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As
noted earlier, our first excursion was to the Starozhilovo Horse Factory.
This photo is of (from left) one of the horse trainers, Dora Bradley, and
the director of the Horse Factory. Notice Dora's flowers. The director gave
them to her. |
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One
evening we were taken on a boat tour of the Oka River. It was an evening
cruise and was very relaxing. Here I am reflecting on the experience and
enjoying a beautiful view of the Oka River Valley. |
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The
two lifelong friends: Lena Alyoshina (in black), geographer, ecologist,
and my language tutor, and Lena Biryukova (in red), co-director of the seminar.
At their right is Victor Romanov, a staff member in the computer lab. |
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The
is a photo of the computer lab staff. In front is Alexander Pribylov, director
of the lab. Julia, in the blue dress, and the other three men work in the
lab for Alexander (Sasha). We were on an evening boat ride on the Oka River.
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The
evening boat trip also included dancing, at least for some. Here Sasha and
the others were "cutting a rug." |
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Normally
the circus in Ryazan' is closed for the summer, but one week during our
stay a traveling circus group came to town and put on a three-hour performance.
During an intermission, Lena Biryukova, Ashley Seibel, and a little girl,
were raised high above the crowd in a swing. Although the picture is dark,
you can tell that they were having a good time. |
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The
park experience was generally very relaxing. We were away from Russian history,
language, geography, and curriculum development. Here Janet is sitting on
the bench outside of the hotel where we stayed catching up on her journal.
Journal writing was therapeutic for all of us. |
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One
of the fun and enjoyable times we had in the park was our swim in White
Lake. The water was cool and refreshing. While some of us were swimming,
Carmen and Steve read, listened to music, and relaxed in the shade. |
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Russian
life is very interesting and in some cases quite different from what one
finds in the United States. This woman was sweeping the driveway in front
of the park hotel. The act of sweeping was not so unique, but the birch
branch broom was. |
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On
both occasions while we were staying in the park, Pyotr (Peter), a journalist
from the local Spas-Klepiki newspaper spent almost everyday with us. He
took numerous photographs, took a lot of notes, and conducted interviews.
He was a great guy. We look forward to seeing his stories of our visit to
the park and nearby places. |
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Sheryl
became good friends with Mikhail, one of the park rangers. They spent time
teaching each other their native languages - Russian and English. Sheryl
was rather adept at learning Russian and Mikhail was eager to learn English.
They also shared cultural differences that enhanced Sheryl's stay in Russia. |
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From
left: Brooks Green, Betsy Beacham, and Janet Johnson. The happy Ryazan'
Seminar director and two of his happy teachers. |
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This
photo was taken in the kitchen of the cabin that Corey, Lynn, Jeff, and
I stayed in during the second week in the park. Yes, that's Dora pouring
coffee at an "early" hour. |
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While
we were visiting an old church near Spas-Klepiki, this gentleman came by
to explain the significance of the church and the beauty of the local area.
He did so in a very load voice which made us think that he was angry and
irritated at us. It turned out that he was just excited that we were there
and wanted to share his stories |
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During
the evenings of the final week in the park, we spent time making posters
for the park director and for Lena Biryukova's classroom at Ryazan' State
Pedagogical University. This photo was taken in the eating room in our cabin. |
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This
is a Russian woman watching us as we were getting water from a well in her
village. Russian villagers tend be very poor, but wonderful people. There
was no one on our trip who did not develop a great empathy for our Russian
neighbors who have suffered so much for so long. Our hope is for an economic
recovery so that life expectancy and health will improve and poverty and
misery can be eliminated. |
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One
of the posters drawn for the park was this one. Dora was the artist and
it was an exceptionally pretty and well done piece of art. It showed scenes
from our park experience. The park director, Yuri Temeshev is holding the
poster with Dora Bradley. She got a big kiss on the cheek from the director
when she presented the poster to him. In the background are Russian children
who were staying at the park for sport and ecology activities. |
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On
August 5th, we celebrated Ashley Seibel's first wedding anniversary as well
as Alyona Pribylova's 5th birthday. Here she is in her grandparents' dacha
with her mother opening gifts. |
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Alyona
is a very expressive little girl and loved all of her gifts. |
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Lena
and Lena were the girls who worked in the Minibar Cafe where we ate most
of our meals while in Ryazan'. They were very pleasant young ladies. Lena
(the left Lena) was married and expecting her first child. We appreciated
there kindness and their consideration of our strange eating preferences
and tastes. The food was so plentiful and nutritious. They are looking at
Lena Biryukova's photo album. |
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Part
of the Fulbright-Hays grant money went to pay for the use of an RSPU bus.
We were fortunate to have the bus available to pick us up at the airport,
take us to Moscow, take us on excursions, and pick us up for breakfast.
Our driver was always Ivan. He is such a good driver and was ever so patient
sitting in the bus on numerous occasions when we were off doing something.
