Hidden Treasures

When one visits a new city, they are often and inexorably drawn to the largest and most well known attractions.  First-timers will visit the Louvre in Paris, Times Square in New York, and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.  Sooner or later though, these options are exhausted and visitors look for the hidden treasures in the cities with which to occupy their time and interest.  

Faced with a totally free day and blessed with gorgeous weather, I decided to seek out one of Saint Petersburg's many hidden treasures.  True, the Chesme Church is not particularly obscure; it can be found on the cover of many guidebooks to the city and is also on many of the tourism ads visible on the escalators down to the metro system.  Having been teased with pictures of it for a month now, I was determined to go see the building for myself.  But for all of it's promotion by the city tourism bureau, it is somewhat difficult to find. 

The Chesme Church is located far from the city center, off the southern half of Moscovsky Prospekt.  The closest metro station is Moscovskaya, which is roughly a 15 minute ride from Nevsky Prospekt.  This may not sound terribly long, but metro rides here typically last only a few minutes, given how most of the stations are quite far apart.  This district of the city was designated by Stalin to be the "new" Leningrad, a plan that ultimately flopped.  The only evidence of this project is the massive House of the Soviets, a Stalinist building surrounded by a seemingly endless array of fountains and guarded by an enormous statue of Lenin.  The rest of the area is now a pleasant, if sleepy collection of residential streets lined with streets and courtyard apartment complexes.  A pleasant place to live, to be sure, but certainly not a bastion of communist activity.  We can blame the obscure location of the church on Catherine the Great.  She was standing on the very spot the church now stands when she was informed of the victory of the Russian forces at the Battle of the Chesme Bay in the Russo-Turkish War of  1768-1774, and she promptly ordered the church built right there.  

Walk northeast from the House of Soviets for about 15 minutes and you will eventually encounter the Chesme Church.  It is a small building, probably about the same size as many small town American churches (for those of you from Bedford, think Saint Patrick's.  And for those of you not from Bedford, I do not mean the Saint Patrick's on 5th.  Much, much smaller than that).  The building sits in a rather unremarkable and quite frankly, unattractive dirt lot, but the building itself is anything but unremarkable.  It's red and white striped facade reminds one of a candy cane; indeed, the church appears to be more like a ginger bread house than an actual physical creation.  

But real it is.  Approach the church slowly to best appreciate it's remarkable architecture, to better take in the unique geometry and colors of the building - unique in a city awash with many different colors.  It remains a working church to this day, so if you enter, do so respectfully and quietly.  Most visitors probably won't ever see the Chesme Church, but those who do take the time to find it will be richly rewarded.  It's a building that can be admired for some time, and one that I hope to return to once snow covers the ground.  Beautiful though it may be in a dirt lot, I imagine it is nothing short of spectacular when surrounded by a fresh coat of powdery snow. 

   

Culture Clash

Living in a foreign country, especially one with a different language, presents many challenges.  Some challenges are fairly simple, as in "how do I order what I want in a restaurant?"  Such challenges can be resolved with the help of a pocket dictionary and copious amounts of sign language.  Other challenges are more a matter of differing mindsets, a dispute over concepts that one culture may hold dear that another cannot even conceive.

As with any language, there are words in English that do not translate literally into Russian; in fact there are probably many more, I simply have yet to discover them.  Here are but a few examples:

Sorry: Probably the most notorious and amusing of these, "sorry" has no direct translation into Russian.  The Russian language simply does not have a word with which one can apologize - at least not in the manner with which Americans are accustomed.  There is a word for "excuse me" (извините), but it also seems to be somewhat inadequate.  "Excuse me, I just accidentally knocked your book off the table," or "excuse me, I just hit you with my car" (not that I've actually run anybody over.  Side note on Saint Petersburg traffic: it's insane.  Russian drivers pilot their vehicles with equal levels of enthusiasm and incompetence, and think nothing of plowing full speed ahead when a pedestrian is in their way.  Whereas in the United States vehicles MUST yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, drivers in Russia regard pedestrians the same way you would an insect on your windshield).

