Grand Canyon--Home Leave 2009

Moscow street musicians

Well, our days are numbered in Russia and we are bidding farewell to friends, colleagues and our home for the past two years. In the coming days, I'll be posting bits and pieces that I have failed to do over the past two years, either due to crappy internet connections or my own laziness.

Here's a short video clip from these guys who used to sing in the perehod, underground walkway, near my apartment in Moscow.

New First Family

A Portrait of Change
New York Times
January 21, 2009
Nation’s Many Faces in Extended First Family



By JODI KANTOR
Published: January 21, 2009
The new president was sworn in while surrounded by a clan that redrew the image of the first family.

Yekaterinburg Ice Sculpture Festival

Yesterday was a beautiful day to see the annual Ice Sculpture Festival on the main square. This is one of the best parts about living in Siberia/Urals. I lasted about 2 hours in the cold; it was -7C or 19F. Click on the slide show to see larger versions of the pictures.

Obama Names Disciples of Christ GMP Watkins to lead National Prayer Breakfast!

I'm so proud of Sharon and the Disciples of Christ and take some pride in being part of the search committee that selected her!

U.S. / Politics
Obama Names Minister to Lead Prayer Service

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: January 11, 2009
Barack Obama has selected the Rev. Sharon E. Watkins to deliver the sermon at the national prayer service that is held the day after the inauguration.

Ms. Watkins, the first woman ever selected to lead the service, is the president and general minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a small, liberal-leaning Protestant denomination with 3,754 congregations and about 690,000 members in the United States and Canada. Ms. Watkins was elected to the post in 2005, the first woman ever chosen to lead a mainline Protestant denomination.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Dear Friends,

We’re writing to wish everyone Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Our adventures continue in Russia, struggling to understand the language and culture. We’ve been blessed along the road by meeting interesting people, happiness and continued good health. In lieu of a formal Christmas card, here’s a short update on our lives over the past year…

We rang in 2008 in London with Tristan’s training classmate from the Foreign Service Institute, Stacy, and visited Carolyn’s uncle and aunt, who live outside of London.

The two of us at the London Eye.

Carolyn and Uncle Lee.

Tristan--you know where!

In February, we took a much needed warm trip to Thailand where we laid on the beach (or Tristan did when Carolyn went diving), and ate wonderful spicy food. Thailand was a welcome respite from the cold Moscow winter!

Street Food Delights!

April was filled with packing and preparations as we said goodbye to good friends in Moscow and moved to Yekaterinburg. In May, Carolyn traveled back to Moscow to host a Fulbright planning delegation on US-Russian community college cooperation, and then traveled with friends to St. Petersburg, where she experienced the White Nights (24-hour sunlight) and appreciated the beautiful architecture and European ambiance of Russia’s “window on the west”.

Just past midnight as the first bridge went up!

Peterhof

In August, we took R&R (rest and relaxation or the perk of a tough post) in the US, visited friends and family in the Seattle area, and went camping in the north Cascades. It was fantastic to be home, although it rained more than we’ve ever seen in a NW summer. Tristan headed back to Russia and Carolyn stayed on for a few more weeks of travel to New York and Texas.

Camping at Heart's Pass in the North Cascades and the Pasayten Wilderness

We’re taken several trips around the Urals region, including Nevyansk, home to a famous leaning tower, and Verkhoturye, the oldest Russian settlement east of the Urals and home to the oldest Orthodox monastery in the region.

The church at the old Kremlin in Verkhoturye

The famous leaning tower of Nevyansk

In August, we traveled to Lake Baikal in Siberia, the deepest, oldest and largest freshwater lake in the world. After a four hour flight and a five and a half hour taxi ride, we finally arrived at Olkhon Island. It was spectacular, but too cold to swim in!

Carolyn pointing at swimmers on the beach

Day trip to the north side of the island--super windy!

Shamen Rock, a Buryat sacred site, behind Tristan. We had a perfect view from our room.

