Before I left for my outreach trip to Siberia, we decided to go out for a family dinner. On the way there, we passed a plaque on a building saying that a Soviet film director by the name of Boris Vasiliyevich Barnet lived there for a time.
As far as I know, Barnet is not a very Russian name, so it was quite a surprise and quite a coincidence that he lived so close to where we do, even though we are not very likely to be related, even distantly.
Another surprise was our dinner. Stephanie suggested a Thai place she had seen on one of her walks, and which a person in our building had recommended. We were both a little skeptical about it because most of our experiences with ethnic food here have been rather bland, which would be very disappointing in Thai food. Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised. The curries were rich with plenty of spice and the pad thai was very authentic. Aiden even went along and cooperated through the whole meal. It was a little pricey for Thai food, but well worth the opportunity for something different.
My flight to Krasnoyarsk didn't leave until 11:45pm Sunday night, but the dispatcher at the motor pool insisted that I needed to be picked up no later than 8:15 to get to the airport by 10:00. Even though I thought traffic was unlikely to be that bad late on Sunday night, I gave in to his more experienced point of view. I wished I hadn't. Even with a stop to pick up my colleague, we arrived shortly after 9:00, over three hours before the flight. Not how I wanted to spend my evening, but then again it's better to be three hours early than a minute late.
My flight was on Aeroflot, which made Stephanie nervous given the general perception about Russian airlines, but it was a modern plane, very comfortable, with far more leg room than we get in the U.S. I even slept for a bit after the meal. Yes! A meal! On a domestic flight! The flight was only a little more than 4 hours long, but given the time difference, we arrived at 8:00am local time.
Though tired, I was treated to a wonderful sunset as we descended into Krasnoyarsk.
I also snapped a pretty cool shot of another plane flying parallel to us in the distance...
And enjoyed views of the fog rolling between the hills outside the city.
We arrived to a warm welcome, with our trip facilitator, a local government employee, there to receive us and take us to our hotel. Since our whole night was condensed into about 4 hours, I was glad that I had a couple of hours to refresh myself before going to our meetings. After a quick rest, I went with my colleague to a little restaurant down the street. It was a neat place down in a brick basement with vaulted ceilings.
For lunch, I had a deer meat cutlet with mashed potatoes and pickled fern. Apparently it's a delicacy in Siberia - they pick the young shoots and preserve them. They were like green beans with bits of broccoli growing out of the end in appearance, but they had a completely different taste with a bit of sweetness. Best of all, the meal was about half of what we would have paid in Moscow. The restaurant had a lot of interesting knick-knacks, but I was particularly impressed by the bronze man coming through the wall.
Our guide met us after lunch and took us to our scheduled meetings with local government officials. I met with the local Ombudsman for Children's Rights, representatives of the Ministry for Education, and representatives of the Courts. I guess at this point it makes sense to mention that the purpose of my trip was to learn more about the international adoption process and discuss issues regarding the implementation of the new bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Russia on the subject. It was during one of these meetings where I had one of those strange moments where I thought, "Hey, I'm a diplomat!" It was pretty cool. I also had a meeting with representatives of the governor's office for international affairs, where I learned a lot more about the whole Krasnoyarsk region (one of the largest in Russia), and their plans for economic development. All in all, the meetings were very productive and informative. The government building also had a nice view over a park and the surrounding hills.
That evening, before dinner, I took a quick walk to a nearby park close to sunset. Krasnoyarsk's population is approaching a million, but I can't say that there was much to see architecturally. Or maybe I just didn't get to see it. Our schedule was busy and we didn't really have time for sightseeing. Still, there are certainly some beautiful spots in and around the city.
That evening, I provided American Citizen Services at the hotel restaurant, collecting passport applications and such. There was a surprising number of applicants and it kept me busy. Even though they came a little early, they were very nice and allowed me to keep eating my dinner in between reviewing the various forms. By the time I was done I was pretty exhausted and went gratefully to bed.
I purposefully set my alarm a little earlier than needed the next morning so that I could get out for a quick walk. The night before, I saw a little footbridge over to a little island in the river. I wasn't disappointed. It was a clear, still morning and the fall colors were starting to come out in the trees. Another surprise was how warm it was in Siberia. Much warmer than it has been in Moscow recently. I was assured that it gets plenty cold when winter comes, but it was still a pleasant surprise.
The second day was comprised of visits to various orphanages in the area. I don't think anyone would argue that an orphanage is a good environment for children, but it was clear that the staff care for the children very much and give them the best care they can. At one location, we got to watch the kids doing their music class, which was a lot of fun. At one of the orphanages I was surprised by the presence of a local TV news team. I didn't know they would be there, but when they asked for a short interview, I could hardly refuse. I bucked up my courage and did the interview in Russian, and it went better than I thought - I didn't see it, but I understand that I made the local evening news.
Late in the afternoon, our meeting schedule came to an end, and our facilitator took us on a brief sightseeing trip. There are a lot of amazing natural features in the area, but we only got a glimpse. We took in the sights over the river from an overlook point...
Click on the panorama to see a full sized view.
On our way back to town we past a reminder of the Soviet past in the area. The words on the monument below say "Glory to Labor."
