Russian warmth and other types of PDA

I arrived in Moscow this morning at 5 am. This time I was totally
alone. One of my friends offered to get up early ad meet me at the
airport, but I declined the offer. I think it is good practice to
totally immerse yourself in a foreign environment and try to
accomplish goals.

This does not mean it is any easier to do just because I chose to do
it. I was toatally neverous and felt very isolated. I was afraid I
would insult someone or make some mistake that got me sent home or
something like that. Thankfully the day went smoothly.

I was suppose to meet up with a friend here in the AM and chill with
her all day. Sadly my Russian phone would not work. I spent the day
going to various metro stops to see if anything looked familiar and I
could walk to her house, No such luck. After two hours of this , I
decided to set up shop in a starbucks on arbat street.

When I arrived there was no snow on the ground. As I say in starbucks
I got to watch as it started to snow and blanketed the ground in clean
white fresh snowy goodness. I had not slept in three days so I was in
and out of it for a while there. I was struck by what I saw both at
starbucks and on the train into Moscow. Both couple were young so that
may have had something to do with it. Both showed open, warm, and
passionate affection, publicly. It was a kind of care free joy of just
being together and being oblivious to the outside world; that I have
not seen here before. It was a nice thing to see.

The rest of the gang flew in and I was thankful for my time alone. No
matter how many times I come here, I am still a foreigner. Each time I
get that gut wrenching feeling of "here I got into a world of people I
can understand marginally at best, into a culture I have only begun to
scratch the surface of, and I'm alone". It is a moment I have when I
begin each journey into a different country. A moment where I have to
pause, take a deep calming breadth, and walk one foot in front of the
other into the unknown.

Silver linings

Earlier I mentioned how I did not take a tour of Frankfurt. Instead I
sort of took a self guided tour of the airport.

Today was a busy day for me. Issues with the new house and getting
Internet set up at home. Thankfully I had wifi and a plug to spend my
day being productive.

Important tip here:

When using a plug adapter make sure you do not leave the adapter
behind while packing up your equipment in a hurry. I did this once
before in Ireland at the airport. I guess it is a lesson I did not
learn the first time.

Here comes the silver lining:

Earlier on my self guided airport tour I remembered seeing a travel
electronic store. As soon as I noticed my missing adapter I hustled to
the store arriving just before they closed. I bought two adapter to
have a spare. Glad I took the tour earlier or I may not have been able
to find the store in time. I guess the universe had it's own reasons
for the confusion earlier. Nice that the karmic payoff happened so
quickly.

Thanks Universe

-Dana

Frankfurt Tourism = FAIL

I am on a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany. I like the long layovers because it normally gives me the chance to go out and explore for a bit then head back to the airport and catch my outgoing flight. Mind you I have been here a few times so I am not hyper motivated to walk around this city in the middle of winter. Since I am here already I figured, why not!

I did the usual of going to the information desks and asked about storage for my luggage and things to do in town. This is where things started to go south. I got my bag in storage just fine. Then, I asked about transportation into the city. The first guy at the tourist information both said he had no idea what I could do while here for 12 hours. That was not very helpful. I had to press him and he gave me directions the "metro". I roamed around and never found a metro. I went to a place that had signs all written in English about special sightseeing tours for people in the airport. I don't normally go for this kind of thing but I was bored so I went in and asked. I guess the signs are in English but the tours are only in German. Understandable since I am in Germany. I asked him about other stuff to do. He had no idea either and gave me directions to the "metro" (totally different directions than the first bloke). Again no metro.

I repeated this hunting process on 4 more people at the information and tourist booths, all with similar results. I even asked a complete stranger, same result. Finally I decided it was really not worth it. If it is this much trouble to go sightseeing in the city I am not going to waste my time and money on it.

I found a nice little cafe with Wi-Fi in the airport and got some coffee and will surf the net until I have to leave. I should mention, every single person I spoke with was friendly and outgoing. The shuttle driver and I even joked around about long solid cylindrical objects being broken and flat. Totally not a PG conversation but fun to have with a total stranger. The girl with him was in tears from laughing so hard.

Sorry Frankfurt, I had a wallet full of money I would have gladly spent in your city if only you had given me the option to do so.

On My Way Back to Russia

Traveling invokes mixed feelings for me sometimes. I think it is
traveling alone for extended trips that gets me. Of course I'm excited
to travel and to be away from my normal environment. At the same time
I am sad to be leaving the familiar suroundings of home.

I have been traveling since I was 5 years old alone. With divorced
parents living in seperate cities, I spent a lot of time traversing
the distance between the two. I can still remember the sinking feeling
as I would leave each place. It is a similar feeling now.

On this trip, I'm starting in Oklahoma, where I spent my holidays with
family, and traveling to Russia via a 37 hour series of flights. It
may be this long flight has influenced my state of mind but I think it
is more than that. It is difficult leaving when you really enjoy what
you have where you are.

For this trip I am not as well prepared. I do not anticipate any
problems but several of my safety precautions have not been taken. For
example I am carrying much less cash than normal, I have not printed
out all my paperwork to keep a hard copy, and I have not made
arrangents for what I will do after my arrival.

Well for ths trip I will approach it more with a Taoist philosophy and
let the experience flow around me and with me while I enjoy the
journey. This trip is slightly out of my comfort zone, I look forward
to the growing experience.

Wish me luck....

-Dana

How Long Can You Stay Before the Vacation Feeling Goes Away?

