Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Krasnoyarsk - Part 1
Krasnoyarsk certainly provides a different feel than Omsk, but of course, in an equally great way. There are a lot taller buildings in Krasnoyarsk, and similar to Omsk, it is situated on a large river (Pronounced - Yenisee), but the city seems to have equal sides situated on both banks where Omsk seemed to be mostly located on one. Because of this it seems to have a bit of that larger city feel and not quite the close compact feel of Omsk. A lot of buildings are under construction in Krasnoyarsk so it gives a feel that it is a growing city. One of the notable items is a sky scrapper that was begun years ago, of which, the developer ran out of money and it has been sitting half vacant for 10 plus years. The locals seem to be slightly amused and annoyed by this building and hopeful that another developer might finish up the project. Another interesting note is that the roads are very rough in this area due to the high swings in temperature (freezing and thawing of water between the asphalt cracks). The city has difficulty keeping up with the numerous potholes on city roads. Krasnoyarsk is generally colder than Omsk, but we would never know that unless told, for it has been in the low 70’s since we have arrived and even in the 80’s on a couple of occasions! Everyone was quite happy about the weather since it appears that we may have packed a little on the light side.
Our first day here was spent seeing some of the historical sights of the city which included various statues, churches and historical buildings some dating back to the early 1800’s. However, we feel the highlight of the day was spent viewing the largest dam in Siberia. A sight to behold, maybe not as large as our Hoover Dam but certainly enormous. It harnesses the Yenisee river, and from our understanding, produces almost all of the electrical power for the city of Krasnoyarsk and surrounding region. Joe inquired to the price per kilowatt hour and although we cannot remember the specific cost it appears we still have it cheaper in the states.
The following day was spent with professional meetings and then a trip to a the local school system. We visited with the learning disabilities classes and participated in craft time. Finding that although these youngsters may have a learning disability they seemed to all exceed our abilities in making clay flowers. Upon our departure we exchanged each of our handmade flowers and then grabbed a bite of lunch in the cafeteria (“canteen”). Something all of us have not experienced for over 10+ years! The food has not changed much.
Our weekend excursions consisted mainly of trips to our Host Family’s Dacha complete with “Baunya” (yes!), a Russian tradition we have began to adopt as our own! This has become quite a convenience as well, since the city of Krasnoyarsk has it’s hot water shut off once a summer to make repairs on the system (currently until June 9th). It was a lovely reprieve to have a nice warm shower! Our host families do heat up water for us in the morning though, so it is not as if we are truly suffering. We will say it is amazing how cold the faucet water is over here. We estimated it to be about 40 degrees F when exiting that faucet, at a maximum. It is interesting to note that the hot water comes from the city and that each individual does not have their own hot water heater like we do in the states. We attribute that to left over communist and socialized programs.
In the evenings we have been fortunate enough to spend time together with our host families for both some larger group dinners or our more common, individual dinners. We are finding a theme with Russian hospitality and that our new families are quickly growing on us yet again. We all equally dread our departure to the next city but also share excitement for new adventures. Yet another Catch-22.
In addition, one evening we were fortunate enough to attend a Russian Symphony and although it was about 3 hours long you would swear it felt like 20 minutes. We joked since it was at the end of a long day and it was almost certain that one of us would drift off during the harmonious compositions, but we all sat bright eyed and bushy tailed for even the conductor was entertaining in his jubilant movements.
We are eager to enter this week’s activities which consist of again professional meetings and many cultural activities such as a trip to the theater, another musical venture and even a trip to the Krasnoyarsk Zoo! Please stay tuned as we follow up with more excitement in the wonderful Russian city of Krasnoyarsk!
Our first day here was spent seeing some of the historical sights of the city which included various statues, churches and historical buildings some dating back to the early 1800’s. However, we feel the highlight of the day was spent viewing the largest dam in Siberia. A sight to behold, maybe not as large as our Hoover Dam but certainly enormous. It harnesses the Yenisee river, and from our understanding, produces almost all of the electrical power for the city of Krasnoyarsk and surrounding region. Joe inquired to the price per kilowatt hour and although we cannot remember the specific cost it appears we still have it cheaper in the states.
