Snow, part 2

For the last two weeks, the city of Irkutsk has been preparing for winter. The fountains have all been drained, the cars fixed (well, semi-fixed) and most of the people have begun purchasing their winter garments (myself included). Well, we're finally below the zero mark (that's 0C, not 0F), and we got our first really dusting of snow. I've decided that that little snowfall in early September was just a fluke. While this was no blizzard we had yesterday, the snow did stick around until around noon (when the sun came out for a few hours). I think I like the snow here. When it does get cold enough to "snow" in Texas, it's usually lots of ice and sleet, not the dry fluffy stuff. I didn't see any ice yesterday, except the one little patch outside the door of the dorm, which I slipped on while leaving. It's not supposed to snow again until Thursday (30% of scattered snow showers in the AM, according to the internet), but the temperature is supposed to stay low. :-(
I think what is making it so cold right now is the wind - we've had high wind advisories all week. I'm find when I'm inside - they've finally turned the radiators on and it's nice and toasty (even a little too toasty on sunny days). But that walk to the bus stop is aweful. I need a hat, before my ears fall off.
I did brave the cold last night to go to the movies with some friends of mine. That's right - the movie theatre. I haven't been to one of those since early April. We saw "The Devil Wears Prada" - dubbed into Russian of course. Why is it that movies are just more fun in Russian? At least this one had more than one person doing the voices for the entire movie.
The theatre was actually really nice - plush seats and a good bar. And it was only 70 rubles (about $2.50) - just a hair cheaper than buying a DVD here. :-D That's right, I'm still addicted to the damn DVD shops. And now, I'm been finding a lot of good mp3 CDs too. I need to stay away from there. It's sad that I spend more on entertainment than on food each week. Heck, I spend more on the internet each week than on food. Sigh. The downsides of our modern society.
I also managed to do something completely awesome last night. I went to the market, bought half a kilo of ground beef and a bunch of spices and veggies, and made taco meat from scratch, for a shell-less taco salad. OH MY GOD!!! It was soooooo good. And spicy. I think I may have gone overboard with the red peppers, but it was so good. The chinese neighbors liked it too. I'm so happy - got a little bit of a Mexican food fix. Now if I could just find some refried beans...

The roommate from hell, part 2

You know, I didn't think things could get worse than they were with Katya in St. Petersburg. But they did. Lies is just as bad, if not worse, though in a different way. Everything I do is criticized, no matter how good or bad. I don't say anything to her about her apparent lack of personal hygiene or her borrowing my books and DVDs without telling me. Yet the first thing she said to me when she came home yesterday and heard me listening to Nickel Creek (not even at a loud volumn, but just so I could here it) was, "Why do you listen to such shitty music?" I know not everybody likes the same music as me, but still - isn't that a bit harsh? And there have been a million other similar incidences, all of which are equally absurd.
What am I supposed to do about this? I can't beat her at her own game, because I just don't have it in me to be as rude as she is. I can't tell her, "Why don't you make your bed for once?" or "When was the last time you took a shower?" I'm far too passive-aggressive. There's no way out. I'm stuck with her. Crap. I miss Lindsay.
Maybe I'll just start sleeping on Aaron's floor. It's not like my bed's that comfortable anyway.
With the exception of the horrible roommate and the chronically disorganized university, I'm having the best time. Every day is different, whether for good or bad. I love this part of Russia, so much more than St. Petersburg. The people are nicer, the air less polluted, and the Lake is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Even as the days get shorter (and colder), I'm glad I'm here. We all need a change every now and then. While my has maybe been a bit extreme, it's working they way I intend - changing the way I see things here and home. And though the bureaucracy at IGLU has been nothing but troublesome, I do feel like I'm learning a lot in my classes. Which are all entirely in Russian now, by the way.
Oh, and one more bit of news. I bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban yesterday - in Russian. I figured I'd read something I know to help build my vocabulary. Now I can say lots of fun words - quill, parchment, wand, muggle, etc.
I also stumbled upon the Russian word for "wench" the other day. It made me smile and think of Erica.

