From the Snow-Country #2

Dear friends,

I am here alive and joyful of the now rare opportunity to see my city covered with pure white snow knee-deep and up. The number of cars is close to the not-so-rich times of late Soviet Union (using “late” in both senses). Walking is rather interesting along narrow paths cleared from snow where only one person can walk at a time. Just of pure curiosity I walked to work and back today again, just like yesterday.

Some people keep walking, some even skiing to wherever they head. Some people catch whatever public transport is out there. Some roads were cleared (kind of) last night. There hasn’t been snow falling today but they say it is beginning to do so and might continue (probably with less force) for two more days. I wonder if I can use this to advantage taking pics for my blog.

Some people say it is a great opportunity to shoot a Hollywood disaster movie. Well, they actually say that it all looks like scenes from one, but I’d go further and use this for some actual shooting while all you need is a script (sorry, forgot that scriptwriters are on strike) and the cast. The sets are provided and no snow-making machines are needed.

I guess the state of emergency in the city is still I force which means no schools are open and people might get excused if they fail to even try getting to work. Some have experience of 30-minutes to 5-hours attempts of either walking or being somehow transported in a more traditional way across the whole city. Some less fortunate (in the “having less brains” sense) venture in their cars, get stuck and make other cars form jams.

Yesterday Russian TV showed an ambulance driver saying that they spent three hours trying to get to somebody, had to stop at some point and walk to the house. No snow-clearing devices were seen at that. It is only last night (the second night of snowfalls) that the streets were visibly attempted to be cleaned.

I am through with exams this week and am going to a classical music concert at the Philharmonic tomorrow night. Hope you are having as enjoyable and interesting time as me here wherever you are.

Love,

Andrey

PS: I really enjoy all this and therefore must be proclaimed a complete anti-social type. But then I am joined in this weather-appreciation by numerous other “anti-social types”.

From the Snow-Country #1

Dear friends,

How are you doing there in your parts of the world?

Here I am in Samara where a state of emergency is declared today after two days of snow and in view of another two days of snowfalls. I am fine: been to work today, am going to work tomorrow, am warm and have food, am even writing this (so I have Internet). It’s just that city authorities somehow managed to fuck up all the measures to clear the streets and these streets now vary from impassable to barely passable to somewhat passable. Again, cars have winter tyres, but tyres are of little help when a car is stick in snow, or when other cars in a jam before you are stuck. Schools are closed for two days. Yet it is only childish -11 C (12 F). I would say we have such snowfalls at least once or twice in the worst years to five-ten in the best years. And I am not kidding here: children of Russia should know what a typical Russian winter is. It is time for them to enjoy what I used to enjoy a lot when I was a child. We don’t die or get paralyzed at times like these. Yet, the city administration seems to have managed to do so…die in the streets and prosper on TV.

Some photos are here (the text is in Russian): http://samaralife.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/255/. Don’t think it is always so “dark” and “gloomy”. To make you believe we have had lots of sunny bright days I am sending you links to my other pics of this winter (just a few) that I put on a Samara photo site:

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.30951.html From the right bank of the Volga to where I went across the river on ice in -25 C (-13 F)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.31616.html A Soviet-style mosaic on one of the buildings in the city centre

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.31143.html Lenin Memorial building (part; after some retouching on the computer)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.30771.html Lenin Memorial building (part)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.32072.html Ladya (an old Russian boat – monument)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.31837.html Real space rocket as a monument in one of Samara streets (view from under it)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.31049.html An old street sign

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.30555.html My cat under the table)

http://samara-photo.ru/photo/id.32265.html At the embankment before crossing the Volga

 

Sending you all my love and best wishes,

Belinsky Coat of Arms

1781-1917 The upper part (three sheaves, wheat, barley and millet, against the green background) is taken from the Penza Region coat of arms. The golden crane symbolised the abundance of such birds in the area. The city had the name of Chembar until 1948. The actual dwelling appeared in 1713 and it got a city status in 1781, together with the first general plan and its own coat of arms.

1861 (Project)

2006-   In 1948 Chembar was renamed Belinsky after Vissarion G. Belinsky who spent his childhood in Chembar.

Images are taken from: Heraldicum.

