A wise friend once said to me "Transience is the life of a 20-year old."
Feeling currently on the brink of a new semester in what seems to be a "new" Russian State University for the Humanities (briefly, RGGU), I am choosing now to write my opinions of the first semester. (I realize that, yes, I have been back in the country for over a week now. Tomorrow, as I will be moving into the dormitories, makes this past week seem like more of a transition period than actually part of the semester.)
The semester began with difficulty. I was a new student in an entirely new country with an average comprehension of said country's language. Furthermore, I came without any sort of organized group due to a general lack of interest in the Program. Within three weeks, I had made the acquaintance of very few, and the Program itself - while incredibly flexible due to "me being the Program"- seemed confusing and unorganized. While Dickinson's side of the program appeared to have all in order in their mind, and RGGU's program appeared to have all in order in their mind, the two somehow still were unable to agree on my class schedule or what I would be doing with myself for the remainder of the semester. I was simply "here," taking classes, going to the theater occasionally, and would at some point, be taking excursions.
Ironically, just as extant clouds formed above Moscow, the proverbial clouds parted over my status within the Abroad program. My class schedule was organized, and I started to do more than simply tour monasteries and read while holed up in my Smolenskaya apartment. My aquaintances slightly wavered over the first several weeks of sociability; however, by the beginning of October, I managed to make a solid group of friends whom I felt comfortable doing nearly anything with.
Over time, this led me to make the decision to move to the dormitory my second semester. Despite my host family's considerable kindness and flexibility (as I kept rather odd hours commuting back and forth to campus to spend time with friends), I felt more comfortable choosing to live amongst my peers at the University. Unfortunately however, I became rather well aware of the fact that I would not be rejoined by the same group of friends.
The final two months were ones of what I feel was a sense of cameraderie amongst the students of Korpus 4. We experienced the 2008 Election together, traveled to Petersburg and Estonia, created large meals together, and quite honestly did very little without out one another. This was a great oppotunity; not only were we all approximately of the same age, but we were also of a similar mindset. We all struggled through the language barriers, cultural differences, and naturally, the normal demands of an academic semester, in a foreign country. Furthermore, aware that the majority of us would be separated in a matter of weeks, we developed a mutual understanding of the rather different future that awaited us.
The semester itself ended seemingly quickly, each of us returning to his or her respective home for the Holidays. I returned through New York, which allowed for a "trial by fire" in a non-Russian metropolis as soon as my plane landed. I felt similarly tried by my return to suburban life a day later; I found myself devoid of simple transportation, conveniences within walking distance, and the ability to utilize my recently honed Russian skills. This soon faded and I managed to adjust to the feeling of being home, if only temporarily.
In a sense, these are "just the facts." My intention is to go beyond this and analyze what else there was to this past semester that I feel impacted me exponentially.
1.) I will begin with one of the most important of these "impacts". I feel content with my choice to pursue a graduate education: I often felt uncomfortable in the first years of college making any firm decision in terms of what to do afterwards. It goes without saying, much to my parents' early frustration, that I must have changed my mind nearly one hundred times due to one influence or another, but never felt on any firm ground with any one of these so-called "decisions." In the past semester however, I was involved in numerous intellectual conversations with other prospective graduate students, in which I was able to offer academic arguments based on my areas on intensive study. Normally, these conversations ended with a friend asking "Have you considered teaching, like a professor maybe?" I comfortably responded, "Yes" after several such discussions.
2.) I have developed an appreciation for the arts that I never thought possible:
As many are aware, I have always been active musically, from early years in the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Honors Band, to performing lead roles in musicals, to simply serving as a Reader in the Orthodox Church and singing in the choir. My involvement with "art" (i.e. painting, drawing, sculpture) has been relatively minor, although I can say I undoubtedly enjoyed it. In Moscow, I have been able to attend the opera, dramatic plays, ballets, and orchestral performances. I orginally had little patience for opera, but came out of a Bolshoy Theater performance of Bizet's "Carmen" amazed beyond words. I have toured numerous art museums, expecting the Old Tretyakov Gallery (featuring the Rublev icon of "The Trinity", and works by Repin, Shishkin, and other Russian greats) to be an unchallenged favorite. Weeks later, I found myself at the New Tretyakov gallery of primarily modern art, and had to be practically dragged away from the works of cubists, futurists, and impressionists. I went to a Warhol exhibit of 16mm silent films and became absorbed in their visual simplicity but symbolic depth.
3.)I now find an endless amount of joy in very simple things:
I never thought in years that I would take so much merit from something as basic as a long walk. It started as a thirst for discovery or adventure in a new and strange city and became something so habitual that I had difficulty living without it when returning home. On days where I found myself frustrated with all around me, I would stop everything I was doing and go on a walk for often over 3 hours - sometimes alone, sometimes with a companion. I would return and feel amazing, as if a weight was lifted from me, despite all sorts of muscles aching. While I naturally enjoyed the company of friends, I never thought something as simple as dessert, a bottle of red wine, and good company at the end of a day could be so rewarding. This too became a regular practice that caused me to wonder later why I had never done it before.
I ended the semester with these things in mind, and quite naturally feared their disappearance along with the departure of the people I had grown to value so much. There is much now however, which I felt I understood more clearly, that I could use to guide myself through a second semester. In my desire to close with another quote as I began with one, I will leave it to a master to describe the situation more eloquently.
"I shall still dispute in the same way, shall inoppotunely express my thoughts...my life, my whole life, independently of anything that may happen to me, is every moment of it no longer meaningless as it was before, but has an unquestionable meaning of goodness with which I have the power to invest it."
-Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Political Views...an Outside Looking in Experience
I'm going to start with a metaphorical sort of question. If you had gone a while without a costly product you enjoyed, and knew you had a check of an indeterminate amount coming to you in the mail in the near future, would you go all out to buy the product anyway before you even knew the amount on the check? Or, would you move towards action in the polar opposite direction, and, knowing the natural dangers of overspending, isolate yourself and opt never to buy again until you had the exact amount of money you needed? (Knowing our recent economy and issues with overextending one's credit spending, unfortunately I think we'd go with the former, were this not an extended metaphor...)
Having the opportunity to observe America from Russia - which from my experience with Russians has been more or less a national pattern of apathy towards our country unless we're critiquing their foreign/domestic policy or giving them money - has been a unique one. It has allowed me, at the risk of making a dangerous political move, to be as objective as was possible when viewing our government and public opinion. I will state before delving into anything else that going into this election, I supported no particular candidate, Republican, Democratic or otherwise. I think it is relatively important to note that; otherwise, my claims at being objective could be called into such a level of question as to completely destroy my argument.
I forgot about the election quite honestly, until I received my absentee ballot. Then, I forgot about it again until around November 3rd. There was little or no mention of it in Moscow for the first several months of my study abroad. Finally, at the suggestion of a group of friends from the University, I attended an "Election Party" on the 4th at an "American Style Diner" in the south of Moscow. A majority of the group was composed of Obama supporters, or those like myself who were just interested in seeing the outcome of the election. The night itself (actually early morning in Moscow) ended in celebration with the victory of Barack Obama, which was announced at around 7am Moscow time. I was not aware that the event at the Diner was being run by a local Democrats organization until later in the morning, so I merely thought the cheers represented a tone of overall excitement.
As for my personal reactions to the election: I was pleased with Obama's victory. My reasons were the result of nothing particularly proactive or a leaning towards him as a presidential candidate. The previous administration had never struck me as anything truly evil or dictatoral, but rather extremely misguided and disorganized in the face of trying times. I stand by this from a historical perspective of "Time will tell how this regime or this president is viewed throughout history." For instance, the now constantly discussed Lincoln administration was (quite obviously) hated by half the country, and received a great deal of low approval in the North as well due to numerous socioeconomic issues. The Civil War took an awful toll on the entirety of the United States, and as a result, Lincoln was not very well liked as a President. Now he is one of our most beloved Presidents; savior of a severed country, liberator of a race of the enslaved, founding father.
