Russia, Part IV: I really want pasta

Hello!!

Well, things are moving right a long in Astrakhan. I finally found out how it was possible to have extremely hot weather, torrential rain and hail in one afternoon...and believe me, it was not a very fun!

On Thursday, we had an excursion instead of a lecture (hurray!); we went to a publishing house that publishes both books, boxes (?), and a newspaper. It was very interesting to meet the editors and journalists of the newspaper and talk with them. One of my classmates asked if there was a problem with free speech in Russia and they said "no...of course not!" Then another students said that she heard that if a Russian journalist wrote something contrary to the government's position that it was hard for them to find work. The editor replied that it was just a misrepresentation and that it definitely isn't the case in Russia. Maybe it's not a problem this far south. When we viewed the actual place where they publish books and the newspaper, one of the tour guides gave me a book about Astrakhan. It's basically handmade, we saw a lady gluing the binding together. Maybe someday I'll be able to read it.

On the way back to school, it started to rain but our teachers didn't want to close the sunroofs of the bus, so we all got a little wet. Then it started raining even harder; we had a small mutiny and shut the windows and sunroofs. By the time we approached the school, our bus was driving in about a six inches of water and it had begun to hail golf-ball sized pieces of hail. By the time we got to school, we had to wade through the rather deep puddles into the main building on campus. I didn't know that it was going to rain, so I was wearing a sundress and flats (which are ruined) and didn't have an umbrella. I thought I could just use the computer lab and wait out the storm, but unfortunately the computer lab was full of large puddles and they had shut the server down. So, I decided to go home...which ended up being more difficult than I thought. I was determined to get there by myself, though, so I didn't call my family. I was completely drenched by the time I got to the Marshrutka stop and had to stand out in the rain waiting for one to come. The first two didn't stop, but 30 minutes later I finally got on one. Most of the streets were flooded and there was a lot of traffic due to cars that were stuck, so I was on the marshrukta for almost two hours...most of the time I had no recognition of where I was because the van was taking different roads in order to avoid all the flooding. When I finally got to the apartment complex, I had to wade through small rivers of water to my building...only to find out that our power was out! Luckily my host family has a gas stove, so I still got a warm dinner.

This weekend, we boarded a train headed for Volgograd at 9:30 pm and arrived in Volgograd at about 9 am. I wasn't sure how well I would sleep on the train, but it actually wasn't that bad. After getting over the dirtiness, unsanitary bathrooms (seats, beds, mattresses, floor, tables, hallways...well, just Russia in general), and the noise of my fellow students, I managed to sleep pretty well. The funny part was that we only got electricity for about 5 hours and the bathroom only operated at certain hours. The attendants would walk past our rooms and tell us "tyalet zakrit" or "tyalet okrit." I asked our director why...his answer for everything is: "Well...we're in Russia."

After getting off the train, we got breakfast at a cafe. Here, they weighed the food they gave me...you only get a certain amount and they make sure that you definitely only get that amount. I had a blini and potatoes, which were cold. A cute old couple were our tour guides...he drove the bus and she talked to us (in Russian) about every single thing that we passed. Volgograd was named "Stalingrad" during WWII and was an important battle for the Russians--which you can see by the five hundred monuments and statues around the area. My favorite was the "Rodina Mat'" or Mother of the Homeland. It is an enormous statue of a woman wielding a sword. We also saw a statue of Lenin (yawn..there's one in Seattle), many memorials to the soldiers who fought in the battle, and a lot of Soviet monuments.

For lunch we went to a restaurant called Stalingrad, which was decorated in a very communist style, complete with pictures of Lenin and Stalin and waitresses/waiters dressed like the Pioneeri (the Soviet boy scouts). We were all excited because from far away it looked like they were serving us mashed potatoes and steak! Finally, a meal that I could eat. Imagine our horror when we realized that it was, in fact, huge hunks of fried, greasy liver. I tried one piece but couldn't actually swallow it. The potatoes and parsley were pretty good, though. That's a good representation of my diet thus far.

