it. Polina had her own
skates but Valya and I had to rent. It did not take long, less than 3
minutes, for me to get in trouble :-). I had decided to play a game of
tag with Polina.

I'm not great on skates but I can hold my own on the ice. We raced
around the rink several times. I was enjoying the encouragement from
the woman working in the rink. Finally Valya was able to flag me down
from her stationary position held tightly against the wall. She
explained that the woman was not actually yelling encouragments to me.
I was shocked (but not reallly) to find out she was bellowing for us
to stop playing around, and "don't you understad me!! I said stop".
And "someone make them stop doing that". Hehe, I guess this particular
rink was for serious skaters only who liked to run the rat race on ice.

We stopes our horsing around and accompanied Valya around the rink.
She had mentioned earlier she was not very good on the ice. What I
failed to comprehend until just now, was that she had NEVER been ice
skating before. It was amusing to let go of her and watch her come to
a dead stop in the middle of the lane and be unable to propel herself
forward at all.

Polina and I took turns giving lessons and by the end of the night she
was able to maintain a fairly steady progress forward and remain
upright.

It was a good night followed by a visit to a sushi ресторан
(restaurant). A perfect way to spend my last evening in StPb.

As I type this I am all packed with bags in hand. My flight leaves for
Moscow at 6:30PM and it is currently 1PM. Valya is off at school to
talk to her instructor about a paper she wrote. Polina will meet me at
4 to give me a lift to the airport. I am sitting in a bookstore coffee
shop relaxing with a кофе амерокано (american coffee, which really
means espresso with lots of water added). I look forward to making a
cup-o-Joe at home in the new coffee pot Alex bought.

See ya state side soon.

-Dana

Relaxing Day Out

2010-01-20T16:35:00.001Z

I made plans with Olya and Polina yesterday to meet at Subway. Really
I wanted a subway club and they had free Wifi. I decided I was going
to camp out there at 7AM and stay until they arrived. So as I'm sure
you may have guessed I got there around 10:30 not 7AM.

I already told you about the yummy coffee goodness I got there and it
is still a fond memory for me. First Polina joined me and later Onlya.
It was marvelous. We just say and talked for hours about all sorts of
things. I may have been awake for the first time here. I think I told
more stories and talked more in a few hours than I have in an entire
month.

We kicked it there for a bit then went walking to find headphones for
me. We were successful in finding them but the shop did not accept
American express and I did not want to waste cash on those. I think
today I will bring another card with me to pay for them. We eneded up
in a Kenyan coffee house near Olya's work.

Sadly it was another bout of crap froo froo coffee. But the company
was awesome. Valya joined us here as well after class. We just got to
sit and talk and enjoy ourselves. It was an absolutly marvelous day.

Poor Polina was so worried about monopolizing my time. I had to
reassure her that meeting friends like her is my reason for being
here. Because I am staying with Valya's friend and I see her most
often, people assume she know where I am all the time. She has become
my "manager" here. When Polina or Olya want to hang out they call her
first and ask if I can come play. It is amusing and actually helpful
too :-)

We ended the evening at my favorite local sushi place. Sasha, a friend
of Valya and Polina joined us for a bit. His English was quiet good
and we had a few laughs. For some reason I was exhausted and had to
forego the evening of drinking and clubing with Olya.

I pretty much wasted my entire day again today just chilling in the
flat. With -20 degrees outside, I am perfectly happy with this. I
strongly believe that I should not need a vacation, after my vacation.
So chilling and kicking it is grand by me.

Lates

-Dana

If You are Looking for God, I Found Him

2010-01-19T08:58:00.001Z

I make no claims to be an expert on religion or belief systems of
different people. If you believe in a higher power I have the perfect
place to be granted your wish of seeing a miracle in action.

He is currently awarding American coffee at the subway near the Nevsky
Prospect metro stop in St Petersburg to wayward tourists in desperate
need.

Thank you coffee god!

-Dana

Being Alone is a Good Thing

2010-01-18T20:11:00.001Z

I was talking to my friend Katie today on IM and told her a good tip
about traveling.

Option A: always travel with friends
Option B: Travel alone and make friends quickly, then refer back to
Option A.

It is always more fun with a group of people to find adventure. I love
to meet new people or have new adventures with old friends. At the
same time it is very important to have time alone as well.

