By Alla Valko
Alla Valko, member of the Russian Union of Writers, is known for her reporting, travel writing, ironic novels, short stories, and memoirs. Alla is a graduate of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Candidate of Technical Sciences. She is the holder of prestigious awards of
the Moscow and International Unions of Writers.
SYNOPSIS
TITLE: “America Through My Eyes”
GENRE: Journal
SETTING: The American Continent
PERIOD: 21st Century
MAIN CHARACTERS:
the Author and Americans
For the first time in her life the author travels abroad. She feels like Alice in Wonderland. Everything surprises her: the absence of public transport, a car for every member of the family, the layout of the apartments, the citrus tree branches letting their fruit fall onto the sidewalks, passers-by smiling and greeting each other at every encounter.
The author is enchanted by the mists, the ocean, the sky, and the fantastic painted sunsets. This fragile woman is not afraid of earthquakes and tsunamis. At every step American Nature presents her with a new marvel, from the “bottlebrush” tree to the “bird of paradise” flower.
The author gives humorous descriptions of her journeys along the coast of the Pacific Ocean by Amtrak and Metrolink, and tells us of her vivid impressions of celebration gatherings at Christmas and of New Year’s Eve. Together with the author the reader experiences the excitement of a Youth Football
championship, of rushing down Mammoth Mountain on skis, dipping under the water in an underwater vessel on the shores of the Island of Maui, suffering the burning heat of Death Valley and descending to the lowest depths of its sand dunes, gazing on the dancing fountains of Las Vegas, gambling a few
dollars in the casinos, standing in awe of the canyons of four states, delighting in the beauty of the Danish California “capital” of Solvang, feeding ostriches, sailing in an ocean liner along the Pacific coast of Mexico, sheltering in the shade of palapas on the Atlantic coast, making excursions to the old cities of the Indians, and learning the causes
of the ruin of the Mayan civilization.
Synopsis translation is done by Gray Felstiner