With this in mind, I am hardly claiming Bush to be the next Lincoln. I am merely stating that history judges differently than present public opinion. My feelings toward the Bush administration can be wrapped up in one word: tiring. The war, the rhetoric, the underlying corruption issues, etc. all became tiring to hear about. Whoever would be elected in the 2008 election, as far as I was concerned, had to have a clearly defined path towards a change from the previous administration.
As Obama accepted his nomination as President, his rhetoric (at the very least) seemed to embody the concept of "change." This is not to say that McCain did not have rhetoric that hoped for change. Obama simply sold it better to the American public as was indicated by his victory. My feelings, however, were that with such a victory, it was imperative for Obama to transform this strong rhetoric into action. I was aware that this would not be immediate; however, if he expected to avoid the same sordid public opinion of his predecessor, he would need to do more than simply speak of change.
My worry is now the public explosion of emotions and taking of sides as a result of yesterday's inauguration. Even the day before the election, talk shows, news channels, and nearly every form of mass media held interviews and had discussions about the "change" taking place for the future. Oprah Winfrey, an adamant Obama supporter throughout his entire campaign, interviewed actors and actresses, singers, and others, all praising these "changes." Several artists even debuted a song called "America's Song," happily singing of the change to come, including the Irish humanitarian lead singer of U2, Bono (I am assuming to show the international impact of the "change"). Facebook was strewn with the gleeful anticipation of "change starting at noon tomorrow!" or the cheers of how students countrywide were "once again proud to be Americans."
Honestly, while attempting to be realistic, this all was a bit difficult to swallow. As "president elect," Barack Obama could physically change nothing yet- not the economic crisis, not the war, and quite frankly not even the furniture in the White House if he wanted to. All he could do was simply continue to promise to fulfill everything he spoke of while campaigning. Yet somehow, it seemed that he had changed nearly everything simply by being elected. I do not seek to underestimate or downplay the monumental historical significance of his election and inauguration as President. This is undoubtably a great "change" for the United States. Take the following example, however. A Wall Street criticism of George Bush was that nearly every time he made a major speech, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted. With Obama's promises for an economic turnaround, many believed - somewhat naturally - that Inauguration Day might stimulate the Market and cause the Dow Jones to go up, even if only for the day. Inauguration Day came; the Market fell nearly 300 points and Wall Street continued its struggle.
On the other side of the spectrum, however, the naysayers of the fresh administration have come out of the woodwork. Take for instance the following Libertarian article http://www.nolanchart.com/article5831.html (in advance, Gerolamo, sorry I stole the article from your facebook). This particular article accuses Obama of being actually worse than the former President, and offers a laundry list of preemptive political transgressions. This includes, but is not limited to imperialism, foreign exploitation, thievery and enslavement, and naturally the overall quashing of our freedom and liberties as citizens of the United States.
Frankly, there are some merits to both sides of this argument. Obama's campaign and election represents a great change historically, as well as the potential for great national and social change for our country. However, there are many things that President Obama may not be able to achieve quite simply by time limitations, legal limitations, socioeconomic limitations, and in some cases governmental opposition, apathy, or inability. Only time can determine the activity or inactivity, ability or inability of the new administration.
Or, to quote my father when asked his opinion: "Ask me about him in a year."
Having the opportunity to observe America from Russia - which from my experience with Russians has been more or less a national pattern of apathy towards our country unless we're critiquing their foreign/domestic policy or giving them money - has been a unique one. It has allowed me, at the risk of making a dangerous political move, to be as objective as was possible when viewing our government and public opinion. I will state before delving into anything else that going into this election, I supported no particular candidate, Republican, Democratic or otherwise. I think it is relatively important to note that; otherwise, my claims at being objective could be called into such a level of question as to completely destroy my argument.
I forgot about the election quite honestly, until I received my absentee ballot. Then, I forgot about it again until around November 3rd. There was little or no mention of it in Moscow for the first several months of my study abroad. Finally, at the suggestion of a group of friends from the University, I attended an "Election Party" on the 4th at an "American Style Diner" in the south of Moscow. A majority of the group was composed of Obama supporters, or those like myself who were just interested in seeing the outcome of the election. The night itself (actually early morning in Moscow) ended in celebration with the victory of Barack Obama, which was announced at around 7am Moscow time. I was not aware that the event at the Diner was being run by a local Democrats organization until later in the morning, so I merely thought the cheers represented a tone of overall excitement.
As for my personal reactions to the election: I was pleased with Obama's victory. My reasons were the result of nothing particularly proactive or a leaning towards him as a presidential candidate. The previous administration had never struck me as anything truly evil or dictatoral, but rather extremely misguided and disorganized in the face of trying times. I stand by this from a historical perspective of "Time will tell how this regime or this president is viewed throughout history." For instance, the now constantly discussed Lincoln administration was (quite obviously) hated by half the country, and received a great deal of low approval in the North as well due to numerous socioeconomic issues. The Civil War took an awful toll on the entirety of the United States, and as a result, Lincoln was not very well liked as a President. Now he is one of our most beloved Presidents; savior of a severed country, liberator of a race of the enslaved, founding father.
With this in mind, I am hardly claiming Bush to be the next Lincoln. I am merely stating that history judges differently than present public opinion. My feelings toward the Bush administration can be wrapped up in one word: tiring. The war, the rhetoric, the underlying corruption issues, etc. all became tiring to hear about. Whoever would be elected in the 2008 election, as far as I was concerned, had to have a clearly defined path towards a change from the previous administration.
As Obama accepted his nomination as President, his rhetoric (at the very least) seemed to embody the concept of "change." This is not to say that McCain did not have rhetoric that hoped for change. Obama simply sold it better to the American public as was indicated by his victory. My feelings, however, were that with such a victory, it was imperative for Obama to transform this strong rhetoric into action. I was aware that this would not be immediate; however, if he expected to avoid the same sordid public opinion of his predecessor, he would need to do more than simply speak of change.
My worry is now the public explosion of emotions and taking of sides as a result of yesterday's inauguration. Even the day before the election, talk shows, news channels, and nearly every form of mass media held interviews and had discussions about the "change" taking place for the future. Oprah Winfrey, an adamant Obama supporter throughout his entire campaign, interviewed actors and actresses, singers, and others, all praising these "changes." Several artists even debuted a song called "America's Song," happily singing of the change to come, including the Irish humanitarian lead singer of U2, Bono (I am assuming to show the international impact of the "change"). Facebook was strewn with the gleeful anticipation of "change starting at noon tomorrow!" or the cheers of how students countrywide were "once again proud to be Americans."
Honestly, while attempting to be realistic, this all was a bit difficult to swallow. As "president elect," Barack Obama could physically change nothing yet- not the economic crisis, not the war, and quite frankly not even the furniture in the White House if he wanted to. All he could do was simply continue to promise to fulfill everything he spoke of while campaigning. Yet somehow, it seemed that he had changed nearly everything simply by being elected. I do not seek to underestimate or downplay the monumental historical significance of his election and inauguration as President. This is undoubtably a great "change" for the United States. Take the following example, however. A Wall Street criticism of George Bush was that nearly every time he made a major speech, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted. With Obama's promises for an economic turnaround, many believed - somewhat naturally - that Inauguration Day might stimulate the Market and cause the Dow Jones to go up, even if only for the day. Inauguration Day came; the Market fell nearly 300 points and Wall Street continued its struggle.
On the other side of the spectrum, however, the naysayers of the fresh administration have come out of the woodwork. Take for instance the following Libertarian article http://www.nolanchart.com/article5831.html (in advance, Gerolamo, sorry I stole the article from your facebook). This particular article accuses Obama of being actually worse than the former President, and offers a laundry list of preemptive political transgressions. This includes, but is not limited to imperialism, foreign exploitation, thievery and enslavement, and naturally the overall quashing of our freedom and liberties as citizens of the United States.