I need tme to collect my thoughts and reflect on the adventures I am
having. Today was such a day for me. My morning was unihibited and as
you can see from my posts, I had plenty of time to write and to post
online.

In the evening as I told you I had an appointment with Valya at her
work. She had asked me to meet her students and maybe do some activity
or something. I took this to mean she wanted a mini-discovery workshop
for her students. She told me she did not know what to expect but that
she wanted her kids to meet me. I took some time and wrote a program
with minimal equipment that would be good for ages 12-16. She teaches
an acting class, so this gave me the opportunity to include some
activities from my acting days that Jean does not use in her programs.
Jean would have been proud of me :-)

Getting there was an adventure all it's own. I left for the metro much
earlier than Valya suggested and it was a good thing. After the metro
stop it was another 40 minutes by bus to get to her town of Kolpino. I
had to take the 293 commercial bus, NOT the 293a bus. The only thing I
saw were many 293a busses and they all said "to Kolpino" on them. I
approached a driver and called Valya. Then handed him the phone. They
talked for a minute, then he very nicely directed me to the correct
corner. I was standing in the wrong place.

After boarding one of the many many 393 busses I asked Valya to send
me a text in Russian saying "please let me off at stop XXX". Sadly the
woman who read it to the driver failed to let me know when that stop
had arrived. As the last person left the bus I showed the text to him.

I understood by his gestures that I had totally missed my stop:-). So
again I called Valya and had her talk to the driver. He told her
exactly where I was. He was super nice and friendly to me and made
sure I understood what to do before he left me. Valya told me to stay
there and she would come to me.

Finally she found me. I was at her bus stop for her home so she knew
the area well. We hopped on another bus and made our way back to her
work.

The discovery program I wrote and lead went very well. We finished
exactly on time and the kids seemed to get something from it. It is
difficult to lead such a short program but I feel it was benificial
for them. It was nice to see where my friend lives and works. It all
seems so esoteric to me until I can see it for myself.

The students were lovely and friendly. Her work is at a nice location
as well. After we had tea and talked a bit with another teacher.

Finally, I am back on the bus heading to St Petersburg. Unfortunatly
this is the 201. I guess the 201 busses do not use heaters :-/ my
hands are FREEZing typing this to you but it is worth it to share good
information with everyone. If I am lucky, then the McDonalds WiFi will
be working when I return and I will post this tonight.

Tomorrow I will wake up early and head into town for a subway sandwich
and free wifi :-). Some friends are meeting me there later in the day
and we will have a good time I think.

Oops:-) I almost just got off the bus at the wrong place!!! That would
have SUCKed. Thank you iPhone for having a metro map. I showed the
driver the map and he told me it was further down the line. Yay me for
not getting lost, again!! У патитиэлса (translation: help me I'm
pathetic and lost)

-Dana

Want Coffee? Have a Russian Order It!

2010-01-18T10:25:00.001Z

I have been trying to get a decent cup of coffee for three years here
in Russia. I have even gone to starbucks and McDonalds in my quest.
The word is even sounds similar but I have never I repeat NEVER been
successfull.

I'm a man of simple taste and pleasures. I like my coffee plain and
black without a lot of fancy decoration crap added to it. Well turns
out everyone must think I'm clueless and they refuse to sell me that.
I always end up with some froo froo puffy cup of shit. This morning I
ended up with a coke :-(.

The only time I have had a cup of coffee was yesterday when I went to
mcdonalds before the sledding. Olya order one and I watched the lady
make it. I recognized simplicity when I saw it. Then when I ordered I
just pointed to Olya's cup and to me. I had to do this several times
because she kept asking me something and I did not understand her. I
was just about to give up and resign myself to getting another puff
piece when Olya stepped in and said two words, pointed to the cup and
to me and then like magic I got my coffee.

Yes it was Mcdonalds coffee but when you crave simple coffee for so
long, even McDonalds is fantastic.

As I type this, I am sitting here with some stupid puff piece of a
coffee despite using the picture menu at McDonalds.

CRAP!