Before I begin another rambling entry, I feel I must apologize - especially the more grammatically aware of you. I realize there has been a frightening increase in the number of grammatical (aka - stupid) errors in my blog posts as of late, which I feel require at least an explanation (I'm far too lazy and short on time to go back and fix them all). Studying Russian all day long has crippled my English skills. While I can still speak, I find myself making more and more mistakes that I wouldn't have made before. The other thing hampering my blog-writing skills is that I have to pay for the internet by the minute, so I usually end up skipping the whole proofreading step, thereby missing the mistakes that I would ordinarily fix right away. So there - I'm sorry guys. Now get off my back...
On to real story-telling...
I have yet another thing to add to list of things I miss about everyday life back home – 24-hour pharmacies. I didn’t get any sleep on Sunday night due to a splitting headache, which I was unable to medicate because I ran out of ibuprofen and the local apothecary was closed for the night (it’s not like it would have helped if they had been open – I can’t leave the dorm between 11 and 7, at least not if I want to get back inside). So I lay tossing and turning until it was time to go to class. I decided to leave a little early so that I could stop by the pharmacy near the university on the way to class and get some medicine for what had become a migraine. My hopes were dashed – it too was closed. Nothing opens earlier than 9 here, except for the occasional bar and corner store. While you can always pop into 7-11 for a dose of Tylenol in America, the only place where you can buy drugs here is in the drugstore. Therefore, I sat through four straight classes this morning while my head pounded away.
I finally got some medicine and went to take a nap around 2 in the afternoon. It wasn’t a long nap, but it helped. Natalya Olegovna hooked me up with tickets to the Musical Theatre for Monday night. Apparently the group that was performing was supposed to be really good – the Dance Ensemble of Siberia. They did not disappoint. Imagine a strange combination of ballet, circus, and marching band (minus the instruments), and you’ll come pretty close to what I saw. I still amazed that those dancers could do what they did with their legs. The only downside was the audience. I was sitting next to some of the worst audience members on the planet. One lady’s phone rang during the performance – she answered and proceeded to have a conversation (not at a whisper, but full-volume) while the dancers were performing. But it was awesome, no matter how disappointing my fellow patrons were.
Another piece of good news – I finally found some winter shoes. I was having a bit of trouble in that department. It’s not that there is a lack of warm shoes in Irkutsk (it is the middle of Siberia, after all). The problem was that all the winter shoes I was finding were nice, stylish boots, more befitting a young Russian lady then this little girl from Texas. Not only would said boots look silly with my wardrobe, but I needed something that I can play in – something that can handle hiking and such as well. Otherwise, what’s the point in spending all that money? I ended spending a little bit extra at the sports store rather than the shoe market, but I got a pair of really nice snow boots. They are the warmest shoes I’ve ever owned – my feet were actually sweating this afternoon. And soooo comfortable – well worth the price I paid. Plus, I’ll be able to use them a bit back in the States, next time I visit Colorado or New Mexico, or any of the colder states were snow is not such a strange thing.
I've come to realize lately that my addiction to blini (Russian version of pancakes) has a parallel back home. Whenever I need a snack (or dinner for very little money), I head down to Taco Cabana and buy a dozen of their fresh flour tortillas and a cup of queso. Mmmmmm. I can taste it right now. SOOOOO good. While blini aren't exactly the same, my constant craving for them is on the same level. What should I eat for lunch today? BLINI! What about dinner? BLINI! This better stop soon or I'm going to turn into a pancake.
That's it for now I think.
Sorry it took a little longer, but the pictures from Arshan (and Listvyanka) are now up on flickr. ; Here’s the link again, so the less technologically-inclined of you can find it --- http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahefrank

The "Shapichka" look

I decided that I had had enough of this shag-look I had going on with my hair. So, I racked up my courage and went in for another Russian haircut. It didn't turn out that bad. I've been debating for awhile whether to just let it grow for the next few months or chop it again. I picked something in the middle. I told the lady I just wanted the back trimmed, because it was turning into a mullet. She said something along the lines of, "You want me to make it more like a shapichka?" Yes, that's exactly it. A shapichka.
So you may be wondering, what exactly is a shapichka? Well, you know the stereotype of the fur-clad ladies? A shapichka is a style of fur hat that is quite common here. Not the one with the ear flaps, but something along those lines. Basically, I want to get my hair back to where it is essentially one lenght with some layers. Hard to do when the mullet is so popular here.
One another note, I had a good weekend. Lies was gone so I had the room to myself. WOOHOO! No one to wake me up far to early in the morning on the weekend. I did a lot of movie watching and music-listening, because the volumn really didn't matter. That will end tonight - she's coming back at some point.
Right now I'm still in search of some winter boots. That's the goal for the day. It will happen.
So, once again, Hannah - out.

