MOSCOW, July 22 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday meets with a group of Cuban children who won various school competitions back at home and whom he invited to come to Moscow while visiting Havana in February.
The governmental press service recalled that Medvedev examined the Russian display at the Havana International Book Fair in the course of that visit. The event is held annually and it gathers exhibitions of publishing houses from dozens of countries.
A group of six Cuban children were waiting for Medvedev in the display pavilion. They were winners of two competitions - ‘I’m Drawing Russia’ and ‘I’m Reading Russia’.
The competitions were held in one of the least affluent schools of the country. Explanatory conversations were held with the children to inform them on the special features of Russian culture and nature.
Medvedev was then taken around an impromptu exhibition of children’s drawings that reflected their notions about Russia. He saw much snow, many snowmen, churches, and, naturally, the Kremlin.
Some scenes of Russian life were copied from photographs. For instance, Medvedev admitted that a traditional Russian wooden hut on a picture looked very genuine
A girl Carla by name won a competition in reading out Russian poetry. She recited for Medvedev a scene from the ‘Tale of Czar Saltan’ by Alexander Pushkin, at the beginning of which three young women try to win over the czar’s feelings.
Although the Spanish translation stood some way off from the Russian original, the girl’s mimic and stage gestures transmitted the character of the three aspirants to Saltan’s heart so boldly that the audience simply could not conceal their delight. She got a great applause.
“That’s absolutely fine,” Medvedev said. “As far as I understand, these kids have not been in Russia yet and I invite them to visit us.”
Carla was unable to conceal the tears of happiness then and presented a crayon portrait of Alexander Pushkin to Medvedev.