Bad Guacamole?
Activities
By Mary Anne Anderson

Throwing a going away party is more complicated than you would think. Most often this is always a result of the question, "What are we going to eat?" Because deeply ingrained in all of us, is the thought that great parties have great food. This concept is universal- it is present in America, Russia, and Columbia-and I link to our ancestral caveman instinct that, much good food = good party.

Also, with any good college party there is usually a theme. The host of our shin-dig decided it would be most appropriate to have a Latin celebration to wish Dr. Hartmann a fond farewell. This made sense, as Dr. Hartmann is a native of Columbia and therefore would make the best Latin food this side of the Caribbean. Also, Ksusha, our host for the evening, had a wild craving for guacamole.

The date of the party arrived, the ingredients were purchased, and at 4:00 p.m. five of us headed to Ksusha's apartment to prepare the food. Dr. Hartmann, Ksusha, and the rest of the gang would be coming later: 7:30ish. Upon our arrival at the apartment, we unloaded the groceries: 20 sheets of flat bread, three bags of soy meat, 15 tomatoes, half a dozen red and orange peppers, seven unripe avocados, and 3 kilos (one kilo equals 2.2 pounds) of cheese. We were creating the ideal Latin dinner of guacamole, quesadillas, and pico de galo. Take note: Dr. Hartmann was not present and there were four college students in the kitchen, not one of them of Latin American, Spanish, or Mexican descent.

The next three hours of food preparation were a flurry of excitement, chaos, and confusion. Somewhere in the middle of this, the cooks let it slip that not one of them had actually made what they were preparing before. I think the comment was, "I've seen it done lots of times."

With that statement in mind, imagine the creation of guacamole, with seven unripe avocados. Correct me if I am wrong, but under normal circumstances, avocados are not usually hard enough to demand a food processor to chop them up. However, this time not only was food processor used, but a wooden spoon was also required to pound the avocados into the machine. It later became a causality of the blade, adding extra protein and fiber to our chunky green mush.

In the end, all things and wooden spoons considered, the food turned out marvelous. The guests arrived and short of Dr. Hartmann announcing the guacamole was "terrible," the evening was a success. In the living room, Latin music was playing, food was on the kitchen table, and people were eating, drinking, dancing, laughing. It was a new experience to salsa while cooking quesadillas, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Here, amidst the bad guacamole (which we ate anyway), we mixed cultures and generations and found laugher and friendship: it was a great party.

A good pary has to have good food: our quesidillas topped with the infamous gaucamole

IIt is March in Moscow. Yes, indeed…and to tell you the truth, the last week has been pretty exciting for everyone here. What has got us so excited, you might ask? Well friends, family, and readers pay attention as I weave this simple tale because Moscow is melting!

Much to everyone's surprise and enjoyment, it all started last week. I woke up one morning and realized, with a sudden quickening of my pulse, that there were bushes and grass outside my window. Who knew?! From where did this green life appear? Well it was not because I went and put in my contacts before looking out the window. No, I could finally see this wonderful, green grass and these twiggy bushes because the snow that has covered them for the past two months is beginning to melt.

This general realization hastened to make outdoor enthusiasts of our entire group. I can assure you that it was not long before we found ourselves outside enjoying the "smell of spring". We walked. We laughed. Some played football. In general, it was a wonderful experience for all involved.

Horray for warm weather! -- Mary Anne tosses a Frisbee

For the past week we have been enjoying a healthy dose of Vitamin D on a daily basis. This is the kind of weather where we might start to look for crocuses in our mother's Pennsylvania flowerbeds. It is wonderful! When will it end? Gosh, it just started and now you want us to think about an ending!? Truth is, we do not know when it will end or whether the snow will re-cover our favored bushes or try to hide the fresh sprigs of green grass. What we do know is this: we're lovin' it!

Please, do not spread doubts of impending snowfall or cast shadows on our sunny days! We can be assured that this may not last. We may be forced to once again put away our jean jackets and revert back to the down filled liners we have enjoyed leaving behind, but it does not matter. We have seen what is under the snow. We have caught a glimpse of what is to come…Moscow is melting.

 The time of losing a teacher, who you will dearly miss, has come. Dr. Marta Hartmann, our professor who taught our Global Perspective class, is now back in Gainesville, Florida, in the warm weather. But not all is so sad; we have our new professor from the University of Maryland to welcome and to share good times…and to bring us (Sam) peanut butter.

This past Thursday was our first class with Professor Richard Weismiller. He told his background to the class and asked us to do the same. He shared that his B.S. and Master are from Purdue University in Agronomy and Clay Mineralogy, respectively; his PhD is in Soil Chemistry from Michigan State. He served 4 years in the military as a science officer; after that he went back to Purdue to work in the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing. In 1993, he went to the University of Maryland (UMD) where he still participates as a State Extension Specialist for Soil and Water Resource Management. He also holds the Department Chair of Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture.

Interestingly, he has visited Moscow five times before. Prior to this year, he has participated three times in the teaching aspect of this program: twice he delivered lectures to students in Moscow; he also taught real-time over the internet from UMD. The other visits have been for agricultural consulting trips investigating run-off and non-point pollution to other cities in Russia including Novgorod, Krasnodar, Anapa, and Kursk. As a result, he sprinkles Russian words throughout class, especially delighting our Russian peers.

After introductions were over, we jumped into the course work where we learned about concepts of remote sensing and plant, soil, and water interactions with energy. We began by learning about the electromagnetic spectrum, providing a basis for photography and space satellite to monitor inventory and manage natural resources. He has a witty sense of humor, which he cleverly incorporates into the class. He carefully throws in a joke that only those who are paying attention can catch, causing everyone to want to pay attention all of the time.

