Bungee cord, part 2.

So, today two kids called in absent and two kids sat out in the cubby room with their moms because they were afraid to come in. Actually, it was more the case that the moms don't want their kids to cry. Three were in class with us altogether. One little girl is picking up the language extremely fast. She's answering in Russian, but they are the appropriate answers to the questions. The kids sleep 2.5 hours everyday. We had them outside in the nice weather twice today.

OK, now to the bungee cord. My bike basket doesn't quite hook under my bike rack so I figured I would run to Megastroy (literally Big Build, the Home Depot of Kazan), thinking they would have to have some. I looked bungee up in the dictionary first, and the nearest I could translate was big rubber band. I was out of work at 4:30, the sun was still shining, so I hopped on the tram and got off at the right stop. I went in and started asking people. They offered me a caulking gun. Nope, I wasn't getting my point across. By this time there are about 6 "merchandizers " (salespeople, in this store) standing around me while I draw a picture. One of the guys gets what I mean and explains it to the others. A young woman takes me first to the garden dept. Nope. Then she takes me to housewares. Nope.  Then she takes me to the other end of the store, where they have what I want. They only have one size and one kind in a package of what looks like 4. I am happy. I come home on the tram and don't overshoot my stop this time. I stop quickly at the grocery store, get home and open my bungees and see that they have a hard plastic ring around all of them. Of course, I can't get any of the individual cords through the ring, so I will take it to work tomorrow and ask the maintenance man if he can smash the plastic ring with a hammer for me. Necessity is the mother of invention.

On another note, I keep forgetting to mention that man purses are IN here. And I'm talking about some really nice leather cases with long straps that the guys hang around their necks and over one shoulder.

My adventures buying a bungee cord.

The bungee cord octopus.

I met the kids!

So, instead of the expected 4 children, 7 showed up for class today. They are really a sweet bunch. You can tell they've been going to a kindergarten class for a long time because they all the the routine already when it came to snack and meal times.

There were some tears and some mothers wanted to stay in the room to "make sure the children would behave". I didn't let that one fly. After parents left, some of the kids may have cried for 10 minutes and then everything was fine.

Most of the kids could figure out what I wanted through my gestures and I just keep repeating things in English. We did "What's my name?, colors, number, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and other such things. We have a smart board in the room so we can play the songs on there while we sing.

I think the experiment will work out just fine . Some kids already said a few words in English today.

I ate dinner with the kids at 4 and then went upstairs to our international office to work for awhile. I went quickly to the store after work and then got home about 6:30. Poor Aliyah has to stay there until the last kid gets picked up.

I'm going to hang up my wash and then read for a few minutes before I enjoy a good night's rest.

A day at the kremlin, part 2

I got up early, googled the Kremlin, took the bike and rode to the subway station. (I had to pay for the bike on the subway and you almost go through as much security in a subway Stirn here as you do at the airport. Metal detectors, running your bags through the X-ray machines, the whole nine yards.) No, I didn't go to Moscow. A Kremlin is simply a fortress and just about every town/city in Russia has one. It's similar to all the castles along the Rhine River.

I got off at the right stop, made my way up the hill and met another cyclist. She had come from Moscow to go sightseeing. I locked my bike up and went in. I rented an audio guide in English and it was great. Everyone is so hospitable. The cashiers ran all over looking for an audio guide in English.

 The Kremlin itself is free, but the museums inside have an entrance fee. It will take me a week just to see those. The mosque in the picture was built within the last 20 years on the site of a very old one. It's the Kul Sharif. The Orthodox Church is the one with the onion domes. Both church and mosque require the women to cover their heads and neither place has chairs for the worshippers. The Orthdox Church had beautiful icons but photography was forbidden.

I spent about 2 hours at the Kremlin, then followed the map to the pedestrian zone which can compare to any I've seen in Germany. And I'm sure the beautiful weather encouraged people to get out today. I found Caffeine, an Internet cafe which a colleague had recommended , and went in. I had a nice plate of pasta with a great sauce, a cup of coffee and apple strudel. (They also serve a "Trump omelette"!) I sat there for ages and sent messages because I was glad to sit down after all that walking in the Kremlin.

When I finally started moving again, I pushed the bike through the pedestrian zone. I donated some change to a bunch of young people making noise to call attention to the fact that they were collecting to build a gym for an orphanage. The guy who explained everything to me spoke pretty good English.

I then made my way to the Museum of Soviet Lifestyle. It was really funny. They had collected absolutely everything from chewing gum to guitars of musicians who had performed in Kazan. Joe Cocker is Among them! The signs are all written on little pieces of cardboard boxes. But the hilarious part was the 20-30 year-old guys who were having such a great time trying on the old Soviet Army uniforms. They were having so much fun. Of course, these guys have very little memory of that era, if any. It was interesting to see how they related to that time period.