-Dana

OMG What a Fantastic Day of Tubing, Drink, Freezing and Friends

2010-01-18T10:07:00.001Z

I want to start this by thanking Jean and the discovery program for
providing the opportunity for me to come to St Petersburg and make so
many fantastic friends. Due to the nature of the program I am placed
in a position of great trust with the people we meet, and I am allowed
to be as hyper and active as I choose to be. It is entirly due to
Jean's inviting me on these excursions that I am here now and able to
share with you my experiences. I hope I don't screw anything up for
Jean in the future with my wild antics here now :-). Oh and sorry to
say but to protect the innocent, many antics are not included in my
public posts. If you do not already have the password for my private
posts... Sorry.

With only a week in St P I decided not to share my return trip with
everyone in the program this year. I was afraid of doing too Many
things and missing out on quality time with great people like Onya and
Kolya. As it turns out this was a wise choice. I am spread pretty
thin as it is and running on fumes pretty much 24 hours a day.
Showers, time alone, changes of clothing are a luxury for me now. The
rest of the post here occured within a 24 hour period (except the part
about juggling fire from a chain in the snow at night. That happened a
few hours outside the time block. Feel free to skip to the end if you
are intrigued by this teaser, but you will be missing out)

My day started the night before with a message from two friends that
they wanted to take me out on Saturday. These two particular friends
are Polina and Olya, I told them I was going to be in St P only a day
before I arrived. I must admit I am a bit surprised at their
enthusiasm of hanging out with me. But I guess that's because I get to
hang out with me all time so it seems so normal to me. I am very happy
they do want to hang because I have had some awesome times. And yes
I'm getting to that. I met Olya in the metro and we headed together to
meet Polina. Did I mention, Olya does not know English? Well at first
she said that, but actually she does quiet well conversing with me now.

Polina has a car and picked us up at the metro. Actually the same
McDonalds we went to with the discovery group and deaf Russians just a
few weeks ago. Feels good to be in familiar places. From there we
headed to the store and bought food, snacks, and wine. Other than
"sledding" I had no idea what we would be doing. Oh and Polina brought
a friend Dina as well. I am amazed at the calibar of people we work
with through discovery. For example Polina is an aid and rescue worker
for the Red Cross, and Olya is a surgical nurse at the hospital. Sorry
I have no idea what Dina does, so let's just say she is a doctor :-).
Well at least sledding I knew I would be safe.

We drove for about an hour and arrived at this Awesome park. Tons of
snow and hills. We had to pay to get in but the girls lied and said I
was Russian and got me a super discount. I think it was like $.20 or
something to get in. Polina had a tube and we rented another. After
throwing each other in the snow several times. We attached the two
tube and rode down as a quad.

At one point during the day a woman was injured and laying on the
ground with her 4-6 son trying to stand guard over her and stop the
people in tubes from continuously barreling into her. I saw this from
a far and saw as he realized he was just getting beaten up and people
were still hurting his mom. He began to cry. By this time people
started to realize the woman was not hurt, but injured. I ran down to
the boy and pulled him out of harms way then stood guard over the mom.
I was physically redirecting the tubbers as they came racing down the
path, I would catch them bodily and change their course just enough to
not hit the lady. Olya and Polina started to care for the woman. A few
other people saw what was happening uphill and they, thankfully, were
about to stop the steady steam of people tubbing down.

The lady ended up being fine. It was an old back injury acting up and
she just needed to be flat for a few minutes. Her son was also fine
and off playing with some other boys by the time we left. The whole
scene took less than 2 minutes from start to finish. I am reminded in
my emergency training of the need to act. So often we see things wrong
in the world and assume someone else will take care of it. In 2
minutes, a lot can happen.

We continued Tubbing down the slopes into the frozen river for several
hours, stopping every so often to push each other into the large,
deep, and very cold snow drifts. Again I wimped out with the cold.
Everytime that stuff touched my face it was a cocophany of pain
dancing on every nerve cell. My cohorts however spent 5 minutes
burried face down in the snow, to proove it was not so bad. They win,
I loose.

I still had no idea what else they had in store for me. As a great man
once told me "relax and just let traveling happen", thanks Matt :-).
They drove me to the Finnish gulf and we built a small fire on the
frozen marsh. With this we (meaning they, because I was too cold to
function usefully at this point) threw some fresh fruit, spices, and
wine into a kettle for some mulled spiced wine.

