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Liz with old friends

Max and Laptop

Alexander Nazarov

Troitsk Chamber Choir

Artistic Ambassador Program

I, Elizabeth "Liz" Steward, had a wonderful trip to Russia and I thank you all for your support. The weather in the Moscow area was cool and rainy in the beginning of our trip, which meant that our first visit to the Shkola Internat had no Baseball/Softball instruction. It was also exam time, the older children were taking exams while the younger ones joined us in the auditorium. We spoke of America, our life, our educational system, our financial system, etc. and answered questions.

Our next visit allowed a couple of hours of baseball instruction, policing the local area for garbage while the children showed us where they spend their free time. A little policing of the area was very important for me to because the candy bars that we had brought with us as gifts for the children were quite obvious - most children had dropped the wrapper where they opened it. Bad habit in Russia. I had asked the children why in the world did they dirty up their own home. They quickly switched the subject and said that I should return in the winter, after a good snow storm, it is beautiful, all the garbage is covered up. I told them I did not understand the logic, when you already live in a beautiful country, why would you dirty it in the first place, especially since we gave each child a plastic bag with their candy bars. In short, we all went for a long walk with bags and cleaned the local area. Unfortunately, we could not clean it all up, too much broken glass and the creeks had automobile parts and sharp metal. I would not allow them to touch anything sharp or go for a dip in the very cold creeks! They really got into our project!

I returned as promised to continue playing ball with the children. They were transferred to summer camp. Summer camp is different from what experienced as a child. Summer camp for the children was in an old converted estate. It was in a beautiful place not too far from their school and the teachers lived with them here. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain again, so ball was out. Instead I pulled out all my cameras and taught the children how to use them. The following photos are taken by the children. They are not perfect, but most importantly, they loved it!

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