What an incredible time we have had here in Moscow. Our Fulbright meetings were filled with interesting people and even more interesting discussions. Every scholar except one has been in Russia before and some more than 10 times. What a wonderful program this program is and how it brings together such fascinating people is beyond me.
We had the opportunity to visit the American Embassy in Moscow today and even meet our dynamic US Ambassador to Russia. He is a former Fulbrighter (!) which was especially nice to hear. I feel as if I am traveling in pretty important circles here...
We managed to make it back to the Kremlin to visit the armory. I had always wanted to see the Faberge' eggs and finally saw several. They were so awesome and more beautiful than I could have imagined. The overall exhibits in the armory were the most extravagant and impressive that I have ever witnessed anywhere. Catherine the Great's carriages, the clothing, jewelry, crowns, armor, etc., etc. was unbelievable. We blew out of Red Square in a hurry due to the number of riot police and equipment heading our way with various riots taking place in the past few days in other parts of Moscow.
Unfortunately, while in Moscow we received some sad news. We were hoping to catch up with Slava, another former exchange student that had lived with John many years ago. We had seen he and his wife last in St. Louis in 2006 when they visited us, but we had not been able to contact him for several years afterward. A couple of months prior to leaving for Russia, we sent 2 letters by snail mail hoping he would contact us. On our 3rd day in Moscow, we received an email from his nephew. He wrote to tell us that Slava, Larissa & his small daughter Kusha were all killed in a tragic car accident in 2007 when a drunk driver fell asleep and drove a lorry truck into them. The young man came to our hotel for a cup of coffee with us to share this difficult bit of news.
Just in the case that you may have forgotten...life is so very precious...enjoy it...
An early flight in the morning back to our city of Ufa for the last half of this unbelievable experience.
Sleep tight...
We had the opportunity to visit the American Embassy in Moscow today and even meet our dynamic US Ambassador to Russia. He is a former Fulbrighter (!) which was especially nice to hear. I feel as if I am traveling in pretty important circles here...
We managed to make it back to the Kremlin to visit the armory. I had always wanted to see the Faberge' eggs and finally saw several. They were so awesome and more beautiful than I could have imagined. The overall exhibits in the armory were the most extravagant and impressive that I have ever witnessed anywhere. Catherine the Great's carriages, the clothing, jewelry, crowns, armor, etc., etc. was unbelievable. We blew out of Red Square in a hurry due to the number of riot police and equipment heading our way with various riots taking place in the past few days in other parts of Moscow.
Unfortunately, while in Moscow we received some sad news. We were hoping to catch up with Slava, another former exchange student that had lived with John many years ago. We had seen he and his wife last in St. Louis in 2006 when they visited us, but we had not been able to contact him for several years afterward. A couple of months prior to leaving for Russia, we sent 2 letters by snail mail hoping he would contact us. On our 3rd day in Moscow, we received an email from his nephew. He wrote to tell us that Slava, Larissa & his small daughter Kusha were all killed in a tragic car accident in 2007 when a drunk driver fell asleep and drove a lorry truck into them. The young man came to our hotel for a cup of coffee with us to share this difficult bit of news.
Just in the case that you may have forgotten...life is so very precious...enjoy it...
An early flight in the morning back to our city of Ufa for the last half of this unbelievable experience.
Sleep tight...
How wonderful, interesting, yet sad! I hope you took a picture of the eggs for your Mom!
ReplyDelete