From Irkutsk
So, I'm actually not going to delve into the stories I mentioned last time, for simple lack of time. Suffice to say, I had an interesting experience at the airport. A real Kulturnyi Momyent. So. Irkutsk. After arriving in the airport at 5:10am local time, I met my хозяйка (host mom). Her name is Lyudmila Alekseevna, and she lives right in the center of the city in a four-room first-floor apartment. I'm about a hundred feet from the city's central bus stop, which is handy. The city itself is an odd mix of largely run down and ugly soviet buildings, and a very beautiful location. It is located on both sides of the Angara river, which is the only major outlet of Lake Baikal (more on that later). It is gorgeous country. The expansive forests of Northern Maine, the hills of Vermont, but more than that. The city has a large amount of open space, which is really nice. There are parts of the city where they just left a block or more of forest. And Централный Парк (Central Park) is wonderful. You get used to, after a few days, looking past the buildings in disrepair, and seeing that which is beautiful. We started classes on Wednesday. There...well, to be perfectly honest, they're pretty boring. But I was warned about that. So I think I'm going to try to enroll in two classes in the mainstream of the University, and drop two of the Midd classes. They're just no up to the par of the classes at Midd, and the mainstreams will be more interesting, and fulfilling, I hope. In any event, I haven't yet spent too much time worrying about the classes. The rest of the experience - that it, the city, the theatres, the people - are much more interesting to me.
A word about Russians. If any of you have heard that all Russian women (young women) wear stiletto heels and clothes which would be considered slutty or provocative in the states...you heard correctly. All of them. Every last one. You can hear a group of women a mile away by the tell-tale clopping of heels on pavement, or floor. And the men are mostly dressed up. Collared shirts, leather shoes, the whole bit. Although it's less stringent. I get fewer looks than my female friends. There's no way to hide the American-ness. Or at the very least, the foreign-ness. And it draws looks everywhere, from everyone. And I would say that they don't all drink as much as people think, but it's still a problem. It is legal to drink in the street, and there are kiosks literally everywhere selling upwards of 50 kinds of beer and vodka. And beer is culturally not considered to be truely alcoholic, that is, it's appropriate for anyone at any time of day. On the bus to school in the morning, there are plenty of people drinking beer in the bus, which took some getting used to. It's not something that I even really thought about as not allowed in the states until I saw it everywhere here and realized that I wasn't used to it. It's also really really cheap. So the whole culture surrounding it is very specifically Russian.
Before I run out of time at this internet club, I want to write about Lake Baikal. We went yesterday to Lake Baikal, which, for those of you to whom I haven't blabbed on and on about it, is the deepest, oldest, and cleanest lake in the world. Also the largest, volume-wise - it holds more than 1/5 of the world's fresh water, which is an unbelievable amount. It's about an hour by car from Irkutsk, surrounded by mountains. And it is indescribably beautiful. From the little time I spent there yesterday, I already want to go back more than anything. It was simply incredible. The highlight of the day was the русская баня (Russian "Banya") which is akin to a Finnish Sauna. There was one on the side of the lake, and for 100 roubles (about 3.5 dollars), you could use it as long as you liked. After spending 20 minutes inside the Banya (hotter than any I've been in), we ran out the door into the 45-degree water (average temperature of the water is 5 degrees Centigrade, which is around 40). If none of you have been in water that cold, let me tell you - it hurts! Your body can't really tell the difference between ice and water that cold, as a rule, so it's like diving naked onto ice, as far as cold goes. Which after the Banya felt so good for about 30 seconds, and then you had to run shivering back into the Banya to warm up. It's unreal how clear the water is, and swimming in it was amazing, with the mountains plunging into the lake, and the clouds blowing overhead. I have to go back.
Okay. Out of time. I'll update this blog within the week, and I think I'll make it a Sunday habit. Okay!
Целую
Matty
A word about Russians. If any of you have heard that all Russian women (young women) wear stiletto heels and clothes which would be considered slutty or provocative in the states...you heard correctly. All of them. Every last one. You can hear a group of women a mile away by the tell-tale clopping of heels on pavement, or floor. And the men are mostly dressed up. Collared shirts, leather shoes, the whole bit. Although it's less stringent. I get fewer looks than my female friends. There's no way to hide the American-ness. Or at the very least, the foreign-ness. And it draws looks everywhere, from everyone. And I would say that they don't all drink as much as people think, but it's still a problem. It is legal to drink in the street, and there are kiosks literally everywhere selling upwards of 50 kinds of beer and vodka. And beer is culturally not considered to be truely alcoholic, that is, it's appropriate for anyone at any time of day. On the bus to school in the morning, there are plenty of people drinking beer in the bus, which took some getting used to. It's not something that I even really thought about as not allowed in the states until I saw it everywhere here and realized that I wasn't used to it. It's also really really cheap. So the whole culture surrounding it is very specifically Russian.
Before I run out of time at this internet club, I want to write about Lake Baikal. We went yesterday to Lake Baikal, which, for those of you to whom I haven't blabbed on and on about it, is the deepest, oldest, and cleanest lake in the world. Also the largest, volume-wise - it holds more than 1/5 of the world's fresh water, which is an unbelievable amount. It's about an hour by car from Irkutsk, surrounded by mountains. And it is indescribably beautiful. From the little time I spent there yesterday, I already want to go back more than anything. It was simply incredible. The highlight of the day was the русская баня (Russian "Banya") which is akin to a Finnish Sauna. There was one on the side of the lake, and for 100 roubles (about 3.5 dollars), you could use it as long as you liked. After spending 20 minutes inside the Banya (hotter than any I've been in), we ran out the door into the 45-degree water (average temperature of the water is 5 degrees Centigrade, which is around 40). If none of you have been in water that cold, let me tell you - it hurts! Your body can't really tell the difference between ice and water that cold, as a rule, so it's like diving naked onto ice, as far as cold goes. Which after the Banya felt so good for about 30 seconds, and then you had to run shivering back into the Banya to warm up. It's unreal how clear the water is, and swimming in it was amazing, with the mountains plunging into the lake, and the clouds blowing overhead. I have to go back.
Okay. Out of time. I'll update this blog within the week, and I think I'll make it a Sunday habit. Okay!
Целую
Matty