An Accidental History of Russian Music

and other audio thoughts.

Here is a link to the Top 40 in The Netherlands right now so you can see for yourself. I'm not saying America is a bastion of musical integrity, but SERIOUSLY?
Check out this gem. Calamari.

By far the most popular music in Russia in the last few years has been American imports. I don't want to get into a whole history of Russian musical tastes, but a quick, non-scientific anecdotal breakdown:

Soviet Union: Soviet singers. Mostly Russian, but notable "southern" (Caucasian) influence. In the late 1940s the USSR tried very hard to block out the evils of Western music- particularly jazz. This was a LONG period, much too long to generalize like I am, but I don't want you to get bored and stop reading...so here's an example of early Soviet music- this song is about war (a popular theme in a country ravaged by 4 wars in the first have of the 20th century), and also from a film. It's called Если завтра война (If Tomorrow Brings War).

In the 1960s and 1970s, "VIAs" (vocal-instrumental ensembles) were the big thing. VIAs were generally state-organized groups of singers and musicians who would performs songs written by the Composers' Union of the USSR. Only officially approved VIA were allowed onto the main stream of Russian music. VIAs developed a pretty distinct style, poppy and youthful, radio friendly, yet strictly in accordance with Soviet standards. This time period also saw the rise of "bards". These were solo singer-songwriter acts with roots in the traveling folk singers of the past. With deep, emotional lyrics and easy to sing, repetitive songs, bards were often seen as an alternative to VIAs.
This song is from bard Vladimir Vysotsky- Жираф большой, ему видней (Giraffe is big, he sees it better)

In the 1980s, rock rolled under the Iron Curtain. As not official VIAs, most Soviet rock bands that developed in response to "Beatlemania" and other western influences were forced to operate underground. By the late 80s, through perestroika and simply lax censorship, rock clubs began to spring up and rock music became the mainstream. Here's where there is music that I actually really like. Bands like Nautilus Pompilus, DDT, Kino- great stuff! На пример (for example):
Nautilus Pompilus, Goodbye America (1988)

DDT, Осень (Autumn)

According to Lenin:
"Every artist, everyone who considers himself an artist, has the right to create freely according to his ideal, independently of everything. However, we are Communists and we must not stand with folded hands and let chaos develop as it pleases. We must systemically guide this process and form its result." (thanks, Wikipedia!)

Then comes the 1990s. With the fall of the Soviet Union all hell breaks loose in Russia, but the music was legitimately good. The product of struggle and suffering + collapse of a great power and ideological symbol + loose of an official unifying, collective mission + the task of having to redefine your national and personal identity + no money, no food = great art. Many people would disagree with me- especially those who grew up listening to Soviet music. 90s music has a different tone- darker, hollower, but I dig that. Plus I have no emotional ties or memories of Russia in the 70s/80s/90s so that doesn't enter into my personal preferences. Rock was still the major genre in this period, but leaning more towards alternative rock. Punk, ska, and electronic influences were also strong. Some notable acts: Дельфин (Dolphin), Ночные Снайперы (Night Snipers), Ленинрад (Leningrad), and so many others! Here are some samples...
Дельфин- Весна (Dolphin- Spring)

Пилот- Ждите Солнце (Pilot- Wait for the Sun)

 Bi-2 - Счастье (Happiness)

Чичерина- Ту Лу Ла (Chicherina- Tu Lu La)
PS- this is my alarm clock in the morning!

And then came our current century. With the advent of the Internet exploding globalization, Russian music has more western influence than ever. As Russia scrambled back to its feet under President Vladimir Putin, much of the hardships that drove the angst of the past few decades faded to the background. Mainstream artists today produce much more of a western-inspired pop/dance/electronica sound. Some might call this music vain, weak, uninspired, silly, or even "terrible". I would agree on many levels. BUT- I also generally love it. So there's that. Let me give you a few examples of the 2010's (is that what we're calling this decade?) best pop trash:

Дима Билан- Задыхаюсь (Dima Bilan- I'm Suffocating...as in, you take my breath away)

ВИА ГРА - Перемирие (Via Gra- Truce/Armistice)
*Note the group's name, derived from the Soviet VIAs!

The classic Greek dance beat (this probably has a real name I just don't know...but it's the main beat in this track, I'm sure you'll recognize it) is also finding fans in Russia.

The early 2000s particularly produced some music that was a little more substantial. White boy rap got pretty popular.
(If anyone asks- Guf is dead)

Noize MC- На Марсе Классно (On Mars It's Cool)
*This song was a collaboration with a guy from DDT!

Alternative metal and more hardcore sounds gained popularity, along with heavy metal and power metal like:
Ария- Такая вот печаль (Aria- Such Sorrow)

I also want to mention pagan or folk metal (oh my goodness, when did I start to know so much about metal??) because I really like the band Arkona. This genre in Russia is marked by Russian lyrics, themes on nature and other folk elements. Check them out!
Аркона- Гой, Роде, Гой! (Hail, Rod, Hail!)

