Final Memoirs of Moscow

More photos coming soon

Reflections II

I apologize in advance for the disconnected flavor of this post. I have had good practice in silence during my time here and therefore have become ever more reflective. I suppose it's about time for me to come home, and in fact I do fly out of Moscow the 17th of August. Here goes:

I intend to always be learning a language in life, and I do mean phonetically differentiated languages, i.e. English, Russian, etc., as opposed to languages differentiated by subject, i.e. Philosophy, Calculus, Economics, Biology, etc., though continuing my general education through ample reading is also in the plans. Learning a new language makes you feel like a child again, and is one of the best ways I know of instilling humility. I am constantly reminded of my fallacious memory and weak tongue unless I am making a concerted effort to carefully and consciously construct my speech. I again insist that this mild source of humiliation is/can be good because it gives one the opportunity to respond with increased sense of humor and humility, both of which are good. Both of which I naturally lack. Or have been conditioned to be lacking in, I don’t know.

The kind of humility I’m talking about should not be confused with the wheezling kind of resignation, the world view that assumes certain things about ‘the way things are’. ‘I’m no good at Russian’, or ‘our society is corrupt and there’s nothing I can do about it’, or even ‘this or that gives me such an amount of utility’ (subconsciously calculated of course). Things in this world are never exactly the way we think they are, and one of the spiritual truisms is that we are created to act and not only be acted upon. This is a perspective that resonates with many in the West but is received with considerable hesitation in Russia. The life context of so many here has been framed by a regime whose stated goal was to create a system where each part was defined entirely by the whole. An anthill of workers. Still, the key point with all of social science’s indicators of success in Russian is that they are improving. There is variation, and things are moving in a positive direction. Even in regards to freedom of the press, which I am studying, the new President Medvediev called a meeting with the Union of Journalists immediately upon assuming power. Putin never did.

Another lesson learned in international travel: do not work through the middle man. This includes such companies as Vayama, Cheap Tickets.com, etc. These companies are virtually useless now that other, free search engines are available to find the cheapest tickets, i.e. Kayak.com (thank you Channing). I spent this last week trying to work through Vayama in re-scheduling my flight out of Moscow from the 21^st to the 17^th, but time spent on them was wasted. First of all, you give them a request, which they look up on the airline’s sight (which you can do yourself). Then they submit a request for change to their booking department (which takes a day or so to process), then, if the tickets haven’t sold out yet, they wait for a confirmation email from the airline, which they forward to you, and then you must call the middle man back to confirm. Well by the time all of this tedious, expensive and bureaucratic process is complete, another customer has purchased your spot by logging into the airline’s sight for 5 minutes. I finally asked Vayama if I couldn’t just call the airline myself, and they admitted that I could, and that I wouldn’t even have to pay the commission fee to Vayama if I did. But I had to go through a week of hell to find out (they would send their emails about 3 AM my time). The dark side of capitalism.

Reflections

Here are some of my latest, though fragmented thoughts on Russia:

I have been conducting a lot of interviews with the Intelligentsia of Moscow. I am enjoying myself immensely. Besides my academic work, I have noticed that Russia is chalk full of beautiful women, though I also haven't spent much time with them on account of me living in the forest and all. I did meet a beauty who's studying at Oxford last night though, and I'll probably take her to the Bolshoi Ballet. I took another gorgeous girl the other night to Swan Lake...amazing show. In short, Moscow is amazing just by virtue of its women, which are - as I've said - lovely, but more than that, they're real women. There's no sense of needing to hide your masculinity as masculinity is encouraged here. Russian women want a man, and they in turn know how to be women. Charmante.

Also, being in Moscow while reading through War and Peace is inspirational, since Moscow is one of those cities that has changed little. One can easily imagine Pierre, Natasha, Levin and all the rest riding through these streets and parks in their carriages. Pigeons are everywhere. They are reconstructing everything, trying to rid themselves of the Communist Yoke. I have noticed a definite longing for Tsarist Russia with all its attendant glory and culture.

My grandfather last saw his Russian friends in 2002 when he was involved as a financial advisor to the President of Burachia (an area of Siberia, near Lake Baikal). He rode with some of them on the Trans-Siberian railroad. He has known them since the Cold War when he met them as a NATO officer while living in Bruxelles. They do indeed have good stories as they are just the kind of Russians that not only lived through Communism, but experienced and delt with it. They belong to the class known as the Intelligentsia (sort of like our 'intellectuals' but more defined and class/family-history-oriented) and therefore were involved/ are involved in the dangerous business of societal criticism. Unfortunately, I haven't spent enough time drinking Vodka with them (none actually, don't worry) to squeeze the best of stories out of them, but they have generically described to me the stress of living in a quickly changing, unstable society. We in the West tend to criticize Russia heavily, but my arguments against Putin's measures in re-consolidating power to the State have largely been disarmed as I've gained a clearer picture of Russia's recent history. The changes that took place in the early 90's after the fall of Soviet Union were just as, if not more, violent and destabilizing than the the fall itself. Thus the Russian people now thirst for stability, economic growth, and a strong Patriarchal figure in government. Liberal issues are to them very far down on the list of priorities at the present time. I look forward to a good discussion on ethnography.