Privacy: The word does not translate into Russian, and in fact the entire concept of privacy does not exist in the Russian culture.  This is really not all that surprising considering the character of historical Russian governments, but it is still a bit jarring.  Americans hold their privacy dear, and are deeply offended if somebody reads their diaries, or asks them an intimate personal question.  The latter is normal here; Russians are quite frank and often talk far more openly about themselves than Americans do, not holding many, if any secrets back.  People talk openly about themselves, about their problems, and about their relationships, and fully expect you to let them into your life as well.

Efficiency: This one's a bit strange, considering that one would think of a country that was once based on communist principles to pride itself on efficiency, but the opposite is true.  An example: the metro station that I use to get to and from class has six doors for passengers to enter (and six separate doors for exit).  In the afternoons, during my commute home, only one of the six doors is opened with roughly 300 people trying to squeeze through it.  The other five doors are inexplicably locked.  Not fire-locked, as in you can push them open from the inside, but locked with deadbolts.  The first time I saw the mob outside the building I stared at it in disbelief for a few seconds before plunging in; the only way to get to the door is to just let yourself go limp and be carried with the crowd into the building (when in doubt about anything in Russia, just let yourself go limp.  That goes emotionally as well as physically).  Despite the absurdity of the situation there is never a whisper of complaint from the crowd.  People just accept the fact that there is only one door and move on from there.  If a similar situation were to happen in New York, the MTA would receive approximately 40 million phone calls (though there's a decent chance 95% would be from the same three people), congressmen would get involved, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert would host the "Rally in the Doorway" and many ulcers would burst.  Russians just go with the flow, efficiency be damned.

Challenge: Challenges are very much at the root of the American mindset.  From birth we are challenged to be the best we can be, challenged to do better, challenged to challenge authority, challenged to challenge others to challenges.  Americans are taught never to be content with the status-quo, but to constantly strive to improve ourselves, our own lives, and most importantly, the lives of our children.  These motives exist in Russia, but the concept of a "challenge" does not.  My host parents recently spent two weeks in Portugal, a country in which I vacationed several years ago.  I described it to my host mother as a lovely place, but "gravitationally challenged (i.e. lots and lots of hills).  My host mother, who speaks excellent English, simply did not understand.  She understood the "gravitational" part of the sentence, but "challenge" was literally lost in translation.

Have fun: Sorry, no long, world class analysis of this one.  I just really hope "The Princess Bride" with Russian dubbing is on TV at some point while I am here because I am eager to hear how they translate Billy Crystal's line as Miracle Max: "Have fun storming the castle, kids!"

There are many ways in wish American and Russian culture clash, and I will write more about this in the months to come.  In the meantime, I won't bother apologizing to someone if I violate their privacy.  

Novgorod

The CIEE in St. Petersburg program features many day trips, and three major overnight excursions from our base of (who woulda guessed?) Saint Petersburg.  The first of these was this past weekend to the historic Russian city of Novgorod the Great.  

The 72 CIEE students, along with two staff members, met in front of the Kazan Cathedral just before 8am on Saturday morning and boarded a double decker coach bus for the 3-4 hour drive.  A movie was shown, though unfortunately I do not remember the name.  At any rate, I slept through most of the film, and the few parts I did see reminded me of "Moulin Rouge."  But I digress.  

Some history: Nobody is entirely sure how old Novgorod is, but most estimates place it's age at about 1,200 years.  Novgorod straddles the Volkhov River and due to this location, it was an important trading post for nearly a thousand years, relinquishing it's title as Russia's main port when Saint Petersburg was founded on the Gulf of Finland in 1703.  During the first several hundred years of its life, Novgorod was ruled by princes, the most famous of which is probably Yaroslave the Wise, who is credited with creating Russia's (then known as Rus) first legal code (roughly akin to Hammurabi's Code or Justinian's Code).  In the 1100s, the council of elders and nobles in Novogorod dismissed the ruling prince, and it is at this time that the Novgorod Republic was born.  From this point on, Novgorod was ruled in a manner similar to the ancient Greek city-states, but the office of the prince was never dismissed.  During the 1200s, Alexander Nevsky was Prince of Novgorod, and is revered by Russians for defeating the Catholic invaders (mainly Germans) attempting to convert Russia to Catholicism as well as staving off the Golden Horde, preserving Novgorod's future.  Nevsky is credited with saving the Eastern Orthodox Church, and has since been canonized by the institution that he saved.  

