{"product_id":"elizondo-griest-stephanie-around-the-bloc-9780812967609","title":"Around the Bloc","description":"Desperate to escape South Texas, Stephanie Elizondo Griest dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. So she headed to Russia looking for some excitement—commencing what would become a four-year, twelve-nation Communist bloc tour that shattered her preconceived notions of the \"Evil Empire.” 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. 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.","brand":"Ballantine Group","offers":[{"title":"Used - good","offer_id":53293009502550,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/5829\/5382\/files\/product_image_9780812967609_1.jpg?v=1778634305","url":"https:\/\/www.momoxbooks.com\/products\/elizondo-griest-stephanie-around-the-bloc-9780812967609","provider":"momoxbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}