Frankly, there are some merits to both sides of this argument. Obama's campaign and election represents a great change historically, as well as the potential for great national and social change for our country. However, there are many things that President Obama may not be able to achieve quite simply by time limitations, legal limitations, socioeconomic limitations, and in some cases governmental opposition, apathy, or inability. Only time can determine the activity or inactivity, ability or inability of the new administration.
Or, to quote my father when asked his opinion: "Ask me about him in a year."
Sunday, October 19, 2008
An Update of Sorts...and some musings
I am about to end my second full month in Moscow in approximately three days. The best option I think is to simply let this boggle my mind rather than actually think about it, as with the latter I would end up making statements like "Only so many days until ________ happens!" I feel like it's been safer in the past (or at least past 8 weeks) to focus on what I'm doing right now and enjoy it. With that in mind, I will try and recap what I'm feeling at the moment, which I mostly expect to incur the wrath and cynical fury of the Dickinson Muscovites Abroad of yester-year as usual (ha-ha, I swear I only jest...)
I feel settled, which is to say, officially in Moscow. The metro is a knee-jerk reaction now; the drunken man with the fishing rod who incoherently yelled at me the other day did not shock me in the least. I think I was just surprised that he didn't try to sell me anything or invade my American sense of "personal space." While I still have the tendency to get lost, this becomes more of a unique opportunity to wander aimlessly and find new and interesting things, or at the very least, allows me to take an epic journey on the metro. Yesterday I managed about five hours of wandering with a friend - a trip which somehow took us almost entirely around the interior of Moscow's "Sadovoye Koltso" (Garden Ring). Eventually this works out to probably a 10km walk or so (which for some awful reason I did completely in a pair of Sperry docksider's). Adventuring, however, is probably one of the best methods of "blending in" (apart from not smiling or talking loudly in English) as, when all else fails, you at least seem to know where you're going, even if you don't.
Markets are amazingly convenient. Unless your language skills completely fail you. With the upcoming season of "frigid" approaching, the Moscow markets (specifically Izmailovskaya Vernissage and Kievskaya Rynok in my case) are selling everything from scarves, furry/non-furry hats, gloves, socks, and boots to the normal assortment of things which provoke the question, "Why would I ever need that for anything?!" (For instance, the windy part to a can opener, or an arbitrary plug that was attached to an appliance at one time or another). I have stocked up on warm socks and at least a few turtlenecks, which I am sure will make me very happy once the snow begins. The downside of the markets is that the vendors are incredibly aggressive (grabbing arms of passerbys to get them to buy something, ruthlessly haggling, etc.). So far I've attempted to master the fine art of incoherently complaining about prices in Russian until they lower them by at least 100 rubles. Then of course, there is the Kievskaya Rynok, which I have on more than one occasion described by asking, "Remember the opening scene in Casablanca where the little French guy says 'This city is full of vultures! Vultures everywhere!'?" At one point in this entertaining market, I was pulled into one of the stands and immediately fitted with a pair of Puma's, which for some reason or other, the vendor tried convincing me were flame proof (by putting a lighter to the shoes he just tied on to me...). However, as long as one sticks to Russian as much as is humanly possible, you wont end up walking out of the market with seven pairs of shoes, two bags, three hats, and none of your original belongings. However, with the price of "mall style" clothing stores, you may end up with the same condition; only you leave the store with one item you bought there, and documents for the house which you just remortgaged to pay for it.
I am still in fact a fan of pirozhki, blini, borsch, and various easy/cheap-to-buy Russian convenience foods. Every country seems to have their traditional food product of "stuff filled with other stuff," however I believe Russia is on to something with theirs. Teremok (or the Blini fast food kiosk which also sells Mors, Kvas, and Medovukha) is truly wonderful on one of those days where you've been walking for a while and simply need an average amount of food for energy. And considering that they sell probably 30 different types of Blini, at the very least you get to try something new depending on your mood. Personally, I have become addicted to "Mors," which is a sweeter form of cranberry juice, which apparently America has not caught on to completely. It still has that bit of tartness to it, but it can be very refreshing at the same time. Kvas and Medovukha have grown on me (Medovukha slightly less, as its beer-like alcohol content prevents me from buying it in between classes). These two beverages are gradually proving my point that this country has sought to ferment everything, as Kvas is fermented bread, and Medovukha is fermented honey. Both are unique tasting, and surprisingly refreshing.
I think my next updates shall begin with the onset of the snowy season, which many at home are surprised hasn't started already...give it time. I'm dreaming of a white Halloween...
I feel settled, which is to say, officially in Moscow. The metro is a knee-jerk reaction now; the drunken man with the fishing rod who incoherently yelled at me the other day did not shock me in the least. I think I was just surprised that he didn't try to sell me anything or invade my American sense of "personal space." While I still have the tendency to get lost, this becomes more of a unique opportunity to wander aimlessly and find new and interesting things, or at the very least, allows me to take an epic journey on the metro. Yesterday I managed about five hours of wandering with a friend - a trip which somehow took us almost entirely around the interior of Moscow's "Sadovoye Koltso" (Garden Ring). Eventually this works out to probably a 10km walk or so (which for some awful reason I did completely in a pair of Sperry docksider's). Adventuring, however, is probably one of the best methods of "blending in" (apart from not smiling or talking loudly in English) as, when all else fails, you at least seem to know where you're going, even if you don't.
Markets are amazingly convenient. Unless your language skills completely fail you. With the upcoming season of "frigid" approaching, the Moscow markets (specifically Izmailovskaya Vernissage and Kievskaya Rynok in my case) are selling everything from scarves, furry/non-furry hats, gloves, socks, and boots to the normal assortment of things which provoke the question, "Why would I ever need that for anything?!" (For instance, the windy part to a can opener, or an arbitrary plug that was attached to an appliance at one time or another). I have stocked up on warm socks and at least a few turtlenecks, which I am sure will make me very happy once the snow begins. The downside of the markets is that the vendors are incredibly aggressive (grabbing arms of passerbys to get them to buy something, ruthlessly haggling, etc.). So far I've attempted to master the fine art of incoherently complaining about prices in Russian until they lower them by at least 100 rubles. Then of course, there is the Kievskaya Rynok, which I have on more than one occasion described by asking, "Remember the opening scene in Casablanca where the little French guy says 'This city is full of vultures! Vultures everywhere!'?" At one point in this entertaining market, I was pulled into one of the stands and immediately fitted with a pair of Puma's, which for some reason or other, the vendor tried convincing me were flame proof (by putting a lighter to the shoes he just tied on to me...). However, as long as one sticks to Russian as much as is humanly possible, you wont end up walking out of the market with seven pairs of shoes, two bags, three hats, and none of your original belongings. However, with the price of "mall style" clothing stores, you may end up with the same condition; only you leave the store with one item you bought there, and documents for the house which you just remortgaged to pay for it.
I am still in fact a fan of pirozhki, blini, borsch, and various easy/cheap-to-buy Russian convenience foods. Every country seems to have their traditional food product of "stuff filled with other stuff," however I believe Russia is on to something with theirs. Teremok (or the Blini fast food kiosk which also sells Mors, Kvas, and Medovukha) is truly wonderful on one of those days where you've been walking for a while and simply need an average amount of food for energy. And considering that they sell probably 30 different types of Blini, at the very least you get to try something new depending on your mood. Personally, I have become addicted to "Mors," which is a sweeter form of cranberry juice, which apparently America has not caught on to completely. It still has that bit of tartness to it, but it can be very refreshing at the same time. Kvas and Medovukha have grown on me (Medovukha slightly less, as its beer-like alcohol content prevents me from buying it in between classes). These two beverages are gradually proving my point that this country has sought to ferment everything, as Kvas is fermented bread, and Medovukha is fermented honey. Both are unique tasting, and surprisingly refreshing.