My three friend were concerened that I would hate them for the
experience and the cold. I'm not sure I ever clearly communicates with
them just how much fun I was having. I guess it's difficult to believe
a bloke when he can only stammer out a bleak да through uncontrolled
convulsions of shivvering. If you are reading this now. I am warm and
dry and I still look back on that time and think it was awesome!!

Valya had plans for me at 10 PM and it was only 6ish by the time we
were done freezing our keesters off. Polina and Dina departed leaving
Olya and myself. We called another friend from discovery, Lena, and
met her and her er um boy friend date (it's complicated) at a fancy
hip, not well known, bar.

Someone had been doing some advertising because the place was PACKED.
Actually there was an art exhibit going on that was popular with the
kids. We bounced and hit up another spot. Here I spent the next
several hours drinking beer and just talking. What a wonderful way to
pass the evening. Lena, Olya, and Dude (sorry man I forgot your name)
are good conversationalists.

I made it to the designated metro stop by 10 where I met Valya and
Anya. I found out eventually the plans for the night were to go to
Nastia's flat and drink and party. When I asked about the purpose, I
was told we were celebrating being with friends. Good enough reason
for me.

Nastia knows a little English and more French. As she drank more I
understood much less. I did understand that everytime I left my drink
unattended she filled it with conac. (remember I had already had many
cups of mulled wine, and three hours of beer, alcohol was not
something my body was lacking at the moment. I finally was able to
hide my glass and cut myself off, but not before I was three sheets to
wind.

At some point a cab was called and following matts advice I went with
the flow and hopped in. We ended up at some small club and danced for
hours. Dancing to a live DJ playing techno, while very drunk is a
challange, believe me I know!! Finally we headed back to Bastia's
flat where everyone claimed a small spot on the floor and curled up
for some sleep. I think it was about 9 am at this point and my 24
hours were done with.

But wait there's more... We spent the day snacking and chatting in the
flat until Olya called and asked if I could come out and play. Valya
had to go home to work the next day and I had no plans, so we arranged
a meeting time.

Polina and Olya met me at a metro stop and we got thoughouly lost
looking for a club. It might have been more fun for them if I was not
coughing up a lung every 3 minutes (a lingering parting gift from my
flu). We found it and I unloaded my 50lbs of warm clothes at the coat
check. (note to self ask for more details on plans). Then we headed
out the back door to stand outside. I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans
and that's it!! (and shoes too). There were a few fires going so I
camped out.

Have you ever seen people twirl a ball arround on the end of a string.
One in each hand www.anti-spinners.com I think is their site (google
antispinners). Well they were all doing that but as a competition. Oh
did I forget to mention, the balls were all on FIRE. I was at home
with fellow pyromaniacs YAY!

After the competition we headed inside for, yep you guessed it, more
beer. One of the spinner dudes befriended us and let us try it out a
bit. I like it and I think I have found a new hobby :-)

Now I'm off to teach a workshop for actors at Valya's work. Catch you
all later.

-Dana

How To Relax While Traveling

2010-01-18T08:34:00.001Z

You may remember from previous posts, my view on the Russian's ability
to withstand the cold. I will reitterate in this post my amazement at
this unrecognized skill. First a short story to illustrate my point.

I was standing outside a club in Moscow arround January 14, 2009
talking to a girl (in English). She was wearing the standard Russian
female outfit of a short dress panyhose and boots without gloves or a
hat.

**as an aside I have opened my eyes more on this trip. I now realize
this is not a "standard" outfit. At the time of this story happening I
found the outfit so marked that it stood out prominantly in my mind.
Thus I believed every woman wore these clothes everyday.**

I was dressed in my coat, gloves, hat, long underwear, and a whole lot
of shivering. It was night time and it was snowing moderately with a
descent wind blowing. Needless to say it was COLD. I looked at her
and there was not even a hint of a shiver. Midway through the
conversation I paused and asked "aren't you cold?". She replied with,
in retrospect was a tone combining a statment of obvious fact and
slight confusion, "no, I'm Russian".

As I walk through St Petersburg today with Valya, stepping into
puddles and through snow piles freezing my gonads off, I thought of
this story. Valya made some off handed comments about what a warm day
it was, which only compounded my feeling of inadequacy. I like the
cold and enjoy a good freeze, but I doubt I will ever come close to
being able to handle and thrive in these extreme temperatures, as my
local friends do. It is a skill that I am not sure they fully
appreciate they posess. From an outsiders perspective, it is impressive.

