In my last blog post, I mentioned that all of my colleagues and I got to take a trip to the local Russian infectious disease testing area, for our HIV/AIDs test. Well, it turns out that one of our students (the same one that got picked up by the police last month for resembling a Chechen) got an infection from the test.
I saw him within an hour of my blog post, and he showed me that his finger was very swollen and was an odd reddish/purple color. He brought this to the attention of our Residential Director. It resulted in a trip to the hospital where they took care of his finger.
Last night I had the quintessential Russian night-on-the-town. I went with three Russians and another American to a Russian folk concert/show. It was worth the 60 Roubles ($2.25)! It was a very good show with a ton of people.
We began the evening by having the group over to my apartment. My host lady stated that if there were going to be other men over, this meant that we had to drink. So she cut up some bread, an orange and pickles to go with the vodka. She seems sincerely concerned that my health will decline if I do not drink like a Russian.
After this little drinking session, the concert was really quite enjoyable! After the concert we (as is typical) went walking around the city for more than an hour. The night ended before 2300, but was really a good time.
On a completely different subject, I have gotten a question on how diverse Russia is. Well, there are maybe six-eight blacks in Vladimir (population 366,000). The blacks are primarily from Chad or from the northwest (French speaking) portions of Africa. At least three of them are Catholics, as I see them every Sunday at church.
There are some people that are clearly of Asian decent, though I think that they are primarily from Mongolia.
There are no Arabs or Persians that I have seen. As I said earlier, the one American in our group with even a slight middle eastern appearance, was arrested as a suspected Chechen (though he is Jewish).
How racist are the Russians? Very. They are a very homogeneous society and they don't seem to excited about change. I don't think that a day passes that I don't see swastikas spray-painted/drawn on the sides of buildings. Though other neo-nazi logos and slogans are also frequently seen around town.
To be fair, I think that most of the Russians don't per se hate minorities, they simply don't particularly like them. Their hostility towards a minority is more likely to be passive than active.
There doesn't seem to be too much religious intolerance. There are many Orthodox churches in our town, and at least two protestant meeting places (one fundamentalist and one mainline). I have been given literature by the Jehovah's Witnesses before. And I think that there may be a Mormon presence. As the ACTR said at our orientation in DC, Russians (as a people) don't usually come-out-against Jews, because such a large segment of the population is at least part Jewish.
As an illustration of the ecumenical Russian Orthodox Church, we took a tour of one in Yaroslavl. It was beautifully painted (as they always are). And on the wall was a scene of the Judgement Day. And there was Jesus in the center. And to his right were all of the good Russians ascending to heaven. And to his left, were all of the Arabs, Catholics and Germans making a rapid descent into the flames of hell.
Either way, I have not encountered any overt racism in Vladimir (other than the graffiti).
I will write more later! Poka!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Russian Medicine
Life in Vladimir is keeping its regular hum-drum pace. There is already a solid layer of compressed snow/ice on the streets that, I have been told, will not melt until spring. This morning I awoke to another two-three inches of snow. The temperatures are maintaining a relatively warm 28-34 degrees F.
Last week my classmates and I got to have another "cultural experience" with the Russian federal government. In order to renew our visas for next semester, we all got to take a trip to the local contagious disease clinic. At this location, we all got HIV/AIDs tests. To enter the Russian Federation, I had the same test three months ago. But these tests are not considered valid for more than several months. This is because they are from an American institution.
The testing facility looked as if it was atleast forty years old... As did the needles and the sanitary devices. The nurse who took my blood sample did not bother to change her latex gloves between patients. Fortunantly, I was number two in the line to get my blood drawn.
Even better, was that the place where we got to wait to have our blood taken, was full of posters describing the symptoms of hepatitis, AIDs, TB, etc. And conveniently, there were hordes of very sick looking people coughing and sitting-around all over the room. The fact that they have folks waiting for TB tests sitting (and coughing) with everyone else, seemed just so Russian.
In the two weeks my school has been without power and water only two times. One day there was no power, so all of the regulars students got to go home early. Yesterday there was no water, which just meant that there was no bathrooms. Power is not that vital. We have a lot of windows in our rooms. Though no-power also means no lunch in the cafeteria. This translates into the Residential Director ordering pizza for lunch.
