Iowa Martins in Albania

Saturday, September 22, 2012

stay in Moscow?



Now the decision about staying in Moscow only one year:  I made that since my heart is being pulled every time I see a young kid out on the street.  Yesterday, there was a three-year-old talking a blue streak as he sat on the metro with a book in his hands.
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Monday, September 17, 2012

Train to Moscow


I had an upper bunk in the train.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  For one thing, it demands of course that I climb when I want to get up there.  But the good thing is that when I’m up there, this space is totally mine.  I just keep my knees and elbows in.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Bulgaria


So the passport came to the school in the morning on Tuesday; just as I hoped it would.  I had invited people to come to the chicken shack for a little send off meeting.  A bit of trouble about the excursion was a message I received at 3 in the afternoon—6 hours before the bus would leave.  My host in Moscow sent a message that she was sick with the flu, as her sister had been some days earlier.  She was afraid to bring me into a den of sickness.  Her alternative was an acquaintance nearby who rented rooms for $600/month.
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Sunday, September 02, 2012

waiting for visa


On the drive back Porto Palermo, I call my French friend who works at the European Commission.  He allowed me to give his address to Prime School, my employer in Moscow, so they could send the invitation to Albania.  He says they are not working the next day because of the holiday—the final day of Ramadan.  Bad thing.  But he can probably get the envelope. Good thing. 
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