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It was kind of a memorial trip. My friends and I used to visit Ladoga lake many times a long time ago and we loved the lake and nearby forest. The Ladoga lake was favorite place of my friend LG, who recently died from cancer. It was on Ladoga where he broke his toe during soccer game, and broke my nose with his head during another rough soccer game. We were pretty reckless. It was not just our group habit, it was generally accepted approach to life in Russia and still is. If you put a safety belt in car for example, the driver will feel insulted. Once our recklessness resulted in tragic death, on Ladoga lake also. We took abandoned boat and tried to sail on it to the city of Priozersk. Boat sunk and one guy, VM, drowned.

Trip to Russia 2004

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-22 19:00:59

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What was really difficult, it was difficult to find a restaurant there. While it was tons of new restaurant had been open in SPB and Moscow, in province-towns, it is still almost none.

From Velikie Luki I will go to Belorussia, than to Ukraine to see birth towns of my grandparents.

PS: Of course I follow the sad Beslan story. And I felt like it is not a good idea to sent my stories, which I try to make funny and entertaining, in such times. Eventually I decided to sent it anyhow.

Alex Mumzhiu
Minsk, Belorussia
Sept 8 2004
9pm

Trip back to history

Through all my relocations I managed to save my grandfather's printer's license of year 1914. It is large colorful piece of paper with a wax seal, which certified that he graduated from the printing school and can legally work as a printer (naborshik- compositor). It mentioned his birth place: a small town of Chashniki, Belorussia. I decided to visit this town.

From Russia I came first to Vitebsk, Belorussia. I noticed a big difference with Russian provincial towns, which I visited before. Vitebsk is very clean, efficient, everything is working. There is no pornography in every newsstand kiosk, like in Russia. No myriads of kiosks selling beer and not every second person in the street is carrying an open bottle of beer, like in Russia. It was very visible examples of limited democracy, managed by Belorussian President Lukashenko.

Later I heard his speech on referendum matter in which he spoke to his people like father would talk with his basically good but not very clever children, who are unable to make right decisions for themselves. What he said basically was this: "Do not trust anybody except for me. All these presidential candidates are crooks and want to sell your lovable country to enemies, you know to whom... Trust only me. Let me take a third term."

Well, this is the two sides of a coin, ...