still soooo happy to be home!!

So, the past few days have been busy around here... well, relatively busy – not busy busy but we certainly have more going on here than we ever did in Yaroslavl. Steve’s parents are redoing the kitchen – we arrived just in time for the kitchen cabinet/cupboard assembly phase (Ikea), and Steve’s efforts were only slightly dampened when the newly installed all-powerful stove fan sucked him up and almost cut off his thumb. After waiting for almost two hours in an empty waiting room at the local hospital, he got four stitches (it took five minutes). It wasn’t too long ago that we’d watched Michael Moore’s Sicko, and all I could think of while we were waiting there in what seemed to be a completely empty hospital, was the part where he interviews cheery, satisfied patients who only had to wait five or ten minutes to see a doctor who immediately remedied their problems and left them smiling. I do like his movies but they are so disgustingly one-sided and subjective that every ounce of information that he feeds the viewer must be taken with a grain of salt. I think that someone made a movie about his movie-making style, and he refused to speak to them about this one-sided, subjective, pretend-to-reveal-the-truth routine. Anyways, Steve’s thumb - they didn’t have to amputate and all parts still remain – it will be thumbs-up all week.


before the injury... and after

The weather has been great too – though it’s taken a turn for the worse today. Yesterday we made our way downtown and up the CN Tower, where we were the tallest people in Toronto! We went all the way up to the Sky Pod (447m) where the ceiling height was just a bit shorter than Steve – he had to duck and crouch a little but claimed the honour of the highest person in the world! Okay, the tallest person on a man-made structure in the world! Or at least in Canada. We emerged to find a massive Sikh parade crawling down Lakeshore Blvd in honour of Vaisakhi, a celebration of the birth of Khalsa ("the collective body of baptized Sikhs") and the beginning of harvest season. According to the Toronto Star, there were 70,000 dancers and musicians, sword-fighters, walkers, and floats and cars of people that made their way along Lakeshore from Exhibition Place to Nathan Phillips Square in honour of this special day. There was also free food and drink and I had one of the most delicious samosas ever! It was so good. We also walked around the Harbourfront area and enjoyed the sunshine before heading back to our spiffy rental car to brave the traffic back and make our way home. The traffic was ridiculous – the parade and the TTY transit strike meant that ridiculous volumes of people (on SUNDAY!) were fighting for a way out. Blech. We’re still getting over the jet lag, but are managing to stay up late and get up early, on a normal-ish schedule. We were treated to pancakes with maple syrup yesterday morning (YUM!) and burgers with barbeque sauce last night – YUM again! And I ate all of the fresh spinach in the fridge (oops)... I love all of our food options!

I missed a few days of importance – World Book and Copyright Day (how did I miss a book day!?), World Malaria Day (!?), World Intellectual Property Day (!?) and, perhaps most importantly, Orthodox Easter! So happy belated Orthodox Easter. However, one day that I’m not missing is tomorrow’s National Dance Day... I like dancing! Yay. I still need a new blog name and am just being lazy. Will change soon. I should go and help with kitchen cabinet assembly.

the parade...


our rental wheels for the week

it was chills up there - but an awesome view!

Russia Wrap-up

The apartment block next door... it was huge

The park the day we left - signs of Spring and Winter

And just like that, it’s over. The place we called home for three months is a thing of the past... and likely always will be. The chances that we’d ever go back to Yaroslavl are slim, though both Steve and I would go back to Russia (we’d prefer Moscow), and if the opportunity to play in a smaller town presented itself again? There would have to be a very large monetary incentive. We enjoyed our time in Russia, but it wasn’t our favourite place. The good and the bad come with everything, and life there wasn’t all bad... but I wouldn’t say that it was good either – it was just different. The drab gloominess of both the place and the people was really hard to get used to; in general people were rude and treated our differences with wariness, caution and rudeness instead of the more friendly, congenial, light-hearted approach that we have (for the most part) experienced in other countries. But, like I said, there are so many differences between Russia and Western Europe that it’s almost unfair to compare. Politics, social programs, natural resources, the economy – none of these things seem to work in favour of the common Russian citizen. The government and the political and economic systems are rife with corruption, and though the rich are getting richer, the majority of Russian people are still struggling to create a better life with low, stagnant salaries and rising costs. So I guess I understand, or see why people aren’t humming around with smiles and a positive outlook on life. But again, the rudeness and unfriendliness is a generalization; I met some great people there – Dasha, Daria and Margaret were so friendly and fun and kind and helpful... I am so glad to have met them.

I said this previously, but the most common questions I was asked when we were in Russia were: What are salaries like in Canada? Is there a lot of corruption there? What is unusual about Yaroslavl/Russia for you? And finally, What is your favourite thing about Russia? The first two questions highlight some of the huge challenges that Russia and Russians are facing: low salaries and an incredibly high degree of corruption. The last two questions.... well, here are my answers. The most unusual thing about Yaroslavl and Russia was the everyday dress code that most women adhered to: high heels and fancy dress at all times. I was a complete anomaly: running/tennis shoes, non-skin-tight jeans and a hoodie with a down jacket? SLOB! The unusualness of this unspoken dress code is compounded by the fact that most of these women probably don’t have the money to dress so well – where do they get the money to buy this fancy stuff? Even if it’s cheap fancy stuff... it’s still relatively expensive compared to salaries. This, I never understood. (Some people told me that women dress so well because the competition for men is so rigorous: there is apparently a shortage of available (and/or married) men in Russia.)Other unusual things were the number of people that drank beer in public (including time of day - any time of day, age of drinker - age is just a number, and number of beers - more is better), people’s indifference to clean public areas, and the dating/married/infidelity thing. Daria told me that she often didn’t know if a guy she met/dated was married or not, because he didn’t say so (and that doesn’t mean that he is married... or isn’t). I know that these things don’t paint a very pretty picture of Russia... but these are my impressions. I had to think about what my favourite thing about Russia was... and I have to say that it was Moscow. It’s a beautiful city and I loved the Red Square and the Kremlin. My favourite things about Yaroslavl are my friends (all three of them), the pool and the park. Without these things I may have gone insane.

