Rambling Toward December

October/November

Hello All! I'll start by getting the heavy stuff out of the way. There are good and bad things (in my opinion, since those are highly subjective terms) about human beings, no matter what type of culture they are displaying as they are huddled together on their particular hunk of land. Without being too generalizing, yet considering the collective understanding and shared experiences of a group of people can more or less be summed up by the broadcast range of national television stations, I think it's very important to understand what those understandings and shared experiences of "Russians" are.

For those not caught up on why I have quotes around "Russians", calling someone from Kazakhstan a Russian is like calling someone from Puerto Rico an American. The Russian Federation was made up of many groups of people, some that are now independent and some that remain. I'd leave it up to the individual to define what he or she is; I'd choose human. Anyway, most of the negative aspects of my experience here center around the hatred of 'the other' found in Moscow. I am told to fear certain people because they are from Central Asia or Chechnya or wherever. I understand this kind of thinking. It's easy to jump to that conclusion because acts of violence have been committed by people from such places. There was an airport bombing in January of last year that killed many people. People also point to 'everyday' violence, as well. However, taking it beyond awareness and into prejudgement for all members of a group horrifies me. (and not in a 'look at my lovely liberal values' kind of way, but a real 'this kind of hatred means scary ideas are winning out' kind of way) Besides, what could prejudice, or even mere awareness, have done to stop that bombing? Also forgotten, is what constitutes a crime. Did the burning down of sweat shop factory in Bangladesh a few days ago, killing roughly the same number of people, constitute a crime because of the unsafe working conditions? Are we told to "Look out for exploitative business owners if you are out late at night!"? Maybe we should. Forget about your wallet, you could end up stitching soccer balls in Calcutta! Anyway . . .it was just on my mind so there you go.

Bird House: I like that there are bird houses all throughout the city.

I mentioned the shared experiences of Russians before because I wanted to mention a very interesting one that, to me, helps explain their collective understanding. I'm sure we have some, as well. The State Fair, the bridge collapse, and Paul Wellstone might ring some bells in Minnesota. So, here we are (If you know these things already, give yourself a celebratory cupcake and take a mental break while the rest of us discuss.). They had a revolution in 1917 and established what was called socialism (a lie), specifically Communism. In order to keep this lie going, many people that didn't fit the mold or disagreed or stepped out of line or were married to the wrong person or were born to the wrong people or were poor and so on were put in a system of prison camps called the G.U.L.A.G. This translates to Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies (In Russian:) Гла́вное управле́ние исправи́тельно-трудовы́х лагере́й и коло́ний. (ГУЛаг). Numbers killed in the GULAG were in the millions, with some estimates over 10 million. So that happened. After Communism, the economy collapsed in the late 80s and people were doing whatever it took to survive. Also, throw in two world wars (26.5 million Russian dead in WW2 alone) and it is evident that their history is very sad.

Sorry for all the background, I'll get to what I wanted to mention. So, with all that history behind them, and in the midst of economic and social upheaval, a man goes on television, Anatoly Mikhailovich Kashpirovsky, and begins doing a kind of faith healing. Kashpirovsky was a trained psychiatrist and somehow made it onto television. He tells Russians to sit in front of their televisions, or bring a bottle of water to the screen (take those healing powers to a friend!), and he will heal them. It got so out of hand that he actually tried to take away a woman's pain while getting surgery on television. It was no minor surgery, either. It was the scalpel on flesh kind of surgery. It failed, of course, but he was never really run out of town the way I would have wanted. I have been told that the reason that he was popular was because he was filling the role of the former Soviet government in taking care of people. Capitalism was not giving people the medical care they needed (Capitalism has always been more concerned with moving large amounts of money around anyway) and so they looked to this magical guy for help. You don't have to go too far back in history to find rabid superstition, so it is probably still here among us, waiting to stone the kid with epilepsy to death because he brings the village bad luck and evil spirits.

My kitchen (kook-nee-yah). I am making red peppers, endive, and avocado wraps using a thin shell. Russian wine is also very tasty. This kind tastes more like grape juice than wine. Ypa! (oo-rah) (cheers)

I like trains. (My cat's breath smells like cat food.)