Today I had my first individual class with Olga Lopsonovna. She's the coolest teacher here, and I'm lucky enough to have her all but three lessons. She teaches the literature class for the 3rd-years (which I am taking) and got really excited when I said I was a lit major. Now I have an additional literature class with her every Thursday. The main class covers the 19th century, which is the "golden age" for Russian literature, but knowing that I'm interested in more modern readings, we're taking a look at 20th century writers in this little side adventure. It's nice to be taught one-on-one - if I have a question or tangent or random comment about life, she's all-ears.
And there's a plus-side to having her for most of my classes. She knows what we're covering in everything and tries to make it different when she has to repeat some information. The only class I really don't like with her is the decorative and applied art lesson on Mondays. It's not that the information isn't interesting - that part is fine. It's the rest of the class. They are the most obnoxious, ill-mannered group of assholes I've had to sit through class with in a long time. It's almost like being back in freshman year - of high school. I'm the only one in there who is 1) over 18 and 2) not Chinese. So when I walk in every Monday, I meet a really loud bunch of kids chatting a million miles a minute in Mandarin - which I don't understand a word of. And not just before class - during and after as well. Even after Olga Lopsonovna reprimanded them and told them how rude it is to speak in another language when there is someone there who doesn't speak it and you have a common language (Russian) ... which they need to be practicing anyway. That, and they don't do a damn thing to prepare for class. Our homework over the weekend was to read one page out of the text book. ONE PAGE! And they didn't do it. I feel like a TA sometimes - whenever they stare dumbing back a question from the teacher, she calming turns to me and says, "Please tell them the answer." Why come all the way to a Russian university to not bother with your studies. Sigh. At least I'm learning stuff, even if my classmates don't feel like doing the same.
I think that's why I'm doing this individual class with Olga Lopsonovna. Apparently most of the students she gets don't give a damn about literature and art, and are just taking the classes because it's a requirement of the program. I wouldn't want to be a teacher here - some of the students are so rude. But the city's great, and so is the country around it.
I'm heading to Listvyanka in the morning (just a day trip - have to be back for class on Saturday :-( ). I'll get some good pictures, I'm sure.
Ciao for now.

Grrrr

The saga of the mystery class continues. According to Natalya Alexandrovna and Natalya Olegovna (the assistant dean, who now also involved in the hunt), the class really is on Saturdays at 2.30, though they don't know in what room. Aaaahhh. Now that I have Fridays off, they have to dash my hopes of any more weekends away by giving me a Saturday class. I've had to change my plans for this weekend. I was going to go to Listvyanka on Friday (fieldtrip) then join up with the others on Okhon Island (the largest island on Lake Baikal) on Saturday. It's not so much having to change plans that pisses me off (I was thinking about not going on Saturday anyway - I need to take a break for doing stuff - I haven't really rested in three weeks and Lies will be gone so I'll have the room to myself all weekend). The lack of organization is what gets me. It's nearly a month into classes and I still haven't found out what the deal is with this class. How am I ever going to pass it?
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Too much complaining is bad for my health. At least I still have Friday off (for now anyway).
I'm still trying to find a way to get to China (maybe for Thanksgiving?). The whole visa thing is going to be a real pain (if possible at all). Also, I can't get in touch with James and Liam. If anyone has a way to contact them, let me know.
Hannah - out.

The chamber pot is your friend (you'll see what I mean in a minute)

As good as last weekend was, this weekend was FAR superior. The weather only half-cooperated, but I think even with a Saturday of rain and cold, we had an awesome time.

I wasn’t exactly sure where we were heading – the Polish girls (Ashia, Isa, and Eva) and Alexandr (aka Steven, from Belgium) were the brains of the operation. All four of them speak Russian pretty much fluently, and while I can usually follow the conversations, it’s difficult for me to pipe-in at times, and even more difficult for me to be in charge of details such as accommodations and transportation. ANYWAY, we actually were heading away from Baikal this weekend – to the mountains near the Mongolian border, in the Buryati Republic (the neighboring region/state/oblast/thingy) and a little village called Arshan. I didn’t really know what to expect from the town, other than smallness and some good scenery, but I ended having one the greatest weekends I’ve had in a long time. I also learned a lot about life in rural Russia and in Russia in general. All in all, a good experience.

