balalaika live in my hands

I have learned my first piece on Balalaika - Russian folk song "In the orchid, in the garden..."

I always thought that an elephant stepped on my ear (as Russians say when you don't have a musical ear). But Nadia said it doesn't matter (who stepped on my ear) - all notes are written, and I can use music scores and play. It worked! :)

Nadia's father send a PDF file from Russia - texbook "Teach Yourself how to play Balalaika". It's an old guide, must be from 50s or older. It is very good! I have the instrument. It is a very special gift from one of the people who came to the Balalaika concert that I have organized in the library. It was in November. Almost 300 people came to hear Russian Balalaika musicians from Syktyvkar. After the concert I got a gift - it was balalaika instrument from Russia! Real one, with three strings, with corners... 'I have to learn how to play' - I told myself.

With Nadia's help I have learned 'perebor', "braiatzanije' styles, then played 'Andrew-the-Sparrow' for practice. Today I have learned my first 'real song' - Russian folk "In the orchid, in the garden"...

Irene, thank you for the instrument! Brings happiness!

Here is a great performance by Russian balalaika 'player' Arkhipovski "Sharmanka".

It is superb! Listen.

Peaks of Otter

Peaks of Otter are two mountain tops in Virginia. We claimed up the Sharp Top. Great hike! Strenuous. Enjoyable. There is a nice lake at the bottom of the peaks - Abbot lake. Nice lodge is awaiting for those travelers who want to see at all from the window.

Peaks

Besides great hikes nicest thing about Peaks of Otter is - wild deers. The hunting is prohibited, so the deers are very friendly and not afraid of people. They are everywhere, and they are so peaceful. Very nice place! Pictures of me:) made by Nadia.

All pictures are copyrighted
©natalia-tuchina-2009

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where wild horses are

Here is my attempt to make a little movie about nice place -
Grayson Highlands in VA - where wild horses are
(paraphrase of 'Where the Wild Things Are' :)

Hope you'll like it! I don't encourage you go there. The less people there actually - the better :) This is my forth time in Grayson Highlands, first with the video ...


click here to watch

Golden Key concert

Fall 2009 Golden Key Music Studio concert. Instructor Nadia Bakhireva. Salem Towne Recital Hall. November 14, 2009. Collaborative pianist Carmin Mann. Link to the studio www.goldenkeymusic.com

Click here to view the album.

wooden time

We had a great time at the reception for the wood-works exhibit in Reynolda Library. Boris Radovskiy, the Master, shared his secrets of the fine woodworking. I called the exhibit "Wooden Time". I think that clocks are Boris' specialty. I learned about the differences between wood carving and saw scrolling. Boris is an inspired person, his works just keep getting better, and finer, and more intricate in designs with each new piece he does. He brought to the reception a new clock that he had just finished. Look at the pictures of his art works and of the reception.

woodworks

raffaldini

click on image for a larger sharper view


The Raffaldini family dates back to the year 1348 in the town of Mantua, located in the Northern Province of Lombardy, Italy. They started growing grapes in NC years ago. We went to visit them. Very nice place on the top of the mountain, with the great view! Highly recommended for a small weekend trip. The climate in NC is very close to Italy. We had a wine tasting (Mr Raffaldini served the wines himself!) and a very nice walk on the ample grounds till it started raining :)

Raffaldini's website

crystals and diamonds

We went to Washington, DC. To the Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History. To see the crystals and gems (diamonds!). Absolutely awesome collection! Including chunks from the space - meteorites, meteors (metal looking, shiny, strange surface...) - Very interesting!

In 1990, the world's deepest drill hole penetrated to a depth of 12.3 km (7.6 mi) beneath Russia's Kola Peninsula. More than 99 percent of the distance to Earth's center still lay beneath the drill bit. We don't really know what is down there. We know a little better what comes to us from the space...

pictures above are clickable for a larger view

Two large, pear-shaped diamonds weigh 14.25 and 20.34 carats respectively. They once were supposedly set in earrings that belonged to Marie Antoinette, the queen of France who was guillotined in 1793 during the French Revolution. The diamonds were later acquired by the Grand Duchess Tatiana Yousupoff of Russia. When jeweler Pierre Cartier puchased the diamond earrings in 1928, their authenticity was attested to in an affidavit by Russian Princess Zenaide Yousupoff and her son, Prince Felix Yousupoff, stating that they originally belonged to Queen Marie-Antoinette and have never been reset in the one hundred years that they were in the family.

