Thursday, Murray's work, Russian Countryside

Murray and I left for work around 6:30 to avoid the crowds of people leaving for their dachas. While the traffic was certainly lighter than it would be later, it wasn’t exactly uncrowded. The 4 lane highway (expanded into 6 because of the shoulder and the other lanes crowding together) was going slowly. The shoulder was dirt with lots of potholes; to the right was a steep embankment, not good news for those unfortunate souls who veered too far to the right such as the truck leaning off the edge at a 30 degree angle. Having been in Russia for 6 years now, both Murray and Monica are very Russian drivers. I got a nice bumpy tour of the shoulder and an excellent demonstration on how to weave in and out of cars which are driving too slowly.
Near the factory there is a town named Obninsk which was supposed to be the first nuclear power plant (for generating electricity) in the world. This has long been shut down and radiation levels are quite low (Murray had this checked). Now the only reactor is a small unit at the local nuclear university. Regarding the nuclear plant, one person from Obninsk told Murray that it was all a front; there was no nuclear plant, just a building set up to look like one.

Near the factory there is a town named Obninsk which was supposed to be the first nuclear power plant (for generating electricity) in the world. This has long been shut down and radiation levels are quite low (Murray had this checked). Now the only reactor is a small unit at the local nuclear university. Regarding the nuclear plant, one person from Obninsk told Murray that it was all a front; there was no nuclear plant, just a building set up to look like one.

The first part of the Nestle-Purina pet food factory is finished and in production. Murray gave me a tour of the buildings. I was very impressed. First we toured the water treatment plant, a small building built into a hill. Next was the boiler house which generates the steam for the extrusion process and to heat the building (gas heating is avoided because of the fire safety measures they would have to put in place to be allowed to use it – Russian has old permit requirements for industrial gas heating.) Behind the factory, Murray showed me the grain silos and the site of the plant he will be building next as well as the bulk grain unloading. Then we climbed up to the top of the mill tower (5 floors, 20 meters) and went outside to get a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Then on the way down, Murray showed me how the grains are converted to dry cat and dog food. (Sorry, Rufus, they don’t make bird food.)



After my tour of the factory, we drove to Kaluga. On the way Murray pointed out a statue of Lenin pointing toward something. A colleague had told Murray that Lenin was pointing the way to the closest vodka. First we walked around the aeronautical museum, a tribute to ** who was the genius behind the Russian space program. They had several rockets in front including a replica of the spaceship which rocketed Russia into first place in the competition with America by sending the first man, Yuri Gagarian, into outer space. Then we walked down the hill and along the river. In Moscow all the tourist sites were immaculately clean and either restored or in the process of being restored. Here out in the boonies, broken glass and other debris littered the place. Driving back through Kaluga we discovered why there had been so many police earlier. They were blocking all the streets in the direction we needed to go, and, as is typical, no alternate route was posted. Fortunately it was a reasonably small town, and Murray was somewhat familiar with it. He drove around until he saw a familiar road, and off we went.


















Our next stop was the Pafnutievo-Borovsky Monastery. This is a working monastery, and women are required to wear scarves and skirts, both of which are provided. I had been warned, so I provided my own. Like all the other monasteries, it was very beautiful. Most of the buildings had already been restored, but there was still a lot of scaffolding and work going on. It was interesting to see how the frescoes were being restored. The bells were announcing the noon hour just as we arrived. The bells here, like everywhere else we saw, had a clapper and were rung by pulling a rope attached to the clapper.

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Next we stopped by the Barovsk Convent to look over the river. A small circular chapel was surrounded by three larger rectangular building. These buildings had not been updated at all. It looked as though the original roofs which probably made it look like a church had been replaced with a plain roof which didn’t fit terribly well, and now that communism had officially ended, they hadn’t been able to restore the buildings yet. A large pipe brought water in to heat the building.

We picked up morel mushrooms at a roadside stand.

Murray also drove me through the town of Vorsino, the closest town to his factory. An abandoned collective farm was decaying near the entrance to the town. People were working their own plots of land further up the road. This town is so poor that there is a note in the door of the clinic for the people to bring their own anesthetic. Murray tells me that the dentist chair was such an antique that he can’t recommend subjecting your teeth to work here anyways. Murray also went around the local high school and saw how poorly supplied it was. The Kindergarten also had been sold (Vorsino needed to buy it back and restore it) and the only local meeting place, which was kind of like a theatre for public hearings, was in quite poor condition.

After this we went back to Murray’s work and Murray worked for a while I borrowed a computer and did my own work. Then we drove back home. If I didn’t know that Murray pulled mostly 14 hour days often 6 days a week building this factory, then I might have thought he had a nice cushy job. But then, I should realize that he worked only a few hours because it was a holiday.