After lunch we went to this amazing museum called "Musey-Panorama," which has a circular, panoramic painting of how the battle of Stalingrad was fought. The picture kind of comes out onto the ground, where there are actual pieces of shrapnel, ammunition and other supplies in dirt. It was amazing. The museum also has weapons that were used and huge maps that show the tactics of each side, uniforms, and virtually everything has to do with the battle. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the gifts that other countries gave the city after they won the battle--France gave a plaque, the Czech Republic gave a doll, the US gave a sword, Japan--a bell. There was an entire wall full of these presents.

We also went to a planetarium which gave a very cheesy presentation of the planets and then sun. It was really dark, so I took a nap. :) We also went to the Volga River and walked a long the pier. The river is just amazing; it's so vast and blue. The weather was great too--in the morning it was cloudy and rained (I kinda miss Seattle) but by the afternoon it was warm and sunny. I'm pretty sure I want to move there since Scotland didn't work out.

I really love being in Russia but there are just somethings that I don't understand and could never get used to. First of all, I don't know how a country can survive without toilet paper and soap in the bathroom. And if you think about how there's no toilet paper, no soap, and the people making my food don't wear gloves and wash the dishes by hand (without soap)...well, I try not to think about it. The university gave us girls a key to a bathroom on campus that has everything that should be in a restroom, but the Russian girls aren't allowed to use it. It's a little weird to be segregated from them.

Second, the food sucks. Last week for lunch they served us this meatloaf textured ball of grease, which ended up being beef the first three days, chicken the second, and fish the last day. Our "salat" is sliced ham, egg, cucumber with a huge scoop of mayonnaise and cheese sprinkled on top.

The other day I went to the store to buy some things and while I shopped, four of the store keepers were following me around to each aisle and stared at me while I looked for things. Everywhere I went, there was someone watching me! I almost started laughing. I tried to ask one of them where I could find contact solution, but I didn't know how to say solution, so she ended up showing me five different types of eye makeup remover. I found out later that they were following me because I didn't leave my bag at the front.

There's also a lot of miscommunication: Natasha (my host sister) talks a lot about cars, so I asked her if she wanted one. In Russian, the word for car is машина (mashina). She started talking for a couple of minutes about how people in Russia don't usually get married until their late 20s, but that she'd really like to date someone...but what I thought she was saying was that she wanted a guy with a car instead of a car (all I could think to say was...uh...me too?). It took us a couple of minutes to figure out that she thought I said мужчина (myshchina--man) and was answering that question instead. We had a good laugh.

Anyway, it's getting late so I need to go to the store and buy (edible) food. Until next week!

Cheers,

Maria

Russia, Part III: Astrakhan State University

Dear People:

Well, I've been in Astrakhan for a week now and there have been some ups, a lot of downs, but things are mostly calm at this point. My first few days here were pretty hard; I had some communication (and food) problems with my host family; the fact that I was extremely tired and stressed out didn't help a lot. But things are much, much better now, so thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

I am slowly beginning to understand more of what people say, but it's hard because Russians speak so fast! If I don't hear my host family (or anyone, really) the first time, then they automatically assume that I don't know what they're saying and start speaking in English, which is precisely what they're not supposed to do--that's the whole point of being in Russia! The friends that I made in DC and St. Petersburg still speak in English a lot, so it's been really difficult to switch back and forth and I usually give up after awhile.

School started on Monday; we were greeted with five different tests--listening, speaking, reading comprehension, grammar, and something else. Or maybe it was just four tests. Anyway, they were really hard because the instructions were in Russian, which ended up being harder to understand than the actual test! Needless to say, I am in Group Number One--one being last, not first. We had a five course lunch (every course but dessert had meat in it) and then the most horrifically boring lecture I have ever listened to. The teacher speaks really slowly and enunciates every single word, so it takes her about five minutes to finish one sentence--and she was talking about linguistic theories of history and culture. I wrote down most of the words I didn't understand but then I ran out of both paper and patience. Tuesday we started our actual classes, which are Reading, Listening (Phonetics), Writing, and Grammar, with an afternoon lecture. Our phonetics teacher is very kind and gave us a song to learn for our homework. Our grammar teacher is also really nice, but she makes us read (so it's like our reading class) and then we just read and answer the exercises in the book. However, on our first day, she gave us 8 pages of homework and we had an excursion to the symphony that night! It's hard to go home and do homework when you've been out for 14 hours. In our writing class we also read (we read a lot, but I still sound horrible!) and we're learning about official and non-official speech. In reading, we (surprise) read essays about the Astrakhan and the Volga river, so I'm not only learning a lot of Russian vocabulary, but also a lot of geographical diction in English. What fun.
I have to take the marshrutki to class, which are little vans which have 10 seats in the back and two in the front (excluding the driver). It costs 9 rubles each way and the drivers make money off of how many passengers they have, so some of the drivers just pack people in and they have to slouch (it's too low to stand) and they also drive really fast. You have to hail it like a taxi and they don't stop at every stop, so you're supposed to yell "Ostanovka ostanovite, pozhalyusta! (stop at this stop, please)" The only problem is that I've had a hard time recognizing my stops (everything kind of looks the same), so I am in a constant state of fear for most of the trip. My host mother rode it with my on the first day of class, but I've taken it myself each time after that.