It’s always an experience living in a new and different country, and both Steve and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to do these things. We also feel so lucky to be Canadian (and so thankful!), and to be able to come home to family and friends (and English! And good roads! And salad!) in a safe and stable country. I’m still thinking of a new blog name... any ideas? Here are some pics from the few days we spent in Moscow before coming home. Eeeeeeeeeeeh! Home!

St. Basil's by night - so pretty!!

At the entrance to the Kremlin the next day - just after we viewed Lenin... a little eery but so cool!

One of several churches inside the Kremlin

Ivan the Terrible's Bell Tower - and at it's base, the largest bell in the world (weighs over 200 tonnes and has never been rung.... doh!)

The gardens were gorgeous, and so well-maintained...

Our last shot in Russia - we spent our last rubles on this litre of beer! When in... Russia?

new blog name new blog name

I have to change the name of the blog! Because we are BACK IN CANADA! YAY! We are so excited. I am so excited. I was so excited to fly Business Class that I didn't sleep... and after close to 20 hours of travel (that includes a five hour layover, spent in the Business Lounge - so posh!) we are here! We're spending a week or two in Bowmanville (Steve's home town - near Oshawa) and then making our way to Vancouver for a week or two! So exciting. But what should I name this blog? I am definitely too tired to think of anything fun or witty or remotely intelligent at the moment... so for the time being, it stays. I feel like I have so much to write about but I am going to stop myself... I need sleep. We are so happy to be home!!

we're out of here!

This is it! Today is our last day in Yaroslavl. YAY! We're heading to Moscow this afternoon for our last two days in the motherland, to see some sights and avoid a middle-of-the-night five hour crazy drive from this city to an airport on the other side of Mosow (our flight is at 7am on Thursday). We've been busy packing and saying goodbye to people - there hasn't been too much time - our departure really crept up on us. Margaret and I went for a swim yesterday, and Freddie, Steve, Dallas and I met up with Daria for dinner last night at a restaurant on the Volga. So, like that I've said farewell to my Russian friends. It snowed like crazy here yesterday - it was actually really nice (minus the wind whipping snow chunks into my face) - but today we are back to spring sunshine, albeit chilly spring sunshine. Other than the fact that today is Earth Day, (yay Earth Motherland!), I feel like I don't have too much to say... except that I should finish packing. Will write again before we ditch Russia for good!

billions

Moscow is now home to more than one hundred billionaires.... one hundred!! Russia Today ran a story on a recent article published in the Russian edition of Forbes: in the past year the number of billies has almost doubled from 60 to 110, and the country's richest 100 people "saw their combined holdings gain 54 per cent over the year" - mind boggling. I can't even comprehend how much money that is... and especially here. A governor, Roman Abramovich, comes in third place with $US 24.3 billion, owner of the steel giant company Severstal, Aleksey Mordashov, comes in second with $US26.96 billion, and Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Board of an investment company, comes in first place with a whopping $US28.6 billion dollars. How long do you think it would take if someone gave you a dollar every second, to accumulate one billion dollars? It would take over 30 years. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeediculous. The world's top top TOP billionaire, as of February 11, 2008 is Warren Buffet - worth $US62 billion. The top top TOP female billionaire is Liliane Bettencourt (who comes 17th on the list of world billionaires), of L'Oreal who is worth $US22.9 billion. I'm sick of the word billion already - blech. Here are a few shots of Steve's team - Yaroslavl Yaroslavich... lookin' good...

the beating

Oooooooooooooh I have so much to talk about! First of all... we're coming home! Our flights are booked!! We leave for Toronto on Thursday, yay. We would have liked to have left earlier but the club asked Freddie and Steve to stay around for two reasons: first, because a Canadian guy who is likely signing a contract for next season (Dallas) is coming here for a few days and the club wants us to be around while he's here; and secondly, because the president wants Freddie and Steve to visit one of the main sponsor's jewellery factories (er, okay) on Tuesday. Sure, whatever. So yay! Yay to the coming home part. We are both ready.

Other news - yesterday I was beaten by birch branches. In the sauna. It was interesting. Margaret and I were joined by her friend Tanya who routinely subjects herself to this traditional Russian sauna ritual - it was Margaret's first time doing this and, of course, mine too. So, this is what went down. This time the sauna was about halfway full - there were maybe eight of us in total? And everyone just hangs out in there naked - in the main room bathing and scrubbing, in the sauna sitting or lying or... being beaten by a bundle of hot leaves and twigs. Yup. As soon as we got in there, Tanya soaked the birch in a tub of hot water... and off we went for round one of sauna, shower and tea. Round two - the abuse begins. Into the sauna we go, and I was first; we were under full instructions from Tanya (she instructed me to go first.) I lay down on the top bench of the sauna where it was soooooo hot, so so so hot. She shook the branches over the rocks to heat them up a bit and then, she whacked me with them, all over - everywhere except (thank goodness) the face. And it was hard. Not so hard that I was in pain, but it was definitely uncomfortable - both the heat and the branch-whacks. Roll-over. Yes ma'am. More whacking. Burning legs. Leaves everywhere. I wasn't sure who was supposed to say stop/enough! - if she would tell me when she was done or if I called an end to the beating... but that's what I had to do, because I couldn't take the heat anymore. I was instructed to immediately take a cold shower. I had leaves all over me and I was red as beat beets... but no welts. So that was it. After the beating, one takes a cold shower, has a rest, maybe some tea, and then does the whole thing over again. That's the traditional way - no soap is used, and the branches are hot-hot-hot... and one is to endure the beating and the heat until he/she can take it no more... and then the cold shower offers the much needed relief. Margaret and I both went through the ringer once and once only - it was enough for both of us. And what exactly is this beating supposed to achieve? It exfoliates the skin, cleans and clears the pores and, if done correctly, will "leave you as clean as a baby," according to Tanya. I did feel clean, but soap does the trick too... I'll stick with the soap and not with the sticks.

