A Wonderful Weekend

I had two goals for this weekend:

1. Study for my morphology exam that I’m supposed to take tomorrow (not yet achieved)

2. Do as much as possible to make this last weekend in Irkutsk a memorable one.

In retrospect, these two goals don’t really seem to work that well together. Stay home and study AND go out and play? No worries though – my plan is to spend the rest of this afternoon studying (because we all know that I ALWAYS study for tests – wink wink).

On Friday I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Listvyanka. I needed to make one last trip to Lake Baikal before leaving here – there’s no telling when I’ll be able to make my way back. I really wish that I could have gone to Olkhon Island at least once (it’s the biggest island on the biggest lake in the world), but things conspired to make that quite impossible (namely – that stupid Saturday class that I had for a few weeks robbed me of the good weekends and made me miss all the trips that my friends made together).

Before heading out on this adventure, I went to the movies with a some friends – Karolien, Yoosi, and Bea. We saw the new Mel Gibson move about the Maya. Bloody, but I liked it. Of course, I think that’s because I took that Mayan Art class last semester at the DMA – so seeing it “live” was pretty awesome, even if that did include death, dismemberment, and decapitation. At least I didn’t get sick like I almost did in Passion of the Christ. The cool think about it was the language – because the he used to the Mayan language with subtitles, the Russian theatre actually did SUBTITLES instead of dubbing. Maybe they realized that dubbing the ancient Maya into Russian would have looked really stupid. But I’m proud of myself – I understood the plot and what was going on the whole movie – without word of English in sight :-D.

From there it was to bed – had to get some rest for Saturday’s adventure.

I tried to get a bunch of people to go with me to Listvyanka, but Adam was the only other one who actually did – he’s also leaving this week, so he wanted to say goodbye to the lake too I guess. We got there at about noon, after a few nice conversations with the old ladies on the marshrutka. Listvyanka isn’t a very big place – it’s strung out along the banks of the lake, around the point where the Angara River (which runs through Irkutsk) leaves Baikal behind. There’s a legend that says that Angara was actually the daughter of Baikal, and she decided to run away to her lover, the Yenisye River. In anger, Father Baikal threw the largest stone he could find to try to stop her – but she kept on flowing. You can still see the stone – all good little tourists must.

I was surprised at the lack of ice on the water itself. The lake freezes over completely each year – the ice is even thick enough in some parts to drive trucks across it. Before they had the technology to go through the mountains, the transsiberian railroad used to go ACROSS the lake in the winter time, with the tracks across the ice. So I’m told at least – that could be crap.

The banks in Listvyanka are frozen but the lake is not. Right next to the bus station they’ve just completed an ice fortress – complete with an ice church and a huge slide (which I couldn’t help but notice looks a lot like the one that is almost done on the main square back in Irkutsk). Did I mention that I love the ice castles? Well let me say it one more time – they’re AWESOME! And the slide was so much fun. I spent a whopping 50 rubles ($1.75) on a Sanka Legyanka – a little plastic sheet made for little kids to go sliding down hills on (kind of like going down a frozen driveway on a cardboard box, except it doesn’t get wet and fall apart – and it’s got a handle). I couldn’t resist the urge to buy a bottle of coke and do a polar bear commercial style pose on the slide – I went down on me stomach than took a big refreshing gulp. I thought it was funny – the locals thought I was crazy. But sometimes we all need to do silly little tourist things like this.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Listvyanka is usually quite winding (for the same reason that Chicago is), but Saturday’s winds were minimal. The sun was out and the temperature was great – only about -10˚C (at this point, I rejoice when it’s that warm). We spent most of the day walking around, going to the souvenir market and playing in the ice and snow.

Irkutsk hasn’t had fresh snow in about two weeks (at least not a noticeable amount). The snow that’s on the ground now is really getting dirty. Hopefully it will snow again before I leave – I need to get all my snow-playing energy used up before I go back to the land of winterlessness.

