Another long first day

We rolled in at about midnight last night and were given the warmest greeting yet – a whole host of people were waiting at the train station, complete with a sign (in English!) welcoming us to Chita.

A woman named Margarita and a girl named Dasha ushered me to their car. I was under the impression they were mother and daughter, but Rita dropped me off and it turns out I’m staying at Dasha’s with her mother, whose name I’ve yet to catch. Dasha speaks very good English and was in fact an exchange student in Burleson for a year. I’m amazed by how many children here have participated in exchange programs. I’m sure part of it is the fact that I’m staying with Rotarians, and that Rotary is so focused on International relations, and also that the families who are hosting us are better off financially than the norm, but still! I knew a lot of well-to-do families growing up, and don’t remember a lot of international exchanging going on…

When we got to the house, there was a little bit lost in translation, and even though I told Dasha I wasn’t hungry, she didn’t get the message, so her mom fixed me a plate of mashed potatoes and beef stew. I couldn’t convince them I really didn’t want anything to eat at 1 a.m., and she’d already fixed the meal, so I felt guilty and ate a little bit. Then, a shower and off to bed. Their home is beautiful! Again, we’re in one of the apartment buildings that looks almost like a tenement from the outside, but inside – wow. Hardwood floors, large rooms – lots of space! Their bathroom is the nicest I’ve seen in Russia. Very large, with a tub you have to step up to, nice tile flooring and walls. Still, with room for the washer, clotheslines and an ironing board, and plenty of room to move around, even with all of that!

We left this morning a little after nine. Our first stop was a Decembrist museum. That history is so amazing to me. Here are these very cultured, very educated people, being exiled because their ideas differed from the czars. They showed us the map of the original plan of Chita. When the exiles were sent here, many of the wives decided to follow. That’s dedication! And, when you think about the fact that many of those marriages had been arranged, and yet the women still chose to follow a husband to Siberia, rather than take the chance to get out of the marriage…

After the museum, over to a university to see its geology and paleontology exhibits. Not quite as interesting to me, but there was a wide variety of specimens. They claimed on the paleontology side to have a 1.6 billion year old rock – the only one in the world. I don’t know if I’m just too cynical or what, but the fact that something like that would be in a small university in a small city in Siberia, sitting out, not even in a locked cabinet – hard for me to accept as true.

Next, to lunch. We went to a very nice restaurant and again had way too much to eat. Salad, soup, pork chops and rice. Then, to an art salon souvenir shop. I was running low on rubles, so I didn’t pick anything up, but after that we went to a bank so I could cash in some traveler’s checks. Ora and I both needed to do it, and we both quickly realized we should have stuck to cash. The first bank we went to wouldn’t do it. The next took almost half an hour, took a 3 percent commission, and gave us a mediocre exchange rate. Still, it’s nice to have some rubles in my pocket! :)

Then, over to the Chinese market – appropriate since now we’re very nearly in China! (I learned later in the day that Manchuria is about 600 km away.) I bought a bag embroidered with Russia in Cyrillic letters to go with my New Zealand bag for $12 (300 rubles).

The last stop for the day was at a furniture manufacturing plant. The gentleman who owns the plant told us that 1/6 of all the furniture sold in Russia is made there. He also took us through the shopping area, which reminded me a lot of Ikea… (There’s no Ikea here yet, though there is one in Irkutsk.) We went up to his office for some Cognac and Chai and the invited us to his house for dinner. He has built a private residence with in the city – the first we’ve seen, and probably one of the very, very few around. By the way, he also drives a Hummer…

And, his house was amazing. Three stories above ground, plus a basement with a bana and pool. It’s not permitted to build a single family home within city limits, so technically the house is registered as his office, which means he has to pay business taxes and business rates for water, energy, etc. His electric bill during the summer is about $700. He cooked out sashleek and we hung out for a while, then left to meet our host families. It’s 9:30 p.m. now, and I’m already dead tired. I put in a load of laundry, am going to try and get this uploaded, wash my hair, and hit the sack.

Tomorrow, we’re spending the day at the lake and going to a discoteque that evening. Every day here is going to be nonstop!!!

btw, I'm still on dial up, getting a whopping 16 Kbs/second, so no pictures anytime soon, unless I can get over to Ora's host who has WiFi! :)