Want a beer?

Having a beer at a Beer Garden in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my trip to Russia this summer. Remembering the good times and the not so great times.

This picture was a good time. Our group had just finished touring the Hermitage and did a canal boat trip. We were given some down time for the evening so a group of us went out for drinks and dinner. The above photo shows me drinking my first Russian beer!

Budem zdorovy ("Let's stay healthy" in Russian)! :-)

Finally! The Russians are doing something!

I don't know if any of you were aware of this BUT since Russia has been under the leadership of Putin, a lot of Russian journalists have been killed. And, the majority of these murders have never been solved. Anna Politkovskaya was a journalist that was very critical of Putin and the Chechnya conflict. She was murdered on October 7, 2006 (also Putin's birthday). Until now, no one has ever been blamed for her death.

So, a huge step has been made recently. Read all about here.

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists state 13 journalists have been killed in contract-style murders since Putin took office in 2000. Others say that there have been more journalists (numbers as high as over 100) that have been killed for writing against the Putin government.

I just purchased this book a few weeks ago. I haven't started reading it yet but it looked good. Check it out here.

Let's hope that justice will FINALLY be served!

My host family in Vladimir, Russia and Problems in the World

This is a picture of me and my host Dad, Andrei, and host Mom, Natalia at their flat in Vladimir.

I just received an email from Yana, my host daughter. She's been wonderful about keeping in touch with me since I've been home. Yana is the inspiration of this post tonight.

My visit with them was so nice and wonderful. They were so kind and good to me. It amazed me how complete strangers could be so kind to a stranger - especially an American! :-)

In my travels over the past few years (Europe), a lot of people in these places don't like Americans. It's really sad when you think about it. A lot of it has to do with our government - mainly our idiot of a President.

When I was in Russia, I spoke with people that always asked me my opinion of President Bush and the war in Iraq. Of course, there is a belief that ALL Americans voted for him (NOT ME!) and that ALL Americans want our troops in Iraq (I support our men and women serving - I don't support our American gov't trying to control the world and push democracy on folks that don't want it!).

My host family asked me if America planned on taking over the world. How do I respond to that? How do I tell them that our government makes decisions that the majority of the American public don't agree? I tried to explain to them I hope that America doesn't have the plan to control the world. Yes, we are a world power (I question for HOW much longer) but that America needs to work with other countries (such as Russia) to make the world a better place, politically, socially, and economically. The focus should be on Darfur or how about this - problems that are going on here in the United States such as education, poverty, Katrina victims, etc. I also pointed out that before Bush was elected, the world didn't hate us as much as they do now. Thanks to our involvement in Iraq and the idiotic decisions that have been made over the past four years by our government, the United States has officially pissed off the majority of the Islamic world and isolated the United States from everyone else. Not a smart move.

So, why did Yana's email motivate me to rattle on these topics here? I don't know. I just get so frustrated with our government. At least here in the United States, we have freedom of speech (or do we?) and freedom of ideas. I'm fearful of where America is heading the next ten years. There are so many other problems in the world that need to be dealt with - global warming, North Korea, poverty and world hunger, etc. Oil is NOT the answer to our problems - we need to find other alternative forms of fuel sources.

While living in Russia for a month, I appreciate the little things in life. Good quality toilet paper. Hot water for a shower whenever I want it. No mystery meat - I know from what animal my meat comes from. Unlimited Internet. No smoking laws. If I get pick pocketed here, the police won't say to me, "Stupid American!" Electricity that stays on most of the time. Cars that have to pass emissions tests to drive on the road. Not seeing piles and piles of trash and litter everywhere in a state or national park. Being harassed by drunk Russian men (in a bad way). Food that has flavor and some taste.

I am proud to be an American. I just don't always agree with how America chooses to do things within its government and the world.

Hang tough folks - we only have 512 more days of a Republican President! :-)

Adjusting to life back in the United States

Sometimes, you don't realize how lucky we have it here in the United States. Hot water whenever we want it, rights protected under our laws and Constitution, technology, etc.

Life in Russia was hard. And I was only living there for a month. I knew I was coming back to my lovely home with all the modern conveniences, my rights were protected by my government and our Constitution, police are not corrupt here and bribery is rare, and if I wanted to change my financial situation, I could change it. If there is something about my life that I don't like, I don't accept it. I try and change it.