We also ate lunch in a little café a ways down the bank. It was seriously the nicest café I’ve been to in Russia – it almost reminded me of being in a ski lodge somewhere up in Colorado. It was nicely decorated and had decent food. Even so, it was not much more than the average Russian café as far as prices go – I had blini with jam, “beefshteaks” (not a steak, but a meat blob) with rice, soup, and a cup of tea for about $4.50. An equivalent meal in a restaurant like this in America would probably have cost about 3 or 4 times that. Food is definitely not my major expensive here.

After a late lunch (by that point it was already about 4.30, we walked back down the bank to the ice castle to watch the sunset. It’s definitely getting close to the shortest day of the year (it’s this Thursday in fact if I remember correctly – I will spend it on a plane then hang out on Red Square that night). The sun was down by about 5. What a beautiful sunset. The lake is surrounded by mountains, and you can see the ones clear on the other side. The air is almost as clean as the water. Once the sun hid behind the mountains, the clouds overhead turned orange and then bright pink – and all this was reflected on the surface of the lake. My God – it was another one of those moments when I really wish I could take a picture that would do it justice. Even if I had had my tripod, I’m not sure that I could ever recreate that – it just one of those things where you have to be there.

Once the sun went down, we had about an hour to kill before the bus back to Irkutsk. So what did I do? Slide so more of course! The ice slides are so much fun – I’m definitely going to miss them when I get back home. I could only convince Adam to go down once (I think he’s afraid of heights or something). But I went down over and over again.

It was hard to stay awake on the drive home – it’s about an hour on the road to get back. But I called one of my Belgian friends, and found out that a bunch of them were planning to go ice skating that even. Adam had never been before – ever. So we took him with us and had a great time. We stayed until the place closed. I almost got locked out of the dorm (we had to wait 20 minutes for the bus to take us back to the dorms). By the time I finally made it to my bed, muscles aching and smiling ear to ear, I was sure that I had fulfilled that second goal.

Now I just have to do something about that first one…

(I'll try to get the pictures up before I leave but no promises - I'm really busy this week and it might have to wait until I'm stuck in Moscow. My hostel has free internet anyway :-D).

It's finally here...

The last 7 days in Russia. It feels really weird that I'm going home in a week. I have so much to do before I go - so many things to see and foods to eat and exams (!) to take. Aaaaaahhhh! But you know what they say - time flies when you're freezing your ass off ... I mean having fun :-D.
Anyway, I've got a lot on my plate this weekend. I have a bit of reading to finish up for Olga Lopsonovna, then I'm heading to Listvyanka (on the lake) tomorrow for a last look at Baikal. Hopefully there will be at least some ice. Natasha said that they make ice castles there too, so I'll be sure to get some pictures. The big one here by the stadium is done - now they're working on a bunch of little ones all over town. I love it.
My Polish friends left yesterday. It really made me said, mostly because I too have to say goodbye to everyone next week. Hopefully I'll get over to Poland sometime soon. I like having friends all over the place. Warsaw, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London ... the list goes on and on. Who needs a hostel now? Couch surfing is better anyway.
Here are some stats on my trip home:
1. Total miles to be flown - 9201
2. Total hours in the air - 21 hours 37 minutes (if things go as planned)
3. Total hours spent sitting in random cities and twiddling my thumbs - ~20 hours
By the way, I have a five hour layover in Dallas next Friday if anyone is in town and really bored. I'd hate to just sit on my butt in the DFW airport twiddling my thumbs.

Siberian Survival Tip #1

1. Hockey games are fun. Especially so when they are at a huge outdoor stadium in the wintertime. Even though we've had ridiculously warm weather lately (this November was the warmest in Irkutsk in 100 years), it was still a tad frigid (it was nighttime after all). And everyone got frisked for vodka and concealed weapons upon entrying, so the only thing we had to keep warm with was the flask we had hidden in Karolien's dreadlocks (I mean, who's going to look for a bottle of vodka THERE?) Even though we won and all (Russia beat Sweden 2-1 to win the tournament), I'm not quite sure that sitting outside for 5 hours was such a great idea. I am now sick as a dog - during the one week that I can't miss any classes. Figures.

