KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN - Western Michigan's CommUniverCity

RESPITE FROM RUSSIA

CommUniverCity Day is an annual event hosted by Western Michigan University. Various businesses around town host a tent for their friends and patrons.

It takes place on Western's baseball field, which is right next to Waldo Stadium, home of the Bronco footballers. The baseball field was packed with 40 or so tents representing Realtors, financial advisers, restaurants, car dealers, Stryker, and other businesses.

This year we were invited by our fabulous financial adviser Eric Tiller of Raymond-James Financial Group. At their tent we enjoyed a tasty taco dinner catered by local Mexican restaurant Taco Bob's. I'm not a beer drinker, but Mike grabbed a Bell's Two-Hearted from the selection (his fave). We made some doozy tacos,

The weather could not have been any better. I brought a jacket because I'm usually on the cold side, but really did not need it. Here we are enjoying the day.

Western played the Georgia State Panthers (Mid-American Conference) and complimentary tickets were included in the activities. So after eating and visiting with folks, we headed over to the stadium. Here's a shot from the end zone.

Our seats were on the 20-yard line up on row 45, a nice view of the field. See the red circle next to the goal post? That is where we sat.

Eric and wife (center) sat nearby...such a cute, fun couple.

The Broncos were lined up here, waiting for their turn to make a practice play. Their bold gold and brown uniforms were snazzy.

After that there was a pre-game show. The percussion band marched out first.

Then the cheering squad, baton twirlers, and flag gals.

And last the rest of the band. They made some precision moves, including converting from a square to a big dub-ya (W).

The flag was raised as we sang the national anthem.

At the same time, a "ribbon" flag was formed on the field.

Then the team came rushing out in a cloud of smoke led by our bronco mascot.

At that point the baseball field was shutting down and the stands were filling up.

The Bronco band includes many tubas. They sat along the top row on the other side of the stadium. It was fun to watch them as they performed a few antics during the game--swaying during lulls, popping up and down like a whack-a-mole game, etc.

The game was finally ready to start and it started with a bang...a long run touchdown by the Broncs within the first few plays.

View of the scoreboard with a lovely sunset behind.

After each touchdown, the cheer team did push-ups to match the score.

The WMU Army ROTC crew did a cannon blast, as well.

At the end of the first quarter, this was the score.

At that point we had to leave as we were squeezing in an evening event. Here is the view when we left. The final score was Broncs 57 - Panthers 10. Go Broncos!

It was a wonderful afternoon. Big thanks to Ray-Jay and Eric!

Russia 2019 (29) UGLICH - Country Home Visit

Next we took a short bus ride just outside of town to a home-hosted visit. Unlike our fancy new buses in Moscow, this was pretty old and raggedy, but did the job.


Our host Mikhail (on right) did not speak English. So we were accompanied by translator Vladimir, an English teacher during the school year.

The home was neat and tidy and surrounded by a tall red privacy fence. It took 15 years to build and the family has lived here 8 years. They never had a mortgage. Mikhail bought the run-down house from an "old lady" and rebuilt it himself, except electric and plumbing which he hired out.

As we entered the front yard, the house cat gave us a warm welcome.

We were invited into a dining room with a large table and surrounding chairs. This was in the location that would normally be the living room back at our home. In front of us was a table full of Russian "appetizers." They included homemade dill pickle spears, tomatoes and cucumbers (from their garden), brown bread, yummy homemade apple torte, bottled water, and tea.

Then our host Mikhail got down to business and offered some homemade vodka. That's what the ship called it; Mike calls it moonshine as it is made of only water, yeast, and sugar. Mike and I took three tastes. It went down hard, but at the moment it seemed like the right thing to do. We did not want to be rude!!

Here Mikhail shows off his still.

Then his wife Ylema (on the left) came in to talk about country life in Russia. We applauded her graciousness and full table. She seemed quite timid, but happy. The translator asked our questions and then answered back to us.


The couple has been married 34 years. Mikhail has worked in agriculture, as a cook, and currently in the emergency services department. They have two sons of 30 and 33 years old, who work jobs in manufacturing, shop assistant, taxi driver, and also for emergency services.

They have five grandsons from 1-12 years old. Some English is taught to all children. One grandchild was taking his final education placement and eligibility for "scholarships" test that very day. They were quite worried for him. 

