Marcus L Endicott

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Tuesday, November 13, 1990

Up with the sun, I had juice, tea, and chocolate with a vitamin for breakfast. I wrote in my journal, before arriving at Moscow's Leningrad station at 09:00 Tallinn time, not 09:00 Moscow time as I had understood from Intourist. It was 10:00 Moscow time.

I called Soviet Travels from a pay phone in the station. Alexander, the vice-president, came by car to pick me up 30 minutes later. We had to take my bike apart to get it in his car. Moscow traffic was a hair-raising experience! He took me to the apartment of their bicycle expert, Igor, for what they called a "homestay."

Igor was a retired physicist, specializing in holographic cinema, with a wife and grown son. He was very interested in the American "Lifespring" human potential program, and had been to America several times. His wife, Alla, was an energy planner in the automobile industry. His son, Roman, a surly fellow, was an automobile mechanic, studying to become a taxi driver.

Igor loved maps, and knew about all the real bike tours to the Soviet Union. He emphasized that I was the first foreigner to travel independently by bike here, and that my visa was a private business invitation for cultural exchange through the Soviet Peace Committee.

He took me into the center of Moscow by bus and metro. We visited a map shop, and had lunch of beef and noodles. We toured the center on foot, visiting souvenir shops, bakeries, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Moscow News, and the Cinema Worker's Union, of which Igor was a member. We had juice and cakes in the lounge and watched an American video, "Heartbreak Ridge." Afterwards, we saw the premier a Central Asian movie, "Mancourt." It was about zombification in the middle ages, a thinly veiled appeal to nationalism, which was an interesting parallel to "Heartbreak Ridge."

We went back to Igor's by metro and bus. I drank tea with his family and discussed Soviet problems. I called Yuri P., after his mother gave me his new number. He could hardly speak English. We made arrangement to meet the next day.

Wednesday, November 14, 1990

I listened to the BBC and wrote in my journal, before having breakfast with Igor of corned beef hash and tea, of course with a vitamin. We went by bus and foot to the new Soviet Travels office, located in a former laundry, to meet with Michael Harshan and his crew. I saw some familiar faces and met some faces of now familiar phone voices. As usual, he was busy, but proud of his apparently unique skill at manipulating this corrupt system. He emphasized that nothing here is done in a "conventional" way.

Afterwards, we went to the Moscow Central City Tourist Club to visit their "Bivouac" shop and unique trip report library. I was particularly impressed by their map collection. We had lunch at a nearby "shashlik" restaurant. We then went to the Soviet Peace Committee headquarters, which was neither interesting nor useful.

By sundown, it was snowing hard. We split up, and I went by bus and metro to visit Yuri P. His place was not too difficult to find, but I had to kill an hour waiting around for him. So, I went to the "deli" counter at the local supermarket for juice and cakes.

He had a nice apartment with all the conveniences. He is habituated to poppy tea, called "straw." His friends are apparently speed freaks and possibly violent criminals, in any case definitely lost souls. He is convinced that there are not enough people in Moscow to fight the system, and so was not interested in networking them with the West. I slept in the kitchen, on the itchy spare bed, with one eye open all night.

Thursday, November 15, 1990

I woke up before dawn. Sergei and his girlfriend were moving on. Yuri said, "problems with girls, common problem" - and he was right! We had tea and potatoes for breakfast.

He showed me some of his journals and art work, and gave me some pictures. I left by bus, metro and bus for Igor's. I arrived without much difficulty, and cleaned up, before having a second breakfast of tea, milk, bread and butter. I wrote in my journal, before going with Igor by bus and metro to OVIR to get my visa extended.

There was a special window there for cooperatives and joint- ventures, where we deposited my passport, visa, and letters from Soviet Travels with my "itinerary." Then we walked to Lubianka, the KGB headquarters, to see the new monument to the Gulags. We also visited Red Square and saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of Lenin, in front of the Kremlin. But most interesting was the tent city of homeless people right in front of the nearby luxury hotel, the Russia.

We had lunch of "hamburgers" and salad in a stand-up place, before going back to Igor's by metro. I fell asleep reading. I was woken up after dinner by a call for Igor from Scotland. I had dinner with Alla of tea, pancakes (blins), and fish. We had a long talk in German.

I worked on revising my Moscow contact list, mostly adding addresses from Bob McGlynn's ON GOGOL BOULEVARD, which Yuri had given me. I made some phone calls to various folks trying to arrange meetings. I had an interesting phone conversation about environmentally and culturally responsible tourism and Scotland's miraculous Findhorn community with Liza, an American woman who happened to be visiting the Social-Ecological Union when I called.

