schromm – Moscow 2018

The Smells of the Train: An Aromatic Experience

schromm — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 19:38:48 +0000

Smells have always had the power to transport me to past experiences and memories. I love smelling pumpkin pie and associating it with the comfort of my kitchen at home and being warm and cozy next to the fireplace. I hate the smell of rooms that are empty and clean and cold, because they remind me of my orthodontist’s office and the pain I would feel when my wires on my braces were tightened. Smells have power, and are as unique and varied as the colors of the rainbow.

Being on the Trans-Siberian Railroad for three days, I experienced a lot of interesting smells. There were the smells of people’s deodorants, lotions, and body odor. While my compartment luckily never smelled that bad, the compartment where four of the guys from our program stayed had a very distinct rankness to it. It smelled (as well as felt) warm and sweaty. At one point, it was almost like stepping into a whole other atmosphere, the smell was that powerful. That was not a pleasant smell.

Perhaps my least favorite smell I experienced on our three day journey was the smell of everyone smoking at longer stops. About twice a day, the train would have 20-30 minute stops in various towns. Our group would always be very eager to get out and stretch our legs on the platform, but the air always reeked of smoke. It made sense, seeing as smoking on the train was not allowed and so the stops were people’s only chance to smoke if they wanted to. However, I’ve always been repulsed by the smell of cigarette smoke, and so for me it was always quite unpleasant to get off the train expecting fresh air and instead getting the stench of cigarettes.

There was also the smell of foods and drinks. In the morning, I was always happy to make myself some instant coffee and inhale it. The smell of coffee always makes me joyful, and reminds me of mornings at home with my dad who loves coffee. Even when I was on a train in the middle of Russia, a smell was able to transport me elsewhere. Ramen was another smell that was popular in our compartment on the train specifically. I haven’t really eaten Ramen before the train ride, and so smelling it on the train was a new experience for me. I look forward to smelling it in the future and being transported back to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and all the memories I’ve made on this trip.

Smells may not be something you can easily view in a blog post, but I do have a video of a beautiful sunset. Imagine the smell of cooking Ramen while you watch it, and you’ll experience exactly what I did. Sunset on the Trans-Siberian

Nerpas: The Amazing Seals of Baikal

schromm — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 19:20:44 +0000

I first read about nerpas in the book “Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal” by Peter Thomson. It was a book we read for class in preparation for traveling to Baikal, about Peter’s own travels through Siberia and around Baikal. He described the seals, with their big eyes and soft fur coats, zooming around the water eating golomyanka. He made them seem so bright and happy, it made me sad when upon further reading I found out their population is dwindling. Their numbers could be anywhere between 60,000-100,000 seals in the huge Baikal region, with the vast majority of them living on the lake itself. They seem to be pretty hard to count exactly, which makes sense seeing as they spend a lot of time underwater and during the winter they live in little grottos they dig out under the ice.

A young nerpa perched on a rock

Ever since reading about them, I was really excited at the prospect of maybe being able to see one when we adventured around Baikal. What I didn’t realize is how famous these freshwater pinniped are not only in the towns on or close to the shores of Baikal, but also in the towns further away from the lake, like Ulan Ude. I was surprised to see little magnets and souvenirs with nerpa pups pictured on them, figuring that Ulan Ude was far enough from the lake that nerpa merchandise wouldn’t necessarily be popular. I was very wrong, and there were even nerpa souvenirs as far away as Kyakhta, a city on the Mongolian border. I suppose it makes sense. I’m from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, which is over an hour’s drive from Lake Superior, and yet Lake Superior souvenirs are sold in my town. I guess

We were lucky enough to be able to visit a museum on the southwestern shore of Baikal in the town of Listvianka that has two nerpas swimming around in an aquarium, along with a number of other Baikal fish in various tanks, and other exhibits about the lake and its history. The nerpas were fascinating to watch, especially because when they swim they make themselves as hydrodynamic as possible by tucking in their necks and every other part of them. They looked a lot like big, plump balloons shooting through the water. Once they surfaced and flopped onto flat land, they elongated and looked more like the seals you might see in nature magazines or calendars.

nerpa video-2jato59

(A video I took of the nerpas swimming around in the museum in Listvianka)

One of the coolest things I learned about nerpas is that they carry on average two more liters of blood than other seals their size. This allows them to stay underwater for very long periods of time. Typically, most dives only last 2-4 minutes, but can last up to 70 minutes if they feel they are in serious danger. As a swimmer, holding my breath has been something I’ve always needed to work on, and the idea of holding my breath for more than a few minutes, let alone an hour, is astounding to me. Nerpas are seriously amazing.

