Tales from Russia

The Long-Awaited Update

2005-06-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Well I definitely did not think that the word “lazy” from my last entry would translate into me not writing for two months. Oops. In any case, LOTS has happened, which is why I haven’t found five minutes to sit down and write.

In mid-April I attended that post-Soviet trade union conference I talked about several entries ago. It was fascinating intellectually, but also overwhelming in a lot of different ways. To begin with, I got to meet some academics whose books and articles I had read (and cited!) in college. If you think of it as meeting THE “celebrities” in the trade union academia world then you can imagine how I felt. I was slightly star-struck. Alongside these notables, there were trade union activists from increasingly unusual and cool countries: Moldova, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Krygyzstan to name a few.

Given that this was my first academic conference and that I was (overly in my mind) preoccupied with the “famous” folks in the room, it was wonderful that Professor Christensen was able to be there too. Besides introducing me to people, he helped me make sense of certain exchanges that occurred and made me feel less self-conscious about not contributing much to the discussion. But I must say, everyone at this conference (and there was only about 30 in total) was incredibly friendly and nice. I bonded with this great woman from Moldova and am still in contact with an Italian professor who specializes in Polish trade unions. All around it was a worthwhile conference, even if I felt a little out of my element.

I also had a wonderful time just visiting with Professor Christensen. I got to meet some of his old Russian friends from back when he was here in the 1990s and I introduced him to my favorite places and people in Moscow. I personally thought that in some ways it was like going full circle: I got to chill in Russia with the professor who is/was directly responsible for sparking my interest in the country. How cool is that?

After the conference was over and Professor Christensen left (this would be the end of April I think), I headed next to visit Heather (a friend from BC and another Fulbrighter) for a week in Bulgaria. Bulgaria, just so you know, is an AWESOME country. I was all smiles even as early as the descent into the airport in Sofia because the nature looked just BEAUTIFUL. And Bulgaria did not disappoint from this standpoint. Hands down, it is one of the most beautiful natural environments I have ever been in. In other ways, it reminded me of Poland: a small, under-appreciated country, with wonderfully warm and friendly people. It was also cool to see that I could understand a lot of Bulgarian (spoken and written) because it was so close to Russian.

Heather has a great apartment in central Sofia and I mainly just chilled with her and traipsed around Sofia. I met a few other Bulgarian Fulbrighters and then we headed by bus to Veliko Tarnovo, the old capital of the country, for a few days. Interestingly, neither Heather nor I liked Veliko as much as Sofia – and this because we thought it looked too “western”! While visiting Heather I became addicted to Bulgarian feta cheese (I took a kilo back with me) yogurt, challga music (was I supposed to admit that?), shopska salat and donners (yes, they’re the same thing as the donners in Germany and Turkey, and the kebabs in Poland).

So, I absolutely LOVED Bulgaria and would recommend that it be added to everyone’s travel list. It was even cooler that I got to be there when they formally joined the European Union. A historic moment for sure.

After I left Bulgaria, I had a one-week reprieve before my parents and sister descended on Russia. All things considered, I think they enjoyed the trip (at least that’s what they said after they left!). By all things considered I mean that they enjoyed it in spite of Red Square being closed, a terrible tour guide in Moscow and back problems plus rain in Petersburg. In lieu of a tour of Red Square (no amount of bribery attempts or batting of the eyelashes convinced the probably fourteen-year-old soldier to let us go through; trust me I TRIED), they got to see an impressive Victory Day parade from their apartment window on Tverskaya and were probably as close to 56 world leaders (including Bush and Putin who were pretending to be best friends again for the occasion) as any of us will ever get. After Victory Day celebrations, frolicking in Gorky Park, Russian food at my favorite restaurant, and a night at the Moscow circus we headed to Petersburg where our super cool tour guides made up for my Mom’s evil back, rain and the mosquitoes (honestly these were KILLER mosquitoes).

My verdict on Petersburg is that it ROCKS. The people there are unbelievably friendly (indeed, someone stopped to help us when she saw me struggling with a map – this doesn’t happen in Moscow – and one of our tour guides waited with me at the airport since I had an hour to kill after my parents’ plane took off) and they speak the BEST RUSSIAN EVER. I alternate between despairing that I will never speak Russian or never speak it without drinking copious amounts of vodka, and in Petersburg I am happy to report that I felt neither emotion. Everyone spoke very clearly and precisely and I (almost) thought that I might have learned something while living here! The city is also very beautiful; for obvious reasons it reminds me a great deal of Amsterdam. All in all I was sad to say goodbye to the city and to Zhenya my favorite St. Petersburg tour guide but I’m sure I’ll get back there some day. For their part, my parents and Sam said they “liked” Russia so I guess you can say their trip was a success of sorts. I was just very happy to see them.

By the time my family left Russia it was mid-May and I had yet another conference to attend. This time it was an impossibly large conference (500+ participants) sponsored by the American and Russian governments on the theme of increasing Russian-American exchange programs. By far, the highlight of the two-day conference was the chance to meet the US Ambassador to Russia and the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation. I have to admit though that the conference was not as constructive or substantive as I wanted it to be so I ended up skipping the “dinner” at the Ambassador’s residence. I did, however, get to connect with some interesting folks in the Russian-American exchange world and may even get a job out of it so it wasn’t a complete disappointment.

Just about the entire “Who’s Who” of the Fulbright world and IIE more generally was at the conference too so the Moscow Fulbright office treated them and all current and past Fulbrighters (Russians who went to the US and Americans who went to Russia) to a night boat cruise on the Moskva river. It was VERY cool. I had a fun time meeting some of the Russian Fulbrighters and chatting with the president and vice-president of IIE. For anyone who is really curious, remind me to tell you about one particular attendee who made the conference, boat cruise and post-conference time rather “interesting” (and sadly, not in a good way).

And so now it’s June 1st and I have exactly one month left in Russia. I am feeling strangely sad about the whole prospect of having to leave. Even though I have said repeatedly that one year here is enough for me, I have started to feel like I could actually stay longer. Of course, this may be because the sun is shining - which has put everyone in a fabulous mood. Indeed, in the last three weeks I have been told:

1. At least three different times to tie my shoelaces (thank you Moscow babushky).

2. That all “real” women should dress like me (admittedly, this comment came from a slightly crazy mid-40ish woman in the metro who liked my skirt).

3. That a woman as beautiful as me should never be kept waiting (while I agree of course, this was unprompted and from the overly flirty, maybe metrosexual, maybe gay coat-check man at the conference center).

Dude, even the trainers at the gym I go to EVERY DAY are finally talking to me! Six months later and success at last! Although, I have to admit I’m slightly freaked out about one of the front desk girls who seems way too into my first name. Every time I check in at the desk she either makes a comment about how beautiful my name is or finds an excuse to use it (“how are you Melanie,” “here’s your card Melanie” …). But I digress.

Of course it figures that just when I get “into the groove” I have to go. C’est la vie I suppose. Maybe Fulbright should be two years instead of one? Vanessa, one of the other Fulbrighters has already left, and others will follow soon so I know the time has come. Nonetheless, I have a great couple of weeks ahead of me: Elisabeth from Novosibirsk will be visiting me on her way back to Germany (remember her?!) and Heather will be here for a week as well. Then I’m back in the US of A and have to find a JOB. Think happy thoughts for me!

Melanie/Mel/Malinka

Parties galore and linguistic gymnastics

2005-03-31T18:40:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

I have become extremely lazy about writing in my blog. I'm not so sure why except to say that in some ways life in Moscow is much less entertaining then it was in Novosibirsk. In any case, my 23rd birthday came and went and it was quite nice. I had a huge party of Russian and expat friends and got some very "creative" gifts (you can ask Natasha about those). There were tons of toasts, which got longer and stupider as the night went on. My personal favorite was one about me being the "sun" in someone's "long, Russian winter." It's cheesy in both languages, trust me.

My birthday party was followed a week later by Michael's 23rd (he's another Fulbrighter, studies trains and knows everything; honest) about which I remember very little because I was fighting the start of what turned out to be the death stomach flu (or "nash grippe" as Michael's babushka put it). I've just finally recovered and if I get sick again - any kind of sick - someone is going to get hurt. It's interesting how I was (almost) never sick in Novosibirsk and now I'm picking up EVERYTHING in Moscow. Bigger city, more germs I guess. :)

Other then the parties and flu I am starting to get back into the swing of my research. The Moscow papers have started to write more about trade unions over the last few weeks so I have had to do a lot of reading. I've also been following the events in that Central Asian state I can never spell correctly, which interestingly, is causing all sorts of arguments between the political talking heads here and internationally. I personally don't think it's a revolution nor should it be classified as one alongside those in Ukraine and Georgia, but I'm curious to see how it will turn out nonetheless.

Not too much else to share except that I wanted to pause and well, rant, about some "issues" I'm having with the Russian language...

Now, everyone knows Russian is a hard language. Duh, especially for Germanic and Romance-language speaking people. If it isn't the case endings then it's knowing which motion verb to use: Are we going in one direction or coming back? Do we make this trip often or is this a one-time journey? Is it on foot or in some moving vehicle (bikes count!)? Are we going up, down, sideways, perpendicularly (is that a word?), across or.... the list goes on. All this being said, however, the above characteristics make Russian a very descriptive and precise language. I can know exactly where a person is going, how they're getting there and when they're coming back - all via a particular verb and/or case.

Or, so I thought Russian was precise because I have recently discovered (or, more accurately, fallen victim to) some interesting "exceptions".

Example 1: "В Принципе ето Возможно."

The dictionary, direct translation of this is "in principle, it is possible." When it is voiced in Russian by a Russian in Russia, however, it is never meant to be understood as vaguely as it sounds. A more accurate translation would be:

"in principle, it is possible.... for the enterprising-willing-to-be-creative-maybe-bribe-maybe-bend-a-law-maybe-just-ask-again-while-flirting soul."

Basically, I have learned to never accept this phrase outright. If I did, nothing, in principle, would be possible. And nothing (nothing I want or need that is) would also get accomplished.

Example 2: "Я не доволен/на."

