Привет! Сегодня я вам расскажу о символе русской культуры, Балалайке! In October, I started taking Balalaika classes with the one and only Anatolii Ivanovich, an amazing septuagenarian who, after a life of performing around the globe, settled back in Yaroslavl to teach children at the Conservatory (and that he does with a lot of passion and love). I originally wanted to try Balalaika mainly because "why not?": I was in Russia and had some free time. It was the first plucked string instrument I played (or at least attempted to) and I really grew to love the sound of it. The balalaika is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body and three strings. It descends from the Domra, an instrument which originated in the Caucasus region of Russia. The balalaika is a traditional instrument and is central to Russian orchestral folk tradition. A traditional folk orchestra usually consists of balalaikas, domras, guslis, bayans, Vladimir shepherds' horns, garmoshkas and diverse percussion instruments. Under the Soviet Union, the balalaika was glorified as a distinctively proletarian instrument as it was part of the peasant culture and history. However, balalaika players' register isn't limited to folk music. I'd like to share with you a performance of Boris Feoktistov, a Soviet compositor and balalaika virtuoso, playing a rearranged version of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesfreud. Anatolii taught us a number of pieces, among which «Когда мы были на войне…», a military song composed by Viktor Stalyarov, the Государственный гимн Российской Федерации composed by Aleksander Aleksandrov (he actually wrote the music for the Soviet Union National Anthem but it was reused with different lyrics after the collapse of the USSR), and Прощание славянки (Farewell of Slavianka), a patriotic march written by Vasilv Agapkin in honour of the Slavic women accompanying their husbands in the First Balkan War. As time passed by, I was increasingly shocked by the predominance of war songs in the material we were learning. In fact, many Russian songs famous in the West relate in one way or another to military themes. The most striking example is Катюша. Katyusha was composed in 1938 and used later during the war to inspire the Soviet people to defend their land from the enemy. Interestingly, Katysha is both the name of the girl longing for her absent lover, sent to the front, that the song revolves around (Katyusha being the diminutive of Ekaterina) and the name of a Soviet multiple rocket launcher. The song is very upbeat, centred on hope, and the references to war or suffering are very scarce. The tune is very catchy for a military song and came to be a legendary Russian tune. I heard SO many different versions of this song. It is played absolutely everywhere. The disco version played during hockey matches has to be my favourite. Military songs are performed on occasions such as День защитника Отечества (Defender of the Fatherland Day, 23rd February) or День Победы (Victory Day, 9th May). On Victory Day, concerts are often organised to commemorate the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Below is a clip from the Концерт "Песни военных лет". Elena Vaenga performs Священная война (The Sacred War) by Aleksander Aleksandrov, accompanied by the Aleksandrov Red Army Choir (yup, this man did a lot in his life). The lyrics were published on 24 June 1941, two days after the start of Operation Barabarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. This march, like many other war songs and a number of Stalin’s speeches at that time, puts the emphasis on the mission of the Russian people and their responsibility to their European neighbours to win this "война освободительная, война справедливая" and protect their Fatherland from the scourge that fascist power represented. This might be the most powerful war song related to the Second World War. People, to this day, stand while this song is performed in commemorative concerts as a sign of respect for the fallen soldiers. My balalaika teacher explained to us the weight and meaning of this song with tears in his eyes. It is understandable given that the Soviet Union particularly suffered during WWII. The human casualties are numbered to more than 20 million deaths, both civilian and military. If you add this to the blockades and food shortages, no Soviet family was left untouched by the war. Beyond the cheerful songs and the stronger and firmer military marches, the Second World War saw the production of songs that translated the sorrow of the Soviet people, songs that focused on the fear, pain, and homesickness of devoted soldiers and revealed the personal side of army life. The song which gets to me the most is Тёмная ночь (Dark Night). This song was first sang in a 1943 film titled Два бойца (Two Soldiers). In the scene below, a soldier sings his love for his wife and his infant child left behind. The image presented is that of young men whose only motivation to continue fighting despite the horror of the war is the memory of their family and the conscience of their responsibility to protect their fatherland. Смерть не страшна, с ней не раз мы встречались в степи. This is the last stanza of the song. You should try translating it yourself; it's very touching. (or you can just turn the CC on). I hope you liked this blog. Let me know what you want me to write about next.
До скорово! Пока!
