A Look at Moscow

Sharon Tennison of Center for Citizen Initiatives writes about their recent delegation to Russia:

Dear Friends,

Our 25 YouTubes are now ready. 

This first Youtube shows Moscow where we landed. It spans our first nine actual hours on ground, during which over two hours of video was shot––and the footage has been reduced to this 13-minute impression of Russia's largest city.  Mel Van Dusen, our pro bono videographer, was seeing Russia for the first time.  He is the editor and voiceover for the series (with a little assistance from me).

In the video Mel's refers to our "bus" and our "guides," but they aren't official buses with guides.  A Moscow friend of many years, Olga Gorbik, hired a private bus to get us and our luggage from the airport into the city. Olga is not a guide but did share knowledge of her home city on the way to the hotel. Upon arrival, another Russian friend of 30 years, Galina Nicolopolis (married a Greek years ago), met us and assisted me to get the group to simultaneous meetings across Moscow thereafter.  She too has never been a guide but was a terrific helper. Then I knew of students who also assisted us while in Moscow. Our group traveled "off the grid" so to speak, with Russian friends and CCI alums helping us experience their cities and meet local people.

Our intention is to give you an actual sense of Russia's people, streets, sidewalks, metros, culture and what motivates them as individuals and collectively.