Travel from America to Russia

                Travel from America to Russia
            
I like to start my stories from the very beginning of events. I want to talk about my trip from America to Russia. How did I end up in another country? What did I do there? What are my impressions? How did ordinary people and the police react to Americans?
I will try to answer these and other questions.
To begin with, it was by accident that I ended up in the company of American teachers who traveled to Russia for an exchange.                The American administration has decided to create an educational program that translates as: "Reasoning about democracy." A lot of money was allocated for trips in both directions. They attracted teachers teaching public subjects, made contacts, began to hold rallies and meetings, and prepare for meetings. And then I “turned up” with my knowledge of the Russian language. It was hard for me to navigate the program, to understand what goals were set, how they would be solved in Russia. Finally, I realized that Americans want to share teaching methods with Russian teachers, to help students feel free in any discussion, including on political topics, to be able to prove and defend their opinions, to provide clear evidence of their innocence, to point out their opponent’s flaws in speech , provide facts confirming the validity of the statements. And I saw how it came to life when I arrived in the city of Kaluga and visited several secondary schools and gymnasiums. By the way, Russian teachers came to Columbia and also went to the lessons of American teachers. There was a relationship, and there was mutual learning and the exchange of practical skills.
Something in my story resembles a “dry” report on the teacher's meeting!
Just before the flight to Moscow, I fell near the car and broke my left hand. It was too late to go to the hospital. I myself made a bandage and flew away. My friends did not suspect that anything happened to me. After arriving in Moscow, I had to shake another 4 hours in a small bus, keeping my sore arm in weight. Do not forget that I went as a translator, so I had to communicate with friends all the time in English. I had to torment!
A small digression. Soon after arriving in Kaluga, Russian friends took me to the hospital; fortunately, it was not far from our hotel.          I won’t tell in detail how the elderly doctor put a wrist in my hand, made an X-ray and put in a cast. It was very painful! But I am grateful to the Russians for saving my hand! Upon arrival in America, I came to the orthopedic surgeons who proposed to have a hand operation, but not one, but three. First, they said, they had to insert the metal pin into the hand, and then do some other operations two more times! When I showed an x-ray from Russia, the Americans still wanted to operate on me! Then the doctors warned me that I could never again move my hand well and make circular movements. Thank God, over time, my hand has recovered! By the way, now I also have a problem with my other arm and shoulder. For some reason, in America, my falls end in fractures. And the doctor again advises me to have surgery. And again I refuse, and the doctor does not want to talk to me...
All our travelers prepared for the trip in advance. It was in April, in Moscow it was still snowing, it was necessary to stock up on warm clothes and buy gifts for students. After all, our climate is very warm, in Columbia it snows very rarely, once every few years, so we don’t need winter clothes! You should have seen what baggage my teacher friends carried with them. In America, it is customary to change clothes every day, you need to bring along a lot of clothes.
I was also excited. Living in America in the Southern State was very different for my family from living in Ukraine. Working in high school with English-speaking students and teachers, a completely different climate and atmosphere around us were very distinctive from the usual. I really wanted to see my native birch trees and hear Russian speech! I already wrote in one of the stories about my meeting with a Russian birch in Canada, on Niagara Falls. I clung to this tree and shed a fewtears...
By the way, in 2001, my husband and I went to Ukraine. We recall how we met, greeted already at the airport. Too carefully checked our luggage, found what to complain about and kept us at customs longer than all the other passengers! They made us pay for insurance, although we already had it. And when we registered as foreign citizens, they also “drank” our bloodline! We managed to visit the city of Odessa during this trip. At the opera house they heard the conversation of the Americans, got to know them, and both sides were very pleased. Meetings in the hometown of Kharkov were numerous, wonderful, preserved in the memory of our and our friends. But when we got off the plane in Washington and the customs officer told us: “Welcome home!” We were happy!
Returning to a trip to Russia. I thought that Moscow would somehow meet me differently and open its arms!