Moscow Mixology

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

While I was talking with those earnest high school students about colleges and universities and trying to answer their questions about which school is best in this or that, my mind wandered to an old comedy skit that Father Guido Sarducci, of Saturday Night Live fame, did about the Five Minute University.  In this wired world we live in, it only took me a minute to find the routine and I think you all might enjoy his words of wisdom. 

It has been a cold and blustery day with intermittent snow showers.  March in Moscow is a confusing meteorological mix that can vex or delight. I bundled up and took a bit of a stroll to do a little shopping for dinner. We depart tomorrow for Budapest where Cindy has a conference and I have the challenge of finding restaurants for dinner and walking around town.  We haven’t been back to Budapest since I hurt my leg, which must have been about twenty-five years ago. Cindy and I were running and I wanted to impress her with my gazelle like leaps and misjudged a barrier that I was jumping over and jammed my leg. My knee blew up like a bowling ball and it was two years before I could run again.  I shall be far more moderate this trip.

I just received a notice from the commissary that the supply truck arrives tomorrow and they wanted me to come and help unload and do inventory.  My friends will be disappointed, I’m sure, that I’ll not be in town to assist.

Things have gone from bad to worse in Bahrain. The troops forcibly removed all the protesters from the Pearl Roundabout with loss of life and very heavy casualties.  One of our dear friends who is the principal of the American High School in Bahrain got caught in some tear gas incident, even though she wasn’t near the center of the action.  The government of Bahrain has now, in addition to martial law, imposed a 4 pm curfew and has revoked the right of public assembly.  If things run true to form I expect the next step will be mass arrests of supposed ‘leaders’ of the protest movement.

Slow day occupied mostly by doing laundry in preparation for the trip tomorrow and my two-week round the world starting on Monday.  Doubt that I’ll do much in the way of writing while in Budapest, but one never knows, do one? Back to packing. 

Ciao, Cindy and Wm.