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We volunteered to host a Russian delegate in October through
Western Technical College. Sounded like a good experience and it
was. Tatyana Spasova did not speak English and, of course, we
don't speak Russian. We would ask questions when we could get
the translator in the mornings and afternoons. She was with a
group of professionals here to study how we deal with people
with physical disabilities. Their group included a lawyer, a
surgeon, a cardiologist, a carpenter, psychologist, and Tatyana
and another woman worked in a home for disabled children. They
took back a plan for improvements in Russia. Tatyana was from
Dubna which is one of La Crosse's sister cities. |
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She showered us with many gifts including the beautiful scarf I
am wearing. We got lots of wonderful chocolates, a book about
Moscow, wool socks, a Matryoshka doll, caviar, linens, wooden
painted servings spoons, and a painted pin to wear. She also
bought many things to take back to Russia for her family--so
much she had to buy a second suitcase.
We found that even without speaking to each other, we became
very attached to each other after only 8 days. We are now
emailing each other with the help of translation sites. |
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This picture isn't very clear but it is Natasha (the
cardiologist in the group) and Vera Paponova, one of the
translators. Vera works for a TV studio in Moscow. We enjoyed
our visit with these two gals a lot as well. Vera does two trips
a year with delegations to serve as their translator. |
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