As some of you know, I have been a volunteer at the Great Baikal Trail Association during my time in Irkutsk. Southeast Siberia's Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest lake in the world, containing about 23% of the world's unfrozen fresh water, which is more than all the US Great Lakes combined. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has more than 1,700 species of flora and fauna, two thirds of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

One of the activities of the GBTA is creating the first network of hiking trails in Russia. Each summer, we lead dozens of international trail building projects around the lake. By increasing eco-tourism, the GBTA strives to protect Lake Baikal, bring local villagers out of the rural poverty that plagues Siberia, and increase the volunteer movement in Russia.

In April, we placed a grant application on National Geographic's Changemakers Geotourism Challenge competition website, becoming one of 323 entries from 84 countries.

Recently, the jury named us one of 15 finalists! Three of those finalists will be chosen as grant winners by voters on the website. So...

Please go to this page to vote for "The Great Baikal Trail: the first system of hiking trails in all of Russia." (Keep in mind that you have to vote for THREE applications in order for your vote to count. You also need to register in order to vote.)

Thank you and SPREAD THE WORD!!

Also check out the GBTA website and maybe even sign up for a project next summer!

(sorry if you got this as an e-mail as well...)

Alright, I've switched the journal to friends only. Send me an e-mail with your username when you get one, and I'll add you to my friends list. Also note that I've changed the journal name, but don't worry, it's still the same thing.

I'm in Irkutsk, safe and sound. There were many adventures, which I'll write about later.

I am having a bit of culture shock, and really wish I had some friends here.

There are mountains nearby, and beautiful places near the city.

Go here to see a satelite image of my university next year.

I'm working at the YMCA of the Rockies right now. The mountains are beautiful, especially in the early morning. Today, on my way to breakfast, I watched a snowstorm up in the mountains. Soon it'll snow here in the valley. There are so many Russians here that I've started dreaming and thinking in Russian again.

I fly out of Kansas City on September 14, get to Moscow on the 15th, leave Moscow on the 16th, and get to Irkutsk on the 17th.

I've changed the appearance of my livejournal, but I've also made an entire new website that is being hosted by math.grinnell.edu. I hope it'll be ready to share soon, and I'll post the link here when it is.

This computer rocks.

I want to make a webpage through iweb on my mac. I want to post it somewhere other than .mac, because I don't want to pay for that service. Can I to that? Is there another place I can post for free?

P.S. I love my macbook. I'm thinking of naming it Sasha (for Sasha Belyi from the Russian gangsta series, "Brigada"), because it's white ("Belyi" means "white") and it's badass (just like Sasha Belyi).

Life's pretty good right now.

I bought myself a macbook (should get here by June 27), I have an apartment lined up in Irkutsk for a decent price, my job should start in the next few days, and I've figured out a Father's Day present to get my dad.

I've been relaxing a lot so far this summer, and it's been quite nice (when I'm not bored out of my mind). I go to sleep at around 11pm, I wake up at around 11am. Stress. I have been going to the gym almost every day. Last week I put way too much weight on the squat machine, and I'm just now able to do stairs without cringing. It turns out this machine is at a different incline than the one in Grinnell.

That's about all the news around here.

Looks like I'll be a full-time ACE Hardware Cashier this summer. Woo! a job! C'mon, be excited.

Also, I think I've decided to go for the MacBook. I get a free ipod nano, a free printer, and a student discount until the end of June. The only thing that worries me about it is the little camera installed above the screen. I might be just paranoid enough to make a little cover for it. I mean, what if I'm picking my nose in front of the computer and it gets broadcast everywhere? However, it could be very cool for talking to folks from home when I'm in Irkutsk. Or for making videos and burning them to DVDs on the computer and sending them to people.

I'm buying a laptop to take to Russia. Margo suggests the tablet PC. I like the MacBook. Dad thinks I should get a Dell.

Does anybody else have any suggestions? I'm fairly clueless, but I'd like to get something that's good and affordable. Also, I like long battery life and lightness/smallness.

I think the main reason I like the macbook is the operating system. It's just much sleeker and prettier than Windows.

Well, after not living with my parents for more than a week at a time since high school, I'm back in KC for the summer. I'm not totally sure what I'll be doing here, but it might include planting a vegetable garden, cleaning out the basement, having a garage sale, attending Quaker meetings, volunteering, working at a coffee place, and traveling. If you're here, it should definitely include hanging out with you.

I've decided that I don't want any more STUFF until I've made a downpayment on my own house.

In-country Fulbright orientation is in July in DC, and I move to Siberia in September.

I got the Fulbright!!!

There was a message on my machine when I got back from graduation, and after a series of return calls I found out I'd won the grant.

I. am. so. excited.

I participated in my first 5k jog today. It was called "Hoofin' It" and the proceeds went to MICA. I did walk some of the way, but we finished in 37 minutes, which I feel is something.

I have a plan:
1) graduate
2) get rid of as much debt as possible
3) get a job
4) make money
5) get a job in Russia
6) go to Russia

I think I'm also in the camp of a certain housemate of mine who says she plans on "not getting shot and not getting pregnant." That also sounds like a good plan.