That is another interesting topic. I don't think that I had ever had pizza where the tomato sauce is substituted by ketchup. And the cheese is applied sparingly so that the mayonaise can be the primary topping.
All-and-all I am having a great time. This past weekend I traveled to Moscow. It is a significantly different pace than Vladimir. My host mother said that she had a student before who transfered mid-year from the Vladimir program to Moscow. The girl ended up regretting it.
I will write more later. Poka!
Last week my classmates and I got to have another "cultural experience" with the Russian federal government. In order to renew our visas for next semester, we all got to take a trip to the local contagious disease clinic. At this location, we all got HIV/AIDs tests. To enter the Russian Federation, I had the same test three months ago. But these tests are not considered valid for more than several months. This is because they are from an American institution.
The testing facility looked as if it was atleast forty years old... As did the needles and the sanitary devices. The nurse who took my blood sample did not bother to change her latex gloves between patients. Fortunantly, I was number two in the line to get my blood drawn.
Even better, was that the place where we got to wait to have our blood taken, was full of posters describing the symptoms of hepatitis, AIDs, TB, etc. And conveniently, there were hordes of very sick looking people coughing and sitting-around all over the room. The fact that they have folks waiting for TB tests sitting (and coughing) with everyone else, seemed just so Russian.
In the two weeks my school has been without power and water only two times. One day there was no power, so all of the regulars students got to go home early. Yesterday there was no water, which just meant that there was no bathrooms. Power is not that vital. We have a lot of windows in our rooms. Though no-power also means no lunch in the cafeteria. This translates into the Residential Director ordering pizza for lunch.
That is another interesting topic. I don't think that I had ever had pizza where the tomato sauce is substituted by ketchup. And the cheese is applied sparingly so that the mayonaise can be the primary topping.
All-and-all I am having a great time. This past weekend I traveled to Moscow. It is a significantly different pace than Vladimir. My host mother said that she had a student before who transfered mid-year from the Vladimir program to Moscow. The girl ended up regretting it.
I will write more later. Poka!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
I am Back!
These last couple of weeks have been tremendously busy.
First, our group took a week long trip to St Petersburg. St Pete, is probably the most beautiful city that I have seen in Europe. The buildings are all magnificent, the people are cultured and the sites are great! I would have trouble blaming any student for chosing St Petersburg over Vladimir.
My group took the overnight train to Vladimir. We arrived at the train station at about 1000. A tour guide met us at the station and we toured the city. St Petersburg is so pretty with all of the trees in bloom.
We also went to see the famous Hermitage gallery/museum. It is the home of many Rembrandts, Da Vinchis, etc. It was almost surreal to finally see the museum that I have been reading about for the last five years.
The next day the group all went to see a ballet. As far as ballet goes, it was great! All of the student to dressed up and had a great time.
On Tuesday I met with a friend of Dr Levine. She is 82, and is a survivor of the blockade of Leningrad and was a tremendously gracious and kind hostess. We spent the first hour looking at pictures of Dr Levine from over the past third of a century. Then we discussed how Russia has changed in her lifetime. She has remarkable stories to tell. Meeting her was actually probably the highlight of my trip to St Pete.
I was also able to tour the Political History Museum of Russia! It was the best museum that I have seen yet in Russia! It had artifacts from Stalin, Kosygin, Lenin, the tsars, Putin, etc. it was really a neat place. I am sure that I will be back to visit it again.
I also had the opportunity to walk the grounds of the Summer Garden. It is a beautiful garden, with dozens of sculptures. It is situated along the Neva river.
Best of all, it was warmer in St Petersburg than in Vladimir.
Here in Vladimir we have already had snow twice. Only the second time was it heavy.
Yesterday I had my "konsultat" (consultation) with my teachers here. Already, the semester is half over. They discussed where they felt I needed to better concentrate my efforts, and equally, where I had shown the most improvement. They then gave me two hand written pages of suggestions.
This weekend I may be going to Moscow with a friend. But I will post another blog when I am infront of a computer again!
Tomorrow is my test on prefixed verbs of motion... So off I am to study!
Poka!
First, our group took a week long trip to St Petersburg. St Pete, is probably the most beautiful city that I have seen in Europe. The buildings are all magnificent, the people are cultured and the sites are great! I would have trouble blaming any student for chosing St Petersburg over Vladimir.
