HEY, LOOK WHAT I DID

hey everybody,
guess what i finally got around to?

yeah, that's right
after a year and a half of promising and forgetting,
i finally put my photos of russia up online
not only that,
i put up my photos from new york, too

so, if you feel like giving them a look,
you can find them here
picasaweb.google.com/nuyorussia
[btdubs,

'vg' stands for volgograd

'sp' is saint petersburg

'msc' is moscow]

volgograd, 9

today is my last full day with my family
this time tomorrow i'll be on the train to moscow
my host family is truly awesome in every way
i'll miss them a bit when i'm back in the states
especially lyuda's cooking

friday the group went on a party boat cruise thing
it only lasted an hour [which was a drag]
but it was still really fun
pretty much everyone had vodka, too
[the kind i got was rather disgusting, unfortunately
for the record, premyernaya vodka "istok" isn't premier
it takes like five o'clock, possibly worse]
we got to see volgograd at night from the river, too
[which, by the way, is an incredible sight
seeing mamayev kurgan in front of a sunset is gorgeous]
after we got back to shore we hung out in the park for a while
and then we disbanded and went home

yesterday was the banya trip that i didn't go to
though i heard it was quite an experience
almost all of us met up at alleya geroyev around 7 last night
[we met up with my sister, jeff's mom, and a couple of their friends]
and we went to the belaya loschad' one last time
the band was really good [they were called khuliganov nyet]
everyone there had a really good time
it was nice to have a relaxed night with everybody
[as an aside, i've made an interesting discovery,
though it's probly not a shocker to anyone:
my russian is a lot better when i've been drinking
seriously, i was able to carry on conversations much more fluently
i didn't have to stop and go 'uh...' at all
i'll have to bear it in mind for the future]

coming on this trip has realy done a lot for me
it reaffirmed my choice to learn russian [and hopefully get better]
this country is amazing, and the people are...well, unique
it's great to see the world from a different point of view
and it's nice to see more of the world than the u.s.
hopefully i'll make it make it back here in the next couple years
hopefully then i'll speak better, too [which i imagine will happen]

since i leave around one tomorrow afternoon to begin the long trek home
this will be the last entry here in the rossijskaya federatsiya,
i'll be out of contact until i get back to the states
so, i'll end this by posting my route back to the states:
–train leaves volgograd tomorow at 17:00
–we arrive in moscow somewhere around 8 tuesday morning
–we fly to amsterdam in the afternoon, get there about 17:30
–15 hour layover in amsterdam tuesday night
–flight leaves amsterdam at 8:30, arrives in detroit at 11:30 wednesday morning

thus concludes my jaunt here in russia
hope this has been at least mildly interesting
if not, oh well

за россию

volgograd, 8

tomorrow be our last day of classes here in volgograd
my last class is grammar [which, oddly, i am looking forward to
russian grammar is so much better than english grammar
[maybe because i was taught the latter for 10 straight years]
on friday we have a 'graduation party' with our prepodavatelya
we'll be drinking chaj and singing songs and reciting poems
then, i'll finally be done with classes
after six long, full months of them

friday we're also going on the party boat,
which is guaranteed to be a good time
basically we'll be going on an hour long boat ride on the volga
there'll be all sorts of fun stuff for us to do
chris said it was a lot of fun last year,
so here's hoping it's equally as good this time around

saturday some of us are going to the banya
it's basically a russified turkish bath
there's a steam room [reputed to be 90 degrees celsius]
you sit in there for about 10 minutes or so
then you rush outside and douse yourself with freezing water
then you flog your self with leafy branches [or a switch]
and then you repeat the process three or four times
it's supposed to be a one-of-a-kind experience
i'm not going, but about half the group is
i've been hot enough here already
i have no desire to sit in even hotter temperatures

speaking of the weather
it finally settled into something more endurable
it was a comfortable 27 degrees yesterday
[this is the only time i will ever say 80 F is comfortable
because it is, compared to 94 F]
it's been threatening rain all week,
but it hasn't made good, so it's kinda humid