Today, we are in Yekaterinburg, Russia and have been here just over eight months for the second half of our tour in Russia. The weather here is finally cold with average temperatures hovering around 8F in December. We’ve been lucky to have some sun but it rises at 9:30am and starts to set around 3:30! There’s not too much snow yet, but we’re sure that will change in the New Year!

At the border of Europe and Asia (check out who is standing where!)

Tristan is finding his job rewarding. In a two-person Consular section, he’s been able to take on many management responsibilities and has recently coordinated the local diplomatic community’s first round table on visa fraud. Carolyn finished her first year with Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, an executive search firm serving the nonprofit sector. Her projects have been meaningful and challenging including closing searches for an Asian American domestic violence agency, a research institute on race and ethnicity, and a national service organization working with older adults. In June 2009 at the first company retreat, she’ll finally meet her boss in person for the first time! It’s an amazing world of technology!

Leading a discussion (with Carolyn) about the US Elections at the American Center

We will welcome 2009 as we did 2008, in London visiting friends and family. Carolyn then heads to DC to witness the inauguration of the first African American President (woo hoo!) and church meetings in Dallas. After a mid-winter thaw in Egypt, we’ll be just about at the end of our Russian adventure.

In just under three months, we’re heading back to Seattle where we'll spend home leave followed by a cross country road trip, and then on to the Foreign Service Institute for six months of Spanish in preparation for our next post in Quito, Ecuador.

We look forward to new adventures in 2009!

Blessings to you and your family!
Peace and good tidings in this holiday season!

Carolyn & Tristan

Caroling on December 26th with FLEX Alumni at the Children's Library in Yekaterinburg
(The kids are dancing to Feliz Navidad)

Opposition in Russia

Kremlin Rules

Russia’s Liberal Opposition Loses Its Voice

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY

Published: December 24, 2008

Tired of being hounded, a prominent Russian opposition leader decided to accept a job with the Kremlin.

Death of a Patriarch

Patriarch Aleksy, Russia's equivalent to the pope, died today. I actually got to see him preside over Saturday service during Easter week last year at Christ the Savior. Aleksei has been a pivotal figure in the revival of the church here in Russia which has gone from persecuted relic to a now cozy relationship with the current government. In rural areas, the sense of belief is strong while I still believe city dwellers relate to the church as a fashionable part of being Russian.

International / Europe
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Dies at 79

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Published: December 6, 2008
Aleksy II led a revival of the church after Communism and built ties to the Kremlin under Vladimir V. Putin.

St Petersburg

My friend Karen had folks from DC in town last May, and I was in Moscow from Yekaterinburg for a Fulbright committee meeting. We went to St. Petersburg over the weekend in late May about a month before the Summer Solstice. The pics in the middle are from our midnight cruise. The light was incredible at 1AM.

We also took a fantastic walking tour around St Pete's with Peter's. I highly recommend them. There's a pic of our guide and owner, Peter, who has traveled all over the world. His favorite place to visit is Niger, where Elizabeth was a Peace Corps volunteer. He's a graduate of the film school which we walked by.

Peter's Walking Tours

Click on the slide show for larger images.

More Pelmeni Pictures

Kseniya teaches Tristan and I how to make homemade pelmeni!

Rolling out the dough.

Tristan makes Olivie, traditional Russian potato salad.

Election reflections

The wheels of my plane finally touched down around 11:15PM in Seattle after a weather diversion to Portland and a long flight from Moscow to Atlanta. Despite mix ups at the car rental company and the hotel, I was still really, really happy to be here. Here to experience what it means to be American. Here to vote (or at least drop our ballots off). After watching what really was a fake election in Russia earlier in the year to elect Medevedev, I felt like it was important to be here. Home for what is a civic sacrament, the act of voting. While irregularities existed and people of color are stll disenfranchised in the US, my vote counts, my voice is part of the mix and it's my duty to make every effort to exercise that right.