I decided to spend some time in Washington, DC this summer. This was to be a working vacation. I previously lived in the city so I had many friends to catch up with and the touristy stuff was not needed. This was to be more of an extended trip away from home. This is not the first time I have spent a summer in DC but this is my longest stay out here since I have lived here. The main question here is; why did this trip not feel like a vacation?



As of this writing I am sitting in the living room of the apartment I rented in DC with only two days left in the city. This may have been mistake number one, renting an apartment. Sure it is not home but once you rent a place the natural tendency is to nest. This involves simple acts like buying toilet paper and laundry soap in bulk. These are things that you normally only do at home. After we did this it started to feel more like a second home and less like an adventure.



I believe the second mistake was the time factor. Traveling for three months is fun. But really I traveled for a few days and then stayed put for three months. It was after the first month or so in one place that the adventure stopped and the reality of daily living set in. This meant looking for work and earning money at my normal job.



This brings me to my next issue. Every other time I have spent an extended time in Washington, DC I have not taken part in my regular means of earning money. That does not mean I have not worked, but rather it means I worked jobs that were very different from my normal profession. So previously, the entire time was an adventure from my standard reality; this was not the case on this trip.



My final error was taking vacations from my DC location. While here in DC I left two times for a week at a time. One time was for a conference in Philadelphia, PA for interpreters. This was an incredible experience with all the correct ingredients for a vacation. The second trip was to the Bahamas which again contained the appropriate ingredients for a vacation feel. This just increased the let down at my return to DC. It was almost a home coming but it lacked the completeness of that comfort of home because in reality I was still not yet at home.



That does not mean this trip to DC was not a pleasurable one. I have learned even more about the art of vacationing while maintaining my lifestyle. I have spent some wonderful moments with dear friends and sadly I have broken contact with a friend as well. I have run miles and miles around the city and gained a greater appreciation of DC and the sights it has to offer. Now I must return to my home in a few days by car. This will be my last bit of vacation before returning to my life. I have decided to maintain my apartment in DC for at least a year. With this decision I hope to be able to practice taking vacations to DC that involve work but still maintain the feel of a vacation.



As I have said before and it still holds true in my opinion; vacations are a state of mind. Maintain that mindset and you will maintain the vacation feel no matter what you are doing.

Parties and Clubs in DC

I had a six page post all written up and ready to go then it occurred to me it would not be incredibly entertaining for you to read. I have decided to recap the events that are more interesting and not make you muddle through the boring stuff.


I just spent a weekend in DC and I really needed to talk about it. It was a totally awesome trip. This excursion was very different than most of my trips out there. The main purpose of this trip was for me to take a legal certification written test to allow me to work in the courtrooms as a legal interpreter. No, I did not pass the test but that is secondary to my experiences out there. While I was there I stayed with a good friend of mine.


When there is stuff to be done and fun to be had I am all in until everything stops or I fall over from exhaustion. On this trip exhaustion hit me first. Funny, my friend said she would not have believed how little sleep I get and how little I eat without seeing it herself over a 72 hour period. I must admit I did sleep and eat less than I normally do but I do not think she reads this blog so it will just have to be our secret. Shhhh don’t tell. I think I did this in part just because I was having so much fun and in part for the shock factor. It is fun to watch people stare in disbelief as I keep my energy levels at full steam without the advent of sleep or sustenance.


It is an important part of the story here to note my friendship with Michelle. I met her at an interpreter conference randomly and we happen to have many DC friends in common. We became fast friends but living across the country it was more of an email friendship. I travel to DC often and I would normally end up out at the same places she did due to mutual friends and the like. I had never before stayed at her house and I was a bit trepidations about the situation. Fortunately I know myself very well and I am comfortable, or at least appear so, in a myriad of situations. She did catch me off guard as we entered her house. Seems the back door where you park opens directly to her bedroom. As she opened the door and I saw all bed I had a thousand thoughts running through my head. Ok dirty people get your minds out of the gutter that is not what I was thinking. I was contemplating the most grace full way to get out of her room without hurting anyone’s feelings. I was also going through a list of people I can call to stay with at the last minute. Finally I was scanning her room for the door into the apartment . Since I could not readily locate the door I thought “Oh Snap! Is this a studio apartment?” I can’t imagine the look that must have been on my face but she totally played me. I think I made a comment bourn of desperate bravado about “so does this work on all the guys?” Turning around nonchalantly she fell to the bed saying “ready”. I was feeling very awkward at this point when she broke into a grin and said the door is in the corner and laughed at me. Arg!


The first night was some sort of fund raiser thing for dogs (you can tell I was really into it). Turns out, one of Michelle’s friends is a professional photographer and she is hobnobbing with some rich folks looking to increase her pocket book and portfolio simultaneously. I was so outclassed at this party. You know it is a high class party when you can actually hear the people talking and the girls all look like models while out numbering the guys 3 to 1. I ended up talking to this dude who is a previous employee of Merrill Lynch. I guess he had a good retirement plan as he flew to DC in his private Jet just for this event. He was fun to get riled up. At one point I got him going on a rant about all the people here for the poker fundraising event who were not actually going to play. I really got him worked up until he looked at me and asked why I was there. I told him I was one of the people here for the sole purpose of annoying him and I had no intention of playing poker. (pretty much a true statement). He seemed to not know what to do with this so he headed to the bar. I decided to push my luck. As he walked away leaving me and his young girlfriend I called out to him to bring me back some water. As soon as he was out of sight his female friend was all over me telling me how they were not together and she was just his friend.


