Russia 2010 — Day 3

Today was one of those really special times. My mother-in-law rode into Moscow with a good friend, 5 hours each way, to bring me a lot of her home cooked Russian food. I have expressed several times how much she means to my wife and I for so many reasons. How many people would ride on roads from Hades (Russian highways outside of Moscow are HORRIBLE) for ten hours just to deliver food?

Sergey, one of my former students accompanied me to the Metro station (Lyudmila had to also travel the remainder with two huge bags on the Metro (subway) to meet Lyudmila. This is so I would not risk falling on this darned icy mess sidewalks (no snow removal here, snow is just packed down, transforming into ice glazes). While Lyudmila visited with Sergey and I, we also had my Clemson students come down and meet her since she brought extra food for them too.

After Lyudmila left, I had to go register (everyone must be registered to some domicile when in Russia) at the university administration office, which is a little more than a ½ mile walk, so Sergey went along again to make sure the ice did not get me. On the way, we saw the pond that is now a skating rink, where my students went ice-skating last week. Also, you will see a huge statue of Lenin, which is still a common site in Russia.

Some of the pictures include the main administration building for this university (Moscow State Agroengineering University), which is pink. Sergey and I took a few pictures inside and out of the building, as it is really ornate.

This evening, my Clemson students came and joined me to have some of Lyudmila’s home-cooked food and a cake that Sergey bought for him. By the way, Sergey already has his 5-year Bachelors Degree (they take 5 years here) and will go to get a Masters (free-ride) in a famous university in the Netherlands this fall. He is like a little brother/son to Olga and I and has been with other Russian students to visit us twice in the states. I am so blessed to have a lot of friends and loved ones here in Russia and you will see many pictures of them over the next many days on Facebook as I always spend my non-teaching time visiting all of them. This is my 6th straight year coming to Russia in the spring and 4th straight teaching Clemson (and English-speaking Russian students; this year there are also two young men from France) here at this university. I am really thankful for this opportunity.

Here is a little clip from when we stopped at the ice skating pond on campus..

Another clip that shows the ice and also the beautiful songs of birds in Moscow...