Novgorod was one of the few places in Eastern Europe that did not fall to the Mongols, and it ensured it's survival by collaborating with them.  Novgorod collected tribute for the Khans, and eventually usurped much of the Mongol territory, solidifying it's position as a true power player in Europe.  Novgorod continued to prosper to the point where it ranked alongside London and Paris in the 17th century as one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in Europe.  After the founding of Saint Petersburg, Novgorod began to fade from relevance.  

Sadly, much of the original city was destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War, with the postwar authorities electing to restore the historical sites, but build a new city around them.  As such, Novgorod is an intriguing mix of a modern, grid-like city with ancient churches and monuments scattered throughout.  

And Novgorod is indeed a city of churches: there are onion domes visible from any vantage point within the city, and there are often multiple churches within a small plot of land.  Most of these churches are quite small, and served very specific congregations.  The largest of the churches (Saint Sophia) is within the Novgorod Kremlin, and has the same whitewashed exterior and golden onion domes as the others, but the interior is far more impressive.  Unfortunately, photography is forbidden inside the structure, so the incredible imagery of my writing will have to suffice.  

The interior is dark, lit by the muted light coming through the small windows and the soft glow of candles.  It is a somewhat claustrophobic space, the arrangement of the pillars giving the church an almost maze-like quality.  The walls glisten with mosaics and frescoes of religious icons.  Scarcely an inch is left uncovered by artwork, but the artwork almost seems to blend into the masonry of the building.  It is ornate, but not extravagant, elegant without being flashy.  It is not particularly overwhelming like the Baroque churches so common in the rest of Europe, but rather quietly impressing.  Saint Sophia reminds of the quiet, unassuming kid on the practice field who prefers to let others do the trash talking, yet when push comes to shove, he carries his team.  It is a truly beautiful place, humbling its visitors with its age and simple elegance.  

On our second day and final day in Novgorod, we visited an open air museum of wooden architecture.  The museum consists of about twenty buildings arranged in an approximation of what an ancient Russian town would have looked like.  The woodwork on these buildings is astonishing, with the shingles on the trademark onion domes particularly striking.

I took over 200 pictures in Novgorod, and invite you to look at them at the link below.  It was an excellent trip, and I only wish that the weather had been more cooperative (it rained all day Saturday).  The next major excursions are to Tallinn and Moscow, and I can't wait for either one.  

http://travel.webshots.com/album/578566322sUngNF           

Republicans: Beware of Obama

As the title suggests, this entry will be a bit different from the ones before it; it will focus not on Russia, but on my home country, the United States.  For those of you who do not know me, I am a government major at Colby College, and am particularly interested in domestic policy.

My favorite president is, without question, Abraham Lincoln.  His genius was equaled only by his own skill with a pen, the eloquence of his writing flowing from what is perhaps the most enigmatic personality of any president our nation has ever had.  Lincoln's writings are pure poetry, and are oft-quoted (I will not bore you by quoting him here - that said, I do encourage everybody, American or not, to read The Portable Abraham Lincoln, a collection of his letters and speeches).

Following Lincoln, I have a soft spot for Lyndon Johnson.  There is no question that the Vietnam War was a tragedy in every sense of the word.  58,000 American troops lost their lives fighting for something completely intangible, completely incomprehensible.  Lets not forget that upwards of 4,000,000 Vietnamese civilians on both sides were killed in the conflict - this war was twenty years of bloodshed, and the deaths of those people is no less tragic and unnecessary than those of the American soldiers.  Much of this blood is on Johnson's hands, and for that his legacy will forever be blemished.