Now the best part of the conversation. Dude comes back with is drink and mine. The lady looks at us and then glares at him. He totally forgot to get her a drink!! I love it. I left when he was headed back to the bar.


At work the next day a trend was begun. An interpreter walked out and introduced herself, I did the same. Then she replied “your THAT Dana??”


Me “um yes”


“OMG I have heard so much about you”


This was a trend that continued through the night at the party I went to. Now keep in mind folks I have not lived in DC for many years. I have no idea who was talking about me recently but wow what a great ego boost. The evening was like a homecoming party. Now this party was officially to say farewell to the hordes of people exiting the company, but when I replay it in my mind it is a party for me to get to see all my old friends. Thanks party planers Kevin and Michelle. Several times people came up and asked if Hillary was my wife. Not sure where that came from but the third person received my sarcasm full on. I responded “No, this is my mistress and that is my girlfriend, my wife is in California. They do not know about each other so Shhh.” This was also a repeat conversation.


After the party we watched “Princess Bride”. If you have never seen the movie “The Princess Bride” then skip this section because it will be meaningless. The next few hours were mingled with watching, and quoting the movie, word for word, and dozing off. Neither of us wanted to admit we were too tired to continue the movie. It is a great movie and worth a duel “to the pain” to watch. Still a good movie, If only we can listen with our perfect ears while ignoring the cries of babes at our horrible sight. If we had been able to remain awake it would have been a miracle. I know a guy, name of Max, his wife is most defiantly not a witch, but he is a miracle worker for sure. I did warn you not to read this if you do not know the movie.


The final night is worth mentioning. The club we ended up going to is called L2 it is some fancy club for rich people. Again thank you to Michelle’s friend for her contacts. I have been going to George Town for years to go clubbing. This particular club was one I had never even heard of. Guess I traveled in the wrong crowds. The guy who got us in is a member. It is several thousand dollars to procure a membership. Even with his invite I had to pay $30 to get in. It was worth it. I think the ratio here was 5 Women to 1 male. I felt like a minority here and it was a good feeling. I very much enjoy talking to and hanging out with women. Not only was I arriving with some very attractive women but there were multitudes more just standing around. At one point in the evening, and this is sort of a highlight for me, I was surrounded by 7 gorgeous ladies talking about something funny. Keep in mind I am not a member, I am just some punk who wandered into the club with long (well groomed) hair. As I glanced around the club I noticed a group of guys looking at the group I was in, 7 Women and one guy, with a look of WTF on their faces. It was a pretty cool experience for me.


There were several pictures taken in the car on the way to the friend’s house. As the driver this was interesting to say the least. We dropped them off and headed back. We arrived back at her place and I decided it was too late to sleep because I needed to get to the airport very early in the AM. Michelle and I stayed up and I bought tickets for my trip to Peru. Finally the time came and I was driven to the airport and left on my own.

Danger on the Airplane

I had not slept in over a day and I had been running hard for some time now. I was tired and I had a 6 hour flight ahead of me followed by 10 hours of work as soon as I got off the plane. This was my time to sleep. I put my bags above me, and made myself comfortable with my shades and a pillow. I was asleep within seconds.

I woke to a women poking my shoulder yelling in near hysterics “sir sir, is this your bag SIR!” It was and I told her so as I took my bag from her. Then I looked around and noticed the only people left in a 10 foot radius were my elf and the stewardess. After asking a few people I got the full story. My bag needed to be moved to under the seat instead of in the overhead compartment. When she took it out she asked if it belonged to anyone. When there was no response she began to become more insistent. As other passengers stated to notice her reaction hey all began to move away from the lady and the bag.

It was not until everyone had moved and people were climbing over seats that she noticed the one man sitting there quietly with his sunglasses on in the middle of the chaos. It occurred to her that I may be sleeping. Much to her relief I was sleeping and it was my bag.
She seemed very happy to not be holding a bomb in her hand. I really did not care. I just wanted to get back to sleep. I did stay awake long enough to get the story for all of you.

Don't Forget to Take Your Shoes Off Before You Come In

While I love traveling and sharing my experiences with you it is sometimes difficult to find the time and the internet to be able to post to my Blog. I do keep notes on my travels for topics that I want to write about. When I find the time (such as now for example) I type up stuff just for you.

I very much enjoy the city of Moscow and the people that I have the opportunity to meet there. Some things strike me as odd in the way they deal with dirt. It is almost an obsession that as you enter a building or home you should remove your shoes and put on your spare shoes (you know the second pair that we all carry with us right). Last year I was puzzled by this behavior but I followed suit because as they say, when in Rome… This year I was able to better understand a little more about this obsession.

It is difficult to describe the level and consistence of the black silt that is pervasive in the city. When you get a fresh snow as is often the case while we are there this silt is not as evident however, when the temperature rises, the snow melts and you can imagine the results. The origin of this is not clear to me but I do have some ideas. The city of Moscow has about 9 million permanent residents. On any given day the city is actually host to about 18 million people. This is because of a multitude of reasons. Moscow is the home of many national services that must be transacted in person and theses services are unique to the city of Moscow in all of Russia. Of course tourism makes up a great deal of this extra population, I am sorry to say I am a contributor to this number as well. That many people in one place can create a lot of refuse. I imagine that trying to keep up with such refuse production is a daunting task.
In addition to the population density there is also the problem of increased automobile use. A friend of mine let me know that the use of cars has increased substantially in just his life time. He had even noticed a dramatic increase in the last four years alone. All of these vehicles can create a lot of silt and dust to be left for the city to collect.

