false 24423225 326028 3429854 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3429854.Around_the_Bloc_My_Life_in_Moscow_Beijing_and_Havana 4.00 1
In Around the Bloc, Griest relates her experiences as a volunteer at a children’s shelter in Moscow, a propaganda polisher at the office of the Chinese Communist Party's English-language mouthpiece in Beijing, and a belly dancer among the rumba queens of Havana. She falls in love with an ex-soldier who narrowly avoided radiation cleanup duties at Chernobyl, hangs out with Cuban hip-hop artists, and comes to difficult realizations about the meaning of democracy.

Around the Bloc is the absorbing story of a young journalist driven by a desire to witness the effects of Communism. Along the way, she learns the Russian mathematical equation for buying dinner-party vodka (one bottle per guest, plus an extra), stumbles upon Beijing's underground gay scene, marches with 100,000 mothers demanding Elián González's return to Cuba, and gains a new appreciation for the Mexican culture she left behind.]]> 102709 3.68 311 85 2004 4 0 false Fri Jun 13 11:45:47 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 13 11:47:16 -0700 2008 more...]]>