The enormity of what we did yesterday still has not completely sunk in. I've blogged from time to time here about my thoughts on the first African American presidential candidate and, for me, more importantly the first biracial person as a candidate. But I watched not only African Americans, but Americans across the country, break down in tears as this great dream became a reality, but I'm not there yet. Maybe it's not being here for so many months or feeling so connected, or maybe it's just that I still can't believe it.

My heart opened as I watched Jesse Jackson in tears last night at Grant Park. For all his previous nastiness in this campaign, this was a moment of triumph for the road he paved along with so many civil rights leaders. A moment of merging Resistance and Hope, a trasncendent moment for all of us. I'm sure the pit in my stomach will eventually well up, but for this moment it stirs in my jet lagged thoughts of exhuberant, over-whelmed, amazing joy. Pride, a pride we haven't felt for a long time. A pride that this country once again will be respected and a pride that will be redeeming for those of us living overseas.

I do want to take this moment to share what we've seen overseas, what Russians told us about our election. I think back most vividly to a conversation we had with a Russian guy from Moscow in a Banya (outside, wood-fired steam bath) on Okhon Island on Lake Baikal this summer. Okhon is about as far as you can get from Moscow--only recently got electricity, no running water, truly feels like the end of the earth. There Tristan and I were (naked) on one side of the wooden hut, and this guy and his friend, also naked I presume, on the other. The wood stove is gradually heating up our room till we are sweating profussely. Our conversation was across a thin wooden wall with the stove in the middle. Curious, he asked about our election. In Russian, instead of black or African American, you say black-skinned person. Like many Russians, he said he would vote for Obama if it were his choice. For a country that is incredibly racist and really doesn't like black people (or Asians or foreigners for that matter), many folks we talked to said they liked Obama. I don't know if this is because McCain hates Russia and the black guy looks better than the one who wants the cold war back.

Regardless of the reasoning, it seems there choice was more out of fashion than substance. One of the Russian papers had a whole section on the election with pictures of the KKK and headlines about our racist ways asking if we were ready for a black-skinned President. While I have asked that question repeatedly during this election, I found it absurd to have the Russian paper paint the picture that the KKK was still mainstream when dark skinned (blacks and asians) in Russia are routinely beaten for the way they look and then blamed for instegating the situation. There are few places in the US where I won't venture because of my ethnicity. There are many places in Russia where I am careful because I know what could happen. My fear is real and justified.

Regardless of Russia's hypocracy on the race issue, I take great pride in this moment. I look forward to taking pride in being a diplomatic family abroad, to representing this country abroad. For all the damage the past 8 years have done to not only our reputation and position abroad but to the value of diplomacy, an Obama Presidency will restore our image abroad as a place of Hope, Opportunity and Lasting Freedom for all.


NY TIMES Opinion Piece

Editorial
The Next President

Published: November 5, 2008
Barack Obama won the election because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens.

Pelmeni lessons and fall adventures

I've been back in Yekat for about a month now. Fall has come and gone in that short time. We made a day trip out to Aleni Ruchi (Deer Stream) Park for a day hike and enjoyed the changing leaves. Life here is very slow and sometimes a bit lonely for me. Most of my days are home alone since there's not a huge community to hang out with. The American Center is closing this week for remodel so I won't have the opportunity to work with as many students. I did a presentation on Admissions Essays last week and got to meet some really nice students.

We did have a fun weekend filled with Russian adventures. On Saturday, our friend Kseniya came over on Saturday to teach us how to make traditional homemade Pelmeni. Most of us buy these little ravioli-like morsels frozen, bring them home and boil them for a quick dinner. The handmade version is much tastier, but more labor intensive. Here's a few pics from our evening of eating, drinking and pelmeni making.


Making the dough with Kseniya


In the meantime, the snow came down.


One more photo to come. . . .

Leaders in Nonprofits!

Check this out--my boss just got listed in the top 50 next generation of nonprofit leaders you should know!

Congratulations, Laura!

Nonprofit Leadership 601

Fast Catch up & a few opinions

Well, summer is just about gone. Labor Day has past. I've spent a good junk of the summer in the states soaking up time with friends, family and good food. I think I may have finally trained my body to not be overwhelmed by jet lag which is a good accomplishment for this lifestyle.