Most of you probably know t.A.T.u, the "lesbian" electronic pop-rockish duo that experienced international success in the early 2000s. They existed.
Folk rock also hit it pretty big in the 2000s thanks to acts like Pelageya (now a judge on the Russian Voice TV show) and Мельница (Windmill).
Пелагея- Казак (Pelageya- Cossack)

So! What started as me wanting to share the horror that is "Salsa, Tequila" with you has turned into a brief history of Russian music...
If you made it this far- thanks so much for sticking with me!
Let me know what you think. Did I leave off your favorite artist? Did I get something wrong? Want more Russian music? Comment below!

Feeding a Mountain Soul in Kazbegi

AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...

I hope taking so long to write this post has built the suspense up for my dear 30-ish readers, so without further ado, here is an account of my adventures in Kazbegi, Georgia.

Kazbegi from above

I have always been of two souls- half city and half mountains. There is something that just feels so right with me being in the mountains, living slow and natural and honest, but it also scares me thinking that I wouldn't be able to access everything I'm used to, especially after last summer in DC, going to school in Charlottesville (fairly big city), and now living in St. Petersburg. I guess it's something I'll have to consider more as I get closer to graduation, but of course there are more jobs to be found in the big city. I think living so long in Yorktown where I so often felt hopeless and trapped in the suburbs without the "urb" has scared me away from being able to just relax and melt into a life in the countryside. The good news is that Georgia is about the size of South Carolina! It's quite easy to travel even from one end of the country to the other so you can go from Tbilisi into the mountains in less than 3 hours by marshrutka as Kaley and I did!

It's difficult to explain Kazbegi, impossible to do it justice, but I'll try. From hot mid/high-80 degree Tbilisi, we drove the bumpy road north. I was squeezed between a young Belorussian girl going to visit friends and a Georgian priest who talked on his cell phone half the trip. It rained on and off, and my head was higher than the windows, but I contorted my back and neck so I could see out the windows occasionally to catch glimpses of high, winding mountain roads and snow capped mountains. During the trip I re-read the beginning of Mikhail Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time"- one of my favorite novels and a big part of the reason I love the Caucasus so much. It was mind blowing to read descriptions of the very same mountains I was climbing- then in an ox-drawn carriage, now in a rickety mini-bus, but both stunned by the towering peaks and intrigued by the foreignness of the people, language, and customs.
We found the marshrutka in Didube (see my previous Georgia post for a detailed description), Tbilisi's transportation hub, in the morning and came back in the evening for the journey. When we first scoped it out in the a.m. we met a man who gave us a business card for a guesthouse in Kazbegi run by his brother. I politely pocketed the card and forgot about it, since we already had a Lonely Planet-advised game plan for finding a guesthouse. When we returned to Didube later, the man found us again and said his brother would meet us off the marshrutka. This time we had to forcefully decline. I finally conceded to call him if we had any trouble finding our planned guesthouse, that he would be our backup plan. Turns out his persistence led to one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.
When we arrived in Kazbegi, we hopped off the marshrutka into a light drizzle and much colder air than in the lowlands of the capital. Waiting for us there was, of course, the brother whom we had told not to come. I am certain my Russian had been clear and firm on the point that this hostel was not our first choice, but these guys didn't let up! We managed to bargain the cost down to 15 lari (about $9- which we later learned was the lowest price they had ever taken in travelers for!) a night including breakfast. The weather was getting worse, he had a new, clean Jeep standing by, and the Belarussian girl intimated that we wouldn't find a better price in town, so we finally agreed and let ourselves be swept off to the guesthouse. I will spare you the details of the house and the people, honestly, it kills me not to describe you ever blade of grass as is embedded in my memory, but I know my reader better than that and I doubt half of you even made it this far, so I'll get to the juicy bits.
The reason this was such a stunning experience is two fold: firstly, the backdrop was straight out of a fairytale. Warm days, cool nights, an idyllic town full of horses, goats, sheep, and herding dogs nestled in the cradle of the mighty Caucasus the way a cracked egg sits in the nest of gooey bread and cheese in an Adjarian khachapuri. Secondly, the people were and are phenomenal. Every person we met, without exception, opened their homes and hearts to us. Everyone wanted to feed us and talk to us and just communicate. In such a small, insulated town there is not much to do other than "guesting" and having foreigners, especially outside the tourist season as we were, was an exciting event. This was proven on the first night when a steady stream of neighbors, cousins (they all seemed to be related somehow), and friends dropped in to either talk to us if they knew some Russian or more likely just sit on the couch across from us and stare with a nervous smile as Kaley and I scarfed down a delicious dinner. Our hosts, Nata and Mito, treated us not like hotel guests but like family staying from out of town. We had our own section of the three-building complex with our rooms and a bathroom, but the living room and kitchen were shared with the family. They have two sons and several other children who frequent the house, the most adorable puppy in the world, Nagaz, 40-ish sheep, and a horse. Nata makes fresh bread and gets butter from her neighbor, she wishes they would buy a cow because a cow is a sign of a good household, she teaches Georgian at the local school as well as running the guesthouse. She was so patient with Kaley and I as we stuttered out Georgian phrases, and we were able to converse comfortably in Russian. The people in that community were overflowing with warmth and light and kindness. They interest in us was genuine, not just surface curiosity, and made us feel so welcomed and wanted I can still feel the imprint of their love on me.
We had 3 days packed with adventure, so here's a breakdown of the events:

Day 1: Arrive to Kazbegi, eat bread and butter and cheese and tomatoes and cucumbers until we're sick, get to know Nata, watch Georgian television, practice English with David (Nata's oldest son), and get carefully inspected by about 10 neighbors.