  Positive Stuff Will Follow! I Promise! Here It Is!
I'm settling nicely here and really starting to appreciate Moscow. Like an orphaned, newborn fawn I have been taken in by a Russian family (in their eyes this is how they see it). They are vowing to protect me from the dangers of Moscow. I was asked over to dinner by a Russian friend I had made, Ivan (Vanya). His family do not speak much English and I do not speak much Russian, but Ivan and his cousin (called sister in Russian) both speak enough to translate. I had a meatless Russian meal and it was the business! My favorite part was the cabbage-and-carrot-inside-potato-things, the potato being like gnocchi. The soup was also fab. It was onion, mushroom, some kind of noodle, and potato. I can't eat at many places because I don't trust my Russian enough yet to guarantee there will be no meat, but the family assured me it was only vegetables.


Montessori fans! I went to observe in a 'sister school' to the school of mine that will soon exist. My (already) great friends from Canada, Danielle and Ian, live nearby and Danielle is the Children's House guide. Elizabeth (also great friend), from Portland, is the 1 1/2 to 3 guide. Later, I also got to help out in Danielle's classroom for three days and had so much fun. I thought the language barrier would be terribly difficult, but it was no problem. I could show presentations without language or do some sound presentations if they didn't have any English yet. The younger children were already understanding in English. Amazing.

My Russian is improving, but hearing is not the same as speaking. I would be happy to just know what is going on, though. I feel it is important to be around people speaking Russian. It would be so easy just to live in an expat bubble, especially with technology, but I would not learn very much I think.

I went to a cooking class to practice my Russian.

 I also have started spending a lot of time at the library. It is HUGE and there is a great atmosphere there. Ian and I went to see how to get a library card. We walked into one of many entrances with no idea of what we were doing. We were immediately ushered into a queue to begin registration. The Russian bureaucracy spread its glorious wings and enveloped us in Soviet Era paperwork. I am now on file and can use the library whenever I like. Happy reading, comrade!

Entrance to the Russian State Library (Lenin Library); I think the statue is Dostoyevsky.

Part of the library

One of many rooms

My hidey-hole in the library for working or reading

That's all I've got for now! до свидания!

Arrival

September

I was very nervous about being somewhere new and having no language with which to navigate. My fears were not allayed in the least by the airline, Transaero. I was greeted with only terse attitudes (foreshadow alert). My willingness to do whatever it takes to try and communicate was met with harsh stares and harsher words. Luckily I don't know what they were. Work can be a pain, but I wish people would take it out on the people causing their misery (annoying customers, jerky bosses, etc) and not some poor guy that hasn't learned Russian yet. Anyway, the flight was quick, but very alien. I was the only English-speaking native on the flight and I was already feeling alone by the time I landed. I should say that one stewardess spoke a little English and was the reason I didn't turn back around at the airport in Moscow and come back. The first meal I was served had meat in it, even though I requested the vegetarian option (2nd foreshadow alert). She must have noticed I hadn't eaten any of it and for the second meal, brought me the best vegetarian meal hands-down that I've had on a plane. She also checked in on me throughout the rest of the flight.

After landing, I was met at the airport by Tatyana, who also works for our Montessori school-to-be, Moment of Childhood Montessori Center, or MC(squared). She has been my cultural liaison and adaptation specialist to Moscow (Москва). She is another reason why the experience has been fantastic so far. She took me to my apartment in Mitino (Митино) and I unpacked my things. The apartment was not much to look at. To be honest, it depressed me pretty badly. It had one living/sleeping room, a kitchen, a tiny concrete balcony that looked out over Mitino (see Mitino pictures below), a bathroom, and a toilet room (very odd). I went for a walk and here are some pictures of my neighborhood:

Ah, ol' smokestack number 1994. This is the close-up view. The view from my balcony is much . . . differently angled. I don't think this is the first time I've seen 1994, though. I once had a dream after watching West World that I was in a post-apocalyptic landscape running from killer robots. Surely, these are just relics from the Soviet Era. My next trip was to city-famous Mitino Electronics Market (Митинский Радиорынок) to get plugs for my computer and phone.

The electronics market was as close to a 'free market' as I've ever seen, and I live in the US. There are vendors (some large and well-outfitted and some with a couple card tables sporting extension cords) on 3 floors (I think only 3), in the parking lot, around the corner of the market, and coming out the side of the market. The homeless dogs also know there is major foot traffic here so they are always hangin' out, as well. It is quite a scene. The pictures don't do justice to Mitino, though. For the most part, what lies outside my apartment is a bedroom community where worker drones come to eat and sleep before trudging back into the city to work in a cubicle or wherever. The four corners just down from my apartment have four shopping malls on them. Everything is packed into small areas and it feels a lot like a human hive. Sorry for the morbidity of this post, JJ Hill parents. If you are reading this to your child, you may want to alter some of my content. I suggest: "It says here that Mr. Eddie has settled in his apartment, but wishes it weren't so gloomy."