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Привет всем! At the beginning of the semester, two ladies visited our university building. They were from the Exeter Yaroslavl Twinning Association and were looking for English 'native' speakers to participate in a British quiz organised for the pupils of the "best schools" in Yaroslavl. Our role would be to read out the questions to the students, go around helping them and essentially motivate them. Two of us volunteered to go, but my friend got sick on the day of the quiz, so I ended up going by myself. The teachers and the pupils of school 4 waited for me outside of the university and we headed to the venue together. I was a bit uncomfortable given that I wasn't technically a native speaker but the teachers didn't seem to take issue with the situation. The quiz was fun. The pupils were very nice and did really really well! I was also offered a very tasty and typical Russian meal consisting of оливье, борщ and чёрный хлеб. After the quiz, I exchanged numbers with some teachers and was invited to visit School 4 some time over the semester. I went during my last week in Yaroslavl and asked some questions for you. First some basic information: General education in Russia compromises three stages:
Uniforms are not compulsory for the older pupils, so they usually wear their normal clothes when going to school. Some choose to wear their uniform because of practicality. The dress code doesn't seem too strict for the younger ones either as they all wore it in a different way. All the schools in Yaroslavl are state schools. They are given a number depending on the time they were founded. I was told that children in nursery attend Sunday classes for about a year prior to the start of their formal education in order to all be on the same level. Their progress is assessed and recommendations are made to the parents (of course, this might be particular to School 4). Some schools specialise in a field of study. For example, school 4 has a really good teaching programme for languages and get great results. Pupils start studying English at the age of 8 and French when they're 14 years old. They can also learn other languages if they so desire. Up to the age of 16, all students undergo the same compulsory cursus (science, literature, physical education, philology, IT, music...) to construct a base of skills and knowledge. After that, they are allowed to specialise in either science or philology. When asked what they liked about their school, most students answered the English programme and the friendly teachers. Most said they hated the canteen, but that isn't so surprising. I guess some things transcend cultures. They had to define their school with three adjectives. Here's what they wrote (just a bit of vocab):
Unfortunately the younger ones didn't seem to know much about Scotland except that it's part of the UK. Weirdly enough a 13 year-old pointed out that she just knew that "until 1707 there were many wars between England and Scotland, but after that date they were united under one king". That was bizarre... They really want to visit the UK though, especially big cities like London. Here are some clips from the pupils of the school. This was after 1pm, so the classes had already ended and the older students were obviously long gone, so you get to enjoy the cuteness of these little ones. (Apologies for the filming and editing. I am not very good at these kind of things. I'll get better hopefully.) I hope you enjoyed this blog. Comment below if you have any questions.
Пока! We all know this time of the year: fairy lights, tinsels, Christmas trees, the smell of cinnamon, Gingerbread lattes, white bearded men dressed in red handing out leaflets in the streets...Yes, my friends: it's almost Рождество! As you know, Orthodox Christianity is Russia's largest religion, and Orthodox Christians don't celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but on January 7th as the Eastern Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar which was replaced in Russia by the Gregorian calendar in 1918. However, some people, western-oriented/English speaking/Catholic or Protestant minorities, still celebrate it, but it is not a national holiday, which means no time off from school or work. The orthodox Christmas, on the other hand, was re-established as a national holiday in 1992, but is regarded mainly as a religious event and not as a cultural or particularly festive or popular one. Under the Soviet Union, the government adopted an anti-religious atheistic policy and all displays of religiosity were rejected. Christmas as a religious holiday was banned in 1929 and Christmas Trees were turned into "New Year" Trees / ёлка (fun fact: decorations during the 60s/70s consisted of figurines of astronauts, rockets, satellites). With time, Santa Claus turned into Дед Мороз (Grandfather Frost) accompanied by his granddaughter Снегурочка. New Year's Eve came to replace Christmas as a secular, national celebration and Новый Год became the main holiday of the year. Now imagine yourself in Moscow on the 31st of December. You're sat around a large table with family or friends. On the TV plays "Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!" (this classic of Soviet cinema has been broadcasted every year on New Year's Eve since 1976). You are all chatting, not really paying attention to the film, whose plot and denouement everyone knows. One of your friend suggests to провожать Старый Год (literally: see off the old year). You can't open the champagne yet, but you start eating. On the tables lie multiple salads amongst which the famous "оливье" (отварной картофель, варёная колбаса, яйца вкрутую, солёные огурцы, зелёный горошек и майонез) and "селедка под шубой" (филе сельди, луковица, картофелины, морковки, яйца, крупные свеклы, майонез), колбаса, холодец, икра or лосось, пироги с вареньем или с вишней, and фруктовый салат. You then watch President Putin's annual speech, the clock strikes midnight, you open шампанское and поздравляете друг друга с Новым Годом и Новым Счастьем! You just had the typical Russian New Year's Eve experience! Thank you for reading. I hope you found it interesting.
Я желаю вам счастливых Рождества и Нового Года! Наслаждайтесь и хорошо празднуйте, потому что "как встретите Новый год, так его и проведёте"! Пока! Last week, my friend Luc and I took part in an event organised by “La Maison de l’Amitié Yaroslavl-Poitier” or "Дом Дружбы Ярославль - Пуатье", a touristic centre which links Yaroslavl with its sister town, Poitier. The center offers French classes and we visited a number of them to help students practice their oral skills and motivate them (Luc is half-French and although I am Moroccan, my first language is French). To mark our departure, the administrator of the center asked us to prepare presentations on a topic of our choice as part of an event organised for interested students and teachers. I decided to talk about my two homes: Morocco and Scotland. Of course, people knew some basic information about Scotland (bagpipes or волынка, kilts, Nessie and the Loch Ness…), but they were very happy to learn more about this beautiful country and were impressed by the beauty of the sceneries. (Interestingly enough, people here don’t seem to understand that Scotland is part of the UK. The post services actually searched on their system “Scotland” for “country of destination” and it took them a while to realise that it was actually under “United Kingdom”.) This centre itself is one of many in Russia that promote the French language and culture. There is a clear interest, and I would even say, fascination here for France. It took me a while to get used to hearing random and sometimes obscure French songs in cafés. You can easily find French classics at the Karaoke here and I even found some songs like Joe Dassin’s “L’été indien” adapted and released in Russian. Beyond music, the influence of French on the Russian language itself is quite important. It is very common to find words that stem or sound exactly like French (реноме, багаж, кошмар, этаж, мебель, душ, и т.д). Back in the 18th century, some Russian poets, amongst which Pushkin, would incorporate French or a Russified French in their productions. Since the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1725), France has been a country that agitates much excitation and passion in Russia. The sovereign initiated a civilisational turn towards modernization and opened the doors to Europe (Petersburg was actually constructed and appointed as capital of the Russian empire for this very purpose). France was then the leading power of Europe and its influence in Russia was so strong that French became the language of conversation and correspondence of the Russian nobility. Later, Catherina II (1762-1796) was strongly inspired by Enlightenment writers, entertained regular correspondence with Voltaire, and even received Diderot at her court. However, the French revolution of 1789 undermined the relations of the two countries, as other monarchies felt threatened in their stability. Strong restrictions on foreign travel were adopted, but this situation was temporary and soon enough strong cultural, intellectual, economic, and diplomatic exchanges between French and Russian resumed. (of course, in between there was Napoleon's attempted invasion of Russia, but that did not seem to strongly damage Russians' sympathy for the French). Interesting fact, even during the Cold War the French influence did not completely disappear. In the 1960s, Charles de Gaulles’ stance on American leadership and the need of a particular and independent French foreign policy led to an easing of its relations with the USSR. A number of cultural agreements were signed, French teaching assistants were appointed in universities, the teaching of French was expanded at the secondary school level, and the distribution of French films was even allowed in the Soviet Union. Even today, many schools in Russia teach their pupils French from the age of 14. I hope this post was interesting!