Friday, November 16, 1990

I listened to the VOA, wrote in my journal, and had some juice with a vitamin, before having tea and pancakes with Igor. After disassembling Igor's phone, I connected my computer with the Teleport, and gave him a tour of the system. I got some mail, and sent some. I worked the rest of the morning with the computer on various projects.

Igor, Roman, and I ate lunch together; we had tea, fish, and sweet buns. Afterwards, I printed out various things for Igor and Yuri. Later in the afternoon, Igor's friend Alekseij, a bicycle tourism journalist, came by to visit. He gave me two of his books and three of his articles. We discussed his current work, another book. It is a comprehensive survey of bicycle tourism in the Soviet Union, not limited to bicycle travel, emphasizing club activities such as rallies and orienteering. Both he and Igor amply displayed the limitations of their preconceptions. I agreed to try to place translations of some of his articles in American bike magazines. Alekseij invited me to stay with him on my return to Moscow.

I called Sviet, at the Social-Ecological Union, and made an appointment to meet with him tomorrow at 13:00. I went to sleep early after eating a bag of potato chips for dinner.

>Date:  09-Nov-90 08:28 EST
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72] 
>Subj:  Long Letter(s) from Estonia 
> 
> Dear Marcus, 
>     Received your fairly long message from Tallinn directly and a
>duplicate copy rerouted from internet.  Glad to hear that things continue
>well with you -- it is nice to be able to communicate via e-mail (I have
>made copies of all of your messages except the ones referred to here -- I
>thought I was making copies and deleted them and then found that for some
>reason I had not made copies -- oh well, that is life in the computer
>world).
>     All continues well here.  Have talked recently with Nanny &
>Poppy, Hamlin, and Lincoln -- they are all well -- Lincoln is recovering
>particularly well -- he is currently enjoying the sun and sand in Costa
>Rica.  I am going to Austin tomorrow to have Dim Sum with the Knaacks and
>to put Duane on the airplane for COMDEX in Las Vegas.
>     All for now.  Take good care of yourself and stay in touch. 
>Love, Dad


>Date:  16-Nov-90 02:37 CST
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72] 
>Subj:  Arrived in Moscow
>
>Hi! I arrived in Moscow by train from Tallinn tuesday morning.  I'm
>staying at the apartment of Igor Malimov, Soviet Travels bicycle expert. 
>I will be here a few more days.  The phone number is country code 7, city
>code 095, number 353-5595.  Best for calls between 9-11 pm Moscow time
>(GMT +3).  Should be here thru Wednesday or Thursday at least.  You can
>direct dial from US to Moscow (tell Ham for example.) All for now, love
>Marcus.
                    

Saturday, November 17, 1990

I listened to the BBC and wrote in my journal, and ate an apple with a vitamin. I had breakfast with Igor, of tea, bread with pate, and buns. I phoned Bill's friend Vika (short for Viktoria), a young Jewish woman from Odessa on the Black Sea, that I had met at Tinschi's in Vienna, after I discovered her address in my wallet by surprise. I connected with the Teleport and downloaded my email, before going by bus and metro to meet Sviet at his apartment. We had a good, efficient meeting. He gave me enough contacts for the rest of my trip.

Afterwards, I wandered around the city, snacking on ice creams. In the evening, I went to visit Vika. It took me a long time to find her place, because I got confused by the bus detour around her metro station, which was under repair. We had a difficult time finding a place in a restaurant, but despite that had a wonderful evening eating chicken, smoking, and playing with her son, Vasile. Her boyfriend, Kiril, was sick and stayed in bed all evening. I went back to Igor's by metro and bus, and got turned around a little, but was in by 01:00.

>Date:  16-Nov-90 07:28 EST
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72] 
>Subj:  Arrived in Moscow 
> 
>Dear Marcus, 
>     Am in receipt of your message from Moscow -- glad to hear that
>all continues well with you -- this e-mail really is nice.  Things
>continue the same here -- everybody is just fine -- will let
>everyone know about how you are doing and how you can be reached.
>     Got a nice letter from Steve Roberts, the computing across
>America guy -- he says that he plans a review of your book in the next
>issue of his newsletter, "Nomadness" -- I am keeping him posted on your
>current travels. 
>     Take good care of yourself and stay in touch.  Love, Dad


>Date:  16-Nov-90 13:36 EST 
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72] 
>Subj:  Second Reply to Moscow Msg 
> 
>Dear Marcus, 
>     It is now 12:30 PM CST.  Have not been able to get hold of
>Hamlin, but I did talk with Nanny & Poppy -- Nanny is having problems with
>her arthritis and is feeling low.  I think Pop is going to try to call you
>-- sorry about that -- anyway, he probably will be unable to do so, but
>humor him if he does.
>     Nothing else new.  I look forward to more e-mail from you. 
>Love, Dad