The following day was spent with professional meetings and then a trip to a the local school system. We visited with the learning disabilities classes and participated in craft time. Finding that although these youngsters may have a learning disability they seemed to all exceed our abilities in making clay flowers. Upon our departure we exchanged each of our handmade flowers and then grabbed a bite of lunch in the cafeteria (“canteen”). Something all of us have not experienced for over 10+ years! The food has not changed much.
Our weekend excursions consisted mainly of trips to our Host Family’s Dacha complete with “Baunya” (yes!), a Russian tradition we have began to adopt as our own! This has become quite a convenience as well, since the city of Krasnoyarsk has it’s hot water shut off once a summer to make repairs on the system (currently until June 9th). It was a lovely reprieve to have a nice warm shower! Our host families do heat up water for us in the morning though, so it is not as if we are truly suffering. We will say it is amazing how cold the faucet water is over here. We estimated it to be about 40 degrees F when exiting that faucet, at a maximum. It is interesting to note that the hot water comes from the city and that each individual does not have their own hot water heater like we do in the states. We attribute that to left over communist and socialized programs.
In the evenings we have been fortunate enough to spend time together with our host families for both some larger group dinners or our more common, individual dinners. We are finding a theme with Russian hospitality and that our new families are quickly growing on us yet again. We all equally dread our departure to the next city but also share excitement for new adventures. Yet another Catch-22.
In addition, one evening we were fortunate enough to attend a Russian Symphony and although it was about 3 hours long you would swear it felt like 20 minutes. We joked since it was at the end of a long day and it was almost certain that one of us would drift off during the harmonious compositions, but we all sat bright eyed and bushy tailed for even the conductor was entertaining in his jubilant movements.
We are eager to enter this week’s activities which consist of again professional meetings and many cultural activities such as a trip to the theater, another musical venture and even a trip to the Krasnoyarsk Zoo! Please stay tuned as we follow up with more excitement in the wonderful Russian city of Krasnoyarsk!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Trains!
Our train ride was a great success. As we approached, we were a bit nervous, for we were told that we had the most inexpensive seats on the train. So immediately our minds wandered to sharing compartments with chickens and other domesticated animals. As is turns out, the Rotary spared no expense and we were quite comfortable in our cabin (“berth”) which contained four beds and a table. But perhaps our biggest surprise was our send off. A lot of our Omsk friends joined us on the platform directly before our departure and bestowed upon us many gifts, food and trinkets to send us on our way. They brought balloons which we released before our send off and toasted us with champagne! The symbolism behind the balloons is that if you release a balloon upon your departure that you leave an item in your departure city expressing your intent to return. It was a wonderful send off and we were all very sad to move on from our new friends.
Once on the train we spent a few moments getting situated in the compartments, speaking with our neighbors from the Netherlands and getting ready for a 20+ hour journey through Siberian Wilderness. A good portion of our trip was spent at night but since the sun does not completely set until around 11pm here and rises at about 5am we had a good portion of time to sit and enjoy the scenery. There were many small villages with wooden houses complete with large piles of birch firewood. Some of these wooden houses are painted similar colors to the homes in Florida. There are a lot of green and even pink homes and factories. Colors we did not expect to see in Siberian Russian villages. It is tough to imagine how they can survive the winters in such houses knowing that it can get as low -50 degrees!
The wilderness was amazing with birch trees and cattle strewn throughout. Joe won the competition for first identified four legged creature spotted that was not domesticated. It was a rabbit with white feet, of course no one else was around to see it.
We all slept decently well but being in a new surrounding combined with the rocking motions and surrounding train noises provided for sporadic nights sleep. Needless to say we were able to catch up on some much needed rest after our week worth of excursions.