The next one will be on New Year's Eve celebrations on Russia! Пока! 9На прошлой неделе нас пригласили на показ документального фильма Родиона Исмаилова «ПЛАЦКАРТ». The screening was organised by the Yaroslavl branch of DOKer, a project which screens independent non-fiction and aims at supporting various genres of national and international documentaries in Russia. After screening, the public was invited to share their impressions and question the director on his cinematographic choices. The film itself was shot on a third class compartment of the train «Москва-Владивосток» connecting the two cities in a 7-day long journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway (Транссибирская магистраль), the longest железная дорога in the world. Given the configurations of this compartment, some of the passengers (many travel shorter distances) spend 7 days in an open wagon, with no curtains, no possibility to lock belongings, and no privacy. This setting leads people to truly live together, share meaningful moments, open themselves to others, and possibly connect for life. Rodionov Ismailov, the режиссёр of the documentary, captured what people here call "Настоящая Россия". He gave a voice to those that are often forgotten in society despite their great contributions. Moreover, he showed the diversity of Russia. Russia is not just Moscow and Petersburg. Russians are not that homogenous, indifferent, and cold people. In "Third class travel", they talk with passion and honesty about their nation, politics, friendship, family, love...They share with us what holds significance for them, what matters. We have here an old man expressing his nostalgia of the Soviet times, claiming that Putin should learn from Stalin's administrative skills; a young former prisoner convinced of his ability to succeed in a country where merit is key; another, less young, fed up by the corruption and lack of wealth redistribution in his country and decided to find opportunities where they lie, in China. A particularly warm and hospitable atmosphere forms as a group of Russians share food and drinks with Korean tourists and an elderly couple modestly wisely explains what love is, what life is. They are all preparing чтобы встречать Новый Год in a very particular and unforgettable way. The interviews are all followed by extracts from songs of a bard unexpectedly encountered on the train. (How can you possibly get more Russian?) I would definitely recommend watching this documentary when it's released online and to have a look at the other documentaries programmed on the website of DOKer. http://www.midff.com/atentamente I hope that you liked this post. Do you have any interest in non-fictional movies? Any suggestions?
Пока! Добрый день! У нас было неделя отпуска. Мы с тремя друзьями решили ехать в Грузию и Азербайджан. Our desire to do so stemmed from the fervor with which Russian authors have written about the Caucasus, from the peculiar relation Russia shares with the different countries of the region, from the fascination we had for Caucasian traditions, and finally from all the delicious meals we had in Caucasian restaurants (we wanted to experience the real thing!). I will go a bit more in the detail about all these points later. On the 27th October, we took a train to Moscow. Four hours later, we reached 'CIVILISATION'! Facing the square around which 3 train stations are located, I felt the same mix of confusion, anxiety, and excitement as when I visited Edinburgh in December of my first year after almost 4 months of walking around St Andrews' 3-street center. That night, we just walked around the red square and had пельмени in the most highly-rated restaurant on tripadvisor: relatively cheap, comfortable, quick, convenient and DELICIOUS. I definitely recommend you eat at Лепим и варим. The following day, we took a plane to Tbilisi, Georgia. My friends were long through border control when the controller finally let me go. I don't know if it's the passport with two different alphabets on it that confused him, the European countries' stamps without apparent Schengen visa on the passport, or the funny looking BRP card that he kept turning and turning, and banging on the desk...But well, that was a funny first encounter with Georgia, a country I ended up LOVING. GEORGIA Georgia is a relatively small country of a population of nearly 4 million. By the force of nature, its a country where cultures mix. The official language is Georgian, but Russian remains a very important language which is used on a daily basis in the cities. Among the city youngsters, however, English seems to take precedent. That has mainly to do with the active effort of the Western-leaning government to replace Russian by English in the education system. Religionwise, Georgia is a Christian orthodox country, the special status of the orthodox church being recognised by the constitution of the country. The two main religious minorities are Muslims (10.7% as for 2014) and Armenian Apostolic (2.9%). Georgia is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. It entertains interesting relations with its neighbours. It was invaded by Russia in 1801 less than 20 years after signing the treaty of Georgievsk providing for the protection of the Georgian territory and the defence of its independence. Georgia later took independence in 1918 after the Bolshevik revolution before getting "integrated" into the USSR, to finally gain independence in 1991 when their constitution was approved by the high instances of the Soviet Union. The rancour they hold against the Soviet time appear very clearly through the extremely confrontational Soviet Occupation Museum. Later, Georgia sought to lean towards a more European style of economic and social structure. This, simply-speaking, led Russia to enter in a five-days war with them in 2008 over the autonomy of two of their regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognises as sovereign states. So you will understand that this relation is a bit tense. Regardless, Georgians are such decent and respectful people, and Russians constitute such a big part of the tourism in Georgia (about 40%) that you won't feel much tension and won't hear much about it while talking to Georgians (although my friend says that she noticed a change of attitude when she spoke English instead of Russian in shops or restaurants). The relation it entertains with its other neighbour, Armenia, is that of reliance and dependence. Under the border blockades imposed