Caitlin Moriarty

Destinations: A History of Global Education at Dickinson College

caitlinmoriarty — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:51:45 +0000

The title is from the quote “One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things” by Henry Miller, which I found on the internet

Один день на даче

caitlinmoriarty — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:10:34 +0000

Sunday morning we all got up early and took the metro to Bixino, where we bought tickets and took elektrichka (the commuter/regional train) alone to Kratovo, about 40 minutes out of Moscow. We had been invited to the dacha of Irina Nikolaevna, who is a long time host mother for the Dickinson program and an all around wonderful person. Dachas are typically fairly simple houses with a garden or in the woods where Russians go on the weekends to rest, relatively similiar in concept to a cabin on the lake in Minnesota. This dacha in particular was very old, and a remnant of when the government still distributed property. It is in a very long established community, where most of the dachas were acquired this way and passed down through families.

Irina Nikolaevna met us at the Kratovo platform, and from that point on we just met more and more new people. her son, his family, and several others whose connection I could not figure out were all there. Additionally we met our friends Olivia – a fellow Dickinson student who had been studying in Russia for he year, and brothers maxim and Andre. There was a lot of food, and a lot of toasting. At one point Chase, Olivia, and I agreed to go swimming, which was more of an excuse to go to a lake and drink vodka after jumping around in the water for a few minutes. Then we went back to the house and ate more. And then we ate more. And then she brought out homemade Adjika, a really spicy and delicious Georgian pepper paste, so we ate more. I think this one day alone may have made up for my seven previous years of vegetarianism.

The most rewarding fact about the visit was that no one at the dacha could really speak much English. This was perhaps the most successful day I have ever had in terms of speaking and comprehension. I am grateful that I can begin to end my time here with a sense of how much I have gained in my Russian abilities. My countdown to Saturday has unfortunately begun, each line that I cross things off my list of what to do and see, is one step closer to when I must say goodbye to Moscow. But I wont think of that quite yet.

Почти Всё

caitlinmoriarty — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 15:46:39 +0000

I now have a week left in Russia, and the list of things I wish to see is just as long as it has ever been. We have had more free time, and I have spent a lot of it sitting in different parks around the city. Most notably, I found Partriarch’s Ponds, which is featured prominently in Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita. A lot of where Bulgakov set the novel still exists, including his apartment. It is now a museum of sorts, where people just hang out and talk about literature. A large black cat lives there, named Begemot, of course.
Tomorrow, will be spent at the dacha. I am very much looking forward to a day outside of Moscow. Maybe there will be squirrels!

Санкт Петербург

caitlinmoriarty — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:44:05 +0000

Monday morning on the overnight train we arrived back in Moscow from St. Petersburg, the second capital of Russia. St Petersburg was established in 1703 by Peter the First (or the Great, whatever) in order to open up Russia to the rest of Europe and compete in trade and military strength. The position of St. Petersburg on the Neva River was just several kilometers away from the Bay of Finland and the Baltic Sea. St. Petersburg for this reason, was built to resemble a European city, and unlike Moscow, is completely planned out. There are canals that run through the city, in addition to the rivers, and the streets for the most part are on a grid. I must have gotten used to the fact that Moscow makes no sense, because I could not find my way around. I missed the radial streets of Moscow, with all the traffic and I missed the metro.

St Petersburg was home to the czars of Russia from Peter the Great until the revolution. In the city there are many palaces and cathedrals built by different members of the royal family. The largest is the Winter Palace, which is now the Hermitage museum. The weekend we were there was also the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where Putin, Medvedev, and Chinese President Hu Jintao all spoke. While I wish we could have attended the forum, the first night there was a large outdoor concert where Sting performed on Palace Square. We also saw Hu Jintao’s motorcade shut down Nevskii Prospect, the largest street in Peter. That Saturday was also Alye Parusa, which is a St. Petersburg literary holiday that I do not really understand. All of the students that just finished high school receive an invitation (we wrangled some because our program director had connections) and there was a huge concert and it basically shut down the entire center of the city. The celebration ended with a fireworks show on the riverthat set the background for a massive ship with red sails to come through the lift bridge. While I think that I prefer Moscow in general, it was important to see such a different side of Russia.

