Thank you, the wonderful trio !

I have finally caught up with my American adventures and reflections, some of them at least. Looking thru the pages of my "American notebook," I realize I have much more to say and to share. I'm going to do it. But right now I'm on the verge of leaving: Hungary and Montenegro are waiting down the road. From tomorrow on, it means new adventures. But today, before I hit the road, I must say thank you, Ms Ava Smith, Ms Tonija Navas (who by this time must have become a mother), and Ms Katie Irvin, for a nice trip. It's been very fulfilling. Thank you, the wonderful trio!

Why do African Americans love Russia?

I started to suspect it back in D.C. The suspicion grew in me throughout our trip, in Phoenix and Tucson, in Portland and New York, in Philadelphia, and now in Atlanta it blossomed into a realization of the truth, pure and simple: man, African Americans love Russia and Russians! Well, not all of them, perhaps. I mean, I didn't have a chance to speak to every one of them.

We were warmly welcomed in the African American community of Atlanta. After a while, our hosts showed us to the church hall. As we stood awkwardly in the hall during a religious service and people stared at us, I felt somewhat uncomfortable. But then our hosts interrupted the minister, apologized and said: "Brothers and sisters, these people are from Russia." In a moment the hall exploded! Some people started clapping, others were cheering, still others were stretching their hands for a handshake. It was both astonishing and very pleasing.

Here are a few quotations: 1) “We appreciated what the Soviet Union did for us. It was our friend and ally. Today Russia is our friend. It’s kind of hereditary”; 2) “The US used to fight for everybody’s rights. If you are such a champion of human rights and freedoms around the world, how about your own country?”; 3) “Our children don’t carry that baggage and that burden any more”; 4) “Will Obama become President? Who can tell? To move up, you sometimes have to move out. The question is: are Americans ready to accept all of its parts as a part of a whole?”; 5) “Obama energizes young people”; 6) “Sunday 11 a.m. is the most segregated time in America. Blacks go to their church, and whites go to their church, and Hispanics to theirs”; 7) “Bush wants Russia’s neighbors in NATO. What arrogance! What idiocy! They put Putin into a corner. And, of course, he says Russia will point their missiles at America. And what did they want? Obama, in my opinion, will bring more credibility and more thinking into policy.” [The summarized opinion of all I had seen or heard in America is this: if Obama becomes President, relationships with African, Asian countries and Russia may become warmer, given he can act on his own and not be told what to do. The way African Americans welcomed us in the South makes you believe they do remember what the USSR did for them.]

On the streets of Philadelphia

I liked the streets of Philadelphia. They are nice. I walked them "till my legs felt like stone."

And the parking lots! Walls of houses are painted, and when you park your car after a long working day you look at the picture, and feel something deep inside, something unfathomable, and bump into another car but don't mind it and think and think.

The Cradle of the American Revolution

Philadelphia is the "Cradle of the American Revolution." Everything breathes history here.

I finally received an answer to my long-time question: why is the Independence Day celebrated on July 4, and not July 2. The answer of our guide was: for no reason at all. It's a kind of historic mistake. The Declaration was voted for on July 2, and on July 4 saw just a few anendments. Then the text was carefully written by hand and rewritten because of mistakes and occasional smudges. The final version appeared a month later, in August.

Anyway, it was great to rub sleeves with the shadows of the Founders (Founding Fathers of the United States). Now I know why people in Philly all look quiet and strangely serene.

The Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower compared

Next time you stop in Paris or New York, when night falls remember to go all the way up the Eiffel Tower / the Empire State Building. When you look down, you'll know why I coerced you to do it. If you regret it, I'll return you the money. (If you are drunk and therefore feel giddy, I won't.)

Let's compare the two famous landmarks. Out of reverence to the American taxpayers, I'll put the Empire State first.

Name

The Empire State Building: Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. The Eiffel Tower: Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel.

Height
The Empire State Building: 381 m ( 1,250 feet) at the 102nd floor, and including the 62 m (203 ft) pinnacle, its full height reaches 443 m (1,453 ft ). It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from 1931 to 1972, and again since September 11, 2001.
The Eiffel Tower: Including the 24 m (79 ft) antenna, the structure is 325 m (1,063 ft) high, which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building. The tower is now the fifth-tallest structure in France and the tallest structure in Paris.