The pizza-less pizza place

When I finally got out of bed this morning, I had a craving for some pizza. Deciding to take care of this before anything else this morning, I headed out to find some. Now, I think I've been going to Domino (local 24 student hangout/pizza place) far too often these last few weeks, so I decided to go somewhere else - a little place called Pinoccio's down the street from the university. Everything was going well until I got to the counter to place my order. THEY HAD NO PIZZA! How can a pizza place advertizing all over town stay open when they are unable to make pizza because of a broken oven?! I don't get it. Not only that, but they didn't have any soda because of a broken fountain machine, and they didn't have my favorite kind of blini. I just don't get it.
So I went back to Domino instead. Sigh.
Now that I've checked my email and paid my credit card bill, time to leave this place and go watch some HOCKEY!

The stream-of-consciousness blog entry

I have a lot of things that I've been wanting to write about this week, but haven't been able to make it down to the internet cafe to get them posted. So I'm just gonna start typing all the random thoughts into one big entry, and see where that takes me...
Let's start with the weather. It's been one strange week. No wind + lots of sunshine = warm temperature. I'm talking very close to zero. I think right now it's about -2C out there. Not too bad for Siberia. It's been very nice walking around and enjoying my last two weeks in the city. I even managed to find a good pair of pants in the Chinese market (which is open air, even in winter) thanks to the heat wave we're having. Of course, next week is probably gonna suck as far as the weather is concerned - apparently it's supposed to get down to -30 sometime in the next few days. Crap.
Speaking of things getting worse, I'm really starting to get stressed about the academic part of the end of my stay here. I can't seem to get in touch with anyone in the Office of International Education, to find out some stuff I need for my transcript. I have no idea what's going one or what I have to do. And I somehow have to pass these exams. I think I might be more screwed than I thought. But hey - at least I'm not cold anymore.
I saw something kind of random today that made me think of a few people back home. Well, sort of back home - what it really made me think of was my trip to St. Louis last December. I was in a cafe today waiting in line when I saw a sign that said, "New menu item - fried ravioli." Mmmm - tasty. The only other place I've ever seen this was in St. Louis. When Chris and I arrived at his parents house, we were treated to some pizza and fried ravioli. Oh man. I miss my friends.
Holiday shopping on a Saturday in Irkutsk is just as maddening as in the US. I almost just want to start screaming at all the pushy people running around looking for presents for others. This is one of this things I hate about Christmas (or as is the case here, New Years). Will things always be so commercial this time of year?
But that's not all I'm up to today. Yesterday I went back to the high school to talk to the English students again, and was invited by a bunch of the girls to go ice skating tonight. At an outdoor skating rink. This is either going to be really fun (if the weather doesn't change on me) or completely miserable. Either way, it's something that I haven't done yet. Cross one more item off the list of things I need to do before I leave Siberia.
Another item on that same list - go to a hockey game. I'm taking care of that one too this weekend. There's a big tournament in town this weekend, and a bunch of us got tickets to the Russia-Sweden game for Sunday. The only downside - it too is outdoors. I think I'm going to have to resort to the Russian method to keep warm this time - large quantities of vodka.
I still want to try to go to Baikal one more time before I leave. I want to see it at least partially covered with ice. I just don't know when I'm going to be able to - I've so much to do now to wrap things up. It's almost like being back at home - something to do every hour of every day.
Sigh. I guess that just means that I'm gonna have to come back sometime soon...
Oh, and a little comment about the news. I should have become an astronaut instead of a bookworm. I REALLY want to go hang out on the moon colony - if it ever really does get built. Exciting times.
Anyway, I think that's enough jibberjabber for now. Lots of things to do and see today...

It's all relative...

I actually found myself saying that it was warm today. And the day’s high? -10˚C. That’s right. I think I’m actually getting used to the cold.