Little American Fish in a Russian Pool

schromm — Tue, 08 May 2018 07:08:41 +0000

Something that was important for me to do at least a few times while I’m in Russia is to go swimming. I’ve been swimming since I was six years old, and I absolutely love it. It’s great because at Carleton, even when our swim team is out of season, there are two pools on campus with lap swim hours that are free for students. The situation at Moscow State is similar, but also very different.

The first thing I had to do before I could even get into the locker room was to buy a sort of ticket. Lap swim here isn’t free, and everyone has to have a ticket in order to get keys to a locker in the locker room. It only costs 60 rubles for one visit if you’re a student, which is just under one American dollar. Once I had bought the ticket from the office, I went down to the floor below where the locker rooms and pool are. I gave my one-time ticket and student ID to the secretary there, and received a key to a small locker in the locker room. Once in the locker room, there’s a place right inside the door designated for taking off street shoes and changing into tapochki, which are basically just sandals or flip flops. I didn’t realize I needed them, and while I got away with it the first time, the second time I went swimming I got yelled at by one of the workers for not having them. I was the only person not wearing them. Some people I’ve swam with wear sandals on the pool deck, but I’d say for the most part in the United States people are fine going barefoot. Not in Russia though.

Once I’d changed, I went out to the pool area. The pool itself reminds me a lot of one of the pools on Carleton’s campus, Cowling pool. It feels very underground, although there are a few windows along one side of the wall. There are only four lanes, 25 meters long. There’s a shallow end and a deep end, with small diving blocks on the deep end side.

An oldie but a goodie: this is the pool I’ve been swimming at, although I so far haven’t seen anyone dive off the high dives yet. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/545991154801821229/

The schedule of the pool here works this way: you buy a ticket for a pre-set, forty minute chunk of time. Once you get onto the pool deck, you have to wait until the previous forty minutes ends and the trainer clears the pool before you can get in. Then it’s pretty much a free for all.

What I’ve come to realize is that the people who do lap swim are recreational swimmers, not necessarily competitive swimmers. I don’t really fit in, and it’s near impossible to do a set because there are usually 3-5 people in a lane that stop every 25 or 50 meters. It is really cool to see how many people like to swim who aren’t necessarily “swimmers.” That part makes me happy. I truly believe swimming is the best sport for so many reasons, so I love seeing other people who enjoy it and love it like I do.

Chistiye Prudy

schromm — Mon, 07 May 2018 13:57:51 +0000

We (Marly and Camille) decided to explore Chistiye Prudy (Clean Ponds), a neighborhood northwest of the center of Moscow. This exploration was completed for a class project, the purpose of which was to delve into specific regions of the city and become acquainted with people who spend time there. We chose this neighborhood because of its pretty boulevards and busy family atmosphere. On our first excursion to the neighborhood, we walked around the pond – the pond is bordered by an upscale restaurant, benches and restaurants. It was immediately apparent that this is a popular spot to hang out, because the path around the pond was full of people out for a stroll, and there was even a couple wearing wedding attire and taking photos.

The Clean Pond itself

Marly and Camille at the Clean Pond!

A statue of Chernishevskiy

In order to learn about the neighborhood from Muscovites, we approached two older women who were sitting on a bench facing the pond. One woman is a Moscow native, and the other woman was born in Leningrad, but moved to Moscow after marriage. The latter owns a dacha in the countryside, but does not frequent it anymore, as it is difficult to go alone. Presumably, the husbands of both women had died. The women happily told us that they sit at the pond every day, which they have done for years. Both had studied in school but had not obtained a college degree. One woman was reading a magazine, in which she showed us a silly poem that made her laugh.