Yard of the Guesthouse

Day 2: Hike to Gergeti Monastery (meet a gang of motorcyclists who are traveling around the world- of course the Georgian of the group invites us to travel a bit with them and we politely decline), make the 2.5 hour hike up the long way through foot-deep mud, pastures, and a graveyard. This trip also saw the birth of our slogan "If cows can do it, we can do it!" because as we huffed and puffed up the mountain we saw cows grazing nonchalantly and their patties marked even the steepest sections of trail, so those mountain cows became our inspiration. In the afternoon, discover Nagaz and love him silly, then convince David and his cousin David to give us a ride on their horses. Unfortunately, our David's horse was grazing somewhere in the mountains unknown to him at the time, so we rented another horse from another friend/cousin (I forget exactly how much, but really cheap), and the two David's took us up to a recently built quaint church called Ilya where most locals go to worship. We laid in the open, grassy fields for a while, before galloping back down the mountain!

Cows doing it

Reached Gergeti!

Gergeti!

Day 3: Mito drives us to the small small village of Juta (60 people), from which we hike the Sno Valley. We hike three hours in one direction, through the valley and towards the foot of an old volcano which is all covered in ice, then turn back and hike the other direction for about an hour and a half where we get less than a kilometer from the Russian border with Ingushetia! I SO regret that we didn't have our passports with us, otherwise we would have crossed the border and back over for a little mini-trip and passport-stamp gathering adventure. Next time I'll come prepared. After hiking we come back to Kazbegi, where we discover "Google Market" and some of the town. A veritable feast awaits us at Nata and Mito's and we chow down on bean stew, khachapuri, veggies, and Georgian homemade vodka "cha cha". After dinner, a cousin invites us to take one last horseback ride through the mountains at sunset. My heart nearly breaks at such a beautiful moment. So many emotions flood our minds as we do our utmost to stay up late and squeeze the last drops out of Kazbegi despite being exhausted after the last two days of hiking.

Mito wanted a "fotki-motki" before the Sno Valley hike

Ice cascade
(I was at the bottom of it, but it's kind of an optical illusion, looks like it goes up and down, doesn't it?) 

I was not impressed by the sudden hail storm

That's the Russian border station

Market Google

Amazing feast

Day 4: We say goodbye to everyone (especially the ball of sunshine Nagaz), strap on our giant backpacks, and head towards the city center to catch a marshrutka. A van pulls up next to us almost immediately, driving is one of the cousins who we only briefly met, but he offers us a ride to the center and we accept. The ride is silent except for soft strains of pop music on the radio as our friendly driver doesn't speak Russian or English, but the kindness he afforded us was enough to fill the space between us. We leave.

Nagaz being adorable

I left Kazbegi with a heavy heart. It was physically painful to leave that place, that magical, suspended realm between the harsh reality of my life in America and the hurried confusion of my life in St. Petersburg...I feel there is still so much to learn from those mountains and I know that one day I'll uncover more of their secrets.

PS- Don't forget to check my Facebook in the album "If Cows Can Do It, We Can Do It" (now the title makes sense, right?) for all my Georgia pictures!

Signs of Summer in St. Petersburg

  6 Ways to tell Summer has come to the Venice of the North

1.  The topols start flying! The first really hot day in St. Petersburg, I noticed small white balls of fluff floating through the air all over the place. At first I thought it was coming off of some construction site or truck or someone's clothing, but they were all over the city! Turns out, it's just some tree sex. The seeds of the poplar (тополь) tree are generally released in June or July, but this summer is unusually hot unusually soon.
2. The tourists come out. I live right next to the Russian Museum and "Arts Square" with several theaters. Everyday there are dozens of tour buses parked out front releasing hundreds of eager tourists in tennis shoes, high socks, and khaki shorts. Just from a visual and auditory scan, most seem to be Chinese, Korean, British, or Scandinavian/Baltic.  

   