Banya equipment - birch branch bundle, bucket, scrubber mit and felt hat - some older women were wearing these (to protect the hair and scalp from the heat - and to sweat more?)

So after that interesting experience, the three of us made our way over to Margaret's place for lunch. I thought that our apartment building was well-secured... but hers was like Fort Knox. There were no less than four doors to unlock before we found ourselves in her apartment - the number of doors increased in the 80s with the increase in crime which increased as a result of decreasing salaries. There you go. Her apartment was small, but very functional. We had a yummy lime-honey vodka drink, which is apparently good for after the sauna (I thought water maybe? But the vodka was yummy), and then a delicious little meal - vegetable soup, salad (non-lettuce), and traditional Russian pancakes... it was so good! Her husband came home after we had finished eating... but the drinking had only just begun. The after-work vodka drinking tradition here is much like the after-work wine drinking routine at home - Yuri sat down at the table, poured himself a healthy shot of vodka (a double at least) and down it goes. It's a little different... but same idea. And since he needed someone to drink with - I sort of volunteered. By not refusing to volunteer. I was invited to stick to the sipping of the lime-honey stuff which tasted good. If it had been warm vodka... I'm not too sure how I would have fared. Well, yes - I would have gotten drunk and felt sick. My time in Russia has not helped me develop an appreciation for warm vodka. Yuri asked me a few questions about life in Canada: What are salaries like? and, How much corruption is there? These are the two most common questions I've been asked here. He talked about corruption ("one of Russia's biggest problems") and politics... and then the vodka was put away and it was time to go. It was a great afternoon. This is one of my favourite things about living in a new country - getting to know a family and getting an idea of what life for the average person is like. It's clear that even if Russia's economy is getting stronger, the benefits are slow to trickle down to the people, and even if living standards are improving, there is still a long way to go.

magic bells

Yesterday afternoon Margaret, Irina (one of her students) and I visited Yaroslavl's private Museum of Music and Time; Margaret was genuinely interested, Irina laughed the whole time and I was sort of stuck in the middle, feigning interest and holding back the giggles. The small tour consisted of a young woman showing us different instruments, talking about them and then playing loud, ostentatious music on each and every musical contraption in the place... it was a bit much. I'm sure if I had a more thorough understanding of historical musical instruments (or any understanding) it would have been more interesting... but ??? There were gramophones, portable wind-up record players, clocks (musical and non-musical), irons (non-musical) and bells - lots and LOTs of bells. Margaret translated for me - Irina tried but couldn't hide the giggles... so stayed as silent as possible - as did a man who was super eager to speak French - he talked and talked and talked... and I retained none of what he said. Oops. Afterwards Margaret had a meeting to go to so Irina and I walked along the Volga and talked our way to our respective bus stops.

She asked me lots of questions about Canada and where I've travelled, and talked about her dreams - to travel to America and England. She said that most of her friends are happy living here in Russia, and see no other future for themselves other than the one offered in Yaroslavl, but she wants more. The sad thing is that she'll probably never be able to afford such a trip... and she knows it. She asked about salaries in Canada and what people are like and how much plane tickets cost - I said maybe around a thousand dollars? And she shook her head, rolled her eyes and laughed. Too expensive. Her family isn't poor but isn't rich, and she doesn't work; it would take a looooong time for her, and/or her family, to save that kind of money. My encouragement was to study and improve her language skills as much as possible - and who knows, maybe one day an opportunity might present itself. She hopes so... and so do I. There was only one crazy 16 year-old thing about her: she asked me if I knew who Tom Felton was - no idea. He's in the Harry Potter movies and plays the role of Draco Malfoy - I haven't seen any of the movies (gasp I know - haven't read the books either) and she is IN LOVE with him. I made a bit of a joke when she gave me her address (pen-pal... anyone?); I asked her if she wanted me to give it to Tom Felton. We laughed and she said Yes! Yes! But understood of course that it was a joke. ANYWAYS, we said goodbye at the bus stop and a few minutes later she came running back to me and asked me if there was any possible way, to actually really give Tom Felton her address and email. She was blushing, but all smiles, and, well I didn't really know what to say other than... I don't think it's possible! I don't know him! "Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked. I couldn't say yes so I said no. She said thanks and ran off. CUTE! A little crazy but 16 year-old crazy. A normal kind of crazy.
Magic Bells! Apparently if you make a wish and then ring these bells three times your wish will come true; Irina looked SO focused while making her wish! It just might have something to do with traveling.... and maybe Tom Felton ")

Steve comes home today! And hopefully we can get organized and figure out when we're coming home toute de suite.... yay!!

back in the classroom...