On our second excursion to “Chistiye Prudy,” we were joined by Mila, a student at Moscow State University who is studying to teach Russian to language to foreign language speakers. When we told her we had chosen “Chistiye Prudy” as our district, she was glad because it happens to be one of the favorites of other university students. She led us around the neighborhoods there, showing us good places to eat and the sudden disparity from one street to the next; on one street there are beautiful, old buildings with detailed decorations and marble carvings, and on the next street the window frames and sidewalks are cracked and falling apart.

For dinner we got pizza from a pizza place and ate in an amphitheater that displayed a portion of the original white stone that protected what was then known as “Bely Gorod” (White City). We chose to talk to two younger girls, probably around our age, about “Chistiye Prudy.” They are students at the Theatrical Institute nearby, and while they were eager to talk to us, they wanted to talk more about us and where we came from. When we asked them their favorite restaurant, they answered “MacDonald’s!” We were thoroughly surprised.

Selfie with Mila outside of the pizza place!

An original portion of the fortress around Moscow that was made of white stone

Marly and Mila

Amazing statues outside one of the buildings in Chistiye Prudy

We really enjoyed spending time in “Chistiye Prudy.” There is a lot of beautiful scenery and what will be greenery as spring continues. We definitely plan on visiting this district more in the future.

Peterhof Palace’s Backyard

schromm — Fri, 04 May 2018 18:25:41 +0000

While walking around the enormous gardens behind the Peterhof Palace, I was cold, hungry, probably dehydrated, and damp from the slight rain that had begun to fall in the early afternoon. It had been a long day, and my legs were becoming sore from walking. And yet, the beauty of the gardens at Peterhof made all of those inconveniences disappear. Immediately behind the palace is the most extravagant series of fountains, including two sets inlaid into a hill, and a large pool with an impressive golden figure of Triton in the center.

Straight down the path from this main set of fountains, the Gulf of Finland and a small harbor peek through the trees. Our tour guide told us that this palace was especially important to Catherine I because the Gulf of Finland was her escape route in case anyone tried to overthrow her, despite her preference for her palace in Pushkin.

The garden itself is also filled with many “tricks.” There was a smattering of stepping stones clustered together in one spot, perhaps covering the size of a small car, with small water fountains interspersed. A group of children took turns running across it, trying not to get wet as the water shot up when their feet hit the rocks. At first I figured that it must somehow be a weight sensor of some sort, but found out that there was a worker hidden away with the controls, who simply watched for when the children would venture across. It was very amusing to watch the children squeal in excitement when one of their friends got splashed or made it across safely.

Although we didn’t go into the palace itself, the beauty and fun of the fountains themselves made me like Peterhof more than Catherine’s Palace in Pushkin. I also loved its proximity to the ocean, and how it, like Petersburg was meant to be, really did seem like a window to the West.

A Crowded Bus Ride

schromm — Fri, 04 May 2018 18:04:28 +0000

To and from Suzdal, our group took a public bus. As a person from a small town who goes to college in Northfield, Minnesota, my experience with public transportation has been quite limited up until this this trip. The bus itself was normal, and seated around twenty people comfortably. Our group alone had fifteen people, and so most of the bus was quite full without everyone else who also needed transportation to Vladimir.

https://www.andreev.org/images/maps/russia_map-9.jpg

We had arrived to the station thirty minutes in advance, and our professor bought tickets for all of us. We all were supposed to have seats except for one person, which wasn’t really a problem. The ride itself was 40 minutes, and we could switch out with people if the person standing got tired. At least, we thought we could. The people with seats sat down first in the bus, and then those who got their tickets later filed into the bus. More and more people got on, and I saw a couple students from my group stand up to give their seats up to some older passengers. The bus was packed.

The seat I was in faced inward, towards the center of the bus, and directly in front of me stood two young women and their children. They were trying to make the best of a sticky situation, laughing it off and exclaiming at how crowded the bus was. Their children had very different reactions to the experience. As the bus got going and the people standing swayed back and forth, trying not to fall on top of one another, the daughter visibly became increasingly uncomfortable while the son stood stoically. As more people crammed into the bus at the next stop, we somehow made more room on our seat and the little girl sat next to me. I felt bad because my purse strap kept falling off of my shoulder and hitting her on the head, but there was really nowhere I could put my purse.