More pictures of the trip
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Learn French

I have met a very nice person from Europe - Elesebeth Olsson. She agreed to volunteer at the library and conduct French Conversation Club for those people who would like to learn French language. The first class is October 3, 2009.

French

You are invited! Please let us know if you want to attend. Scroll down the flyer to see the information.

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turtles with expressions

I really like these two turtles! I think this is really cool! I can see their expressions, characters, and two different moods... The pictures were made by my friend James Lashmit from Winston-Salem.

baking pirogi in Shanevo

This is my friend, Russian artist Sveta Krotova". She is in the village of Shanevo for the summer. "Time is flying faster than the wind is blowing. Mushrooms, berries, fish, housework and digging in the garden, the weather is not great, but may be summer will stay a little longer. The skies are clouded with the different shapes and colors - I am making a lot of pictures and experimenting with oils".



Here is Sveta with "pirogi" and "pechka" (picture made today in the remote Russian village of Shanevo). Look at the murals on the side of the "pechka"! :)

happy birthday in Wilmington

We went to Wilmington, NC for three day weekend to celebrate my birthday. Had a great time! Ocean was absolutely beautiful. We were swimming a lot. Nadia swims like a mermaid. I used my board - waves were just right! We spend a lot of time on the beach, walked from pier to pier and to the inter coastal waterway. Went to the restaurants in downtown Wilmington. Nice sunsets by the river! Visited Arlie Gardens.

See photos (фотки) here (тут).
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game day

Little participant of the library story time concert. Screen from a small movie that I made at the event.

Now we have a new idea - Game Day! Do you remember games that you played in your childhood? Kids don't know how to play these days (computer games only!). Especially outside in a group. Together. Like relay race in flippers :))

What games you played when you were a kid? :)

visiting Totally Responsible People

Irene Lobb (Winston-Salem) and Max Anikeev (Kitezh, Russia)
click to enlarge

We had a very nice tea time in the Center for Purposeful Living in Winston-Salem, NC. Irene who is originally from Kazakhstan and now lives in the community, invited me for a visit and baked a cake (thank you, Irene!). Lee White, who went to Russian community of Kitezh this summer, came to share her experiences and thoughts. She has not only endured two hour talk that was held solely in Russian but actively participated. Her level of Russian is great! The other person there was Max Anikeev, the school principal in Russian village of Kitezh. He is currently visiting the Center for Purposeful Living.

We spend two hours talking about everything - the community of Kitezh , methods of educating children and helping them to get ready to make the world better and better themselves for the world, the meaning of traveling (to get out of your energy pattern box), the island of Valaam (where I lived), and Nikolai Roerich.

Irene's three month old son was quietly sleeping on her shoulder the entire time... :)

I have recorded our talk and made pictures of my new friends.

Children's Concert in the library

We had a great time at the children's concert in downtown library today. Nadia Bakhireva's students from her Golden Key Music Studio came dressed up. Carmen Hardy sung a very nice Russian song "Субботейя" (in Russian!) and another one in Spanish. Clarissa was singing a French song, and then another song in English, and her brother Mark was playing a keyboard accompanying her. Here they all are:


guests are coming and taking their seats... (all pictures here are clickable)




Mark and Clarissa Espinal - the stars of the show! (click to enlarge)


Carmen Hardy sung Russian song in Russian language! (click to enlarge)


after the performance - together and happy! (click to enlarge)

Chinese girl Chun sung and read a poem in her native language. We also had songs in German and Swahili! It was a very entertaining event with thirty people attending.

Our trip to Utah, Arizona and Wyoming

this is the big map of our trip
and (down below) the smaller map (both clickable)

In three days we are flying to Salt Lake City! We are going to visit the Land of Canyons in Utah - National Parks Zion, Bryce, Glen, Canyon Lands, and Arches.



