Russian Poetry

Poetry is a comparatively more significant aspect of culture in Russia than it is in America. Many Russians of all ages can recite poems they learned by heart back in grade school, the most popular and beloved poet being Alexander Pushkin. Unfortunately, no technology existed in his day that could record his voice, but I've posted two videos (shown to me back at UF) of two of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century, Boris Pasternak (known for writing the novel "Doctor Zhivago") and Joseph Brodsky, both Nobel Prize laureates. While you may or may not understand the words, the style of reciting poetry is very unique and powerful. Enjoy.

Monuments to Great Russian Writers

Nikolai Gogol's "The Nose," St. Petersburg

Anna Akhmatova, St. Petersburg

Joseph Brodsky, St. Petersburg

Mikhail Lermontov, St. Petersburg

Anton Chekhov, Tomsk

More on Tomsk

The name of the university I take classes at is Tomsk State University, which was founded about 130 years ago. The school and the city in general remind me of Gainesville. The city has a lot of students due to a large number of universities - in fact, 1 out of every 5 citizens is a student. There's one main street, called Lenin Prospect, which is like Gainesville's University Avenue: on this road is located Tomsk State University, there are cafes and clubs, and lots of traffic. Like Gainesville, there are trees everywhere and parks all about, and my campus is especially green. Unlike Gainesville, there are no Krishnas (at least none that I've found), but there are gypsies, or at least so I've heard. I did, however, manage to take a yoga class the other day. Most like Gainesville, it's downright swampy here. Once you leave the city you get swarmed with mosquitos and encounter country folk, and in general the weather is warm or rainy. The past couple days a certain kind of tree went in bloom, causing cotton-like stuff to blow around like snow. Everywhere I went this stuff would be blowing in my face. It's calmed down though.

We've gone on a couple excursions so far. Yesterday we visited the local brewery, which was pretty neat. We had a guided tour and got to wear laboratory coats and microphone headset apparati while we took pictures and ignored everything the guide said, because at this point attempting to understand how a factory works in Russian is a bit beyond my capabilities. Still, I felt like James Bond infiltrating some top-secret facility, and it was cool getting free beer and kvas. Yes, it's the time of year for kvas, which is this syrup-like, beer-like drink that has been drunk in Russia for ages. It's not all that bad, but still, not all that good - most likely an acquired taste. The beer, on the other hand, is excellent, especially the non-filtered, and I'm not a beer connoisseur. The factory also reminded me of the Death Star, minus the light-sabers and storm-troopers.

Kvas!

Beware: Russian Nerds and free beer

Tomsk

Greetings from Siberia. I've been living in Tomsk for about two weeks now, and I'm glad to say all is turning out for the best. The city has a population of about a half million people, but it feels like a small town. Maybe I have this impression because I live right off the main street and thus never need to venture to the outskirts, but I think everyone has this relation to the city. So, first things first - where I live. By God's blessing my study-abroad buddy and I ended up living in a house with a great, kind family - a woman and her 21 year-old son. Note that it's not an apartment, but a house. It rocks. It's located on one of the highest hills in the city, and right down the street is located the stone that was laid when the city was founded in 1604. Our host mom is very sociable and hospitable, and our host brother is cool as well. On the first floor there's a small swimming pool, a sauna and a work-out room with weights. My classmate and I live on the third floor, each with our own big room and a balcony connecting the two. The balcony is rather high and overlooks the city and the river. Every night the sun sets around midnight, and I always have a beautiful sunset to watch. I definitely got lucky.

Pictures for now, more writing to come later.

No Russian city is complete without a statue of Lenin! This is Lenin Square, located along Lenin Prospect (main street, of course). My house is located on a small, dirt-cobblestone road that leads from this square and up a hill.

The wonderful view from my balcony of a Russian Orthodox church. Check out the onion domes!

The theatre located between Lenin Square and the River and an example of Soviet architecture.

Photos of St. Petersburg

Bronze Horseman

Kazan Cathedral
Monument to the writer Nikolai Gogol

St. Petersburg

I meant to update sooner, but haven't had the time. Since June 1st I've been in Washington, DC, St. Petersburg, and Tomsk. While internet cafes are around, it's more difficult to find wi-fi in Russia, but luckily I found it for free at the university where I'm taking classes. So, while DC is a beautiful city and there are many things to say about it, I'll begin with Russia, because this is where the adventure really begins.

I spent about three days in St. Petersburg, with half of my time spent in orientation for our program. I certainly did not have enough time, but I did manage to see some of the main sites and get a decent first impression of the city. This entry will be dedicated to pictures and videos, because there is still a lot to digest living in a very different culture, and it'll all come out sooner or later. Suffice it to say that Russia is a lot different from Europe or America, even though at first glance it may seem like a slightly familiar place. A saying attributed to Napoleon goes, "Scratch a Russian, and you find a Tartar."

So, St. Petersburg: it was founded in 1703 by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great and was the capital of the Russian Empire for about 200 years. This city is highly significant to Russian cultural identity, as it is Russia's "window to the west." Peter the Great is known for Westernizing Russia, mainly by developing its military, expanding its territory, and reforming the customs of the government and the nobility, the extremely small social class who essentially controlled everything before the major changes of the 20th century. Before Peter the Great, Russia was closer in culture and government to Central Asia and the Middle East than it was to Europe. For example, such cultural phenomena such as the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment, which are so integral to the history of countries like Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S., in fact did not even reach Russia, or arrived late in a more diluted form. St. Petersburg, then, represented Peter's attempt to turn Russia into a European country. Before construction of the city began under his reign, St. Petersburg was pretty much uninhabitable swamp located on the Neva River, so much technology (for example, the construction of canals) and sacrifice of human life was needed to create the first Russian city that had complex urban planning. Even today, although the swamp is long gone, in the summer Petersburg still has damp, stifling swamp air (kind of like Gainesville). In the winter, however, it is freezing cold. The city is also famous for its White Nights, which I observed when I would go to sleep at 3 am and it would still be light out. Another swamp phenomena was the threat of flooding, at least in the old times.

This here is the Decembrist Square, where the Decembrist Revolution of 1825 took place.

Here I am posing in front of a monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, my favorite Russian writer. He is to the Russian language what Shakespeare is to the English language, except perhaps is even more respected amongst his people, as many Russians, even the youth, can recite some of his poems by heart.

Finally, here is the Palace Square, which stands between the Winter Palace and the Hermitage, two historical sites. The October Soviet Revolution of 1917 took place here. 

I was also lucky enough to see a free concert given on the Palace Square by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. I didn't find out about it until the day of, but it was quite a pleasant surprise. Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands, and although I'm not as big a fan of Roger Waters, it was still incredible, since he played mainly Pink Floyd songs, including the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon. Crazy - here I am in Russia, of all places, listening to music my parents listened to when they were young. It's great how things turn out, and it seems my luck didn't stop there, but more on that later....