against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan due to the ongoing Nagornoa-Karabakh-conflict (disputed territory which Georgia recognizes as part of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity), Georgia offers Armenia its only land connection with Europe and access to its Black Sea ports. About 70% of Armernia’s imports enter via Georgia mainly from Russia. Finally, Azerbaijan and Georgia have a peaceful, simple and cordial relationship, both former Soviet republics, both moving towards a more western economic and social system. Additionally, Azeris constitute the largest ethnic minority in Georgia. TBILISI Tbisili itself is a very interesting city. It is the capital and largest city in Georgia, but only compromises a population of 1.5 million. It lies on bank of the Kura river, beautiful river which flows from Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan before entering the Caspian sea. The city was founded in 5th century by Vakhtang I Gorgasali. Previously the capital was Mtskheta, now a small town about 30 minutes away from Tbilisi. However, to respond to threats of invasion and counter the natural defenselessness of the city, the capital was moved to Tbilisi, a city surrounded with mountains and strategically more favourable. The city has many faces. The architecture in the city is itself a mixture of local Georgian and Byzantine, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Beaux-Arts, Middle Eastern, and Soviet Stalinist architectural styles. The Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre on Avenue Rustaveli, for example, is constructed in a Moorish style with a yellow façade with deep orange strips, high stained-glass windows, and intricate mosaics. The buildings along the Marjanishvili Street are all very European. This part of the city is called the German quarter. Some parts of the city look a little dilapidated, which makes sense given the bombings it suffered in 2008. Regardless, It’s a very bright and lively city. In the evening, people, especially young people, can be seeing around the center in groups chatting and just having fun in general. The metro is one of a kind. It only has 3 lines and most stations are only on one line. Links are rare and you reach the platforms as soon as you come down of the escalator. The metro is always busy, packed. The main avenue is named Rustaveli. Most museums, the parliament, administrative buildings, luxurious hotels and the Opera and Ballet Theatre are located on it. The avenue leads to the Liberty square, in the middle of which stands a giant golden statue representing Saint Georgi, Georgia’s patron saint. Before Georgia’s independence from the USSR, the statue of Lenin stood on that same place, but politics prompted this readjustment. The Old Town is not far from the square. There you will find nice Georgian restaurants, shops and just a particular vibe. There are two funiculars in the city, one leading to the Narikala fortress, the other to the panorama view and to our complete surprise to a really odd amusement park. We only managed to go to one of them. Unfortunately, we found it in repair. We then had to take a taxi up and a Marshrukta down (which, in Georgia, are all yellow and actually seem to be in better state than the ones in Russia). The Marjanishvili street is just gorgeous. One end of the street is a pedestrian zone with many cafés and restaurants. The other is full of Turkish, Arab and South Asian restaurants, which was quite surprising for me. We had food in a restaurant called Barbarestan, which specialises in 19th century cuisine if I remember well. We were the last to leave the restaurants that night, so we got offered a dessert each. It was very nice. That quarter is also particularly important for us, because we spent a morning walking up and down the streets looking for a friend, who went to mass and was supposed to meet us by the Bulgarian Embassy (so random). The only problem was that the Bulgarian embassy was relocated about 5 years ago, a fact we learnt on the day while wandering on the courtyard of a business center where, according to our map, the embassy was supposed to be. ONE BONUS POINT FOR TBILISI We were quite surprised when walking around Tbilisi at the number of stray dogs. Naturally, we felt quite bad for them, and started to pay a bit more attention at the ownerless dogs wandering around. We realised that they all had a tag on one of their ear. Later, the guide on one of our excursions explained to us that in Georgia the issue of stray dogs was so alarming that the government decided to take all the stray dogs, treat them of any decease or injury, vaccinate them, tag them and release them back in the quarter they were found in. They are regularly fed and looked after. MTSKHETA We decided to go visit Mtskheta, the country's former capital. A man had the patience and kindness to help us find our way through the chaotic Didube bus station and all the way to the Marshrutka we were supposed to take. Mtskheta is a lovely little town registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered the birthplace of Christianity in Georgia. The town is known for its three monasteries: Svetitskhoveli, Samtavro, and Jvari. The first two are directly in the center, whereas Jvari is located about 15 minutes away overlooking the town from the top of the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers. We didn’t manage to visit the Svetitskhoveli cathedral, but here are some pictures of the other two sites. We got to try Churchkhela: a traditional Georgian candle shaped candy, which consists in grapes or nuts threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice, fruit juice or honey and dried in the shape of a sausage. KAZBEGI The mountain town of Stepantsminda, previously named after the Mountain Kazbek, is located about 10km south of the border with Russia. We went there to see the Gergerti Trinity Church, but we also got to visit Ananuri, a castle complex on the Aragvi River. It was very interesting to say the details in the construction of fortress: the small holes through which rifles could aim at invaders, the entrance on the back of the tower purposefully elevated in case of avalanche, etc. Gergeti was built in the 14th century in order to safekeep precious relics, including Saint Nino’s Cross, during the times of danger. The invaders would never think that an exposed small and austere cupola-church elevated 2170 meters above the ground, just under Mount Kazbek, would even be worth taking. On the way up I had a lovely conversation with the minivan driver, a young Georgian man, who spoke a decent Russian and claimed that Georgian was the best in the world. Despite my love for Moroccan food, I could barely argue with him. FOOD Food is definitely the thing I enjoyed the most about Georgia. Here are my favourite Georgian dishes. 