Finally, we arrived on time in Krasnoyarsk with a warm greeting from many of the local Krasnoyarsk Rotarians. We each met our new host families eager to begin the bonding processes all over again. We all visited our new homes, most of them complete with children, cats and in Apartments located high above the Krasnoyarsk Skyline! It is a more mountainous region so the views can be quite spectacular. We are very excited to see what adventures behold us in this seemingly wonderful city!
Once on the train we spent a few moments getting situated in the compartments, speaking with our neighbors from the Netherlands and getting ready for a 20+ hour journey through Siberian Wilderness. A good portion of our trip was spent at night but since the sun does not completely set until around 11pm here and rises at about 5am we had a good portion of time to sit and enjoy the scenery. There were many small villages with wooden houses complete with large piles of birch firewood. Some of these wooden houses are painted similar colors to the homes in Florida. There are a lot of green and even pink homes and factories. Colors we did not expect to see in Siberian Russian villages. It is tough to imagine how they can survive the winters in such houses knowing that it can get as low -50 degrees!
The wilderness was amazing with birch trees and cattle strewn throughout. Joe won the competition for first identified four legged creature spotted that was not domesticated. It was a rabbit with white feet, of course no one else was around to see it.
We all slept decently well but being in a new surrounding combined with the rocking motions and surrounding train noises provided for sporadic nights sleep. Needless to say we were able to catch up on some much needed rest after our week worth of excursions.
Finally, we arrived on time in Krasnoyarsk with a warm greeting from many of the local Krasnoyarsk Rotarians. We each met our new host families eager to begin the bonding processes all over again. We all visited our new homes, most of them complete with children, cats and in Apartments located high above the Krasnoyarsk Skyline! It is a more mountainous region so the views can be quite spectacular. We are very excited to see what adventures behold us in this seemingly wonderful city!
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Great City of Omsk
Well, what can we say, the Omscovites have done nothing but exceed our expectations in every way since our arrival. We have had a very busy schedule with many activities which has given us some wonderful perspective! We feel like we have managed to see a lot of what Omsk has to offer in a very short period of time. The past few days have been filled with trips to various museums, theaters, as well as professional meetings with individuals amongst our respective professions. To top it off, we have experienced a traditional Russian birthday party in the woods of Siberia, the words smallest printed book (with some chat time with the author) along with another trip to the “Baunya” complete with massages and a full course meal… in a bathing room! The Russians sure know how to do business. Apparently, it is quite common to hold a dinner business meeting in bathing attire, while enjoying a meal and traveling back and forth to the sauna! It may sound a little informal but they do it well and I could see how it could be as common as our business meetings the golf links.
The museums are quite amazing. They are usually smaller and generally not overly showy with their exhibits, but they display their history well and tours usually are accompanied by a guide. Where, without one, we would certainly have not taken away from them what we did. At the Siberian Culture Museum we played numerous games and were taught traditional Russian dances and songs (see accordion picture below). At the numerous art museums we have toured we met with many famous Russian artists, including a man who has virtually cornered the market on artistic miniatures. It was quite intriguing to speak with him and view the instruments he uses to create such masterpieces. He literally creates pieces of art smaller than a thumb tack ( if our readers have time; I suggest you check our his website www.konenko.net ).
In addition, we saw a delightful Russian play titled “Suicide” or “Self-Murder” (translation differences) which despite its ominous title was actually rather comedic. As Nikki noted, you can tell a good play when you laugh with everyone else despite the language barrier. We spoke with the director afterwards and were able to provide him some perspective as to how it translated to Americans. He is considering bringing the play to the U.S. so you may want to keep an eye out for it!
We have also spent some time visiting the local historic centers of the city and the two old fortress gates that remain. It is incredibly interesting to see that in certain areas of the city buildings remain from the Tsar era, then the next building over is from the Communist era and the building behind that is from current Capitalistic Russia. This is further evidence that the Russian people have experienced a lot of change in a very short period of time.