Here are some really nice shots of our neighborhood that I did not take. Two of Freddy's friends visited a few weeks ago and all of the credit goes to Michael Scutt - the photos make me wish I had a nice, fancy camera and some photography skills to boot...

I went to Margaret's class today to talk about Canada, and made one of her students feel like a complete idiot before I even made it into the classroom... for real. The trip there involved taking the trolley bus and a tram across town - the tram got stuck for some reason, and I was fifteen minutes late. She called to make sure I was on my way (and that everything was alright), and I didn't hear anything about a student meeting me at the tram stop. So, when a weird-ish looking dude started talking to me in Russian I gave him a go-away-stop-talking-to-me look, assuming he was some strange Russian man (he looked like a strange Russian man) and high tailed it to the school. His classmates laughed at him and I apologized but still, he didn't talk or take his eyes off his cell phone for most of the class. Oops.

The class was made up of approximately 15 grade niners, most of whom had some pretty decent English skills. I talked a bit about Canada first (population, geography, weather, food, hobbies, work, school, economy etc.) and then they asked some questions (What do teenagers do for pocket money? What sports do people play? What do you like about Russia? etc. etc.) After about 20 or 25 minutes of talking, and questions and answers from all (and to all - I had questions too - such as, why don't any girls play soccer? I was answered with giggles - maybe the question, "Is cheerleading popular in Canada?" provides some illumination. One of the girls really asked me that), the real show began.

Because I was their "honoured guest" (so sweet), they had prepared something of a show for me. It began with a home-made video of their school... during which a small troupe of four maybe sixth or seventh graders made their way into the classroom. Next up was a dance routine to none other than Jingle Bells. I am not even kidding. One of these sixth or seventh grade girls got up in front of the class and did a cheerleading routine, full of hip swivels, wrist flicks, leg kicks, jumps and bendies (don't pretend like you don't know any of these moves) to a super annoying version of Jingle Bells. It went on for way too long, and sitting behind all of the other students, I looked around to see if anyone else thought that this routine was totally weird... but none of the other students seemed to be fighting the same impulses that I was (like laughter, strange looks, the desire to get up and make her stop.) Next up came her brother, who sang a song about how school is boring. In Russian. In English class. The final show was by far the best - one of the students brought her cello in and played very well - it was normal and it was nice. Not that abnormal isn't nice but the other acts were just plain WEIRD. Especially the Jingle Bells one. Afterwards, the students all gave me their addresses and Margaret told me that they hoped that I might find them some pen pals in Canada ... sure! Why not. So... anyone? Anyone looking for a 15 year-old pen pal? I'm thinking I'll drop them off at a school in Winnipeg when we get home.

Margaret had called me on Tuesday and asked if I was interested in visiting the city's most prestigious pottery operation after the morning's English class... and I said sure, why not. So, after class we had a bite to eat in the school's small, empty cafeteria (a watery pickley potato soup, mashed potatoes and cabbage salad - I passed on the fish and hot-dog-sausage), and then a woman from the pottery place showed up to accompany me back to the pottery barn for a tour and visit. Natasha was very nice, and even though her English skills were so-so, we made it work. The walk from the school to the small production place was interesting - we saw a drunk man in the middle of something (and having some trouble) in some plants with his pants around his ankles (thankfully I didn't see anything that I didn't want to see), and a group of maybe 10 men drinking in a small hut-like thing, saying bad words to us - that's all Natasha gave me. She sort of shook her head and said, "Here, women work and men drink." The drinking looked like hard work to me - warm vodka. Yuck. The pottery place was pretty comme-ci comme-ca - they seem to produce a lot of trinkets, some tacky stuff, some nice stuff... but dust collector stuff. There were a couple of Christmas ornaments that appealed to me but they weren't for sale. We took a quick tour of the place and then had tea amidst a group of women painting these miniscule clay cats and people and trees, which was sort of amusing - all of these women working away and me and Natasha sipping tea and eating cookies.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Margaret again - she wants to take me to her favourite museum in town, the Museum of Music and Time - and one of her keener students is coming along. (Am I mean?) She's actually really sweet, and told me that she wants more English practise - she wants to be an interpreter. So sure, why not. Other news? Steve's train ride to Kazan last night only took 11 hours... and he gets to do it again tomorrow night. And his ipod isn't working. But! This is it... it's almost over and we're coming home soon! YAY!

Granny in Goal

I am ashamed to say that apart from the five minute trip to the grocery store early (ish) this morning, I didn't leave the apartment until almost five o'clock. Lazy. Majorly lazy. I was semi-productive but still... was starting to feel blah and bored so I went for a walk. The past few days have been colder and windy, and today I had to don my winter coat and toque to stay warm in this spring tempest that is hopefully just passing through. Anyways, there are always kids playing hockey out in the atrium area between four or five massive apartment blocks, and today... somebody's Grandma was playing too. I'd say she was at least in her mid-seventies... and had obviously played in goal before. I slowed down to watch, and wished that I had the camera to catch Granny in goal on film.