I got back on the subway and made it home about 4. Now I'm just about ready to turn it. Tomorrow is the first day of classes and I want to go over my lesson plans one more time.

A day at the Kremlin.

Inside the Kremlin walls.

Pictures of the day

A typical service road next to a major highway. Shard by cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Bottom picture is the lovely mosque I visited.

The shopping day and the tram ride.

I've found that it is easier to upload photos from my phone to the blog, so I'll write about my day first, then add pictures at the end in a separate blog.

So, first I have to make a correction. Public transportation cost $0.43 to ride, not less than a penny. I typed way too many zeros. As I overshot my stop and had to walk back, I was thinking to myself, Wait a minute, dimwit! That doesn't compute right! Sometimes it pays to overshoot your stop. It makes you think.

So, Kazan is truly where East meets West. There is a definite Middle Asian flavor to the city, with Middle Eastern influences also. I stopped in at a mosque today where everything was written in Russian, Tatar and Arabic. There's such a wonderful mixture of Slavic and Middle Asian features in the faces.

And on the other hand, there is a very strong Western European economic influence. There is KFC, MacDonald's, Cinemax, Obi, Mediamarkt, all Stores from the States and Europe. The Mega Shopping  Center had IKEA, Italian lingerie and German ice cream.

I also see vestiges of the old Soviet system, especially in the style of construction, but everyone has a cellphone and everyone under twenty has hearbuds in his or her ears.

Paradoxical is the approach to the traffic situation. I already mentioned that cars stop on a dime for anyone in a crosswalk.  But the sidewalks more often than not have huge curbstones when a road crosses and parents with stroller look like they're running an obstacle course. They service roads that people and cars share have cars parked everywhere and when two cars meet on a narrow street, it often takes a long time for one of them to get out of the way because there is soon a traffic backup in both directions.

I've seen several people biking. Some were even using the busy street. A lot of kids bike on the service roads. I've only seen two people besides me wearing a helmet.

But let me get on to my day. After I filled my water bottle at the Automat, I can home and had breakfast. Then I rode my bike to my bike shop about 20 minutes away using the service roads, which means I had to keep getting off and on the bike, plus avoid potholes and people. The bike store didn't have the kind of bike basket I was looking for, so I had the guy adjust my seat for me and then, since I was near a small, local mosque, I figured I might as well look in.  I carry a scarf with me for just such occasions. I went in and the custodian showed me where to but my shoes and explained how to get to the prayer room. I looked around for a few minutes then fired up the bike and headed back. Keep in mind, I'm still on the service road, having to get off and on, avoiding people and pushing through the open air market. Just as I'm getting a little hungry, I waked past a bakery that has its door opened. I went no farther. I had a great pastry similar to a Danish with an apple filling and a cup of coffee that made my haircstand on end, it was so strong. Next time, I'll have to remember to order the cappuccino. It's definitely milder here.

Fortified, I push down to my street but still have a way to go. And I'm thinking to myself, "Hmmmm, push, get of an an all the time or brave the traffic. I went with the traffic. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was almost an"East Henrietta Road" experience without the shoulders. Got back to the apartment, took a short break and walked to the tram stop. Since I was looking to by a drying rack for my clothes, I figured it would do to take the bike.

So, the tram (or bus) works like this.  You have your money ready when you get get on. A conductor comes by, takes your money and gives you a ticket. If the tram is full, you literally have to elbow your way on. If you don't, you wait for the next tram. I waited for the next one after I missed a previous one and didn't get on that one either, so I said "Screw it," and walked one more stop. On the back, since I was carrying a clothes drying rack and a bike basket, nobody messed with me.

The first place I got off was Dekatlon, a sport store. It had , unfortunately moved. So I walked down to a store which turned out to be a Russian Home Depot. It was absolutely amazing. It compares favorably to anything I've seen in the States.  I found the clothes drying rack I wanted but didn't get it yet because I still wanted to hit the Mega Shopping Mall. And I'm glad I did. It had a great sport store called Sport Master AND the Dekatlon sport store.

I found the bike basket I wanted in Dekatlon. The young guy who was helping me was so nice. He wanted to register me for a customer discount card. His computer rejected my email address several and he was so embarrassed, he gave me a discount on the basket anyway. I'm just so impressed by the service that's offered at the stores. Although English isn't as big a thing here as it is in Germany, everyone really goes out of his way to be helpful.

So, took my bike basket, went back to the Russian Home Depot, picked up my drying rack and got on the tram. Then overshot my stop and ended up walking more than I wanted too.

I got home, took another break, got on the bike and went to a closer shopping center to get another set of bedsheets and a phone. Found the sheets, but the phone with the many different plans is much too complicated to do with out help, so I called it quits and came home. I got here in time to stream "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" while I cooked supper and did some laundry.

So, my day is over. Tomorrow I really just want to do some sightseeing. Wish me luck.