On April 15 - 25, 1976, I went on a high school trip to the Soviet Union. The teacher who arranged the trip - Mr. Melnikoff - was Ukrainian; a fact he informed us of the first time we met. Not surprisingly he had no love for the U.S.S.R. - which he made abundantly clear throughout the journey.
I actually think that was the reason why he was making these yearly trips with impressionable children in tow. He was a man on a bad-word-of-mouth mission. Although he says his goal was to show the Russians how nice Americans were.
I also believe that he was ex-CIA. Why do I think that? Because one of my professors at East Stroudsburg State College admitted he was ex-CIA. Having already met Mr. Melnikoff it made me think that the Poconos were a destination spot for outed spies.
But more about Mr. Melnikoff. He had a B.S. from West Chester State Teachers College and an M.A. in Physics from NYU. (The plot thickens.) From 1942-1945 he served with distinction in the Pacific with the Army's 76th Station Hospital during the liberation of the Philippines and later the occupation of Japan. He ultimately achieved the rank of Captain.
From 1946-1947 he taught at NYU. In 1947, he and his wife moved to Scranton and ran a dry cleaning business. In 1964, he began teaching at Pocono Mountain High School. Between 1968 and 1992, he led over 20 tour groups to Russia. He was also a consultant for Secretary of State Dean Rusk on national educational programs about the Soviet Union.
He died on February 26, 2006 at the age of 89.
We were the eighth class that made the voyage. Because of his connections, our trip was very different from those of the other high school students who joined us. In particular, he arranged for us to travel between Moscow and Leningrad (now back to Saint Petersburg) on an overnight train. In the morning he banged on everyone's doors to wake us so that we could see the collective farms that were usually hidden from tourists. They were dismal. As were the housing blocks sprinkled among them.
We went to visit a school. Interestingly the students were learning English. I'm not sure why, but many Russian adults spoke German.
Before we left the U.S., Mr. Melnikoff gave us a list of words and phrases to memorize. Helpful stuff like: "Can I have my key?" and "Where is the bathroom?" And of course "thank you" and "yes."
In Moscow we stayed at the famous Rossiya hotel. I think it might have been the only hotel then. It was certainly the biggest in the country with 2,272 rooms. One day as I entered the building a man held the door for me, so I thanked him in Russian saying "spa see ba." This led to a torrent of words from him as we walked down the long lobby toward the front desk. In Russian I replied "yah nee pan ee mah yoo" which means - I don't understand you.
He decided to rephrase and try again. But when I again answered: "yah nee pan ee mah yoo" he began to grasp the fact that I did not in fact speak Russian. At that point he said: "Americana?" And I immediately replied: "Si." Oops.
I also missed the bus in Moscow. That was a bit scary. We were visiting the Kremlin. I was hanging out with some kids from a different high school and for some odd reason ended up on neither bus when the tour concluded. I had a moment of extreme terror. But then I thought - the wall around The Kremlin runs into Red Square and I know how to get back from to the hotel from there. So my panic subsided quickly.
The next thing to do was to decide which direction to walk in. We had arrived via a road along the river and that seemed to take a while so I opted to go left. Once I turned the corner I was in Red Square so I had guessed correctly. From there I made my way back to the hotel where my roommate was freaking out.
One of the students from a different high school got lost after a night of drinking, but luckily he spoke German so someone helped him home.
Used blue jeans were going for about $50 a pair in 1976, which was about 10x their cost in the U.S., but Russian rubles were useless outside of Russia. So the students who sold their jeans used the money to buy booze. Eventually the group received a formal warning from the government to stop selling their jeans.
A walk through Gum Department store - Moscow's largest, was enlightening. There were rows upon rows of ugly poorly made shoes at a cheap price, but only a small kiosk with pretty scarves which I am sure were overpriced. Anything of real value wasn't available at all. Caviar, Russian nesting dolls, furs, and top shelf Vodka were sold exclusively through Beriozka shops which only accepted hard currencies. It was easy to see what was going on.
The food was also terrible. I am sure that they were showing off for their American visitors so I can only wonder what the average person ate. They served stringy tough meat and a few overcooked vegetables. During the banquet on the last night I had my first piece of fruit in 11 days - a grapefruit. I was more excited about that than the caviar.
BTW, while St. Basil's Cathedral is beautiful on the outside, it's nothing to look at on the inside.
Leningrad on the other hand was quite beautiful inside and out. We were told that it was referred to as the Venice of the north due to all the bridges. But I've heard the same thing said of Amsterdam. It seemed like every building was the former palace of a member of the Russian nobility and they were all quite ornate on the outside.
There seemed to be lots of scaffolding about though.
So what was my net impression after the trip? The Soviet Union was doomed.
Why? Because doesn't everyone want better food and luxury goods?
Mr. Melnikoff was a great teacher.
Cheers!
PJ
(c) 2022 PJ Lehrer
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