We also took took a trip to the local orphanage to visit the with underprivileged deaf children of Omsk. This is an orphanage which is supported by the Rotary and Rotaract clubs of Omsk, who have just recently provided them with a soccer field for activities and sporting. During our visit they performed a play for us titled “The Wolf and 7 Kids” (kids being baby goats). We would say it was probably hands down one of our favorite experiences to date on the trip. Before we left we spent some short time with the kids taking pictures and providing them candy and stickers. They seemed to be genuinely content and happy despite what some of us might consider a significant disadvantage.
But the majority of time to date has been mostly spent with our relative professions. I would say on some days almost half of our day every day is spent with our respective professions, which has provided each of us with a much broader perspective of our fields.
Now we are gearing up to move on to our next city, Krasnoyarsk. A city that is located in a more mountainous region and is of similar size to Omsk. The journey will take us on a 20+ hour train ride through forests of birch trees and we are very excited to get the experience to ride on the one of the words most infamous trains routes the TransSiberian. Despite this excitement we are finding it very difficult to leave our host families and Russian friends. We have spent 8 days in close contact with these wonderful people and feel as if they are part of our family now. Every day we have dined and shared celebrations with these individuals and there is truly no words in the English language that could express the level of their hospitality. Someone asked us what was the biggest surprise that we had received to date? I think we could all answer that honestly, the level of hospitality and warmth we have experienced. If the other cities are even half as gracious as the Omscovites… we are truly having an experience of a lifetime.
The museums are quite amazing. They are usually smaller and generally not overly showy with their exhibits, but they display their history well and tours usually are accompanied by a guide. Where, without one, we would certainly have not taken away from them what we did. At the Siberian Culture Museum we played numerous games and were taught traditional Russian dances and songs (see accordion picture below). At the numerous art museums we have toured we met with many famous Russian artists, including a man who has virtually cornered the market on artistic miniatures. It was quite intriguing to speak with him and view the instruments he uses to create such masterpieces. He literally creates pieces of art smaller than a thumb tack ( if our readers have time; I suggest you check our his website www.konenko.net ).
In addition, we saw a delightful Russian play titled “Suicide” or “Self-Murder” (translation differences) which despite its ominous title was actually rather comedic. As Nikki noted, you can tell a good play when you laugh with everyone else despite the language barrier. We spoke with the director afterwards and were able to provide him some perspective as to how it translated to Americans. He is considering bringing the play to the U.S. so you may want to keep an eye out for it!
We have also spent some time visiting the local historic centers of the city and the two old fortress gates that remain. It is incredibly interesting to see that in certain areas of the city buildings remain from the Tsar era, then the next building over is from the Communist era and the building behind that is from current Capitalistic Russia. This is further evidence that the Russian people have experienced a lot of change in a very short period of time.
We also took took a trip to the local orphanage to visit the with underprivileged deaf children of Omsk. This is an orphanage which is supported by the Rotary and Rotaract clubs of Omsk, who have just recently provided them with a soccer field for activities and sporting. During our visit they performed a play for us titled “The Wolf and 7 Kids” (kids being baby goats). We would say it was probably hands down one of our favorite experiences to date on the trip. Before we left we spent some short time with the kids taking pictures and providing them candy and stickers. They seemed to be genuinely content and happy despite what some of us might consider a significant disadvantage.
But the majority of time to date has been mostly spent with our relative professions. I would say on some days almost half of our day every day is spent with our respective professions, which has provided each of us with a much broader perspective of our fields.
Now we are gearing up to move on to our next city, Krasnoyarsk. A city that is located in a more mountainous region and is of similar size to Omsk. The journey will take us on a 20+ hour train ride through forests of birch trees and we are very excited to get the experience to ride on the one of the words most infamous trains routes the TransSiberian. Despite this excitement we are finding it very difficult to leave our host families and Russian friends. We have spent 8 days in close contact with these wonderful people and feel as if they are part of our family now. Every day we have dined and shared celebrations with these individuals and there is truly no words in the English language that could express the level of their hospitality. Someone asked us what was the biggest surprise that we had received to date? I think we could all answer that honestly, the level of hospitality and warmth we have experienced. If the other cities are even half as gracious as the Omscovites… we are truly having an experience of a lifetime.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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