The bus rides are bad. In order to go to Moscow proper and back to my little village, at least 4-5 hours are required. Most of the time I can read, which has given me time to finish up War and Peace. A truly incredible book that presents a nearly complete life-vision. I am finishing it up in Russian since the 3rd tom I left in Cambridge with my friend on accident. But this has been a blessing in disguise because my reading skills are markedly improving, as well as my speaking skills. I am a visual learner, so as I read Russian, my speech begins to reflect what I read, and thus reading Tolstoy is very good. It has taken all of a month for my Russian skills to come up to par, but I now feel much more free with the language and can discuss most topics with ease. The main trick is to avoid emulating most kids my age, whose language is a horribly mangled form of Russian, filled with cursing and 4 meaningless words: blin (pancake, or damn), prikolna (lit. piercingly, or cool), korotche (lit. shorter, or in short), and eta samaya (that thing). Guarding the integrity of language is tantamount to guarding freedom of speech. Freedom exists, but what do we do with it? What happened in the 90's Russian free-market has actually made many Russians view the word freedom with scepticism. But consider, what Rockefeller, Scott, Hayes, etc., did with free market capitalism in the late 19th century also caused quite a severe reaction, resulting in our well-established labor movements.

More to come my friends

Moscow and the Green City

My summer home; unfortunately it is a 2-hour trip from Moscow proper















The Russians are following Italy in their high fashion. Moscow is the most 'expensive' city in the world because of real estate and clothing, both of which are HUGE statistical outliers










Dmitry, who is Dean of Journalism at Lomonosova















A close-up example of Orthodox art; these paintings cover the temple on Red Square















Aleksey Simonov, the President of the Fund for the Defense of Glasnost















The temple on Red Square















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My buddies Dima and Roma; they keep me good company when I'm not busy reading, writing, or travelling to and from Moscow. They live in my village




















This is the forest path upon which I traverse the forest surrounding my village. I then walk 15 minutes to a bus-stop, ride for 30 minutes to Zelenograd - or 'Green City' - then ride 45 minutes to the Northern-most Moscow metro station, then another 45 minutes through the metro into Central Moscow. This is all contingent on whether I make it out of the mesquito-infested forest in the first place

My Russian Grandmother Lyusya, who is a wonderful cook















This is the view from our front door

Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport may seem out of place among the great cities of the world, but it's actually not. This past Monday, July 14, I spent all day and all night at Heathrow in pursuit of a cheap flight to Moscow. I had heard that some airlines offer a standby option, but this, I think, is only done through prior arrangement, or through a third-party who actually books the tickets. At any rate, none of the airlines at Heathrow with flights to Moscow considered letting me standby. Since you can’t buy tickets through the internet on the same day, and since my debit card was locked up with the +$2,000-deposit-processing-of-5-days-time-policy, I was therefore forced to purchase a flight on Tuesday working off of the airport’s expensive wireless. No matter where you go in London, it eats your money, and I was glad to leave. The interesting thing about Heathrow is that, as I mentioned above, there is a species of traveler who sleeps in airports, not hostels. This is quite common I think and perfectly acceptable to the airport. Something to keep in mind if you're too poor for a hostel; of course, if you're too poor for a hostel, you probably shouldn't be traveling...

This whole affair set me back one day, and since I left my Verizon phone at home, I started to have huge communication issues at this point. My friends in Moscow expected me a day earlier and my family didn’t know where I had disappeared. Well, the pay phones at the Warsaw airport did not work with credit card and they did not have any ATMs, SO: I made quick friends with a Polish Sailor named Dima and used his phone to call Val Spector in Moscow who in turn contacted Anna Bigun (a Ukrainian friend who was kind enough to find me my current lodging). I could not get through to her cell phone, but apparently Val know something I didn’t because he was able to contact her; I called Val back and gave him all my arrival information and Anna was again kind enough to meet me at the airport. It was imperative that I contact her because I was to meet her at the American Embassy earlier in the day, BUT (surprise) our Polish flight was very late getting out of London, and I missed my connecting flight to Moscow. So two lessons I have learned about traveling so far: 1. Travel with at least one other person if you can (they can watch your stuff and give you moral support). Also, you could use them as a pillow in case you have to sleep overnight in the airport. 2. When arranging flights, do so well in advance and try to go the straight route. Connections = delays, especially when working with ignominious carriers such as LOT, ASA, FINNAIR, etc.

Now, I am very comfortable living with the Nabatnikov family in a forest north of Moscow, and am having a great time with my research and with friends.

London

Antiquity (much of London's appeal is found in the collection of foreign and ancient creations)


Yours truly in my new Scottish cap


Fashion

...And finally...London's main attraction: King Richard! Magnificent!