>Date:  17-Nov-90
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72] 
>Subj:
>
>Hi Dad, its wet and snowy here on Saturday morning.  It costs
>almost nothing for me to check my e-mail here.  There is also no problem
>connecting at anytime at 300baud even without MNP error correction.  I
>believe I'm paying for GEnie, but have forgotten my password (and logon
>user name for that matter.)  I could communicated directly with Steve
>Roberts (GE:wordy) if I had them.  I don't believe there is a gateway to
>Econet, but perhaps from Compuserve.  Love, Marcus
                    

Sunday, November 18, 1990

I listened to the BBC and wrote in my journal. I breakfasted with Igor on tea, fish, onions, and quark patties, with a vitamin. I connected with the Teleport. I just missed reaching Alexander S. by phone.

I went to meet Igor R., another friend of Bill's who had been at Tinschi's in Austria. However, I hadn't met or even heard of him there. It was Vika's suggestion that I should meet him. He was an interesting, young sound engineer, trained on computers, with his own private apartment.

I explored the market area around the smallest of Moscow's seven railway stations, before meeting with Igor R. We bought some donuts from a cooperative, before going to his place for lunch of tea and potatoes.

Afterwards, I went back across town to "Tekstilsciki" where I was staying. I bought some flowers, and went to the birthday party of Michael's son. Everyone else, mostly family, was late. I met Andrey, the young director of Moscow's new International Business School. There was lots of food and drink. I saw the Nantahala 90 whitewater raft rally video for the first time. To see many of my friends on a river I had known all of my life on a television screen in Moscow, truly made the globe feel like a village. I also spent a long time talking with Michael's wife, Catherine, about her recent visit with the Bryson City jeweler, and president of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and of her baptism there. This was particularly interesting considering that her husband was Jewish, and that both of her parents were Communist Party members. I got to meet both of her parents, who had been divorced from each other for many years, there at the party. Her father, a professor of geography at Moscow State University specializing in American economic geography, had even been present for her baptism. I also enjoyed a long, interesting conversation with him.

>Date:  18-Nov-90 01:59 CST
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72]
>Subj:  Sunshine in Moscow
>
>Hi Dad,
>Its a sunny sunday morning here in Moscow.  The big snow has mostly
>melted and the streets and sidewalks are full of BIG mud puddles.  I'm
>spending a lot of time riding the metro around the city visiting different
>folks.  The busses are incredibly jam-packed.  I haven't tried a Moscow
>taxi yet.  Went to visit a friend yesterday that I met at the Austria
>Rainbow.  We couldn't find a restaurant that would seat us.  Usually you
>need either a ticket, a reservation some days in advance, or a bribe
>(difficult when you are not used to it.)
>Interesting to hear about Steve Roberts.  I could communicate with
>him directly on GEnie, as I'm paying for the service, and its available
>from here, but I've forgotten my codes.  There is not a gateway with
>EcoNet as far as I know.  Maybe with compuserve?
>Anyway, tonight I've been invited to the birthday party of my
>friend's second son who is one year old.  Soon I'll go to visit another
>Rainbow person who runs a music studio (private.)
>In some ways food is more of a problem here than in the Baltics
>because it is a much bigger metropolis, but also there is a certain better
>variety for the same reason.  I've seen bananas and oranges here, which
>haven't been seen in the Baltics for YEARS.
>I can't spend the roubles I've changed legally.  And of course with
>hard currency  - as long as there is any food at all - I won't go
>hungry.
>Love, Marcus
                    

Monday, November 19, 1990

I slept late, listened to the BBC, took a vitamin, and connected with the Teleport, before Igor N. came home with my visa renewal, good until January 12th rather than the requested 15th, and made lunch for us. I worked all afternoon revising and printing my Moscow contact list.

In the evening, I went to meet Igor R. and Vika under a statue near Moscow's Arbat Street pedestrian mall. They were both late. We then met Yuri at a former hippie hangout, a cafe popularly nicknamed the "Pentagon" (in English) because of its proximity to the Defense Ministry. We had coffee and ice cream. Yuri seemed overly cautious. He passed me the second half of his samisdat publication, under the table, folded inside of a newspaper. Was this force of habit? He also gave me a beautiful handmade pendant, his psychiatric certificate, and some rouble notes adorned with peace signs and various new age symbols.

We all walked the Arbat Street together, and dealt with obnoxious gypsy urchins. We then walked a long and circuitous route on a pilgrimage to the historic cafes of the hippie movement. Finally, we decided to go get something to smoke. Vika seemed a bit afraid, and went home to her son. Yuri convinced Igor to go home. Yuri and I then visited some genuine hippies.

