ROGER REPORT 30:

Friday, October 6, 1995
Moscow, Russia

THIS MESSAGE COURTESY OF MCI MAIL

Hello All,

Wednesday, September 13, I left Tutaev for St. Petersburg. I was late leaving and only made it as far as Volodna before I was forced to stop for night. I stayed at a police post that night, but traffic on the road was so noisy I did not get much sleep. It was very cold that night but my little heater worked well and I did not get too cold. I was up early Thursday morning and on the road about 08:00. I made good time and arrived in St. Petersburg about 16:00, just in time for rush hour traffic. I found the hotel in about an hour, got settled in, called Dr. Narvsky and arranged to see him on Saturday. I spent all day Friday working on Bubba at the hotel maintenance area. I, also, worked a while on the computer as I was seriously behind in sending my reports to you. Saturday morning I spent with Dr. Narvsky at his Institute where he is working on a Multi-Media Project for children called Panagea. This would allow children all over the world to send information about their city. It would all be put together on CD-ROM disk so everyone could look at all of the different cities and the various lifestyles all over the world.

In the afternoon I rode the Metro to the center of the city, went to the Hermitage to see all the art work there. Unfortunately it was closed, there was a large event going on in the square. I walked around for the major part of the day looking at all the cathedrals and beautiful buildings in the center of the city. Late afternoon I returned to the hotel and managed to catch up on some of my mail.

Sunday I went back into the city, managed to find a bank and get some much needed cash for the trip back to Moscow. That evening I had a wonderful dinner with Dr. Narvsky and his family, said goodbye to them. I planned to leave after visiting a school on Monday.

Monday, I departed for Moscow after I visited a school with students who spoke very good English and several had spent some time in the US. They are interested in finding friends in other countries to communicate with. Unfortunately they have no access to EMail but will have the capability soon so GSN should hear from them then. I left St. Petersburg about 15:00 and headed south towards Moscow hoping to find a parking place before dark. Just before I arrived in Novogorod I found a motel with a secure parking area and I was able to get a good night's sleep. The road was very good. I went through many small villages where people were selling all sorts of produce along the road. I stopped and bought tomatoes, cucumbers and a large sack of onions. Here, I am never short of excellent produce.

On the road early Tuesday morning, I was on my way to Moscow. The road goes through heavy forest with occasional openings where grain and hay is grown. This time of the year is especially beautiful as all the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn to their fall colors, mile after mile of gold, orange, red and green throughout the countryside. I arrived back in Moscow late in the afternoon and got settled in the hotel once again. I made arrangements to see the young people from YunPress, go to Troisk to the Children's Computer Club, and to visit a school for handicapped children in Dubna about 160 kms. north of Moscow.

I arrived in Moscow on 20 September and spent the next two days working on getting a visa for Ukraine. I rode on the Metro several times both days. The the weather has changed to cold and rainy. I have no umbrella and can't find a place to buy one. So I ended up with a very bad cold. I spent the weekend in bed, used up all of my Contac and had to suffer a runny nose with no way to stop it. The rest helped a little, but was still feeling terrible on Monday. I got my visa for Ukraine and met with the YunPress students in the evening. I spent the night with Yaroslav and his family in the city. They have been very kind and helpful to me while I have been here in Moscow.

YunPress is a group of young people in Moscow studying to be journalists. They were very interested in what I was doing and asked some very interesting questions about the US. Some of them I had trouble answering. I think the most difficult question to answer was: "Why are you doing this?" I try to tell everyone, if in each group I talk to, I can make a difference in the way just one young person looks at the world and persuade them to make friends in other countries then it makes the journey worth while. They, in turn, will also be able to influence other people around them, and soon we will have a better understanding among the young people around the world.

As soon as I got back to the hotel I was off to Troisk to see the Children's Computer Club of Moscow. It was about a 2 hour drive and I got lost on the way, but that has come to be normal as the map I have is not the best. I spent about an hour talking with a group of students, 15 and 16 years old, from several schools in area. They all had the same questions about the US, why was I doing this, don't I miss home and will I come back to Troisk again. I just hope they will be able to get all the information they want from students involved with GSN. These young people have such a difficult future ahead of them due to the large changes occurring here in Russia. It will be a challenge to them to survive the hardship of these changes.

I left Troisk about 16:00, got involved in the rush hour traffic and got home about dark. I went to the drug store hoping to find something for my cold but all that was available was some herbal tea, so I spent another bad night. Wednesday, 27 September was another rainy day and I drove north for 2.5 hours to Dubna to see Ludmila Senner at her school for handicapped children. After getting directions from the police post, I drove around for a while until I found a man who spoke English and he gave me better directions. I finally found Ludmila's school. Unfortunately, she had to be in Moscow this day. Her husband greeted me and explained what they were doing at their school. They have 2 class rooms, 104 students and 80 teachers. Most of the work is done at the students home, at the hospital or at learning centers. This school is one of the first in Russia. Prior to 1985 there were no schools for handicapped or disabled children. Ludmila has been instrumental in bringing attention to the problems of handicapped in this area of Russia and her school is providing a much needed service for these children and their families. I would hope anyone interested this type of schooling would send her a message on EMail to exchange ideas.

The city of Dubna is a scientific center and is very beautiful and clean. There are very few cars on the street which make for a peaceful atmosphere. It is on the south shore of Lake Moscow where the barge canal from Moscow intersects the Volga River. I left about 15:30 for Moscow hoping to get back to the hotel before dark. It was still raining and cold. The road paralleled the canal most of the way and the trees were in their autumn colors making the drive very pleasant. I got back just before dark and went straight to bed as my cold was getting worse. Thursday, 28 September I decided it was time to take a break. I was feeling really bad and didn't want this cold to turn into something even worse. I decided I would just rest until I felt better. I could not get any cold medication and my ears had become affected also. A doctor in the hotel gave me some medication so I just stayed in bed until late Monday 2 October and I finally felt better.

On Tuesday, 3 October, I needed to get ready to leave. I got a much needed haircut, paid all my bills and packed the truck. I decided I would not travel on my birthday, so Wednesday morning a TV crew was supposed to show up to film my departure. I told them I would wait until 11:00. I needed to get on the road for Kiev. At 11:10, I departed without the TV people showing up. (I guess they got lost in the Moscow traffic.)

Everyone take care of yourselves and do the right thing.

As Always,
Bubba and Roger