Russia 2007 - an invitation from Patch Adams, M.D.
Dear Clowns of 2007,
Welcome to the 24th Annual Russian Clown Trip! Are you ready to commit? Here is your invitation for the November 5-20 trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg. My brother, Wildman, and I are ready to invite you into the enchantment of public and facility clowning with love and fun in service to relieve suffering and promote joyful living. We will take up to 40 people who want to clown solidly for two weeks. We have taken ages 10-87.
There is no experience required, only the commitment to go to the engagements. We will clown one week in each city at hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, hotels, subways, restaurants, everywhere. I ask people to wear their costumes on the airplane and throughout the trip, coming to each engagement full of love, compassionm and fun for everyone.
This year the trip costs $4625 for people coming from the U.S. and $3595 for people paying their transportation to Russia from other countries. The fee includes airfare, hotels, meals, all bus rides, the train to St. Petersburg from Moscow, and $150 which we add on so that Russian friends and orphans can do things with us; they are poor. You can view the 2007 brochure from MIR Corporation, our tour agents, here on our site. We Gesundheit! Staff members, at least four of us, charge nothing for our services.
If you love people, you cannot fail on this tour. This is a great buddy trip for your lover, friend or kids. There are no clown classes on the trip—just doing. (You could take classes at your home, if you wish.) You will get a huge number of hours of experience in a wide variety of settings to experiment in. Each person is responsible for their own delight. I am just one of the clowns on the trip, doing my own exploring of work and play. I should not be your motivation to come; rather the privilege to serve in love and fun with all we encounter.
My goals are: (1) to give the participants a magical clown troupe experience, encouraging group cohesiveness in intimacy for all, and (2) to spread as much fun and love everywhere as is humanly possible—so that all can see how easy it is, in hopes that people will take this home to their daily lives, (3) to expose you to many Russians in hopes you will make friends with at least one, (4) to give each the opportunity to two solid weeks of finding and spending their clown self, and (5) to expose people to poverty so that each will feel the discomfort of the discrepancy between rich and poor.
I encourage folks to read at least one book on Russian history and as much Russian literature as possible: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, Pushkin, Pasternak, Mandelstam, Akmatova etc. You will be well cared for in this very poor, troubled country, and I fully discourage any whiners or misanthropes. This is not a trip for a person who is a prima donna.
To reserve a place, I suggest quickly sending a $500 nonrefundable deposit to the MIR Corporation, the tour company we use. Foreigners can wire the money. Fax MIR at (206) 624-7360, or send a check drawn on a U.S. bank to:
The MIR Corporation
85 South Washington Street #210
Seattle, WA 98104 U.S.A.
www.mircorp.com [1]
If you'd like to see the MIR brochure for this trip, click here [2] (USA), or here [3] (international).
The trip tends to fill up quickly, so if you are sure, act promptly. Many poor people have come by finding sponsors, writing friends, finding church or corporation support, holding bake sales, selling T-shirts. This is no vacation, rather lots of hard work in service to humanity.
My brother, Wildman, does these trips with me and handles your questions. Do not send him money. You can write him at 6855 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA 22213, or call him at (540) 298-4589.
These trips are popular and we allow some repeaters. We also will direct you to information about our friend Ginevra's Clown One Italia trip this summer. If you can't go on this trip, and want to stay in touch for future trips, let us know.
Of course, you can do all of this for free in your home town.
Commit to a life of peace, justice, and care for all people.
In peace,
Patch