I must say that London is a piece of cake compared with Russia, but we’ll get to that later. Well, I take that part back actually. I absolutely love Russia, and Moscow is very much Russia. London, on the other hand, is not really England. I stayed in the Royal Bayswater Hostel one night and another Queen’s Hotel the other night and the Bayswater/Queensway area in general is filled with non-English peoples giving the place a feel similar to New York City. There are so many languages being spoken all around you at the same time so that you realize London is in fact an island, and international hub of capitalists with architecture from a bygone and glorious era. But now London is filled with: 1. Elitist-oriented Europhiles such as those who attend the BYU London Center (I don’t necessarily mean this in a pejorative way, just stating a fact), 2. International (especially Polish, Turkish and French) opportunists, 3. Excited Asian prep-school children or tourists on their way to sight see Oxford, Cambridge and take part in such ‘English’ sport as Punting, 4. East Indians, who largely run the popular service sector, i.e. restaurants, hotels and Cricket ballers, and finally 4. The still-British parliament from time to time. The rest of the Brits I assume have escaped a bit further toward the interior of their homeland.

I should mention that the hostels I stayed in reminded me all too much of a Dickensian London which was supposed to have long-since passed. Nope. It’s still there and it’s just north of Hyde Park in the Bayswater area. The slummish feel of London in general is only slightly offset, as I mentioned, by the wonderful architecture, historical attractions, and everything else that makes this the city every American girl dreams of, or at least seeks to identify herself with. My remark is: let us not forget that the London of today is a gift from the past, but one is hard-pressed to transcend the street in order to attain historical immersion. Go to Cambridge, nirvana is attained more easily there.

My final remarks on the London experience have to do with the many hours spent at Heathrow grasping for the mythical straw of ‘standby’ flights. They don’t exist. I tried a number of different airlines with flights into Moscow, but not a single one would let me fly out on Monday. Of course, I arrived at the airport early on Monday morning, but nevertheless I ended up staying there the entire day…and entire night. Wow. If you have never stayed the night in an airport, you should NOT do so. Although I did save the 50+ Pounds that another night in a hostel w/ breakfast, travel etc., would have required, so perhaps the extreme discomfort of the floor/chairs/vacuums in your ear and the eyes of countless human organisms upon you throughout the night is worth it. Apparently there is a certain caste of European backpacker who thinks so. I noticed a few college-aged Europeans outfitted to sleep just about anywhere making themselves quite at home on the floors. But then again, this caste is known to reject the notion of general standards except in regards to tolerance, sustainability and relativity. In

Perhaps in my superficial description of London and Heathrow I have given you to understand that I was not at all impressed. This is not true, and one story will illustrate one of London’s many alluring aspects. My friend Mais Yahia is in London with the BYU Center (though she is neither elitist in sentiment or background, being a loyal Palestinian) and she was wry enough to get us into an Arabic film festival for free where a new movie was screened and the director was interviewed. This was quite a high brow event and the finest drinks and victuals were afterwards presented in the theatre’s cocktail lounge. This was the first time being among truly fashionable society for me, and I was impressed with the attention that all present (besides me) seemed to give to their clothing and general appearance. Tiger-striped shoes, designer jeans, brightly colored and tightly tailored shirts, various jewelry and the like were the order of the evening.

A word about the film itself. Being on the universal theme of family abuse, it did not address political or religious issues, thus avoiding a pitfall that traps most Western-Arab enterprises before they really get started. The film is about a Lebanese family whose father abuses his wife and two boys; the grandfather – or kindly old man, I couldn’t tell which – by setting an example of the ‘proper’ patriarch, and finally assisting in an escape, is the hero of the film. At the end of the film this hero, in attempting to help the father with his problem, in fact sacrifices himself to the father’s rage. This is a very powerful film and I appreciate the hope in Islamic patriarchy that counterbalances the utterly dismal view given in a book I’m reading now called While Europe Slept. Family abuse is a problem in traditional Islamic cultures, where while it may not happen any more than in any other culture, their society so often fails to criticize it when it does. However, the positive reception of this film in Lebanon gave me to know that there is probably the opportunity for progress.

Cambridge II

So far I have been bad at keeping a log (though I promised to not write descriptively, so perhaps I’m covered) of my travels but you will understand why when I relate the events of these past many days. First of all, tonight was the first shower I’ve had in just under a week, but we’ll get to Russia later. For now, I should describe Cambridge in all its glory; unfortunately I didn’t take a single picture, but this was because I felt that the place was too sacred to defile with the spirit of tourism. And I stayed with a friend in King’s College…IN King’s College, which is right in the middle of the University and contains some of the best examples of Cambridge’s gothic architecture. The place is absolutely stunning, in both view and feel. I will echo the words of Sir Thomas in saying that Cambridge inspires one to become an excellent scholar. I must say that I really played the whole thing up and bought myself a cap from Edinburgh Woolen Mills, along with traditional English socks, and thus walked around the city. We went punting along the river Cam, which was difficult and crowded, but I think that if one went in the rain, nobody else would clog the river. I tell you that punting along the river Cam, in the rain, after reading some good book in King’s College Library, while looking forward to Evensong, is my idea of a good time.