The dictionary definition of this statement is, wait it's not in the dictionary because it's not proper Russian (or at least not proper as far as my teacher is concerned). The "sense" of the phrase is "I am not satisfied" but there is an actual verb to use if someone wants to say this and the short form of the verb, well it doesn't even look like the above.

But once again, if someone uses this phrase it means... umm.... nothing. Or at least nothing helpful or as precise as the overall Russian language normally is. As best as I can figure it out, this is one of those beautifully vague expressions meant to help certain individuals (read: mostly men because they are the ones I most often hear saying it) avoid answering/doing a particuarly uncomfortable question/act. Because, who - whether Russian, American, male, female, old, young - is ever truly "satisfied"? Clearly, this all-purpose phrase is just not going to cut it. And guys don't need any additional help in being vague or in developing new avoidance tactics. But THAT is a story for a different time and place.

So, with my slightly tongue-in-cheek language tirade now over, let us revel in the precise inpreciseness of the wonderful language that is Russian. The day I actually can speak this language fluently will be a historic moment. :)

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Random thoughts

2005-03-14T16:32:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

So I haven't written because absolutely nothing of (serious) interest has occurred this past week. After the hospital visit and the abysmal failure of the "Дорогой Медбрат, как раз, Он Врач" adventure (if you HAVEN'T heard about this, call me) I have been actually trying to do some work. I have a trade union conference in Moscow in mid-April that I need to write a paper for and like the good, just out of college, student that I am I have been procrastinating. Maslenitsa just ended this past weekend too so I have no excuse. Maslenitsa is a yay spring and pre-Orthodox Lent celebration rolled into one long, week-long holiday where you eat nothing but bliny (pseudo crepes/pancakes made to look like the sun - think spring thoughts - with various surprises in them: jam, caviar, etc). It's a great holiday except for the fact that it snowed and has been unbelievably cold all week. So much for spring I guess...

Apparently my 23rd birthday is this Friday - honestly I totally forgot up until like three days ago - and since this is such an unremarkable number to turn I have decided to attempt to have the largest birthday party Moscow has ever seen (or at least ever seen this week). This has meant that I am inviting just about everyone I know in the city, which surprisingly, is a good number of people. My no alcohol ban has been lifted so I think this should be a fun party. :) We'll see.

Well, that's about it. Hope everyone is doing well. And happy #22 to Sasha/Grisha!! :)

Mel/Malinka/Melanie

I'm ok, moving in, visitors and more politics

2005-03-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

I just want to start out by saying that I am fine, and am now home in my apartment after an unscheduled few days in the hospital. I don't feel it necessary to go into details but suffice it to say that I was in an American hospital, with my own room and a shower with free shampoo (like a hotel!) and everyone from the doctors and nurses to the kitchen staff took good care of me. I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed about the whole thing, but I feel tons better and am soo happy to be out and about again.

Anyway, to back up a bit. I am all moved in and it is sooo nice to have my own room/place. It turns out that Hilary is almost never there - she works from like 10 to 9 or something insane like that - so I pretty much have the place to myself. It is fully furnished so apart from internet and buying food I don't have to spend too much additional time or money on fixing the apartment up. It's close to everything important for me, so I have managed to make Moscow - the unwalkable city that it is- into a walkers paradise. :) It will take the better part of a month to get internet hooked up so be patient with me please!

Two weekends ago I had an awesome time because I had unexpected visitors - Ksenia and Claire (a former French exchange student at BC) took the train from Peter (as in St. Petersburg) and spent Saturday running around Moscow with me. We explored the Kremlin, Red Square and even managed to get to the Tretiakov Gallery where Ksenia gave me quite the icon lesson. All in all it was great and I was rather sad when they left. Anna from Novosibirsk (my super cool German friend, remember her?) visited this past weekend on her way back to Germany but needless to say we didn't do much sightseeing. It was great to see her again though!

Other then the visitors I just wanted to mention that last weekend I yet again got caught up in two major protests. One was an anti-Putin demonstration organized by the main opposition forces and the second can only be described as an all hail Putin parade. It was organized by Putin's political party, United Russia, and not only were people bussed in from the regions to participate but members of the military where ordered to take part. Sneaky huh? I should mention that I keep getting inadvertently involved in these protests because of where I live (it's terrible being in the center of the city isn't? :) ) not because I'm like a demonstration groupie and actively seek these things out. :)

Oh, last week on February 23rd was Defender of the Motherland Day (or maybe Fatherland I can't remember exactly). It's an old Soviet holiday, the name of which I also can't remember, but basically it is part Veteran's Day, part let's celebrate men day. They had a big military parade downtown and there were discounts for men in various stores, etc. And, this coming March 8th is International Women's Day - another old Soviet holdover that I remember from Poland and think is just brilliant. Actually, I think the government thought this holiday made men feel left out so that's why they decided to turn their Veteran's Day into an overall celebration of men as well. :)

Well, that's all for now. Classes have started and I'll be volunteering at a civic center soon so life should be pleasantly busy.

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

The country of Georgia, a.k.a. "Why politics in formerly Soviet countries is never boring"

2005-02-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

Privet!

Before mentioning the exciting personal event that occurred over the weekend, I have to pause and point out that while some people think I'm nuts for being so interested in Central and Eastern Europe (ok, it's slightly obsessive, I'll give you that) one has to admit that it is NEVER boring politically here. In October Putin decided to do away with elections of regional governors, in November the Ukrainian PM was poisoned, in December Putin made another unpopular decision which sparked widespread protests of retirees, and now the Georgian PM has died in mysterious, as yet undefined circumstances. Quite an eventful few months, no?

Georgian authorities claim the PM died due to carbon monoxide poisoning from a malfunctioning gas heater (possible given that most Georgians use portable gas heaters in the winter because central heating is unreliable), but since certain details surrounding his death are questionable already other politicians in the country are blaming it on everyone from Russia (potentially plausible but not likely) to the US (also not likely, but who knows these days?).

In any case, these latest events have not changed my desire to study Eastern Europe, travel to Georgia and Ukraine or stop going to the kick ass Georgian restaurant near my friends' apartment. But they have made me read the papers regularly! On Monday I also got caught up in a protest of Moskvichy pensioners - which was absolutely the coolest thing to witness (note to parents: this was by ACCIDENT, I was not protesting myself). Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photographs (this in spite of being really really nice to the policemen who were guarding the metro station) so I'll/we'll just have to do with the memory.

But the exciting personal event this weekend was that at long last I found an apartment - and even a roommate to share it with!! Yay! I'm not paying exactly what I wanted to be paying, but the place is perfect: close to the main archives I'll be using, my gym (just joined one!), classes and my favorite coffee shop (yes, this is Самый Важный). There is a beautiful Orthodox Church on the street as well as the Slovenian embassy (Nadia where are you?).

My roommate is named Hilary and I got in touch with her through a Moscow Craig's List type website. She's about 35, originally from Hawaii, just got engaged and is actually a former Fulbrighter (to Norway). I've signed the lease and will move in this Sunday - all very exciting primarily because I will no longer be sleeping on a couch. Woohoo!

Other then the political intrigues and apartment success, which is really a big accomplishment in Moscow, the university opened this week so I'll be starting Russian classes again on Monday. I can't say I'm terribly excited about those (straight language courses are just not my thing) but it has to be done.

What else to tell you? Oh I saw a man bleeding profusely from his head on the metro (I mean PROFUSELY, I wouldn't mention it otherwise) and was randomly bit by a dog while looking at apartments on Saturday. Isn't that nice? I'm convinced the babushka who owned it trained the dog to be an attacker: picture little ole me and a realtor walking through a corridor in an apartment, babushka opening her door to see who is out in the hallway, dog lunging... you get the idea. Fortunately, the bite didn't break the skin, but I have a bruise that really is very ugly.

Well, that's it for now. Miss you all!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

ps. Ok, so seeing that I was excited enough about BC basketball to post an article on my website about their 20-game winning streak, WHY DID THEY LOSE yesterday? Oh wait. They didn't just lose. They lost to NOTRE DAME!!! Sigh... that's all I'm saying about this.

Back in Moscow (again) & my photos are ONLINE!! At Last!

2005-02-02T18:30:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

So, I'm back in Moscow again. After three flights to and from this fantabulous city in the last two weeks, I can now say that I am the master at navigating its airports (and I even took the express train from Domodedovo; how cool is that?). I have nothing new and exciting to report except to say that I'm STILL apartment hunting and.... drum roll please...

MY PICTURES ARE POSTED ONLINE!!!

I'm really proud of myself, seeing as several people were ready to kill me for not doing this many months ago. In any case, just click on the "photos" link on my website and enjoy. I should warn you, however, of two things:

1. There are 12 albums with roughly 200 to 300 pictures in each. This translates to слишком много or way too many photographs - I would not advise trying to see all of them in one sitting!! This is a disclaimer, so don't say I didn't warn you.

2. I have not finished labeling each picture. All of the individual albums are labeled, but since I already said I took too many pictures this means that I haven't even finished going through all of them myself. So, things are only half way done - but I didn't want to wait any longer and continue to torture the friends at home who have been bugging me incessantly to post my pictures. ВОТ!

Happy Picture Viewing!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Jet lag + Apartment hunting in Moscow = NOT fun

2005-01-21T06:52:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Ok, so I probably should have updated my blog while I was home for the holidays but I ended up having too much fun in Stamford and Boston and laziness got the better of me. In any case, I'm back in Russia, in Moscow now to be exact, and just realized I need to change the name of my blog since I'm no longer in Siberia. As you saw from my last entry I actually was a bit sad to leave Novosibirsk so in spite of my general, somewhat less than thrilled feelings about Siberia I did enjoy myself. My teachers gave me a send off party, which included yummy tort and a free NSU tee-shirt, and Anna and I had a joint farewell party the Friday before I left for Moscow (Anna left the day before me and poor Robbie had to go to the Novosibirsk airport twice in one weekend). All in all, it was hard to say goodbye and I know that even though I might not have been crazy about the city itself, the people were absolutely wonderful to me. Hopefully I'll be able to visit Novosibirsk sometime this semester.