Cucumbers

Today I’ve been to our neighbour’s dacha (summer house) to gather cucumbers. There hadn’t been anyone on the cucumber plot for at least a week, and there I was with two heavy bags tightly filled with those green things, little, medium, big, overgrown (some of them, they will go to my aunt who will grate them to eat). I even picked very little ones as when anyone gets there the next time they would be too big.

Recently I’ve found out that cucumbers go well with sausage (smoked or semi-smoked), with or without bread, and you can even drink tea at that. Bizarre, isn’t it?

By the way, cucumbers are said to have quite a nice balance of minerals and they contain great amounts of water. All this makes them quite perfect for quenching thirst, healthy diet, and a mandatory ingredient of many mixed salads.

In Russia cucumbers are also pickled (or, to be exact, salted). You can choose between little-salted (when in the summer cucumbers are salted/pickled and eaten after a short while, often salted in barrels), and regular salted/pickled (securely closed in glass jars and eaten in autumn, winter and next spring). You can also find mixed versions with tomatoes, sweet peppers. Obligatory ingredients of pickles are black currant leaves, dill trunks and seeds, salt, pepper, vinegar, garlic, sometimes onions (I don’t like it personally). In the past (and some people maybe even now) some also used to put aspirin tablets. Pickles can be eaten on their own, as garnish to other dishes (most often, mashed potatoes), as ingredients of “vinegret” (mixed salad of pickled cucumbers, pickled cabbage, boiled and diced beetroot and carrots, sunflower oil, salt and pepper).

Mayoral Elections in Samara

It is the 2nd round of Mayoral elections in Samara today. There are two candidates: the current mayor and his rival. Neither is good.

The mayor is said to be the criminal cover for the markets’ dealers. During his years in power auctions on land plots for construction purposes were virtually non-existent or conducted with violations (hence, scandals in this sphere). He is using all the administrative resources to win and even hopped into the ruling party to secure its backing.

Another candidate was in power at the end of the Soviet times. Then he moved to oil and other businesses. He is also said to have some criminal past.

Both candidates used Moscow political figures to come and support them. But as the current mayor has backing from the ruling party, their presence was especially noticed: on local (and even federal) television, billboards. It is all so sickening and makes one feel like quitting this shit. Only how and where?

Unfortunately, they’ve recently abolished “Against all” option on the ballot paper, so I had to choose the second candidate. But frankly it would have been “Against all”. Only in any case things will remain almost unchanged whatever the results. Those in power (now or then) will continue to enrich themselves and industrial (financial, criminal and political) groups behind them. Those outside power will continue living, struggling with injustice and greyness, with poverty and everyday problems.

Do we live in a fascist country?

This is not the first time, but probably one of the most vivid and big, when I am ashamed of being from Russia. I suppose I love my country (though not unconditionally), but I am ashamed of being from it now that its government, president, police, politicians and blind crowd are behaving as if we are a mayhem of childish playground and rise of fascism.

What my country is doing towards Georgia is one thing. Both countries have done a lot in the recent past to spoil the years and centuries of good neighbourhood. Both countries (or rather their rulers) have stepped too far and too close to a rubbish chute.

But today we’ve come too close to the brink of an abyss, to which so many have already fallen throughout history. We’ve come to a point when we’ve lost (not losing but have lost) any trace of dignity and common sense.

I am ashamed of being the one of the blind crowd called the Russian people, who in a unison (with few voices against) support the government and the president that are one last step from the Reichstag fire night. I am ashamed and feel that Georgians (good ones of course) are superior to us (if one people can be superior than another).

Of course, there are many criminals among those Georgians who came to live and work in Russia recently. But then there are many criminals among other nationals too. And who counted criminals among ourselves, the Russians? Many of them, Russian criminals, sit in the government, without indictments or with buried indictments, with dirty past forgotten or covered by some party interests’ banner.

Why has the government born Georgian criminals for so long and did nothing for years, while now they cry it on every corner that Georgians are to blame for everything? Why do we blame other nationals when our politicians do not find political ways of talking with other governments? Why do we keep showing so much of barbarian nature in us to the whole world?

Does Russia have any future? Yes, it does. But what future will it be? Hard to say, but as usual the tunnel seems to be endless and with power off, so there is neither light on in the tunnel or at its end. The shit is abundant and is streaming now all the way from the top down to every corner of the country I am ashamed of.