Then we are driving down the map to Lake Powell, Rainbow Bridge (Nadia's dream) crossing Arizona state line. Then we plan to spens some time in Monument Valley (my long time dream :) Then - back to Salt Lake city, and up - to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

Such as our plan for two weeks on the road.
We taking a tent and two pillows :)

Center for Purposeful Living

Yesterday we have visited the Center for Purposeful Living. It is located in Winston-Salem, Walkertown exit off Business 40. Fifty people live in the community. They call it 'Intentional Community'. Serving others is the purpose and the method of working with one's consiousness. The goal is to become a totally responsible person.

Their methods of inner work are based on the esotheric psychology of Alice Bailey (with greetings to Madam Blavatski naturally) and probably (my guess) to Live Ethics of Roerikhs. The community was build more than 20 years ago. It doesn't appear to be very active right now on the outside. They closed the facility for the terminally ill people whom they cared for years. The community was initially based on this idea of caring for terminally ill when it was founded in Boomer, NC. They also stopped operating California Buffet in Winston-Salem, and only do catering.

There is a shop on the grounds where the community members work with stones and crystals polishing them and making jewelry. We have met one young Russian woman named Irina in the shop. Irina gave us round glass balls with interesting design that she made. Irina has a baby that was born there three month ago.

Several of the people from the Center for Purposeful Living went this summer to the Russian community of Kitezh not far from Moscow. Russian orphans live in the extended families (large families!) in the village of Kitezh. The village was build for this purpose specifically. Kitezh now has a satellite village of Orion. The houses are round over there "so that kids would not hit the corners" builders say :) We have a book in the library about Kitezh written by one of the founders (in English) - Kitezh : a community approach to raising children in Russia. Check it out!

We were very happy to visit the Center of Purposeful Living and to share the meal with our new friends.

yellow ears

Nada with big yellow ears... "Harry Porter"s parking lot
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Children's Concert

The concert is in August 1, 2009 (Saturday) at 11 am in the Children's Room in the Central library. Please come! Kids will be singing in Russian, French, Spanish and English. We'll learn some new words in different languages. You can sing along! :)

our weekend on New River

click on photos to enlarge
all photos ©natalia.tuchina.2009

kayaking on the New river

Nadia is ready (and clickable:)

We went to New River for kayaking. The day was perfect. It could not be any finer! New River is the oldest river in USA. It floats unusual direction, not like a river in the mountains suppose to. Seems that the river was here first, and then the mountains came up. New River made it's way here, in NC mountains, before the evolution got started, before the mountains were created :)

Despite its name, the river is considered by some geologists to be possibly one of the oldest rivers in the world, between 10 million and 360 million years old. According to local folklore, it is considered to be second in age only to the Nile River and thus the oldest in North America. The New River flows in a generally south to north course, which is against the southwest to northeast topology of the Appalachian Mountains. This peculiarity may mean that the New River's formation preceded much of the surrounding landscape.

We took a two-seater for $25.00 from Riverside Canoe that we found fairly easily using google maps (the drive from Winston-Salem took about 1 hr and 40 min). The guy with long waist length blond hair and Henry Thoreau attitudes took two of us up the river on the bus. His name was Scott. He looked like a computer programmer from Charlotte :) But he said he was born and lives in Jefferson, and that he enjoys the quiet life in the mountains very much. People here can stay and talk to you for as long as you keep talking. But when you done with your talk, you realize that they are actually quite busy :)

Scott put the kayak in the river. I asked Nadia whom she wants to be today - "a native" or "a scientist". She wanted to be a scientist and sat up front. I was "a native" paddling and doing the work so that the scientist can do the research and observations :) She actually did very well and saw a rare turtle!

The New River was designated an American Heritage River, one of only fourteen in the United States, in 1998. The New River is 337 miles long. Several rare aquatic animals make their home in the basin, including the bog turtle.

The river is so fast in some parts! In other parts it is very slow. The level is high because of recent rains, so we had no major difficulties going over the rapids. It was very enjoyable. I canoed on New river before. That time we flipped over to the amazement of cows on the banks - i lost my sunglasses, but didn't lose the paddle! This time we floated with the speed of the stream, just keeping the kayak going forward.

We passed by funny chain of people on tubes who got stuck on shallow waters. One daddy on the big tube was floating by himself along with two sons in the smaller tubes with "USA" proudly written on them. Daddy was teaching boys how to say really fast "The white background and the black background". I tried, and came up with "the white blackground" very fast :)


click to enlarge. All photos by Natalia Tuchina