Kickin’ back, relaxin’, all cool

I hooked up with the girls yesterday afternoon about three and we walked around town for a while. The city celebration concert was set to start at 8 p.m., and we headed over to the stadium to meet Mark around 7 p.m. Getting into the concert was quite an adventure.

Apparently the seating was limited, and by the time we tried to get in, the doors were all closed and people were pressing up against them trying to get in. Julia took our tickets and went up and talked to a guard and explained we were there with Rotary. We went up the outside, then pressed our way between people and up and over a concrete barrier to get in. There was a lot of yelling and pushing… The concert was in the soccer stadium, and people climbed up the light poles, trees, and sat on the roofs of nearby apartment buildings and warehouses to watch.

We went inside what I would have called the Press Box area in the states to use the toilet, and ran into the mayor. He asked how we were enjoying our stay, and we of course responded ahtleyhcna (wonderful). There was a hospitality room where we had some light appetizers and tea. I asked Julia how they did catering, and she said the mayor’s office takes care of it all – there aren’t any individual caterers for higher, per se. The opening acts were mostly the same performers we saw the evening before.

The main act was a Russian girl band who won a contest similar to American Idol or Making the Band. It was all lip sync, but the crowd had a really good time nonetheless.

We ended up leaving about 10 o’clock, but the fireworks weren’t scheduled to start until 11 p.m., so when I got home Val and Jinya asked if I wanted to go back out with them to see the display. They didn’t live far from the stadium, so we drove over to get a little closer. Once you get off the main roads in Ulan Ude, good luck. I asked Val what it took to get a road repaired, and he said a miracle. He had told me earlier that the only way a road ever got serviced was if a dignitary was in town and that road was on his route…

The fireworks were nice, but fairly short. I’m looking forward to being back in time for the good ol’ Fourth of July!!

Today, Mark, Ora and I went and toured a university with some interesting areas of focus. (Bill took the morning off after a late night with the Rotary club President, and Tracy was visiting a metal working business.) At the university, we saw their internet center – 40 computers, all with high speed access. The center is used to teach both students and professors how to work with computers. Then, we were given a tour of the microbiology area, along with a souvenir of some microbes to take back and drink to heal an upset stomach. The tour ended in the department where students learned to tan and treat fur. Like I said – interesting cross studies…

We headed back to Hotel Geser, piled in the van, and drove out to a resort at En Haluk, and that’s from where I am writing now. It’s very nice, and dinner was excellent. I’m fighting a sore throat and doing my darnedest not to let it turn into more, so I’m taking a break while the other folks bana. Hopefully that, combined with turning in early tonight, will help me stave off a respiratory episode!! Only 11 days left – hardy any time at all!