I think my next updates shall begin with the onset of the snowy season, which many at home are surprised hasn't started already...give it time. I'm dreaming of a white Halloween...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Return of the Danilov Bells - Being Part of History (Part Two)
I became involved with the Danilov Bell return process by accident. In my quest to visit numerous sites of Holy Russian Orthodoxy while in the country, I happened to be perusing a Russian website that lists not only the Liturgical Calendar in Old (as in Old Rite calendar, making the current date about September 1, 7516...don't worry, I don't really understand it either) and New Calendar, but also all of the churches in operation in present day Russia. (In case you are interested, the website is http://days.pravoslavie.ru/ ...mostly helpful if you can read Russian, the English portion of the website only contains articles and not the interesting stuff on churches).
As I browsed the "monasteries" section (Ru.: "Монастыри и подворья Москвы") I happened upon the website of Danilov Monastery, located about 5 metro stops away from my Smolenskaya apartment, slightly south of Moscow's Garden Circle. I was mostly looking to attend another monastic Divine Liturgy, as I had already attended one at Donskoy Monastery the week before and thoroughly enjoyed it (A brief note: Monastic services tend to flow slightly faster than the average Russian Orthodox Church service. This is likely a result of the nearly daily celebration of Divine Liturgy, Matins and Vespers by the Monastic Communities there.) Upon viewing the Monastery's website, I found a brief article on their "News" section (on the Russian version of the website, once again the English website is somewhat lacking) stating that there would be a ceremony the following day at 4pm to receive the Danilov Bells from Harvard University.
I immediately decided that I was going, I had only one class the following day. Furthermore, РГГУ, where I am studying is on the same Metro line as the Monastery, so the commute would not be an issue. At the time, however, there was one setback: the official ceremony, celebrated following Divine Liturgy would take place on Friday, September 12, and I had two classes. I somewhat nervously called my Moscow adviser hoping to find some way out of them, which I did, as she noted most of the teachers at the University would have little or no problem with an Orthodox Christian wanting to attend a major Orthodox event in Moscow.
My mind now at ease, I went to the first ceremony on a bleak 45 degree day at around 3:45pm. I entered the main square of the Monastery itself somewhat confused; I barely knew where I was going, nor did I know where exactly the congregation would "meet" the bells. The amount of people in the square (at that time about 50) and a small gathering of monastics quickly put my mind at ease. As it was cold, I entered the public trapeza (a small building near the Gate Church of St. Symeon the Stylite which sells bread and drinks to the visitors of the monastery) and bought a cup of tea, but nearly as soon as I prepared my tea, the bells began to ring. These of course, were the current set of bells in the Gate Church, which began a joyous peal to hearken the beginning of the procession.
I came out of the trapeza to see the monastic clergy in beautiful gold vestments singing in procession though the gate church. The gathered congregation followed suit and began travelling down Ulitsa Danilovsky Val' towards a large intersection. I noticed that the congregation was now about 200 people, all walking with icons and singing various church hymns, merely proud to have the chance to meet the bells. After several minutes of walking and waiting at the intersection, a flatbed pulled up carrying the Harvard/Danilov bells. I could not see them all at that time due to the crowd and the largest bell, which hid the smaller bells from view. The flatbed drove in front of the clergy and led the procession back to the monastery. I somehow got grouped in between the American Harvard delegation and three or four old Russian women telling me to sing with them, and asking me questions about the monastery as if I lived there. Finally we arrived back at the monastery and the bells were placed near a series of platforms which would eventually hold them for the following days' ceremonies. Before I departed for home, one of the lead bell ringers of the monastery walked by myself and the Harvard group. A Harvard delegate commented, "Father! They're finally home!" The monk just beamed and said "Yes, they are!" and hurried off to the bell tower.
Two days later, I left for the monastery again - this time in the morning...at the time, the sun was barely up (sometime before 7am). I entered the monastery church (Cathedral of the Holy Fathers) in time for the service of Hours. I couldn't have gotten inside at a better time; with the start of the service, the rain increased along with the wind, on a day presently in the low 40s. Divine Liturgy began and the people poured in. The service itself was beautiful: the clergy consisted of 1 Metropolitan (His Beatitude Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk), 1 Archbishop, 4 Mitred Archpriests (including I believe, two Archimandrites), at least 10 Priests, 3-4 deacons, 4-5 subdeacons, and several servers. The choir consisted of two male choruses which sang from both sides of the Cathedral. The only negative side was the number of people. The actual congregation consisted of at least 300-400 people packed into a very small area (while the Cathedral is not small, a great deal of its space is taken up by the area where the Hierarchy stands, the two choir lofts, and several pillars holding icons). When the time came to receive Holy Communion, I made special effort to slip to the front of the line and get out of the Cathedral as soon as was possible; several guards (the size of the average NFL linebacker) held back (with difficulty) parts of the massive congregation, all collectively pushing to get to the front of the communion line. I walked around outside and began searching for a spot near the stage where the upcoming ceremony would take place.
As it was raining quite hard, I stood near a group with umbrellas (I had my own, but if I had opened it, I would have never found a spot to view anything). Within moments, a woman handed me a hot pirozhok, a cup of tea, and about 100 rubles, uttered "God bless you" in Russian, and disappeared into a crowd before I was even able to thank her. Within the next few minutes, a Russian man in his 60s pulled me to the front of the gate viewing the stage, held his umbrella over me and told me "Stay here, you'll see things better!" I was absolutely astounded, but very little prepared me for the next half hour. The clergy processed towards the stage from the Cathedral and took their places under umbrellas held by various subdeacons and readers. Seconds later, I saw two familiar men walk by: the subdeacons to the Patriarch of Moscow (I recognized them from pictures I had previously seen). The bells in the main tower began ringing, and two cars pulled up through the Gate Church.
At that moment, His Holiness, Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia stepped out of the car and began walking towards the stage. He stopped directly in front of our small group, gave a blessing to our shouts of "Mnogaya Leta! (God Grant You Many years!) and waited. I was at a point where I had no idea what to say or do, as I had just received a blessing from the leading Hierarch in the Russian Orthodox Church throughout the world. But who was he waiting for? Within the next few minutes, another limousine pulled through the Gate Church, only this one came equipped with the Russian Secret Service. Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation stepped out of the car and walked to the Patriarch. The two talked briefly and processed to the stage.
The actual ceremony was brief. The man next to me did his best to make sure I was warm, giving me his gloves and telling others to keep their umbrellas over me. The Patriarch gave his commentary on the return of the bells as did several others. The President briefly rang one of the bells per the request of the Patriarch, which signalled the final moment. Three bell ringers began a series of peals on the Danilov Bells, ringing for the first time in their proper home in nearly 80 years. The sound was phenomenal: the highest bells sounded glorious and the deepest bells shook your entire body. The only thought in my head at that point was "I hope that everyone in the world can hear this and understand its importance."
I left, shaking from the cold, still awestruck at the past several hours. The following day marked my third week in Russia. Looking back, I can't believe that I witnessed all that I did in such a short period of time, but I did. This was truly an amazing event, both personally and for the Church in Russia. I hope it has been interesting reading about it for you all as well!
As I browsed the "monasteries" section (Ru.: "Монастыри и подворья Москвы") I happened upon the website of Danilov Monastery, located about 5 metro stops away from my Smolenskaya apartment, slightly south of Moscow's Garden Circle. I was mostly looking to attend another monastic Divine Liturgy, as I had already attended one at Donskoy Monastery the week before and thoroughly enjoyed it (A brief note: Monastic services tend to flow slightly faster than the average Russian Orthodox Church service. This is likely a result of the nearly daily celebration of Divine Liturgy, Matins and Vespers by the Monastic Communities there.) Upon viewing the Monastery's website, I found a brief article on their "News" section (on the Russian version of the website, once again the English website is somewhat lacking) stating that there would be a ceremony the following day at 4pm to receive the Danilov Bells from Harvard University.