It really is beautiful though. Whenever we have “warm” days like this something kind of cool happens. Instead of dew on the trees in the morning, there is a snow like substance coating them – so that everything in sight is white. It’s just plain awesome to look out the window in the morning and see everything absolutely quiet and white. As much as I’m looking forward to going home, I’m definitely going to miss this picture. The city is getting ready for New Year’s already. All the “yolkas” (Christmas trees) are going up, along with copious quantities of tinsel and strings of lights. And of course – ICE CASTLES!!! Another plus side of living in a city that doesn’t see temperatures above freezing for several months in a row. The main one is going up in front of the stadium – it’s only about half done, but I think it’s going to be about the size of a Waterview apartment building when it’s complete. There are a couple of little ones already up in various parts of the city. I guess the workmen need something to do to keep their skills up to par in the winter months (of course, construction sites and the outdoor markets are still open even when it’s -20 or more).

Even with all this, I’m getting excited about being back in Texas. I’ve been having a recurring dream lately. It’s very simple – just me sitting in the Starlight Theatre Bar and Grill in Terlingua, Texas, eating enchiladas and drinking a margarita. That’s it. Aaaaah. What a life. T-minus 24 days until that becomes a reality…

As I was riding the marshrutka home on Thursday evening, I thought about the literature lesson that I had just had with Olga Lopsonovna. Our topic for the week was Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (basic plot – one day, the devil visits 1930s Moscow disguised as a foreign professor of black magic, leaving the asylums full and all kinds of things turned upside down). I think what made the lesson so interesting was the fact that had it occured 50 years ago (or even later), she probably would have been fired and probably would have been expelled. Bulgakov first wrote a draft of the novel in the 1930s, but ended up burning the manuscript in fear of the reactions that would surely come from those in power (an act that is mirrored in the novel by the actions of the Master). He didn’t finish his final draft until the 1960s, and even then, it wasn’t accepted by the heavy-handed censors of the Soviet Union. If I understand correctly, the first uncensored version was released in serial form in the journal “Moskva” in 1981 – as Olga Lopsonovna was just getting ready to finish her degree at the university. Ironically, after reading this novel that year, one of the topics she had to pass in order to get her degree was Научный Атеизм – Scientific Atheism. It was at this point in the lesson that I learned that her grandfather had been a Buddist monk, whose own brother turned him over to the soviet authorities who were trying to silence the religious leaders of the country. Apparently, the university she was studying at could only get one copy of the journal in which The Master and Margarita was being published, and so many students were interested in reading it that the pages were pretty much in tatters by the time it got to her. I can’t even imagine going through college with such restraints of what can and cannot be read. Two of her classmates were expelled that year for writing their final papers on a forbidden topic (I don’t remember at the moment what that topic was, but it was something that you and I wouldn’t even consider harmful to write).
Think about this – it was extremely difficult in the soviet days to find a copy of the Bible. Whether you’re a religious person or not, having a copy of the Bible handy can be very useful when you’re studying literature. So many major (and minor) pieces in the western literary tradition refer to stories and people in the Bible. Faust, The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare’s plays, Milton’s poetry – the list goes on and on. If you’ve never had access to the original stories, how can you recognize the allusions? What strikes me as incredibly ironic is the fact that many of the Russian writers of the “Golden Age” of Russian Literature (aka – 19th century) make allusions to religious texts all the time. Yet reading any of the biblical stories to which they refer would not have been possible for a large portion of the 20th century.
One of the main themes in the novel is the story of the relationship between Jesus and Pontius Pilate – the topic of the book which the Master destroys. If that wasn’t enough to flag the book as subversive, there’s also all the references to the Faust legend and the obvious jabs at the crippling bureaucracy of communist Moscow. It’s not hard to see why the soviet critics weren’t such big fans of Bulgakov’s novel. The history behind the novel is one of the things that draws me to it. Whenever I take a class with Dr. Towner, she makes us write down on the first day what kind of books we like to read. I remember putting down “books that piss off authority figures.” I do believe that this book falls nicely into that category, and I’m glad I took the time to read it again for Olga Lopsonovna. There’s nothing like talking about a book with somehow who absolutely loves it.