Concert violin teacher and student
Concert banquet
Making pelmeni (Dash, Misha, Grisha, Victor)
(Click on any Image to see a higher resolution version)
I am still in the city, which is not exactly where I want to be, but we have learned to either be flexible with our expectations and plans, or go crazy. The freighter which was transporting our camp supplies that we can't get in Russia, went from Seattle to Vladivostok and was to go to Magdan and then to Petropavlovsk, arriving June 11th . The ship, however, could not get through the pack ice which still jams the northern reaches of sea of Okhotsk so had to give up going to Magdan. This put it in this city's port two weeks ahead of schedule and it became necessary to also clear our stuff through Customs early as well. Not often do things get done ahead of plan and it was a chance to relieve Maureen of the unbelievable, week-long chore of detailed hassle. Needless to say, both of us would rather spend that week at Kambalnoe Lake. I am now planing to fly south with our stuff on June 1st, the same day that Maureen will fly to Moscow.
There is a fascination for me about the life in this city, mostly trying to fathom how these people can survive on so little and achieve so much often with no electricity at their offices and schools, or at home with which to cook supper. There is no gas either, except for some caned butane that is used in little camp stoves. Jennya will get up at 4AM to take advantage of odd hours of electricity. At this household, everyone pitches in to help with labor intensive menus like pelmeni which at home, in the nearby Ukrainian community, are called perogees.
I went to another small concert where Grisha performed with his saxophone and this time I took the digital camera. My photos of the concert were mostly poor but I include one of the violin teacher with a student. To mark the end of the music school year, there was a banquet for all the children. It was a beautiful scene! Looking forward to seeing Maureen on Sunday, however briefly. Charlie