Some things here are just crazy. On our first week, after about 24 hours of travel (total) and adjusting to various time zones and life in Russia, our Russian program leaders made us go on a cultural activity almost every single day! We got here on a Saturday, had a tour of the city on Sunday, had classes, lectures, and a meeting all day Monday, went to the symphony Tuesday evening, went to the movies on Wednesday, and they had two more activities planned Thursday and Friday but our group leader, Tim, told them that we were too tired! This week they're making us play sports (seriously, are we in elementary school?). They kept asking us what sports we play, so I quickly looked up how to say "I generally abstain from physical exertion." Now I just have to figure out how it's pronounced.

This past Saturday we had the best excursion so far--we took a bus to the border of Russia and Kazakhstan (we were about 19 km away) and met the consul of Kazakhstan and toured a tomb of a famous Kazakh poet and writer, toured a museum of Kazakh culture and history, and then were served a 5 course meal of Kazakh food and drink in a tent-like structure while they played music, sang, and danced for us. The food was delicious and I especially liked the tea. Sunday was our first free day since I left Seattle; it was nice to relax and not be on a schedule.
It's funny when I realize that Russians are also nervous about the language barrier--we are supposed to join clubs with other Russian students, so one guy was explaining the point of his club (I guess it was like Russian jeopardy), but he got so nervous that no one understood him that he started rambling about the differences between Russian hockey and the NHL. Definitely not something that was in our area of knowledge, even in English! I decided to join the Russian Cooking, Dancing and Singing club...not sure if we're supposed to do it all at the same time, though. :)

It's pretty hard not knowing how to say things. One of my friends wanted me to go over to her family's house on Sunday, so we had to have our host sisters talk to each other, because neither of us could communicate precisely what we wanted to say. Sometimes I feel like I'm about five years old--even my little host brother, Dima, intimidates me! We played cards on Sunday (the game 'war') and aces, jacks, queens, kings and jokers were high only when he played the card, so he kept winning the game...and I couldn't even protest. :) It was funny.

The women in Russia primarily wear skirts, dresses and high heels, so I feel very under dressed most of the time (before we left, they told us to pack light and that we'd only need one nice outfit...that was totally wrong). I had to explain to my host sister that in Seattle, women rarely wear dresses unless it's a special occasion; but that I love dresses. We went shopping on Sunday: the 'big store' we went to was just a large area with room dividers which made up the stores and most of them were packed with dresses and shoes. It was amazing! I always knew I loved Russia. I bought a really pretty black and white dress; when I got home, my host mother, Valya, and sister, Natasha, made me put it on with my black heels and then put red jewelry on me and took a bunch of photos. Dima also wanted to take pictures and I have to admit--I like his the best! They wanted me to wear it to class today so that I could "walk around like a princess" and "look Russian," but we've had another long day..it's the theater tonight. Maybe next week.
This weekend we are going on a whirlwind tour of Volgograd--we leave Friday night on an over night train, will be there all day Saturday, leave Saturday night to come back to Astrakhan and yes, are supposed to go to the theater on Sunday night. We'll see how that goes! I am excited to take the train; it will be quite an experience.

