A Window into Russia

HERE ARE TWO EMAILS from a friend of mine who is a French language professor in the Northeast. It was her first time in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

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Hello from Moscow:

Today was our visit to red square, which was quite spectacular. We were very impressed by Lenin’s Tomb, a once in a lifetime kind of thing. A guard elegantly brought his finger to his lips as we descended into the mausoleum, and then balletically gestured for us to walk to the left. the inside was like nothing else I’ve seen.

st Basil’s was beautiful and eclectic with all of its little churches within the cathedral, each with different stylistic touches. But I was more impressed with the 4 churches inside the kremlin. What did take our breath away was a russian a Capella group singing inside one of the chapels. gorgeous male voices resonating in the vault above them, Wow, And of course the onion domes outside are so anarchic and wonderful. We are getting well versed in iconography and iconostasis variants.

We had fun inside GUM buying souvenirs and also eating lunch at a soviet-style cafeteria. the food was very good and rather cheap. We all liked the herring in a fur coat. We walked around more, bought tickets for Giselle For Thurs night (not the Bolshoi, which is on vacation, but another reputable group). Giselle is my hands-down favorite ballet, so I think we will love it.

the train was sold out for Friday, as you predicted, so we are talking the slow train all day on Friday, from 12 to 9 pm. it’s fine. We have a compartment to ourselves, we will read and relax and watch the countryside go by. i think we need an imposed day of rest before the next phase of our trip, so here it is. It was quite an adventure, buying the tickets at the station, but we did it. I always worry about buying tickets online, anyway.

I had a least 5 helpful Muscovites come to my aide today, a few of their own accord. There was the nice tall woman in a metro station who saw us confused and me studying my metro map who helped us get to train station from the metro station. then the old guy who came over to help with the train agent who did not speak English and was being a bit rude with me (nyet, nyet – no. No Fast train Friday), and then the young man who led us a whole block to the entrance to the metro station. then the nice ticket agent at the ballet who agreed to hold the tickets while I went to get cash. I think she liked my last name. Then the lovely woman in the ballet theater line who told me that we will love st Petersburg. And the pregnant woman in the train who came over to remind us when to get off (after I had asked her earlier), and the other one who helped me figure out if I was going in the right direction. I try to stay in Russian with my phrase book, but when I am totally unsure I am glad to have a helpful Russian who wants to practice his or her English, Lots of people come up to me and speak Russian, so maybe I fit in. There are no americans around, so they are surprised when i say we are american. i am intrigued by the language and love the way it sounds. It is fun to decipher the Cyrillic. I am getting better at that, and also at some basic phrases. Lily likes to see me struggle with the language, because she said she is proud of me! She is used to seeing me talk in France to everyone with no problem, so it’s good for her to see how communicating in a new language is a struggle at first.

I Am loving our trip and the things we have discovered and this beautiful language. each day is less scary as we figure out the words, the maps, the streets.

Hugs,

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Hello from St. Petersburg:

Sorry to have been out of touch this week. we have been engrossed in our days of exploring in Saint Petersburg, and we are exhausted when we return at night. There is so much to see here, and we will have only done a fraction of it by the time we leave tomorrow. Sightseeing fatigue has set in, particularly with the girls, so yesterday it felt like we literally dragged them around the hermitage. the girls are homesick and missing their friends. Lily has been away for 7 weeks, so that is understandable.

The melange hotel is simple but well equipped and very well located. I have befriended one very nice lady at the front desk, who helped me print out tix for the hermitage and gave me advice on other things to do in town. Like most people we meet, she speaks absolutely no English, but I like the challenge, and we play a smiling game of broken Russian, charades, and some help (her idea) with Google translate when she is just not sure if we got the message across. The Salsa club across the street provides for some nighttime activity but only once in a while! The girls love the cats that live and hang out in the little playground in the upper courtyard near Nevsky.

I love the Russian people and the language. that is the main thought that will stick with me as I leave this country. We have seen such beautiful and interesting things that give me lots to ponder. I have much reading to do on Russian history, now that I can picture where many of these events took place. But, the people! So friendly and warm and helpful on the whole. And the language! so beautiful and challenging at once. I think I will be studying some Russian in the future.

We followed many of your suggestions, actually most of them. We did not get to Peterhof, but we did Tsarkoe Selo, which was an adventure in a marshrutka (little bus). A beautiful palace. Amber room is incredible. we LOVED the writer and musician cemetery down at alexandranevsky pl. We did a boat tour of the canals, which helped give us an overview of the city. the Hermitage’s grandeur and the opulence of each and every room (and THEN there is the art on the walls!) awed us. I loved the Dostoevsky apt, while Edward loved the Nabokov flat. We might see Rimsky-Korsakoff’s flat today. We saw the Nutcracker on ice! that was a big hit for the girls.

The weather has been gorgeous. One morning of rain, which evaporated into a cloudless blue sky by noon. we have enjoyed eating in various cafeterias, of which the clientele seems to be mostly Russians of all ages enjoying a cheap, abundant, and varied spread of food (that we can point to). I love all the soups and beets everywhere on the menu, as I knew I would. The blinis are popular with Lily. And the ice cream on the streets is popular with Abby. And Edward is happy with his share of pig ear, blood sausage, liver and the like.

I have some good stories, which I may have to recount later. One took place at the market near Dostoevsky’s apt. A honey seller ripped us off at the market, and I went back to her 5 mins after the sale and told her so and told her I was unhappy about it and wanted my money back. This was all in Russian. I expected only to vent my frustration, but she actually gave me 400 rubles back after some back and forth and calculations on the calculator and somewhat angry words from her. That was my initiation into the Russian club. I can make plenty of people smile by talking to them in their language and making small talk, but Edw felt that this was at a different level. I love talking with the old ladies at the bus stops. they want to help and talk, and they know no English. One told me that this city will always be Leningrad to her, not Saint Petersburg, which is for the young generation.

Russian hugs for you,