At the moment it is 5am in Moscow and I'm awake because I can't seem to beat the evil jet lag. This, coupled with the various apartment adventures I have had over the last two days is making me rather annoyed (dare I say even a little grouchy?) this morning. I just can't understand why it is so hard to find a reasonably priced-but-not-out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere apartment in Moscow. Yesterday I looked at two apartments - one was an excellent price but out in the boonies (boonies being not in the center which is where all the spoiled expats live. I, however, have no choice but to live there since all of my classes and research are in the center) and the other was in an awesome location - Stary Arbat - but way over-priced.

Now, I realize that Moscow is the second most expensive city in the world. BUT most of the other Fulbrighters have managed to find inexpensive, centrally located apartments so I know it is possible. And despite having a grant, I refuse to pay $800/month for a studio. That's twice the price of a cheap BC Comm Ave apartment!

In total I have looked at five apartments and perhaps I need to have more terpeniya (patience) but it is kind of driving me nuts. The friends I'm staying with told me I can stay as long as I want to but I feel very guilty taking over their living room. Anyway, I'm looking at another one today and am also going to try to find a roommate on Moscow's version of Craig's list - expat.ru. - Hopefully, two-rooms will be better than studio's. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On a somewhat happier note, I have uploaded all of my photos onto Yahoo, so once I have finished labeling them I will post the link on my website. Finally, you'll be able to see some awesome pictures of Siberia!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

The count-down begins...

2004-12-15T03:43:00.000-05:00

Hi!

I am happy to know that so many people enjoyed (and read!) yesterday's entry. Several people pointed out that restrooms and toilets figured rather prominently in the excerpt from Robbie's weekly "In Siberia" report. :) Though it may be true that we are all a bit too fixated on this topic after three months in Russia, this is partly my fault because I took some "creative license" (or, as Robbie put it, ignored the copyright symbol on the bottom of his e-mail) and re-arranged certain paragraphs to make it flow better. Anyway, I'm glad most of you found it funny and now appreciate the Irish - and Altay - as much as I do. :)

To finish up yesterday's thoughts: I forgot to mention that before sending Andy and Carrie off with a French toast brunch on Saturday, Robbie, Anna and I took them out for an "official" good-bye dinner on Friday night. We went to a (good) Mexican restaurant I had heard about from Elizabeth, and since she is French I trust her opinion about food. We had a wonderful time and then topped off the night by attending Stefan's going away party. Saturday was recovery day, and despite the previously-mentioned unpleasant incident with my wallet and camera, I had a nice dinner with Marina (a Russian friend) and Elizabeth at Zhili Byli, a Russian-themed restaurant (wait, aren't they all?). I'm probably giving the impression that we eat out all the time, but it's only because so many people are leaving this month. ;)

On Sunday afternoon Robbie treated Anna, me and a Russian friend Grisha (haha Sasha!!) to a musical called "NEP" (as in New Economic Plan). It was great! Awesome, typically Russian music, colorful costumes/sets and after intermission I realized I was able to understand most of it. How cool is that? I might still speak like a three-year-old, but at least "всё было понятно". One of our Russian friends was also in it (didn't know this earlier), so it was exciting to watch someone we knew. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas present from Robbie - thanks!

After the play the three of us hung out with Russian friends, Marina (the same one from above) and Misha. The details are being left out to keep this blog kosher, but suffice it to say that we drank copious amounts of vodka, as always :). Marina and Misha surprised me with a Christmas gift - a famous Russian New Year movie the name of which I can't remember at the moment. But I can't wait to watch it!! On Monday, Anna, Robbie and I went to the beach (we had a holiday because it was "Constitution Day"). Yes, it was covered in snow but we were aiming for the scenic beauty - we took some beautiful photos and enjoyed the fresh, Siberian air. Robbie and I camped out at Anna's for yet another night and then parted ways in the morning for work/school.

Finally, today I said good-bye to my favorite Russian teacher as it was my last lesson with her. I don't think I mentioned her before, but her name is Larisa Aleksandrovna and she really was (and is) just so nice and very chill. I felt soo sad, but we exchanged e-mail addresses and I definitely plan on keeping in touch. Tomorrow is my final Russian lesson with my other teacher and then it's my posledny weekend in Novosibirsk! Trying not to be sad! :(

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

A great trip to Altay followed by a not-so-nice weekend

2004-12-14T07:44:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Well I have officially fallen in love with another part of Russia: Altay!! Two weekends ago, we - Andy, Carrie (the IREX Americans), Anna (super cool German girl), Robbie (Irish guy) and Iris (a girl from Hong Kong) - decided to make an impromptu trip to Altay (a beautiful and famous mountaineous region to the south of Novosibirsk) and stayed at the adorable (and big) dacha of that American woman with a Russian husband (Sarah and Ivan) who helped me out when I first got here. It was a traditional, wooden Siberian dacha and just so cute - picture huge den with fire place, then wood burning stove in a kitchen with a long wooden table, six bedrooms upstairs (why I don't know since they are only three people with their daughter) and a banya outside.

The first day, after a fun 8hr overnight bus ride (not that bad when drugged up with Dramamine), we went hiking through the woods (in snow, but still fun and managable) with the grandfather of the guy who watches over the dacha while the family is away. Cool guy - in his 70s, and a typical mountain man in a one room hut in the middle of freaking nowhere Altay. After hiking we had dinner at his house (pilmeni!!) and just shared stories, etc. until late. It was so much fun!

The next day we rented a van and tour guide (with help from Andrei the housekeeper guy again) and went deeper into Altay terrority to see higher mountains. We also got to see cool hieroglifics (no idea how to spell this) from about 5000 years ago and BEAUTIFUL woods, mountains, waterfalls and Siberian houses.

At this point, I am going to interrupt myself and defer to my compadre, Robbie, who being Irish can describe our trip to Altay (as well as a few days prior to it) in much more vivid and hysterical detail. I should mention that the following excerpts from his weekly "In Siberia" report are hardly G-rated and come with a parental advisory label, so if you are my parents, slightly squeamish or might travel to Russia in the near future stop reading now. Of course, as a disclaimer (and to calm my parents who are going to be slightly horrified) everything that follows is meant in jest and fun and should not be taken literally... :)

"Well the week started off mild as ever- about 0C but then it got real cold, one night it was in the high 20s! (As in minus 20s). They don’t say if it is minus anymore they just say on the weather forecast, tomorrow, 16 to 18 and you should know by now they are talking about minus. It is however bearable and not so bad apart from lips, although if it goes much below -30 I will tell you all about it. It is funny to see dogs who have picked up bits of snow on their fur and start to look like chandeliers, you can even hear the ice jingling about on them- very cute but then I’m not the one covered in ice.

Last Wednesday (the first day of big cold) I went with 4 Americans (I couldn’t get a word in edgeways) and an Australian for dinner in a Georgian restaurant (not from the 17th century or specialising in food from Atlanta either). I now understand why Stalin (from Gerogia) was a bit grumpy at times. They had the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on, and I have been to primary school in Ireland so I know what I am talking about. It appeared if they had a hole in the middle for you to do your business whilst eating- very efficient but not what you really want at the table. Anyway apart from half those eating getting their food about an hour after the first half (hey it’s Russia- be glad you are getting food before the place closes for the night) it was nice.

So Friday we set off for Altay. Altay as you all know by now, is the mountainous region that forms the border with east Kazakhstan, North West China and Mongolia (and of course Russia). So we tried to get a taxi there (it is about 500km south) because we heard this was the easiest way to do it and not that expensive- about 800 roubles (25euro) however when the taxi driver asked for 15000 roubles (450euro) we thought he was driving a hard bargin (and possibly driving a limo also) so we ended up getting the bus for about 400 roubles- not too bad and it would only take 9 hours- in Russia you get used to long journeys, 9 hours on a bus is nothing to me now. So we hung around at the dingy bus station and then got on the overnight bus to Chemal, in the Altay Republic (a bit more independent from Moscow then a normal bit of Russia- Chechenya is the same).

I get very giddy when I travel- it is all the new things so I could not sleep and had my face glued to the window for most of the time or the ear of the person sitting next to me. So travelling through the frozen landscape of Siberia in heavy snow was fun, it was achilly -20 when we left Novosibirsk but the further south we went the warmer it got, one place was -11 and I rolled up the sleeves of my jumper on our once-in-3-hours-piss/food-break, basking in the tepidness of it all. So we left at 10 and we arrived at the place at 7 in the morning, with no passport checks along the way which was good. We arrived in a village called Manzherok and we were met by a local boy called Andrej (the first of many).

The place had a Craggy Island in Fr. Ted feel to it, and Andrej was our Fr. Dougel, although a bit foxier. He would look into your eyes and you were not too sure if he misunderstood you or was curious about you- that kind of guy, but very nice and he kept coming back to our house every 15 minutes to keep our fire burning (every pun intended there). So after arriving at 7am and after a bit of Muesli (western style-without the butter, salt and boiling) we all went to bed. But I was too excited to sleep so I read the Altay section of “Lonely Planet Russia & Belarus,” which made me a bit scared. According to this book, Altay people (the natives) are Mongolians and react badly to alcohol, however that does not stop them from outdrinking the Russians which gives the place a pretty Wild West bandit atmosphere. Apparently they are a bit dangerous if they have been drinking which is more or less all the time. Scary natives.

Anyway we then got up about 12 and went to the local shop to get some food and then went on a walk to meet Andrej’s grandfather who I think was called Pjoter but I am not sure, anyway a real Mountain Man and we walked up to his little mountain hut (about an hours walk up the mountain) which had no electricity- so quaint. And we ate and drank there and Pjoter took a fancy to Iris from Hong Kong which was funny to watch! Very nice and friendly old man with a lovely cat and dog. So that night we walked back down the mountain in the dark and started to drink a bit of vodka and this great drink- it was not vodka but still 40% made with Honey and chillies- yum yum- worked for me anyway and we were all a bit tipsy by about 9pm and in bed by 12 (after a bit of Irish dancing instruction- “arms staaaaaaight, knees hiiiiiger one, two three, one, two, three”).