Russians don't live this way. They accept that they can't make a change or difference in their lives. They don't trust the police since the police won't help them. For example, when I was in St. Petersburg, a few members of our group decided to stay in the downtown area for some drinks and dinner for the evening and take the Metro back to the Hotel. We bought our coins for the metro (12 rubles or 48 cents in American money) and headed down the very LONG escalator to the Metro (subway). We were talking and laughing (basically, being loud and obnoxious Americans). We arrived at the bottom and walked in front of the doors to the Metro - waiting for the next available train. The train arrives and we all walk forward to enter the train. As we enter the train, we are shoved HARD! I went flying into the train (which was crowded since it was during Rush Hour or peak hours). I felt someone try and reach into my pocket. I didn't keep anything in my pockets - everything was in my side bag that I always carried in front on me during close confined spaces or situations. One of the guys in my group (Mike) was not so lucky - they stole his wallet with all his money and credit cards and drivers license. Good news - they didn't get his passport which was in his other back pocket. We were warned to not carry our money in our back pockets since pick pocketing is VERY popular in Russia. As the doors were closing, Mike jumped out to chase the criminals that stole his wallet. We all looked at each other - panic-stricken. This woman on the Metro said to us in English, "That's Russia for you!" It's like they accept this type of behavior. The rest of our group got back to the Hotel to tell the main guy in charge of our group what had happened. We also went to the Police and their response was, "Not our problem!" "Stupid Americans! You should be smarter than to keep your money where someone would steal it!" Nice, heh? The Police refused to help us. Mike did come back to the Hotel. He told the Hotel what happened and they allowed him to make a quick phone call home to tell his wife to cancel all the credit cards. And, he'll have to replace his drivers licence. The good news is that he still had his Passport. If they got his Passport, it could've ended up on the black market and sold.

I couldn't get over how the Police reacted (Or should I say the lack of reaction) in this situation. If this happened in the United States, they would've at least filed a report and been more helpful. I heard many stories while in Russia on how the Police are not helpful and if you are in trouble, you don't go to the Police. I had also heard many stories on how you could bribe or pay off the Police. We were also told that if a woman was raped, the Police wouldn't do anything. Very scary society!

Regarding the hot water: There would be days without hot water so people go days without showering or bathing. Makes for a very stinky society! :-( Again, the people in Russia accept it and do nothing about it. They don't go to their local politicians to complain. They don't advocate for their rights. Nothing.

We are very blessed and lucky to have what we have here in the United States. I know we all complain about our government at times or society. But, we really are lucky. Remember that the next time you complain about something here in the United States!

PS Mike lost $150 cash. Nothing was charged on his credit cards before he cancelled them so he was VERY lucky! Some American teachers in my group loaned him money to get by until the end of the trip.

Started to update Travel Blog

I've started to update my travel blog. You can check it out here.

Also, check out the University of IL-Urbana-Champaign photo diary here. To access the photos of each week, just click on the dates and scan down. You may recognize a few pics of me. :-)

I highly recommend checking out the other blogs listed on the U of I photo diary web page. You'll get another perspective of the trip.

Oh, the answers to the previous post were:
1) Me, of course!
2) This photo was taken in Bogoliubovo at the Monasteries, built in the 12th century. It is currently a convent. The Russian Orthodox Church requires women to wear scarves on heads and a long skirt. I look like a Polish refugee because I didn't feel like wearing a skirt all day so I threw a skirt in my bag and pulled it over my capris (as did the other American teachers in my group) and then quickly tied the scarf on my head prior to walking into the Cathedral.

Here is a group photo:

Been busy

I've been busy so I haven't had a chance to post anything about my trip yet.

Here's a little "tease":

The teacher in me is coming out so here is a quick quiz:

1) Guess who?

2) Why is this person dressed this way?

Have fun commenting! :-)

Back in the USA!

Wow!

I'm back from Russia! My trip was one of most amazing experiences in my life. I have so many thoughts on what I've seen the past five weeks. The next few weeks, I'll post some stories and pictures that I can't really post on my travel blog (lots of reasons).

I'm at my parents house in Illinois right now resting and relaxing and visiting with family and friends.

I fly back to Boston on Saturday.

Feels great to be back home.

Visit me soon!

Do svidaniya (good bye). :-)