There were nine Wesleyan students who went on the trip--eight of which were education students. When we arrived in Moscow, the government was preparing for their Victory Day Celebration and President George Bush was arriving in the country the next day. There were military everywhere with rifles all over the highways and city. It was very surreal. We were stuck in a huge traffic jam leaving Moscow for our journey to Electrosol. It took us more than two hours to arrive at the Special School-Orphanage.

Our hosts were waiting for us and had a sign in English, ‘Welcome Dear Friends.’ The school is very large but it is rundown. The ‘Brady Bunch,’ six of the girls, stayed in one large room. Lydia Morris, Cary Burgoyne, and I stayed in the second largest room (I picked this room because the beds look better). Rev. Dr. Joe Shreve ‘74, Wesleyan trustee member, Weeks, and Brad Wingler stayed in the third dorm room. These were "Camp Horseshoe" beds--flat springs that sagged in the middle when you laid on them. We ended up putting our suitcases under our beds to give us some extra support--that way the springs would only sag so much before hitting the suitcase.

Facilities were primitive--three toilets in a row with no partitions in one room, washbasins and "showers" in the second wash room. The girls and I decided that we were not going to take "showers"--we would use our baby wipes daily and wash our hair every other day in the washbasins. This is what we did and it worked fine. The food in the dining room was home cooked Russian food which we were not used to eating. Perhaps one-half of the students ate very meagerly during our stay.

The greatest thing about the trip was the love that the children had for us. They adored us and we formed buddies. My buddies were Pasha and Kola. They were orphans. All of us bonded with the orphans at the school. We went to the Victory Day Celebrations and fireworks that night (Monday). Our special buddies assisted us in the town so that we all felt safe and secure. One highlight of our stay was that the education students were able to teach a lesson to the Russian school children. Each of our students planned an educational activity or game. With the help of the translators (most of the time), the lessons were taught and the kids loved it! What a wonderful opportunity for our students!

We went sightseeing in Moscow and St. Petersburg and had a great time. We traveled on an overnight train (Pullman sleeping cars) from Moscow to St. Petersburg and back again.

I was so very proud of our students. They were such good sports. We cleaned up the grounds at the school, dug holes to bury leaves, painted tree trunks, picked up litter and glass, and played and interacted with the students at the school. It was a poignant experience. There were so many tears the day we left the school--everyone was crying. The Russia trip was "life changing" for me and for our students too.