Hello Rohawk class of ’69 and all,
I didn’t plan it this way, but I think I’m one of the Rohawks who have flown farthest afield from good old Randolph AFB. Greetings to you all from Kamchatka, Russia! I’ve been living here for nearly 15 years now, and for the last 10 years, am married to a great man, Yuri Barada, yes a Russian. I came to Kamchatka in 1993 with an interest in Russian and American history, after having worked for 18 years at a fine natural history museum in a wonderful little town, Homer, Alaska. Yuri and I have a big house, gardens, greenhouse, a couple of dogs, cats, and two horses. He’s a hydrologist with the federal weather service, and he helps me a lot with our ecotourism business, called “Explore Kamchatka.” We also use our house as a Bed and Breakfast for up to 8 people. Kamchatka is such an exotic place, that we enjoy hosting adventurous travelers from many different countries. It’s a lot of fun.
I won’t make it to the reunion, it being SO far away and at a busy time of the tourism season for me. I wish I could see you all and see if we recognize each other. I haven’t changed a bit! (Ha!) I send my warmest wishes to you all. I’m not the best letter writer in the world, especially during my busy tourism season, but anyone who’d like to catch up, feel free to write to me! At some point I’ll write back. :)
Some of you might know that I moved to Alaska right after the University of Texas and found just one of the loveliest spots on the planet to live in for 20 years in a little town of Homer. My youngest sister Barb also moved up there and married a very nice man and they still live there, and raised 3 children. I was married for 9 years there, but we divorced. Part of our separation I think was the grief over losing our son. Anyway, my life in Homer was very good, and sometimes I’m amazed I left it! I was Curator of Education and Assistant Director at a truly inspiring museum in a rarely creative and involved community. Alaskan life appealed to me with the winter snow for cross country skiing and in my 20’s-early 30’s I kept a dog team, which was a great way to travel. Summers in Alaska are a chance to fish, gather berries, go boating, to hike, and camp with family and friends, which we did as much as we could!
Some of you might know that I moved to Alaska right after the University of Texas and found just one of the loveliest spots on the planet to live in for 20 years in a little town of Homer. My youngest sister Barb also moved up there and married a very nice man and they still live there, and raised 3 children. I was married for 9 years there, but we divorced. Part of our separation I think was the grief over losing our son. Anyway, my life in Homer was very good, and sometimes I’m amazed I left it! I was Curator of Education and Assistant Director at a truly inspiring museum in a rarely creative and involved community. Alaskan life appealed to me with the winter snow for cross country skiing and in my 20’s-early 30’s I kept a dog team, which was a great way to travel. Summers in Alaska are a chance to fish, gather berries, go boating, to hike, and camp with family and friends, which we did as much as we could!
But in my early 40’s I got wanderlust and with my interests in Russia’s exploration and settlement of Alaska in the 18th and 19th centuries, I took a trip to Kamchatka to visit a family I’d met. After returning to my job at the museum, I kept thinking of the struggles of people during “perestroika” which meant they weren’t getting paid, money was devalued, and they lived in a rudderless society. I decided it would be fascinating to spend a year in Kamchatka, volunteering to help cultural organizations learn to survive in a market economy. With this idea in mind, the financial support to do it seemed to nearly fall in my lap with some grants, and off I went to Kamchatka in December 1994. Of course my family, friends, and museum assumed in a year I’d be back in Homer to continue life in this mystic hamlet by the sea. At that point, I did too!
Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, and for sure I’m an idealistic and romantic type, and I found life in Kamchatka during this crazy and unstable time, very interesting! I worked at the regional science library and taught many seminars in program planning and grant writing, fund raising and project management. And I took whatever chances I could get to explore Kamchatka with my growing group of Russian friends. As it happened a group of my friends and I skied to the field station where my future husband, Yuri worked. So after a year, I didn’t really want to leave, and I stayed on, volunteering with a district library system in the small city, “Yelizovo.” During this year, Yuri and I committed to living life together in Russia and in 1998 we got married.
Kamchatka is a beautiful mountainous and volcanic peninsula with cold winters and quite nice summers. We stay very busy with our Explore Kamchatka business, not only planning adventure and ecotours for intrepid travelers around the peninsula, but also doing more and more work with documentary film and photography organizations like BBC, National Geographic, Canadian Broadcasting, and others. This summer we’re working with a German nature film documentary and National Geographic magazine on a big article about salmon. Later this year, watch for a photo essay in NG on Kamchatka that we helped with last summer. Also for the last 4 years I do consulting for the UN Development Program to develop ecotourism on 4 protected areas in Kamchatka.
Like I said, we have a guest house, so if you want to come and visit, just say so! I love to “talk American,” as I speak Russian at home and at work most of the time. In my town there aren’t any other Americans living, so I do enjoy catching up with any visitors who come through.
I am coming to the states in the fall to go to my nephew Riley’s (my youngest sister Barb’s son) wedding in Bend, Oregon, but I won’t be getting to Texas I don’t think. Since my parents are both gone now, I don’t get to Texas that often. My sister Liz lives in Kyle, and she has 2 grown girls and 5 grand children! So I do visit them once in awhile.
I’m really enjoying reading the Rohawk blog and looking for familiar faces! So gee, I wish you all a great and happy reunion, and I wish I could be there!
Warm wishes to you all,
Martha Madsen
Class of ‘69
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