A final note is a personal experience I had at McDonald’s. We had just finished a snack and I was going to get a refill of my drink. I of course did not expect to get free refills and I had my money ready when I approached the counter. I removed the lid from my cup and explained in broken Russian that AI wanted to refill my drink. The man behind the counter, while friendly, was adamant that he would not reuse my cup. The exchange was very quick but the message was clear, if I wanted a refill it required a new cup. This may be health code of some other reason but the idea is exemplary in the refuse problem. Trash receptacles are few and far between so if you happen to have trash the easiest solution is to just drop it where you are standing. This seems to work out well because with 18 million people there, the trash is quickly trampled to a dust to be added to the rest of the silt.
This all leads us back to the shoes. When the snow melts and the silt mixes it creates a special black mud that sticks to and dies everything it touches. I have a pair of pants this trip that may never recover from the ordeal. With all of this extra information I now better understand the need to remove your shoes as you enter a building. I think next year when I return I will bring a second set of shoes to wear inside to help reduce spreading the dust and silt throughout the places I visit.

Video Coming Soon, I Have the Cable

I was able to get the cable for the computer!! I am almost positive I previously wrote about accepting the answer of “no” or rather not accepting that answer. If I am wrong then someone point it out to me and I will correct the mistake and tell you all about my feelings on accepting the answer of NO.

I have noticed in my travels a general theme of, if the person does not understand me or the question is outside of their reality the answer comes all too quickly and it seems to be mostly, no. Here are some examples:
I am going to a blues bar; No, it does not exist.
Do you have the—NO—cable I need (We were interrupted before we finished the question)
Can I buy a ticket to Copenhagen; There are no tickets to Copenhagen, it is impossible
Is there internet here; You cannot be on the internet.
We are going out for some fun would you like to join us; No
Do you mind if I sit here; NO (ok this was a good one to hear)

When searching for the cable for the camera I ran into a similar problem. Macktie had agreed to join us for a little excursion into Arbat Street. It was previously a street filled with outside vendors selling their wares for discount prices. It is now a pedestrian street lined with upscale tourist stores. Either way it is a nice place to visit. We had been there last year but did not know the name or the significance of the location. This year was more enjoyable because we knew what we were getting into.

It seems that each time I explained about the cable I needed to buy I was assured it probably cannot be done. For you tech people out there the cable is a 1394 (firewire, ilink, etc) I needed the mini plug version of this cable. This is a fairly common cable and seeing as computer hardware is pretty much standardized internationally I was confident, that if I could find a computer store, then I could find the cable I needed. After taking a slight detour from the metro we arrived at Arbat Street and met up with Macktie.

Macktie was skeptical as to the availability of the cable but true to our friendship he trusted that I might know what I was talking about and went along with me to the stores to ask. You may or may not have guessed at this point, but I am fairly goal oriented. If it is something I am set on doing and I believe it is possible to succeed then I WILL do it. This being said I could have gone in alone and inquired about the cable, but it was so much easier with Macktie there asking for me. The first store was a cell phone store and I did not have high hopes but it was right next to where we were standing so I did not want to pass up the opportunity to look. Of course it was a total bust. The guys behind the counter seemed to at least consider the question before rejecting our request. Even though they had told us no, I still looked around just to make sure.

We hit up a Starbuck’s for some coffee, it was great for me, but not so great for my friends around me. I have not had much caffeine since I have been here, and any small amount is an enormous boost to my already high energy levels. I was literally bouncing in place for the next two hours or so. I recommend everyone try it at least twice.

We slowly meandered our way down the street popping into soap shops and souvenir shops along the way. Macktie knew of a Sony shop down near the end of Arbat street. We made it to the shop and I had a cable with me that was correct on one end but not correct on the other end. As Macktie opened his mouth and started asking the lady behind the county he was interrupted by her saying, in a very pleasant matter of fact manner, no we do not have it. I do not understand much Russian but I was pretty sure he was not even able to complete the description before being rejected. This store looked like the right kind of store to me, there were Sony laptops (actually my laptop was there), Sony DV cams (the newest version of mine was there) and general computer stuff all around. The women was insisting that the cable end I was showing her must be old outdated technology and that I would not be able to find it in any stores with new equipment. I am fairly sure that 1394 and USB cables are the most common and newest means of transferring mass amounts of data quickly. That is of course excluding optical cables which are not as common in DV cams or computers yet. By this ladys statement I was reassured that this was just another case of denying the existence of something to mask ignorance. I stayed in the store for another 5 minutes looking around. I found a section with cables behind the counter and peered at each one as the woman twittered on about how my cable was old technology or something like that. Ignoring her I spotted what I was looking for, about half a meter away from her head. I pointed it out and she told me it was the wrong cable and it would not work. She said it only looked a little similar but it was totally different. She told me that the cable I was pointing to was for newer technology and was not compatible with my camera. Keep in mind this woman has never seen my camera and has no idea what brand or model I own, she has only seen the cable I brought with me as an example. I insisted on purchasing the cable.