Владимиро-Суздальского Княжества

caitlinmoriarty — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:28:40 +0000

This past weekend we traveled to Suzdal, in Vladimirskii Oblast, which is about three hours from Moscow by electric train. The area used to be it’s own kingdom before what I guess could be called the unification of Russia. Suzdal is one of the oldest cities in Russia, and remains completely un-industrialized – the Russian word is деревня. We stayed in a small hotel that was located in a former monastery, and spent Saturday evening at the Banya, which is kind of like a sauna. I think there were more churches per capita in this one area – even including all of the tourists, which unfortunately, there were a lot of – than any other place in the world. All of the Babushkas that are actually attending the church scold the young women for wearing pants, The closest train station to Suzdal was in Vladimir, where cathedral that the Patriarch used to live from the 12th century is located, and before our train back we stopped there to see them. Comparing this area to Moscow, even though there are a lot of tourists, it hard. It is said that Moscow and Russia are two different countries culturally, and Suzdal was the first time I was able to see the extent of the difference. Later this week we are going to St. Petersburg, and the difference between Moscow and Peter is remarkable. Besides Culture, I feel that there is also a literary difference, if not even spiritual. The metaphors that describe the two cities are as if they are not related by anything at all. I will write more about it when I get back.

Как дойти?

caitlinmoriarty — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:15:51 +0000

Russians generally don’t look happy when they are on the street, especially in Moscow. This is not because they hate everyone, but rather just custom. I also imagine that it would be rather tiring to be pleasant to everyone you pass on the street. This trait combines oddly with the fact that it is impossible (absolutely impossible) to find where you are going if do not already know, and one must constantly ask for directions. Though I try to blend in with my surroundings, I must naturally look nicer than others, because without fail I have been asked for directions on my way to class every morning this week. I wish that I could say that it ended successfully even once, but – though I feel progress has been made – this is not the case. I have come to realize that Russian is spoken at a much quicker pace than in the classroom, this is normally not the problem however. Rather, it is that finding places from their proper address is causes the complications. It is much easier to find where you are going using landmarks, rather than numbers written on a piece of paper. This is why Russians usually give the metro station or intersection they live near rather than their address because then it gets into not only the street number of the apartment, but then which building entrance, and then which landing. It may sound cliche, but this is a fitting analogy to Russia, at least on a grand scheme. There are official numbers and names assigned to everything, but that is not how Russians navigate their lives.

Another strange, though rather unrelated, thing about Moscow, is that even though I only knew two people that lived here before I came, I have managed to randomly run into both of them in this massive city. Мир тесен!

Красный Октябрь

caitlinmoriarty — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:52:17 +0000

Red October probably reminds most people of the Tom Clancy novel, but in Moscow it is a wonderful place. It is the name of one of a 150 year old chocolate factory in the center of Moscow, where they make many kinds of chocolate, including my favorite, Алёнка. We received a tour of the factory floor, and got to eat as much chocolate as we wished. I ate quite a bit, of course, but the two boys in my class ate a ridiculous amount, one counting that he ate over thirty pieces. This is a very popular excursion for Russians, and one must make reservations six months in advance. I bought some chocolate as a souvenir, but I think it will be a gift, it will be a while until I will be able to eat any.

Yesterday we went to Новодевичый Монастирь (Novodevichy Monastery) where the most famous cemetery in Moscow is located. Being buried here is a great honor, and in every row is a national hero or a famous person. Some of the most well known are Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, Yeltsin, Khrushchev, and Shostakovitch. The monastery is very old, and Peter the Greats sister was exiled there when he was worried that whe would try to seek power. During the French invasion of Moscow, Napoleon wanted to destroy it, but the nuns that lived there rolled the bombs outside the walls to the area behind the monastery, and from the hills where Napoleon was, it appeared that it was on fire and it survived.

Первые Выходные

caitlinmoriarty — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:45:00 +0000

This weekend was really busy. I won’t write about all of it. On Friday we went to the Kremlin, Which is basically a big inside the walls where there are churches and government buildings and the former armory where they now keep all of the jewels and royal stuff from before the revolution.

