Dr. Berry’s Russian Adventure, Take Two

Yay!!! It is good to be home. I had the LONGEST Sunday!! Not only did it have an extra hour as Moscow went off Daylight Savings Time, but I also had an 11 hour flight from Moscow to Chicago. Again it was not a full flight (thank goodness!!) and I was able to stretch out among 5 seats and lounge all the way to the USA. Unfortunately like on the 15 hour train… I did very little sleeping. My sore throat, cough, aches, train/plane noises and movement prevented much in the deep sleep category.  It was so wonderful to stretch out on my bed in my covers, sheets, comforters next to my little dog and get a good night’s sleep!

I will post the pictures now. Hope you enjoy!!

DownloadIt has been a whirlwind of the past couple of days. I have toured schools, met with government officials, had a vodka toast at a kindergarten and have managed to catch a fever, sore throat, and body aches.

 Today was the hardest to make it through. My day began at 6:45AM and concluded at 8:10 PM. It was long yes, but worth the struggle!! I was at the teacher’s training institute where I gave a lecture on the US education system and teacher training.

I will blog more when I am not so bone tired. Hope all is well!!

Cheers

Jennifer

 

 Good morning for those of you that cannot read Cyrillic! Another beautiful Russian day! The sun is shining, blue sky, and puff ball clouds. It is so nice to finally have the sun. Last night was such a quiet evening. I had dinner with my host and worked on my English lesson for today. Valeriye via Olga said I could teach a Zoology lesson, but I think it would be best to stick with what I can easily say and prepare for in a moments notice.

I have had a couple of questions 1- Mutton is lamb, 2- the stomach I ate was… hopefully cow. Not sure on that one. I was actually asked why Americans do not eat organs. If anyone has an answer let me know. It is quite a deliciously that everyone besides me seems to really enjoy. I must say, tongue is so much better than stomach. You can’t even tell that it is tongue. It is more like thin pork chop.

I am still adjusting to the 9 hour time difference. It is not easy. When I get up in the morning here it is time for bed back home. I can only the imagine the havoc it will play on my body once I return to the US.

I have had several inquiries of my bowl, yes it is beautiful. I will post pictures just as soon as I can find an Internet service that is fast enough to upload them. Plus it is hard to do when all of the drop down menus and commands are in a different language!

Talk to you soon!!

Hello!

What a whirlwind of the past several days. I had the best plane ride I have ever had. The overnight flight to Moscow was maybe a quarter full, so I stretched out and took up 5 (YES 5!) seats and actually slept on the plane!!! That is a first for me even counting the time I flew in first class!! We were met in Moscow by Natalya of the US Embassy. We grabbed a warm meal (pancakes for me!) and then caught the train 15 hours to Petrovsk. We finally arrived in Saratov Sunday morning at 9 AM. I left my home for the airport at 10:30 AM.  It was a very long travel road to get here.

Sunday we toured Saratov where I found the most beautiful Uzbeckistan (spelling is beyond my tired brain right now) bowl. I hope it makes it back to the states. We had a walking tour of the 1 million or so sized city.  I saw McDonalds which I did not see last visit to Taganrog or Moscow. You will see pictures from this tour including the river images, interesting shops, cathedrals, parks, and people. Hope you enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

We then headed 2 hours to Petrovsk (which is where I am staying) with one stop along the way. We ate at a Georgian restaurant wher I had bread, salad, mutton soup, stomach, and pork chops. I am happy to say that I tried the stomach, but the meat is so powerful and with an odd texture that I didn’t care for. My mother will be quite proud of the fact that I tried it!!!!

Monday I attended the LTMS conference and presented about my work with new teachers as a PAL. I had so many questions that I think it was a success.  At the end of the day we headed out to a summer camp and had a Russian bar-b-que. Very different from our own and if you go away  hungry it is your own fault. It was quite delicous!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Today the conference continues and I gave a talk on the American Education system. Again many questions and I ran over my alotted time. OOpsy-daisy I will try to publish pictures in the next thread, but the connection here is not as quick as comcast.

Talk to everyone soon. I am having a great time!!!

xoxo

The time is rapidly approaching for my departure.  My ONE bag is mostly packed. It is amazing that I the shoe queen am only taking 2 pairs of shoes.  I know there is a large gasp from someone out there right now as you learn of my careful and limited selection.  Thank goodness with the cooling of the weather outside, I have found it much easier to select appropriate weather (expected to be low-mid 50s for highs, 30s for lows).

I am quite excited to be embarking on this adventure, but nervous too!! I can’t speak or read the language, and I am travelling 4,000 miles.  Luckily this time it is a 10 hour flight (direct from US to Moscow) and then a 17 hour train to Saratov.

My next post will have a Russian flare.

Stay tuned!!

Last spring I travelled to Taganrog, Russia as part of the joint effort between American Councils and U.S. Department of State to act as a teacher ambassador.  To sum up  my trip, it was fantastic. It was from March 4-17 In which I visited schools, universities, teacher’s colleges, museums, ballets, plays, historical monuments, and homes. I also spent 48 hours on a train (round trip total 26+ 22), 18 hours on a plane, and 3 hours in a car. During our stay in Moscow and trip to the US Embassy, I spoke with several officials and let them know of what a wonderful time I had had (much of this was publicized on Russia TV and several feature stories- http://www.dontr.ru/Environ/WebObjects/dontr.woa/3/wa/Main?textid=29001&wosid=eb7jIvBubN9xXtjLIfn7jw). For a complete view of my experience you can read my first blog at http://jenniferberryrickert.blogspot.com/ 

October 17 a fellow teacher, Rob Jensen of Montana, and I will travel to Russia as part our Russian Experience take two. Follow along in our journey as we cross the Atlantic, Alps, etc to bridge the two countries and their teachers for joint projects…. This is our story!