Hello All,
I will start from the time Max and I left Moscow for Tutaev.
On 31 August, we drove a short distance north to Zagorsk. This is one of the most historically significant towns in all of Russia. It has one of the largest monasteries in Russia. (I will not go into all the details as it would be impossible to do this city and the other cities justice with my descriptions.) The work on the walls around the buildings was begun during Ivan the Terrible's reign in 1540. Some of the churches were built as early as 1340. We spent several hours touring the churches and visiting a museum that has many rare and beautiful Icons. The domed churches are very beautiful and are in very good condition. Restoration is continuing at a rapid rate on those that need it.
We continued on to Pereslav to spend the afternoon touring this ancient city. There are many churches throughout the area. A national park has been established in this area to preserve the unique architecture, Lake Pleshchevo and the surrounding woodland area. Here again, there is just so much information about the history and buildings that I cannot do it justice here. If people are interested in a detailed description of these towns I believe Max would be more than happy to share his extensive knowledge about the history and architecture unique to these areas.
We stayed at the Computer Camp where Max spends his summers teaching ecology and how to deal with environmental issues.
We departed early the next morning and stopped in Rostov, another town with many churches and a significant history. From there we continued on to Yaroslav and to Tutaev. After leaving Yaroslav, there was a very deep hole in the road that I did not see. You guessed it, we hit it. That was the hardest jolt I have had on the whole trip.
On arriving in Tutaev we were able to find a very quiet and convenient place to park the truck. We made a schedule to meet with children in the Tutaev area. Saturday morning 2 September, we were to meet a group of students at the Nature House (TNV). As I was backing out I hit an old gate hinge with the left rear tire and punctured the tire so I had to leave the truck where it was and walk to TNV. I arranged to get the tire fixed through the local Police Department.
I had a wonderful morning with a group of students of all ages. Max did the interpreting and then we took a couple of photos that I have in the computer. I will send them to Global SchoolHouse for the Web pages when communications make it possible.
When I returned to the truck, in the late afternoon, the tire was back on the truck. I then noticed the right front wheel was at an odd angle and was concerned I might have done some real damage the day before when I hit that large hole. Since it was too late in the evening to investigate, I decided to look at it on Sunday morning. We were scheduled to go to a children's home on Sunday, but when I arrived at TNV the front wheel appeared to be much worse. I decided that I would drive nowhere else until I had a closer look at the problem. I discovered the upper control arm had the upper ball joint knocked out and the possibility of repair looked very remote. After much talk and agonizing, a mechanic was called from the local bus factory and he agreed to come have a look.
Sunday afternoon we had an impromptu crowd gather to have a look at Bubba. We explained the whole venture and took more photos for the computer. We rescheduled the visit to the children's home for later in the week. Monday the mechanic showed up, we took the broken parts off and he said he would be able to repair the control arm. Much to my relief, he returned later in the day and we put the whole thing back together. In just one day I was back on the road again, amazing at what can be done with a little ingenuity and the right attitude.
Tuesday morning and afternoon was spent at TNV with Max trying to get messages sent via MCI and meeting with a group of students from a local school. They were very interested in the project and would very much like to be involved in receiving EMail from children from anywhere.
On Wednesday we spent most of the day at the children's home. The students are very interested in trying to better their circumstances by working very hard in school. Some of them are actively participating in a program at TNV to learning about computer technology and telecommunications. They would like very much to be able to form friendships with other children through this medium. I would suggest that students involved with this program make an effort to communicate with these children as it would be very helpful for them in many ways. Thursday and Friday it rained most of the day and I spent the time in the truck working on my computer, catching up on my reports.
(MODERATOR'S NOTE: If you would like to send messages to the students at TNV, address them to roger@bonita.cerf.fred.org with the subject: Messages for TNV and I will forward them to Max.)
Saturday 9 September was a day for sight seeing in Yaroslav. Again it is too much for me to describe as far as history and all the significant sights are concerned. This is a very old city on the Volga and it has been important in the Russian history of this area. Max would be able to answer any questions about the city if you will write to him and his students. They will be most happy to answer your questions.
Sunday was spent walking in the forest around Tutaev looking for mushrooms, a favorite pastime for people in this area. I tried a little fishing in a small stream but got skunked again. We had an early dinner with Max's family and as usual there was more food than we could all eat. I said good-bye to this wonderful family and went back to my parking place for the night. Monday we left for a school in a small village near Tutaev. It was necessary to take a ferry across the Volga as the city here has no bridge. The school was rather small but we had a wonderful time. Some of the students were working on the farms but still managed to come on a tractor and be involved in the talk about what we are doing. Max will help them send and receive messages from GSN. During the winter most of the children from this school come to school on snow skis as there are no buses to bring them to school.
When we returned to the ferry landing I asked Max about a small building nearby and he said it was unused. I looked at it and suggested to him it was the perfect size for a small coffee shop. If the city would give it to TNV to be remodeled for this purpose, any money made from it could be used to buy computers for the local schools. He felt it might be a good idea and they would investigate the possibility of getting some volunteers from the community to help with the project. I said I would be willing to donate some funds if they could get the project going. I hope this will be an opportunity to get the whole community involved in a project that will help all the schools in the area.
Tuesday morning was spent with a class in the largest school in Tutaev. The afternoon was spent with a group of students from another school in the city. All of these students are very interested in having contact with children from other countries. They are highly motivated about environmental issues.
Everyone take care of yourselves and do the right thing.
As Always,
Bubba and Roger
NEXT WEEK: Roger visits St. Petersburg, then returns to Moscow on his
way to Kiev, Ukraine.
I am going to a school tomorrow, I found a camp ground here in Kiev and will be here until Friday. I got back from Dneperotrosk on Monday and spent all day Tuesday working on the truck and trying to get my reports up to date on my travels. I will get more to you before I leave Kiev on Friday. I will be going to Romania from here. The time on my Ukrainian visa is running out and the weather is getting colder so I need to move on.
Roger
MODERATOR'S NOTE:
Roger is now in Tirgu Mures, Romania. (Refer to information on
Romania sent to all participants on October 14.)
In his latest message Roger reports that he will be leaving Romania in a few days, traveling west through Hungary, and Austria to Italy.
--- Lorna Pasos, project coordinator