On the happy side of things, Tatyana took me around the city (not Mitino, which is on the outskirts) proper. Here are some pictures I took:

 As opposed to the part of Moscow called Mitino, the rest of the city I have seen so far is beautiful, busy, and very compact. There are subway trains, electric buses, regular buses, and trolleys/street cars that run on rails. Getting around is easy and the Metros (subways) are gorgeous. This is a side street off of a major thoroughfare.

 More in the Red Square (Красная Площадь) area.

Bolshoi Theater (Большой Тэатр)

This is an entrance to Red Square.

 No clue. Part of Red Square? Lenin's bathroom. Really no idea. I do plan on finding out more, though. Russian history is voluminous, complex, and interesting.

Some Russian items from history

This is inside one of the Metros. You should do a search for pictures of the Moscow Metro. They are amazing. My favorite Slavyansky Boulevard (Славиецкий Бульвар) looks like a cross between War of the Worlds and an underwater machine of Jacques Cousteau. This one here Pushkinskaya maybe?) has many sculptures of Russians working or engaging in classic activities. Happy Russians happily working and happily being Russian. Were they trying to convey something through those happy sculptures? Maybe yes. The dog's nose is worn down because people touch it for luck. I witnessed many people doing it and also witnessed 5 or 6 other ritualistic superstitions in this station. Superstition is VERY much practiced here.

The last pictures I want to show are where I work. It is called Otrada and is in the country (as in: not the city) where the school will be located. It also has world-class horse riding facilities and is located in the middle of the woods. It really feels like Minnesota and I love being out there.

 Me, standing by the future site of the school. I found that jacket on the front stoop of an apartment building in Brooklyn with a note on it that said 'free'. Yea free stuff!

 

 

лошадь, (loshet), horse. I love this horse because it has broken out (literally) of the fence 3 times so far that I've been here.

 The office. Cue Rod Stewart's Handbags and Gladrags.

Actually, one more pic. I found this awesome cat graffiti. The White Cat of Mitino watches over your parked cars!

Starting Out

August 23rd - September 4th

Hello to all the people that wish to follow this project of starting a Montessori school in Moscow, Russia! I plan to post pictures of the work site and details about how the school is progressing. Also, I will talk about my daily life in Moscow. Here is some Background on Moscow. From this point on, if you see blue, underlined text you can click on it and it will give you added information about the subject.                     

From Minnesota, I had to stop by NYC to get my visa from the Russian Consulate at 80 Maiden Ln in Manhattan. Note to Betsy: Betsy, get your passport renewed. Jason Evans, make her do it.

I took the East River Ferry around the area. It leaves near the tip of Manhattan and goes by Greenpoint, north of Brooklyn, where I was staying.

Brooklyn Bridge

Graffiti in Greenpoint

Big Jambox

Portal to Yankee Stadium

I stayed for a little over 2 weeks in Greenpoint with my cousin, Max, and his special lady, Christina. They were fantastic hosts and I really enjoyed my time there. Greenpoint is a very Polish neighborhood where you can hear the language most everywhere. It also includes a large Latin@ population, as well. Also, here come the hipsters!

Here is the Jewish Daily Forward building. The Socialist newspaper was read by, among others, workers in NY's sweatshops and factories. It is now yuppie apartments. Little to they know that when they park their Benz (or rather their valet parks it) and they carry the day's haul from Gucci up to their their swank apartment (or rather the bellboy carries it), that they are walking in under the stone busts of Marx, Engels, and others.

Walking around Brooklyn

I stopped at Grand Central Station to look around and buy a Russian language computer program. **Update** My computer's Russian is now excellent.

Entrance to park near NYU

Park near NYU

Max showed me around the NYU labs where he works. The research he and his colleagues do is very interesting, complex, and cutting edge. The DNA sequencing machine was killer. From what I can tell, it has something to do with science.

Random shot of New York, out the NYU building's window; Somebody has a nice rooftop garden.

The NYU building where Max works used to house the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in the early 1900s, made infamous when a fire started due to unsafe conditions and forced 140-odd deaths, some jumping from windows to escape the fire. Doors were locked to keep workers inside. I also toured a historic tenement building and, together with the Triangle Building, highlighted the struggle for working class people at the time. Unfortunately, bad working conditions and grueling 12 hour days aren't just historical. They just aren't discussed on the news or have moved to other parts of the world.

Thanks for reading! Next time I will post about my arrival on Sept 4th in Moscow (Moskva in Russian) and the beginning of the school.