RANSVESTIA

European Russia but west of the Pacific ocean. It does touch on the Arctic but that's all. It is on the order of 1,000 miles from the seaboard. That land is called the Far Eastern Territories. Siberia is, however, the largest political subdivision in the USSR. Rather like everything west of St. Louis in the second half of the nineteenth cen- tury.

Novosibirsk is a very modern city with great wide streets but not as much auto traffic as in the European parts of Russia. It is more of a pioneer city on the Frontier, something like San Francisco was in 1900 I expect. We had a nice hotel and I went for a walk of about 10 blocks to the main department store looking for a little item I'd run in- to in a hotel a magnetic soap holder. It sticks out from the wall like a porcelain towel rack holder. On the bottom side is a strong magnet. You press a piece of steel into the bar of soap something like a coke bottle cap and then place the top of the soap up under the bracket and presto, it is suspended there in the air where it dries in- stead of dissolving slowly in its own "juice." Unfortunately they didn't have any, so, walking back, I decided to investigate a new super- market. I walked around looking at things and stopped at a bin of cans marked "Rouladen mit Gemusen" which was made in Bulgaria. It means vegetables with meat. While I was holding it, a portly, older lady in a white coat came up to me and said something in Russian. I shook my head and said "nyet Russky, Americansky." She smiled and then took me to the meat counter to show me the kind of meat in the package. Then over to the gondola with the bottled drinks. She picked out a bottle of slightly fermented apple juice such as we had had at the hotel. Then she guided me across the store and into a little room with a desk and chair in it. She motioned me to sit down and produced a couple of glasses and a bottle opener. She poured us each a glass and we drank together while trying to communicate by signs and about two dozen words of German that we both knew. It was fun but frustrating. But it also put one more kibosh on all that stuff about Russians not talking to foreigners or people following foreigners around, etc. It was a genuine gesture of person-to-person good will. She was evidently the manager of the store and wanted to do something for the visiting American lady.

Next day we took a tour of Academegorodok (approximate spelling) or in the vernacular "Science City." This is located about 30 miles out in the country and is a self contained city for scientists and their staffs. It is complete with its own theaters, stores, restaurants

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