So the guys lost their game on Saturday - it wasn't their best show. I'm pretty sure that a lot of them/most of them/all of them don't really care that much anymore - they acheived the goal of staying in the first division, and at this point in the season everyone just wants it to be over. Sooooo, after the game we picked up some pizza, played some drinking games - okay only one drinking game - kopecks (we pronounce it incorrectly - "kopeeks"), that involves bouncing a 10 kopeck coin off of the table and into a bottle cap and then passing it to the next person (the bottlecap - you keep your kopeck), and trying to catch someone with all of the bottle caps piled up in front of them. It's our own Russian invention... very fun. I'd say try it at home but you might not have any kopecks, ha! Just kidding. It was pretty late by the time we made our way to the Summit Club where there was a SPACE SHOW in honour of Yuri and Cosmonaut's Day/Yuri's Night. There were people (that worked for the club) dressed in elaborate cosmonaut suits walking around and these massive, probably eight-foot tall aluminum-ish aliens with long aluminum-tube arms flailing and huge shiny heads with feelers and bulgy eyes up on stage... it was a little scary and VERY impressive. At one point, two guys dressed in red military outfits, all decked out with medals and colours, came out and started breaking it down with the aliens and cosmonauts - I figured that they must be Yuris in plainclothes... or sans cosmo-suits, in regular military garb. It was quite the show. As usual, the smoke and the non-stop techno beats got old before the place shut down, and Steve and I caught a cab home at around 5:30... late. Or early. Too early. Yesterday was a bit of a write off. Neither of us drank enough to warrant a hangover, and we both wondered how much of the gross, blech feeling was related to the smoke... Not that the vodka or the lack of sleep helped but ... ???


Anyways, the team left today for their last game on their last road trip. Neither Steve nor Freddy were excited about making the brutal trip that involves a four hour bus ride to Moscow and then an overnight train (ancient, rickety overnight train apparently) to Kazan, to play a game that won't change their place in the standings - it means nothing.


The flag of Kazan - the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan

So! This means that we can start to think about planning our trip home... yay! It's been great being here and learning about Russia and everything (I'll probably elaborate later) but we're both really excited to get back home to Canada. I'm really looking forward to seeing family and friends, being busy and productive and.... eating SALAD! This makes me laugh but it's true. Yum, salad. (We went a'looking yesterday and couldn't find any lettuce - not even at the el grande supermarket, grrr...) However, even though we know that the team is finished and that Steve is free to go after the last game on the Wednesday, we have to wait around to hear about financial matters. Unfortunately, professional volleyball isn't one of those jobs that guarantees an on-time, regular paycheck... and the athlete is always fed a plateful of rhetoric (usually excuses) about sponsors being late and new sponsors signing (next week... it's always next week here) and blah blah blah. So... we have to sift through that and hope for an answer that will allow us to bump our flights up. I'll have to come up with a new title for the blog... because I'll keep writing but need something that I won't have to change every few weeks or months depending on where I find myself. If I lose myself. Ha. To finish.... here's a historical headline that has nothing to do with anything that I've written about today.


Today's Canadian Headline...

1912

TITANIC RADIOS FOR HELP

Cape Race, Newfoundland -Two young wireless radio operators, Robert Hunston and James Goodwin, hear the first distress call from the luxury liner RMS Titanic, en route to New York south of the Grand Banks. An iceberg has grazed the ship's side, popping iron rivets and shearing off a fatal number of hull plates below the waterline.


10:25 pm: According to Hunston's first entry in the log, Goodwin "hears the Titanic calling C.Q.D. [Come Quickly, Danger - the precursor to S.O.S.], giving position."
10:35 pm: Titanic calls that they have moved five or six miles and "Have struck iceberg."
10:40 pm: They hear Titanic call the nearest ship, the Carpathia, saying "We require immediate assistance."
10:58 pm: They hear the terrible news: "Have struck iceberg and sinking."
11:36 pm: They hear another ship, the Olympic, asking the Titanic where it is steering; Titanic replies "We are putting women off in boats."

A Space Day

I don't really have to wonder why there isn't a day to commemmorate the first animals or seeds or moss to make the trip into outer space... there is only a special space day for the first human, Russian Yuri Gagarin, who, on this day in 1961 became the first human to do so. The fact that he was beat to it by a monkey might sound bad, but of course it was a good thing that chimps, dogs and monkeys beat him to the punch - I guess they taught the astronauts a thing or two about safe space travel. (As did the fruit flies, the first "animals in space" - what, do you think they just sent up some rotten bananas?) So, in Russia, today is Cosmonaut's Day, and the day is known around the world as Yuri's Night, which sounds a little more exciting I think... there are events all over the place too, though in Yaroslavl? I'm not sure. But, the Yuri's Night website insists that it's like St. Patricks Day or Cinco de Mayo... but for space! This just brings to mind a picture of a bunch of drunken, bead-laden people cruising around up in the atmosphere - maybe in green space suits? Throw a couple martians in there and the picture is complete.... what a space party. The drunkenness thing would work here... not that people need an excuse to party. Or drink beer. Our excuse is... today is the last home game of the season!!

Yuri Gagarin

p.s. animals et al. launched into space include: fruit flies, monkeys, mice, dogs, chimps, guinea pigs, frogs, rats, cats, wasps, beetles, tortoises, bullfrogs, fish, spiders, a mummichog (!? I know! it's a fish), newts, ants, cockroaches and scorpions... and more... (why scorpions!?)

Ham the Chimp - made the trip to space... maybe not in comfort though

Space dog kennel - for real

This just makes me laugh... poor little guy - ("Baker" went into space in 1958)

The banya...

I am officially relaxed. The banya was amazing... and, according to Margaret, after a visit to the banya, one must retire to their home and sleep, lay around and relax for a few hours. Yes ma'am, I can do that! I'm so glad that I was able to go with Margaret - otherwise I wouldn't have known where to go or what to do ... and the tradition and the routine would have been totally lost on me. It would be so nice to have something like this at home, a traditional bathing thing - but I don't think that it would really catch on - hanging out with your friends in your birthday suit, scrubbing each other's backs? Errr... nope. The fully clothed coffee tradition is fairly entrenched anyways. As are lunch dates. And seawall walks - pretty much anything but with the clothes ON... which is fine by me!