Things I'm looking forward to:
- having a vegetable garden
- living at home
- walking the dogs
- not writing any more papers

I went to the doctor today to try to fix some of my allergy problems. He prescribed a steroid, which has the following side-effects:

- inappropriate happiness
- bulging eyes
- increased hair growth
- changes in the way fat is spread around the body
- insomnia

I'm imagining a lumpy, wild-haired, bug-eyed Elisabeth jumping around (Spiker style) at 3 in the morning while laughing manically and perhaps drooling, for good measure.

I'm ready to go back to Russia. This summer I'm going to try to make money at any job I can find, and then I'll go back to Moscow. I've been looking at Language Link as a possible program that might allow me to earn money. Does anyone else have better ideas?

We had the last performance of my dance/theatre production on Sunday. In the end a it was successful show, although it was a lesson in just how difficult experiemental theatre can be. We started rehearsing three months ago with no script, no real idea of a final product, eleven performers of various experience levels, and two directors. Through the process we had to deal with a lot of uncertainty, but there were also incredible bursts of creativity and eventually a respectable product. It was a good first try, and I'd eventually like to do something like that again.

Timur Shaov, the visiting artist at Grinnell (a Russian bard) and guest in my senior seminar for the last few weeks, did a concert on Sunday at the annual Slavic Coffee House (Russian food, Russian talk, etc.). I'd invited Artyom and his parents, and they'd asked if they could bring a couple of friends. After the dance show ended I headed over to the Slavic Coffee House to help set up. I glanced out the window shortly after 5:00 and saw Artyom in the midste of a herd of children and parents. I think there were about 20 of them total, including about 12 Russian kids. It was fantastic, and I'm so glad we had enough food. The Grinnell Russian professors were all serving food, offering dishes to the kids in Russian. The looks on the faces of those kids when they heard an adult speaking their language and eating their national food was really heartwarming. A lot of the kids have been in the US for less than a year. After dinner, we all went into the other room for Timur's concert. Timur sings songs about whiskey, daydreaming, women, politics, love, the mafia, etc., and the kids were almost falling out of their chairs when they heard the first song. All the pieces have a lot of Russian and American cultural references. Timur wasn't expecting a group of kids to be at his concert, much less a group of kids who speak Russian, but he played it up after he realized who they were. They all got autographs afterwards.

In tutoring today we were doing vocabulary exercises, and I was asking for sentences to go with the new words. Here's what I got for "perceive" with the definition given by the teacher as "understand, introduction:" "When I first got to America, my parents didn't perceive me."

Ever wanted to see Elisabeth dance and act? Well, this is probably your only chance.

imPASSe: Friday and Saturday at 8:00, Sunday at 2:00.

Fulbright status: alternate (will get the grant if other people don't want it, or if they get more $ - Doug says I still have a 50% chance)
Summer job status: also alternate

Here are the ads today at the laundromat, all on a 3'x5' bulletin board:

BINGO (Fridays) at Newton Moose Lodge

Piano and Drum lessons
tutoring available
theory and jazz improv
highly experienced instructor

For Sale:
2 male chinchillas
$300 for all w/ accessories

Need Cash?
Fast Cash
$5 money orders

Garage Sale!
Kids toys
kids clothing (size 4/5 - 11/12)
Adult clothing
Household Decorations (Apple)

Jobs Available
TEMP Associates
The Employment Market Place

Matching His Her white gold wedding bands
each one has 9 diamonds
$200 or best offer

Need a babysitter...
CNA certified along with first aid + CPR
<3's children
willing and able to work long hrs. day or night
Fun games and more!!
Please call today for cheap rates

Nearly New (3 yrs old)
Frigidaire:
washer and dryer
$350

For SALE:
$1,700 firm
95' Pontiac grand am

Get $275 worth of tupperware for $5
(3 free gifts just for having a party)

For Sale:
Female Iguana
almost 4 ft long
tank goes with / but cracked
$150.00

128th Annual Firemen's Ball @ Grinnell Eagles Club
Dance to Live Music by Route 66

"Hog Raffle"
The Grinnell Ladies Fire Auxillary will be raffling off (2) halves of a hog at the Firefighter's Ball. This hog is coming from Barney and each half comes with $25 towards the processing fee, complements of the Dayton Meat Locker in Malcom.

Artificial! That's the word I was trying to think of. It's interesting because the Russian word includes the Russian word for "art" (iskusstvenniy, where iskusstvo = art). I'd never thought of the word "artificial" as having anything to do with "art" until I heard the Russian version. I suppose it has to do with art being an interpretation or copy of the real thing.

I need to write two short (2-3 page) papers today. One's on the Dennis v. United States Supreme Court Case, in which I need to reference Schenk v. United States, Abrams v. United States, and Korematsu v. United States. The other one's comparing FDR's "Four Freedoms" speech and Truman's "Truman Doctrine" speech (asking the Congress for money to help the Greeks fight "Soviet-supported" insurgents in 1947). They're interesting topics, so it won't be so bad. I think my main problem will be limiting them to 2-3 pages. After this, I'll only have 25 or so more pages to write in English (and 30 more to write in Russian...) before I can graduate.

I think I've reached panic. It just dawned on me that I have at least one terrifying paper per week for the rest of the semester. I really wanted to get some work done over break, but I'm the only driver on this trip, and it turns out I really cannot dictate papers or work with two others on translation. Last night I dreampt that I was at my wedding, but I'd forgotten to buy shoes or a viel or to find out who the groom was. So I ran away and took my family with me. But then it got worse and involved water and an SUV. So once again I'm awake at 6:00.

States I've visited:


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