   Pushkin Statue in Arts Square surrounded by poplars

3.  Food carts everywhere. After working at a food truck for my first year and a half at UVA, I have developed a deep appreciation for meals on wheels. While I haven't yet tried a хот-дог (hot dog) from a cart, I have enjoyed several ice cream treats! I especially enjoy watching the parade of vendors rolling their carts down the streets in the evening at closing time.
4. Black people appear. Going along the lines of #2, with the influx of tourists, students, and seasonal workers, diversity goes up! During the winter months there is the occasional black person, but they are generally few and far between here in St. P. In January I probably saw one black person every 2 or 3 days and now I'm seeing 3 or 4 each day! (I use the word "black" here to denote people of probable African descent, not in the way Russians use it to refer to people from the Caucasus and Central Asia). 
5. Skin is revealed. If you come to Russia in the winter or spring, it is easily to be think that Russian women are quite modest in comparison to America. Although it is not unusual to see mini skirts and tights on even the coldest winter day, it is rare to see exposed breasts or shoulders. Until the day the mercury hit 30 degrees Celsius, women were largely wearing light coats and long sleeved shirts. I got intensely stared at for showing my shoulders in April even though the weather was nice that day! I was starting to get scared that women never show their upper half here, but then...BAM Russian women left and right are barely clothed! Of course not everyone dresses revealingly, but shorts shorter than my hand are not uncommon and tank tops abound. I guess the key is waiting until the heat builds to an unbearable level, as close to June 1st as you can push it, and then watch the crowd- you can't be the first one to shed your winter modesty, but once the tide starts it is powerful.
6. White Nights. Probably the most iconic sign of St. Petersburg summers, white nights is the period of the year from about the end of May to the beginning of July where the sun doesn't or barely sets. Yes, that's right. 2 am and it still looks like 5 pm. There are wonderful things that happen during white nights- crazy all night parties, dozens of festivals and concerts, and a special joy that Russians rarely express. It also makes it really hard to sleep...instead of the sun regulating your body clock and daily routine, you suddenly find it to be 11 pm and you haven't even thought of dinner yet!

   

   A bridge opening during white nights

If you're visiting St. Petersburg in the summer, check out this Lonely Planet article about what to do to have the quintessential SpB summer experience!

Georgia on my Mind

It has been almost 2 weeks since Kaley and I returned from our trip to Georgia. I have finally decompressed enough to be able to write about our incredible trip and share with all my readers the wonder that is Georgia! I won't write every detail, but I'll try to hit some highlights and then perhaps delve a little deeper in subsequent posts.

Itinerary 

Day -1: Istanbul
Day 1-3: Tbilisi
Day 4: Day trip to Mtskheta, evening travel to Kazbegi
Day 5-6: Kazbegi
7: Gori
Day 8-9: Batumi

Istanbul: We left SpB on a sunny Monday afternoon and flew to Istanbul. We met up with our host, C, who we found through Couchsurfing. C met us Taksim Square when it was already dark. We got a quick tour of the Sqaure, saw Golgata Tower, and then ate a delicious dinner of Turkish food at an authentic (a bit grimy) local cafe. Then we treated ourselves to some dessert:

Pistachio ice cream and creamy pudding

Turkish coffee and Turkish delight!

Yes, we read our fortunes in the coffee residue))
We spent a veryyyy short 4 hour night at C's apartment, then got a cheap taxi back to Taksim Square in the morning, caught the shuttle to the airport, and continued on to Georgia <3

Tbilisi: My first impression of Georgia was hot. Hot, humid, lush green hills, and public transportation. We took a bus from the airport which made several stops along the way and quickly filled to the brim with sticky, steamy, hairy, loud Georgians. My 65 liter backpack was pushing me off the tiny bus seat and jamming my knees into the hard plastic in front of me, the rotating selection of old women in the seat next to me provided one direction of interesting people watching, but looking left I saw the beauty of the Georgian capital slowly rise out of rural, forested road. We had absolutely no idea where our bus stop was, but in fact we had no problems as it seemed that everyone else on the bus did! We hadn't said a word to the driver, yet as soon as we reached our stop the driver and several other passengers started shouting "Rustaveli! Metro!" at us, and shuffling us off the crowded vehicle. The owner of our hostel met us at the bus stop and walked us to the hostel, only about 5 minutes but it was so nice to have a personal escort! The hostel was a great experience, making friends with some other Egyptian guests and hanging out with the hostel owners every night.
We hit the highlights of the city: Mtatsminda, Mama Daviti, the Mother of Georgia statue, Narikala, all the gorgeous churches, Dry Bridge Market, strolled Koti Apkhazia street, and pampered ourselves at the sulfur baths in Abanotubani.
At first, to be honest, I felt like Tbilisi was a less  impressive St. Petersburg, like a forgotten Soviet capital sinking into the greenery around it. The longer we were there, however, the more I was able to see the unique character of the city. Tbilisi is not cosmopolitan, it is not fast paced, it is not wild. Instead, it is friendly, personal, intimate, easy, and so beautiful. I loved how you could see the low foothills of the Caucasus rising from almost anywhere in the city, but my favorite part was how small it was! Size-wise, Tbilisi is pretty walkable, though not as much as some other cities (like Prague or Paris). It really feels tiny when you end up running into the same people again and again! There's a pretty solid list of attractions that the tourists cycle through (there were particularly few tourists since we came before peak season), but we also ran into locals more than once! It's so easy to build relationships here- asking directions can lead to a 30 minute walking tour and a chance encounter on the street can lead to a delicious home lunch! This small-town feel continued across the country as we ran into old, and made new, friends everywhere we went!
Tbilisi is also dotted with comfortable cafes and plenty of options to sample local cuisine! Here in St. Petersburg, most Georgian restaurants are on the fancy and pricy side, I was delighted to find that in Georgia, food is incredibly affordable, and even better than Russian imitations. We rolled away stuffed from every meal and rarely spent more than $10 including drinks. There are also plenty of street food options. Tbilisi is a wonderful place to get your footing in Georgia- definitely glad we started there.

