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Made the deal for Sochi
I amde the arrangements to go to Sochi ..and went to my friends' club to celebrate .. Getting a Visa for Russia in Washington DC seems to be getting easier ...and not because this is the diplomatic center of much of the world ..or for any other reason than there are now dozens of "pocket" agencies ...minute ...one person operations ...easily providing… any and all services necessary ..including passport photographs and letters of invitations..
one stop ...one price ...one visa ..(about $200 ..if a letter of invitation is needed..for the 1 time tourist visa)
I leave June 22, 2007 ....and return July 8 ...jumping through New York, Moscow and Krasnadar..
While it is possible to fly from Moscow to Sochi ...I want to stop in Krasnodar to meet my interpreter and long time friend Lena…
When not using her English skills ..Lena runs a kiosk in the city’s’ central market to support her family…she is clever…patient …and like many Russian woman ..able to see around 2 or 3 corners at the same time!
From Krasnoyarsk we will board the train for a pleasant ..1st class carriage ..7 hour ride straight to the Black Sea coast before turning southward to Sochi …
60 years ago Stalin traveled the same route along the Black Sea …and liked it so much he built his favorite Dacha in Sochi ..in fact I think that is how Sochi found its way onto the map …
Stalin goes to Sochi …then the generals go to Sochi …who order the bureaucrats to follow …who whisper to sycophants to go …and so on ..and before you know it …everybody loves the place …because Stalin loves the place ..and the improvements begin..
Now ..of course Sochi existed long before Stalin ..as a spa, camping & health resort ..and before that too …as an armed camp ..but still …Stalin put it on the Russian map …and if everything works out on July 4, 2007…the 2014 Olympics will put it on all the rest of the maps ..
anyway ..long gone …in the early 1990s’ there were the long visa lines ...and bureaucratic hoop jumping ...as well as mind boggling ...really painful Soviet procedures that took either the patience of Job ..or the money of Jobs (Steve Jobs)...if you ever wanted to get anywhere near the action and the great opportunities that existed then for Westerners in Moscow.
well...I guess it is a trade off ..because the long lines took the great opportunities away with them ...Moscow may have had its difficulties .. .then ...but it was exciting and easy to make money ...well...easier anyway ...(considering the big dive the American economy.. took ..in the early 90’s especially in the construction business)
Perhaps because I grew up in New York …everyone said...”ah yes …you have done well in Moscow because it operates like New York …did ..in the roaring 20’s “
How would I know how it operated in the 20’s?
Anyway ..I didn’t argue …
I never did any thinking in Moscow ..there was no time …no place …it was all ..action …doing …daring …moving …
Even to find a beer ..it took a lot of moving …my favorite bar was opened and managed by Canadians ..they called their place ..the “Moosehead” ..and it had a western Canadian cowboy ..feel .. to it ..in fact the bar stools were saddles ..and the drink of choice was Molson..
Anyway ..I cam across it on a drive by …at about 1 in the afternoon…it was set up in by the Moscow river ..in a parking area …there were about 6 people building a deck around 2 mobile trailers …hitched together ..
I told my driver to stop …and I got out …walked over …and introduced myself ..the deck crew consisted of 1 Australian …3 Canadians and 2 Americans ..and when the deck was finished ..the bar would open ..and the drinks were on the house ..
I waved Georgi my driver and interpreter over ….and we added our backs to the building of the decks ..8 hours later …we were dirty …tired …bruised …and oh so thirsty ..
Well..I don’t think I made it home for 2 days …which might sound bad …except for the fact that the previous weekend I didn’t make it home either …it wasn’t becoming a habit ..just a co incidence ..of course there were a lot of co incidences then …anyway the previous weekend was business ..
more about that later ..
Anyway ..if I did well in Moscow .. and I am not saying I did ..I thought it has more to do with the fact that my fathers’ family is Russian..and they speak Russian …being only one generation removed from the Motherland itself ..or maybe …really ..it has to do with my mothers’ side ..the Sicilians …also only one generation removed ..
Who knows?
Now Sochi 2007 …will be a success because the Russians win the Olympic bid …(and visas are easy ….in fact Putin has promised to all but eliminate them for the Olympics)
secretly I am cheering for their success..
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