We left the store on good terms and headed to McDonalds to warm up and get a cherry ice cream shake. That is a total logical contradiction and I am fully aware of the irony. We spent the evening at Vitya’s house and had some soup and bread and other stuff to eat. Eventually Maria joined us there for the sole purpose of annoying Vitya, very commendable I must say. Mitch is pretty sick now and has been for the last three days. He has a 101-102 fever. He has been to the doctor and is on antibiotics now, while under the very attentive care of Sasha, Vitya’s mom. Last night he asked if I could find some Tylenol PM or NyQuil for him. So Vitya and I went on a scavenger hunt at 9 PM to many different pharmacies. I found out that Tylenol is not available in the 6 different pharmacies we went to. I even asked for it by the generic name of acetaminophen. I was able to find some stuff by coldex that seemed to be the same thing as NyQuil. I was a bit surprised to have such a hard time finding such a common medication. I guess this is a lesson to me to bring a healthy supply with me when I travel just in case something happens to me.

Now back to the cable story. As I write this post I am loading the video from my camera to my laptop without any difficulties. I watched all the raw footage and there are some really funny clips coming along with some great examples of Russian Sign Language. Turns out I did know what I was talking about. Also it turns out that accepting the answer of NO is not always the best course of action.

As my friend Michelle would say “toodles”

Dana

Oh Man I Need a Cable

I thought I had brought all the cables I needed to upload video to my laptop. This is the same set up I had used this summer while in Europe. Unfortunately I left one of the cables at home. Really the only reason I brought the laptop with me was to post video for you online. Thankfully it is not an uncommon cable to purchase. I guess I will spend my day today looking for a cable instead of editing video.

Some of the video is from Heather's excursion with the large group of deaf Russians. I have not even seen it yet. I am looking forward to taking a look and editing it so that we can all enjoy the video. I have not decided if I will add music for an audio track or leave the audio as is, yet. If you have any preferences let me know and I will probably follow whatever you all want.

Later
Dana

Gesturing with Hearing People 101

I teach at Gallaudet University in the summer time. I work in the personal discovery program under Jean Berube. I am also one of the few hearing staff she has working with her. It has been both an honor and a challenge working within this program over the last 8 years. This has awarded me many wonderful opportunities both in personal development and adventures. I am going to talk a bit today about what it has been like for me being a hearing person working in the discovery program with so many deaf coworkers. I will also demonstrate how the skills I have learned working with my friends and the discovery family at Gallaudet has helped me in the programs I am teaching here in Russia.

When we teach at Gallaudet Jean will generally pair up two staff members per group. With this technique we are able to take turns teaching and help one another with various problems that arise. I am an interpreter by trade. When I first began to team teach with a deaf partner all of my groups were deaf. Everything worked out well and I was able to personally develop my leadership skills along side the other deaf staff members. It was not until about a year of working with the discovery program, that I encountered my first challenge as a hearing person. The group I was given consisted of all hearing people and they did not know sign language. My natural instinct was to provide interpreting services for the deaf person I was team teaching with. It took only about 10 minutes for me to see the obvious inequity I had created. Without meaning to, I had usurped the power from my partner. When the group had a problem or a question they would only approach me.

Needless to say my partner had a miserable day, as did I. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I was not sure how to make it better. I asked Jean if she would let me not teach for a few days so that I could observe the other deaf leaders and see how they were teaching the workshops with out the aide of an interpreter. It was over the next few days that I gained an enormous insight and a set of skills that would benefit me both in teaching in discovery and in my professional life. Of course I knew that the deaf people would not be leading by only using sign language, I knew there would be gesturing and miming involved as well. The problem was I had never taken the time to actually watch how they did it. Now I took the time to watch them work their magic. After three days I felt I was ready to participate again. I had made a decision to totally change my approach to what I was doing and how I was doing it.

We all meet early in the morning to set up the equipment and to discuss our plans for the day with our groups and partners. I talked it over with my partner and told her I was not going to use my voice at all. I felt some conflicts in this decision because I did not want to pretend I was deaf, but at the same time I felt that by doing this it would force the group to see us as equals. All day long I spent hours gesturing out what the group was to do. I borrowed skills from my fellow facilitators and came up with new solutions on the fly. I still provided some interpretation but mainly during the discussion, and only secretly so the group was not aware what I was doing. My goal at this point was to ensure my partner was fully aware of what was going on with the group dynamics. The day was a wild success. During our debriefing at the end of the day I informed Jean and the rest of the group, what I had been doing all day. There were mixed feelings on my approach to this problem. Then my partner for the day spoke up and expressed what a success the day had been and how well it had worked out for her as well. Thanks to her comments the group was sold on my solution. Over the years I have spent a lot of time revising and fine tuning my techniques. For example if my partner is hard of hearing they may prefer to lead with their voice. Sometimes I will intentionally still not use my voice which actually puts me in a lower role from the groups perspective. This is a great way for my team to develop their own skills in a safe environment. At times I will use my voice with my team member and we will lead the groups as equals. I have worked with many discovery staff members over the years and each experience is a little different but now I have a better equipped tool bag to choose the correct tool for the job from. While the task is physically exhausting the rewards are worth the work.

Today while I was working with a hearing group in the Basement theater my co teacher/interpreter had to leave the group to drive Mitch (he got sick) home. I was left with a group of early 20's female psychologists who only know Russian. I bet you will never guess what techniques I utilized to instruct them on the events. The one down side in this skill I have developed is in leading the discussions afterward. As I said the discussions are there to show the groups what they already know, unfortunately this is more challenging if I have no idea what they are saying. My solution was to hold off on the discussions until I could recruit the aide of a Russian interpreter. This seems to work out well with my group.