15-HOUR OVERNIGHT TRAIN JOURNEY: TBILISI - BAKU How many people can say they spent the night of Halloween in a small four-bed train cabin, crossing the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, surrounded by the faint but still perceptible smell of yeast and urine and the far-reaching sound of Russian rap? I guess not that many. Maybe for an understandable reason...Regardless of the dirty bathroom, irritable train assistant and clueless border control, which I am sure never encountered a Moroccan passport judging by their disbelief and the nature and amount of their questions (“Morocco? Marocco? Monaco?!"), I definitely don’t regret those 15 hours spent in that old train without internet, cafeteria, and notion of privacy. We reached Baku around 10 am. We had to send an outline of our WIYA dissertation, so we had lunch and stayed at the hostel the whole afternoon to make the last changes. Although Azerbaijan is also a country of the Caucasus with similar folklore, traditional wear and shared culinary taste, it differs in many ways from Georgia. Around 98% of the population is Muslim, the majority Shiite, but the constitution of the country does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secularist.There aren’t that many mosques in the capital, and it is relatively rare to see a woman wearing a hijab. Azerbaijan shares an 11-km long border with Turkey. The official language is Azeri turkish. Many Turkish and Azerbaijani dishes and traditions are similar and the Caucasian country is one of six independent Turkic states. Azerbaijan’s relation with Russia are much more pacific and close than those of Georgia. Azerbaijan was in fact one of the founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent states and has never expressed the desire to join Nato or the EU. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has a particularly strained relation with its western neighbour, Armenia, with which its entertain no diplomatic relations. This situation is largely due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. To cut it short, this territory is de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto controlled by a self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This situation stems from the Soviet era where the territory, mainly Armenian-populated, was made an autonomous oblast. In 1988, the Armenians of the oblast demanded to be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia allegedly for safety reason (they were worried of upcoming discrimination). That led to a war, which ended in 1994. Nowadays, you can’t avoid being questioned about previous travels upon entering the Azerbaijani territory and you will surely encounter this particular question when applying for an Azerbaijani passport: “Have you ever traveled to Armenia? Have you ever entered the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with an Armenian visa?”. When questioned about the situation and the potential military escalation of the crisis, our guide responded: “They (Armenians) have a population of 3 million. We have an army of 3 million solders.” I didn't quite know how to react to that... Azerbaijan is mainly known for its oil. It’s one of the birthplaces of the oil industry and produces nearly 900,000 barrels of oil per day, which compared to Saudi Arabia (nearly 10 Million barrels per day) isn’t that consequent, but in the context of the region and with its limited population (9.7 million) this production is definitely not negligible. You can definitely feel the effect of petroleum and the affluence when entering the city of Baku. Here are two pictures of underground crossings. I’ll let you guess which one is Tbilisi and which one is Baku. Here are the places which you should definitely visit if you're in Baku. State Museum of Azerbaijan Carpet and Applied Art This museum is the first museum dedicated purely to carpets in the world. It was established in 1967 and is now separated in three different floors: traditional weaving technics and patterns, regional centres of production and differences in their weaving styles, and modern reinterpretations. Wandering around the museum and witnessing the diversity in patterns, colours, usage, and even theme of the Azerbaijani carpets was a joy. The display went from simple wattled mat (Chatan) to extremely rich examples of weaved Socialist Realist art pieces. You can see below the Museum (constructed in the form of a folded carpet) and three of the carpets which I found to be particularly interesting. A funicular leads to the top of a hill where you will find these shiny stairs and a stunning panorama. Walking past the stairs, we encountered a blood-freezing memorial. The faces of tens of men, among them children, were hung over tombstone slabs all indicating the same exact date: 20 January 1991. On that day, the Black January, between 133 and 137 Azerbaijani civilians died, 800 were injured and 5 went missing. This happened after the General Secretary Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev declared state emergency in Baku in order to thwart efforts by the Azerbaijani independence movement to overthrow the Soviet Azerbaijani government and allegedly to stop the violence against the Armenian population in the country. This memorial is to show respect and keep in mind the victims of that violent crackdown. The flame towers are the trademark of Baku. Other than that, they are just hotels and offices. Old Town We wanted to feel the soul of Azerbaijan behind the affluence, the European and Soviet style buildings, and modern glass skyscrapers. So we tried visiting the Old Town. Unfortunately, the Old town in Baku was quite deserted, very different from all the Eastern Old Towns I visited in my life (starting from the many ones I visited in Morocco). The main monuments in the old town are the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs’ Palace, both of which are inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List. The tower is believed to be a Zoroastrian Fire Temple. The palace was constructed in the 15th century by the Shirvanshah. Azerbaijan was called the kingdom of Shirvan