What a full schedule was planned for us! We delivered greetings from Oak Ridgers and met the current administration of the city and were shown around the municipal building, even received a computer drawn map of Obninsk upon my request. (I am a map freak!) The mayor of Obninsk, Michael Shubin, treated us to the first of many sumptuous lunches, an extremely elegant affair with many courses, wine and many toasts. Obninsk like Oak Ridge is a changing city and Mayor Shubin had to leave on important government business in Central Russia to help form an economic development compact between power producing regions. Sounded just like home! Others in the city administration, especially Oleg Luksha and Victor Latynov, were most kind and helpful. My husband and I discussed sister city affairs with them in their office in the municipal building and were interviewed by a reporter of a daily newspaper. We were invited to Mr. Luksha’s home for coffee and cake and met his family..
Vadim Yamkin is the owner of a travel agency which he started with the help of Wanda Craven, a member of our local Sister City Support Organization. He proudly showed us his office and staff in a building that used to house only government agencies but which is now partially leased out to private enterprises. Getting to see again Vadim’s wife Luda and meeting for the first time his lovely daughters Oxana and Rita was the highlight of that day. Vadim’s assistance in scheduling activities for us in Obninsk, providing transportation and the necessary translators was invaluable. We greatly appreciate all that he did to make our stay in Obninsk enjoyable. Alexander Lykov whose son Pavel was a student in Oak Ridge for the school year of 94/95 took us on a sightseeing tour to Moscow, specifically Kolomenskoye where a Tsar had a wooden palace built and although it does not exist today, many interesting buildings are still present in a park-like setting near the Moscow river; the private church of the Tsar being the prettiest, another big structure above the river, a fortification going back to the 15th century, was most impressive. Guides in colorful costumes showed groups of visitors around, old ladies sat on benches in front of the church, children were running and playing: tourism is thriving in Russia! Part of the afternoon we spent in Red Square and then we were rushed back to Obninsk by an extremely skillful driver to attend a concert.
Tatjana Bulgakova and her chorus "Partes" visited Oak Ridge in 1995 and participated together with the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms; a memorable event. We had arranged home stays for 24 singers and greatly enjoyed contact with so many Russian lovers of music. Besides conducting the "Partes" choir, Tatjana also is the leader of a children’s choir "Canzones" who were the performers in the concert which we attended in a school of music in Obninsk. Gifted children go to this school after attending regular public schools and receive lessons in instrumental and vocal music. "Canzones" has received numerous awards throughout Russia and Eastern Europe, deservedly so, they are an outstanding chorus. The performance, a "jubilee" (35 years of existence), was well visited, the auditorium was packed, it was embarrassing to arrive late. After the concert, Tatjana Bulgakova received many bouquets of flowers and: surprise! so did the Nephews as representatives of a Sister City. There was a reception and an interview by a local Youth Newspaper reporter - quite competent and professional - and we received presents. The chocolates are long eaten, the tape will entertain us and our friends of the Sister City Support Organization. Thanks Tatjana and Music School!
Then, it was late, a new driver showed up whom we had not met before and whisked us off to see the Kovalyevs with whom we had a late supper and much good cheer. Victor and Zoya Kovalyev had been visitors at our home two years ago when Victor was fitted with a prosthesis for his arms. A remarkable couple, a wonderful family. Meeting again friends we had made here in Oak Ridge and to see their families was the central purpose of our trip. It is like having a big family in another part of the world. Being invited into their homes was the most rewarding experience and told us much about the living conditions in Russia. The people were friendly and open, apparently comfortably off, if not rich; they certainly eat better than we do, they enjoy music, literature, nature, they worry about ethical values, about the future and well-being of their children: just like we do.
Yuri Kirillov is a former mayor of Obninsk who visited us in Oak Ridge a number of years ago when Pavel Lykov was a student here in Oak Ridge and stayed in our home. He and Vladimir Bogomolov took us sightseeing and to meet friends in Borovsk the next day. Borovsk is significant in Russian history. Here, Napoleons’s army received its most devastating defeat in the War of 1812 and in this general area the Soviet army turned back the German armies advancing toward Moscow in 1942. Memorials remind of brave soldiers, a great mural depicts one battle against the French, a museum commemorates the great Marshall Zhukov who was born in this region and who was instrumental in the victory of the Russians over the Germans in the second World War, which in Russia is called "The Great Patriotic War."After all these history lessons, especially poignant for me, a German, we were invited to a most lavish culinary feast of shashlik and all the trimmings in a friend’s house nearby. It rained a bit, but we were safely installed in a greenhouse, all twenty or so of us. The food was great, the entertainment (piano playing, guitar accompaniment to much singing) superb, the company wonderful.
