Meteor Explosion Over Russia's Ural Mountains

You're likely aware that this morning at 9:00 local time, a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk (pronounced Chel-YA-beensk), a city in the southern Ural Mountains of Russia. According to RT news, 300 buildings were damaged and 514 persons need medical care, mostly for injuries from flying glass. 

For some geographical perspective, here's a high-tech map for you: Because of course you deserve to know. ;)

So here's Russia: Click photo to enlarge. The red marker is pointing to Moscow. The orange sticky-note is pointing to Chelyabinsk, site of today's drama, some 930 miles east-southeast of Moscow. The green marker points to Rostov-on-Don, 650 miles south of Moscow and my home-sweet-home. That blue sticker points to lots more drama; we'll get to that in a minute.

First, here's a great video of highlights thanks to RT, Russia Today.



Interesting: I'm watching, more or less, РОССИЯ24, Russia's 24-hour news channel. This story is the only thing on the news.

But not everyone is convinced that today's phenomenon was a meteor. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a politician with ideas of his own, claims the explosion was the US testing weapons. Bless his heart. Makes you wonder what he had for breakfast. Here's more on his theory.

Now, a look back to the last exploding meteor to hit the earth which also hit Russia. Thanks to the Smithsonian Institute for twittering today about the Tunguska Event, which hit Siberia in 1908, leveling forests for 800 square miles.

Here's our trusty map (Click to enlarge). The blue sticker points to Tunguska, an area 1,500 miles east of today's drama and 2,400 miles east of Moscow, according to my figuring.

While today's explosion was significant, it pales in comparison with the Tunguska Event. The Smithsonian story quotes NASA's calculations that the Tunguska explosion was equivalent to 185 Hiroshima bombs.

Have to admit, the first I heard of this was after coming to Russia. Actually it was in 2008, with the 100th anniversary of the event, I wrote,  I Feel the Earth Move...with a nod to Carol King's song of the 1970's.

How about you, dear blog reading friend. Any experience with meteors? Or. . . UFO's. Or. . . testing weapons, for that matter? Seriously, maybe you've been all too close to a natural disaster such as a tornado or earthquake. Please do share.

Visit Alaska: No Russian Visa Needed

On October 18th, Alaska celebrated the date on which the state officially became property of the United States in 1867. The day is known, quite fittingly, as Alaska Day.


Have you been to Alaska? Oh. . . you lucky globetrotter, you! Myself, I'm just dreaming of the day. . . (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Davis Kimball. Click image to enlarge.)


Alaska was once owned by Russia, of course. The two are separated by only 55 miles at Bering Strait. The map above would indicate that the Aleutians, that group of volcanic islands that strings west into the Pacific, are divided between the U.S. and Russia. But a big atlas here and other sources seem to indicate otherwise. Anybody have the definitive answer on that? Well, not to worry. . .



What majestic scenery, eh? What a place to explore, see exotic animals, mountains and enjoy the fresh air. What a place for a boy to build a seaworthy vessel. (Photo courtesy J.D.Kimbell)


Here's a copy of the canceled check, made out for $7.2 million or approximately 2 cents an acre. In today's dollars, that would be around $100 million. Or so they say. . .


The purchase of Alaska was originally dubbed Seward's Folly with a nod to William Seward, U.S. Secretary of State, second from left. Above is the treaty signing in 1867. In recent years, we've come to realize how absolutely wise was that purchase. Alaska finally was admitted as a state in 1959, nearly a century later.



Yes, the U.S. and Russia are closer than one might imagine, as noted in the booklet above, developed by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to celebrate 200 years of diplomatic ties with Russia.


It started with Thomas Jefferson and Tsar Alexander I who corresponded and exchanged books.


In the letter above, dated June 15, 1804, Thomas Jefferson addressed the tsar as "Great and good friend. . . " Eventually John Quincy Adams, pictured, became the first U.S. Minister to Russia in 1807. He lived and worked in St Petersburg from 1814 through 1819. Later, when he became president, Adams used his connection with Russia to establish a strong trading relationship.