It is amazing that when I was developing this approach to teaching discovery I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would employ these skills in another country teaching other hearing people. I do have a translation program on my phone that I used a bit to facilitate some of the discussions without an interpreter. I think today was a wild success and I am looking forward to working with these groups one more time tomorrow.

These skills have also improved my ability to interpret. I find that when I come across a difficult concept to interpret I will utilize my skills form discovery to express the concept. This allows the deaf person to understand the topic more fully that may have been possible for them previously. This also allows me to communicate more effectively with the deaf person I am interpreting for.


On a totally separate topic. My friend with no goals read my blog and we had a long and wonderful discussion about this topic. It turns out that we have different views of what the word "goal" means. I was amazed to hear about her dreams and aspirations for life. The many wild and wonderful things she would like to accomplish fill me with inspiration. I was also deeply moved to hear of the thought and consideration she puts into each experience she has with the discovery programs. It seems that after each program she chooses to isolate herself to fully reflect on and internalize what growth she has experienced and to be ready to implement her new found skills at the next program. I find this to be a wonderful skill and one I can only hope to achieve at some time in the future. Odd how we can find little nuggets of knowledge in the most unexpected times and places.


Perhaps I am able to more clearly explain myself though writing than I am in person. It was only after reading what I had written that we continued our discussion and the misunderstandings were clarified. I love it when that happens it is like a brilliant light suddenly and expectantly illuminating a darkness that you never even realized existed.

Until next time,
Dana

MOTIVATIONI find that motivating myself is one of the hardest things for me to do. It is so easy for me to tell someone else to do something. I can even keep track and confirm that they are following through with whatever it is they started. This does not mean I do not self motivate; it just means it is a challenge for me. The best way I find I can motivate myself is to set goals both large and small. Along the way I do things like post to my Blog because my goal is to share my adventures with friends. Without my goals I would be content to just sit in bed and do nothing all day long.

Perhaps because I struggle so much with motivating myself to do, anything, I am intolerant with apathy. I think if I have gone to this much trouble to get my lazy but up and ready to do some stuff, then darn it the least the people around me can do it jump on board for some adventures. It is so easy to join someone else in an activity that is all ready to explode. This was one of the reasons my group in the unnamed city frustrated me so much. I was there to motivate and encourage and they just did not want to do anything. At times I was surprised they found the motivation to even breathe.

New Years day I was talking to a friend here in Russia and I asked what her life’s goals were. She had only one, to graduate from the university. This for me was a moment of epiphany, without goals then of course there will be little or no motivation to do anything. I have read several books on goal setting and worked diligently to improve my ability to set and follow through with my goals in life, but I have always had dreams and aspirations to motivate me to go beyond what I was currently doing. Heather told me to learn to accept this as it is just a cultural difference. Without goals, without constantly expanding your abilities and skills, without dreaming, you will never grow. Instead you become a mass of unrealized potential. Every person is capable of doing so many wonderful things in their life time and while I can accept cultural differences, I will not accept seeing a friend, choose to not live up to their enormous potential. At times it feels like I am beating my head against a solid brick wall, but it is worth it because with enough effort eventually the wall will crumble and a world of limitless opportunities will be revealed to my friend. I can only hope that my head is solid enough for the task. Perhaps I will include the task of goal setting in my workshops from now on to motivate them to action.On New Year’s Day we all slept for the greater part of the day. Remember, I did not get to bed until 8 AM. It was about 5PM by the time I was awake and ready to leave the house. It was a nice leisurely process. We had all agreed to go skating today so I headed out in the correct direction while keeping in contact with my cohorts through SMS. I arrived at the skating place and they were still meandering around the city doing, well I have no idea what they were doing, but whatever it was, was keeping them from being at the skating park. As I was standing in line at the Kacca (ticket booth) I saw several Deaf people in line in front of me.

This trip I have seen more deaf people in Moscow then I thought possible. It seems every time I turn around there is another group of deaf Russians to talk to. I started up a conversation with them using a mixture of Russian sign language and gestures. They explained the complex ticket process to me and how to rent skates as well. They then invited me to join them around the park. I accepted of course. I told them I would meet up with them as soon as my friends arrived.

After texting back and forth with Heather and the others, I gave up hope on them and decided to take advantage of the opportunity that was right in front of me. I am not sure what the big delay was with the rest of my group, but at the moment it was not my problem and I had no control over it. I met up with my new deaf friends, and we rented skates and headed out on the ice. It was an awesome time and I have a few pictures here of them. Eventually Heather and the rest of the gang arrived. I bid farewell to my new friends and rejoined my old ones.

I was very excited to see them. One, I had not seen Heather for any period of time since her solo adventures and I wanted details. Second, to my surprise Ilya and Lala were there as well. These are two of my friends from Russia that I had not seen yet. I am not going to lie, many hugs were exchanged in public and several people smiled. I just hope no one else saw how much fun we were having out in the open. After a few hours of skating we parted ways and headed to our respective homes.

Again it was another marvelous day with friends and family. Have you figured out the secret ingredient to have a good time yet? Remember, it is the one thing I always remember to bring with me and I keep it on me, almost at all times.