To enhance the course, he provided each student with a CD-ROM from NASA on remote sensing. The CD acts as a textbook with knowledge and images about using remote sensing technology. Brie was so excited about the material, she spent hours browsing the CD. Dr. Weismiller informed us that there is enough information on the CD to complete an independent study.

Beyond the classroom, Dr Weismiller is also an excellent chef. He cooked us an ochen vkusno (very tasty) meal of Asian stir fry. We were particularly pleased because the stir fry included not only awesome vegetables, but also pieces of very tender chicken. In our group, real chicken (as in not soy meat posing as chicken) is a scarcity. Dr. Weismiller knows how to get straight to our hearts! Not to mention, he supplying us with more peanut butter: he's our Marco Polo of peanut butter. With all of this said, how can we not look forward to life with our new professor?

A Traditional Russian Supper on Women's Day
Culture
By Shane Leland

The 8th of March is International Women's day. Women's day is like a combination of Valentine's and Mothers' Day in the United States. The major difference is that it is a celebration for all women, not just mothers and girlfriends. On this day, Lynn and I happened to be on the South side of the city and noticed that we were close to Vera's, one of our Russian friends, metro stop. We called Vera to see if she was doing anything, and since was not, she invited us to her house. It was the first time that we had ever been to one of our Russian friends' home, so we were excited.

Happy Women's Day! -- Lynn and Shane give carnations to the ladies

I wanted to be culturally sensitive, so I presented Vera with a flower for Women's Day. Vera's mother and father were very excited to meet us as we were to meet them. They do not speak any English but this was not a problem because Vera is fluent and we know enough Russian to be courteous. Smiles and laughter are international.

When it was time to eat, we were brought into the kitchen for a huge traditional feast. There were six of us there to eat. The party consisted of Vera's father, mother, sister, Vera, Lynn, and myself. The table was just large enough for the 6 of us to sit around; there was no room left on the table because of all the food that was covering it. The aroma of fresh baked bread wafted from the stove.

Vera's father began the meal with a toast to all women. First we were served a fried potato dish, which was follow by smoked fish and complimented with a beet salad. The beet salad was delicious, or ochen v'kusno as we say in Moscow; I am going to try to find the recipe before I come home. We were also offered a homemade pastry stuffed with cabbage and egg.

As Russian tradition says, the time between the first two toasts is short. So, about 5 minutes into the meal, we had our second toast: to our mothers and grandmothers. The toasting experience made us feel like we were getting a real taste of Russian culture. Toasts are much more in depth and spontaneous than toasts in the United States. The final toast was made by Lynn and myself. We thanked Vera's family for the wonderful meal and for being invited into their home for the holiday.

After eating our pastry we had yet another toast, this time to Vera. She was very embarrassed by the toast but was obviously touched by it. The main course of fried carp was served after this toast. It was by far the best fish I have had in a long time. Along with the food we had compote, a traditional Russian juice that consists of boiled fruit.

All through the meal Vera's mother was worried that we didn't have enough food to eat. I left the table stuffed. It was a cultural event that I will always remember and was so excited to be able to take part in. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate Women's Day and take part in a true Russian feast.

Anyone who has tried to send mail already knows that overseas airmail tends to take a while. Since a letter mailed at home may take a few days just to travel locally, traveling thousands of miles in a month is pretty good for a simple piece of paper. You see, as temporary students of the Moscow State Agroengineering University, it becomes very complicated and confusing to give us our own mailbox for one semester. The efficient staff instead has our mail sent to Dr. Chumakov's office, which then graciously have it delivered by one of our Russian classmates. However, much like the mail system at home, when our packages are too large to haul all the way to the university, they remain next door at the post office until we pick them up.

Last week I finally received a package that had been sent in January. It did not take two months to get here; I was just too distracted by our many adventures to make it to the post office to pick it up. Finally, feeling rather brave and armed with my passport and package slip, I decided to wander next door and attempt to retrieve it. I managed to arrive without a problem, understood enough to hand the lady my slip, and then stared blankly while she rattled something off to me in Russian. Kind woman that she was, she attempted to tell me again, and then simply laughed when I told her I did not understand. At that point I made the decision that I was probably going to need some help with this little endeavor, leaving the post office empty handed.

Lena and Vera, two of our Russian classmates, and Tara and I set out for the next adventure with the post office. Tara had several postcards to mail home, and I still needed to pick up this package. Much to our surprise we did not have to write the address on the postcards, in fact, we had the fun even of copying addresses in both Russian and English onto nine airmail envelopes. It's not as bad as it sounds when four chatty girls are involved. We again attempted to pick up my package. Lena spoke with the woman with whom I had dealt before, and we discovered that the problem was my package was not at this post office. In fact, it was at the post office four bus stops down the road, explaining my previous difficulties obtaining the package. Having nothing else to do at the moment, we hopped the bus and headed down the line.

This second post office is much larger than our next-door neighbor. Unfortunately for us, this also meant longer lines. We waited for about fifteen minutes before arriving at the window. To our immense happiness, the clerk retrieved a large burlap sack and pulled out MY PACKAGE!! Of course that was not the end of our endeavor. She then pulled out some forms, wrote down some numbers, and sent us off to fill out the back of the slip and sign some papers. The real fun came when Lena asked for my address and I drew a blank. Being clever college students we soon realized the address was already on a slip from the customs check. We filled, signed, and returned to the window to pick up the shoebox-sized package. Finally, I was able to leave with my package. Our adventure at the post office may have been over, but here in Moscow we can all be assured that each new day will bring another new adventure. When working together with our Russian friends, we feel like anything is possible to accomplish.

It's always nice to receive packages from home. Lisa poses with her package in front of the post office.

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