I immediately decided that I was going, I had only one class the following day. Furthermore, РГГУ, where I am studying is on the same Metro line as the Monastery, so the commute would not be an issue. At the time, however, there was one setback: the official ceremony, celebrated following Divine Liturgy would take place on Friday, September 12, and I had two classes. I somewhat nervously called my Moscow adviser hoping to find some way out of them, which I did, as she noted most of the teachers at the University would have little or no problem with an Orthodox Christian wanting to attend a major Orthodox event in Moscow.
My mind now at ease, I went to the first ceremony on a bleak 45 degree day at around 3:45pm. I entered the main square of the Monastery itself somewhat confused; I barely knew where I was going, nor did I know where exactly the congregation would "meet" the bells. The amount of people in the square (at that time about 50) and a small gathering of monastics quickly put my mind at ease. As it was cold, I entered the public trapeza (a small building near the Gate Church of St. Symeon the Stylite which sells bread and drinks to the visitors of the monastery) and bought a cup of tea, but nearly as soon as I prepared my tea, the bells began to ring. These of course, were the current set of bells in the Gate Church, which began a joyous peal to hearken the beginning of the procession.
I came out of the trapeza to see the monastic clergy in beautiful gold vestments singing in procession though the gate church. The gathered congregation followed suit and began travelling down Ulitsa Danilovsky Val' towards a large intersection. I noticed that the congregation was now about 200 people, all walking with icons and singing various church hymns, merely proud to have the chance to meet the bells. After several minutes of walking and waiting at the intersection, a flatbed pulled up carrying the Harvard/Danilov bells. I could not see them all at that time due to the crowd and the largest bell, which hid the smaller bells from view. The flatbed drove in front of the clergy and led the procession back to the monastery. I somehow got grouped in between the American Harvard delegation and three or four old Russian women telling me to sing with them, and asking me questions about the monastery as if I lived there. Finally we arrived back at the monastery and the bells were placed near a series of platforms which would eventually hold them for the following days' ceremonies. Before I departed for home, one of the lead bell ringers of the monastery walked by myself and the Harvard group. A Harvard delegate commented, "Father! They're finally home!" The monk just beamed and said "Yes, they are!" and hurried off to the bell tower.
Two days later, I left for the monastery again - this time in the morning...at the time, the sun was barely up (sometime before 7am). I entered the monastery church (Cathedral of the Holy Fathers) in time for the service of Hours. I couldn't have gotten inside at a better time; with the start of the service, the rain increased along with the wind, on a day presently in the low 40s. Divine Liturgy began and the people poured in. The service itself was beautiful: the clergy consisted of 1 Metropolitan (His Beatitude Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk), 1 Archbishop, 4 Mitred Archpriests (including I believe, two Archimandrites), at least 10 Priests, 3-4 deacons, 4-5 subdeacons, and several servers. The choir consisted of two male choruses which sang from both sides of the Cathedral. The only negative side was the number of people. The actual congregation consisted of at least 300-400 people packed into a very small area (while the Cathedral is not small, a great deal of its space is taken up by the area where the Hierarchy stands, the two choir lofts, and several pillars holding icons). When the time came to receive Holy Communion, I made special effort to slip to the front of the line and get out of the Cathedral as soon as was possible; several guards (the size of the average NFL linebacker) held back (with difficulty) parts of the massive congregation, all collectively pushing to get to the front of the communion line. I walked around outside and began searching for a spot near the stage where the upcoming ceremony would take place.
As it was raining quite hard, I stood near a group with umbrellas (I had my own, but if I had opened it, I would have never found a spot to view anything). Within moments, a woman handed me a hot pirozhok, a cup of tea, and about 100 rubles, uttered "God bless you" in Russian, and disappeared into a crowd before I was even able to thank her. Within the next few minutes, a Russian man in his 60s pulled me to the front of the gate viewing the stage, held his umbrella over me and told me "Stay here, you'll see things better!" I was absolutely astounded, but very little prepared me for the next half hour. The clergy processed towards the stage from the Cathedral and took their places under umbrellas held by various subdeacons and readers. Seconds later, I saw two familiar men walk by: the subdeacons to the Patriarch of Moscow (I recognized them from pictures I had previously seen). The bells in the main tower began ringing, and two cars pulled up through the Gate Church.
At that moment, His Holiness, Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia stepped out of the car and began walking towards the stage. He stopped directly in front of our small group, gave a blessing to our shouts of "Mnogaya Leta! (God Grant You Many years!) and waited. I was at a point where I had no idea what to say or do, as I had just received a blessing from the leading Hierarch in the Russian Orthodox Church throughout the world. But who was he waiting for? Within the next few minutes, another limousine pulled through the Gate Church, only this one came equipped with the Russian Secret Service. Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation stepped out of the car and walked to the Patriarch. The two talked briefly and processed to the stage.
The actual ceremony was brief. The man next to me did his best to make sure I was warm, giving me his gloves and telling others to keep their umbrellas over me. The Patriarch gave his commentary on the return of the bells as did several others. The President briefly rang one of the bells per the request of the Patriarch, which signalled the final moment. Three bell ringers began a series of peals on the Danilov Bells, ringing for the first time in their proper home in nearly 80 years. The sound was phenomenal: the highest bells sounded glorious and the deepest bells shook your entire body. The only thought in my head at that point was "I hope that everyone in the world can hear this and understand its importance."
I left, shaking from the cold, still awestruck at the past several hours. The following day marked my third week in Russia. Looking back, I can't believe that I witnessed all that I did in such a short period of time, but I did. This was truly an amazing event, both personally and for the Church in Russia. I hope it has been interesting reading about it for you all as well!
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Return of the Danilov Bells - A History (Part 1)
It's considerably rare to say that you have actually "been part of history." Nowadays, this comes out as somewhat of a cliche, from saying you watched Michael Phelps break Mark Spitz's record (regardless of the fact that it was from the comfort of your home 10,000 miles away from Beijing on NBC Sports), to watching a Revolutionary War reeenactment on the Anniversary of the battle itself. I am hoping, therefore that you, O Devoted Readers (if you exist) will not hold me accountable for falling victim to creating yet another cliche with my following post.I feel that to one degree or another, I have witnessed history in the past few days. Before I come to the story of the past few days, it is necessary to give some background information.
For those of you who know anything about the history of the Soviet Period, you are obviously aware that it was a tumultuous time of social upheaval beginning in about 1905 and coming to fruition in 1917. Ultimately, it would be another five years until the Bolshevik Communist Party under the direction of Vladimir Lenin officially took over the Russian country. With the official takeover of the Russian government by a Communist power (ironically the Bolsheviks were a relative minority, but used the Russian term "bolshe" meaning "large" or "majority" to gain a greater following, as clearly in such a tumultuous time, the people would follow whoever seemed to be the most powerful), they sought to employ Marx's ideology throughout the country. Arguably, this was next to impossible, as Russia's class system was virtually nonexistent. The Bolsheviks therefore began to forcibly turn Russia into their "Communist State" by means of rapid industrialization and destruction of all institutions linked to "bourgeoisie mentality."
One of these institutions was the Russian Orthodox Church. The Church acted as a prime target for Communist hatred as it had an established hierarchy (with the Patriarch, Synod of Bishops, etc.) and practiced the veneration of Saints, Christ and the Theotokos (Gk. God Bearer - The Blessed Virgin Mary), which in the Communist mindset was a notion of subservience to one thing or another, which naturally contradicts Marx's political philosophy of every worker being united as one, all with equal lots in every facet of existence. The Church therefore was attacked full-force by the government: the Patriarch (St. Tikhon of Moscow) was imprisoned, thousands of clergy and believers were murdered, churches were destroyed (most prominently perhaps the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, which was imploded and converted into Moscow's largest swimming pool), and various holy items (bells, icons, relics, etc) were destroyed, sold, or put into storage throughout Russia.