as some [if not many] of you may know,
i'm not a fan of beer,
but i do enjoy a good dark beer/stout/ale,
my favorite being guinness
i haven't been able to get it out here
since i guess there isn't much of a market for it
however, i have discovered a quality substitute
it's called 'velkopopovický kozel' [it's czech]
the dark ale they make is really, really good
i get it every time i go to the belaya loschad'
[i also found 'murphy's irish stout' at the gurman
it was really good]

if anyone who reads this has been to amsterdam,
i'm currently taking suggestions for what to do there
i have a 12 hour overnight layover there on tuesday
and i know nothing about what's there
so any thoughts/ideas would be welcome

volgograd, 7

so the pushkin concert was awesome
the first half we listened to was the ariya zaremy, or 'zarema's aria'
i didn't particularly care for it
but the last half was awesome
it was the poem metel' with a 'musical illustration'
so far all of our concerts have been awesome
i really need to go to more when i get back to the states
i don't go to nearly enough

our group has begun our own little weekly ritual
every friday we go to makdonalds for lunch
it's the only one in volgograd
it's just like all the mcdonalds in the us
just a little less expensive, and with a few different choices
it's our little reminder of home

our sunday trip with the nigerians was five different types of awesome
we rented out this little pavilion and a couple beach houses
we cooked shashlik and had salat and some weird juices
we played volleyball on the banks of the volga
[we went to the otherside where there were actual beaches]
we sat out and played cards, and of course went swimming
the volga, by the by, is great lakes cold [upper ones, not the lower ones]
it was surprisingly [but refreshingly] cold
i loved it, and i even got some color on my skin
it was a really fun day, and it got me out of the house for the entire day
it was glorious fun, i should try to get something like that happening back home
maybe in august at some point

classes are still going, though they're beginning to wrap up
apparently we have some combined classes on tuesday
we also have a graduation party next friday after classes
our grammar teacher today recommended a place to eat
she said it had the best kotlyeti po-kiyevski in volgograd
and after having it, i'm slightly inclined to agree
it wasn't loads better, but it was marginally better

also, it was 93 degrees today
it was in the nineties all weekend
it's gonna be in the 90s all next week

volgograd, 6

i write this, i am sweating my life away
apparently all the mild weather we came with is gone
it was fine until monday,
then it kicked up into the eighties
and we have 90 degree days and higher next week
awesome

in a few short hours, it will be the sixth
most of the western world will be celebrating d-day
as well they should, it was an important day
here in russia, we'll be celebrating something different
[something the russians actually care about]:
aleskandr pushkin's birthday
he'd be 210 this year
the group is going to a concert tomorrow night for him
they'll be reading some of his works aloud
while playing musical settings of them intermittently
i'm hoping for some excerpts from yevgeny onegin
the poem and the opera

classes are going [and going and going]
our movie class started up last week
this week we watched the first half of ruslan i lyudmila
[in honor of pushkin, of course]
we'll finish it next week
our classes got scheduled really badly
this week we have double periods of each class
[every day we have two periods, first and second,
and they're usually two different things
like phonetics then culture, or grammar then phonetics]
so this coming week we'll have three hours of the same class
every single day except wednesday

random story of the week
darrin and i were sitting on prospekt lenina
waiting for the womens to get done with their shopping
and this guy comes up to me asking for directions
i gave them very badly, then he asks me if i speak english
turns out he was a foreigner too [go figure]
his name was felipe, and he was from southern spain [valencia, i think]
he was on his way to novosibirsk from sevastopol'
he had an overnight in volgograd, so he was seeing the sights
it was random, but it didn't surprise me in the least
i guess russia's rubbing off on me

on sunday we're having a barbeque with the nigerian students
they're all awesome people, and really friendly
i guess they're all been studying russian for about four years
they wanted to have a get together while we're all here
so we're gonna grill shashlik on the banks of the volga
should be good times