View up at the Narikala fortress

Mtskheta: Our last morning in Tbilisi, we woke up and quickly headed out to Didube metro station- Tbilisi's transportation hub. From there you can go practically anywhere in the country or beyond! Here's where reading Georgian or at least Cyrillic will really come in handy as the dozens of buses, marshrutkas, and taxis are marked with their destinations. Clearly identified as tourists by our strange clothing and confused, searching faces, we were quickly surrounded by drivers- "Devushki, where are you going? Batumi? Kutaisi?" We were firm-
"No thank you, Mtskheta"
"Are you sure? Kutaisi is beautiful this time of year, only 10 lari!" they pushed a little bit, but once we insisted our plans were solid once or twice- and here comes my favorite part of Georgia- they stopped trying to sell us and began to help us. Time after time, a driver would lead us to the right bus, lead us to the right driver, send us over to the guy who has a guesthouse in our destination. The "small-town feel" appears here again, as the network of drivers seems to be a sort of brotherhood, where they work together not only for their own profit, but for the benefit of every visitor who stumbles through the exhaust-filled maze of Didube. We never had a single problem with finding the right transportation, and rarely needed to figure out anything on our own. Just wait a minute or so and someone is sure to appear who can help.
Anyway, back to Mtskheta! We headed there on a Marshrutka, about 30 minutes and dirt cheap (I think less than $2). Of course the driver pointed out the city center where we should get off, and we immediately found the enormous, beautiful Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Translated as "Life Giving Pillar"- read it's origin story (with much better pictures than I could take) here. I have seen hundreds of beautiful churches: Spain, France, Austria, Germany, Russia...and I honestly think my favorite of all is Svetitskhoveli. Not the most ornately adorned, not the most flashy, but the most holy, the most steeped in history, I felt the ghosts around us as an almost tangible presence, it was incredible...
We easily found a taxi driver hanging out around the front of the church who agreed to take us up to Jvari Monastery and gave us a mini-tour of Svetitskhoveli as well! The view from the monastery was as spectacular as everyone promised, and I saw my first (certainly not my last) herd of grazing cows on our way up the mountain! 
After Mtskheta we went back to Tbilisi, picked up our bags from the hostel, and said goodbye. Then we headed back to Didube and picked up another marshrutka north to Kazbegi!

Looking down at Mtskheta

Am I missing something or is this really from 1042??

Kazbegi: Hands down my favorite place in Georgia. I even wrote a separate post for Kazbegi here! Quick overview: mountains, snow, hiking, mountains, horses, amazing people, bread, cheese, adorable puppy, mountains. Did I mention mountains? We hiked to less than a km from the Russian border with Ingushetia and rode horses up a mountain to a tiny stone church! Definitely a must-go on any trip to Georgia. We spent 3 nights in Kazbegi and then reluctantly pulled ourselves away to continue our trip.

A little teaser...more in the Kazbegi post!

Gori/Uplitsikhe: From Kazbegi we drove straight south back to Tblisi, the easiest way to get to Gori. Once again we found ourselves at Didube (turned out 4 times in 1 trip!) and easily found a new, air conditioned, seat-belted (rare) mini van headed to Gori. It was only 1 lari more so we opted for a little taste of luxury. The trip was about an hour and a half, and I arrived in Gori admittedly with some of the wind out of my sails after having to leave my Caucasian paradise that morning. Gori being a dirty, forgotten, dust bowl of a town certainly didn't help. Of course the people were extremely outgoing and helpful and some strangers who happened to be near us basically figured out our accommodation for us! Beyond that, though, we got more awkward stares in Gori than any other city, probably because they're least used to tourists (*quick note on the awkward stare: Living in Russia, I'm used to getting stared at for everything from not wearing pantyhose to showing my shoulders too soon in the season, but what I'm calling an "awkward stare" here is one that lasts a little too long, one that you're not really sure where it's coming from, and/or one in which the starer is particularly creepy). The central Shida-Kartli region where Gori is located is drier and flatter than the rest of the country and it was immediately apparent. After dropping off our bags and freshening up at our guesthouse, we headed out to Uplitsikhe. The "bustation" was a cesspool, really nasty place, but we found a taxi willing to take us round trip for a good price. The drive outside the city was nice and idyllic- I saw old couples riding on wagons full of hay being pulled by donkeys! Uplitsikhe itself, an ancient cave city which may date as far back at the 3rd century BC, was neat to explore, but it would have been more engaging with a guide. We returned to Gori and hit the Stalin trail, seeing Stalin Avenue, Stalin Square, the Stalin statue, and of course the Stalin Museum which was mainly pictures of him and his colleagues throughout the years. The tour was good, in fact, not very political and didn't get into the details of his policies, just talked about his cycle of life. After a pick-me-up of Natakhtari (fruit soda) and khinkhali (meat dumplings) we headed back to our guest house for a TERRIBLE night of sleep. I felt every spring in that damn bed and it was too short with a head and foot board so I had to sleep with a bend at my waist so I could straighten my legs and not trigger my restless leg syndrome too badly. Have you ever had to sleep like a BOOMERANG? I get it, I'm taller than the average joe, but honestly- that shouldn't have even qualified as a bed...at least our breakfast the next morning was good! Our host fed us homemade (almost everything in Georgia is) fruit khachapuri, cheese khachapuri, plain bread, cheese, and apple jam. So delicious we stashed some leftovers in our bags for later! Then we finally hauled ass out of that place to Batumi.

