Saturday - My Last Day in Volgagrad

It was hard to think that it was my last day in Volgagrad. It had been a wonderful week and I had made some very wonderful friends. Natasha's mother came for a visit and what a delightful lady. She had been a teacher for 44 years and you could tell that that is where her heart is. She had taught geography and then had taught home economics for the rest of her career. We were talking about the difficulty that Russians have with the many documents that need to filled out for the government and some of the poilicies that are difficult for people to deal with. She commented that she so respected the United States for their Bill of Rights that has lasted since the 18th century. I always find it so interesting that Russians know so much about us. When I tell people that I am from North Dakota, most of them know where the state is located. Could I tell you different areas of Russia?
Natasha and I had a nice discussion about their school system. Their students take eleven subjects in a week. Some meet only a day as others might meet three times a week. You can imagine the scheduling. The classes are about forty minutes. Teachers do not have their own classrooms so they need to move all over the school. The school has many floors so they get a lot of exercise during the day. Natasha's classes vary from day to day. Some days she teaches  seven classes. Teachers teach six days a week and young teachers get two hundred dollars a month. They get an additional twenty dollars if they check their students copy books (homework). They have a lesson plan book/gradebook that must be filled in every day and left in the office. The book is checked everyday and teachers get paid only if it is completed. They have started anelectronic grading system but now teachers must do both. Teachers can retire at 55 but they get a pension of one hundred dollars so it is difficult to live on that.
Of course, I seem to create some sort of excitement when it is time to do something. This time I left my registration papers in my suitcase. I thought I only needed my immigration card. I did not know if the officials were going to allow me to leave Volgagrad and go to Nihzney Novogorad. The official told me that I must keep my papers with me at all times. I am going to Nihnzey Novogorad as that is where I visisted a year ago last March. I have very good friends there and I wanted to see them while I was in Russia. The American Councils supported my trip here as they called it a follow-on program.

  I sat to business man that works for Caterpillar. He was creating a PowerPoint in English. Wehad a very nice visit on the plane. He asked if someone was meeting me as he would help me with the airport if they weren't
There was Nina and Vladmir at the airport waiting for with flowers - it was so nice to see them. I had been worried about Nina as she quite writing anв I knew something was wrong. She has developed glaucoma in her eyes so she cannot use the computer very much. She was an IT teacher and now she works on an accrediting team for the 3000 schools in their region. Each school must be accredidted every five years.
It was very late so we went directly to Marsha and Sasha's house where I am staying. Marsha is an English teacher who was my interpretor when I was here before. She now has a beautiful little boy and the government pays her money to stay home with him for three years. It is so great to spend time with them again.
Luckily the medicine was working and I was no longer struggling with a fever.