While I missed pretty much all of the Olympics which I used to enjoy with great fascination as a child, I have managed to catch most of the political conventions. Admittedly, I'm a lifelong democrat so the DNC was a great moment in history for me. I have concerns about America thinking racism is done if we elect Obama, but I am uplifted and energized by his candidacy. What little I saw of the RNC reinforced my stereotypes and left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt like a frat boy revival rather than a presentation of issues and platform. "Drill Baby Drill? Come on, some respect and thought would be good.

My boss, Laura, shared this link before my morning conference call today.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/09/cindy-mccains-300000-outfit.html
I'm from Louisiana and therefore found the whole concept completely disgusting that Cindy McCain would wear an outfit worth an estimated $300K when asking for money from the poorest state in the country! Republicans have the audacity to call the Obamas elitist??!! How did black folks connected with the southside of Chicago become elitist? Michelle Obama bought her clothes from the Gap or equivalent for the People cover. Granted, they might have been imports made by small children in Sri Lanka, but her choice speaks more to where women are today in this country. Well, enough with the rant. I could go on for a while.

We were at Lake Baikal last week, and this week I am in Indianapolis and Chicago. Baikal was amazing. Tristan put some pics up on FB, but we'll have to put some here.

In the meantime, here's a fun piece from the Daily Show!

Water Woes

I'm sitting at home hoping that the water will come back on. Water outages are not uncommon here in Russia. It's one of those reminders that while the facade of many things here is of a developed country--Versace, Dolce & Gabana and Nike grace the windows of shops in major Russian cities--the bones are more of a developing nation.

In our old apartment building in Moscow, the djshorna (apartment manager) would post a sign in Russian and English letting you know when the water would be turned off. Usually it was just the hot water that was off, but sometimes both hot and cold. The English version of the sign read, "Due to the prophylactic leading of the pipes, water will not be available from . . . to . . ." I'm not sure what version of babblefish they used to create the sign, it did get the point across. NO WATER (or a very cold shower that morning). This occasional annoyance could be tolerated. It wasn't everyday and water was reliable and generally safe to drink. It's better than Tristan's memories of filling up buckets when the water did come on in Turkmenistan because you didn't know when it would be on again.

I admit, I am getting older. Complaining is still not something I like to do publicly or appreciate when others do it, but I want the water to come back on. I'm tired of camping in my own apartment. The Consulate has done their best by providing drinking water and turning the city hot water back on. Still running water in my apartment would be nice.

I was humbled on my walk home last night from the Consulate after grabbing a shower at the gym. I passed the water spigot by one of the many construction sites around town. There was an immigrant laborer, probably from Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan, filling up about 4 huge jugs of water for his evening supply. His housing, in a metal box in the middle of a construction site, doesn't have running water and I suspect little adequate heating in the winter. I suppose I shouldn't complain; I should be moved to change his situation if I had the ability . . . frankly I just want water for us both.

Now I hear the thunder of rain outside which means my internet will probably go down, AFN satellite will be interrupted and progress on the water main near my apartment will be further delayed. Ok, I should really quit my public complaining!

Tomsk and Yekat!

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted. Our internet is slow here Yekaterinburg and then Utel did an upgrade which threw the whole thing off. I was blaming my problems on Russian internet connections, but thanks to our neighbor and some testing and head scratching, I finally tried replacing the Ethernet cables on the whole system and that seems to have solved a large part of our problems. It's still slow, but soooo much better! It's so frustrating to stare at your screen hoping that the page will load or message will send and it go nowhere. On July 1st, our internet plan gets upgraded and fingers crossed it will be even better! YEAH!!!! My outlook is so much better here with working internet!