But to dismiss Johnson is to dismiss one of the greatest legislators in American history.  Never before have we had such a consummate politician in the Oval Office (please, Jed Bartlett doesn't count).  Johnson pushed the broadest legislative package the country had seen since the New Deal through Congress during the momentous years of 1964-1965 - a period aptly dubbed by one of my professors as the "liberal hour."  Medicaid, Medicare, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Voting Rights Act, and perhaps the most important of all, the Civil Rights Act, all were signed into law, forever changing the nation.  Johnson did more than perhaps any president, other than FDR, to improve the quality of life in the nation.  We have yet to have another president quite like LBJ.

Or have we?  Barack Obama has been in office for less than two full years.  Considerably less actually - he was sworn in on January 20th, 2009, and today is September 9th, 2010.  Let's take at the major legislation written while Obama has been president.

1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - a $787 billion package aimed to help the nation recover from a crippling recession.  Whether or not passing it was the right thing or not is not even a question.  The question should be whether or not $787 billion was enough.  I think not, but that Congress refused to give Obama the sum he initially wanted.

2. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 - a comprehensive reform of the nation's broken healthcare system.  Under the bill, all Americans will be required by law to have health insurance and will receive added protection from HMOs.  Additionally, the it is believed the bill will eventually have a positive impact on the federal deficit, lowering it by as much as $143 billion in the first 10 years.

3. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - a sweeping reform of the American banking industry, it totally changes the face of American finance.  The government now has a much bigger role in the private sector and is granted greater regulatory powers in an attempt to prevent another sub-prime mortgage crisis (or similar type of disaster)

This is tremendous.  Three major bills with enormous implications passed in just about a year is incredible.  Obama's legislative output already equals that of many other presidents, despite his relatively young presidency.  And today, Obama announced a plan to put $50 billion into the roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports of the nation.  My initial reaction is that this is not enough money.

Anybody driving in America can tell that the roads have decayed.  The interstate system was the crown jewel of the Eisenhower years, and it is now sadly outdated.  It is quite simply incapable of handling the modern traffic loads, as bridges, tunnels, and even flat, straight freeways become parking lots during rush hour.  For a country that prides itself on mobility, this is unacceptable.

The last several years have seen a number of bridges simply fail.  The bridges of the nation are old and neglected, and many need to be replaced outright (see the Tappan-Zee Bridge close to my home).  Airports are also old, especially when compared to many of the new ones being built around the world.  American infrastructure is dying, and it needs a jump-start.

Obama's bill just might be that jump-start.  It is too soon to tell whether or not Congress will approve it.  If they do I truly believe this might be the most important bill of the Obama presidency.  The economic, social, and cultural impact of a nation's infrastructure cannot be understated.

Should the bill pass, or even if it doesn't, Republicans need to beware of Barack Obama.  They should be scared of him.  Despite their best efforts to oppose him, despite him being president in an era when party discipline has no meaning, despite him presiding over the most intensely partisan period in memory, Obama has been remarkable successful in pushing his agenda.  He has demonstrated a political savvy that few thought he possessed, and shown that he is worthy of office that he inhabits.  America elected the right man.  Now it's time to let him do the job we all know he is capable of doing.

Holidays That Truly Matter

So last night, after dinner, I had a long conversation with my wonderful host parents about Russian holidays and American holidays.  The New Year is the biggest holiday of the year here, with celebrations lasting a full week - though I must admit I don't believe they drop a ball on the Peter & Paul Fortress.  Can't win everything.

It was when the discussion turned to American holidays that the discussion became truly interesting.  Elena and Andrey wanted to know what was the biggest American holiday.  Christmas naturally comes to mind, but I decided that Thanksgiving was the biggest American holiday - underlining the "American" in the question.  Massive meals, family reunions quickly evolving (or devolving?) into family feuds, worst travel day of the year, 300 pound men slamming into other 300 pound men on national television, all of it followed by the single biggest shopping day anywhere in the world.  What could be more American than that?