Best to all,

Dana

The Biggest Party of the Year and I was There

In Russia this time of year you will see signs all over the place with a phrase in Russian (obviously in Russian because it would be silly to have signs in a different language). This Particular phase translates to “happy new year”. New Years here is bigger than Christmas or as far as I know, any other holiday in the country. It is very cool that we were able to be here and be a part of it.I spent the day of New Years Eve sleeping a bit then hanging out at Maria’s place. My friend Christina wanted to go out and do something and I was definitely game for some fun!! I had previously promised Sean, Sarah, and Mitch that I would let them know if we were going out. I sent messages to them and exchanged every one’s text number so we would all be able to stay in communication. I heard nothing back from the three at Vitya’s house and Maria did not want to leave her house, so I headed out with Christina alone. Our goal was to go ice skating at a park pretty close to Maries place by metro. I had no idea what stop it was at but Christina had been there before. Of course we ended up at the wrong metro stop, but not before we took several wrong directions and accidently exited the system more than once.

Just so you don’t think that I am some super great traveler or something, I make mistakes all the time on my trips and hit stumbling blocks often. This trip on the metro is pretty typical for me. The key is how I deal with the problem that makes the trip enjoyable. Luckily Christina is of a like mind. We just went with the flow and had a good time exploring the metro system and talking with each other. We finally made it to the metro stop we were looking for and, oops, it was the wrong one. Turns out she had taken us to the metro with the blues bar nearby. We decided that going out for a drink would be a good idea at this point. We did just that, and had a wonderful time just talking about life and adventures. Funny Christina and I were talking about how we met and I just assumed I had known her for many years. She just feels like the kind of friend you have known forever. We came to the conclusion that I had actually only met her in late 2006 and really only hung out with her a few times. I guess when you meet a friend, and then time is not important, because with friends the bond is the important part.

We made it to the skating place, actually a park with pathways that had been sprayed down with water and left to freeze. This may be one of the coolest skating places I have ever seen! Unfortunately we arrived in time for them to close. Christina had skates but I did not. We left and headed back home, she to her sisters and me to Maria’s. Maria met me at the metro and we headed to Vitya’s place.

At this point Heather had returned safely from her private excursion in the unnamed city. I have heard second hand that Jean was very worried about her. I have also heard conflicting reports that Jean called several people crying asking if heather had returned yet. It is sweet that she cares so much. I know Heather well and I was fairly confident in her ability to take care of herself. I was of course relieved to hear she was back. Vitya picked her up at the train station so she would be meeting me at Vitya’s when I arrived.

Vitya’s parents are the epitome of a mother and father figure. Before you even make it in their house you feel the love and caring flowing around you like a cool rain on a warm day. Sasha the mother is constantly chattering away at you making sure you have everything you need, that your boots and clothes are placed in the correct spot, and that you have done everything you are supposed to have done at the right time, just like a mother should. Vitya’s father sits there in silence most of the time as a casual observer and ready to offer aide whenever you need it, just as a father should. Visiting their place is like going home to the family that you only read about in books. I can see why Vitya turned out to be such a good person. We had a marvelous dinner at Vitya’s house that of course ended in several toasts of vodka to bring in the New Year.

On TV and Movies the Russian people are made out to be a very stoic people, and in many ways this is correct. While riding the metro or walking around town the people in general look very serious. I am of the belief that the universe works in balance of various elements from the macro to the micro levels. The Russian people I have had the pleasure to be with have shown this to be true. When interacting on a more personal level they have proven to be a very warm and caring people. The stoicism is well balanced with a deep and genuine ability to express emotions towards others. This is much more intense than I experience at home in LA. In LA we maintain balance by behaving the same in public as we do in private. For all you tech geeks out there the term is WYSIWYG.

On the topic of public stoicism, they were true to form at New Years Eve in Red Square. Everyone just sort of stood there quietly for about an hour talking quietly to friends. I was actually able to hear Maria talking without difficulty, in this sardine packed area. It was slightly disconcerting, but interesting at the same time. I had done my hair straight up with a small stuffed ox attached for good measure. I stood out a bit and I loved the double takes I received when I would wish people a happy new year and they realized what was on my head. We all cheered in unison as the clock stuck midnight then quieted for a minute before calmly and orderly exiting the square. As my friend gentry would say “Awkward”

In our little group we had Sean, Sarah, Mitch, and Maria. Heather decided to stay home because she was exhausted from her trip. Mitch wanted a bar to keep his buzz going so we headed off in a random direction to find a bar. I took every opportunity I could to wish strangers a happy new year. My enthusiasm was infectious, as my group started to join in the fun. We were suddenly a roving band of well wishers. No one was safe from our merry wishes of a good year to come. At one point, we found another outside party with well ordered revelers. As we were leaving, some girl yelled in excitement so I joined and yelled back in excitement. Before I knew what was happening she had jumped on me wrapping her legs around me as we spun down the pathway dancing for about 10 seconds. She was holding a beer and according to Sean we made a wonderful sprinkler as the fluid flowed freely from her open bottle while we twirled. I was able to extricate myself and rejoin my friends on the way to the metro. We never did find that bar. Sorry Mitch maybe next time.

We made it back to the metro and we sent Vitya’s three off to find their metro stop while Maria and I headed back to her place. I spent the rest of the night picking on Maria and talking. Her great Grandmother is a famous poet here in Russia. She was a prolific writer as well. I found some children’s books she had written in the library. Maria helped me muddle through some of the poems. We finally went to sleep at 8 AM on New Year’s Day. All in all it was a marvelous day and a marvelous night and a marvelous morning. Adventures like this never come twice. Grab life by the horns and hold on for an outstanding memory, before it is too late and you can only reminisce about the things you never tried!!!

Later guys I will post again soon.