The main room - each bench is a little bathing station, with metal buckets filled with water for washing!

SO... Margaret bought tickets yesterday - they sell 15 tickets for a one and a half hour block (for 73 rubles, $3) - apparently afternoons are the way to go if you want to avoid the crowds - the six o'clock and eight o'clock time slots are usually sold out, and I was happy with the early afternoon slot. Sure! There was a small locker room with small wooden cupboards where we left all of our things, save for a towel, soap and sponge, head covering (cotton scarf) and flip flops. In we go. Margaret explained that most people follow a certain routine: shower, sauna, soap scrub down at individual washing bucket, shower, sauna, tea, sauna, scrub down, shower etc.... so this is what we did. I also opted to take the cold water bucket shower after the sauna... so cold... but so refreshing. After round two, we had some tea and a snack - Margaret pulled out a king-size Snickers bar which totally surprised me.. I thought fruit or nuts or something healthy or natural would have been the number one option for a sauna snack, but ??? whatever! After tea we went for rounds three and four, which were the same as the previous ones except, before the last sauna, we put honey on ourselves. Er, yes, honey. Sounds interesting, no? Margaret explained to me that it is good for the joints and ligaments, as well as for the skin.... so we massaged small amounts into our skin before hitting the sauna. This was followed by a shower sans soap (no cold water dump)... and that was it! We had another cup of tea, and sat around talking until our time was up. Some people also bring in birch branches and (this is what I understood) after soaking them in hot water, "beat" themselves (Margaret's word) with the branches to open their pores, increase circulation and exfoliate. There were only three of us in the banya in our time slot, and no one did any birch-branch self-beating... it sounds a bit masochistic anyways, not sure if that's something I want to see. So... it was an experience, and a very worthwhile one! I feel clean, relaxed but invigorated, and only smell a little bit like honey!

No more snow!!!

Today was the first overcast day we've had in almost two weeks... wild and crazy. I went for a run this afternoon, and saw the park sans snow for the first time... there were lots of park features (trails, benches, lake etc.) that were entirely new to me. Running is a lot easier, and much more comfortable without the snow and ice - no surprise there. We had a pretty mellow day - watched Atonement, which we both really liked, and made a super yummy dinner - stuffed chicken, rice and frozen veggies - fresh not available (other than carrots), salad not available. We're getting excited about our fast approaching departure date (and salads, fresh vegetables, barbeques, barbeque sauce and maple syrup...!!!) - our tickets are booked for April 30th but if the team doesn't advance to playoffs, we might head home earlier. I'm hoping that we'll be able to check out Moscow again, and make it up to St. Petersburg... we'll see! We'll make it happen.


So tomorrow... to the banya! Fodor's guide to Moscow and St. Petersburg - "Most people in Russia believe the excruciating wet heat of the banya makes you shed toxins ultrafast, through heavy sweating, and that it rejuvenates the internal organs." And, "for Russians, the banya experience is the way to nirvana and longevity" - Steve's response to that was, "What, all of 58 years?" Well, maybe they've reached a state of nirvana by then, but I'm not sure it's entirely due to banya visits. I am ready to shed some Russian toxins... and, um, rejuvenate my internal organs. I guess it's time to put down my glass of wine (I mean... finish my glass of wine) and start drinking water... so, cheers!

Morning with a Local

A few weeks ago I met Margaret, a high school English teacher, at the pool - she sort of magically appeared while I was struggling to understand a woman who, as it turns out, was trying to invite me to her apartment, to see the "best view!!" of Yaroslavl. (Even though I kept saying nye panimayu, nye panimayu, I don't understand ... she kept saying the same thing, a little louder and a little more slowly... that does not help.) Anyways, last week Margaret invited me to go on a tour of Yaroslavl with her, and of course I said yes! So we arranged to meet today. She had left me a note that I picked up at the cashier at the pool yesterday that told me, if I was still interested, to meet her at the bus stop at 7:30am. Eek... early.

I had no idea what to expect or what we were doing exactly, but I managed to roll myself out of bed, down some coffee and get to the bus/trolley stop on time. The plan was to go to her school and join a group of students on a tour of the town, part of a city project to educate youth about the historical significance of Yaroslavl. (It's the city's 1000th birthday in 2010... 1000 years!!) We took the bus and the tram to get to the other side of town, where she showed me her school and introduced me to some other teachers - the school was pretty bare bones ... but looked nice enough, with some flowers and potted plants lining the halls. There was also a security guard stationed at the front door, keeping an eye on all who enter and exit the school. On the way there, I had expressed my amusement/astonishment at the number of security guards in the grocery store... so we laughed when we were met by more security at the school.

Margaret in her classroom

School hallway

By the time we'd done a mini tour of the school, the bus was waiting outside. She introduced me to a few of her English students who were all pretty shy (15 and 16 years old) ... but eventually opened up and started speaking a little bit. Questions they asked me included: Do you like Russia? What is special about Russia for you? And, how many children do you have? (These were the first questions....) And then, what are your hobbies? Will you come back and speak to our class? Of course I said yes, I like Russia... and to the second question, I really didn't know what to say. After thinking about it for a minute, the special thing about being here (maybe it's not really that special) is that it is so different from everywhere else we've lived and visited - it has really been a unique and different experience to say the least. When they asked how many children I had, my first reaction was to ask, "How old do you think I am?!" But then I remembered... people marry young here, and it's pretty normal to have two kids by the time you're 25.