Keep in mind I am just that, an outsider. I have mentioned this
previously but recently the issue has resurfaced. When I write about
what I see and what I perceive it is from my very limited and narrow
perspective. It is like looking at a single picture frame from an
entire movie and trying to accuratly deduce the plot. I see only
snapshots of peoples lives. Perhaps an hour, a day, or even a week,
but compare that time to their entire life and you can see how much
information is never revealed.

Compound this with my inability to understand the language and you
realize there is much to be desired in my descriptions. I can only
comment on what I see and deduce. Hopefully as I continue to observe
and interact with the world around me I am able to build a more
complete schema of those I interact with regularly.

I would be remis if you were to take my description of New Years to be
a complete story of the lives of those involved. I am very good at
judging a person's character but not their history. The people I met
are genuinely good people and were warm, friendly, and inviting to me.
In addition to this they are very well educated. I wish I were able to
more fully participate in their conversations. I can only hope that in
some way they recognize the respect I have for them and how much I
value their openess and acceptance of my presence.

On a lighter note. I was visiting the university Valya attends. Ok
that's not really lighter per se but just hold on it gets funny. In
case you did not know, water here has an annoying tendancy to feeze
this time of year. This even happens on the eves of buildings. As the
frozen stalagtites cling to the buildings and more water and ice
build, the fixtures can become quiet large. This, then requires some
brave and insane worker to walk along the roof top and break off these
monstrosities. I have become accustomed to this site now. They tape
off the sidewalk and redirect foot traffic to avoid injuring stupid
tourists like myself. They are very good at making it clear the path
is not open, employing such tactics like jumping, yelling, and
flapping their arms, like a teradactile flying from danger. On this
particular occasion we had to cross the street. A feat which prooved
more difficult than I had anticipated. (here comes the funny part).
The street, for some reason, was no longer a street. It more closly
resembled a canal. By looking at various landmarks I was able to
deduce the water to be as much as three feet deep in some places. It
was an amazing thing to see, for me. No one else seemed to be taking
notice of the river (complete with rapids) raging through this little
section of road. Hopefully I will get a chance to post a picture so
you too can enjoy the renegade river. It was maybe the one time I had
wished it were more cold, to feeze the water. I think my boots are
still wet from the experience.

-Dana

This is Gross and Funny, Be Warned

2010-01-15T13:51:00.005Z

This is not about me
This is not about me

If it were about me I would totally fess up to it. Since the story was
told to me in confidance I will not reveal names. Perhaps the person
will read this and add his own comment to self identify. The story is
just too good to not be retold.

Many people I meet on the road who are fellow travelers are also
athletes of some kind. Some are triathletes, rock climbers, swimmers,
martial artists, cyclist, etc. When we have a chance to participate in
our sport in another country it is a special treat. This story is
about a fellow traveler athlete as he told me the story. We will call
him Alex (sorry zanderman nothing personal).

After searching for weeks he finally found a gym with a practice
session that fit his schedule. Alex had not been feeling well as there
was a flu going around but he felt well enough for a quick workout
session with the group. Shortly after starting practice, he had to
appologize to the coach and excuse himself. He ran to the bathroom to
enjoy an exposive bout of diarreah. He return to practice but was
struck again by montezuma. By the third time the coach was concerned.
Alex explained he had just eaten and had been sick for three days.
This earned Alex a ride home after practice. If you think it is funny
now, just wait there is so much more.

Alex's first trip resulted in a disturbing discovery. After dropping
his pants and having an assplosion (neologism-credit = ->me) the likes
of which will never be fully washed from their basin, Alex reached for
the toilet paper.

***As an aside to those of you traveling to other countries. Never
take the presence or use or toilet paper for granted. Bring your own
or know and be comfortable with the local customs.***

You guessed it. Alex is siting there, backside covered in the sticky
brown of yesterdays lunch and nothing to wipe with but his pants or
what he was born with. Never fear, there was a sink next to the toilet
with running water. Alex chose the best course of action he could
think of. Wipe, rinse, repeat, Pheobe would have been proud (reference
Friends tv show, the shampoo song). In his mind everything would be
ok. He had retreated to his happy place. There was light at the end of
the tunnel, his hands were easier to clean than his pants. This would
have totally been the case too, if there had been any soap, or at
least a towel. Seeing as there were neither, a fact he noticed after
his hand was covered in feces, he had only warm running water to
finish up with.