until the 16th century and Shirvanshah was naturally the title of the ruler of the kingdom. Everything changed when we left Baku for a day. We went on a day excursion to the northwestern city of Sheki and saw another side of the country: lively, friendly, but witty people speaking loudly and lightheartedly. On the way to Sheki we stopped at a couple of points. SHAMAKHI Shamakhi is the former capital of Azerbaijan. It is located in the most seismic area of the Caucasus and was hit by powerful earthquakes, one of which occurred in 1191 and was so destructive that the capital of Shirvan was transferred to Baku. There is even an Azerbaijani saying referring to this. If you meet a friend after a long absence, you could greet him with the following: "Where have you been? You disappeared like Shamakhi." Shamakhi is now famous to its mosque. The Juma Mosque was constructed in 743 and is the oldest in the Caucasus. It was damaged multiple times and was last reconstructed in 2015. We later stopped to have tea in the forest and really got to experience Azerbaijani tea culture. It seems that there is an Azerbaijani tradition of dipping a cube of sugar in tea before drinking it. In the past, the kings would do it to check for poison. If the sugar turned green, then the tea was poisoned. If not, it was safe to drink. We were served tea from a samovar (a Russian heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water), which was quite funny. You could definitely sense the vestiges of the Soviet era. SHEKI We had lunch in a Karavansaray, a historical complex dating from the 18th century where traders used to stay and trade. Sheki is located on the Silk road, so it was quite impressive to be able to visit and eat in the very place where silk trade took place. CHURCH OF KISH This Church is the first constructed in the Caucasus and dates from the 1st century. Then we finally arrived to Sheki Khan’s Palace, a small summer residence of Hussein-khan Mushtad (18th-century sovereign). It was constructed in 1761-1762. The two-storied building’s facade is painted with anecdotal drawings displaying scenes of hunting and war. The interior of the building is stunning. All the windows are decorated with shebeke: a multi-colored glass, mounted with the help of wooden elements and fixed to one another without the use of glue and nails. The rich mosaic of the palace was very similar to Moroccan mosaic, which delighted me. We weren’t allowed to use our phones inside the building, so I had to upload pictures found online for you to see. This visit was supposed to be the highlight of the day. But to be honest, the highlight has to be the car breaking down at around 10pm in the middle of the mountains, 2 and a half hour away from Baku...We stopped and had tea in a small café. There was a dumbfounded Azerbaijani family in there. A cat was running around as two Russian boys from our group were cruelly chasing it. My friend got a sudden and sharp stomachache. The situation was unreal. I still can’t believe it to be honest. We got back to Baku past midnight. We were supposed to be back around 9pm… FOOD Baku is filled with foreign restaurants, so we didn’t get to eat as many traditional dishes as we wanted. Here are the ones I tried. We also had very good sauces, pickled berries, honey-covered nuts, and a number of side dishes and beverages involving pomegranate. All in all, I enjoyed discovering it.
I very much enjoyed visiting these two very particular countries, and I would definitely go back. Мне очень понравилось путешествовать по этим красивым странам, и надеюсь что, вам интересно было читать о Кавказе! Всё, пока! What is student life like in Russia? Student life in Russian is very different to that in the UK. Students have more classes, less time for extracurriculum activities. Societies and sport clubs don't seem to be that popular and are not nearly as diverse. Students will usually suggest going for a walk instead of having coffee or tea in a café. Also students don't go out as much. In the UK, a lot of students go to pubs or night clubs on Fridays and Saturdays, and sometimes on Wednesdays too, but it's definitely not as usual here. How are living costs and standards of living compared to Scotland? It's much cheaper to live in Russia, especially in Yaroslavl (Moscow might end up being as expensive as a number of big cities in the UK but it's an exception in Russia). A bus ticket costs 23 roubles. Restaurants offer "Business lunchs" where you can end up paying only 190 roubles (about £2.5) for a soup, a small pizza and tea/coffee/juice. You can go to the teatre or the philharmonic or 500 roubles and actually watch something of quality. The problem is that Russian salaries are significantly smaller, so the living standards are actually lower. What is the most challenging aspect of living in Russia? I think at the beginning it was the language barrier and the difficulty of making friends with Russians (we couldn't really find any opportunity to socialize) but now I would say it's definitely the culture clash. People tend to be harsher, tougher here. Plus, people in Yaroslavl are known to be quite rude, which doesn't make it any easier. Of course, some people are really nice but others, especially in shops are not exactly pleasant. People stare a lot in the streets. Some people have no shame and don't mind saying very inappropriate things (homophobic, racist or sexist). What do you do for fun in Russia? I like to go on walks with friends (now it's a bit too cold for that but well...). The city is beautiful, especially at night. We used to go bowling with our language group every Sunday. We also went to a couple of karaoke bars. Every Saturday, a friend and I watch a Russian movie together. I also go regularly to the gym or go for runs (it's getting too cold for that now). What is your favourite Russian food? I like mushroom soup, пельмени (russian dumplings) and плов (rice with minced beef, carrots and spices). But my favourite dish here is more of a Georgian dish. I absolutely love Харчо, which is a dish consisting of beef, rice, cherry plum purée and chopped English walnut. There are a lot of Georgian restaurants in Yaroslavl and they are definitely my favourite places to eat. Where do people tend to go in Yaroslavl? A mall, Aura, recently opened in Yaroslavl. It has a variety of shops, a relatively big food section, a bowling and an arcade. It's quite popular and it's always full of people on weekends. People sometimes just meet at a friend's, sometimes