When you’re in a different culture, you notice odds and ends that you’re not used to and that locals take for granted.  Here is a hodgepodge of images I thought of that still remind me of my trip:
 

	...exquisite architecture of old buildings… mud-splattered boxy cars zooming down the road (pedestrians do not have the right of way)….huge coatrooms with bronze claim tickets, strict coat ladies, and long lines of people (Russians are fussy about their coats)….thin squares of paper used for napkins….chain smokers everywhere….beef tongue and raw chicken at Victor “Don Corleone’s” house....Cossack hats and boots....gold-filled teeth....Americans laughing and smiling on the bus while everyone else looked sad....
Valentina and Lenore at Novocherkassk's World War II Memorial.
...warm smiles of teachers in the small groups....old ladies selling bags in the cold, wearing tattered gloves and coats....filling the teacher’s gift bags with all the goodies we brought....large slabs of raw meat hanging in open air markets....majestic monuments and statues....snowy mornings and sunny afternoons....sunny mornings and rainy afternoons....Russian signs that I struggled to read....familiar American tunes constantly playing in the hotel elevator and restaurant....potholes on muddy backstreets….
	Communist statue in Rostov park, commemorating the Russian Revolution.
	...Sam’s big smile and jabbering Spanish when he didn’t know Russian....Sam giving a street musician 50 rubles to let him play drums on the next song....the smile of waitresses and their unfailing “Pahzhalsta” (you’re welcome) when we acknowledged their good service....Lucy and Oksana flagging down a taxi for us in the rain, while they took the bus to the theater....the grandeur of the Bolshoi Ballet performing “Giselle” in Moscow....strolling through Red Square at night....gruff words but a twinkle in the eye of the Postal worker who saw us stumble badly at the simple task of purchasing stamps....
A view of Red Square.  Lenin's tomb is on the right.
...the smell of smoked fish, their eyeballs staring up at me....ladies stationed behind separate counters in the corner grocery (you must buy separately at each counter—cuts down on stealing)....seeing Aptekas (pharmacies) on just about every corner....running outside the hotel with Svetlana, coatless, so that she could wave goodbye to our team (Russians scold you if you go out without a coat or hat....they’re afraid you’ll catch cold; they’re also afraid they’ll catch cold).... Valentina’s teary smile as she prepared to hug me good bye....Galina saying in thick English, “Good bye. I love you.”
	Lenore, overdressed for a muddy March day in Rostov.  The Russians kept pointing at my K-Mart boots.  :-)

Lenore, in front of her favorite building in Rostov.