Don't forget folks he went THREE times during practice. Let's just
hope he did not shake hands with the coach afterwards.

Based on the way he told the story, I'm pretty sure he used his right
hand (he would not confess that detail). If you notice me calling
someone lefty, you know who he is and what he did.

-Dana

Forgotten Pleasures

2010-01-15T13:51:00.003Z

Cuccumber and cheese sandwiches are awesome. Matt first introduced me
to them in Yorkshire about 7 years ago. I had since fogotten how good
they are until just now when the airline served me one. Yay for
Aeroflot airlines.

Speaking of forgotten pleasures and airlines, I am perplexed. I
remember the days of flying when flight attendants were friendly and
personable in America. I remember when you were regularly served small
snacks and meals. I remember when you were "not just flying, you're
flying the friendly skys". Now sadly that has all gone to the wayside.
What confuses me is why.

As I travel the world I have the chance to experience many different
airline companies. I have previously posted on the excellence of TACA
airlines in south America. Well now it is time for Aeroflot to get a
super big thumbs up from me. The people working here are awesome
friendly and helpful. We got a snack (the aforementioned cuccumber and
cheese sandwich) on a 90 min flight. The prices are reasonable if not
cheap. The flights are on time and comfortable.

I do not claim to fully understand the economics of aviation but I can
plainly see Aeroflot and TACA are doing something right. Maybe if we
ask nicely they will give the Airlines in America some advice. If
nothing else, friendly people would be nice to have on everyflight.

-Dana

On My Own Again

2010-01-15T13:51:00.001Z

Well ladies and germs, I'm feeling mostly better now from my "man flu"
as a friend of mine called it. A bit of a lingering cough but nothing
worth writing home about. (Yes I realize the irony of that statement
as I write it). The discovery team, the group of people from America I
normally spend my time with here in Russia, have boarded their flight
for Copenhagen and then Washington DC. I on the other hand still have
10 days in country.

One of my lingering regrets when I have visited Russia in the past has
been the limited time in St Petersburg. We normally take the train in,
work like sled dogs for three-four days, then train back. Any social
time must be handled in lieu of meals or sleep, or both as is often
the case. I cannot proffess my preference for Moscow or St Petersburg
(there is definate rivalry for visitors affections) but I have plenty
of time in Moscow to explore the things I do and do not want to see.
This time I decided to do something about my regrets.

Thankfully I have made many friends in both cities. One friend was
able to find me a place to stay (ie floor to crash on) for a week in
StP. I jumped at the chance and made sure my trip would be slightly
extended beyond the normal discovery trip. As I type this now, I am on
a plane flying to StP. My friend will meet me at the airport and then
we will head into town and commence chillation. (neologism- credit->me).

The original plan was to head to the flat (means apartment ya Yanks)
dump my bags and have a quiet dinner in town and catchup, or rather
converse with me while I'm not sleep deprived. Not all plans go
as...well...as planned. Some other people found out I was comming in
today, all friends of course. And the quiet dinner has turned into an
evening at a pub with many people joining. Sure glad I am feeling much
better. With my mostly healthy self and the augmentation of miracle
drugs, I should be able to at least hold my own tonight.

For those of you wondering, my intention is to consume large
quantities of H2O tonight and avoid the distilled fruits and vegetable
including hops wheat and barley. If you did not understand the
previous references then you must be under 21 or do not drink at all.
If all goes well I will have some good tales to tell after tonight.

-Dana

News of my Near Death May Have Been Exaggerated

2010-01-12T13:22:00.002Z

I spent the last three days lying on a couch in the living room of the flat where I am staying trying not to die. I highly recommend avoiding the flu while on vacation in another country. It is just really inconvenient and bothersome. To be honest I am not sure how high my temperature got. I do remember hallucinating a bit on day two. I get sick like everyone else but I normally do not get a high fever incapacitating sick. It was very nice to get to experience this kind of illness outside of my home environment.