In other news, I was accepted to the University of Glasgow (in Scotland) for an International Masters program in Russian, Central and Eastern European studies. However, I don't think I got the scholarship that I applied for, so I can't go. But it was an honor to be accepted.
Oh, and I am currently uploading photos, but unfortunately, I can only upload five at a time and it is painfully slow...so they will be posted sometime before I leave, haha.

Well...that's all for now. Have a great week!

Cheerio,

Maria

Russia, Part II: Astrakhan

Dear All,

Well, getting to Astrakhan was a complete nightmare. I took a nap the evening before we left and then woke up to go out with some friends. We went to a bar and I was hungry, so I ordered "kebab." I was pretty sure that I knew that was until the waitress walked out with a plate of coleslaw, french fries and two "lamb-burger" patties. It was really weird. I suck at ordering food in Russia.

We left for the airport at 3:30 though none of us are sure why, because all we did was sit in the waiting area until 6:00, when we finally walked through security. The program directors told us that we could only have 20 kilos (44 pounds) of weight in our checked baggage and only 6 kilos for our carry on. Everyone was freaking out and weighing their luggage so those of us (yes, me!) who had weight to spare took things from other people. It actually turned out to be completely unnecessary, because they didn't even check. But oh well, at least it gave us something to do.

Our first flight was from St. Petersburg to Moscow and we made it there with only 30 minutes to spare before boarding our next flight. The entire process was hilarious because our directors kept taking us inside and outside, which meant going through security about 4 times (they check at the front door in Moscow). It got to the point where the security guards just waved us through. They were probably annoyed with the idiot Americans. Next we flew from Moscow to Volgograd and arrived there in about 2 1/2 hours. The airport at Volgograd is really just a few run ways and one large room where people wait for a truck to bring in the luggage. They open a garage-like door in the back and the truck just drives right in and you take your luggage off the back. We watched the truck come in twice without our luggage and waited until the guard came up to our group and said "vsio" which means..."that's all." Which for us meant that our luggage didn't come. We waited on the bus for a half hour while our director tried to figure out what was going to happen. He found out that it wouldn't come until the next flight from Moscow to Volgograd and apparently those come once a day! It would also have to be transported by bus from Volgograd to Astrakhan, which was 8 hours, so we were looking at two days without luggage.

The bus ride was about 8 1/2 hours and really hot, as the bus didn't have air conditioning. I didn't really sleep a lot; at that point I had only had about 15 hours of sleep in the last 72 hours. As we got closer to Astrakhan we made a couple of stops and were horrified to learn about "moshki," which are small bugs that litter the sky and of course, bite. I hoped that they would be gone by the time we got to Astrakhan, but no such luck. I have bug bites everywhere. We thought that we were going to stay in a hotel the first night in Astrakhan, but we didn't. Once we arrived at the university (at 10 o'clock at night), they shoved us into a cafeteria and made us eat a three course meal (did anyone know that the Russian word for "dill" has the same root as "flavor"? They put it on everything here!). We ate while our families sat across the room and watched us, talking to each other and pointing. After dinner, hordes of people descended on us and we met our families. My family consists of a mom, Valya, 19 year old daughter, Natalya, a young boy, Dima, and a stepdad, Kolya.

I finally realized the culture shock when I arrived at my family's house. It is in the "sovietskii raon" or 'soviet district' and truly lives up to its name. The apartment buildings are run down, there are wires and pipes everywhere, the sidewalks and parking lots are dirt and the inside of their apartment building is falling apart. The elevator has a maximum of four people--it's basically a broom closet that moves up and down. My family's apartment is three bedrooms, and really only three bedrooms. There is no living room or family room or didning room, only bedrooms, a small kitchen, a shower and toilet room. We have things to do almost everyday, from 9:30 am to 6 to 9 o'clock at night; I mostly feel overwhelmed because I only understand about half of what anyone says and there is always a lag time between when they talk and when I understand them. Hopefully now that we've started actually taking classes I will be able to catch up. Tonight we are going to an orchestra concert, so that should be fun!

