Another beautiful day.

Weather wise, it was another picture perfect day. The temps were in the 70s, the leaves are soft green and the grass is no longer covered with snow. We started our day at the European Taekwondo Championships.by the time we all find each other at the right place, it was about 10:30. I don’t know the rules for Taekwondo, but there is is some serious kicking going on. It looks a lot like that u.timate fighting stuff, but with better padding. It was definitely interesting. It’s very ceremonial and precise. The refs all used the same hand gestures and followed the exact same routine. We got a quick snack there before heading to the food festival in the park next to the basketball arena. It turns out that this weekend was also the volleyball championship which was being played at the arena, so they decided to make a “food stand Festival” in the park right next th3 the arena to draw a crowd for both events. They served everything from fish to burritos to gyros to desserts. But you wouldn’t have recognized any of them because every country makes them in its own style. But the gyros tasted great. They served it with French fries wrapped right up in the pita bread with everything else. It certainly made it easier to eat. We found a spot on the grass and just spread out and soaked up the sun. Lorene and Manuel were covering the volleyball tournament so they were running around getting their press credentials and equipment. The rest of us just enjoyed the warm afternoon lying on the grass. Earlier in the day we met a young student from Iran. He’s in Kazan trying to learn Russian and English. He heard us speaking English and came over to join us. He wanted English lessons but I told him I was only going to be in town for another two weeks. And when I get back, he will probably be at the university in Moscow. But he called tonight and we talked about what books he should study and we’ll meet for coffee at the end of the week. Tomorrow it’s back to school. I’m going to start preparing the kids for my absence. The pre-school kids have classes right through the summer so my TA will have to keep speaking English with them so that they don’t lose their skills. Since I was hired to teach in the school and then later assigned to the pre-school, my contract says I work on the school schedule, which is why I get the vacation time. I’m good with that.