One of the fun experiences in Ryazan was riding the city buses. They were running all of the time and there were many stops. The only trick was to learn which bus went where and deal with very crowded (I mean overcrowded) buses. By the time we left, we were pretty good bus travelers. On the left is one of the bus stops we used because it was adjacent to a bank where we exchanged dollars for rubles.
At right is the Equator Salon, a place that housed five computers so that the public could have access to the Internet. I used this site freqently to keep in touch with colleagues at work and with family at home.
The Oka River Valley (shown at left) is a very beautiful place. It has a broad, flat foodplain and from the north, one can see the Ryazan Kremlin across the valley. The Ryazan Kremlin is shown on the right. The photo was taken from the Oka River while we were on a boat tour of the valley.
On the left is a photo of a portion of Tsiolkoskovo Street. This is the street on which Sasha and Lena live. In fact, their house (apartment building) is the building at the right in the photograph. Adjacent to their house is a Russian Orthodox church that was being restored. When I was there in October, a small congregation was worshipping in the church.
One of the truly great experiences of our Seminar was a visit to a small village near Ryazan named Aleksandrovo. Most of the residents were employed at a state-owned chicken processing and egg production plant or at the local school. When we visited the village, we were greeted by the three ladies shown on the right. They were teachers dressed in traditional Russian costums and they presented us with bread and salt - the traditional Russian greeting. We toured the school, they fed us lunch and performed traditional Russian folk songs and dances, gave us a tour of the chicken plant, and fed us a big banquet dinner. It was a wonderful experience!!
In the Skopin pottery factory
We had several opportunities to visit very remote, rural areas of the Ryazan Oblast. There we saw small villages and scenes like the one shown above.
Finally, while in Russia, we experienced the "Public Restroom." Public restrooms have to be experienced personally to fully appreciate them. At the right and left are three photographs of restrooms. You can judge for yourself about their structure and cleanliness. Note: no toilet seats!!
In Ryazan State Pedagogical University
At the Ecology School in Lukhovitsii
