July 13, 2007

Bread and Salt Greeting at Culture Museum in Morum.

Russian Doll dancing at the Culture Museum in Morum.

Folk Performers at the Culture Museum in Morum.

The topics of the day at the Insititute included the epics of Ilya Murometz and Saint Peter and Fevronia of Murom.  We also had three guest speakers who discussed economic development in Morum.

We then traveled by bus to the “Dom Tvorchestra” (House of Creative Activity) where we greeted with Bread and Salt (see photo above).  We saw beautiful crafts and costumes of early Morum (see photo above).  We saw some dresses that weighed over 100 pounds – I can’t imagine trying to wear a dress that heavy!  The pottery was exquisite – very detailed.  We were able to purchase some of the crafts – I purchased a beautiful pot holder as a gift for my friend Joann for her birthday.  The best part of the Culture Museum was a performance by a male folk singing group called “Moruma” (see photo above).  The performance was amazing! 🙂  At the end, a bunch of us started to dance!  I think a good time was had by all! 🙂

Our last excursion of the day was a boat trip on the Oka River.  We lucked out with the weather – it was so beautiful!  Along the way, we saw a bridge for the Trans-Siberian Railway.  Our host families came long with us – I took a few photos but they didn’t really come out nice.

After our cruise, my host family wanted me to go home with them to eat dinner instead of going back with the group.  I was fine with that since the food at the University Canteen left much to be desired!

After dinner, my hot family and I stayed up late and chatted again about life in America and Russia.  I’ve learned so much by living with my host families – it’s a different experience living with a family verses staying in a hotel.  I will always treasure this wonderful experience. 🙂