So we had decided that day that the next day (Sunday) we would hire an Andrej (a local, for they all bear that name) to drive us up into the more remote parts of the Katun Valley. The Katun is one of the world's greatest rafting rivers, although winter is probably the low season. So he collected us in what I can only describe as the van from Scooby Doo, so we all piled into the Mystery Machine and went on a 7 hour drive. Further up the valley it gets very dry (I thought it looked like a desert but the Americans said I was wrong- it was like a mix of Colorado and Arizona according to them) so there was no or very little snow and even though it was definitely below 0C you could not see your breath. It was really an amazing place and we stopped in some scary villages along the way. The villages here have outdoor toilets and it seems that some of them have just one outdoor toilet for the whole village, usually a 3 min walk up the hill in the dark. There is a reason for this that I will explain later. I also spotted some natives from the van who may have been drinking. One had an axe in his hand and just fell backwards into a ditch while his friend tried to pull him out also got pulled in-funny to watch from a speeding van but I was glad not to be there.

So Andrej our driver showed us some rock drawings from 5000 years ago and the usual myths and legends about the river being a spirit etc. etc. etc. Now as you all know by now Russians do not pee, drink or eat when travelling-regardless of the duration of the journey. Andrej (during the 7 or 8 hours) only had a cigarette ever so often while the rest of us were worried about burst bladders. (A scene that would repeat itself on the 9 hour bus journey home where I had to avail of the wide rim facilities of an empty bottle of Nestea Ice Tea).

Anyway it was a great day and it was only 250 roubles each which I thought was good value. So we were all absolutely starving on the way back and stopped in the Greasy Spoon Cafe in Chemal (I think all the places looked very similar- one road and scary natives). So I had a big feed and then about 15 natives came in and sat down all around us and started staring and then taking bottles of vodka out of their jackets and drinking-Arghhhhh, why did I read the bloody Lonely Planet? As is obligatory with Russia they were all in camouflage outfits which made them look like even scarier! Just think drunk Gengis Khan and you have the idea.

So we all left there before they started to talk to us thank god! The road that we travelled on up the valley ran out about 2/3rds of the way along and was only a dirt track- very bumpy which combined with high pressure on the bladder and excessive laughter had some interesting effects. The main reason we were laughing is that Mel (the New Yorker) has a big-anti-Siberian-coldness coat with fur around the hood, just like my one. However, when she left her coat in the cloakroom at the university, some of the fur was cut off, not much- just a little bit, but really cut off which makes you wonder “Why?” anyway if you are behind her you can't stop laughing because you imagine some disgruntled Russian cloakroom woman going “I’ll show that fancy American bitch” as she lays into the fur with a pair of scissors. We now call it the Sinead (as in O’ Connor) jacket. Anyway we had really reached the end of civilisation when we passed the village of Kuyuz. Great time had by all.

So Monday morning we get the bus back to Novosibirsk, I was all set with food, liquid and an empty bottle just in case. Just before we left though everyone in the house had used the indoor toilet to its full extent and committed the hideous crime (in Russia) of flushing toilet paper down the toilet to where it got blocked and started to overflow, as this is happening and I am panicking, Andrej walks in. So we tried to clean up as best we could and then left him to take over, on leaving to walk to the bus stop we noticed the outdoor toilet- arghhh if only we had known. In Russia you should not flush toilet paper down the toilet. I mean by this not just toilet paper you blow your nose with or wipe a bit of toothpaste off the sink with. I mean ALL toilet paper, including for what it is primarily used for. So you just deposit it into a little bin beside the loo- horrid and disgusting so all westerners here just say “Fuck it- hopefully it won’t block today” and flush it away. However 6 westerners in one house was a recipe for disaster.

So, on the bus back- at the first pee break 4 hours into the journey we get out and all sink into about 3 foot of snow. It had, it seems, been snowing everywhere heavily all weekend, so we all went into the hut to pee. I am so glad I am not a girl because a). I don’t know how they hover over the holes dug in the ground and b) how they can let themselves get so close to something so disgusting. One thing we all appreciate here in Siberia is washing machines and toilets. Anyway the journey back got slower and slower because of the snow getting deeper and deeper. I even saw snow plows being pulled out of the snow by tractors- that is bad. So we got off the bus and virtually disappeared into the snow. About 40cm fell over the weekend (on top of what was there)."

And so, that was the weekend in Altay. Honestly, it was probably the most memorable and special thing I did thus far in Russia and I hope I can go back sometime soon. Dinner with Andrei's grandfather and nights in front of a fire eating pilmeni were just special - a "moment" as I like to call it.

Unfortunately, this super, amazing weekend, was followed by a boring work week and then a pretty bad past weekend as my wallet and digital camera were stolen while I was on a crowded bus. :( Fortunately, and trust me I know when to be grateful, I still have my passport and the trip to Western Union today to avail myself of parental funds was (relatively) painless. I'm just bummed about the camera. At least they didn't get much money - and I had just uploaded my photos onto my computer so I didn't lose any pictures.

I was also a bit sad because apart from this coming week being my last in Novosibirsk (gosh time flies), Thomas (the super cool Australian), Chisato (his Japanese girlfriend), Stefan (the crazy German), Andy and Carrie all left the prior week/weekend. I was especially sad about Andy and Carrie. We just bonded so much over their short three weeks here... and of course it helped that Andy was so good looking... :) Oops did I say that out-loud? ;)

Ok, this entry is far too long as it is. I'll finish up tomorrow.

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

I'm alive and it's -30!!

2004-12-03T01:27:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

First, big apologies for not writing for just about a month now. All of a sudden my life went from being only (relatively) busy to insanely busy in about .5 seconds! Thanks to all who sent e-mails to remind me that I had been incognito for far too long! :)

In any case, I am well and still alive in spite of the fact that it hit -30 for the first time this week (that's Celsius, but either way it's freaking cold!!)! The weather is wreaking havoc on my face/skin, but otherwise I'm finding it surprising bearable. The thermal wear plus my too-big jacket are treating me quite well. And to be honest, it is actually refreshing to walk outside in the morning and be hit with the coldest air you have ever felt in your entire life! :)

So, what has happened to me in the last several weeks? On the Fulbright side of things, my move to Moscow is now just about finalized. RGGU is working on my new invitation and I have tied up all the loose ends (research-wise and in terms of my studies at NGU) here in Novosibirsk. I am rather sad about leaving here, as I think I finally found my place and a comfortable pace at which to live my life but I'm looking forward to the research opportunities in the capital and the more active city life. I miss big cities - and as I mentioned earlier I absolutely love Moscow!

Actually I can't believe that I have only three weeks left until my vacation home -especially considering I thought the time would never pass when I first got here. I'll be apartment hunting in Moscow from the 19th to the 23rd and then will be home in Stamford/NYC/Boston until the 17th of January. Most of the other foreigners are leaving these next several weeks too, so the upcoming days should be filled with endless parties. Tough life no? :)

On the social side of things, I have to back up a lot. About three weeks ago I organized a German food extravaganza with Anna, this super cool girl from Germany who has become my closest friend now. We were reminiscing about Nutella and Bratkartofflen one evening and decided that over the weekend we had to make a typically, heart-attack on a plate German meal. So, we invited as many Germans as we knew (remember there are way too many in Novo), Josh (my American roommate), Damian (from South Africa) and Robbie this extremely funny Irish guy who speaks fluent German and ate my kick ass Wiener Schnitzel, Anna's Bratkartofflen and Cornelia's (also German) fried apple (bratapfel?). It was a great evening and my German improved immeasurably! :)

The next day, Anna, Robbie, Stefan (another German) and I joined a group of Russian friends and went ... Skiing!!! I have to pause and point out that cross country skiing is NOT the same thing as downhill skiing. What that means is that instead of me feeling totally at ease and able to move around, I was THAT person - you know, the one who is just terrible, falls all the time and everyone feels bad for them but has no idea how to help them master the sport? Yup, that was me. But I had a wonderful time anyway. The trail was absolutely stunning and it felt so nice to be on skis... In November. I can't remember the last time - if ever - I skied at the beginning of November back home! Anyway, I took tons of photos, mostly of me flat on my back in the snow, so you'll have some great laughs when I get home. :)

The two weeks following my skiing adventure got even more interesting and for several reasons. First, two new Americans arrived. I'll spare you the details but they are both here on a three-week IREX exchange and are super cool. Carrie is married to a gypsy from Macedonia (I'm not kidding) and from the fantastic state of Vermont that you all know I love. Andy is from Florida, not married to a gypsy but blessed with the ability to fix all broken appliances (a skill that one absolutely needs to survive in Russia). I didn't realize how much I had missed hanging out with people from home and we bonded instantly. Fun times all around! :)

Secondly, the weekend following Thanksgiving I had not one, but two Thanksgivings! The first one I organized with Elizabeth (see earlier entry) and we invited a mixture of Russians and foreign students. All in all we had about 20 people and the food - yes we found real turkey - was great! My second Thanksgiving was the next day, which was organized by the English club at NGU. Andy, Carrie and I, plus Vika (the president of the club) and two other Russian students were put in charge of making stuffing and cooking the turkey. Everything came out great again and it really was an incredible sight to see about 50 Russian students and 10 foreigners enjoying a massive Thanksgiving feast. It was really something special!

Somewhere in-between all these festivities and adventures I gave a lecture about American politics at the university. The guy who owns New York Pizza organized it: every Saturday they have a native English speaker give a lecture/presentation about something related to international business for interested students. Now I'm sure you're thinking, hey wait, how on earth could Mel give a presentation about business? Well, as you can tell, I didn't. They told me I could lecture about whatever I wanted as long as it was somewhat related to the U.S. Since I got my degree in IR and East-European studies I had a hard time with even that request. :) But since we just had had our elections and everyone had been asking me about it all week I thought I could give a decent presentation about this theme.

I didn't talk as long as I should have, but I think it went well. Lots of my friends showed up to support me, which was nice, and everyone asked very intelligent and informed questions. I'll lecture the same topic this coming Tuesday at an intercultural communication course. I enjoyed listening to the students and I really do think teaching might be something I want to do in the future. "Посмотрим" as they say.