Sasha or "Richelje" from Simferpol showed me a copy of an American "hippie" newspaper from California with a story about him, and some literature from the Ethiopian Coptic Church. We left after smoking.

After Yuri and I parted on the metro, two nice looking young guys in plain clothes waiving ID grabbed me and pulled me off the metro and checked my ID. Shaken, I continued on my way, but dumped my stash at the first opportunity. Back at Igor N.'s, I drank tea and read about Moscow hard currency prostitutes in MOSCOW MAGAZINE, the new Soviet-Dutch joint-venture. I spent the night getting up to piss repeatedly.

>Date:  18-Nov-90 08:55 EST  
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72]  
>Subj:  Reply to Sunshine in Moscow  
>  
>Dear Marcus,  
>     Glad to hear that all continues well with you and that you are
>enjoying Moscow.  All continues just fine here -- spent yesterday
>in Austin with the Knaacks, met Duane and Mike at the airport in the
>evening, and brought them back to Temple -- they had a good time at
>COMDEX, but say that it was not as exciting as last year.  Will be
>going into work a little this afternoon.  
>     Have talked on the phone with both Nanny and Poppy and with
>Hamlin -- they continue the same as ever, though Nanny fell down day
>before yesterday -- did not break anything -- she got some bruises and is
>feeling right sorry for herself.  Have not heard recently from Lincoln, so
>do not know whether or not he is going to make it here for Thanksgiving --
>still plan to have Thanksgiving dinner at Duane's with his folks -- the
>Knaacks are coming up also.  
>     Steve Roberts is on CompuServe at 72757,15 -- however, he has
>not responded to the one e-mail message I sent (our other correspondence
>was by regular mail).  Take good care of yourself and stay in touch. 
>Love, Dad


>Date:  19-Nov-90 02:21 CST
>From:  M.L. Endicott [72330,72] [72330,72]
>Subj:  same ole, same ole
>
>Hi,
>I spend half my time in transit around Mw in the bus and met.  Last
>night I met Andrey Manoukovsky, the young director of the new
>Interbational Business School of Moscow State institute of International
>Relations of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affair, at the birthday party
>Ient t  Otherwise jushanging in there.  Love, marcus
                    

Tuesday, November 20, 1990

I woke up early, listened to the BBC, and wrote in my journal, before breakfasting with Igor N. Afterwards, I called Igor R. Then I went by bus and metro to Prospekt Marx, where I met him in the geographic center of the station, a usual Moscow meeting place. He was late again.

We went together to the SovAm Teleport office in the Institute of Automated Systems building, and met with Lena. I also talked with Andrei and their American woman partner, who said she had heard of me. Later, we went to meet some literary freaks, friends of Vika, to discuss their work. The freaks were interesting to me, but not their work. Then we went to look for the Ecopolis of Peace office, but got lost because Igor R. was spacing. The underground music studio where he worked got ripped off at gunpoint the previous evening.

We finally located their office, and had a good meeting with my friend Alexander his associate Vladimir. I had met Alexander, and his wife Svetlana, in Brussels the previous year at the international coordination meeting of the Earth Concert project. Alexander and Vladimir had also met with Liza, whom I had talked with over the phone when she was visiting the Social-Ecological Union. Alexander invited me to go with him to a holistic healing conference in the Ukraine for the weekend, and to visit him and his wife in the nearby village where they were now living. I readily accepted.

We had a long, stressful wait for a chicken dinner. Afterwards, I went to meet Igor N. at his bicycle club to see a slide show of his most recent trip to the U.S. There were some interesting conflicts on this trip. At the end, I took some questions about my own trip.

Wednesday, November 21, 1990

I listened to the BBC, wrote in my journal, and took a vitamin, before breakfasting with Igor N. We spent a long time talking.

I tried to connect to the Teleport, but couldn't. I called one of my contacts to find out what the problems was. He said Elena, from the SovAm Teleport, had called him and ordered him to change his password or she would cut him off. He suggested that I call Alexei at the Foundation for Social Innovation. Alexei would not discuss the problem over the phone, and insisted we must meet to discuss the problem fully.

I had lunch of fish, baloney, bread, and tea with Igor N. Again, we talked a long time. I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting and repacking my things. I left my bicycle and computer stuff there at Igor's, together with the bike things I wanted to send to Sasha in Brest.

I met Alexander at 20:00 in a metro station, and we boarded a nearby train for the town of Lugansk, in the Ukraine. We enjoyed a good dinner in the dining car, which cost 10 roubles for the two of us. I slept well.

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