Saturday we went to an area of Moscow called Измайловский Парк (Izmailovski Park) where there was a large souvenir market, as well as a large park. The park was what I guess would have been a soviet theme park. It was very large with a lot of just wooded area, and then on the path there would be a random gazebo with a brass band, next to a tank commemorating the Great Patriotic War (WWII). There was an old west style town with rides, and there were stereotypical depictions of Native Americans, which is probably the last thing I thought I would see in Russia. We rode on a ferris wheel, which looking back was probably a horrible decision (Soviet Ferris wheel safety standards?) and could see over the entire park. At the park was also a Русская белка (Russian squirrel) which was very exciting. Russian squirrels are much cuter than standard grey squirrels, with tufted ears. I didn’t remember my camera, but it is important to understand the distinction, so, here is a picture.

On Sunday we met Sasha Savraeva, a former exchange student from Dickinson, and traveled to Abramtsevo, a small village about an hour outside of Moscow that is home to an estate that was an artists colony around the turn of the twentieth century. The artists that lived on the estate made up the impressionist movement in Russia, and used folk art in their work. There is a church on the estate which was collectively built by the residents, which is essentially a collection of observations of Russian folk life.

Five Stories Down

caitlinmoriarty — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:10:46 +0000

The metro station that I most often use is called Novoslobodskaya, which is on the northern edge of the center. To get to the platform, you swipe your card at the turnstiles, and then join the crowd of people pushing to get to the escalator going down. The first time I was not prepared for how high it was going to be. Novoslobodskaya is pretty usual, and spans about five stories. I stepped on, and then my stomach dropped out. I do not like heights. I knew that I would be using the metro every day, and I also knew that I would have to step on to the escalator every day, and then look down. Today I realized, however, that it is getting easier. Perhaps I have gotten in the habit of turning to the side to look at the advertisements along the tunnel wall, or perhaps I am beginning to tolerate the distance, but I no longer hesitate as I did before. This is an indication of how my view of Moscow as a whole has changed – from the labyrinth that I saw in the taxi from the airport to now a navigable, self contained world unto itself. In less than a week I have reoriented myself halfway across the world.

Yesterday we went to Krutitsky Monestery, which I believe will remain on of my favorite places in Moscow. It was established as the residence of the Metropolitan (kind of like an Arch-Bishop) of Moscow in the thirteenth century on the banks of the Moscow River. It is a functioning church, despite centuries of abuse after Peter the Great nationalized the Russian church and then the Soviets repressed its influence.

Pasternak and Parking

caitlinmoriarty — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:43:49 +0000

Today was our first day of Russian lessons, in which we are joined by two other students in addition to the the other students from the Dickinson program. One is from England and one has lived in Russia her whole life, but her family is German and she went to an international school, so she never learned to speak Russian. It reminded me in some ways about how the Russian nobility used to speak only French. In the morning in class we read about Boris Pasternak, the author of Doctor Zhivago who is also well known for his poetry. In the afternoon we then took a trip to a town in the sort of suburban area of Moscow (Podmoscovy) called Peredelkino, where pasternak had his dacha – a common summer house that is very similar to a cabin at the lake in Minnesota – which is now a museum. This is where he wrote, including all of Doctor Zhivago, as well as where he died. Today happened to be the anniversary of his death, and there were a group of people who were gathering at the house/museum for a meal, including family and those affiliated with the museum. Everything was left exactly as it was when he lived there, even his boots by the door.

On a completely different subject, a very strange thing about Moscow and probably Russia in general, is the complete free for all that is parking. I don’ t think that are any lots, because it would be a waste of space. Anyways, people just park wherever. In the crosswalk, up on the curb, against traffic, even right in the middle of the sidewalk. Driving in general is something I would never want to do in Russia – Moscow especially. Crossing the street is dangerous enough, I am nowhere near offensive enough when driving to survive here. I will stick to the metro, which is fine because they are decorated like palaces. Each one is no less elaborate than a cathedral. The only thing that makes me nervous about the metro is that the escalators to go to the platform are about five stories tall, and steeper than a forty-five degree angle. It is awful, but I will get used to it, and it is definitely worth it.