My group took the overnight train to Vladimir. We arrived at the train station at about 1000. A tour guide met us at the station and we toured the city. St Petersburg is so pretty with all of the trees in bloom.
We also went to see the famous Hermitage gallery/museum. It is the home of many Rembrandts, Da Vinchis, etc. It was almost surreal to finally see the museum that I have been reading about for the last five years.
The next day the group all went to see a ballet. As far as ballet goes, it was great! All of the student to dressed up and had a great time.
On Tuesday I met with a friend of Dr Levine. She is 82, and is a survivor of the blockade of Leningrad and was a tremendously gracious and kind hostess. We spent the first hour looking at pictures of Dr Levine from over the past third of a century. Then we discussed how Russia has changed in her lifetime. She has remarkable stories to tell. Meeting her was actually probably the highlight of my trip to St Pete.
I was also able to tour the Political History Museum of Russia! It was the best museum that I have seen yet in Russia! It had artifacts from Stalin, Kosygin, Lenin, the tsars, Putin, etc. it was really a neat place. I am sure that I will be back to visit it again.
I also had the opportunity to walk the grounds of the Summer Garden. It is a beautiful garden, with dozens of sculptures. It is situated along the Neva river.
Best of all, it was warmer in St Petersburg than in Vladimir.
Here in Vladimir we have already had snow twice. Only the second time was it heavy.
Yesterday I had my "konsultat" (consultation) with my teachers here. Already, the semester is half over. They discussed where they felt I needed to better concentrate my efforts, and equally, where I had shown the most improvement. They then gave me two hand written pages of suggestions.
This weekend I may be going to Moscow with a friend. But I will post another blog when I am infront of a computer again!
Tomorrow is my test on prefixed verbs of motion... So off I am to study!
Poka!
Friday, October 13, 2006
This week has been a fairly busy week. Last Saturday/Sunday, while in Yaroslav, a fellow student and I went out for drinks with our Resident Director. Tom (the RD), is a great guy. He is a tremendous resource on how to get things done and how to live a decent life in Russia. Ontop of that, he is incredibly personable.
Tom suggested (as I had heard before) that we spend as much time speaking to Russians as is possible. Additionally, he pointed out that everytime that we speak English (while in Russia) we are wasting our time and money. This was a good reminder.
To further this point, during our weekly group meeting, Tom announced that our teachers would begin to strictly enforce the Russian-only rule on school premises from 0900-1420. Ontop of that, Tom has quit sending us notices/text messages, etc in English. They are now only in Russian.
All of this, hopefully, will help me reach my goal of more than a 1 point gain in language proficency during my year in Russia.
On Wednesday I met with my Russian language tutor. This tutor is a free, optional part of the ACTR program. The tutors are usually students working on the college degrees in the area of teaching Russian to foreigners. My tutor is a really helpful and nice Rusisan girl finishing her degrees in Foreign Languages (namely German and English).
On Thursday evening I went out with a Russian friend for a few hours. We (as is the normal activity here) walked for a couple of hours, before going to a cafe. The temptaion to speak English is tremendous. A lot of the Russian you meet, such as my friend, have been studying English for twelve or more years. Though if you resist the desire to speak English, and speak only Russian, the pay-off is tremendous.
I woke up at the unnatural time of 0430 this moring. And, seeing that the sun had not yet risen, I studied grammar. I didn't feel in the mood to do the prefixed verbs of motion from class. So I considered where my continuing weak points lie in Russian. I realized that I still fail to appropriately use the cases (which are crtitical). This lead me to take out my copy of Schaum's Guide to Russian Grammar and to begin reading. I went to Chapter 2: Nouns, and dug-in. I got through most of the cases before I finally took a break to come to the internet cafe (at 0930).
My greatest regret in my previous two years of studying Russian, is that I had never paid close attention to the declentions, or to the appropriate case endings. I had always skipped over the third declention nouns (as they are more rare than first or second declention nouns).
The best advice that I could give to current students of Russians is to learn the cases as you cover them in class. It is hard to really have them solid. It takes a good deal of work (or it takes me a good deal of work atleast). But it will save you so much time and aggrevation later.
Other than that, I feel that I probably have another couple of hours of studying before I rest.
Hope all is well,
Poka!
Tom suggested (as I had heard before) that we spend as much time speaking to Russians as is possible. Additionally, he pointed out that everytime that we speak English (while in Russia) we are wasting our time and money. This was a good reminder.