For dinner, we went to a great little restaurant outside of town and sampled lots of local fare. Different kinds of fresh river fish both sashimi style and grilled. We also had pelmeni - meat filled dumplings that are a local specialty - and deer steaks. Our facilitator also had us try a couple of local liquors, including one made from the shells of cedar seeds (also known as pine nuts). And so with full bellies of delicious foods, we made our way back into town to catch the overnight train to Novosibirsk. I was a little worried we would miss our train because our trip coincided with a visit by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church (a rare and special event) and traffic was bad, but we got on board with time to spare. Thankfully my roommate was a quiet sleeper and I got a good night's rest.
In the morning, my colleague and I went to the restaurant car for breakfast. It wasn't anything amazing, but not bad either. The only annoying thing is that they didn't list prices for coffee and a cup ended up costing $6 - and not for good coffee, for Nescafe.
Overpriced coffee aside, we made it to Novosibirsk, a larger city one time zone closer to Moscow, and made our way to our hotel. This time, there was no welcoming to committee. We freshened up and then took a taxi to the government building. We met with basically the same groups that we did in Krasnoyarsk, but overall, they were less accommodating. We told we weren't allowed to visit any of the state-run orphanages.
Since our meetings weren't quite as lengthy, we had a bit of a gap to fill and walked back through town toward our hotel, taking in some of the sights.
We stopped at a nice place for lunch where I was greeted by a bear. Anyone who saw my pictures from Dushanbe knows how friendly I am with bears, and this case was no different.
We continued our walk after lunch and saw many things. For example, you might think that Siberia would be very provincial, but the heels are just as high as in Moscow. I don't know how women stay up in those things.
We also passed one of the most famous architectural sights in Novosibirsk, the State Opera House, which is quite impressive.
And Novosibirsk is comparatively young - less than 200 years old I was told - but there are still examples of traditional Siberian architecture, like this wooden apartment building.
Of course, there's Soviet architecture too...
The next morning I got up early again, and had a wonderful breakfast at the buffet, where I first saw the news about the tragic events in Libya. It was difficult to understand what had happened from the Russian news, which seemed more intent on showing pictures that would never be shown in U.S. media out of tact. The anchor went on to say that most Americans didn't know where Libya was on a map, but they certainly would now. It's times like those that being in a foreign country really feels foreign.
After breakfast, I headed to a nearby park, where I was greeted, or menaced by a squirrel, depending on how you interpret the body language.
The park was nice and quiet, and a good place to think about things a bit, and after awhile I went back to the hotel to get ready. We had been told that we could not visit the state run orphanages, but we managed to find a private one instead.
Our taxi driver informed us that we would be charged by the minute, and then proceeded to drive as slowly as possible, making no effort to avoid traffic jams. So we cut a deal with him for a set price for the trip in both directions and proceeded considerably faster. Perhaps too fast, because we were frequently on the wrong side of the road and I was dismayed to see that there were no seat belts.
Nonetheless, we got to the orphanage safe and sound, and it was very interesting to see a private facility. This one was run by Catholics, and was very nice. They were very hospitable and even gave me a picture frame that one of the children made.
When we returned to the hotel that evening, I met with one of the adoption service providers and an American family who was in the process of adopting a child with down syndrome. After meeting with all of the government officials, which was interesting, it was also helpful to get the perspective from the other side of the process.
Right after that, I had to leave for a speaking engagement at the American Corner, which is a place set up by the Embassy where locals can get exposure to American culture, learn English, and get access to American books and movies.
On the way there, I passed a little chapel that I learned is at the geographical center of Russia. Pretty amazing.
I always enjoy the speaking engagements, and this one was particularly good considering the current events of the recent days. It allowed us to talk about freedom of speech, and why it's important to protect free speech even when someone says something you find offensive. The participants were engaged and asked great questions. But it made it very clear to me that the idea of freedom of speech in the U.S. is not well understood around the world. It showed that we still have work to do. But I like explaining things, and I think the discussion went very well.
Our trip back the next morning was smooth, except for the fact that the driver from the Embassy was still more than an hour away when we arrived on time. I can't help but point out that I was told to leave almost four hours before my flight on a Sunday evening, but the driver only left an hour before my arrival in the middle of a work day. A tad frustrating.
Since we didn't want to wait for an hour, followed by a two hour car ride back into town, we cancelled the car and took a train to the nearest metro stop and rode the subway home. In the long run, I'm sure we actually saved money for the government by allowing the car to turn around. In the future, I'll just take the train to begin with.
That evening, we were invited to a cook-out at my boss's house along with other officers from the section. It was a great way to come home from the trip.
Here is the full set of photos for anyone interested.
Since I got back, I've been busy at work trying to wrap up my responsibilities in the Immigrant Visa section. We leave this week for a two week vacation in Europe and when I come back I will move to the Non Immigrant Visa section.
Stephanie and I are also gearing up for our 5th Anniversary. I'm sure we will celebrate while we are on our trip, but we decided use our 'date night' for the month to go out to lunch at Cafe Pushkin. Cafe Pushkin is an upscale restaurant in a historic building, with period decor dating back to the time of Pushkin himself. Even the waiters and waitresses wear period serving uniforms.
We knew that Cafe Pushkin is expensive, but what we didn't know is that it also lives up to its reputation for great food - and frankly the price was worth it. I had no idea that borsch could be so rich, or that beef stroganoff could be so tender. We also had buckwheat blini with salmon caviar, a huge meat pie the size of a dinner plate with veal, pork, and mutton, and an assortment of other classic Russian dishes brought to new levels of deliciousness. Wash it down with a home made black current drink and top it off with an amazing pistachio desert, and you have what I call a fine dining experience. I would highly recommend it.
Well, that's it for now. Just a couple more days till we're off on another adventure.
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