Michelle Kwan blogs for the U.S. Department of State

Sadly we are experiencing technical difficulties today, with only very limited Internet access. A frustrating end to an interesting day. At any rate, a short entry this time with no pictures. I'll get those up as soon as technology is my friend again.

Today -- after a two hour drive over the mountains that separate Simferopol from Yalta - I got to visit Crimean Humanitarian University. The deputy rector (equivalent to a university vice president or maybe dean of students) was hilarious, cracking jokes and entertaining us the whole time we were there. He clearly has a great rapport with the students. It turns out that he participated in a U.S. government exchange program previously -- an experience he clearly relished. I bet he cracked jokes then, too. The students he introduced me to were also a lot of fun. The room was absolutely packed, probably over 100 people there, and they asked great questions. I was impressed by how many people were using English - which I had really not expected.

At the university, we also toured their Special Department for Disabled Students, which focuses on students with primarily physical disabilities. One of their students, Oleksandr Petrenko, was in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics with me -- although our paths didn't cross. He won a silver in single sculls rowing. Unfortunately, our paths didn't cross this time either. Oh well. The Department is the only institute of higher education like this in Ukraine. Conditions at the school are pretty basic, but you can tell the staff is doing the best they can with what they've got. Hopefully they'll get further resources soon, so that they'll be able to accomplish some of the stuff they've got planned and build on their current accomplishments.

Before closing, I should also mention having the chance to visit Livadiya Palace, site of the 1945 Yalta Conference and the former vacation home for the last Russian tsar and his family. They let me sit in Roosevelt's chair, and we got a slightly behind-the-scenes tour of the museum. I really enjoyed getting to see the Romanov family photographs -- what a sad story.

Hopefully we'll have photographs soon. In the meantime, if you are interested in history -- read about the Yalta Conference and Livadiya Palace, and imagine me there!

Content was made available to the USOC by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Read more about Michelle's adventurees in her role as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy.