So, to finish the story of Saturday night. Nicki had a party to celebrate Shelley's return home and our visit. He invitied people they know from different places in thier lives and it was a very interesting mix. If you read Jane Austen, her characters talk about people "having good conversation" and that was a major component of Saturday night. I might forget some people but in general here's who I met -- Jan (who showed us around on our first day) and her husband, who works for a private oil company. They're both from Montana and, as it turns out, Mom worked with his brother when she was at MSU. A couple from France, he designs cars for Renault and she's a green energy engineer. They were delightful and just seemed to be so "French" -- I have no idea how else to explain them. Another couple -- he's American and she's Russian and they both work in IT, he's a consultant and she does software project managment. Mom had a good time discussing technology with both of them. The couple from Scotland were a hoot. They lived in Dubai before Moscow and I would love to tell you her rendition of a trip to the Bolshoi ballet to see a new interpretation of the Magic Flute, but I'd only mess it up. Two Russian women, one works with Nicki, the other was her friend, were here. I didn't get a chance to talk to woman Nicki worked with but her friend taught economics at Moscow State University. It took me a while in the course of our conversation to figure this out -- when she said she was "at" university, I thought that she was still going to school. She looked far to young to be teaching there. Another couple know Shelley from the American Women's Organization, which has a lot of events and charity work that tie the ex-pats here toghether. Two young American guys that live downstairs in the same building are here as entrepeneurs, trying to start various businesses in Moscow. One of them is going to spend a couple weeks this summer deeper in Russia to work on his russian -- he said it was too easy to get by with English in Mosocw. Surprisingly it's been pretty easy, at least to get buy with the aid of a lot of pointing :) Oh -- and as it turns out, the Ambassador did have to work and couldn't make it. Apparently Hilary needed him more than we did.