Many of these items, however, were miraculously spared. The Tikhvin Icon of the Theotokos (an ancient icon which the Orthodox accept as the work of St. Luke the Evangelist) was taken out of Russia by the former Archbishop of Chicago, John Garklavs and his adopted son the Archpriest Sergei Garklavs during the turmoil of World War II. The icon was stored in the Garklavs' home in Chicago until 2004 when it was returned to Tikhvin, Russia (approximately 100 miles from St. Petersburg). This brings me, however, to the most recent of such occurences.
In the 1930s, Josef Stalin increased the anti-religious policies of the Soviet Union, ordering hundreds of icons destroyed, churches destroyed (for instance the aforementioned Christ the Saviour Cathedral), and bells and religious artifacts melted down or destroyed. One of the most prominent sets of bells in Russia at that time was a collection (Ru. "zvon") at Danilov Monastery just south of the Garden Ring in Moscow. Stalin ordered these bells to be taken down, which they were, but somehow, they repeatedly avoided the fate of being melted down or destroyed. Eventually, a Harvard businessman named Charles Crane bought the bells and had them shipped to the University's campus within the next several years. This set of approximately 18 bells was stored in Harvard's Lowell House. On important days in the Harvard calendar, as well as weekends, these bells were rung by specially trained ringers on the campus.
In 1985, during the period of Glastnost' and Perestroika (the period of openness and cultural rebirth in Russia preceding the fall of Communism) the Danilov Monastery began to reconstruct the severely damaged regions of the grounds and cathedrals, and services began to be held again by monastic clergy. At this time, however, the monastic community and the Church of Russia began to inquire regarding the bell collection at Harvard. Initially, there was some difficulty, as many at Harvard feared that due to the age and weight of the bells, it would be next to impossible to remove them from the Lowell House belfry. In the past few years, however, a group known as "The Link of Times" began to work with Harvard and the Moscow Patriarchate to restore the bells to their proper home at Danilov Monastery.
I will relate the story of the return in "Part Two" of this blog at a later time.
For those of you who know anything about the history of the Soviet Period, you are obviously aware that it was a tumultuous time of social upheaval beginning in about 1905 and coming to fruition in 1917. Ultimately, it would be another five years until the Bolshevik Communist Party under the direction of Vladimir Lenin officially took over the Russian country. With the official takeover of the Russian government by a Communist power (ironically the Bolsheviks were a relative minority, but used the Russian term "bolshe" meaning "large" or "majority" to gain a greater following, as clearly in such a tumultuous time, the people would follow whoever seemed to be the most powerful), they sought to employ Marx's ideology throughout the country. Arguably, this was next to impossible, as Russia's class system was virtually nonexistent. The Bolsheviks therefore began to forcibly turn Russia into their "Communist State" by means of rapid industrialization and destruction of all institutions linked to "bourgeoisie mentality."
One of these institutions was the Russian Orthodox Church. The Church acted as a prime target for Communist hatred as it had an established hierarchy (with the Patriarch, Synod of Bishops, etc.) and practiced the veneration of Saints, Christ and the Theotokos (Gk. God Bearer - The Blessed Virgin Mary), which in the Communist mindset was a notion of subservience to one thing or another, which naturally contradicts Marx's political philosophy of every worker being united as one, all with equal lots in every facet of existence. The Church therefore was attacked full-force by the government: the Patriarch (St. Tikhon of Moscow) was imprisoned, thousands of clergy and believers were murdered, churches were destroyed (most prominently perhaps the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, which was imploded and converted into Moscow's largest swimming pool), and various holy items (bells, icons, relics, etc) were destroyed, sold, or put into storage throughout Russia.
Many of these items, however, were miraculously spared. The Tikhvin Icon of the Theotokos (an ancient icon which the Orthodox accept as the work of St. Luke the Evangelist) was taken out of Russia by the former Archbishop of Chicago, John Garklavs and his adopted son the Archpriest Sergei Garklavs during the turmoil of World War II. The icon was stored in the Garklavs' home in Chicago until 2004 when it was returned to Tikhvin, Russia (approximately 100 miles from St. Petersburg). This brings me, however, to the most recent of such occurences.
In the 1930s, Josef Stalin increased the anti-religious policies of the Soviet Union, ordering hundreds of icons destroyed, churches destroyed (for instance the aforementioned Christ the Saviour Cathedral), and bells and religious artifacts melted down or destroyed. One of the most prominent sets of bells in Russia at that time was a collection (Ru. "zvon") at Danilov Monastery just south of the Garden Ring in Moscow. Stalin ordered these bells to be taken down, which they were, but somehow, they repeatedly avoided the fate of being melted down or destroyed. Eventually, a Harvard businessman named Charles Crane bought the bells and had them shipped to the University's campus within the next several years. This set of approximately 18 bells was stored in Harvard's Lowell House. On important days in the Harvard calendar, as well as weekends, these bells were rung by specially trained ringers on the campus.
In 1985, during the period of Glastnost' and Perestroika (the period of openness and cultural rebirth in Russia preceding the fall of Communism) the Danilov Monastery began to reconstruct the severely damaged regions of the grounds and cathedrals, and services began to be held again by monastic clergy. At this time, however, the monastic community and the Church of Russia began to inquire regarding the bell collection at Harvard. Initially, there was some difficulty, as many at Harvard feared that due to the age and weight of the bells, it would be next to impossible to remove them from the Lowell House belfry. In the past few years, however, a group known as "The Link of Times" began to work with Harvard and the Moscow Patriarchate to restore the bells to their proper home at Danilov Monastery.
I will relate the story of the return in "Part Two" of this blog at a later time.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Little Social Commentary: Parks and Festivals
Russia: most people say it as "that remote place with the KGB and Kremlin and some wacky looking churches." The idea of "Gee it's not like I was calling him from Siberia" and the like seems to invade our American vernacular. But then again, let's be honest, Russia is a massive country with two well known cities, and a bunch of barren land where it snows a lot. At the least, Russia is portrayed as relatively emotionless and dismal, with a bunch of grumpy people, who only get happier when drinking vodka.
Well as I'm writing this, it's about 75 degrees Fahrenheit...which makes it, I think about 24 degrees Celsius (I'm not converting to Kelvin because it doesn't matter, I'm not a scientist!). It's nighttime, so conceivably the temperature has gone down. I'm going to estimate that earlier today, it was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius) and by far the most beautiful day of the past few weeks. When I arrived, it was around 85 degrees and humid, within two days dropped to about 50 degrees and raining, in two more was in the 40s, and then climbed gradually back up to the 70s. In the past three days, the temperature has balanced itself somewhere in the mid-70s, with almost non-stop sun. A brief bit of clouds yesterday called to mind the commercial "A bad day in Florida beats a good day almost anywhere else" where the people sunning themselves on the beach are distraught by a lone cloud that enshrouds the sun for mere moments.
Focusing on today, however, as this gorgeous 80 degree+ day happened, I was not in the wastelands of Siberia, picking potatoes or working in Stalin's latest lead weight factory, but in the following park:
I hope the picture quality on that turns out alright, otherwise this is going to make me look like I'm nuts.
This park (Tsaritsyn in the South of Moscow) was not only beautiful, but pristine. There were thousands of people in it, but not a scrap of trash on the ground (with virtually no trashcans as I noticed), not one sketchy drunk passed out on a bench, no smell of...well you get the idea. I certainly can't say the same of Central Park or the park by Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (certainly not of the latter as I one time witnessed a half naked man in Detroit Red Wings style hockey pants wiping his face with a lemon...interesting to say the least).
