photo challenge. a totally different type of tag

much to my surprise, i popped over tonight to Audrey of audreypawdrey and saw i was tagged for a photo challenge. i was a bit scared (i'm such a solitude & can get freaked about little things like this! :D ) because i had no idea what could possibly be the "fourth file and the fourth photo in that file." that's the challenge. and to tag four other people, after you explain your photo. well, my fourth file is something called "moscow2006" and the fourth photo in that file, the following picture.


it's the kitchen in a furnished apartment in a nice moscow nieghborhood about a mile from the kremlin. it is NOT typical of an average russian citizen's housing.

how do i explain this? well, tee spent a week here & i followed for another week. we were staying with tee's former supervisor & close friend/mentor, previously a forest operations supervisor who accepted a position as general director of a packaging company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company tee still works for (though he, too, is now in a different division) and i once did. tee was asked to come and interview a small group of people (primarily russians, with the help of a bilingual employee) who would be gd's closest allies in this new adventure. i was no longer working for the company at the time so my stay in moscow was totally pleasure except for those many hours & opportunities the three of us would discuss business, previous & then. it was june/july so gd's wife & three teenage children were back home for the summer break. the assignment was to be temporary, of about 3 years. let me tell you, they lived it to the max in adventure & culture!

i cannot tell you what an experience this was, the places we saw, including the kremlin, red square & lenin's tomb, that we often exclaim now when we see it on tv..."look, we were there!"...and the time with gd and the wonderful people he worked with that were totally open to us. but, russia is unlike many travel destinations most of us, especially from north america, know & frequent. i'm glad to say neither of us had a difficult time traveling alone or together to & from with customs, passport & immigration! there's a lot of history, a lot of pain and you as a guest have to know that, live that. but, it opens your eyes and helps you understand the basic necessities of all human beings...food, shelter, safety & a friendly face.

i still can't believe this was the picture.

so, it's my turn to tag. I'd like to invite Kris with quilted simple (awesome life pictures & a fun, upbeat blog!) , Leslie with a friend to knit with (she has so many incredible photos!), Jessica of turkey cookies (who also takes wonderful photos!) & Iris of creative endeavors in a busy life who is a total artist all around!