End Credits

Thank You for Your Support

My wife, Jenevieve
Magdalena, Erin, and the rest of the staff at Georgetown
Bridget, Elena, and Natalia at the English Language Office
The other Russian Fellows: Sally, Stephanie, Danai, and Judy
The English Language Fellow community
Yulia, Nastia, Ana, and all the teachers at the ELC
Elena and the volunteers at the American Center
Our Russian teacher, Katya
Our American friends in Samara, Alison and Daniel
Ludmilla, Svetlana, Yevgeniya, and all the other supportive teachers in Samara
All the teachers who attended my seminars
Oksana and the Ministry of Education of Samara Oblast
All the generous hosts of all the wonderful cities we visited in Russia
All the students who took time to give us a tour of their cities
Our driver, Andre
My friend, Mikhail and his family

My Russian Sunset

My stay in Samara is setting
This picture was taken at 10:30pm
The sun rises around 4:30am.

The Lady and the Lion

In the land of the Kalmyks,
a lady met a stone lion.
Who has the bigger smile?

Romance on the River

Little did they know
That the kiss
Would turn them to stone

Sky Over Samara

One of the many things I will miss:
The magnificent views
Changing hourly outside my window

Happy Russia Day

June 12th is Russia Day!
Today celebrates Russia's independence
From the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Old Ship

Ships like these
Once sailed down the Volga
Now they are made of stone with hooligans on board

Sunday Morning

The Spirit of God
and the Spirit of the Soviets
Side by side up on the hill

Heat Waved

A view from my living room window last week
30 minutes before this photo, it was 96 degrees (36 C)
30 minutes later, it was 60 degrees (15 C)

Across the Volga

The view opposite Samara
See the city in the distance?
See the mysterious orb in the picture? (A spirit?)

Goodbye Samara

Samara Square in the morning with
The Volga River and the Zhiguli Hills in the background
The people of Samara are still sleeping.

12 Days of Samara

See that balcony near the corner on the 4th floor?

Home Sweet Home
For 12 more days

Nazi Killing Machine

Excuse me, city of Volgograd
May I borrow your Nazi killing machine?
I'm seeing fascism on the rise in some places.

Volga Boat Cruise

A one hour cruise
On the southern Volga
Near the delta

Chess City

Chess City is a real city
A surburb of Elista, Kalmykia
The Dalai Lama stayed there once

Last Photo Together

The last photo taken of us
Before Jenevieve left Russia.
I'm looking forward to our next photo together

St. Vladimir

There is no God but Lenin
His head a shining beacon for us all
Or at least for the proletariat

The Suburbs of Elista

Dawn
Eerily quiet
Not quite Russian

The First Mosquitoes

Wednesday, May 16th
We see our first mosquitoes of 2007
While our train stalls in the Volga Delta region

The Motherland Calls

"Mother Russia" stands on the bloodiest hill in Russia
The Battle of Stalingrad took place here
She is 170 feet tall

Another Kremlin

Although it used to be red,
This one is not in Moscow.
It's in sunny Astrakhan.

Back from...

Korea? No.
Japan? No.
Kalmykia, the only Buddhist republic in Europe

Getting Ready to Go

We're packing to go to Elista and Astrakhan.
When we get back,
Jenevieve flies home to America.

Mother Moscow

Happy Mother's Day
Here's a photo of the VVTs
We visited back in March 2007

Who's Behind That Squirrel?

This squirrel offers a pine cone
on the fourth floor
of Moscow's "Children's World"

Peter the Great

The founder of the Russian Navy
Marches in the clouds
Indeed he is a saint

Central Church

Downtown Lipetsk
"Linden City"
Late April 2007

Victory Day

Today is Victory Day,
the most important holiday in Russia,
commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany.

Russian Bride

A Russian bride in Voronezh
waiting for her groom
who is consulting the photographer.

Welcome to Kursk

On the road from Moscow to Kursk
drivers are greeted by a statue, an arch, and a church
dedicated to the largest tank battle of World War II

Triumfalnaya Square

Statue of Vladimir Mayakovsky
Nearby is the Starlite Diner
and Bulgokov's apartment

Something Ominous

There's something ominous
out on the horizon
beyond the birch trees...

Milk Walking

On the streets of Voronezh
Walks a can of milk
Looking for a cool, dry place

Holy Reflection!

How much is that churchie in the window?
The one with the round cupola
How much is that churchie in the window?

Day of the International Solidarity of Workers

Lenin: "It's May 1st!
Workers of the World Unite!
Communism is just over there!"

Back Already?

It may look like she's in America.
But she's in the heart of Russia's capital city
eating American food in an American diner.

Toys

Old Russian Toys
In a museum in Lipetsk

Throw It Away!

Yuck! Where did you get that from?
I hope there isn't any more.
We don't want those things running around.

Kursk

Russian Orthodox Cathedral
Downtown Kursk
Mid-April 2007

Before and After

The day before Easter (April 7, 2007)

The day after Easter (April 9, 2007)

View from our balcony window in Samara.

Still Life

Cellphone, pen, and tea
But most importantly...
Shadows

Where's Jenevieve?

Jenevieve is somewhere in this photo.
Can you find her?
No, that's a statue of Charles de Gaulle.

Winter Garden

The Winter Garden
Rostov-on-Don Regional Library
1980s modernism combined with environmentalism

A Glimpse of the Red Square

The large red building is the State History Museum.
Yes, beyond is St. Basil's.
And to the right of St. Basil's is Lenin's Mausoleum.

Kupe

"Kupe" is Russian for a train cabin for 4 people.
Kupe rhymes with toupee.
Here Jenevieve is finishing her reading of Anna Karenina.

Yoshkar-Ola

Russian Orthodox Church
Yoshkar-Ola, Republic of Mari-El
March 28, 2007

Night Sight

Friday night in northern Moscow
View from the Cosmos Hotel
March 24, 2007

Yolki Palki

Russian-themed restaurant "Yolki Palki" in the city of Rostov-on-Don
The cranberry juice is recommended.
It was tie-free occassion.

Chipping Away

Two months of snow

Packed into five inches of ice
Is now being removed

Green Party

The Green Party of the Russian Federation
Campaigning for the Samara duma elections
No Ralph Nader here