Prof Gruvitch was still not well enough to give his presentation.  So after another interesting Russian lesson, the rest  of the day was spent discussing religion, beginning with a good presentation on the current state  of religious organizations (among other things) by Alexei Timoshchuk, a professor of philosophy at the Juridical Institute.

Before the July 4th celebration at the American Home we went to Gus Khrustalny, a city with more than two centuries experience with glass and crystal manufacturing.

This afternoon, was not only a celebration of the 4th of July, but also the 15th Anniversary of the American Home. A number of organizations made formal congratulatory presentations to AH and Professor Pope, including both the City and Oblast Administrations. A lot of nice things were said about the AH's accomplishments over the last 15 years. This was followed by several performances, including an excellent folk ensemble and an up-and-coming jazz singer, Yuliana Rogachova (pictured right).

Of course no celebration would be complete without games, including a "drinking contest."  Russian and American teams competed to see who could empty a large glass of champaign first—using only spoons.  The Russians won of course.

The champaign, wine, and good Russian beer undoubtedly helped persuade people to join this conga line. . . .

Today began with a discussion of law enforcement issues. Maj. General Boris Gavrilov from the research department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave a presentation in the morning on revisions in the Russian legal system, including those he felt still needed to be made.

Mounted militia officers on Theater Square near the American Home . They are very imposing.

This was followed by a trip to the Vladimir State Juridical Academy which trains officers for law enforcement and penal systems. The group also visited Vladimir Central Prison—where, unfortunately, no cameras were allowed.

In the afternoon there was an interesting discussion of legal system problems.

From left t o right: attorney Boris Kuzmin, who specializes in commercial law; the AH's assistant director, Oxana Ustinova; the AH's attorney, Valentina Spiridonova; and one of the first two participants in the exchange program with the U of I Police Training Institute and a faculty member at the Juridical Institute, Lt. Col. Anna Kulekova.

Today was the first of two "economy" field trips. Travel to the various plants that we visited was by bus. As you can see, it was a cozy day.

Next we visited a Russian firm that uses blimps to do a variety of "surveying " work. For example, they plotted the rerouting of an oil pipeline away from Lake Baikal.


We were told that blimps have some major advantages, including the fact that they can stay airborne for about twenty hours vs. 3 to 4 hours for a helicopter, and they cost about one seventh as much to operate, again in comparison with a helicopter.

Finally, on the way back to Vladimir we stopped at the home of Nikolai Zhukovski, Russia's answer to the Wright Brothers. In fact, they claim that he made the first manned flight.

We were welcomed with bread and salt. The museum staff in fact has worked out a rather elaborate presentation.

We started the day with a visit to a Turkish plant that is currently manufacturing washing machines and TV sets—to which they can add clothes dryers, refrigerators, dish washers, and stoves.

According to the Turkish director, one of their biggest problems is absenteeism—which runs about 10%. He also noted that anyone who shows up for work drunk is fired immediately. Given the photo below of the vodka bottle lying next to the electric motors, one has to wonder about drinking on the job.

There will of course always be problems. But, overall the plant director was optimistic—they are already working on expanding production.

Our last plant visit of the day was to an Austrian-owned brick factory that was just getting ready to go into full production. They are also optimistic about Russia's economic future—but they have limited their risk by setting up the plant with ten-year-old equipment.

The one flaw in their effort to give Zhkovski credit for achieving manned flight is that the wing design on the model they showed us doesn't look like it could produce any lift.