Time of creation
The Empire State Building: Excavation of the site began on January 22, 1930, and construction itself started symbolically on March 17, St.Patrick's Day. The ribbon was cut on May 1, 1931.
The Eiffel Tower: Eiffel originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit into the design of the city. After the refusal, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris. The structure was built between 1887 and 1889. The tower was opened on May 6, 1889 and became the world's tallest tower.

Suicides
The Empire State Building: Over the years, more than thirty people have committed suicide from the top of the building. The first suicide occurred even before its completion, by a worker who had been laid off. The fence around the observatory terrace was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump during a three-week span. In 1979, a woman jumped from the 86th floor, only to be blown back onto the 85th floor, and ended up with only a broken hip. The last suicide was by a lawyer who leapt from the 69th floor on Friday, April 13, 2007. [
The Eiffel Tower: According to the Société de la Tour Eiffel, there have been 369 suicide attempts and 349 successful suicides from the tower. The first suicide ocuured in 1898, when a man hanged himself from one of the beams. One suicider, a young woman, survived the 57 meter drop from the first floor, landing on the roof of a car. After recovering, the woman married the owner of the car.

One year, two Easters

As it happened, this spring I celebrated two Easters. The Orthodox Easter has just passed, on April 27. The Catholic-Protestant Easter occurred this year almost a month earlier, while we were in Arizona, on March 23.

I didn't see any celebrations in America. We went to the Grand Canyon that day. The only sign of Easter I saw was that fewer Native Americans were selling souvenirs on that day. The commercials advertized either "Easter sales" or "spring sales". No other noticeable signs of Easter.

In Russia, every Easter week we have an excursion to the Church on the Blood. Why that particular week? Because then people are allowed to ring the bells! The view from the Bell Tower is breathtaking. My students and our American and German friends put on earphones and pulled the strings of the bells. (Photo: Talitha, a 4-year old American girl.) A professional bell-ringer was there to help us enjoy ourselves and, if possible, to save the city from a terrible cacophony of sounds. He showed us what to do and how to do it and played the main tune. "The tuneful peal rang on" floated above the city for a whole week. What a joy for Christians! What a nuisance for non-believers and tourists who are sleepy or hung-over in the morning!

Two cultural scenarios

Is there any difference in how Russians and Americans behave in theaters and stadiums? I have a maniacal interest in how cultural scenarios vary from culture to culture.

1. A Broadway Show
Theaters in Russia run up to 15 or more different performances each month. So, you can go to the same theater every day of the week and see something new. In America, or in New York at least, one theater runs one and the same show every night. If you want to see something new, go next door, to another theater. (We enjoyed the musical Hair Spray, and now I remember it every time I wash my hair.) One show may run for months and even years. Well, really, why trade good for worse? Actors polish their acting and singing. People go to see their favorite shows again and again, and they know all the words by heart, and at the end they often stand up and sing along together with the actors.

And yet, I wonder how it feels when you go on stage for the 100th time and have a hunch this groundhog day will last for who knows how long? I must go online and look for statistics of suicides among Broadway show actors.

2. A Basketball Game
I wanted to see basketball March madness. It's a fancy term which means end of the season games of university basketball teams. That couldn't be arranged but our hosts from the Department of State kindly offered us a substitute: an NBA game between New York Knicks and Orlando Magic. The game itself was good. However, I expected cheering to be somewhere between 8.0 and 9.0, according to the Richter magnitude scale. Alas, that was not to be. Cheering was good and whole-hearted but our Russian fans cheer as cheerfully. Ok, the fact has been established and dutifully filed.

Now, here comes the dessert. The most curious thing about circuses, stadiums, and theaters in the two countries is how people get to their seats! In Russia, we say "excuse me", those already sitting usually stand up unsmilingly, and we squeeze to our seats facing them, with our backs to the stage. In America, people say "excuse me" and smile, those already sitting smile back and usually don't stand up, and Americans squeeze to our seats facing the stage, with their backs to the sitting (or standing) people. My American friends explain that the latter approach is more rational, because in this case people don't kick each others' knees. My Russian friends counter by saying that seeing a face is better than... eh... you know...