This morning our Russian language course focused on traditional Russian foods such as, schi (beef and cabbage soup) and kasha (buckwheat porridge), leaving us all a bit hungry.

 
-Our afternoon discussion concerned the role of women in Russia. Our discussion leaders were Lena Potapova, Oblast Chamber of Commerce and Olga Cote, born in Moscow—now a US citizen. Olga and Lena recently participated in a roundtable discussion on this topic sponsored by the Council of Europe.

After their Russian lesson, and a second very interesting presentation from Prof. Gurvitch, the group visited a private dentist office, an outdoor market, and a photo studio.

They then broke up into groups of three and, with the limited assistance of one of the young Russians who have been helping out, they went on a scavenger hunt. The main goal was to get the ingredients for American-style sandwiches—which were then consumed for lunch. While everyone seemed to enjoy the experience, we found out that we can expand the list for the next group—and do this earlier in the trip.

This morning we had our last Russian lesson. Next on the agenda was a meeting with a couple of members of the press who both asked and answered questions.

After lunch we left for Murom, where, on our arrival, we were greeted by Ilya Muromets, a "heroic warrior" who over the centuries has had his true identity obscured by legends--not unlike some of the larger-than-life characters from America's wild west; but on an even grander scale.

We ended the day with dinner at our host families' apartments.

The theme for today was Murom Past and Present.
 

We saw two videos about the community: one done by students and one professionally made. The voiceover for the professional video was provided by one of the American Home's teachers. The students provided their own narration—in English. The English language faculty at the Murom Institute tries to get the students to use their English as much as possible. Relatively few tourists visit Murom and most of them stay for only a few hours. This makes groups like ours especially valuable for their English program in particular.

Rick and Mike inspecting some rough-cut wood construction in a working convent.

Today's topic was legends—with the primary focus on Ilya Muromets. Ilya supposedly couldn't walk until he was in his thirties. But after some traveling pilgrims healed him, he supposedly became incredibly strong.

In the afternoon we visited the "House of Creative Activity" where we received the traditional greeting with bread and salt.

We were shown a number of crafts, including a dancing doll and a large hand puppet.

We were then treated t o a performance that included "Baba Yaga," a truly mischievous "witch."

This clearly well-run organization provides both children and adults with a variety of creative outlets.

On Saturday we discussed "civil society," including, among other things, the growing role of social workers in Russia.

One of the draw backs of arriving in Murom when we did is that, most of the teachers and students were on vacation. Natasha Zhilenko, the Murom Institute English teacher, one of the main organizers of the Murom visits, suggested video taping interviews with a variety of people using, in part, questions submitted by the teachers. This will obviously provide the group with a wider variety of opinions, and it should help focus the discussion.

After having breakfast at the Institute canteen, we took a group photo and headed back to Vladimir.

We had lunch at the Russian Village Restaurant where we received the traditional welcome. We then had some free time.

The interior of the restaurant.

As you can see from the narrow corridor, loading our luggage was a challenge.

 .......the hosts waved goodbye—and we were off for an approximately 12 hour trip to St. Pete.

We all agreed that the time spent in Vladimir and Murom was very productive. (If you haven't been reading our blogs, you should check them out....)

         E.B. Holschuh's blog

         Lori Marenda's blog

         Mark Howell's blog
         Audrey Stegmayer's blog

The day ended with an informal pot luck dinner with those Vladimir host families that were still in town. After dinner we boarded the train for St. Petersburg. Our Russian hosts helped get the luggage on the train. Here Alexie comes to retrieve more luggage.

Everyone got settled in.....,