Just hanging out in ancient cave city

We climbed to the old fortress on a hill (Gori means hill) and were the only ones there apart from the guards! The city was tolerable from this vantage point.

Batumi: Batumi is a fine city. It is definitely a resort town and although it was a little dead while we were there, it's clearly bustling in the summer. From what I read online I had pictured a little strip with some shrimp shacks and a few guesthouses on the coast, but there is actually a downtown with a few skyscrapers, streets with European facades, and cute cobblestoned lanes. Many of the restaurants, buildings, cafes, and shops were under renovation or just closed for the season, but there was still plenty available to us. Some of the highlights: a show at the dolphinarium, a toe-dip in the Black Sea, a chance visit to a girls' dance school, and so much Natakhtari   <3

Dolphin show with city in the background

A section of the port

Now we're home in St. Petersburg and the weather is finally heating up (it's actually really hot, yesterday was 86 F) and I'm still missing Georgia...but it's time to refocus and buckle down to put the last 3 months of my program into Russian-learning overdrive!

Like I said: stay tuned for Kazbegi and more insights on Georgia! Thanks for reading, folks

Moscow Redux

I awoke to the smell of sausages.

Last time I rode platzkart it was mid-August,  and I was going from Moscow-St Petersburg. The train in fact started its journey somewhere in the south, I think Crimea. So when we boarded in Moscow the bunks were already crowded with hot, sweaty, post-beach vacation passengers who had been riding for 4 days. And my family thought our drive to Nags Head was bad...

But back to the sausages- when I boarded the train in St Peterburg, it smelled, dare I say it, clean! But by this morning I could sense the stench building, starting with a nice thick layer of breakfast sausage. 

Then we arrived in Moscow!

The SRAS  Moscow director met us at the train station and we went straight to our hostel. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we dropped our bags in the front hallway of the renovated apartment, quickly changed shoes and shirts from grungy train to Moscow chic (or American college student comfort), and set out into the city. First we ate- I wasn't very hungry since Tatiana sent me on the train with plenty of snacks, but I tried some pancake-looking "alinga"s, made extra thick and hardened with kefir, and they were delicious. After breakfast, we saw the Tretyakov Gallery, Bolshoi Theater, Christ the Savior church from a distance, several of the 7 Sisters were pointed out, and then we breezed through Red Square (full tour will come tomorrow), upscale shopping center GUM, and got some lunch at a very airport-esque sandwich restaurant. Afterwards, I decided my self esteem was too high, so I ate an entire Cinnabon...no, I'm not proud of that, yes I hated myself for the next few hours, yes I wanted to throw up all day, and yes it WAS delicious. 

When we got back to the hostel I took a shower (surprisingly nice) and we all veged out for a couple hours, exhausted from the train ride and walking tour. 

And then came the evening... what an adventure! After all the other peeps slept and I watched Game of Thrones we decided to go find some food. Nothing particular in mind, we wandered the city for a few blocks. Suddenly in the distance we saw lights swirling. As we approached, it became clear that there were several young people spinning fire. Yes, you read that right, FIRE. There were sticks with fire on both ends, swinging chains with fire on the end, fan-type things with fire on the end...it was incredibly cool! One guy was breathing fire, and one girl was doing dance and acrobatic moves along her fire swinging. We watched for a while, cheering them on, then we found a really cool looking American style diner that the Moscow SRAS director had mentioned earlier. As soon as we saw it, we started dreaming of cheeseburgers and milkshakes and dove in! The food was delicious, and the milkshakes really hit the spot. Then we hit a snag- one of our students is allergic to peanuts, and one of our students ordered a peanut butter milkshake. Of course, there was a mix up...Tim, with the peanut allergy, took a sip of the milkshake and froze. His allergy isn't bad, so we finished our meal and then went in search of a pharmacy for some Benadryl. Armed with 3 or 4 translations and generic names, we began to look for a 24 hour pharmacy since it was past 11. 

All over the city we ran, here and there, back and forth, down streets and alleys and EVERY apteka we found was closed. After about half an hour of walking, we stumbled upon a bigger street lined with plenty of aptekas. Finally we found an open one, and gleefully ran inside. Here another problem arose- the pharmacist was not giving Tim what he wanted. We struggled for a while until finally a Russian  bystander decided to get involved. He asked me what the problem was, and then dragged Tim by the arm down the street to a different pharmacy. Once Tim's life was no longer in danger, this good-Samaritan asked us all to walk with him for a bit- so we did! Very spontaneously, we strolled through Moscow until around 1am with our new friend chatting about everything: Moscow vs Petersburg, Russian language, America, the metro! It was a great night.

The rest of our trip to Moscow was less eventful. We saw Lenin's tomb which was honestly very unsettling. I suppose it was good to see once but I wouldn't do it again, it was quite sad. We did the typical Red Square thing and then toured an old Soviet nuclear bunker and that was pretty cool! Then home to Piter for a few days before preparing for...GEORGIA! 