volgograd, 5

classes seem to be going pretty well
our subjects are pretty rudimentary
but for the most part pretty helpful
the phonetics/intonation is kinda irritating, though
mostly because we're learning things we aren't going to use again
like pronunciations
i've heard the way russians speak
both on the street and in academic settings
and i know they don't pronounce the way we're learning
especially that soft l ['ль'] and 'ы'
they go by at a mile a minute
oh well, all part of the degree i guess

on saturday, in the midst of a steady rain,
we took an excursion out to rossoshka,
a small town in the volgogradskij oblast' countryside
there, straddling a country backroad, are two cemeteries
commemorating the dead of the battle of stalingrad
on one side, the german memorials
large stone cubes with thousands of names etched into them
a large cross, and plenty of explanatory plaques
it looked very german
on the other side, the soviet memorials
some rows of identified soldiers with helmets on the gravestones
next to huge mass graves, marked only with the number of interred
[on one stone, it marked 700-something people buried there,
only three had any sort of name fragment]
it was very soviet
the rain gave it a cool kind of atmosphere too

last week we took an excursion across the river
directly across from volgograd is the town of volzhskij
it's this small town [comparatively] in the crook of the river
it's an industrial city about the size and population of flint
only it's beautiful and awesome instead of disgusting and depressing
i love it there, it's so cool
the architecture is sweet, and it just has this sleepy town feeling
we went to their lone art gallery in the center of town
when we got there, we met up with some russian english–language students
we had awkward conversations with them most of the night
it was a glorious experience
i even got a photo book of the art at the gallery,
since we went on my birthday

today dr merrill leaves us for the states
he teaches at middlebury college in mass for the rest of the summer
so yesterday we had a going away dinner for him
we also met the lady who's taking over for him, natalya yuryevna
we ate at the yolki-pal'ki; they had really good food
i'm definitely going to go back there

a quick note on the money angle
it's about 31 rubles to the dollar right now
and stuff here is ridiculously cheap
example:
last night i went with my host sister to the belaya loschad'
the bar on prospekt lenina i mentioned before
there was a concert that night [which was really good]
cover charge was 100 rubles [3 dollars]
three guinness [each 1/2 liter] were 360 rubles [10 dollars]
1/2 liter of pepsi was 50 rubles [1.5 dollars]
and the cab ride home was 90 rubles [3 dollars]
so the whole night was just under $18
no one, no one can have a night that cheap in the states
they can't even come close

god i love russia

volgograd, 4

rodina-mat' zovyot!
so proclaims the famous russian propaganda poster from world war II
she holds out the oath of service for the red army
while beckoning towards the brethren going off to fight the fascists
and so proclaims the icon of mother russia,
brandishing a sword 108 feet high
calling on all russians to defend the volga
striding the top of mamayev kurgan in central volgograd
the motherland statue, rodina-mat' zovyot!

the statue itself is 279 ft [85 meters] tall
it was the tallest in the world when erected in 1967
it [and the memorial at the base] were created as a memorial for the battle of stalingrad
the deadliest battle of wwII [and quite possibly the deadliest ever]
there's even a grand marshall of the soviet union buried there
the memorial has a big hand holding an eternal flame in the middle
there are two guards at both entrances
and they do a changing of the guard similar to the one we saw in moscow
i have to say, it's pretty awesome to see

there's a reason the soviets decided to build the monument on mamayev kurgan
most of the area around volgograd is pretty flat
not michigan flat, more like illinois/indiana flat
mamayev kurgan is the tallest hill around
and during the battle, it was used as a headquarters and observation area
it changed hands numerous times throughout the 200 day battle
the hill is also incredibly close to the river, which was the german goal
so the soviets defended it fiercely, throwing everything they had to its defense
complete divisions were obliterated on both sides fighting on that hill

for any/everyone who cares,
here's a fun little story about the battle
the man in charge of the german army when they surrendered was friedrich paulus
the germans surrendered at the end of january 1943
upon hearing that they were mere days from defeat,
hitler field-promoted paulus to generalfeldmarschall, the highest rank possible
[second only to reichsmarschall hermann göring]
since no german field marshalls had ever been captured alive,
the clear implication was that paulus was kill himself to avoid capitulation
much to hitler's anger, paulus surrendered soon afterwards
commenting on hitler's expectation for his suicide, he said,
'i have no intention of shooting myself for that austrian corporal'
he remained in soviet custody until 1953, and moved to eastern germany

