October 29 - Chelyabinsk

Usually, as soon as we get into a town, we call a local journalist or some other contact who help can us get started with our work. But by the time we arrived yesterday, it was already late Saturday afternoon and we weren't able to line up any meetings until Monday. Not wanting to waste a day, we decided to hit the streets cold this morning and try to find our story.

We didn't have to look very far. A red flag waving just across the street from our apartment caught our attention. It stood like a centerpiece on the corner where Communists, nationalists and other fringe political groups gather, selling their propaganda and partaking in heated debate.

We spent the entire day on the corner of "Ploshad Revolutzi" splitting our time between interviewing people like Galina, Alexanderand Lena and in return being interrogated ourselves. Once word spread that we were Americans, we were soon at the center of several volatile discussions. At one point, Lisa was cornered and surround by a crowd firing questions at her from every direction. We were both accused by some of being capitalist propagandists and lairs. and praised by others for our objective and unbiased reporting . We heard all kinds racial slurs, nationalist rhetoric, revisionist and conspiracy theories. Hidden in the mist of all the commotion stood Nicolai Mytskikh. A quiet man who comes out to the square every weekend and the main subject for our story.

Even though there was a lot of hostility directed at America, most of the people we spoke to eventually calmed down and became pretty friendly. Even the most rabid of them, a small man with a contorted face who at first was so upset when he met us that he could barely speak, raised his fist in a people's salute and smiled at Lisa as he turned to leave, asking her to say hello to the workers of America for them.



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