Me, Margaret and some of her students


The gates of the church are inset with unique, one-of-a-kind tiles...

The bus took us to the Volga embankment where we walked around and visited several churches, many of which were built in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the town was very rich as a result of it's status as a central merchant and trading centre. Margaret translated for me, and a group of three or four girls, giggling, asked me questions about life in Canada... and told me a bit about themselves (provoked by my questions.) None of them did any sports - some liked watching tennis, but other than one girl who said she liked running (how many kilometres? one; how often? once a month...) levels of activity were loooow. After a walk around the centre of town, we boarded the bus to take a look at some monuments and churches not as accessible by foot. Margaret and I got off the bus just outside the centre and decided to stop for some tea and a snack before making our way back home. She took me to a very traditional tea house where we had tea, and pancakes and donuts... all very traditional snacks. Yummy ones too! The little spread cost all of 50 rubles, about $2.

Traditional Russian snacks... yum!

We had some great chats, and by talking with her I feel like I've gained much more insight into Russian life than with the talks I've had with Dasha and Daria - the difference must be age and maturity. She talked about how her and her husband still struggle to adapt to the new capitalist system... after having lived under a socialist system for so much of her life, change is difficult. I asked her what she prefers, or what system she thinks is better... and she couldn't answer. She said that both have their advantages, but bottom line, now they have money to eat what they want and have the freedom to travel.... something relatively new for Russian people. (This is also something that most people can't afford to do - visas are expensive and application and payment doesn't guarantee anything). She made a comment at one point, that there should be government regulation in stores - especially coffee shops and restaurants - so that people can't get away with charging $4 for a coffee, or $20 for an entree... I was sort of surprised at first -the government regulating the cost of a latte at Starbucks? I think not - but like she said, she's had a hard time adjusting her mind to a new political system. I guess it's a sort of clash of ideologies, and her generation has to live with one foot in the socialist system of the past, and the other, stepping forward into capitalism.

We talked about salaries, pensions and an economy that is growing... but growing with direct benefits for very few people. Though her salary has increased over the years, it's still not even close to being enough - she said if something were to happen to her husband (an engineer) she really has no idea what she'd do. The article in the weekly English newspaper that I picked up last week lists teachers' salaries ("among the worst") at 8, 788 rubles, which is about $350. So, the salary of a part-time teacher like Margaret (who has been teaching for 30 years) would be no more than $200 a month (I'm guessing). Even though she'd like to retire some time in the near future (I'd say she's in her mid-50s), with a son finishing his first year of university - it's highly unlikely to happen anytime soon. Pensions are around 4000 rubles a month ($120) which is enough for rent, and that's about it - no further encouragement to retire there! Older people here have to work, and if they're unable to... must be supported by their families. And if there is no family to support them? Margaret had no idea. Scary.

Russia's birth rate is declining too... and it's largely a result of the economic situation of the average Russian family - people simply can't afford to have more than one or two children. Putin tagged this problem as Russia's worst - "the most acute problem of contemporary Russia." The low birth-rate is related to economic hardship - the fertility rate here is 1.3 births per woman, whereas 2.1 is what's needed to maintain a stable population (Canada's fertility rate is 1.7 est. - but the population is still growing - thanks to immigration and a low death rate). Death rates are very high too - 15 deaths per 1000 people per year, as compared with 8 deaths per 1000 people in Canada. As I mentioned in a previous post, alcoholism is rampant here - high rates of alcoholism have contributed to a low life expectency for men - 58 years, while women fare considerably better with an average life expectency of 72 (Canada's life expectency for men is 77, and for women, 84). Margaret talked a bit about this problem too.

So.... it was really interesting to talk to her about some of the realities of life here. I love hanging out with Dasha and Daria, but going out for sushi and coffee all of the time seems like something only the rich can afford to do, and it was nice to hear about life from the point of view of someone that seems more aware of ... I don't know... real life? Arg. I don't know. Anyways! We've made plans to do something again on Friday. There is a Russian banya pretty close to both of our places, and I said something about how I really wanted to experience this typical Russian bath-thing before I left (I don't really know what the deal is with these banyas... the only thing that comes to mind is that scene from Eastern Promises... I'm thinking it's not like that at all...) I'm supposed to bring two towels, a head covering (cotton), sandals, soap and ... that's it I think! I'm also going to go speak to her class on Tuesday - on the bus on the way home one of her students called her cell phone to ask her to ask me again if I'd come to talk to the class! Can you imagine a student in Canada calling his/her teacher on their cell phone!? It would have been great to have met Margaret two months ago - I could have busied myself with helping her and her English class... but... better late than never!!

p.s. When looking for Russian and Canadian statistics - the CIA World Factbook was good... wait, am I writing a paper here? Referencing!?!

World Health Day

Yesterday's temperature of 19.2 degrees in Moscow was record-setting - the warmest day ever recorded for April 6th. Almost 20 degrees!!! Temperature records are being shattered here - March last year was the warmest in 125 years, and January 2008 was the mildest since records began 130 years ago. This evidence of global warming isn't being felt by some at home in Canada - what was the temp the other day in Vancover? Close to zero??? What, warmer here in Russia than on the west coast of Canada?! Not to rub it in but... Well, it is an apt day to talk of global warming, seeing as how today is World Health Day... and the theme for 2008 is "Protecting health from climate change." Not many specific or immediate health risks come to mind when thinking about climate change, and I suppose this is because climate change is a gradual process... more often than not, without any immediate visual impacts. The first thing that came to my mind was water, and the eventual exacerbation of the shortages of water supplies felt in so many places around the world - which in turn affects food supplies and eventual crop failures, aridity, etc. The WHO has a list of 10 facts on climate change and human health, which was interesting - take a look if you have a few minutes...