so, yeah, that was my day

volgograd, 3

we have some good excursions coming up this week
monday we're supposed to go to mamayev kurgan
check out the memorial there, and of course see the statue
tuesday we're going to the panorama down along the river
it's a big museum/memorial thing commemorating the battle
i'd really recommend reading about the battle of stalingrad
it was insane
and wednesday we have another concert [i think]
i think we're going to the symphony this time, but i dunno

we had a concert on saturday, and it was awesome
volgograd has a national folk orchestra [along with a philharmonic one]
it has all the fun russian instruments you hear about
balalaiki, domry, bayany, and dudki
they played a bunch of southern russian and ethnic folk songs
they even had a group of bashkiry there
and they played this really awesome song that i can't remember the name of
[bashkortostan is a small republic near the border of kazakhstan]
the concert went a long time, but it was really good music

in the tsentralnyj rajon [the central district], they have a place called alleya geroyev
the alley of heroes
it has a war memorial on it, and there are commemorative plaques lining the sides
they have a pretty decently sized book store on it that i went to on thursday
i was perusing for some more reading material
and i found the complete plays of chekhov there
all four, nice print, good quality book, for 127 rubles
or, in usd, just under $4
by comparison, my english version cost me $20
stuff is so inexpensive here it's ridiculous
i even got room service [pel'meni and borsch] in moscow for 189 rubles [$6]
it's insane

among other things we've found when walking around tsentralnyj rajon,
we came across a really cool bar called belaya loschad', the white horse
it's an experience to say the least
when we went there
they were playing american music,
which happened to be on an italian music station,
all while ordering in russian
it's about as surreal as talking to a japanese waitress and nigerian students in russian
volgograd is crazy
i love it

volgograd, 2

i'm slowly getting used to russia
not that there was doubt that i would
but i wasn't sure how long it would take
gotta say, it's a big culture shock

the classes are certainly interesting
i have four while i'm here
we have phonetics/intonation, practical usage, grammar, and culture
they're all pretty good classes
phonetics is taught by lyena's mom, who is awesome
and the culture guy is really cool
he's got all sorts of fun stories and stuff like that
the kicker?
every single class is entirely in russian
this entire trip is basically a baptism by fire
and it's definitely working

i'm starting to understand more of what's being said to me
i feel like less of a complete idiot, at least
so far, the only thing i can do successfully is order food
thanks to our continuous jaunts through petersburg and moscow
but, with four more weeks of classes tol'ko po-russki
coupled with my homestay and conversations with other random people
my comprehension should see some improvement

and, sadly,
i have yet to take a trip to mamayev kurgan
i have, however, seen the statue
we passed by it on the train ride into town, and it's huge
i think we're taking an trip there sometime next week
we went to a concert last night of more contemporary russian folk songs
popular songs from movies, plus some early 1900s fok songs
the concert hall is the old soviet office for political propaganda
it has the faces of marx, engels and lenin carved into the façade
it's like a soviet mt rushmore
we have another concert there tomorrow, more folk songs
should be a good time

volgograd, 1

so, after all the sights and walking
after all of the museums and palaces
and after a nice 19 hour train ride
here i am, in volgograd
the former namesake of stalin himself
the seat of volgogradskij oblast'

i have to say, i feel like a complete idiot
my host mom's name is lyudmila [or lyuda, as she told me to call her],
and i can't understand most of the things she says
i was expecting to pick up at least a little bit more
but man, my comprehension absolutely sucks
hopefully this will get better as classes gear up
and i actually practice my conversing
but damn
they could be telling me anything and everything under the sun
and all i can do is smile and nod and say da
wish me luck at all that
otherwise it's going to be a long five weeks
a long, misunderstood, awkward five weeks