Actually I'm finishing this blog from Kazbegi, Georgia. Lots of great things happened between Moscow and Georgia including Easter, buying roller blades, seeing a camel in Kronstadt, and seeing the Ataman Cossack ensemble perform (might have to write a separate blog post for that- very weird). I wrote this 80% from Moscow and felt it needed to be finished, but now I'll post it and get it out of my system so I can go on and write about Georgia- coming soon! 

Some Good Days in Saint Petersburg

So this blog post doesn't have a special topic, just an update on my life and how I'm doing!

A few people have expressed some concern for me over the situation in Ukraine, and the West and Russia's reactions, but no need to worry! I have not seen anything that made me feel uncomfortable or in any kind of danger and I don't think there will be anything like that in the future. It is highly unlikely that my program would be compromised by this issue so I'm just enjoying being at the center of an interesting political event!

The weather is getting a little bit warmer now so I've been able to walk slowly outside and enjoy the city a little more. I've been discovering lots of adorable cafes and beautiful streets and just soaking in the sunshine.

My Russian classes have been a little...unstable thus far, but yesterday I tried out a new class and I think that's where I'm going to be the rest of the semester! It's actually made for heritage speakers who know almost no grammar and have no writing skills, so it's a different kind of focus, but it will force me to build my vocabulary very quickly because they all know so much!

So I have some pictures and a few stories to share with you guys, check it out!:

Last Saturday I had my first exam in Russia and boy was it interesting. The way my classes work here, if you don't already know, is each class is 1.5 credits and is 4-5 hours a day for 5 or 6 days, then it's over. To have the credits transfer to UVA I have to take two classes and "bundle" them into one UVA-equivalent class- kind of a pain. Since the class is so short, we usually don't really have assignments or quizzes, just participation grade and a final project or exam. The exam isn't on the last day of class, though, it's generally some vague time in the future whenever convenient for the professor. So although I finished my International Economic Law class more than a month ago, I had the exam last Saturday! It was an oral, supposed to last 5-7 minutes per person, but there were like 40 people so it took FOREVER. I was, of course, a tiny bit late and ended up at the very end of the list. Fast forward four hours, we have been reviewing in the hallway the whole time, and of course my voice is the most American and the most obnoxious and it carries. A few people came out of the exam room and said the professor made a comment about being able to hear me! So I tried to turn it down a bit but you know...so I get into the exam room, literally the second to last person, and the professor just looks at me with his red, exhausted eyes and says "I'm not going to ask you any questions. I've heard you in the hallway the last few hours and I know you know the material. 100%, A, get out of here." WUT.
So yeah, I was shocked because that would not happen in America, I was a little bit annoyed because I had waited so long for nothing, and super happy because obviously! I really do know my stuff, though. Seriously, ask me (almost) anything about the basics of international trade and economic law and I'll knock your socks off   =p

Pretty harsh, but I totally understand this comic now!

After the exam I was exhausted and it was late so I just headed home (yes I stopped on the way and got a milkshake, stop judging me!). When I got home I saw my host mom's daughter, Zhenya, her husband whose name I can't remember, and their son Vlad were there! They had just seen a ballet at the Mariinsky and were all fancy laughing and talking. So I sat and talked with them for about an hour and half in Russian. I didn't think much of it until I got into bed that night and realized that 3 months ago I never would have had the confidence to be able to do that! I'm not sure how much my actual grammar and vocabulary have been expanding thus far, but my confidence, familiarity with conversational norms and sentence patterns, and willingness to speak has skyrocketed!


So my apartment building is very typical for the Russian city center, a few apartment blocks that circle a central courtyard (called a "well" in Russian because sometimes the buildings are so tall the light never reaches the ground). The other day I came home from school and one of the few cats who like to hang out in the courtyard was sitting by the dumpster licking himself with pride and right next to him? A big fat juicy dead rat. Yum. Anyway, I'm guessing the cat caught the little guy and had some fun. I took a picture because it was interesting and this woman comes out of the tailor's in the bottom of the building next to mine and starts yelling at me! No idea what she was saying, so of course I just said "I don't speak Russian!" and ran upstairs...oops

I was talking with a Russian friend the other day, and we were talking about the economy, and how Russian income tax rates are higher than American tax rates. I asked him if he felt that he could see his tax dollars at work, and he said "yeah, in the new cars and apartments of the parliament members!" hahaha good one, Russian humor

So tonight Roman's university is having some sort of celebration, fancy-dress-party for the 20th anniversary of his department. He invited me and I am very excited to put on a nice dress and go meet some new people!
Not that he never takes me out, by any means- two weekends ago we went to a Vivaldi concert at Smolny Cathedral, and it was wonderful! I'll be sure to post pictures from tonight)))

On Monday there was a field trip for my Russian Political System class- we went to the Russian Museum of Politics! (not sure if that's the official name...)

Piece of the Berlin Wall

Portrait of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, raked by bayonets of revolutionaries when the State Duma was taken

Russian Constitution and audiobook!