Well, that just about wraps it all up. A few other observations: I ran away to Anna's last week because my babushka put garlic all over my room after she found out I was sick with yet another death flu. She claimed this would "clear the air" but all it did was give me a headache and make everything and I mean everything in my room smell like garlic. If someone knows, could they please tell me the medicinal value of garlic cloves? :) Also, don't ever try to leave Russia with an expired visa. Damian the South African showed up at the airport with an expired visa and they were about to throw him in jail for working illegally since May (for whatever reason he didn't know any of this earlier). All is being sorted out this week, but I thought I would give a friendly heads-up. :)

This weekend I am going to Altay, a beautiful mountainous area to the south of Novosibirsk. Most normal, sane people go in the summer when you can raft and hike but we are going to try to just enjoy the scenery and/or go skiing. I'll let you know all about it next week.

Looking forward to seeing you all state-side very soon!

Mel/Malinka/Melanie

October Revolution, Berdsk and Ушанки

2004-11-12T01:59:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

As you can probably tell by my lack of entries, my weeks are getting busier and busier. Last weekend we had a three day weekend since 8 November is a Russian holiday marking the October Revolution (don't ask why it's in November and not October. If you really want to know I can explain later). They call this holiday the Day of Peace and Reconciliation now (trying to get rid of any references to the Soviet past I suppose) and the only noteworthy thing about it - aside from the widespread displays of Russian patriotism in the form of Russian flags and tri-color balloons - was that I went to a party in honor of the holiday organized by the English club. I found this party quite an interesting study in terms of historical memory: Students dressed up in the old Soviet Pioneer and/or Komsomolski uniforms, wore baby Lenin pins (I finally got one to keep!), acted out famous Soviet events/statues/scenes in Novosibirsk and played the old Soviet national anthems (for Russia and certain of the republics).

To be honest, the students did these things primarily to mock the past - and I found this somewhat sad. Unlike in Germany, there is still not REAL discussion going on in Russia about the past. Either you are "for" Communism/the Soviet Union or are "against" it (and then constantly make fun of it). It will be interesting to see if this changes in the future at all.

The week prior to the holiday I spent a few days at the trade union office in Berdsk and my idea to bring chocolate was probably the best idea I've had in awhile. Tatyana Anatolevna and the other women in the office LOVED the chocolates and now are super friendly and open around me. I'm brilliant no? Natasha says chocolate is the secret to success in Russia so I must have learned something right since I 've been here. Exactly two months this week! :)

I spent most of this week trying to compile my notes, transcribe the recording of my last interview and catching up on Russian homework. I should mention that there is now snow on the ground everyday and everything looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL as a result. I find it funny that the Siberians still consider this "fall" (I see snow and I think winter) but given that it isn't very cold even though it snows all the time, maybe they have a point. The "Siberian beauty" that everyone talks about is finally appearing now and I love it! It's just stunning and I can't wait to show you all pictures when I come home for Christmas. I am going to try to go skiing next weekend and/or make a trip to Altai, which is an area of amazing natural beauty (i.e. nature preserves, mountains, etc) that I have been wanting to go to for awhile.

On the same winter note, I wanted to mention that the Siberians have the COOLEST hats. I bought my own ushanka (see Russian spelling in title) very early but now everyone is wearing them and the creativity is just amazing. Sometimes I want to take pictures of the interesting hats (and jackets too!) that I see, but there is no way to do that without people thinking I'm crazy. :) By the way, ushanka comes from the word for ear in Russian (usha) because this particular kind of hat always comes with detachable ear flaps (hard to describe in words so you'll have to wait for the pictures). Just think cool. :)

Finally, I heard from Fulbright this week and the Russian State School for Humanities (RGGU) has agreed to host me for the spring semester! Yay! So, the switch to Moscow for next semester is finally taking shape - now I'm working on getting a new invitation and visa.

Cheers!

Mel/Malinka/Melanie

Pierogi, table dancing and overzealous Окраны

2004-11-01T01:59:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

I had quite an interesting and productive week, which was nice after having such a great time in Moscow. On the Sunday after I returned from the capital we had a send-off party for Anya, the super cool Polish girl that I bonded with a few weeks ago. As a special treat the two of us decided to make pierogi (using a recipe that combined elements from a recipe I saved from Poland, one from Ksenia and one from the internet) - and I have to say that even though they weren't as good as the ones we made for Slavic Club, they came out quite well! Yay for Polish memories!

During the week I finally got my schedule changed, so I will now have Russian classes three days a week instead of five. Far more managable, no? On Tuesday... drum roll please.... I moved into my new homestay! Isn't that exciting? It was all done very quickly I might add since the university called and told me I had to move immediately (which also meant I had five minutes to pack!). I can't remember if I wrote about this babushka already, but in any case I think I really lucked out with her. Her name is Ludmilla, and she used to be a teacher (taught German to Russians at NSU and Russian to Germans when she lived in Germany) - which means she makes a point to speak clearly and slowly. She also cooks for me, does my laundry, etc. I feel very spoiled. :) The apartment is really beautiful too. It's on the second floor (unusual), very close to the university and I have my own room with a TV (great for listening to Russian!). I can already see an improvement with my Russian after being with her for just about a week so I think this was a smart decision on my part. She does worry about me (and banditi!) a bit too much but I can deal with this (it's like living with the parents again - woohoo!). :)

On Friday I met with Tatyana Anatolevna again, my main trade union contact, and my advisor. And for once, I had extremely productive meetings with both of them. Tatyana (finally!) gave me concrete answers to some of my questions and has agreed to allow me to hang out at the office this coming week. I'm going to be spending time at her second office in Berdsk because that one is where more of the actual activity takes place (i.e. actual people walking in and getting legal help, etc.). The main office in Novosibirsk is primarily administrative. My advisor also was extremely helpful this time around. He gave me some excellent advice on how to better structure my questions and this week he will join Tatyana and me in a meeting so I can get a hold of those financial records and other documents that I have been repeatedly asking for. Good progress all around last weekend.

Over the weekend I went to two Halloween parties, both of which were a lot of fun and very interesting. I had no idea Halloween was such a big deal here, but it definitely was. All the stores were decorated and people were crowding the stores looking for costumes. I can't say people actually went trick-or-treating but Halloween seemed to be a good excuse to have parties so it has now become a regular holiday here. :) The party on Saturday was hosted by this one American guy who does "business" in Novosibirsk (don't ask me what, the guy is uber mysterious) and I had a great time just chatting with various people. I met a guy who used to live in Las Crusas, NM which of course made me all excited and meant that I had to e-mail Sabir today to find out if he knew him. Small world. There was also one woman there, a babushka, who was rather overly excited about me being American, and I have a funny picture one of my friends took of like a circle of fifty people (led by the babushka) sitting around me and listening intently to everything I have to say. That was a strange feeling and not one I'm sure I liked. I'm thrilled that they were so interested (didn't need to emphasize my German background with that crowd, that's for sure) but it made me extremely uncomfortable for some reason.

On Sunday there was another party, this time hosted by the English Club at NSU. Also a lot of fun. They had a great DJ and lots of contests with cool prizes from various sponors (e.g. New York Pizza, a piroshki place in Novosibirsk, etc.). My table dancing reputation finally re-appeared, and I, along with Anna (a super cool girl from Germany) and Josh actually won the contest for the best pumpkin carving (God knows why since it was TERRIBLE, especially sober). Our prize (which became mine since it's in my room now) was, get this, a promotional package of condoms! LOL! To be honest, my first reaction was "wow, I'm definitely not at BC anymore".... yay for progressive prizes!

Finally, this fantabulous weekend was topped off by me getting stopped by the Окраны (security guards) at the local supermarket this morning because they thought I stole a toothbrush (figures I would get stopped for something like that). I think this would have freaked me out about two months ago, but I now know just enough Russian to be able to handle something like that. I simply showed them my receipt, the contents of my bag and said I had wanted to buy the toothbrush but decided not to because it was too expensive (which was true). One of the guys (the one who stopped me initally) I think really wanted to catch me on this (must have been new) but once the rest figured out I was a foreigner they decided it wasn't worth it. I guess being a foreigner helped in this case. :)

Melanie/Mel/Malinka

МОСКВА!!!

2004-10-25T00:59:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So I have officially fallen in love with the city of Moscow!! I had a fantastic time during my short three-day visit and the best thing is that Fulbright gave me the (for real this time) approval to re-locate there in the spring semester! I went in all prepared to give both my academic and personal reasons for wanting to make the switch but the director immediately said that he agreed with me and saw no reason why I couldn't begin the reaffliation process right now. Isn't that great?!

I saw and did a lot while I was in Moscow besides attending the Fulbright orientation: On Thursday I met with two of Prof. Christensen's close friends - one is an American, Richard Brody, who is President of United Technologies Russia and the other is a Russian friend named Gennadi (not clear on how they know each other or what he does but it isn't relevant). They were both incredibly nice (Richard and I were lamenting about baseball though since I hadn't heard about the Yankee's loss to the Red Sox) and Gennadi is going to help me find a homestay for when I move to Moscow in January. He was very concerned about my well-being out here in Novo and gave me the names of some friends he has at NSU. I should mention that we had this whole conversation in Russian, which was encouraging - I must be making progress!

In the evening I went to a cafe/bar for a lecture about Russian voting patterns (sounds boring but wasn't really) with two of my fellow Fulbrighters. That was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing Michael and Vanessa again. Michael is from Ohio but was college roommates with a friend of mine from Stamford (weird coincidence I know) and Vanessa is from California. Both studied in Russia before so they speak Russian quite well.

Friday was the orientation and that was great - got to see everyone I had bonded with at the DC orientation and then at night a bunch of us went back to Vanessa's apartment (did I mention her apartment is in the coolest part of Moscow?) and just chatted about our projects, Russia, etc. all night.

Saturday I met up with some of Irina Goldstein's relatives and they showed me a bit of Moscow before I met with Ed, the Fulbright director, about starting my reaffliation process. Zhenia (her sister) was adorable and very sweet and her Dad had me laughing often. As I said, the meeting with Ed was very productive. And this after the poor guy was robbed and attacked in his elevator very early in the morning on Thursday! I decided (not that my opinion matters all that much though) he is absolutely perfect for his job. He is funny and friendly but also very realistic and understanding. Before catching the plane back to Moscow I met up with Vanessa and a few of her Russian friends and walked around a beautiful park (the name of which I promptly forgot afterwards). Also a lot of fun!

