Transniestrian holiday part 3

Yesterday was the 25th of May and as I learned is a transformative day in the life of Russian students. This is the last day of school and is when a grand ceremony is held for the graduating high school seniors. Unlike in the US, the students all learn as one group for ten years and have usually a primary school teacher for the first three years, and then another teacher overseeing their education for the remaining seven years. There are other teachers for specific disciplines, but the result is a very tightly bonded group. We went to. Visit her school named Gymnasia which is the best school in her region, particularly for those wanting to specialize in English language. When we got there, many of her teachers and the school director recognized her and asked her to give a speech. Masha came up with a heartfelt and encouraging sentiment and delivered it in English and Russian. We stood beside the Mayor of Tiraspol, who has his own children studying there, an we felt like honored guests. Attached is a picture of Masha with her first grade teacher Nadeshda who was recently recognized as an honorary teacher by the Transniestrian government. The other photo is of Masha near the bust of Zelinski who was the inventor of the gas mask and one of the distinguished students to pass through this school.

Transniestria part two

We have been experiencing some magnetic storms as they call them here, with lighting and rain. It's still perfectly warm and the rain never lasts too long so far. Here is a sketch of some Moldovan style houses set amongst the soviet apartments. Most houses have thick green grape vines hanging over the rooflines. Tiraspol is such a curious place, a rich history and many very famous Russian figures are are from here. I am also posting some of the photos from around these apartments which house workers from the textile factory here in town.

Transniestrian Holiday

Traveling with our son Arthur is difficult to say the least. Adjusting to the time zone is the hardest part after the flight because we can only sleep when he does, forcing us to nap during the day because we have only been able to sleep in 3 or 4 hour blocks at night.
On the plus side, his grandma and great grandma are cooking round the clock to feed us Moldovan style. Here is a picture of my second breakfast on our first day waking up in Tiraspol. We awoke at 2 and had our first breakfast , by 9 am in this picture great grandma added a glass of Muscat to the mixture. Today I did some of my first sketches of the local architecture which are basically soviet style apartment complexes. I will update this post with some better images when I can, working out of pocket.

Gordon Robert Smith

This is a personal piece based on news articles I found about my grandfather "Smitty". He was left behind in the Philippine Islands after the Japanese pushed the U.S. out and there he fought alongside the Philippine Resistance Army. They used guerilla warfare tactics, remaining in the hills unless they had superiority in numbers and then would strike Japanese units. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for these actions.

Wasteland Empires Intro Video

I did this intro video for Wasteland Empires to set the scene for the game. Thanks to Tu Bui for painting those hands at the end, and thanks to Chip Harris for the audio.