The rain is coming down pretty heavy this morning. Not a good day for walking or people-watching on the beach. I would imagine the photo guys and the horse ride ladies won't come out until the sun does. The schedule says we have a meeting at FERHRI this morning but I think I understood from Alex that we are on our own until Margery Kniffen gets here. I could sit in my room and do the little project I meant to do on the plane: create a list of bird species found in this area by going page by pages through the book, which is curiously not divided by region although Russia is so vast you'd think they'd have 5 or 6 separate field guides for the different climatic zones.
Last night in bed I was reading A Traveller's History of Russia. What a horror story! I'm getting Alzheimer's here. I can't spell. I write simple declarative sentences. I use the wrong punctuation. And this is in English! Must be jet lag and lack of breakfast.
Last night I bought a bottle of mineral water for 6,000. The stall right next to it had it priced at 6,500. One was even charging 7,000. Do they realize people compare prices? Actually, do people compare prices? Only the vegetable and fruit sellers seemed to be doing any business.
I can see a break in the clouds over Amur Bay. Maybe it's time for a foray in search of the Primorye Art Museum. Or time to turn into a ground mole and stay in my room reading. Quel horreur! My Mom used to hassle me big time as a child for staying in my room reading. But hell, I'm 45 years old and its 100% humidity out there (in here too...). Primorye Art Museum appears to be not far from here near the railroad tracks a block from the Lenin statue. The Lenin statue is amazing. I hope they keep it as a work of art even after they have erased memories of the Soviet times. Lenin's face looks like he's shouting some urgent message and his arm is gesticulating wildly toward Japan. Off to the museum...
My favorite room in the museum was the icons. They were stunning and powerful objects of veneration. Even a non-Christian could not help but be moved by them.
The 19th century works featured dark colors, much as the 18th century but the figures were bolder and more representational (hey, I can speak artspeak). There were some explanatory signs in bizarre English high on the wall where only a 6-foot American could read them. The English was so labored I got tired reading it and decided to just look at the pictures.
After lunch I walked to the aquarium and the dolphinarium, further up the beach. The dolphins were in tiny pens and were posing for polaroid photos with tourists in exchange for fish. I was actually tempted to do this but thought better of it. The dolphinarium also had a pen of sea lions who did tricks and posed for photos to the beat of American rock music. The aquarium was depressing. Stuffed birds, things in jars, murky fish tanks with so much condensation on the outside of the glass it was hard to see what was in there. The central tank wasn't murky and did have some cool looking sharks and sturgeon. There were some strikingly bright blue fish in one of the side tanks, and several tanks with bright red starfish. Stuffed penguins and albatrosses in abundance - whole colonies. Stuffed puffins and gulls and kittwakes too but not in such profusion. Bizarre place.
The TV in the restaurant was tuned to a music video station featuring Russian pop and bizarre imagery. A little Korean girl was dancing to the music with great enthusiasm. An older blonde girl joined her for awhile dancing up a storm. Quite a contrast to last night's entertainment, which consisted of the the head waitress trying to get rid of a dog that had wandered in off the street and sat down next to our table. She got it out in the hall and closed the door, but with 100% humidity none of the doors around here actually close unless locked and deadbolted. So with one paw the dog was back in again. This continued for several rounds until the dog made up its mind to leave on its own.
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