So, all in all I had a fabulous time in Moscow and realized that while Novosibirsk has been exciting academically for me, I have been missing the energy and excitement of city life. I can't wait to spend more time there in the spring!

Oh one more thing to mention - before leaving for Moscow I went to check out a potential homestay in Novosibirsk and have decided yesterday that I will move there. I will have my own room and cook for myself (I asked for that since I don't want to be over-fed :) ) but live with a babushka (actually she's somewhere in-between a mother and babushka; not that old). I really liked the apartment and we bonded so I think it will be a good arrangement. I also will be able to have more freedom and privacy there than at the dormitory. And, of course, be able to work on my Russian in a less intimidating environment.

Happy Moscow and Russian thoughts!

Melanie/Mel/Malinka

Russia and the EU, Germans and Москва!

2004-10-20T00:59:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

I'm off to Moscow tomorrow (returning Sunday) for a Fulbright in-country orientation, but I wanted to write about the last few days since they were quite interesting. On Friday I went to a seminar sponsored by the EU TACIS Program in Russia. The topic was about how the legal community in Novosibirsk oblast can work better with local NGOs to improve the human rights situation in the region. I can't say that the conference was productive, but it certainly was interesting! Basically, the judges there (mostly women again) felt that working with NGOs was a moot point. One judge, and I quote, said that if NGOs don't like the way they are dealing with human rights issues then the NGOs should "go to university, study law and replace us." Of course, I knew a bit about the acrimonious relationship between courts and civic organizations in Russia before I arrived, but it is quite another thing to have real people and real situations attached to the issue. Moreover, I had the sense that this seminar was planned at the last minute. Therefore, no one came prepared and nothing concrete was formulated. But at least they're TALKING about the issue. That is significant in and of itself.

Over the weekend I went to a housewarming party. This one was for two German girls (one is teaching German at NSU and the other is doing archeological research) and it ended up being me, and a huge crowd of Germans (there are tons in Novosibirsk, though only about six in Akademgorodok). That was quite entertaining and made me a bit nostalgic for my week in Germany this past July with Natasha.

On Sunday I went out to dinner with Josh (the only other American guy here and he was my initial roomie; spent two years with the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan) and Marina his friend from Kazakhstan. We ate at a great (but too expensive) traditional Russian restaurant called Zhili-Byli- pilmeni, bliny, borscht and Vladimir Visostsky singing in the background.

Well, look for my next post after I return from Moscow!

Melanie/Mel/Malinka

A Canadian back-packer and Russian ballet

2004-10-14T05:48:00.000-05:00

Privet!

After my exhausting rendition yesterday, I only have a few interesting things to note today. On Sunday night I had a new temporary roomie (remember my dorm is both a dorm and a hotel) and this time it was great because she was from Canada (though originally from China; she's back-packing through Eastern Europe over the next couple of months) and we bonded. I ended up convincing her to stay a few extra days and we explored more of Novosibirsk city together on Monday. We discovered a beautiful park called Central Park (lol!) and I took the commuter train for the first time. That actually was a lot of fun - the train was really nice, clean and fast and I had a group of Russian army guys looking after me the entire ride. They were worried I would get off at the wrong stop even though I told them I knew it quite well! :)

On Monday I also stopped by the trade union office to speak with my research contact. I was without my translator, which was a bit scary, but I understood her and seemed to make myself somewhat clear as well so it was a good visit all around. Tomorrow she is picking me up to take me to an all-day conference organized by the European Human Rights Commission. I'm very excited! It should be interesting research-wise and also just in general. Details forthcoming!

Last night I went to see a ballet at the main (and only!) opera house/theatre in Novosibirsk. Beautiful exterior and great music, but the inside and the actually dancing were only okay. It was great to be in the city and to do something cultural though! Especially because starting tomorrow it is going to get COLD here....

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Research, Бабушка, and the Polish connection!

2004-10-13T00:33:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I feel incredibly guilty about not writing recently, but the good news is that it's because my life has gotten incredibly busy. Last week was just insane. First, I decided to add one extra individual lesson in Russian (on Wednesday's) and quickly determined that this was a bad idea. Not only does the class start at 9 am (all the others are at 1:30 pm) but it isn't all that helpful. Class five days a week also leaves me zero time to do much of anything besides study Russian language (which, trust me, is extremely boring). I got about two hours of sleep the entire week and promptly went to the director of the language school on Monday to ask to change my schedule. She wasn't too pleased but, quite honestly, my priority here is to do research - and right now I'm not doing any because I'm always in class or doing homework! We'll see what she can arrange.

Friday was one of those crazy days where my alarm didn't go off and I was subsequently late for everything I had scheduled. I had my usual meeting with my professor, but this time it unfortunately left me with the feeling that I can't and shouldn't rely on him for too much. He really doesn't know anything about my topic and tries to push me in a direction I would rather not go. He is helpful, however, with getting me access to high level officials/academics, etc., so I am not going to burn any bridges or anything. I think I will just not consult him about my activities. :)

Oh to back up quickly - On Wednesday, I went to a special seminar designed for foreign students about Russian culture. It will meet once a week and is entirely in Russian (which is exhausting), but it is far more interesting then regular Russian class. In fact, I think I will try to attend more lectures like this one since it helps both to keep me interested academically and to improve my Russian.This particular session made me smile too because one of the first things we discussed was the Russian approach to friendship - which of course reminded me of the argument/discussion/friendly disagreement Sasha, Nadia and I had about this last year. Anyway, in the course we will compare the Russian conception of family, meals, death, religion, etc., with other cultures' understanding of it. All in all it was incredibly interesting and I can't wait for this week's class!

On Friday I also went to check out a potential homestay option. I am not going to live there (it's too far away and in winter I would NEVER leave the house) but I had the greatest time! This was a typical Russian Бабушка, and since it was "bliny day" (according to her) I stayed for three hours while she fed me all types of yummy things (bliny is like the Russian version of crepes). We spent the night talking about medicine in Russia (she used to be a doctor) and Georgian men (her husband was Georgian... And I'll refrain from commenting on my connection to the topic. :) ). My Russian was terrible, but she didn't care and spoke loudly and clearly for me. It was an awesome evening and made me even more resolved to find a homestay. I am looking at a few more places over the next two weeks and then will make a decision.

Over the weekend I went first to an Oktoberfest organized by the German club here at НГУ and then to an informal gathering at a Japanese professor's apartment. It was a fun night in general but I was particularly happy because I met.... a student from POLAND!!! YAY! We, of course, bonded, and she invited me to her apartment in the city this weekend to make.... PIEROGI!!! Another YAY! So, three cheers for the Polish connection! :)

On Sunday I gave my lecture to the English Club on the potential causes and solutions to international terrorism and the discussion was great! The students were really active (but respectful of everyone's opinions, which was a nice change) and incredibly articulate given that this was all in English. I loved moderating the discussion and decided I need to do more of these. In fact, the American woman who works at SCIC, Sarah (the one who helped me out when I first arrived), put my name down for a lecture series (the university has one English-speaker come every Saturday and do a presentation for students) so I will get to do another one soon. The discussion was really interesting from the perspective of my interest in Russian politics too. Most of the students were well informed about the issue and did not generalize or get overly inflammatory or emotional (I wasn't sure what to expect given what happened in Beslan).

Well, that's about it for now. I have a few more things to mention, but I'll write about them tomorrow. This post is getting far too long as it is. :)

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Politics, Politics and more Politics

2004-10-04T06:13:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

A lot of interesting and noteworthy things happened in the last few days. To start with, on Friday I attended the labor conference I mentioned in an earlier entry. That was absolutely fascinating! It was tough to get everything (thank goodness for my translator and a tape recorder) but apparently a country-wide strike is planned (at the behest of the Moscow-based labor unions) for 20 October as well as several smaller actions over the coming weeks in certain cities (Novosibirsk, Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, etc.). The October 20th strike is in response to Putin's decision to appoint regional governors and the raising of bread prices. A smaller strike scheduled for next week just in Novosibirsk will address the mass layoffs of transportation workers. I will actually get to see/attend both since I will be in Moscow the week of the 20th for a Fulbright orientation. How cool is that?

A few other interesting observations about the meeting: of the fifteen attendees, only two were men (not unusual for Russia but still something I wanted to mention) and every decision - whether to hold a strike, start a new union or pick a date for the next meeting, was carefully voted on and discussed. For example, the first vote was over whether the Novosibirsk-based trade unions should start a movement to impeach Putin and his entire government (again, in response to his regional power grab) or try to effect change by working through the Duma and other legislative structures. Only two people supported the first option, and both came from extremely impoverished and politically corrupt villages near Novosibirsk. The majority were from Novosibirsk and felt that the problem wasn't Putin but the individual people and laws he had in place. I, for one, thought that both were pretty major options/alternatives and they seemed to be voting on it a bit hastily. But then again I didn't have the whole picture so I don't think it's fair for me to judge.

All in all, the meeting on Friday made me even more interested in studying my topic within the context of the relationship between Moscow and the regions. We'll see how that goes after more meetings and discussions. Exciting stuff on the whole though!

On the social side of things, on Saturday I helped the English club with its general meeting. I had to speak half in Russian and half in English, which was slightly terrifying, but fortunately the club leaders let me write the Russian part down first so I could basically read from my paper. It wasn't very complicated (introductory stuff, etc.) but everyone said my accent was pretty good so there is still hope for me I guess! Afterwards everyone went to New York Pizza for yet another farewell party (this is THE hang out place I guess). This time the party was for a Russian girl moving to Denver with her American husband and a Russian guy going to Norway for graduate school. It was a tiring night Russian-speaking wise for me, but fun nonetheless.