In the letter above, from Tsar Alexander I to President Jefferson, I got a little puzzled trying to find even one familiar Russian word. Closer examination with a magnifying glass shows that it's written in French. Oui.


US and Russia: Closer than we think. Sometimes the waters are rough but always there are magnificent opportunities to learn and grow.


What a rich cultural heritage belongs to Alaska. What adventures await in the final frontier! But trust me when I say that we can be so very thankful that visiting Alaska does not require getting a visa to Russia. Thank you, Mr William Seward! (Photo courtesy J.D.Kimbell)

How about you, dear blog reader. Have you visited the land of the midnight sun? Seen a polar bear? Sailed across the tundra behind a team of huskies? Please share your special memories of Alaska! Have to admit that I haven't even made it past page 50 in James Michener's, Alaska. But I'm betting that you have!

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Oh and on a silly note, here's A Song for Sarah, written by Vlad and friend Boris: A Russian response to Mrs Palin.

Tell Us About America: Visits to Local Schools

This week I was invited to visit two schools and make presentations in the classes of the teenagers with whom I've been living here in Simferopol. It was a lot of fun. Actually, it was beyond fun. To me, being in the classroom is pure passion, it's euphoria. Especially because as guest-for-one-day, there are no papers to grade, no major issues to deal with. Only the responsibility of providing some enlightenment and perhaps entertainment for an hour or two. I'd say we managed to accomplish that. It was hard for me to leave. In fact they basically had to push me out the door ~ a slight exaggeration perhaps. But first Tell us about America, they said. And so I did.

Above is Julia's class. This school is an academy of sorts and the kids there are the sharpies. Every single student has a home computer. Amazing then, that they loved singing There Was an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a FLY), all eight verses from the fly to the horse. Does that song count as talking about America? Well, it just might.

I talked mostly about Texas and the Ukraine, comparing the two. Thanks to the internet, lots of good information is literally at ones fingertips. For instance you might already know this: 1) Texas and Ukraine are almost exactly the same size. 2) The population of Ukraine is twice that of Texas. 3) About Texas geography: woods in the east to desert in the west. 4) About industries in Texas - especially stereotypical Texas - cattle industry (cowboys), oil business (wealth and how fickle it can be) and cotton growing (I recall living in Texas' panhandle and seeing those big bales of cotton first-hand. 5) I talked about Crawford, Texas and my visit there the spring after The Crawford Summit (maybe fall 2001) when Russia's President Putin visited President Bush and they did a press conference in the high school gymnasium. Told them about visiting students there and talking with them about Russia, giving souvenirs, teaching them a song in Russian.

Oh, and to Julia's class I also took apple-raisin-walnut cake along with the recipe, measuring cups and spoons. We talked about measuring ingredients, food preparation and such. Lots of bonus points for taking a genuine, all-American snack. Since of course families nationwide snack on apple-raisin-walnut cake on a regular basis. Could have made brownies, I suppose. . .

Last weekvisited 8th grade geography classes. Besides the Texas-Ukraine information, the teacher wanted a lesson on western Ukraine, since I had offered. So we did a PowerPoint Slide Show of Ivano-Frankovsk and Lviv, cities of western Ukraine that I've able to visit recently as part of my gypsy adventure. The culture there is somewhat different - more European/Polish/nationalistic Ukrainian influence and less Russian influence than here in eastern Ukaine and Crimea.

Here are the best questions students asked: 1) Of all the places you've visited in America, which is the most interesting. (I answered that as much as I love the US, visiting Ukraine and Russia is more interesting to me nowadays.) 2) How has this week's financial crises in the US affecting people and what do you think will be the outcome of this. (It affects people right where it hurts, in the pocketbook, especially those looking at retirement soon. But that I figure this is a good time to buy-buy-buy while the market is low. But of course only God knows what the future holds.)

Most interesting response: 1) Question: Texas is the 2nd largest state in the US. Who might know - what is the largest state? Answer: Canada (This answer came up twice).

That's okay, I guess. Got to confess that even in recent years, I've had to double-check about Crimea, never imagining that I would be spending time here. I've learned that although Crimea is a part of Ukraine, it is an independent republic.

