Monday morning! We prepare for our first production meeting with Tatiana Didenko at the Russian State TV. We experience a part of Tanya¹s workday, and find out that it is not easy to execute plans here. Nothing functions as it is supposed to. Decisions are not made in a straightforward manner: discussions shift in mood and float between subjects, our concentration breaks up easily with many distractions. We wonder if this is an evasion of the point, a lack of focus and fresh air, or simply that we are rubbing sholders with habits that survive from people¹s inexperience with authority or their need to make quick decisions.

The week continues. It is exhausting to work here. It takes a long time to get anywhere, physically! It was much easier to communicate virtually. One hour to cross the city by metro and/or bus is not unusual. We find our way to obscure addresses, pushing through crowds of unbelievable numbers of people in the metro, where it is a permanent rush hour. We usually arrive 15 - 30 minutes late, with a specific goal to do something, and end up accomplishing a completely different task. We are amazed that somehow we meet our objective, but in a very roundabout way.

We are loaded down with equipment, Eva is carrying a Canon High 8 video camera, a 35mm camera with a telephoto lens, a Polaroid camera, and the Satellite navigation system PIXIS. Kathy is carrying her IBM Laptop, batteries, power cables and telephone connections, a Minox camera with flash, a Sony mini-cassette recorder, all the maps, project materials, and her GAME BOY. We are shooting video and photo documentation for Siberian Deal as part of the project, and will send videotape to VPR¹s new Internet/TV program, called Web.World.Receiver.