On Sunday I went to English club's regular, weekly discussion. This week's topic was about why people join various groups (i.e. political organizations, skin-head groups, music societies, you name it). Besides the continued fascination with skin-head groups (a real problem in Russia but skin-heads always seem to be mentioned in a non serious, almost funny way), the other noteworthy thing was that the only people who were interested in discussing why one might join a political organization were me, one other American guy and two German girls. I am not surprised by this - given that most Russians think actions to change the political situation in their country are pointless - but when we actually had to present our discussion to the group the students got really active! The conversation got particularly heated when we touched upon terrorist groups, which makes me excited about my presentation next week. I offered to do one on how to respond to international terrorism, and given this past Sunday's preview, I am looking forward to hearing the students' opinions.

Finally, on Sunday night I went to a comedy show by a student group known as КВН. It is a comedy troupe on campus and Tamuna (a student from Georgia) and Natasha (another student who happens to be half Russian and half Korean) asked me to come along. I understood next to nothing in the entire show (except for one skit about dentists. I wonder why? :) ) and had quite a Russian headache afterwards, but it was neat to observe what kinds of humor the students chose to perform (mostly political, about the army or sexual) and to spend time with the two girls. Both studied in the US (Natasha has a Kentucky accent which I find quite funny) but are very patient and speak Russian to me most of the time. All in all it was an enjoyable evening and I want to go to more student events in the future.

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Memory boards and no cold water

2004-09-30T00:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

Apparently the Russian word for hangover has caused a lot of laughter, which makes me very happy. :) I can't say I have anything as exciting to share today, but I did want to remark on a few cultural and (slightly) more serious observations. The first is something that I found quite touching and wouldn't mind if we did in the U.S.

Over the weekend a long-time faculty member at NSU unexpectedly died. Besides holding a university liturgy in his honor (thanks Razvan for telling me the proper name for an Orthodox service!), when you walked into the main university building they had a table with his picture, biography and a spot where people could leave flowers, remembrances, etc. A nice thing to do isn't? University-wide religious services aren't unusual, but I thought the memory table was interesting.

The other thing is that this morning we ran out of cold water at the dormitory because a pipe broke. While it is strange that it was cold and not hot water, I am bringing it up only because the women who run the dormitory came up with a brilliant way to deal with the problem. No cold water meant that no one could take a shower or wash their face without fear of 3rd degree burns. :) Therefore, the women started emptying flower vases and filling them with cold (and carbonated) seltzer that some of the residents had left in the refrigerator. Pretty smart - and I think it beautifully highlights the ingenuity of the Russian people. Or, perhaps, the ingenuity of people in general when faced with a difficult and unexpected circumstance?

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Похмелъе, labor politics and SNOW

2004-09-28T00:49:00.000-05:00

Dear Family and Friends,

The last few days have been absolutely insane and incredibly busy, which is a nice change of pace. On Sunday, I learned the meaning of Похмелъе (non-Russian speakers have a fun time looking that one up!) after an interesting night club-hopping in Novosibirsk and mixing too much Исток vodka and Балтика. Sadly, I can't go into details in this journal. I have discovered that far more people are reading this then I realized, so I have been ordered by the parents to keep everything kosher. :) If you really want to know, e-mail me or ask Natasha.....

Yesterday I had my first interview with Tatyana Anatolevna, the president of the Siberian Trade Union Center in Novsibirsk. It went very well: She is friendly, open and has no problem granting me access to the organization's documents, financial records, meetings, interviews, etc. I have been invited to a trade union reps meeting this Friday, which I am excited about. I didn't expect her to be so forthright to be honest. I know that I hate it when people just come in and say, "I'm doing research on a grant from my government so please let me see the inner workings of your organization/group/government right now." Not to mention the fact that Russia has had negative experiences with such types of grantees in the past. That being said, I tried to be as respectful as possible and not to ask too many questions. Either way, I must have done the right thing, because she is willing to assist me with my project in any way she can. Yay!

I also decided yesterday that I need to work harder at moving out of the dormitory. While I enjoy the people there it is terrible for my Russian. I am always speaking English. So, I asked around - friends and the International office - and I will find Russian students or a family that I can move in with soon. On the subject of my dorm-mates, I should also mention that I discovered the real reason why Elizabeth is here in Novosibirsk (see earlier entry about her, but she is a French woman who now lives in Germany and is teaching French here at NSU). While it is a bit sordid, it is too good of a story to pass up sharing...... :)

Elizabeth has got to be about 55 and she has a German husband and two teenagers back in Cologne. Yesterday, while several of us were at a going-away/birthday party, Elizabeth drank a bit too much пиво and revealed that the "real reason I came to Novosibirsk is named Nikolai." Apparently she has been carrying on at least a 2+ years affair with a Russian professor in Novo and came all the way out here just to be closer to him! Did I mention that he is also married and is frequently MIA when she wants to get together with him? Hmm. In any case, she told us way too many details about their relationship and did a good job shocking everyone. I, for one, don't know why I am surprised. She is French after all! :)

That's about it for now. I should also note, however, that it SNOWED yesterday in Novo. Nothing major, but enough flakes that my Russian teacher commented on it. Apparently snow this early is unusual. Isn't that encouraging? I took a picture for memory's sake. It's September people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Taxi-Cab Politics

2004-09-23T00:03:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

Yesterday was an interesting day so I had to write a quick note this morning. I took a taxi (still afraid of taking the маршртки by myself) to a part of town quite far from my usual university-dormitory route and had a great conversation with the driver! Usually the guys have been pretty quiet, except to yell when I don't have exact change, but this guy was super talkative (it might have been due to the empty beer can on the passenger seat but no comment...).

We ended up talking all about the US and he was very curious about whether I thought Bush would be elected again. He told me flat out he didn't like the US to which I responded that I didn't like it right now either - which was why I am in Russia - and he thought that was hysterical so then he was my best friend for the entire hour long ride. He was also very curious about gas prices in the US and the average monthly salary.

Did I mention that I had to figure out how to understand and answer all this in Russian? Even though my responses were pretty elementary and full of grammatical mistakes he didn't seem to care, which was encouraging. It was fun for me too because I have noticed that people here are very reluctant to discuss politics unless many shots of водка have been drunk. I think it's because they feel like the government will never do anything for them (especially here in Siberia where the government has often actively hurt the people's interests) so why bother talking about how to change or fix it? In any case, the taxi ride was fun and I wrote it all down afterwards in case it comes in handy research-wise.

Speaking of the research: I grabbed Max the amazing studied-in-Alaska-for-one-year-and-speaks-English-like-an-American student and he helped me arrange a meeting with the head of the labor NGO I mentioned earlier. We have something set up for Monday at 9am and I am so excited! This weekend Max and I are going to go over everything (he's worried about translating certain political terms into Russian, which I completely understand) and then hit the ground running on Monday morning! Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well!

Well I'm off to Russian class again.... but one more food for thought (literally) : salt and pepper shakers made out of old film canisters. Brillant idea no? You can thank my German dorm friend for that one!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Technical difficulties

2004-09-22T01:36:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

I have been told by both Jakub and Nadia that people are actually reading my blog - yay! - so I'll try to be somewhat regular about posting. I have to start with a disclaimer though: the technical/internet connections here in Novo are terrible (as in so slow that it takes me an hour to read like 4 e-mails, not to mention the fact that there is no place for me to use my own computer or hook up a jump drive through a USB port). That being said, ignore the dates on my posts and be patient with my website and its various updates. I just noticed that my most recent post about meeting my advisor is dated 10 September - but I wrote it on the 18th!!

In any case, I have to admit that I'm a bit bored at the moment. My Russian classes are going well, although one of my teachers (the one who I had laughing a few days ago) picks on me quite a lot in class which is starting to get on my nerves. She is annoyed that my accent is so bad and that I keep translating from English into Russian - and she keeps mentioning it - which only makes me more self-conscious. I miss Professor Lapitsky!

The research is going much slower than I would like. In part this is because of my lack of language skills (I understand now why Fulbright makes a big deal out of knowing the language). I have to rely on Sveta for translating and she is impossible to track down, so I can't really start meeting with contacts until she gets in touch with me. I am trying to be patient (the key word to living and enjoying Russia) but we all know that this isn't my strongest suit. :) I do have the name and number of the head of the leading (and only) labor NGO here in Novo so I'm looking forward to meeting with her soon.

Last night I was unexpectedly invited to a friend's home for dinner (Galya) and that was awesome! I got to eat yummy Russian food (which included locally picked mushrooms!) and to enjoy tea with her parents and brothers. It was so nice to be around a family again and they were very patient with my terrible Russian. Galya has been helping me a bit with finding my way around Akademgorodok.

This past Sunday/Monday I didn't do much because I was still sick (finally better thank goodness) but the adorable Hazyika (someone, quick, teach me how to transliterate properly!) who runs my dormitory taught Chihiro and me how to make Borscht. That was a lot of fun and the end result was pretty good!

Tomorrow it's Russian class yesho ras and then Friday I will see Professor Shishkin (and hopefully Sveta) for our regular meeting. I hope that by that point I can get this research moving along. I need to start doing something soon!

Poka!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Meeting my Advisor and Tea to go

2004-09-18T00:49:00.000-05:00

So the last couple of days have been busy. I still have an evil flu, but I tried to get as much accomplished as possible. Can you believe I have only been in Russia for a week? It honestly feels like I have been here much longer.

On Friday I met my faculty advisor, Vladimir Ivanovich Shishkin. He is head of the History department at NSU and is really quite nice. He actually spent a year at Harvard (that "other school" across the river) so we spent some time reminiscing about Boston. He felt that there wasn't much in the way of labor organizations in Novo though, and suggested I broaden my topic to American assistance groups in Novo in general. If I can pull it off, we came up with a plan that would allow me to do several very focused case studies here in Novo this semester (on certain assistance organizations like the Soros Foundation or Siberian Civic Initiative) and then link up with the parent organizations in Moscow in the spring. Let's just hope that NSU and Moscow Fulbright go for it and can find me a Moscow affliation for the second semester. Oh, and Svetlana, a student from Kazakhstan who spent a year in Washington State, helped me translate. She's really sweet and wants to show me around Akademgorodok some time next week.