An interesting, large sculpture inside the museum

Rock wall I think memorializing those who died in gulags

Stalin's Death Mask

On Sunday morning SRAS took us on a Dostoevsky walking tour! The weather was appropriately dreary. The tour was pretty interesting, although it turned out I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be to see the places where characters "lived" and where scenes "happened"...because they really didn't happen at all. It was better just to walk through the neighborhoods, pretty well preserved from when Dostoevsky would have seen them, and try to put yourself in his mind, imagine his inspiration.
Apologies for being the worst photographer ever...

House of Raskolnikov

Later on Sunday I did a cooking class through my university! It was kind of pricy and way too many people, but still fun)) My group learned how to make syrniki (sort of cottage cheese patties) and other groups made schi (cabbage soup) and "herring under the fur coat"...ew.

Walking on Nevsky yesterday ran into this great band, tons of people around them. Guy on the guitar was just wailing, totally rocking out, and the guy on the drum was in some kind of trance, really cool, and then there's the guy in the background...older than the rest, kind of in the background, playing basically an Arizona Sweet Tea can full of rice. Not even sure if he was actually in the band or just wanted to be part of the jam session lol

Things That are Hard to Find/Very Expensive in Russia

I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression- you can find almost anything in Saint Petersburg or Moscow that you can in the United States. One exception is, of course, certain regional foodstuffs (Wisconsin cheese curds, Pennsylvania apple butter, etc.)

I can't vouch for other countries, but there seems to be a wide selection of restaurants and shops specializing in foods from around the world. 

**When I say a food is difficult to find, it usually is available at a big grocery store like Okay or Lenta, but I live in the city center, no car, and I walk to get my groceries from a shop about 30 minutes away. I don't have the big heavy duty plastic carrying bags or rolling bags some people use to carry groceries, so it just isn't practical for me (or many other city-dwellers) to ride the metro way out to a big store just to pick up one or two craving items on a regular basis.**

I would love to hear your thoughts! Is there anything I missed? Anything you'd like to point out from non-US countries? Let me know in the comments below

Food

• Peanut butter: This tops the list because it is probably the number one thing I hear Americans complaining about. It's really not that difficult to find at most big groceries stores, but it is expensive ($9-10 USD).
• Salsa: This is another big one, but easy and fun to make at home when ingredients are in season!
• Hot sauce: Similar to salsa, but worth noting separately that Russians in general are not fans of spicy foods. I had my mom mail me my favorite Texas Pete! (Tabasco is pretty accessible, and Siracha can be found in a few stores).
  
• Nutella: I see this in almost every store, but it is surprisingly expensive! ($5-6 USD)
• Cereal/Granola bars: I have only seen these once, and it was 87 rubles ($2.50 USD) for a Nature Valley bar at a store that carries lots of imported goods
• Marshmallows: Russians in general don't seem to like marshmallows very much. American-style hot chocolate isn't that popular and I have NEVER seen it served with marshmallows (mini or otherwise). The only marshmallows I've seen were about $3 for a bag of stale, dried out plastic-y goo balls...no thank you.
• Soy milk:A few cafes offer this (The Coffeeshop Company), and once in a while I'll see it at an Indian specialty store or big grocery store, but I think it is not always restocked right away. Almond milk is also almost impossible to find. (I found coconut milk in a specialty shop for $10 a small container, rice milk can be found at some Asian-speciality stores).
• Ginger ale: Good luck.
• Poptarts: Not that these were ever a very integral part of my diet, but I have not come across them in Russia. There may be a specialty import store, but likely the selection would be limited and they would be stale. 
• Good cereal: Cold breakfast cereal with milk is not so popular here, so the options are pretty limited. Nestle dominates this market, largely corn-based flakes, pops (Kosmostars are everywhere) or chocolate balls. There are some "fitness" cereals, but are disgusting (packed with overly sweet dried fruit)...American cereals can be found at Stockman, but can run up to $20 for a box of Fruit Loops!
• Baking powder: Not hard to find, but worth noting because so far I have only seen it come in tiny little packages.

Not Food

I have much less to write here as I buy food nearly every day and rarely other goods, but I didn't want to leave these things out!

• Barbie Dolls: This actually sparked my blog post. Today I saw Barbie dolls on sale at a regular toy store for FIFTY DOLLARS. These were not some special edition collectors dolls, just the skinny-box, no change of clothes, beach Barbie...it makes me sad to think that most kids probably won't have the chance to grow up with the most amazing toy everrrr (in my opinion).

• Nice bedding: Sheets and pillowcases here are pretty expensive compared to Stateside and are almost uniformly scratching and thin. No Egyptian cotton here...
• American school supplies: They have a lot here, but the basic 3-hole punch folders, binders, spiral notebooks are hard. Also, most notebooks are grid paper, regular horizontal lines can take some digging.
• English books and magazines: Very expensive.
• Ovens: Maybe this is unique to me, but I only know two people who have ovens at home here.*Edit: I have confirmed that I am just a weirdo, and most people do in fact have ovens.
• Big shoes: For both men and women large shoe sizes are hard to find. Much harder for women, especially since most women in Russia wear high heels very frequently, and when you do find a size over a US 9, it usually is a tennis shoe or orthopedic.

I know this list is not extensive, and I'm sure someone will say "actually, you can find x at this store..." but this is a generalized list of my experiences. Feel free to ask me any questions, and thank you for reading!