Maybe some think that Canada is in independent republic of the US? (Apologies to you dear Canadians!) But. . . but is it possible to find there an old lady who would swallow a fly?

I Feel the Earth Move: Mysterious Explosion in Siberia Baffles 100 Years Later

The scientific community is still baffled by a mysterious explosion in Siberia that happened more than 100 years ago, June 30, 1908. Known as the Tungushka Event, the impact of the explosion was 1000 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

An interesting video from the History Channel - although it does appear to be misdated.

The blast was felt hundreds of miles away from the center of impact in Tunguska, Siberia, knocking people off their feet and breaking windows. For the next several weeks, folks in Great Britain could read outside at night thanks to the glow of suspended dust in the air. Based on eye-witness accounts here are paintings and a recreation of the event.

Well, dear blog readers, for those of us of a certain age, is it possible that Carole King had the Tunguska event in mind when she sang I Feel the Earth Move? Now there's an explosion! What memories does that bring back?

Welcome to the Black Sea: A Bit of Geography

I've been deluged with requests to provide blog readers with some geography of southwest Russia (maybe true, maybe not) and so I'm quite pleased to offer a quick tour, a bird's-eye-view of the area thanks to Google Earth (absolutely true). So please buckle up, we're heading many miles above the earth...

And suddenly here we are, nearly 4,000 miles above the Black Sea (1) which is fed by the Sea of Azov (2). The Caspian Sea (3) is off to the east.


Here the same perspective with political boundaries added. Note that each of the seas is surrounded by several countries. As above, the Sea of Azov (2) flows into the Black Sea (1). And the Caspian Sea (3) is over there east, toward Siberia.


Let's zoom in a bit closer. Here we are, only 1000 miles above the Black Sea. Look carefully and you might spot exotic sea creatures such as sharks and octopus (maybe, maybe not).


Admittedly, this little map won't win the Miss World Map beauty contest but she does offer great information. Think of the Black Sea as the face of a clock and the Ukraine is at 12:00 position, Russia at 2 and 3 o'clock positions and Turkey at 6:00 position. In between is Georgia at 4:00. Off on the west are Bulgaria, Romania and Moldava but we're not going thata way today.

Now let's have a look at some favorite cities. Rostov-on-Don (1), at nearly 2 million, is the largest city in southwest Russia. From Rostov, it's an overnight train trip south to Sochi, pronounced SO-chee (2), known as the Miami Beach of Russia. Imagine, palm trees in Russia! Come summer, thousands of folks head toward the Black Sea coast and Sochi. As you may have heard, Sochi is the site of the 2014 Winter Olympic games.

An overnight ferry runs from Sochi to Trabzon, Turkey (5) and I took it back in 2000. It was my quasi-brillant idea to escape Russia during the Y2K uproar and head to Trabzon which, quite conveniently, is home to several special friends whom I met in graduate school at Texas Tech, Lubbock. There was only one problem: After I arrived in Sochi, the ferry was cancelled a day or two because of Ramadan, a religous holiday. And then it was cancelled a day or two because of stormy seas. And so the big escape to Trabzon ran about five days after the so-called crisis had already blown over. I went anyway and enjoyed most of all being with dear friend Hamiyet, meeting her family and seeing Trabzon. Istanbul (6) is way west, spanning the mouth of the Black Sea as it flows toward the Mediterranean.


Hold on while we zoom north across the Black Sea to the Ukraine. Last week I was in Mariupol, originally a Greek colony and it's right on the Sea of Azov (we pronounce it a-ZOV in Russian).

From Rostov-on-Don to the Ukranian border is around 65 miles. In recent years, as the Ukraine softens its stance toward the west, the country has relaxed its visa policy. Visas are no longer required of U.S. citizens or of folks from several other countries. Still, I do have stories to share about that and the run-around, even recently, from local officials who still apparently still haven't gotten the memo on that. But such stories can wait.

Well, that's it for today's look at a few geographical highlights of the Black Sea and southwest Russia. Thank you for joining me! And now it's your turn: Have you been to the Black Sea or Sochi? Please share where you've been and when! And...do you plan to come to Sochi for the Winter Olympic Games, 2014? As a spectator or as a competitior?