On the social side of things, I went to a send-off party for a German student that was leaving on Wednesday and met two Russian students, Anya and Julia, who took me out last night. We went to that New York Pizza place again and had a lot of fun discussing Russian food. Anya made me think of Natasha because she loves herring in a fur coat.... Ugh! Antonio, a student from Spain, also went out with us. He's a great guy, but I can't understand him in either English or Russian because he has such a thick Spanish accent! I have quite a Russian headache today from all the translating but I am noticing (a little) improvement in my own abilities.

I have also been spending some time with Elizabeth, a French woman who lives in Germany (and thus speaks both French and German as well as English) and is here to teach French at the language school. She is very talkative so I'm never bored around her! :) The two students in my Russian class, Chihiro (Japanese) and Hansem (Korean) are also fun. Chihiro and I have had a few adventures trying to communicate with each other too.

I have discovered a new favorite thing this week: Tea to go! At the university they have these great kiosks where you can buy quick meals/drinks in-between classes and they sell hot tea in plastic cups! It's brillant really and perfect when you have a cold!

That's all for now,

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Cultural differences and English Club

2004-09-15T00:09:00.000-05:00

Nothing too new or exciting going on since Monday but I did manage to make my Russian teacher crack up, which is always a good feeling. :) She asked us to re-tell a story we had just seen in a film and in this one particular scene a mother and daughter meet a couple on a train to Denmark. I said that the mother and daughter had met a woman and her husband on the train - and this sent my teacher into hysterics because she felt that a Russian would have said a man and his wife instead of the other way around. Apparently I am too independent and too much of a feminist for my own good.... :)

I managed to track down the secretary of my faculty advisor yesterday and arranged a meeting with the professor on Friday (this was all done in Russian by the way - yay me!). Moscow Fulbright also called the International office here to make sure I was being taken care of. Jan has now called to check in on me and will help with translation on Friday. I wish I could get him to do things for me on my own, but if it takes Moscow to get him to act I can't complain. At least things are progressing now!

I have also somehow been recruited to help run the English Club here at NSU. I went to their first meeting this past Sunday and everyone is very enthusiastic about the new term and about having so many English-speaking international students here. They want me to suggest topics for discussion as well as movies and music that could help students to better understand American culture. Any thoughts? Somehow American Pie just didn't seem appropriate.... :)

I have a flu now unfortunately. So, think happy, not sick thoughts for me!

From a Marshrutka to "After 7pm..."

2004-09-13T05:09:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

If I didn't have a headache before I do now - Dude four hours of Russian is self-torture (or just masochistic, I'm not sure)! My first class went well today though it was overwhelming. There are only two other students in it and they are both very sweet. The guy is from Korea (Emily Roh where are you?) and the girl is from Japan. Both are quite good in Russian, which is encouraging. The teacher is rather intimidating but still sort of friendly. I haven't been able to find my faculty mentor but I will try again tomorrow.

This past Friday I met the American Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, at the dinner for alumni of American educational programs in Novo. He made a short speech about how it is important for all of Russia to come together given recent events (thereby making himself look good for visiting Siberia) and then had a moment of silence........ Ok, no guarantee that he said this because it was all in Russian and I have a tendency to tune in and tune out but he was impressive nonetheless. I got to speak with him for all of .5 seconds but used the rest of the night to mingle with about 20 Russian students that had studied in the US the previous year (all about high school or first year of college age). My American and Russian flag pins were a bit hit! They were all excited about using their English again and a few of them took us out afterwards. Most were from Novo but a few came from Kazakhstan and Georgia (!!!!! :) ).

After dinner at New York Pizza (the owner is from Chicago but don't tell anyone that) I had my first marshrutka experience with my suitemate Josh. It's hard to describe but just think of your neighbor using his old, about-to-fall-apart van to moonlight as a taxi or bus service. Except for the fact that I had to ride backwards and got to know the drunk army guy next to me a little too well, it was pretty cool. It's not something I would do by myself yet, but definitely a worthwhile experience.

Over the weekend I went shopping and spent some time with the American/Russian family that helped me out the first day. I wanted to buy an ushanka but the real fur ones haven't come out yet so I'm holding back. Saturday evening I hung out with a few of the other international students. They continue to amaze me with how well they all speak Russian (as well as about six other languages between them: English, German, Japanese, Kazakh, Georgian, Korean, etc.). After pilmeni (YAY!!!) we listened to Igor play Russian music on his guitar (he was good!) and drank the night away....

Sunday was fairly uneventful except for dinner when a mixture of Russian and international students decided to go out for pilmeni (does it ever get old?) and drinks. We had just come back from an English Club meeting actually (lots of people who want to learn from me as I do from them)! Anyway, two military guys become very intrigued by our group and decide to sit with us. They start talking to me and before I know it I end up with a free beer, salmon (which I was told I HAD to try because it was a Siberian delicacy) and a handwritten note which the one guy left me on the way out. It read: (phone number) + "v chetverg posli 19. 00 ili 20.00... Dima!". THAT is a keeper for sure. Remind us of any recent events Natasha? LOL :)

I now have two additional roommates, one from Kazakhstan and one from Mongolia, and neither of them speak English so I am having a fun adventure trying to communicate using my terrible Russian. They are both really nice though (in their 40s I think) and make my room much less lonely.

Let's see. I think that's about it for now. One quick note since people have been asking about it: I cannot use AIM or upload pictures as I thought I would be able to so e-mail or phone is just going to have to do. Thanks to all for checking in on me though!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

The first 48 hours

2004-09-10T00:49:00.000-05:00

Well my first two days in "Novo" have been eventful to say the least. The flight from New York to Moscow was fine (and went quickly because I had a chatty seatmate who is an analyst for the army) but everything afterwards was choas. After meeting one of the Fulbrighters in Moscow for lunch, I headed over to Sheremetevo 1 (the domestic airport). Once there I proceeded to struggle with my luggage for far too long and almost missed my connection because the flight attendant at Aeroflot check-in "forgot" to tell me that I needed to pay extra for my heavy luggage. The actual flight to Novo was quite an experience too. Besides the fact that half the seats were broken, the descent into the Novosibirsk airport was so bad (i.e. bumpiness like there was no tomorrow) that everyone on the plane actually clapped when we landed safely! Yay Aeroflot!! I did have a really nice woman next to me though. She gave me candy and woke me up when breakfast came.

The guy from Novosibirsk State University, Jan Reznitchenko, was thankfully, there to meet me (FYI to Natasha: I was SO right - he was young and definitely good looking :) ). But then all he did was take me to the dorm, tell me I needed to get my visa registered and bounced! Hmm, how about telling me where I need to go to get my visa registered, not to mention some food and a cell? "Eta Rossiya" I guess. :)

Needless to say Jan never came back and I had no way to reach him so I called the one person I knew in Novo (THANK YOU THANK YOU Prof. Christensen for sending that contact!). She works at the Siberian Civic Initiative and we were going to meet just to discuss my research but she ended up calling the university for me, helping me to find the American center where tonight's dinner with the Ambassdor is, and her husband (she's an American from Greenwich of all places! He's Russian) gave me a tour of the Akademgorodok and showed me the main supermarket, internet cafe, etc. They have also been checking in on me periodically, which is so nice.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the center of the city and have now realized that I probably bought a stolen cell phone. I should have been tipped off by the fact that the salesman kept telling me that if I got stopped by the police I was to act like we never saw each other. LOL!

After the craziness of the day I went back to my dorm room to discover that I had a male roommate. How fun!? Actually, he's pretty cool. He is from Indiana and just spent two years in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan, so he of course speaks fluent Russian. We ended up watching a movie with some of the other international students (French, Spanish, German and... Australian !!!- where are you Sam when I need you?) and then I just passed out.

Today I got up way too early and went to the main university building to try and stalk Jan. He wasn't there but the really nice security guards (all 10 of them) called the International Students Office for me and then waited until the appropriate woman showed up. I got all the visa stuff squared away immediately and then went up to the language school and took a Russian test. The teachers were very surprised by my score (quite honestly I think they were lying because I didn't find it easy at all) , which was cute. They started asking me all sorts of questions and now the entire office is working together to find me an apartment or a homestay. Isn't that cool?

In all, the people here have been extremely helpful and friendly. About the only frustration has been that I keep meeting international students and not Russian ones. I am going to have to work harder on that. My Russian still is slow, but in just 48 hours I can already see a difference. Yay!

Tonight is the dinner with the Ambassdor and then a long weekend. On Monday I meet my faculty mentor.

Melanie/Mel/Malinka

Six days becomes six hours!

2004-09-07T06:53:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,

I am leaving in exactly six hours and the nerves have kicked in finally. Isn't that fun? Not too much has changed since my last post (still going to Novosibirsk) but I did have a wonderful last hurrah weekend in Boston this past 3 to 6 September - Natasha's b-day party and Kat and Razvan's housewarming barbeque was a lot of fun. Yay to a reunion of the BC Slavic Club! Thanks also to all my BC and Stamford friends who have called to wish me luck and a proper send-off. It has certainly made me realize (and I'm more than a little thankful for it) that I have incredibly good people looking out for me.

So it's bon voyage and look for my next message from Russia!

Mel/Melanie/Malinka

Six days away!

2004-09-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

I just started this journal, so this is kind of a test entry. I am leaving (for sure now) in six days for Novosibirsk and I keep alternating between overly excited and slightly sad. But, having been through this many times before, I know that this is a sign that I need to leave. After my crazy summer of doctor's visits, a wedding in Colorado, Polska and way too many players, I am ready for a new place and new people. And yes, I am still going - even with the recent spate of bombings and hostage situations! Fortunately, Siberia is too far away and too cold to make anyone (except me of course) want to go there. :)

Some exciting news: The American Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, is making his first visit to Novosibirsk (in 3 years!) from 10 to 12 September and I have been invited to a Fulbright-only dinner with him on the 10th. How cool is that? I also will have a chance to meet with him again (along with the heads of all the major, local NGOs) at a lunch on the 11th, thanks to some great contacts Prof. Christensen has in the city. He put me in touch with the Siberian Civic Initiative and they have graciously agreed to meet with me - both to help me with starting my research and so I can meet some people. I am very very excited about all of this! Just keep your fingers crossed that my Russian improves quickly!

Till next time.... Mel/Melanie/Malinka