Tula 1992
In the early spring of 1992, by strange luck I was included in a two-week trip to Tula, Russia with an official delegation from her sister city, Albany, New York. The USSR had just fallen apart, Yeltsin was in charge of the new Russia Federation, there was chaos and a movement towards a capitalistic model (which looked to me as nothing more that people having very sad flea markets on the street). The future was very unclear. Being un-official, I was free to join the officials (yes please, to a tour of the vodka factory and a children’s sanatorium) but was otherwise free to roam the streets with Vadim, my translator. Time after time I was invited into the homes of strangers to drink vodka. The Russians I met were very outgoing, intelligent and personable. Few spoke any English, but it seemed like everyone knew all the words to “Yesterday” by the Beatles.