Now, I must warn that some of the things I am about to mention might not sound so nice, or may even seem like flat-out bad ideas. Therefore, I would like to say beforehand, that everything that transpired this weekend ended being completely worthwhile, even down to the whole outhouse situation. But that will come later…

First things first – let me start with the ride there. The best way to get to Arshan is to take a marshrutka (mini-bus) from the bus station in Irkutsk. It’s about four hours on winding, often poorly maintained, roads. When we left, the morning fog was just starting to lift. It had been really cold in Irkutsk for the previous 48 hours, and we were a bit nervous about going to a higher elevation with no idea where we would be staying. But we had already paid a whopping 220 rubles for our tickets (about $8.50), so we felt obliged (and really wanted to get out of town and into the country). Karin was supposed to go as well, but was feeling a bit sick and didn’t really think being out in the cold and rain was a good idea. Who knows – maybe she was right (I’ll talk about that some more in a bit). But I’m sure she wishes she had been with us.

I didn’t have any problem with the marshrutka ride. I’m pretty used to the way the drivers operate here by now. The others (except Ashia) got violently ill. I’m not sure if it was the turbulence of the ride or Cindy’s going away party from the night before coming back to haunt them. I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery, distracting myself from the sight and smells that might have made me sick too.

One our fellow passengers on the marshrutka was this little old lady from Arshan. As she tried to comfort my car-sick fellow travelers, we got to know her a bit, and found that she had a summer house sitting empty, with plenty of room for all five of us. And so it was that we found a place to stay with even more ease than we had anticipated. Our plan (well, their plan – like I said, I wasn’t in on the planning part of the trip), was to find someone to stay with when we got there. This is one of those places where little old (and not-so-old) ladies stand around the bus stop (or train station, if the town is big enough) with ЖИЛЬЁ (ROOM FOR RENT) signs and you pick the least shady-looking one and bargain for a good price. For the less than our bus tickets, we paid the lady for two nights’ stay and the use of her banya.

Our hostess led us through town to her place on the other side of the stream. Only in Siberia will you see an open-air market full of vendors on a rainy day with the temperature about 5˚C. The cows roaming freely is common a few more countries, but equally strange for a little city girl like me. She insisted on tea and grandma-goodies, and then sent us on our way for the day. The sun had finally decided to come out for a bit so we decided to take advantage of the sudden warmth and go for a hike. I’m not sure what the name of the little national park that we were in was called. All I know is that it was really pretty. We walked around for about 3 or 4 hours, going up and down different paths … and into pathless areas. :-D. We met and chatted with a few of the Russians that were out for the weekend (from Arshan and from other places nearby). One lady walked with us for quite awhile, and invited us to go on an excursion the next day. We said we would if the weather was good (which it wasn’t), then went back to the dacha (Russian summer house) for dinner. Nothing special – just some sandwiches and tea. We were pretty tired from our travels, so we went to bed a bit early. The banya wasn’t ready yet, so that had to wait til Saturday.

Now a couple of side notes. I can now appreciate how much work goes into getting a banya ready, especially with no running water. You have the fire to build, the water to haul and heat, the birch branches to gather – so much to do. And then there’s all the maintenance once it’s up and running. Wow. I think it makes it that much more special when someone sets one up for you. And it’s soooooo relaxing – even the whole birch branch thing. Yes, it is traditional to use birch branches to hit each other with in the sauna. I think it’s supposed to exfoliate or something. It stings a bit but my skin felt so good afterwards. More on the banya in a bit.