Many of you have asked what life is like in Yekaterinburg. It's much smaller than Moscow which is nice and challenging. No pushing and shoving on the Metro, but not so many social options in such a small town. Work keeps me occupied, and we've started to make some good connections. Believe it or not, my friend Marni from High School in Baton Rouge went to college with Emily who is the ACCEL Regional Director in Yekaterinburg and Novosbirsk. (She's in the Shashlik pictures!)

We celebrated summer solstice on Saturday with new friends Stina and George from the Park Inn and visiting colleagues from Moscow. The light is amazing at this time of year--the sky doesn't get fully dark for more than an hour. It sets around 10:30 or close to 11 and starts coming up again around 3:30. Not sure that bodes well for December!

I am just back from several trips. We arrived here on April 21st. Then I headed back to Moscow for the Fulbright Community College Collaboration meeting followed by a trip to St. Petersburg with my friend Karen. Fantastic weekend--loved St. Petes! Once our internet is upgraded, I'll put the pictures up and my recomendations.

Here's a piece from today's NY Times on Tomsk. Tristan visited there and met with students at the American Center. It really is beautiful. We'll try to put those pictures up as well!

Hope you are well!
Carolyn

Tomsk Journal
A Fresh Take on a 19th-Century Gingerbread Village
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
Published: June 25, 2008
Nikolai Zakotnov vowed to rescue Tomsk and help the city defend an architectural heritage that is as charming as it is unexpected.

Love Shashlik in the Park!

YUM!

This is the before shot. Ksenia took these with her phone--pretty cool!

Signs of Spring

Spring is a welcome relief in Russia. The winters, even with global warming, are long, cold and dark, and the first signs of spring brighten even the gruff characters of Russians. The first rumblings for me seem to come around Women's Day or March 8th. Flowers are purchased for the women in your life and those bright bunches are tucked under many a passerby's arm. Spring is also for planting. Babushkas take the first weekend opportunity to check on their dachas and get the first plantings in the garden taking advantage of the short but precious growing season.

Spring is also the season of cleaning. Chisty Chetvergk (clean Thursday), or Maundy Thursday as it's known in the Protestant and Catholic calendars (the Thursday before Easter), is a day for cleaning out your house of the winter air and dust in preparation for the Easter Feast.

In Moscow, Spring is painting season. A peculiar practice of painting over anything, usually rather sloppily by young men, metallic in sight--iron fences, siding, trash bins, archways, curbs, etc. I've actually watched them paint trash. This is usually accompanied by a failure to put any notice that mentions wet paint. Just ask Katherine who sat on wet yellow paint at Patriarshy Ponds a few weeks ago. The guy who sat on the yellow bench next to her didn't know he wanted stripes on his suit either. Thanks to former neighbor and Hot Tipper JC for this picture from the Val near our old apartment in Moscow.

Look closely at the fence (click for larger view). HT JC adds, "BTW - now that the fence is painted, they were out washing it this morning. I'm not sure, maybe they mixed up the schedule and painted the fence 3 weeks before washing it? No, I think its just stupidity and low standards!"

Kak obichno, v Moskve! Many things still stump us daily! But isn't that the fun of living abroad??!!??

Easter Bells in Yekaterinburg

Happy Easter from Yekaterinburg!

Today, Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate the coming of Christ. Easter in Russia also means the coming of Spring, a welcome relief from the long winter. As I write this, I'm listening to the Easter bells of the church next to our new home in Yekaterinburg. Poised on the continental divide, Yekaterinburg is in the Ural Oblast or region and is home to former President Yeltsin.

We arrived on Monday and are settling into a slower pace of life. Moscow was fascinating and lively with much to offer, but often drains the life out of you with its noise, traffic and general aggressiveness. The expat community is small here in Yekat, but so far we like the folks we've met and it seems easy to break in.

Yesterday, we took a walk around town and checked out the market and then met up with Emily who knows an old friend of mine from High School. Very small world we live in.

Tristan at the Market

Babushka checking her eggs as she leaves the Egg Store!

Outside Market area.

Carolyn in front of an old building in Yekaterinburg.

Once I figure out how to manipulate the video, I'll put the Easter bell ringing up from last night.