After the Q&A, a visitor from our group (far left in photo) spontaneously sang a traditional Russian song in her native language of Vietnamese. Her voice was absolutely beautiful and brought a wee tear to my eye. It was so unexpected and touching.

Then we took a stroll to the backyard garden. On the way, we got a peek into some of the other rooms of the house. We did not see the three bedrooms upstairs or any bathrooms.

This fireplace was in the dining room where we communed.

All the conveniences of home in the kitchen.

Looked like this room had been added on after the original building and was a lounge / living room. I didn't see a TV anywhere.

Only thing in this room was the wardrobe.

We were amazed by the backyard garden. It had a little bit of everything.

There were lots of colorful flowers and veggies growing, even this early in the year.

Fruit trees and grape vines.

Bee hives.

A pen with ducks, chickens, and roosters.

Even a little koi pond.

Lots of cutsie gewgaws around like these, the honey bear sitting near the bee hives, and the ceramic mushrooms under the fruit tree.

My friend Jerolyn (who visited Russia 16 times) gave me a little hint. She suggested I take a token gift for the wife, as they generally get little attention on these visits. So I took a bar of fancy French-milled, rose-infused soap (similar to this).

When I offered it to her, she was stunned and not sure what it was. I rubbed it on my arm trying to simulate washing. Then she understood, but was not sure whether to take it. It didn't take long though for a smile to appear and she graciously took the humble gift with many spasibos (thank yous) and bows.

Russia 2019 (28) UGLICH - First Port Down the River

Our first river port was the town of Uglich--249 km (155 miles) out of Moscow, population 37,000, founded 927. It is sometimes called the Switzerland of Russia because of its cheese production and old Chaika watch factory. Also known for being the location where Ivan the Terrible's youngest son Dmitry and his mom were allegedly assassinated by Boris Godunov (see my blog on Czar history).

Tour boat traffic was so busy they were lined up three abreast at this town. This happened in several ports, but our ship was always closest to shore in those cases. I think the widest spread was five ships.

This time we were in the middle. On our starboard side we met a few "neighbors" from our veranda. We could shake hands, if we stretched.

We had to walk through another riverboat to get to the dock area.

Once on shore, we gathered in front of this colorful mural to find our tour guide for the day.

This church was the first we saw, but we did not tour it. There are a couple of yellow churches in this town, so I'm not sure the name of this particular one (even after researching).

Instead, our walking tour headed the other direction over a short bridge from the mainland to a little island. A local in traditional garb singing "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago greeted us there. It nearly brought tears to my eyes...the singing, the song, and the lady were all so lovely.

We noticed a "No Drone" sign. Was there something high security-ish ahead?

No, not really, mostly more churches. An exception was this pink painted 1930s tractor. All I could glean about it is that it was owned by a woman, she painted it pink, and the town is quite proud of it. By the way, 80% of town residents here are women.

Our first stop was the Church of Tsarevich Dmitry on the Blood. It was built on the assumed spot where Dmitry, youngest son of Ivan the T, was assassinated at age 8 (1591). It is painted red to represent the spilt blood of the boy.

Inside and out, it is ornate and humbling. Some of the murals depict his short life as well as the usual religious stories.

Ceiling.
Adam and Eve (originally nude, but later covered with greenery in the "hot spots").

The 300 kg (661 pound) bell that rang announcing Dmitry's death was "punished" and sent to Siberia for a time. It was returned in 1892 and is again displayed in the church.

This is the litter in which relics of the little tsarevich were taken from Uglich to Moscow in 1606.

 

The floor is made of iron and warmed from below with steam pipes. No one is allowed on it when it is wet weather. Otherwise, the floor rusts. Even on this dry day we had to where footies over our shoes.

The next building was the Chambers of the Uglich feudal princes (1480) and is one of the oldest civil buildings in Russia. We didn't get to tour inside.

As we strolled further we saw this Orthodox priest in his priestly finery.

Maybe he had just married this couple.

I think this yellow church is the Cathedral of Transfiguration, another one that we did not enter.

At the next church, Epiphany Cathedral, we were allowed to enter, but could only take photos in the lobby. This metal art was well-crafted.

Inside, the church was decked out beautifully. There we heard a men's quintet sing several songs. They all wore black and white and did some fantastic harmonizing. One fellow also played a huge balalaika (maybe four feet in width) and another sang a little opera. It was a wonderful performance.

And, of course, there was an area selling religious books and objects as we exited.