Back to no running water for a moment. While Arshan is a great place to visit (so long as you know what to expect), I wouldn’t want to live there permanently. The only source of water in the house was the radiator, the source for which I never discovered. I like running water – and my toilet. I’m so much of an outhouse fan. But now that I’ve experienced a few days of using an outhouse in Siberia, I finally understand how chamber pots could have been an important household item in the past. Trying to get to outhouse in the dark and cold and rain (and not fall in the hole once you get there) is quite an adventure. The best way I can think of to describe life in Arshan is by comparing it to the American West about a century ago. I imagine that Gunnison (the town in Colorado that my grandparents call home in the summertime) was probably a lot like this at the turn of the 20^th century (minus the electricity and electric teapot). Lots of cows, and cold, and fun times outside. I love it, but like I said, not my first choice for permanent residence.

When we got up on Saturday morning, it was raining a bit more steadily than the day before, and there didn’t seem to be much hope of the sun coming out anytime soon. So we scrubbed our plan to visit Peak Lyubvi, and instead hopped on another marshrutka to visit the hot springs at Shemchug (I think that’s how it’s spelled). The only flaw in this plan was that we were misinformed regarding the proximity of the busstop to the springs – we ended having to walk five kilometers down a muddy dirt road in the rain to get to the springs from the main road. It wasn’t too bad. In fact, I think it made the hot springs that much better – we were so cold that it was well worth the fancy price of 30 rubles (a little over a dollar) to stand in front of the streaming hot water. We ended up splurging a little afterwards too – we spent another 15 rubles for the use of a hairdryer and a cup of tea – both of which also helped keep us warm. After about an hour and a half, we decided to head back to the bus stop. We thought we were going to have to walk all the way back, but finally managed to flag down another marshrutka about a kilometer into the walk. That was an interesting ride – the marshrutka was already full when all five of us piled in. The locals were really nice about it though – they didn’t want to leave us trudging through the rain. After was spent the hour-long ride back to Arshan crammed together (with one really … friendly old man constantly making sexual jokes while Isa was on his lap), we got to know them pretty well. Some of them operated a night club, and invited us to come for free. We decided to decline since we had already told our host we wanted the banya and she was getting it ready for us, but thanked them and headed back to the dacha.

When we finally got back, we found that we were no longer alone in the dacha. Some family friends had shown up – three couples from Irkutsk and their kids (altogether, 4 kids ranging from about 6 to 12 years old). At first things seemed to be a bit awkward, but once dinner was over and the kids had been sent to entertain themselves, the adults invited us to join them and we had a grand time. We got to know one another pretty well (ended up hanging out for the next 24 hours). Three of them (Vova, Natasha, and Zhenya) were linguistics (specializing in German, English, and Chinese respectively) – so we had a lot to talk about as far as language learning and stuff. The women insisted on feeding us, and the men insisted that we try all their alcohol. I think all five of us fell in love with one of their drinks. It was this locally-made liquor called Balzam. I don’t really know how to describe it. It was about 90 proof though – you only needed a little bit at a time. Sasha kept on giving it to us – especially to Ashia (who had a cold), saying it would refresh us. I’ll say it did. Between the balzam and the banya, we were feeling pretty good by the time it was time to go to bed. With our new Russian friends (who also live in Irkutsk, it turns out) ready to guide us the next day, we went to sleep glad that we had decided to brave the possibly bad weather and come out to this little piece of heaven.

After breakfast, we packed a picnic and took off into the woods. We walked to Datsan (the Buddhist temple), then found a good little clearing and made ourselves a little fire. I’ve always been amazed at the ability of Russians to make something out of nothing – the same goes for their skills in the country. The men built a fire with wet wood and wet leaves, and we roasted hot dogs and warmed bread and drank some more balzam. All in all, it was a wonderful way to end the weekend – just hanging out, continuing to get to know our new friends.

Eventually we had to head back. We packed up our things, thanked our hosts for their help and hospitality, and headed to the bus stop. Unfortunately, we had made a slight mistake in the timetable, and ended up having to wait for another three hours for our marshrutka back to Irkutsk. We were lucky though – the sun decided to come out, and we lounged around and did a little walking around in the market while we waited for the marshrutka. We just barely made it back to the dorms before they closed. We had to call Lies and get here to tell the babushka downstairs to keep the door unlocked for an extra fifteen minutes for us – which she did, a bit grudgingly.

I can’t imagine how this weekend could have been better. It was just plain awesome. I don’t know what’s on the books for next weekend, but hopefully it will be something equally cool.

I'll try an have the pictures from the trip loaded in the next couple of days. Right now I have a whole lot of homework to catch up on.