Doesn't it seem like there is a day for everything? I googled international days... or something like that, and one of the first things that came up was a list of Health Canada's Health Promotions Days: April is celebrated as no less than seven "months" (including Dental Health Month, Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month and Earth Month), four "weeks," and five "days," and that's just with regard to Canadian Health. Eeeegadzooks. Well, I like World Health Day. I mean, I like them all... but I do care to know about World Health Day - can't I incorporate all of the other health days into this one? Wikipedia also has today listed as Easy-E Day in Compton, California and Women's Day in Mozambique. I'm sure there are a multitude of other special events/causes pegged to April 7th... but this is enough for me. For now. For today.

The recent flooding in Uganda is a disaster of great dimensions. It destroyed 40% of the country's road network and caused widespread crop failure. In a country where 40% of the population is not using proper water sources, flooding increases the risk of diseases such as malaria and cholera.

This large area of banana plantation was wiped out in Honduras when Hurricane Mitch struck the region in 1998. The hurricane - which also hit Nicaragua - killed more than 17 000 people and left three million homeless. The damages were estimated at US$ 3000 million.

(From the World Health Org's website)

Russian News

For the past week I've been wanting to blog about a few stories that we've seen in the news - we picked up an English newspaper on our way home from Athens last weekend, and there have been some interesting stories on the English news channels Russia Today. Prior to our trip here, I really knew nothing about what life was like in Russia - only a couple of typical stereotypes came to mind: it's cold, people drink a lot of vodka... and ??? I knew that the economy had recovered (somewhat) and that life had improved for the average Russian... but had no context in which to place the news, and no numbers. So here are some numbers... I looked for this graphic online but couldn't find it, so I took a photo of the newspaper.


I'm not sure how clear this picture is but 1992's average monthly wage was $22! The average monthly wage increased to $303 in 2005, $395 in 2006 and $575 in 2007. I asked Dasha about last year's all time (low) high wages, and wondered (aloud) how people afford to buy things... and do stuff! (Remember an hour of skating cost $20, and a meal at a mid-class restaurant costs no less than $70 for the two of us... and that's sans alcohol) Dasha didn't have an answer... but said that many of the smaller towns are still very, very poor... I'm just guessing that only the rich can afford to skate, swim and eat out, big city or small.

The news here has been inundated with talk of NATO expansion and with both Russia's objections and America's enthusiasm for the entry of Georgia and the Ukraine into the organization. Since that summit has ended, there have been further stories regarding relations between the two countries, as Putin and Bush have apparently spent the weekend at Putin's summer home in the resort town of Sochi. The two talked about their not seeing eye to eye on America's missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, and on Russia's objections to the entry of Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO... and Bush's rhetoric just makes me see red: "One areas where we've agreed to work together its the missile defense system. We've got more work to do to convince the Russian side that the system is not aimed at Russia." Yes, he said areas, and yes, he said "convince". This language does not exude the attitude of mutual cooperation that both parties are meant to be extolling. And, he just sounds like the biggest blockhead - I assume that this is not news to anyone.

Another piece o' news - at first I thought this was a joke, but apparently, the Moscow City Council has plans to import natural spring water from the French Alps... to every Moscow resident. This includes a two week hiatus of water supply... hot or cold, from Moscow to France. Question - who is paying for this? And... are you kidding?! There was no mention of how much this crazy venture might cost, but, in response to the objections of French citizens ("But why should millions of Europeans have to go without water for two weeks - in the summer?"), a Moscow city spokeswoman suggested that the French were jealous - "Not all French have natural spring water from the French Alps pouring out of their taps." Right.

Okay, one more thing. I had no idea that Russia has one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world, and the largest in Europe; the registered number of cases is 300,000, and the estimated number is between 1 and 3 million. This accounts for two-thirds of all HIV cases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. People that have been diagnosed suffer huge discrimination (as everywhere else) but a story that Russia Today ran this week talked about repercussions on family members and friends of individuals diagnosed with the disease; many were fired and some told that they must undergo an HIV test, only because he/she was related (brother, sister, cousin) to the affected person. We haven't seen any ads or information anywhere about this apparent problem - according to several different sources, people still think that this is a disease of drug users and prostitutes. I suppose this is the problem. While we had to take HIV tests to get into the country (visa requirement), most Russians will never even think about taking a test; unfortunately this disease might be a lot closer to home than they think.

Six Days of Sun...

I had a super productive day today - won't bore anyone with the details BUT! it involved getting up early to talk to friends on skype which was AWESOME! I love skype! And I love my friends! I also made the trip downtown a few times - to go running, to find broccoli and then finally, to meet up with Dasha. The run was good (got lots of crazy looks, as per usual), the broccoli hunt was fruitless (or vegetable-less - but I did buy some yummy fruit) and it was super fun hanging out with Dasha, who leaves for Moscow this week to start a new job... exciting. It was another beautiful day, and the city is slowly transforming itself - coming out of ugly hibernation and transitioning to la-la-la lovely spring. Really, the difference is huge. Sun, almost-green grass, blue sky - lots of people out... and smiles! People are smiling now, hurray.

Some women at the indoor market selling some sort of homemade soft cheese...

This is right at the mouth of the Kotorosl River along the Volga - it was such a nice day!!

and finally ... Happy Birthday Dad!! I love you!!