Meeting friends of friends

This afternoon we walked to Traveler’s Coffee to meet Chad Gehrman. We were a bit late and tried to call Chad but seemed to have the wrong number. We were discussing this when we passed a man and his little boy on the side walk. Just as we passed, he said, “Are you Peggy?” As we stopped to introduce each other, Zhenia and their dog, Nanu, joined us.

Chad, a Minnesotan, has been in Russia since 1992. He and his dad were in Indian Guides with Jake and Chuck Ritchie a few years back. Chuck connected us with Chad. Zhenia is from Novosibirsk. Their son Daniel is two and half and bilingual, of course. Zhenia said that Daniel is teaching his grandmother and his playmates English!



We walked on Morskoy Street for a while.
Chad bought Nanu an ice cream cone—quite an operation.

Chad steered us through a neighborhood we hadn’t seen. Akademgorodok has 100,000 people. Bob and I were wondering where they all lived. Chad explained the density of the place. Apartment buildings, like ours on Piragova, house many, many families in the same space that just a few American families would occupy.

We are probably 10 minutes away from Chad and Zhenia’s, through the woods. We can find their house because they have two canoes on the deck. Canoes are virtually unknown here.


There is nothing like being with a delightful 2 1/2 year old! Our time with this energetic family was so enjoyable. We grinned all the way home.