A VOYAGE TO
MY SOCIETY
(From page 78) that went for miles
underground. It went down a con-
tinual slope of huge transitions all the
way to the supposed best skate spot
in the whole desert. I decided to
venture there with some of the tribe.
The speeds in these giant tunnels
were unbelievable. It was like a high-
way. All around the transitions lived
families of Eillos. There were candles
like the ones I had seen before that
lit your way as you raced on by. The
whole ride was a high-non-stop.
complete speed, utterly intense.
Often an Eillo would speed by me or
I would hear someone holler my
name and it would echo for a long
time. The whole trek could be done
in about fifteen minutes, at least
that's how long it took me. Seeing the
small opening of the tunnel slowly
growing bigger, I raced and carved
my way to the end. Water careened
in front of the opening like a blanket.
The pounding liquid turbulence was
so loud it was hard to think. My legs
were numb from the intense skating
I had just done. I jumped with all my USSR SKATE slalom. We have some very good
might through the falling water and
was amazed my what I saw. I was
prepared to see the greatest skate
boarding terrain that could be im-
agined, but I was met instead by
beautiful pools of bubbling blue
water, cascading elegantly through
the mountains and green jungle. The
sound of the loud rushing waters and
joyous cries of Eillos bounded all
around the trees and wonderfully
sculptured rocks.
This was where the desert ended
and the jungle began. I saw them
jumping high off the ledges in
elegant flips and dives and splashing
into the cool, blue pools. Everywhere
I looked there were Eillos bathing and
swimming. Chace was sitting in the
sun. His shorts and hair were wet and
he was eating a mango. I sat down
next to him and he handed me a
mango. There was no need to talk,
besides, the splashing water was too
loud. We just sat there looking at all
the frolicking Eillos. We finished the
tangy fruit and took off running, then
jumped off the ledge and into the
rippling water.
How funny it was that the Eillos
thought of nature and water as such
great things. They had probably lived
for centuries on the deserts, and now
this generation was lucky enough to
feel the wonderful sensation of water
and the smell of trees and nature. I
felt sad for the next generation,
though, for they would soon follow
the river to its end and find the pain
from which I had run.
116
(From page 54) themselves. I have done
this too. I have designed and ma
chined some trucks out of aluminum.
One guy was very good at making
trucks. He made ten of them.
Did your mechanics study at
technical school help you with
designing?
Yes, I made several reports and
projects on skateboards, mostly
trucks.
slalomers here. I have an impression
that Americans have got a lot of in-
formation about Estonia from the
newspapers because of our actions
to get a free life.
Have there been anti-Soviet
demonstrations?
The demonstrations are not
against the Soviet Union. They're not
carried out as anti-Soviet actions.
We're just trying to make our life bet-
ter, we are in the very front line of
How long have you been skating Perestroika. If we don't struggle for
in contests?
it, nobody will give it to us.
Since the very beginning. I had on-
ly been skating one month when I got
second place in my age group.
What is the relationship between
Russian and Estonian skaters?
We are great friends, we always go
to each other's competitions. Skate
boarders in Moscow are really nice
guys. In Barnow, we had a Golden
Skateboard contest. It was very
famous. The Moscow group came
and we started up good contacts.
What was the result of the USSR
article in Thrasher?
I have made friends in the United
States and Canada. They have writ-
ten some really nice letters and I have
been answering them with the time
that I have. Some guys have been
sending me magazines.
At the train station, a bus-load of
young men pulled up. The confused
innocents ambled into line for role
call before leaving for their three-year
mandatory army service. We watch
ed their mothers weep and fathers
gaze until it was our turn to leave. We
said goodbye to our friends who had
given us four days of memories and
more. Our train arrived in rainy Len-
ingrad eleven hours later.
Splitting up into groups was
becoming a tradition. Chris and I car-
ried our tired souls through the
dreary streets with our new host,
Aleksey, a cheerful balding hipster
who taught at a nearby institute. We
went to his house, met his toothless
barking dog, and took much need-
In general, what is the scene like ed naps. That night we had our first
in the Soviet Union?
Skateboarding in the Soviet Union
(including Estonia) has gone a very
different way than yours in the States.
We have no ramps and street skating
has just been born. We mainly
taste of the city. The groups met at
an old theater house where we took
our places in a box by the stage and
watched one of Russia's famous
ballet troupes dance up a variety of
traditional and contemporary pieces.
FREE
FALL 89
COLOR CATALOG!
Leningrad is Russia's navel-
slightly dirty, mysterious, and the root
of the country's beginning. The
sights and sounds are a reminder of
the past as well as a glimpse of the
future. Due to the drizzle in the sky
and the puddles under our feet,
skating was delayed. We strolled and
bussed merrily from place to place.
Five hours was not enough to see
all the paintings and sculptures at the
world famous Hermitage Art
Museum. All day was too much at the
Czar's winter palace.
The sky revealed its true color the
following day. Aleksey and his
skating son brought us to the local
practice ground. We spent our third
and final day skating with a bunch
of youths in their square. Some of the
faces were familiar from the party
slide show we had seen the previous
night. A blue can of paint was
brought out and we smeared our
names on the pavement. Chris was
riding a lamppost that was used to
support a narrow ramp Sergei had
been carving. From there we rushed
to catch our Moscow express.
Our last few days in the USSR
were spent slowly. We would start the
festivities in the early evening and
celebrate through the night. During
the day we just did what we wanted;
singing with the drunks on the sub-
way or sitting in a park with the
pigeons. We slept late every day and
ate mass quantities of food..
The day came when we skated our
last session with our friends and
discussed a future visit to the States.
As we rode around the puddles in
and outside the Olympiisky complex
ideas flew on how to get a group of
Soviet skaters over to the West. Final
thoughts were that an invitation
would have to be sent as soon as
possible because of the slow
bureaucracy. That night we ate sar-
dines at a wild party and went home
to pack
Everyone went to the airport to say
goodbye. Our plane, late as usual,
brought us to New York, where the
thickly accented residents eyed us
with curiosity. My dad and brother
came to see me and we sat until it
was our turn to board. Adam rushed
back just in time with food on his
face, groaning, "Ahh, American
food. We boarded the plane and
slept all the way home.
If there's one thing I learned on this
journey, it's that, no matter how dif
ferent nations are politically, people
all over the world express themselves
in natural, human ways. A common
form of expression is too strong a
bond to be broken by doctrine and
dogma. I hope others are as lucky
with their curiosity and travels as we
were with ours. Peace.
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