Translation and interpreting solutions were once an crucial tool in creating and ruling vast empires. So, in 1999, Luba came to live with us and I traveled to Seltso (which is outdoors of Bryansk) in August, 1999 and stayed with her family for two weeks prior to her coming to live with my family members in the US. At the time, I confess, I did not have much of an interest in Russian culture - in 1