Have you ever had the experience of waiting to have a question answered?  But you didn't realize you had the question until suddenly, one day...the answer is there.  Then you realized you'd had that question all along.  This has been my experience while reading Secondhand Time:  The Last of the Soviets, by Svetlana Alexievich.  My question is this, "What were the opinions and stories of the people of Russia during the time frame of my own life?"  I have heard so much about them from news and politicians (theirs and ours).  And I studied Western Civilization last summer where I learned about the high points...(and low points) of their history.  But how did the people feel about all of this?        I had long suspected that there was more to the story than I was hearing.  And I have a personal twist to this story that gave me a perspective that perhaps has not been considered by most outside of Ru...

My first European trip is coming up fast!  I've been crazy busy scouring my to-do lists, rules and regulations, and what to pack and not pack documents.  My guest bedroom has been sacrificed to this cause; it's full of piles of sundry items, and lists, and little travel bottles of various liquids including laundry soap.  I plan to wash and hang my dirty-to-clean underwear across six countries.  And yes, my little rope and clothes pins are in the pile too. As I sit here in my burgeoning excitement, the thing I am most excited about this morning is drinking British tea.  "Susan could get that in the states," you may be thinking to yourself.  But drinking it here and drinking it there will be two entirely different experiences, I am quite sure.  And when I am there, I intend to savor every sip.