I feel like the phrase, “packed like a can of sardines” wasn’t adequate to describe our situation. We were almost overflowing.

As one man sang without fear of judgement from those around him and another lady yelped every time the bus door opened because it almost squished her into the side of the bus, I wanted nothing more than to get off the bus. At the same time though, I loved the experience. It was awesome to see the effort people would go to in order to ensure the comfort of others, and also how no one really wanted to turn anyone away: if someone needed to get on the bus, they got on the bus. There was one stop where the people waiting there simply saw how full the bus was, chuckled and waved it on.

https://moe-online.ru/media/2/4/8/3/8/6/21eff053d41baa6b195318c708ee7eeb/thumb_1920.jpg

Here’s a haiku to describe the journey:

Too many people.
Yeah, we can fit a few more.
Sorry little girl!

From Class to Dorm: A PhotoGuide

schromm — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 14:28:12 +0000

Walking to my dorm from class at Moscow State University: A Photo Guide

One of the first things I notice when I walk out of our class building is the large monument right outside. It is very tall and noticeable, and I have yet to see the fire inside go out. I like how “in your face” it is. The monument is dedicated to the students who fought and died in World War II.

This is the view of our dormitory from in front of the WWII monument. It’s pretty grand, and even after two weeks here, walking up to it intimidates the small-town Minnesotan girl inside of me.

The blue fenced in area in front of our dorm, similar to the bald spot at Carleton, is a place meant for outdoor recreation! When I took these photos, there was about two feet of snow inside the arena though, so it’s probably more commonly used in the spring and summer. The walls look a lot like a hockey arena, but there are basketball nets all along the outer edge. The day that I’m writing this is one of the first very warm days we’ve had since we arrived, and there were students playing basketball out there today. It had the same refreshing feel to see those boys playing basketball as it does to see the first frisbee bros out on the bald spot tossing a disc around. You know spring has arrived!

Just past the basketball “courts” is a little jungle gym! It’s been very entertaining to see the kind of people who use the jungle gym, because unlike what I expected, the target audience seems to be adult men. And I mean any adult, from students at Moscow State University, to men who look to be in their 50s or even 60s. The jungle gym isn’t really a playground it seems, but a workout gym for these men. I’ve seen a lot of them doing pullups (the most popular) and have seen some tricep dips, leg lifts, situps, etc. Maybe as the weather changes more kids will appear.

There are a few garbage cans lining the sidewalk on the way back to the dorm, and most of the content within looks the same: miscellaneous trash with a lot of cigarette butts. Smoking here is very common. When we first arrived, the students showing us around told us that smoking was prohibited anywhere on campus, but that everyone did it. And low and behold, I can almost guarantee that anytime I look out my dorm window, there will be someone smoking outside.

МГУ also feels like a very safe place to me. From the security guards in our academic building, to the security guards outside of the main building, to the other security workers on the bottom floor of our building, to the kind ladies who live on our floor and are always around if we need anything, I feel like this campus has got us all pretty safe. The foreboding gates surrounding our main building and other parts of campus make it feel more secluded and safe though.

A beautiful sight to see! Green transportation! This little bike rack is located immediately to the right of the door to our dorm. I can’t wait until the weather is warm enough that people will start taking out their bikes and using them. This is probably the most alike-to-Carleton view I’ve found. I wonder if bike theft is common at all on this campus…

Ah, and last but not least: a photo from our dorm lounge of my favorite resident: Archie the cat! Yes, his owners are Russian and named him Archie, a definitely not-Russian name. He’s kind of like the resident Lyman of our floor, but a bit more loving and with a bit more character. He has a limp in one of his front paws from when he fell (jumped?) out of a window. I didn’t actually hear the story, but we live on the ninth floor, so if he jumped from there then he’s quite the survivor. He likes to try to escape into the elevators and make his owners worried. (Sounds a lot like Lyman in that respect, no? Not the elevators part).