Like any seasoned traveler I came prepared. We all have our special medications that we know will work for us. Last year it was Mitch who was sick and he needed Tylenol PM. Sadly that drug is illegal here in Russia, though we did not know that at the time because we searched many pharmacies looking for it. For a friend from Russia traveling to Africa, she had her mother mail her all her favorite medications incase she got sick. For me it is Nyquil and Dayquil that keep me from frying my brain (I brought plenty of both). I prefer to let my body heal naturally, but I am not stupid, I know when serious damage can occur and I will take medications to temporarily alleviate symptoms. My normal course of action is to let it run its course. If my fever climbs to high i.e. enter hallucinations, then I take some meds to bring it down. Then I wait to see if my body will keep it down. I know I am healing when I can break my fever without the aid of meds. That finally happened to me yesterday. Then it is just another day or two of recovery time and I am good as new.

I could tell you tale of meditations for three hours and controlling your immune system, but unless you are into that whole Taoist stuff you will not care. So I will skip that part and just tell you I willed myself to health. Ordinarily this would be the end of my trip to Russia. Jean and the discovery team are heading back to the USA in two days, and I would be leaving too. This year I made some additional plans to meet up with friends in St. Petersburg, thus extending my stay by 10 days. This provided me with a high degree of motivation to get healthy. Really who wants a sick friend to come and visit them? That just sucks for everyone involved.

Here I sit on a couch in Moscow recovering from my flu. I think in retrospect, running in -20 degree weather was not such a good idea. Oh well, live and learn.

-Dana

Funny exerpts

2010-01-04T18:36:00.002Z

The people I have met on my many trips to Russia have an aversion to
dirt. I can understand their reluctance to sit on the ground as
their clothing is often very nice and the floor is often dirty. What
stuck me as odd was the ubiquitous adoption of this aversion. It
seems everyone feels the same way. I assumed there would be
exceptions to this but I have not found them, until I stayed with
Russian Hippies.

I on the other hand have a special afinity to dirt. I can happily
roll around in the mud and dirt for hours without a care in the
world. After all thats what showers and washing machines are for.
The moment one of my new friends dropped a fork on the floor and
picked it, wiped it on his pants, then used it to stir the pot with
all our food in it; I knew I was with people I liked.

Sadly we did not roll in the dirt. We did go for a walk with Kola,
Valya, and myself. During which time we wrestled in the snow and
took turns trying to toss each other into snow banks. Kola knighted
Valya with a rather large icicle he pulled from a building. Both
Kola and I used my scarf to tie Valya to a swingset. We then walked
away to leave her to freeze in the Russian winter. Since Kola does
not speak English and I do not know Russian, we decided the
conversation would be much more interesting if we retrieved Valya
( well rather that's what I assumed he was thinking)

Kola is this super laid back cool dredlock wearing hippie dude. He
attended four yeas of music school, at which time he learned to sing
and play guitar. He travels by hitch hiking around the world and is
a testament to the modern hippie.

After the food and festivities we all claimed a spot on the floor to
sleep. When the sleeping bags were set out? We saw we were one
short. Someone whould have to share. At which time Kola jumped up
and trotted to my space to share. It was very funny and we all got a
good laugh from it. I still don't know who ended up sharing for real.

I loved the part where we were all bedding down and everyone
stripped down to, at the most, their underwear, at the least,
nakedness. Contrary to popular belief, I am rather shy. I ended up
sleeping in my jeans. I was not surprised a bit by this, after all
these are hippies. Naked people are all over the place on line. We
all know what the "Internet is for" (ref: Avenue Q)

At the culmination of the gathering I guess I made a good
impression. I was invited to join some of them at the rainbow
gathering in Europe next/this year. Yay for good impressions.

-Dana

First Day of Workshops in St. Petersburg

2010-01-04T18:18:00.003Z

Today we worked all day with the discovery program. I have my group of
college students and I am leading them in activities. It is a
challanging group to work with, in that the goals established for this
group are difficult for me to achieve.

I can't help but thinking the reason for this has more to do with my
inability to speak Russian and less with the group I'm working with.
Every year I leave here enthused about learning the language and swear
I will continue studying throughout the year. Perhaps this year will
be the year I actually follow through.