Maria

Russia, Part I: St. Petersburg

Dear Friends, Americans and Countrymen:

Well, I'm finally in Russia and man, does it suck. No, I'm kidding, it's been verrry interesting so far. The flights/travel was really long and tiresome (although I was happy to find out that not only do German airlines serve decent (free) food, they also serve free alcohol! I thought it would help me sleep; unfortunately my seat mate precluded any efforts at that...) but I was really exited to finally arrive in St. Petersburg. The airport is nothing to brag about and I was very nervous when I had to go through "Passport Verification," but everyone got through okay and we were all excited to go and explore...the airport parking lot. We waited there for about 20 minutes of mass confusion and chaos (chaos for the Russians, that is--I don't think they appreciated having 80+ people with bags littering their parking lot). After what seemed like eternity and a day, a bus arrived but we were divided into two groups and the other group won the mad dash for the bus. So we waited some more and were very disappointed each time a bus arrived but wasn't ours. Finally a bus (circa 1970) came and we quickly boarded...then we saw that the first bus had only traveled about 100 meters before crashing into the gatehouse and breaking a window--so all of those students had to exit the bus and wait with their luggage for a new one! It was a 45 minute ride to the hotel, but we saw some interesting buildings and the obligatory statue of Lenin.

Our hotel is called "Hotel Moskva" (moskva=moscow) and is the epitome of Soviet interior architecture and decorating. From the outside it looks very modern and sleek, but inside it looks like a dormitory. And the ventilation is horrible, which is only worsened by the fact that everyone smokes everywhere. Our room is very small; we have two twin beds which are covered with polyester sheets and age-old comforters. It took us awhile to figure out, but we realized that in order to get any electricity in the room, you have to place your key card in the "main switch" as you enter the room. Guess Russia's doing it's part to save the rain forest!

I stayed up until about 9 pm the day we arrived (completing a full 24 hour day with no sleep) in hopes of sleeping off jet lag. Unfortunately, Russia hasn't helped much with that. Around 10ish, I heard a pressure washer from very close proximity and was surprised to suddenly be staring at a man standing in between my window and the outer facade, washing the windows first by pressure washing and then by scraping off the water. The curtains aren't wide enough to pull across the whole window, so we had a nice view of the window washer for about 20 minutes before he moved to the left. After that, I realized that the sun wasn't setting because of St. Petersburg's "white nights." It's a couple of weeks in the beginning of June when the sun sets around midnight and rises around 3:30. Awesome. I went to sleep around 10:30 and woke up at 6 am. Yesterday night was even worse--I went to sleep at 1 and woke up at 3:44! So much for sleeping.

Thursday was nice because our orientation was only from 10 to 2. Since we woke up so early, my roommate, Giovanna, and I decided to walk around before breakfast. There is a beautiful monastery across the street from our hotel, so we went there. After covering our heads, we entered the main chapel and got to see a Russian Orthodox mass being performed. The priest and some other men where chanting/singing in Russian and there was a crowd of people (mostly old women) who were crossing themselves and bowing while waiting in line to see a man at the front of the church. They each held a piece of paper with a list on it; after deciphering the signs posted around the church, we figured out that the lists must be prayer requests--you can pay for prayer 1 day, 1 week, ect, up to six months. After the monastery, we walked along the Nevskii Prospekt, which is the main (and famous) street in St. Petersburg.

To be quite honest, I don't really remember what we did during orientation, but they told us some interesting things. For example, we should never talk the police unless it's absolutely necessary. Some of the other students who have traveled in Russia before have told us stories about how they've gotten robbed by the police! Apparently the police will stop people, ask to see their papers, take the papers, tell them "well...that will be 400 rubles" and not give back the papers until they're paid...and then say "Don't do that again," just to make it sound like the students did something wrong. Also, there is a large and crafty population of pick pocketers, which was proven today when my friend's wallet was stolen from her previously zipped up purse as we waited to cross the street. I was standing right next to her but we didn't notice until it was gone.

Thursday afternoon was a little disappointing; we were supposed to have a "cultural activity" which included being guided around the area by a Native Russian Speaker (NRS). My group's NRS took us to a "pizza-bar" which played American rock music from the 90s and served mediocre Italian food. It also took 2 1/2 hours! So we didn't get to see much of the area. Last night was amazing: we had a cruise-tour along the River Neva from 10 to Midnight. After the cruise, we went to board the bus but it was full, so in lieu of waiting for another bus--that hasn't ever worked out well in Russia--my roommate and I walked back to the hotel. But don't worry Mom & Sheri, I'm still alive. I've taken a lot of cool pictures and videos, but I won't be able to upload them until I get to Astrakhan.

