Chapaevsk

I know that I said I would try to write more often this trip. It’s just been a lot busier than I thought it’d be. I have had to get up to speed on this event, what’s already been done etc. Plus, this past weekend was a holiday so everything shut down and I couldn’t get much done.
I have had tons of funny adventures though already… Others not so funny. I had a little trouble with my luggage in Moscow… I got totally scammed by some police and a luggage carrier boy. In the end all I cared about was making sure that I got on the train in time with all my t-shirts…and it worked out. I just had to pay them off ($50). (The picture is of me and some nice police here in Chapaevsk, not the Moscow transport ones).
I am staying with my project manager, Yulia’s, relatives. They’re sweet and love to spoil me with food, like all Russians… I brought some brownie and cookie mixes with me.  I gave some to my old host family and some to my new hosts… Both had problems… My old host family put twice as much butter into the chocolate chip cookies as you’re supposed to…That was partly my fault for not explaining well how big a “stick” of butter is. Then my current hostess tried to make brownie mix and over cooked it so that it burnt… I’m pretty sure that she thought that it wasn’t done because it looked so moist… Or maybe the oven was too hot. Anyway, it’s been fun so far.

These pictures are mostly from the holiday weekend. I spent a lot of time on the town square, where our event is also starting and finishing. Yulia has a 3 year old, Dennis (like “the menace” ), who is a wild ball of energy and I’ll probably post pics of him since he’s very photogenic. I’ll also post some of the festivities and the new foods that I tried this trip. I know everyone likes pictures better.