This is my first time comming here where I have arranged my own travel
plans and visa. As well, this is the first time I will be staying
after the discovery group leaves. I can only hope this will set a
personal precidance for future visits with friends in the area.

For now I will enjoy my time here and hope it is not the last time I
visit. Since the discovery program and Jean are the main reasons I
continue to have a reason to return, I fear the worst. Jean is
retiring and the discovery program may no longer make these trips
without her. Unless Jean returns I will have to find my own purpose to
visit my friends in this corner of the world.

-Dana

Minus 20 outside

2010-01-04T18:18:00.001Z

We arrived in St Petersburg at 5AM and had to wait for the metro to
open. While standing in the train station I made a new friend. It was
an old drunk man. Despite how many times I told him (in Russian) that
I don't speak Russian, and he seemed to understand me, he continued to
prattle on (in Russian). Finally Mekhty saved me and we headed off to
the building we will be working in for the next few days.

When we arrived most of us were exhausted and fell fast asleep on the
mats on the floor. We had 4 hours of planned down time. I wanted to
head off on my own for a bit to explore the area. I changed into cold
weather running clothes and hit the ice.

I have never before run in freezing weather and I was a bit concerned
at first. After the first mile or so, I was able to settle into a
comfortable rythm. My constant movement (and awesome clothes) kept me
warm and happy. I think I was smiling during the entire 7mile run.

I'm the kind of runner who likes to greet people and say "hi" or "good
morning" (annoying, I know). I get mixed responses that I like to
catagorize into three things:

-- They pretend I don't exist and walk faster to avoid me
-- They acknowlege me and continue on
-- They respond with a friendly and enthusiatic reply

I have gone for long distance runs in at least 5 countries. Every
country provides the same basic matrix of responses. I was extremely
pleased that the Russian people were not an exception.

I guess people all around the world have some very basic comonalities,
independant of culture. Perhaps it is coded into our DNA:

Strange man running + friendly greeting = run/acknowlege/or reply

What an odd thing to evolve in humans

-Dana

New years with Russian Hippies

2010-01-02T20:47:00.000Z

Obviously from the title I will talk about how I spent my new years
eve in Russia. First it is important to mention the importance of this
holiday here. In Russia the new year holiday is the most celebrated
and most popular holiday. The celebrations in many ways equal and at
times exceed that of Christmas in America.

This year I was lucky enough to be invited to join some local people
in Moscow. One of my friends I met on a previous trip to Russia was
going to be in Moscow with her friends to celebrate. I had not planned
on doing anything special for the day and had assumed all my friends
had plans to be with their local friends. Imagine my surprise and
pleasure when I was invited to partake in this celebration normally
reserved for only the closest group of friends.

When I met my friend at the metro she confided in me that she was
nervous about me being there. In truth I was very nervous as well.
While Valya is a good friend of mine I had no idea who she associated
with outside of the program I teach in. She had told me previously
that these people were "Russian Hippies". In addition to this, I was
to meet one of the people who lives at the flat I will stay at on my
extended portion of this trip. This means for me, if I do not make a
good impression then I would have to make other arrangements. Valya
told me she was not sure if we would all get along well.

To not leave you in suspense let me assure you now that my evening,
night, and morning were wonderful beyond belief!! This evening was so
much more than I could have hoped for.

We bought food on the way there and alcohol of course. We spent the
evening all helping to cook and sipping wine. It was a one room flat
with 7 people cooking and having fun. I was really made to feel like
one of the group.

As is often the case being the tourist, people will try to accomodate
me and make sure I am fully included in everything. This makes the
conversation less natural and more stressful. For this evening, I was
just another friend there to share the festivities. If I did not
include myself then I was left to myself.

This evening was one of those theoretical situations where the tourist
is instantly invited into the core culture and fully accepted one of
the group. It felt as though I was with a group of friends I had know
all my life and they treated me reciprocal warmth.

The conversation was challanging to follow but not impossible as it
was all in Russian. I helped cook and learned some new dishes I will
share. The food was out of this world delicious.

We (they) sang songs while Kola played the guitar. We all danced and
listened to music on the Internet.

We all finally left at 3 PM the next day.
This post is getting knd of long so I will follow it up with some
funny exerpts from the evening for your enjoyment. In a later post.