Must Post Before I Forget!

Well things have been happening quite fast the past few days so I think these blog posts may be more frequent at the start.  I am going to try to post the photos I have taken so far, but I am just learning how to use this site so I don't know how organized or integrated they will be (you can click on any picture to enlarge it, i hope!).  Also, I have already started to feel some of my english slip (not vocab or anything) because I have gotten used to short declarative statements to communicate here haha.  So if this leaks into my blog I apologize!  OK, where to start...

Well I left you all with a bit of a cliff hanger regarding the apartment, so I will pick up there.  The meeting that night went very well and the owner of the apartment building was extremely nice to me.  He made me make a list of kitchen items I will need so he can buy them and have them there when I move in!!  We even signed a one page contract (in russian) for the agreement on the apartment.  This is not usually the case in Russia since rent is month-month and it is usually a verbal agreement.  But the contract basically is insurance that I will have the place until 30th of June if I want an either party has to give 30 days notice and a reason to terminate the contract.  I don't think this will be a problem though, the owner seems like a great guy and he was happy to have me living in the apartment.  I will not be able to move in until the 4th of Sept.  But this is fine, the current people are moving out and he is going to prepare the apartment for me.  I will post some pictures (has a really great kitchen for a Russian apt.) when I move in!  Until then I am staying in a University flat (for free!) that is usually for visiting professors, but as it is the beginning of the year there are no current visiting professors so the space is free.  Unfortunately the flat is without hot water and internet.  Interesting, you might think, since it appears I have internet.  Well in Russia a common way to get internet is through a USB or mobile modem that uses 3G service in the area.  Unfortunately you have to have a Russian passport to get this, just like the sim card.  So one of my friends in the international office was kind enough to let me use his passport to register the USB modem and after a days worth of troubleshooting the Russian manual, tada! Internet anywhere!

Yesterday I met two other members of the International Department from the University (the International Department teaches international languages but is almost exclusively - with the exception of me - Russian teachers).  These two guys, Anton and Ilnar, are younger than my host, Dmitri, and they took me around town.  I have to apologize for a moment because for the first part of our trip I forgot my camera.  I saw the kremlin and some beautiful mosques, but do not worry we have a couple weeks left of good weather so I will return to these places because I really want the photos and then you will be able to see these places and I will talk more about them then.  Yesterday was City Day, is like a mini 4th of July for the city of Kazan.  There is a foot street in the center of town and it was absolutely packed with people and outdoor food stands and booths like you would imagine at any downtown event.  Seems like a very active city so far and the people are very agreeable!  The food is good too!  My host, Dmitri, invites me to his home for lunches and his mother makes delicious food.  I recently had Russian blini for the first authentic time, fabulous.  His mother has also been great practice for my Russian because so far most of the people I have met are English teachers an they want to use me as practice for their english.  But Dmitri's mother does not speak english so we have to talk in Russian, it is great!  Also, I should amend that last sentence, Anton and Ilnar help me with my Russian too and let me speak Russian with them.

race track from the entrance!

After experiencing some of the festivities downtown Anton and Ilnar took me to the race track (more pictures below)! Yes, the race track!  I was shocked to see such a new and amazing race track just on the outskirts of town.  Was so beautiful and we had a lot of fun betting (cheaply) on some horses we knew nothing about!  Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, which is in the Russian Federation.  Tatar language is one of two national languages here (the other being Russian of course) and in Tatar tradition horses are very important (obviously a very simple and ignorant summation of horses in Tatar history).  So they have always had a track, but this one was built just about a year ago.  Anton also told me that they have amazing horse meat sausages that I will have to try, so I look forward to doing that too!  After the track I was exhausted, a full day of events and I am still working to get on a normal sleep schedule.  Each day is getting better though.  So I returned to my flat for a couple hours of rest and Anton met back up with me around 21:00 or so and we went to the cultural center building where there was a good view of the city and to get ready for the fireworks!  The City Day celebration is culminated with fireworks to shouts of УРРААА (ура = hooray!).  The main, or older, city of Kazan is on one side of the river and there is another part of the city, a bit newer, on the other side.  So I got to take some nice pictures of the other side of the city at night, and the cultural building that was lit up at night on our side of the river.  All in all was a very full and eventful day, got to meet some new people and see even more of the wonderful city of Kazan!

part of Kazan across the river

On to today!...This morning Dmitri came and we went next door to the main University building for the Rector's talk.  At the beginning of every academic year the Rector (president of the university) gives a talk about the preceding year and about the status of the university as well as goals for the upcoming year - all the faculty are invited, although it is only the Academic Council that has a say in anything.  The Rector actually dedicated a whole powerpoint slide to me and the Fulbright Program!  Apparently I am the first American teacher - "professor"as they call me, but I am trying to insist this is not correct, so far to no avail - that the University has ever had.  They have had visiting professors for a couple weeks at a time, but they have never had someone for a full academic year.  So this is a very good reflection for the university that I am here.  No pressure Geoff.  Obviously there is some pressure, but I think it is good because they are invested in having me and this will open up a lot of opportunities to collaborate with the faculty and students and hopefully start some cool programs.  After the Rector's talk we went to grab some lunch and then head over to the building where I would be working for the International Department meeting.  The department is very big, I would estimate around 50-60 people were at this meeting, and there were 6 men present haha.  I was once again introduced to the department and they clapped and were very happy that I will be working with them and I told them how excited I was to be there too.  After the meeting all the women came up to me and wanted to introduce me to their daughters haha, but I told them that I already have a girlfriend whom I love very much and they seemed to respect this.   But these Russian бабушки (babyshkas - bab-ooshkas) all started to immediately give me advice for food and how to live and where i should shop and that it is crazy that I am here without a woman haha.  So I think I will be overly well taken care of in the next couple of weeks, i think I will be very happy to settle into my apartment and just have some "me" time.

The cultural building

nice track!

i dont really care for this type of horse racing, but they seem to like it

The winner!

Down the Stretch!!

УРА!!!

I like this one

close race

moments after the finish

Millennium Bridge all lit up

Fireworks

OK, well I tried to organize this post better and add some pictures, so I hope these blog posts are getting more and more understandable and interesting.  Hope all is well with everyone stateside or otherwise and I look forward to hearing from you either via comments or messages or email, however you prefer!  с праздником!! Until next time - Geoff