Today we had to take yet another exam, which is the State Department's way of keeping track of how well we do. I could have just told them that I'm bad at Russian but now they have my test to prove it. We also have to take two more tests once we start classes. I'm excited to finally start classes because I'm hoping the knowledge will be reflected in my speaking abilities--I can't be silent for an entire two months. I actually ordered french fries and water (bezgas--not sparkling) at McDonalds this evening (McDonalds has free internet in Russia!), so I'm kind of proud of myself.

Tomorrow, my group has to be in the hotel lobby by 3:15 am in order to catch the bus to the airport. We fly from St. Petersburg to Moscow and then Moscow to Volgograd...because the Astrakhan Airport is shut down for repairs. You know, as airports often are. So we have to take an 8 to 10 hour bus ride from Volgograd to Astrakhan. I can't wait! I love taking the bus! :( We don't get to meet our host families until Sunday because of all the travel, so it's off to another hotel. I know that my host mother's name is Natal'ya Astrakhov, but nothing more than that. I have her address in Russian but I'm not sure how to write it in English...I'll figure it out at some point.

Well, if any part of this doesn't make sense, it's because I'm really tired and feel like I've been gone for a year instead of just five days. I'll write more once I get to Astrakhan.

Do Svidaniia,

Maria

Leaving the US of A

Dear (Almost) Everyone that I know:

Well, I am in DC waiting for the vans to pick us up to take us to Dulles Airport. It was quite a trip to get here...I left my house at 5 am on Sunday, got to my terminal by 6:30. We left on time and actually got to DC early. On the plane, the guy sitting next to me notice that I had my named spelled in Russian on my note book and asked me "viy russkaya?" which means "are you Russian." I didn't know what to say, so I said "da," which of course is not true. I found out that he was also part of the program and going to the same city as I am--Astrakhan.

I took the bus to the hotel instead of taking a taxi. It got full very quickly and this guy said that my bag was in the way of everyone. I replied that there was nothing I could do about it, so he took it and placed it on the top rack. I spent the entire bus ride worrying about how I was going to get it down since I couldn't even reach the rack--but luckily I found another (taller) girl who is also a CLS scholar and we managed to get it. Once we got off, we realized that there were six of us and collaborated to find the hotel. Two wrong turns, three staircases and 20 minutes later...we made it!!

We had an initial "meet and greet" thing where we had to introduce ourselves, our university, our course of study, and say whether or not we've been to Russia. It got a little intense. A lot of people just gave the basics, but of course there were the 20 people who spent 15 minutes detailing the last 8 years of their academic careers, listing their 50 degrees and certificates, and ending with dramatic stories about how they've "never been to Russia, but lived in Kyrgyzstan" or "saved Turkmenistan from nuclear disaster." My absolute favorite person was this guy who began by saying that he was a teacher at Harvard, was fluent in 7 languages, mentioned again that he was from Harvard, emphasized that he taught there, and said "I have been to Russia thrice, but never in such a immersed capacity." Thrice?! It was hilarious.

Yesterday, we had what seemed liked five years of orientation. It included speeches, career panels, and hours of them telling us things we already knew or telling us that they would tell us more in St. Petersburg...where we have another two days of orientation. I will be very oriented by the time I make it to Astrakhan. At dinner, an ambassador from the Russian Embassy spoke (in Russian) to our group. I understood about 2.5% of what he said, which was a little discouraging, but I found out later that most people had a hard time with his accent. After dinner, I met up with the one other CLS scholar who wasn't at the bar and we walked around DC--to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, past the White House, ect. I took some cool pictures, but unfortunately I don't have time to upload them. I'll try to do that in St. Petersburg--or Astrakhan, which apparently has the "most wired" university in Russia. :)

Well, we're leaving for the airport in about 15 minutes; we fly out at 5:40 pm to Frankfurt. We'll have a 3 hour layover and then fly to St. Petersburg, where I will be until June 7th.

Ciao!

Maria