My wonderful day in Almetyevsk

This day was worth getting up at 4 effing 15 a.m. for! Regina and I met at the gas station across from my building shortly before 5. Then Olga showed up and the bosses showed up. We were on the road at 5. Keep in mind, it had been snowing for the last two days and I was really wondering if we would even go at all. But the roads were relatively clear by Russian standards and the boss has a big, macho SUV, so we made it in under 4 hours. Along the way everyone else slept, so Dinar pointed out the oils wells along the way for me as soon as the sun came up. The reason for the trip was ostensibly to visit the of the soon-to-be Bala City kindergarten in Almetyevsk. But, since I had learned last year at the Winter Cycling Conference in Moscow that Almetyevsk had a wonderful bicycle infrastructure, I had always wanted to go there. So the bosses invited me along. It’s also important to know that the government official from the region who got this infrastructure put in place about 5 years ago is, himself, a cyclist and a good friend of Dinar’s.

But, of course, the trip combined many elements, all of which were photographed. We arrived in plenty of time and stopped for breakfast at MacDonald’s. Then there was the usual flurry of texting and calling until Regina got the call that they were waiting for us at the meeting point. 

So off we went with a government official  to visit 3 kindergartens, two of which are using Anji Play techniques. It’s supposed to be something like a free play system where the kids are supposed to self-determine what they enjoy doing. In the first kindergarten it looked like a “no play” system. Every kid was at a project with adult supervision. Not one kid was smiling. Nobody was talking with one another. I’ve never seen such an unhappy kindergarten in my life. You could just tell that the kids were told that “important” guests were coming and they would get the crap beat out of them if they screwed up. Then we were driven to the next kindergarten in the city’s van. (The driver loved fishtailing around the corners on the packed snow.
The second kindergarten was a traditional one, and the kids were having tons of fun and talking and playing and arguing and asking us questions, just as it should be in a kindergarten. The third one was another Anji Play kindergarten, which was a little better than the first one, but still not impressive. It seems that Anji Play is involved with using a lot of wooden building blocks. And this is new because....? I think they’d better start worrying about training staff members a little better.
The highlight was at the first school, however. Damned if they didn’t put little runners on the kids’ pedal-less Bikes and give them bike lessons. They loved zipping around over the snow , of which there was plenty, and balancing on the bikes. And, it was an outside activity for the kids.                    
After the kindergarten visits, we drove to the new Miras fitness center. And as we’re driving along, we are seeing many of the 55 miles of the city’s bike path. It is plowed and separated from the pedestrian sidewalks, which are also plowed. And both are separated from the road, which is ALSO plowed! And this in a city of 150,000 people out in the middle of nowhere. The biggest industry here is the oil industry and they stand 100% behind the bike project. Now, that’s a real novelty.
But back to the fitness center! Holy crow. This place had everything, including an Olympic size swimming pool. The equipment was absolutely amazing. Everything was up-to-date. It’s used for rehab as well as by top athletes for training. And the boss of the place who showed us around was rightfully proud of it and very, very nice.
After that, we headed to the planetarium, where the lady engineer who designed the bike infrastructure showed us a PowerPoint about. It’s just mind-boggling to think what can be done if the political will is there.
Next we went altogether for a late lunch and then ended up at the site of the new kindergarten. The walls are up and the roof is one, so we walked around inside and the bosses made suggestions to the architect about what the wanted. And, of course, at every stop we made, people were there taking our pictures.
By this time it was almost 4 and starting to get dark. So the city van took us back to where we parked the car and we got on our way, but not before another stop at MacDonald’s for cappuccinos. It was a long drive home with a lot of discussion about school policies, which was very enlightening. I finally get in the apartment at about 9. But boy, was it worth it.