To further this point, during our weekly group meeting, Tom announced that our teachers would begin to strictly enforce the Russian-only rule on school premises from 0900-1420. Ontop of that, Tom has quit sending us notices/text messages, etc in English. They are now only in Russian.
All of this, hopefully, will help me reach my goal of more than a 1 point gain in language proficency during my year in Russia.
On Wednesday I met with my Russian language tutor. This tutor is a free, optional part of the ACTR program. The tutors are usually students working on the college degrees in the area of teaching Russian to foreigners. My tutor is a really helpful and nice Rusisan girl finishing her degrees in Foreign Languages (namely German and English).
On Thursday evening I went out with a Russian friend for a few hours. We (as is the normal activity here) walked for a couple of hours, before going to a cafe. The temptaion to speak English is tremendous. A lot of the Russian you meet, such as my friend, have been studying English for twelve or more years. Though if you resist the desire to speak English, and speak only Russian, the pay-off is tremendous.
I woke up at the unnatural time of 0430 this moring. And, seeing that the sun had not yet risen, I studied grammar. I didn't feel in the mood to do the prefixed verbs of motion from class. So I considered where my continuing weak points lie in Russian. I realized that I still fail to appropriately use the cases (which are crtitical). This lead me to take out my copy of Schaum's Guide to Russian Grammar and to begin reading. I went to Chapter 2: Nouns, and dug-in. I got through most of the cases before I finally took a break to come to the internet cafe (at 0930).
My greatest regret in my previous two years of studying Russian, is that I had never paid close attention to the declentions, or to the appropriate case endings. I had always skipped over the third declention nouns (as they are more rare than first or second declention nouns).
The best advice that I could give to current students of Russians is to learn the cases as you cover them in class. It is hard to really have them solid. It takes a good deal of work (or it takes me a good deal of work atleast). But it will save you so much time and aggrevation later.
Other than that, I feel that I probably have another couple of hours of studying before I rest.
Hope all is well,
Poka!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Life in Russia is coming along well. I have been keeping busy with all of my usual activities. I just got back last night from three days in the beautiful city of Yaroslavl. It is probably my favorite city yet in Russia.
One of the interesting things that I have noticed is that many costs here are listed in US dollar. For instance, car billboards are listed only in $ amounts, not in roubles. Equally, my cell phone minutes are deducted using dollars and cents, not roubles and kopecks.
I would assume that the large corporations (ie car companies) don't have much faith in the rouble. As it is, if you are a Russian buying a new car, you probably don't deal very often in roubles. It is much more likely that you do business in USD.
Well, everything else here is well!
Poka!
One of the interesting things that I have noticed is that many costs here are listed in US dollar. For instance, car billboards are listed only in $ amounts, not in roubles. Equally, my cell phone minutes are deducted using dollars and cents, not roubles and kopecks.
I would assume that the large corporations (ie car companies) don't have much faith in the rouble. As it is, if you are a Russian buying a new car, you probably don't deal very often in roubles. It is much more likely that you do business in USD.
Well, everything else here is well!
Poka!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
First Test
Today I took my first test in the Russian Federation! I had prepared for it to be incredibly difficult, while it proved to be just very challenging. The theme was verbs of motion in my Russian grammar class. We only had to prepare for the fourteen most common (un-prefixed) verbs of motion. Next are the prefixed verbs of motion.
Life is coming along in Vladimir. Not too much is new or exciting.
Last week Tim Oconnor, the ACTR representive, came for his field visit of Vladimir. He stated that while life is going on as usual in Vladimir, St Petersburg is having problems.
There has been a steady increase in the number of hate crimes against foreigners. What makes these crimes so suprising is that: 1. They occur in broad daylight, and 2. They occur in well traveled, tourist areas.
It should be noted that, all of the hate crimes have been against non-whites (predominantly Orientals). This does knock-down the threat level for me, but I remain a foreigner.
The police in Vladimir picked-up one of our students last week. During a random document check, they concluded that his papers were not in order. Well, his papers were in order.
It just happens that the student bears a striking resemblance to a Chechen (though he is actually Jewish). He even jokes about how much he looks like a Chechen! So after a trip to the police station, and some brief interogation, he was released.
The fact that he carries an American passport probably contributed to his rather rapid release.
Well, keep emailing me the questions! Thanks!