That evening we spent in the Kirillov home where we met old friends who had visited Oak Ridge, Raisa Skripitsyna and Adolf Goncharov, a former city employee now retired. Raisa is working for the Kaluga regional government after a stint as a representative to the Duma in Moscow. Yuri Kirillov’s son, Vitaly, had come along on the days outing, his sister and their pet tiger we met in the evening. Everybody learns to play a musical instrument and Vitaly entertained us with his guitar. The Russians are a very musical people. On another day we visited the Art and History Museum in Obninsk and had a very interesting lecture about artists and former and present supporters of the arts (some of them now live in Italy ) as well as movie directors with roots in Obninsk. (Remember the movie entitled the Mechanical Piano?) The museum has changing exhibits of paintings as well as a permanent exhibit of local history and crafts. The director of the Museum presented us with a book of paintings. The artist’s work reminds me of that of Casper David Friedrich, a German artist who lived in the last century.
In the evening we visited Andrey Pleshakov, a former town Councilman of Obninsk, his wife Olga, and two children Valentina and Igor. Andrey had been brave enough to take home a cactus plant from Oak Ridge when he stayed at our home in 1993. We presented him with a packet of cactus seeds and learned that the Oak Ridge cactus had not survived in spite of being transported in his coat pocket. But he had a collection of other succulent plants, some quite impressive. His neighbor, Tonia Blinikova, translated; she used to be an electrical engineer but now offers private English lessons to students because her job was downsized. Tonia speaks English quite well and her daughter Polina and Pleshakov’s daughter Valentina played their latest piano lessons for us, they all were students at the music school where we had heard Tatjana’s chorus "Canzones." Still another day we had the pleasure to visit two medical establishments in Obninsk. At the first, two doctors who have visited Oak Ridge Methodist Medical Center, Zinovy Gurov and Nikolay Eliseyev, are the proud owners and operators of the first and only private clinic in Obninsk. They are assisted in their medical practice by six to eight assistants. The clinic uses both traditional methods and non-traditional (at least to us) methods to prevent and cure illnesses. An interesting feature in their impressive reception area for visitors is a giant, original painting by one of their obviously grateful patients.
The other medical establishment is owned by the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) in Obninsk. Its director, who showed us around, is Dr. Alexander Zarechnev who visited Oak Ridge in 1996 together with several other physicians. I remember "sailing the lost sea" in Sweetwater with him and his group of visitors. Again, it was like meeting old friends. The IPPE medical facility also provides physical therapy and rehabilitation. Treatment encompasses preventive medicine, magnetic treatments, heat and water treatments, massages, as well as entertainment for and by the patients. Originally established for cancer patients, it now serves everybody who seeks help, including patients and visitors from abroad for whom elaborate suites are made available. These were five full days!
Our student visitor, Pavel or Paul Lykov accompanied us to another airport in Moscow where we boarded a plane to Magnitogorsk, our second destination in Russia. It was good to see Paul who is studying economics at New Orleans University and was back in Russia for a summer vacation. Paul has all sorts of interesting plans for his future. He knows Moscow well, having studied at the university there before going to New Orleans in 1996. He pointed with great pride to the construction that is going on everywhere, "day and night," and told us driving in Moscow will be more convenient and comfortable the next time we come to Russia. I wonder if we will visit Russia again; I would certainly like to. It was so nice, the people so friendly, the food so good, the sights spectacular: But it is also good to be home again, enjoying the lush greenery of East Tennessee, my garden, hominy and sweet potatoes, and our long time friends. If you want to see the world, travel! If you want to have friends: HOME STAY. Web Masters note: Ed and Marese Nephew have been the "number one" Obninsk host family in Oak Ridge over the past 5 years! This essay about their recent visit to Obninsk is a wonderful story of the friendships they have made with Obninsk visitors to Oak Ridge and their recent visits with their sister city friends in Obninsk Ken Luckmann. |
