Team Oregon Interview on Flowrestling

http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/238812-Russian-Nationals-2011/video/499556-Bader-Mixing-It-Up-With-Some-Oregon-Kids

Coming to America

We have touched down in Houston and are going through customs. Good to be back in the USA.

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Good Morning Moscow

We will be leaving Moscow at about 10:40 am local time (11:40 pm Tues in PDX). We arrive in Houston around Noon PDST and will arrive back in Portland around 8am. It's not quite 24 hours of travel but it's a lot.

We'd like to thank Mike Simons, Sam Adamov and Mike Clock for making this happen for us. We also want to thank Patricia Schilling for maintaining this blog. We also want to thank Marc Sprague for opening his training camp to the team. There are countless others who helped us along the way that I should thank but with a lack of sleep and typing with one thumb on my iPhone won't be able to summon from my memory. Thanks again and we look forward to returning home to Oregon.

Top Ten List

We were talking on the tour bus about our experiences and thought we would post our top ten experiences in Russia not in any particular order:

1-Visiting Amga: We had a good couple of days in this remote village(by our standards). We were the first Americans to visit this village and was highlighted by a trip to the river, winning our dual and Raymond dancing for the summer camp.

2-Moscow: The most expensive city in the world, the city with the most billionaires and the capital of Russia was full of memories for us. The introduction to bargaining at the flea market, riding the Metro and Red Square stand out in our stay here.

3-The Roads: Not only do you gain an appreciation for another culture but you also can gain a deeper appreciation for what you have back home. Tarmac would be one of those things you really don't think about but would really miss if it weren't there.

4-Russian Nationals: Super passionate fans, multiple world and Olympic champions and a small venue makes for a once in a lifetime experience.

5-Hapsigai: The Sakha equivalent of our folkstyle was a lot of fun and led to two of our guys getting on the same mat as world and Olympic champs and representing their country!

6-Kamus: Fermented mares milk is a traditional way to welcome visitors to a Sakha village or home. We were offered this drink on several occasions and each time it left an impression. We do appreciate the thought but haven't quite acquired the taste yet.

7-Friendship Party: We had Cosmic Bowling, dancing and gifts exchanged on our last night in Yakutsk. It was a perfect way to end our tone with our new friends.

8-Portland Saturday Market: Trading, bargains and shady deals going on in the dorms was something to behold. I imagine Turkish rug merchants have nothing on these guys.

9-Mammoth Museum and Kingdom of Ice: We got to visit both of these on Saturday and had a great time.

10-Cultural Exchange: More than anything we were able to interact with and learn from a culture different from our own. With as many differences as there are between the average American teenager and that of Yakutia, we've found far more similarities. The universal truth that kids are kids rings true more so than ever after this trip.

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Back in Moscow

We arrived back in Moscow without incident. Our tour operator was waiting for us and we've been back to the Kremlin and Red Square and we're now shopping. Some of the boys have hit McDonalds. We leave early tomorrow. More to follow when we get to the hotel.

On to Moscow

We had a great last day in Yakutsk. We had a traditional Sakha meal and were able to relax for a short while. We then had a "friendship party" with the wrestlers and teachers from School #2 along with some girls that had been invited. The boys did some cosmic bowling, then we received more gifts from our hosts. We each received a framed certificate honoring our visit, a personalized photo montage of our trip and finally a hand made kamus cup that the students of school #2 made for us.

Then the kids danced until midnight. It was of course still very light out for our walk home.

We are packing up now and preparing to leave for Moscow. We have a tour there and then a flight tomorrow. Prepare for exhausted kids. All in all it should be a great day.

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One Day and a Wake-up

Well we're down to our last day in Yakutsk. We have a dual in 30 min with our host club, then souvenir shopping. We fly out tomorrow to Moscow and then have a tour of the city. Then it's on to Houston and PDX!

It's the 4th of July here which again is a bit different. Being in the former Soviet Union on Independence Day has a funny feeling to it.

A quick note, Toney Chay got up on center mat to compete on hapsigai last night. He didn't win his match but it wad exciting nonetheless. A little buzz still exists over Joey's match because apparently he beat a provincial champion. He even got some ink in the daily wrestling publication the put out each day. Well off to the dual.

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Hapsigai on Flowrestling!

Joey Delgado made history by competing in the hapsigai tournament on the center mat after the conclusion of the finals matches tonight. Joey won his first match with a spectacular counter to a single leg. He lost his second match but lasted longer than the reigning Russian national champ. Flowrestling was there to video the historic occasion so you can check it out when they upload it. Tomorrow Toney Chay will compete!

Earlier in the day the team visited a few museums. One was in an old Cossack house on the edge of town with all sorts of interesting bits. Next we visited the "Kingdom of Frozen Things," where we went in an ice cave with all sorts of Christmas themed ice carvings. Finally we hit the Mammoth museum with the skeleton of a full sized mammoth and lots of other ice age stuff. Very interesting.

At this point it's hard to tell the difference between the clothing of Team Oregon and our hosts. The dorm has basically become a Turkish bizarre with trades, sales and highway robbery taking place around each corner. Several of our kids are wearing Russian warm ups and t shirts while "Sweet Home University" was proudly displayed on a Russian chest today among several other Oregon themed shirts, shorts, hats, etc.

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Holy Mammoth!

We are going to visit the permafrost museum this AM and then look at an actual mammoth that was dug out of the permafrost. This afternoon we will watch the finals of the three weights contested today. We will try to post photos tonight.

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We had a little problem getting to the wrestling last night and found one local in our seats. After our hosts pleaded with him to move, we took things into our own hands.