Heather's Solo Adventure

(written by Heather)

So, as Dana said, I took on a journey that was beyond any journey I have ever taken before. I have traveled alone in the US before, and I have traveled outside of the US with family, but when I ran into the opportunity to do some traveling alone, I had serious doubts about my abilities as a Deaf person to navigate in a country that speaks a language I can't even read or write.

When we arrived to the place (I never found out the name of the place we stayed at), I happened to notice two young women gesturing to the hearing cook in the cafeteria. I waited for their conversation to end, and then approached them with nervous excitement. I asked if they were deaf, and of course they were. They told me that 60 Deaf Russians from all over the country would be arriving the very next day. We agreed to meet up after the Discovery program was finished, and I began to ponder the possibility of us hosting a program for them. Jean did try to set up something, but it seems that it wasn't doable. At any rate, I saw the opportunity for lots of communication, socialization, and friendship. After our program, we (the five of us from the Discovery Program) met up with the Deaf Russians and discovered that they were part of a church group and that was why they were hosting a group of 60 Deaf Russians. They told us a bit about themselves, and in our gestures/ASL/RSL/international sign, we managed to chat all night long. It never ceases to amaze me how 2 hearing people who speak different languages always have difficulties communicating, but 2 deaf people can come together and they become immediate friends. There is also the feeling that you can understand where the other is coming from because no matter where we are in the world, our experiences as Deaf people are very similar.


After realizing that a large number of Deaf Russians would be in the area, and the Discovery group would be going back to their home base in Moscow, I began to ponder the possibility of a few of us staying an extra day. Alas, nobody else wanted to stay, but Dana saw this as a prime opportunity for me to experience traveling alone and encouraged me that I would be able to find my way back by myself. Having severe doubts, I unwillingly worked out plans for me to stay an extra day, food to eat, and a ride back to the train station. When I discovered that a woman from the hearing group we had been working with would be heading back to Moscow, I was relieved. Knowing that a Russian would ensure I would find my way back gave me the confidence to enjoy myself and to not worry about getting lost in the city.


When I said goodbyes to the Discovery group, I joined the 60-some deaf people and watched their leader preach to them. Of course, this was not my favorite topic (I am a christian, I just make it a personal thing and don't enjoy discussing it with others), but it gave me the opportunity to watch the Russian Sign Language and pick up a few signs. They even found an English translation on their laptop for me and I could read the story he was talking about as he preached. Afterward, they had social time, and I met a woman from Ukraine, who had a Deaf American friend and was fluent in ASL. She helped bridge the gap between the two languages when the conversations were more in-depth that they could not be gestured out. After that, they planned to watch a movie, and told me that they would have both the Russian and English subtitles. Confused, I asked how they would have two languages, but they assured me that they can have the English subtitles on the top, and Russian subtitles on the bottom. Amazed, I hung around to see this, but they ended up not showing the movie anyway. If it is true that you can have two different languages on the screen, heck, that's amazing!


One conversation that I had involved a young Deaf 6 year old who was cute as a button. I asked her if she wanted to come with me back to the states as she was so cute I would raise her like my own child. She replied that no, she would rather go home with her mother. Upon seeing this conversation, her father explained to her that America has lots of money, enough food to make you fat, gigantic mansions and loads of toys. He then asked her again if she wanted to join me, and her answer changed to an insistent nod. While her answer was hilarious, it was humbling to see their view of America.


A few conversations later, we ended up in the lobby where the Deaf Russians play a very interesting game of ping pong. Instead of two people playing on opposing sides, they had a group of up to 8 people around the table. As one person served on one side, the person on the other side had to hit it back, then instead of the first person hitting it again, the next person in the circle had to hit it. The people move around the table, and if they miss, they have 1 point against them. When a person has 3 or 5 (predetermined by the group) points, the player is out, and the group reduces and the speed of the players increase until there are two left, who play it like the Americans do until one player is the winner. This isn't easy to explain, but I have video, so perhaps when we have time, we can upload the video that I recorded.


After learning "good night" in Russian, I went to sleep and woke up to join them for breakfast. I learned more Russian signs, and they asked for many American signs. We had a short preaching time again before going outside for some games. We broke up into four teams, and the first game was to carry a balloon with a partner between the foreheads. After rounding a chair, the partners headed back and passed the balloon onto the next set of partners. The second game was where we each had to put a balloon in between our legs and hop our way around the chair and back (with the snow, it was not an easy task). The third game was so funny it put me into tears. Each person had five balloons tied to themselves, and we all had to try to pop them all and run back to our group before the other teams. My only regret is that I have video of the first two games, but not the last one. I'm sure you would have enjoyed seeing them... erm, thrusting into the bushes and pushing their butts into the trees, and people hugging into each other madly.


After lunch, I had to say goodbye and head back to Moscow. It was a truly enjoyable experience, and the Deaf Russians gave me a hat and a stuffed cow (it's the year of the ox) as a parting gift, and I gave them a small donation to their organization. I am truly thankful for their hospitality and the memories will be cherished. After finding my Russian friend who was to accompany me back, she told me that she had changed her mind and that she would not be heading back after all, I panicked. I had instructions for how to get back, but I guess I wasn't mentally prepared for the challenge. She did find me a ride to drop me off at the train station and I endured the 90 minute ride nervously. Alas, when I arrived at the train station, Vitya (our host) was there to pick me up and I arrived back safe and sound. The experience was immensely valuable and I can now understand the excitement and nervousness that entices Dana to travel abroad, even alone.