Despite its flaws (real or invented by me), Thanksgiving is truly an important holiday, one that virtually all Americans cherish.  This was not enough for my host parents - they wanted to know about more American holidays, especially the one involving a small, furry animal.

I want to make it clear that my Russian is mediocre at best, so this was a difficult conversation.  My host father managed to rephrase his question into words I understood, words I will quote here (as best I can): "The day with the small creature beneath the ground who sees himself and then there's a longer winter."

Of course, this could only be Groundhog Day.  Except for those poor souls who actually deal with Punxsutawney Phil on a regular basis, I would like to believe that most Americans realize that this is quite simply a foolish holiday.  However, you do not realize just how foolish, how stupid, how utterly absurd it actually is until you try to explain it in another language.  It was then I realized I can barely explain it in English, let alone in Russian, and that the entire thing is completely ridiculous.

About the only good thing to come out Groundhog Day is the excellent film, which remains a favorite of mine. If nothing else, the movie taught me that a "sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist" is apparently an awful drink.  All the holiday has taught me is something I already know: learning a foreign language is a constant struggle, but an amusing one, one accompanied by laughs and later by fond memories.  As for Punxsutawney Phil?  I hope on Groundhog Day in 2011 that he decides to do everybody a favor and just run like hell when the door to his burrow is opened.

Getting Around

I must admit it, but I have been spoiled.  Over the summer I became accustomed to using the New York Subway, which must be one of the most efficient transportation networks ever devised.  For those of you who are not from New York (don't be afraid, we don't bite...usually), the city boasts a huge number of stations (400-500) and two dozen lines.  There are local trains, express trains, and shuttle trains.  Stops are located every few blocks, and trains generally every few minutes.  Despite it's complexity, it is an easy system to navigate, and carries staggering numbers of passengers daily, while offering service 24/7.  The last bit is something New Yorkers take for granted, and is what I believe to be one of the main reasons that New York is such a late city.  The only true complaints with the network is the price ($2.25 for a one-way trip) and the industrial, grungy look of the stations and trains.  

The New York City Subway has little in common with the Saint Petersburg Metro.  The metro here is small; it comprises of only 5 lines, with only a few dozen stations, and few stations offer transfer.  It has me grinding my teeth with the inefficiency of the layout - whole sections of the city are inaccessible by metro.

Much of this is forgiven when you enter a station.  Unlike in New York where the stations are little more than holes in the ground with a few flights of stairs for entrance and egress, the vast majority here have large vestibules on the surface.  You enter, buy your token (22 roubles at time of writing - about $.70), proceed through the turnstile and step onto the escalator.  There are no stairs, and you honestly wouldn't want them as the Petersburg Metro is the deepest in the world, and it often takes 3-4 minutes on the escalator to reach the platform.  Kindly stand to the right to let faster descender/ascenders pass by on the left.  Having tried to walk down the escalators I don't recommend it; the length of the descent combined with the fact you are on a moving staircase makes the experience a vertigo-inducing one.  One classmate of mine even likened the escalator ride to "descending to the Underworld to meet Hades."  When you (finally) reach the platform, you are greeted not by the River Styx and Charon, but by a sight that is more reminiscent of the Louvre than any home of the dead (take your pick).  High ceilings supported by elegantly sculpted columns trimmed with gold are the rule rather than the exception.  Despite being over a hundred meters below the surface, the stations feel light and spacious if not quite airy.

The trains run fast and come often.  Despite often arriving at the platform as a train is pulling out, I have yet to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes for the next one.  During rush hour the trains are every bit as packed as their New York counterparts, especially around the stations at the center of the city.  No matter - you probably are only riding for a few minutes.  After all, there aren't very many stops.  The last trains leave the end stations at midnight, and after 12:15 you could very well be out of luck taking the metro home (hellooooooo gypsy cabs!).

Unfortunately, taking pictures in the stations is prohibited, and even if you are willing to ignore the statute, exposing yourself needlessly to pickpockets on the busy platforms is not a wise move.  As such, I cannot provide my own photos for your viewing pleasure, but you will have to make do with ones I borrowed from Wikipedia.