The same was true of yesterday at "Den' Goroda" or the celebration of Moscow's 861st Anniversary. I walked probably 5miles worth of Moscow (Tverskaya Ulitsa, to Red Square...Red Square past Christ the Savior Cathedral, through a large park, and down Stariy Arbat to Smolenskaya Naberezhnaya) and can say legitimately the same thing about the majority of the city that I witnessed.
New Year's Eve in Philadelphia (to compare a reasonably grandscale event) a few years ago smelled of cheap alcohol (hidden away from the watchful eye of all society as is the case with nearly all alcohol in the US), and one could not walk in the streets without feeling slightly dirty as the puddles of recent rain intermingled with litter, food, and the like. Furthermore, the feeling of safety was virtually non-existent: whereas in Moscow, the police were nearly everywhere patrolling the streets, parks, Metro stops, etc., New Years Eve in Philadelphia was merely decked with "security guards" at the Waterfront (and police directing traffic...), and no activity in the train, EL, or subway stops. I still consider the five minutes underneath of City Hall awaiting either certain death or the subway to be one of my most frightened moments, as myself and a friend were surrounded by any number of questionable looking individuals.
I'm not knocking Philly, because part of me really has some sense of loyalty dedicated to it. I'm mostly just noting the following: we find ourselves so critical of everyone else's society, its strange customs, its questionable history, its "backwardsness," yet a simple walk through these capitals of the modern world really do show the average person how wrong we really can be. Now I'll be honest...some of the Russians are grim looking. It apparently DOES get very cold here very quickly. But the idea of "bleak Moscow" is a major stretch in my opinion, even if after only two weeks of living here. It's one of those "don't knock it till you try it" matters I think...much like the Babushka's borsch :)
Signing out for now! Back to engaging the world, as always...
Well as I'm writing this, it's about 75 degrees Fahrenheit...which makes it, I think about 24 degrees Celsius (I'm not converting to Kelvin because it doesn't matter, I'm not a scientist!). It's nighttime, so conceivably the temperature has gone down. I'm going to estimate that earlier today, it was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius) and by far the most beautiful day of the past few weeks. When I arrived, it was around 85 degrees and humid, within two days dropped to about 50 degrees and raining, in two more was in the 40s, and then climbed gradually back up to the 70s. In the past three days, the temperature has balanced itself somewhere in the mid-70s, with almost non-stop sun. A brief bit of clouds yesterday called to mind the commercial "A bad day in Florida beats a good day almost anywhere else" where the people sunning themselves on the beach are distraught by a lone cloud that enshrouds the sun for mere moments.
Focusing on today, however, as this gorgeous 80 degree+ day happened, I was not in the wastelands of Siberia, picking potatoes or working in Stalin's latest lead weight factory, but in the following park:
I hope the picture quality on that turns out alright, otherwise this is going to make me look like I'm nuts.This park (Tsaritsyn in the South of Moscow) was not only beautiful, but pristine. There were thousands of people in it, but not a scrap of trash on the ground (with virtually no trashcans as I noticed), not one sketchy drunk passed out on a bench, no smell of...well you get the idea. I certainly can't say the same of Central Park or the park by Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (certainly not of the latter as I one time witnessed a half naked man in Detroit Red Wings style hockey pants wiping his face with a lemon...interesting to say the least).
The same was true of yesterday at "Den' Goroda" or the celebration of Moscow's 861st Anniversary. I walked probably 5miles worth of Moscow (Tverskaya Ulitsa, to Red Square...Red Square past Christ the Savior Cathedral, through a large park, and down Stariy Arbat to Smolenskaya Naberezhnaya) and can say legitimately the same thing about the majority of the city that I witnessed.
New Year's Eve in Philadelphia (to compare a reasonably grandscale event) a few years ago smelled of cheap alcohol (hidden away from the watchful eye of all society as is the case with nearly all alcohol in the US), and one could not walk in the streets without feeling slightly dirty as the puddles of recent rain intermingled with litter, food, and the like. Furthermore, the feeling of safety was virtually non-existent: whereas in Moscow, the police were nearly everywhere patrolling the streets, parks, Metro stops, etc., New Years Eve in Philadelphia was merely decked with "security guards" at the Waterfront (and police directing traffic...), and no activity in the train, EL, or subway stops. I still consider the five minutes underneath of City Hall awaiting either certain death or the subway to be one of my most frightened moments, as myself and a friend were surrounded by any number of questionable looking individuals.
I'm not knocking Philly, because part of me really has some sense of loyalty dedicated to it. I'm mostly just noting the following: we find ourselves so critical of everyone else's society, its strange customs, its questionable history, its "backwardsness," yet a simple walk through these capitals of the modern world really do show the average person how wrong we really can be. Now I'll be honest...some of the Russians are grim looking. It apparently DOES get very cold here very quickly. But the idea of "bleak Moscow" is a major stretch in my opinion, even if after only two weeks of living here. It's one of those "don't knock it till you try it" matters I think...much like the Babushka's borsch :)
Signing out for now! Back to engaging the world, as always...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
First Post from Russia - Arguable Culture Shocks and Politics
This is the first of my posts from Russia, as mostly I have been adjusting to the time and country. That, and the fact that wireless was difficult to set up at first, but since I brought a wireless adapter, internet access was just a "Wireless Card" away (more like a standard phone card - you buy a card, sign up for a certain plan, and add minutes accordingly. Fortunately, the wireless plan offered a "vsegda" option [always] so I can pretty much use the internet as much as I want now.)
So, the flight with Aeroflot was relatively smooth...as smooth as 9 1/2 hours can be. I mostly used Russian on the flight over, which I was temporarily proud of myself for saying what amounted to 10 total different words in sentence form. The airport (Sheremetevo) was also quite reasonable, apart from the fact that I wasn't exactly sure where I was getting picked up (I obviously knew "somewhere after customs near the exit door" but not much else). Moscow traffic was as absurd as everyone implied; it took me probably 1 hour to get to the apartment at Smolensky Naberezhnaya.
I will avoid describing every major culture shock I experienced, but at least mention the major ones. As part of my family is Slavic (some blend of Ukrainian, Belorussian, Czech, and Slovak from what I have found out), I did not find the concept of a "Babushka," (more or less the woman who cooks you a great deal of food, adores the fact that you're an Orthodox Christian, and wonders - even when it is a Liturgical Fast period - why you haven't eaten ALL of the food she previously cooked for you) "shocking." Secondly, I have lived in Germany for a month during my high school studies, so the concept of people actually being allowed to drink alcohol publicly is not that mind-boggling. If anything, it merely increases my confusion in regard to America's drinking laws, as they are, for the lack of a better term, counterproductive. Finally, I am not surprised that nearly everyone smokes (and therefore I don't feel the need to act as the standard American activist and proselytize the health issues of tobacco usage...I think they get the idea that it's bad for you, and do it anyway), that babushki on the street are either grouchy-looking, or ask you to do something for them (like carry a bag down a flight of stairs for instance), and that many things are in fact, expensive.
Now as for what I have noticed: Things are expensive, if you don't know where to go. The same is true in any city. If you are cruising 5th Avenue in New York, you might say "New York is expensive." Hotels - possibly expensive, I don't know because I am not living in one. Upscale restaurants - also expensive, because they are in fact, upscale. I haven't spent more than $25 on a meal yet, and the $25 meal was at a local "English Style Pub" that I went to as it is considerably close to my apartment. Apart from that, if you go to a kiosk to buy pirozhki, they cost normally about 20-40 rubles (which equates to probably $1 USD). Water, tea, beer, coffee, juice, equally as cheap. So I do not believe in the idea of "Moscow is so expensive, bring a ton of money." Also, because ATMs are virtually everywhere.