in bars (the Cocktail Bar on the main pedestrian street is open 24/7 and seems to be very popular). Karaoke is also quite popular here, and not only for young people. There are a number of cinemas, which are quite cheap. People seem to visit the theatre or the philharmonic quite often or at least try to. People of all ages go to hockey matches, which are fun. Finally, when the weather is good, people just walk. They love walking and talking. The embankment is really pretty and the city in general is beautiful so it's a complete pleasure to just walk around with a friend and talk. Older people often visit their cottage house during weekends and more often during the summer. To quote a number of people, going to the datcha is 'Russia's national sport'. Where were you born and raised? How does that compare with life in Russia? I was born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco. Life is very different in Russia. I felt much less of a culture shock when I moved to the UK. People are much nicer, polite and patient in Morocco, but in Russia like in Morocco people live together, they interact very openly. People care more about what goes on around them and about other people. The weather is very different in Casablanca where temperatures are never extreme. Russians are just used to the cold, but they still cover a lot. The children are always covered in layers of clothes, always with a hat and gloves on, and that applies even when the temperature is not that cold (5 to 7 degrees). Public transport is very good here, you can reach any part of the city with multiple buses and links between cities, towns and even villages in the region are frequent. You don't really need a car at all. People can even reach their datcha by bus. You can sometimes see about 5 buses stop at the same time at a bus stop. That is not so much the case in Morocco. Also I find life here fascinating. Everything is new for me. Even the simplest notions I have about life are completely destroyed on a daily basis and there are some specific unexpected norms here:
I hope this was informative. Let me know if you have other questions. Пока! Yesterday, a group of friends and I went to visit Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov's summer house. Nekrasov was a 19th-century poet, who was particularly famous for writing on the suffering of the peaseantry. He really focused on conveying the charm of peasant life in his work, often adapting folk songs and peasant poems, but he also acknowledged and gave a voice to those who suffered in society. My favourite poem from him is ‘Когда из мрака заблужденья...’ (‘When from the darkness of delusion...’), in which he tells the plight of a woman who’s driven to prostitution by extreme poverty. Although he's not exactly famous outside of Russia, he was one of the intellectuals that carried weight in the literary scene of 19th century, and not only as an author, but also as a critique and a publisher. Both Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy were published in his literary magazine Sovremennik, which was later suppressed as it became the voice of a certain political opposition. So you could imagine how excited I was to visit the place where he wrote many of his pieces. The summer house itself is located in Karabikha, a small town about 25/30 minutes away from Yaroslavl. The bus there was only 27 roubles and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. We had a guided tour (in Russian obviously) of the main house of the property and were told about Nekrasov's life and his family, which I won't go into details about here because you can just as easily read his wikipedia page. We then just had tea and decided to go for a walk in the woods behind the property. We sat on a bench and my friend's landlady started reciting 'Мне осталась одна забава...' by Sergei Yesenin (a quite random choice). As I listened to her, breathing in the smell of dying leaves and watching the already golden paysage, all I could think of was the extent of Russia's quality as a subject of poetry. Poetry itself seems to be an essential part of Russian culture. Children have to memorise dozens of poems throughout their education and people in general are very involved and proud of their classics. Our translation teacher Olga Baricovna often majestically recites parts of Pushkin's poems to illustrate grammar rules or set expressions she's teaching us. When I asked my friend Nikita, who is NOT someone who would typically be interested poetry (spends most of his time playing video games or watching basketball games, finds reading fictional literature boring and tedious...), why Russians liked poetry so much, he said this: 'Ну то что она самая крутая, самая эмоциональная! Затрагивает все проблемы! Актуальна по сей день!', and enthusiastically showed me this video of actor Alexander Petrov reciting 'Облако в штанах' by Vladimir Mayakovsky, his favourite poet. How unusual this would be in the UK! I personally think that their affection for poetry has to do with the fact that Russian is a 'великий и могучий' language to cite Ivan Turgenev (I highly recommend checking out his poem 'Русский Язык', which is, to put it simply, his love confession to the Russian language.). The effect of poetry depends on the combination of concision, imagery, grammatical parallelism, sound organisation, etc...without forgetting the poem's timelessness. I don't have to tell you how complex, intricate and rich the Russian language is. In Russian, we can express the durability, the frequency, even the intensity of an action with just a conjugated verb if we choose the aspect and possibly the prefix well. We can, thanks to cases, move around all the components of a sentence without impeding the reader's ability to understand its meaning, and I could go on and on. Hence, Russian poetry can be so extremely precise, melodious, meaningful and seem so effortless. As a result, in Russia poetry is not something only bookworms are interested in. It is an actual and vibrant part of Russian literature. Verses from famous poems can even be used in every day conversations as sayings. I will give you some examples, which you can go ahead and translate for yourself:
As for myself, I am trying to read as much Russian poetry as possible, and I recommend doing the same. It helps with pronunciation and you just get used to hearing Russian.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Let me know what you think about it. До свидания! Добрый день, Друзья! Today I'm going to tell you about our local hockey team: Локомотив! On the 13rd of September, I finally assisted to a hockey match for the first time in my life. Our local team, the Локомотив were playing against the Метталург of Магнитогорск (a city in the South West of Russia). I was impressed by the level of athleticism of the players, the complexity of the sport, but especially by the fervour of the fans, the sport culture and I genuinely just enjoyed the adrenaline pick and the level of excitement I experienced when the team scored. (But I have to admit that the best part had to be when the anthem started and all of us stood in unisson. The energy that ran through the room at that moment was just unbelievable.) Since then, I've been to two other matches and I'm already expecting the next match which is taking place in Yaroslavl in a week. Two of the guys in our group fell in love so hard that they bought the expensive jerseys the week following the first match and had all the chanting memorised in no time. One of the things that really struck me is that Lokomotiv is a huge part of Yaroslavl's sport life. Old and young are very proud of the team and if you happen to be wearing any of their goods after a match, it's not unusually for random people to ask you who won, who was playing, etc. This isn't only because Yaroslavl is a strong team which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League (Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ)), the highest level of hockey in Russia, it's also because of a tragedy that hit the club on in 2011. The Lokomotiv club was then travelling to Minsk for the first game of the 2011-2012 KHL season when the airplane that was carrying the team crashed following a botched take-off from Tunoshna Airport. Of the 45 passengers and crew on board, only flight engineer Alexander Sizov survived the crash. People still gather on the 7th of September every year to unite in memory of the late team. A memorial was constructed after the crash and the pictures of the players are displayed inside and outside the arena with an over-head claiming 'наша команда, навсегда...' (Our team, forever...). The other thing that makes hockey interesting is the history of the sport itself in Russia and before that in the USSR. Hockey started to gain importance in the Soviet Union under Stalin. He was the one to appoint Anatoli Tarasov, 'the father of Russian ice hockey', to develop an elite hockey programme. Tarasov looked at hockey in a very different way, focusing more on team play, on combinations, on the precision and the finesse of passing, and his training reflected that. For the team to reach his expectations, the players had to live and train together the whole year long. This led the USSR to dominate hockey in international competitions especially in the 60s and 70s, during which they won 4 straight gold medals in the Olympics. The specificities of Russian hockey faded considerably after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when sport was not as much of a soft power element aimed to prove the superiority of an ideology and a societal model (or at the very least not closely as much as during the Cold War). A documentary was released in 2014 about the Soviet national ice hockey team. You might find it interesting. I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
До свидания и удачи на всё! The Russian Federation encompasses 85 'federal subjects', 22 of them being republics and over 185 ethnic groups. This diversity enriches Russia's cultural patrimony. Every nation has its own traditions, songs and folklore. To display this capital, the channel 'Culture' founded the "Вся Россия" фолклорный фестиваль, where ballets and choirs from all over Russia perform their traditional pieces. We watched some extracts of it in class and I wanted to share that with you. The most famous folklore ensemble in the whole of Russia is Хор имени Пятницкого. This choir was founded in 1911, and focuses solely on Russian traditions and folklore (Russian in the ethnic sense). In the video above, they perform the first song in a traditional wear associated mainly with the Yaroslavl Oblast. Альбина Дегтярева! This artist is from Yakutsk in the Sakha Republic. About 40% of its territory is located above the Artic circle and the region is known for its extreme temperatures, its natural resources, for its sceneries, its lakes, mountains...simply for its nature. In the following clip, Albina uses a барган or Jew's harp, which consists in a metal tongue attached to a frame. She places the tongue in her mouth and plucks it with her finger to produce a note. With the instrument, she imitates the sounds of nature. Close your eyes and you'll imagine yourself lost at night in the Taiga. This performance is an example of Yakuts' folklore. Чеченский государственный ансамбль танца "Вайнах" This ensemble was founded in 1939 and is based in Grozny, the capital of the Republic of Chechnya, in the North Caucasus. It's a ballet which showcases the character of the Chechen people: strong, brave, proud. They perform in concert halls all over Russia and often abroad. You can see below one of the pieces they presented in Ukraine. And FINALLY as an extra, I want to share with you the most famous Russian folk song. Stop anyone in the street and ask them if they know this song, the answer will be YES. It was originally composed by Alxandra Zheleznova-Armfelt in 1896-1897, the original title being Ой, не вечоръ, то-ли не вечоръ. A young soldier has a disturbing dream, and his captain interprets it as an omen of their defeat. What's interesting is that the original lyrics of the song made reference to Stepan Razin, a Cossack leader who led an uprising against the tsarist power in the 17th century. This is part of Cossack folklore, a people descendent of peasants who fled from their masters, and dispersed all over Russia to find their freedom. They later formed semi-military communities and were charged by the tsar of the protection of borders. The majority of Cossacks supported the tsarist regime during the civil war that took place from 1917 to 1922, fighting in the tsarist army. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!
До свидания! |
AuthorThird year student at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Studies Russian, German and International Relations. Loves traveling. Loves languages. Loves to share. Hence, this BLOG! Archives
January 2018
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