Poka!
Life is coming along in Vladimir. Not too much is new or exciting.
Last week Tim Oconnor, the ACTR representive, came for his field visit of Vladimir. He stated that while life is going on as usual in Vladimir, St Petersburg is having problems.
There has been a steady increase in the number of hate crimes against foreigners. What makes these crimes so suprising is that: 1. They occur in broad daylight, and 2. They occur in well traveled, tourist areas.
It should be noted that, all of the hate crimes have been against non-whites (predominantly Orientals). This does knock-down the threat level for me, but I remain a foreigner.
The police in Vladimir picked-up one of our students last week. During a random document check, they concluded that his papers were not in order. Well, his papers were in order.
It just happens that the student bears a striking resemblance to a Chechen (though he is actually Jewish). He even jokes about how much he looks like a Chechen! So after a trip to the police station, and some brief interogation, he was released.
The fact that he carries an American passport probably contributed to his rather rapid release.
Well, keep emailing me the questions! Thanks!
Poka!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Entertainment in Russia
Russians are less varied than Americans in entertainment. They don't go to the movies often, or go to try new bars/restaurants. Rather, they do the same few activities over-and-over again.
A couple of weeks ago, I was curious as to what young Russians did for fun. So I sent a text message from my mobile phone to a Russian. I asked my friend "What do young people do for fun around here?" The response that I recieved was, "ha-ha. I'll tell u what they do. They drink!"
Now, beer is replacing vodka as the drink of choice among young people.
Of course, TV is also very popular. Unlike in the US, Russians don't readily invite people over to their houses. It seems rather uncommon (as the ACTR explained during orientaion), to go to a friends house and rent a movie/watch a program. It is unimaginable that a mixed group, of guys and gals, would ever congregate in a home.
Instead, roaming the streets is popular. Hours-and-hours of walking. It is cheap, and allows you to socialize. I would easily say that I have walked more than 6 miles in one evening, "for fun". There is no fixed destination, just walking.
I only get 2-4 TV channels, but they have relatively varied programs. There is the news, (lots of) soap operas, (many) (lousy) American films (dubbed into Russian), and they have the equivalent of Candid-Camera that is very popular.
Soap operas are my favorite. They are easy to follow. The themes aren't very deep. And they don't use very complex vocabulary. A student of Russian can readily understand what is going on in a soap opera. Alternatively, the news is nearly impossible. I have never seen a newscaster speak so fast in the US. There lips look like a humming birds' wings. It is really remarkable how quickly they speak. If I don't understand a word that the newscaster uses, they are already on the next story before I figure it out.
Russians also seem to appreciate reading. It seems that the most popular genre is detective novels. Everyone reads detective novels. They are also probably one of the easier genres for students of Russian.
Poka!
A couple of weeks ago, I was curious as to what young Russians did for fun. So I sent a text message from my mobile phone to a Russian. I asked my friend "What do young people do for fun around here?" The response that I recieved was, "ha-ha. I'll tell u what they do. They drink!"
Now, beer is replacing vodka as the drink of choice among young people.
Of course, TV is also very popular. Unlike in the US, Russians don't readily invite people over to their houses. It seems rather uncommon (as the ACTR explained during orientaion), to go to a friends house and rent a movie/watch a program. It is unimaginable that a mixed group, of guys and gals, would ever congregate in a home.
Instead, roaming the streets is popular. Hours-and-hours of walking. It is cheap, and allows you to socialize. I would easily say that I have walked more than 6 miles in one evening, "for fun". There is no fixed destination, just walking.
I only get 2-4 TV channels, but they have relatively varied programs. There is the news, (lots of) soap operas, (many) (lousy) American films (dubbed into Russian), and they have the equivalent of Candid-Camera that is very popular.
Soap operas are my favorite. They are easy to follow. The themes aren't very deep. And they don't use very complex vocabulary. A student of Russian can readily understand what is going on in a soap opera. Alternatively, the news is nearly impossible. I have never seen a newscaster speak so fast in the US. There lips look like a humming birds' wings. It is really remarkable how quickly they speak. If I don't understand a word that the newscaster uses, they are already on the next story before I figure it out.
Russians also seem to appreciate reading. It seems that the most popular genre is detective novels. Everyone reads detective novels. They are also probably one of the easier genres for students of Russian.
Poka!
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