Where shall I begin... Monday and Tuesday were somewhat normal despite the fact that the U.S. Embassy told me to stop meeting with my American Corner friends. It turns out that the KGB thing was true and if we continued to meet, even in a private home, they could get into serious trouble. And that was only the beginning...
Around 2:30pm on Wednesday, right in the middle of one of my classes, my phone rang. It was the U.S. Embassy so I stepped outside and took the call. The assistant secretary of defense had terminated all of the U.S. sponsored education programs in Belarus... and yes, that meant me. The decision had been made late the night before, and as Belaurs was 7 hours ahead of Washington DC, the Embassy had just received the news. Everyone was on stand-by as it was possible we would have to leave within one week!
Needless to say, I was in shock.