Ivan is such a good man and a good friend. |
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These
three ladies kept our stomachs full of good food. From left are: Marina,
Lena, and Lena. They were so kind and prepared such good food that it was
simply impossible to loose weight. When we were in Ryazan' we ate breakfast,
lunch, and dinner in the Minibar Cafe. We also enjoyed their company at
the circus and on a boat ride on the Oka River. |
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This
was our last dinner in Ryazan'. The cafe ladies prepared a wonderful banquet
with so much food. Her Lena Biryukova is presenting each of us with a small
stuffed animal as a parting gift. The animal we each received was meant
to represent something about us. |
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This
is the table setting at our last dinner in Ryazan'. All banquets like this
in Russia start with cold appetizers, then there is usually soup, then there
is a main dish with some type of meat. Desserts are not typically part of
this type of meal. This was a wonderful occasion where gifts were exchanged
and good-byes were said. |
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Among
others, these four people played key roles in the success of our seminar
experience. From left: Vadim, our wonderful Russian history teacher; Lena
Biryukova, CO-director of the seminar; Alexander Pribylov (Sasha), Lena's
husband and director of the computer lab; and Lena Alyoshina, geographer,
ecologist, and my personal language tutor. "Brooks, listen to me"
still rings in my ear. |
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On
Saturday, August 11, we left Ryazan' at 7:00 a.m. and were taken to Sheremet'yevo
airport in Moscow, a four hour drive. Here we are in the boarding area after
we had successfully maneuvered through customs, ticket and baggage check,
and passport control. Thirty-six hours later we arrived home exhausted. |
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Sunset
on the Oka River.
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On
one hot Wednesday, we left Ryazan' by boat  ,
traveled upstream on the Oka River for one hour, then spent the next three
hours swimming and eating lunch. The cafe ladies had prepared sack lunches
for us. The swim was wonderful. |
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The
Ryazan' circus.
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This
monument has a wonderful story behind it. During World War II, all of the
men from this village were sent to fight. That left all of the women and
children to take care of the crops, etc. One woman was especially successful
in producing a high yields. Because of that, this tractor/war monument was
dedicated to her. It is near Ribnoye on the Moscow highway. |
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One
of the most famous poets in Russia is Sergei Yesenin. He was born and went
to school in the Ryazan' Oblast. While just a young man he moved to St.
Petersburg where he began to publish his poetry. In the hotel pictured at
the left, Yesenin committed suicide. This hotel is adjacent to St. Isaac's
Cathedral. |
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Spas-Klepiki
is a village with about 7,500 people and the site of the headquarters of
Meshchorsky National Park. It, like many Russian cities and villages, have
monuments honoring the men and women killed during World War II (the Great
Patriotic War as Russians call it). This is one of Spas-Klepiki's memorials
to their war dead. |
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The
houses in small Russian villages are small and unpainted, but most of them
have beautiful frames around each window. This photo is only representative
of the numerous types of frames found on these izbas. |
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This
photo does not do justice to the beauty of this site. Just on the outskirts
of Spas-Klepiki is a bridge that crosses the Pra River. This photo was taken
near one end of the bridge. It is a beautiful view of the PRA Valley, the
river, meadows, and forests. The green colors are incredibly rich and deep. |
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A
Russian samovar - a large device used to heat water for tea. Small wood
chips and pine needles, etc., are placed in the central tube, started
on fire, and the hot water is retrieved from the spigot. This particular
samovar was owned by Yuri Temeshev and it had been stamped acknowledging
its participation in samovar competitions.
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Yuri
and Sasha preparing the samovar for our picnic on the PRA River. |
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Yuri
and Sasha preparing the samovar for our picnic on the PRA River. |
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Yuri
and Sasha preparing the samovar for our picnic on the PRA River. |
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On
the outskirts of Ryazan', on the Moscow highway, is this large department
store called Bars. It contains everything imaginable from clothing to a
cafe. Since my visit in 1999, it had been remodeled inside with glass-encased
shopping stalls. A new western-style grocery store had also been added -
the low structure in front. |
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The
1999 Ryazan' Seminar group built an ecology trail in the park. During my
visit in 2001, I walked the trail and discovered everything we had built
had been destroyed. Essentially, there was no evidence that we had ever
built a trail. We had hoped that we had left a legacy for children who visited
the park. These next few photo are of places where once trail markers, maps,
etc., existed. At this site, we had painted a large map of the trail and
mounted it on two large poles. There were also two benches. All were gone. |
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On
this site we constructed a barrier around a hill created by a rare species
of ants. You can see what remains. |
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This
was a picnic site where we had constructed benches and a fire pit with iron
poles and rods. There is no evidence that they existed. |
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We
constructed two bridges along the trail. They both enabled people to cross
two low lying, swampy areas and were spiked together and held down with
iron rods. This photo at left shows what was left of one bridge. There were
no visible remnants of the other. |
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Essentially
the only visible evidence of the trail were the painted stripes on the trees.
In this photo, you can see three or four of them. I recall that Kay Ryan
painted most of these. |
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Russia,
of course, is dominated by the Russian Orthodox church. The religious landscape,
both urban and rural, reflects that dominance. This small church is along
the Oka River, upstream from Ryazan'. |
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While
we were in Russia, the harvest season began. We observed rye, wheat, oats,
and hay being harvested. The hay being harvested in the photo at the left
occurred near the Poshchupovo Monastery. |
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Finally,
the poet, Sergei Yesenin. Ryazan' is Yesenin land. He is memorialized in
several monuments as well as the large reserve at Konstantinovo. His poetry
has been set to music and all Russians who play the guitar know his poetry
and the music that accompanies it. Yesenin land is, indeed, wonderful and
beautiful. Our experiences there were exceptional and life changing. |