Russia is not a poor country. Moscow is not a poor city. Russia is no longer a country where the rich live in a few major mansions in the city, and everywhere else are peasants living in small huts. I have probably seen more high-end vehicles in the past week than I do on a given day in Ardmore or Malvern near home: BMWs, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, etc. This isn't a poor city at all. Often I feel that Russia is portrayed as the poor country with high-priced cities to lure rich foreigners in order to boost the economy. Not so much from what I'm witnessing.
Finally, comes the politics. I highly dislike politics as it generally consists of 10000 people with opinions, all of them shouting them at the same time, and accomplishing vitually nothing. But in this particular case, politics, the news media, and public opinion are hitting very close to home (at the moment, they are hitting home).
The incidents of the past several weeks regarding Georgia, South Ossetia, and the Russian Federation have acted as nothing more than a source of annoyance to me in the past several weeks. Not of fear, but annoyance. This is as a result of nearly everyone in the United States who knew about my trip to Russia asking "Are you worried about Georgia?" No. "Oh there goes Russia, trying to reclaim its Soviet Territories and become the USSR again." No, not really. "Russia viciously invaded an innocent Democratic country!" Not true at all, actually.
Russia entered Georgia with the intent of quelling the Georgian attacks on Russian political ally/interest, the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Naturally, South Ossetia primarily consists of Russian expatriots rebelling for territorial independence, which Russia supports. So let me break this down simply: Russia is protecting an interest which was attacked by a bordering country. The end. I will hardly disagree that the reaction was hasty and violent. But the American, British and Western European Media (all of which I have been watching either on BBC or American Networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.) have used this hasty reaction to mask the Russian intent.
In short, Americans and British have been voluntarily blinded by "Red Terror." Since a majority of those of age to be in the news media and government were living during either the Cuban Missle Crisis, or Prague Spring, or generally, the Cold War, this mentality is fresh in the minds of nearly everyone. Russia = bad. No one really knows why, but when they were growing up, Russia was always bad, and therefore can return to being bad once again.
The "Red Terror" is somewhat of an obvious mask. Georgia has a major oil pipeline. Georgia is an ally of the United States that supported the US with a great number of troops during the Afghani and Iraqi conflicts of the past 6 years. We want oil, we want support for a war that even our own people haven't supported throughout its duration. Georgia has that and is offering it. If we sided with Russia, we wouldn't have that.
The point is, me worrying about the conflict with Georgia is the equivalent of residents of Maine fearing rebellion in Mexico (in terms of distance). Furthermore, every time I was asked that question, it was loaded with this sense of "Red Terror." I am not concerned. People are not even talking about it here. They're actually too busy talking about the Democratic Convention in Colorado, which actually astounds me, because the conventions, at least in the past, have proven very little.
So, sorry for getting political, but since it is a major topic, I felt I should address it. As for me, I am off to have a cup of tea, because, yes, it is sort of cold here.
So, the flight with Aeroflot was relatively smooth...as smooth as 9 1/2 hours can be. I mostly used Russian on the flight over, which I was temporarily proud of myself for saying what amounted to 10 total different words in sentence form. The airport (Sheremetevo) was also quite reasonable, apart from the fact that I wasn't exactly sure where I was getting picked up (I obviously knew "somewhere after customs near the exit door" but not much else). Moscow traffic was as absurd as everyone implied; it took me probably 1 hour to get to the apartment at Smolensky Naberezhnaya.
I will avoid describing every major culture shock I experienced, but at least mention the major ones. As part of my family is Slavic (some blend of Ukrainian, Belorussian, Czech, and Slovak from what I have found out), I did not find the concept of a "Babushka," (more or less the woman who cooks you a great deal of food, adores the fact that you're an Orthodox Christian, and wonders - even when it is a Liturgical Fast period - why you haven't eaten ALL of the food she previously cooked for you) "shocking." Secondly, I have lived in Germany for a month during my high school studies, so the concept of people actually being allowed to drink alcohol publicly is not that mind-boggling. If anything, it merely increases my confusion in regard to America's drinking laws, as they are, for the lack of a better term, counterproductive. Finally, I am not surprised that nearly everyone smokes (and therefore I don't feel the need to act as the standard American activist and proselytize the health issues of tobacco usage...I think they get the idea that it's bad for you, and do it anyway), that babushki on the street are either grouchy-looking, or ask you to do something for them (like carry a bag down a flight of stairs for instance), and that many things are in fact, expensive.
Now as for what I have noticed: Things are expensive, if you don't know where to go. The same is true in any city. If you are cruising 5th Avenue in New York, you might say "New York is expensive." Hotels - possibly expensive, I don't know because I am not living in one. Upscale restaurants - also expensive, because they are in fact, upscale. I haven't spent more than $25 on a meal yet, and the $25 meal was at a local "English Style Pub" that I went to as it is considerably close to my apartment. Apart from that, if you go to a kiosk to buy pirozhki, they cost normally about 20-40 rubles (which equates to probably $1 USD). Water, tea, beer, coffee, juice, equally as cheap. So I do not believe in the idea of "Moscow is so expensive, bring a ton of money." Also, because ATMs are virtually everywhere.
Russia is not a poor country. Moscow is not a poor city. Russia is no longer a country where the rich live in a few major mansions in the city, and everywhere else are peasants living in small huts. I have probably seen more high-end vehicles in the past week than I do on a given day in Ardmore or Malvern near home: BMWs, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, etc. This isn't a poor city at all. Often I feel that Russia is portrayed as the poor country with high-priced cities to lure rich foreigners in order to boost the economy. Not so much from what I'm witnessing.
Finally, comes the politics. I highly dislike politics as it generally consists of 10000 people with opinions, all of them shouting them at the same time, and accomplishing vitually nothing. But in this particular case, politics, the news media, and public opinion are hitting very close to home (at the moment, they are hitting home).
The incidents of the past several weeks regarding Georgia, South Ossetia, and the Russian Federation have acted as nothing more than a source of annoyance to me in the past several weeks. Not of fear, but annoyance. This is as a result of nearly everyone in the United States who knew about my trip to Russia asking "Are you worried about Georgia?" No. "Oh there goes Russia, trying to reclaim its Soviet Territories and become the USSR again." No, not really. "Russia viciously invaded an innocent Democratic country!" Not true at all, actually.
Russia entered Georgia with the intent of quelling the Georgian attacks on Russian political ally/interest, the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Naturally, South Ossetia primarily consists of Russian expatriots rebelling for territorial independence, which Russia supports. So let me break this down simply: Russia is protecting an interest which was attacked by a bordering country. The end. I will hardly disagree that the reaction was hasty and violent. But the American, British and Western European Media (all of which I have been watching either on BBC or American Networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.) have used this hasty reaction to mask the Russian intent.
In short, Americans and British have been voluntarily blinded by "Red Terror." Since a majority of those of age to be in the news media and government were living during either the Cuban Missle Crisis, or Prague Spring, or generally, the Cold War, this mentality is fresh in the minds of nearly everyone. Russia = bad. No one really knows why, but when they were growing up, Russia was always bad, and therefore can return to being bad once again.
The "Red Terror" is somewhat of an obvious mask. Georgia has a major oil pipeline. Georgia is an ally of the United States that supported the US with a great number of troops during the Afghani and Iraqi conflicts of the past 6 years. We want oil, we want support for a war that even our own people haven't supported throughout its duration. Georgia has that and is offering it. If we sided with Russia, we wouldn't have that.
The point is, me worrying about the conflict with Georgia is the equivalent of residents of Maine fearing rebellion in Mexico (in terms of distance). Furthermore, every time I was asked that question, it was loaded with this sense of "Red Terror." I am not concerned. People are not even talking about it here. They're actually too busy talking about the Democratic Convention in Colorado, which actually astounds me, because the conventions, at least in the past, have proven very little.
So, sorry for getting political, but since it is a major topic, I felt I should address it. As for me, I am off to have a cup of tea, because, yes, it is sort of cold here.
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