Things To Do...Places To See...

We have kept busy our first few weeks in Saratov exploring our new city! We feel very fortunate for the location of our flat. We are in the city center so many of the city attractions are in easy walking distance. When we can’t walk, we have easy access to public transportation. We started off just exploring the area closest to where we live.

Kirova is a pedestrian street a few blocks from our flat. It was nice to walk on in the winter because it was kept mostly snow and ice free. At one end of Kirova is the Covered Market (where we buy fruit and snacks), the circus and is a destination for most of the public transportation. Kirova itself is lined with shops. There are many electronics, shoe, and clothing stores. Kirova is also home to Saratov’s only McDonald’s and KFC. We had a student lead us through the experience of eating at McDonald’s (Anna spent a summer in CA working at McD’s and was a trainer at the Saratov McD’s for a few years). Upon entering the restaurant you locate a seat first. This was challenging as the restaurant was very full. The kids and I ended up sitting with a mother and daughter who were finishing their meal. Ken and Anna ordered. The food was very similar with minor differences – they had a curry dipping sauce that Ken and I enjoyed! After we finished eating we left the trays and cups on the table for the employees to clean up!

Kirova is also home to our favorite dessert shop (see Food Glorious Food posting). At the other end of Kirova there is a park, Russian Orthodox Church (picture on left) and the Sobinov Conservatory. The park has been great for the kids to blow off some steam when they are feeling a bit housebound! The church is a great example of beautiful Russian architecture. We have been told that during the Soviet Era the church (as with most churches in Russia) was put to other uses. This particular church was used as a planetarium. We are told that the name of the church translates to Church of Taking Our Sorrows Away. Unfortunately, American culture invades – to the left of the church is a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop! The Sobinov Conservatory is also a beautiful building (the architecture has a German feel to it – there was a large German population in Saratov but they were deported during WWII/The Great Patriotic War). We have been to two concerts at the Conservatory – the first featured Russian Folk music and used Russian stringed instruments. It also included some opera which was an eye opening (ear popping) experience for the kids. The second concert featured music by an American Composer (Joel Fagen sp?) from CA. He is a past Fulbrighter and had some connections with the conservatory.

We went to the Regional Museum with our friend Nick (a doctoral student and English teacher at the University). He brought some of his students to translate. The Museum had a special program in honor of Women’s Day and there was an exhibit on the history of Women in Saratov. In the picture we are standing by an exhibit of a Traditional Russian Wedding Dress. The bride had to sew the dress by hand...with no help. Ken was chosen to play an instrument and we got to tour some other exhibits in the museum as well (we saw Yury Gargarin’s first plane). Nick is now plotting another outing to the museum for a new exhibit in April!

Another fun outing is a walk to the Volga! We have been there several times and always enjoy a walk along the shores. We were there in early March and the Volga was still frozen and we were able to walk out on the ice and get a photo. Our first attempt at a photo was a disaster; we were waylaid by Sergei, who had a bit too much to drink that day. He was trying hard to communicate with us and we were having little success. We kept repeating that we didn’t speak Russian, only English. We made the mistake of telling Sergei that we were Americans – this seemed to really rile him up, so we tried to disengage and walk away. Sergei followed us for a while but eventually wandered off. It was amusing (and a little irritating) at the time but this story actually highlights one of the sadder aspects of Russia. Alcoholism and drug addiction are a very serious problem here. As we walk down the street we can smell alcohol on many of the men that we pass. The average life expectancy for men is 60 and approximately 1 out of every 3 deaths is related to alcohol. We have heard that when the ice on the Volga begins to break up, that people actually go out and ride the ice! I am not planning to participate, but I would love to witness that spectacle!

On Sunday we took the kids to the circus. The circus in Saratov was the first circus in Russia. It is a one ring circus. The ring is in the center and all of the seats are in a circle around that. It is a beautiful building and we felt like we were right in the middle of the show. I think it would be impossible to have a bad seat! The kids enjoyed the various acts. There were no Russian bears but they had a hippo! We got Katie and Dylan popcorn (sweet and salty) and cotton candy (white –no blue/pink/purple).

We have lots to look forward to – there is an opera/ballet (I think we will go to the ballet), we have heard about a Central Park that has bears, squirrels and other animals, and Victory Park (subs, planes etc. on display here).

Just a follow up on my transportation post – They have finally brought out the big guns to deal with the icy sidewalks! Actually what they have are bobcats (bulldozer like machines) that have this big thing on the front that pounds on the ice to chip it away. I can’t imagine the damage all of this does to the sidewalks but we are starting to see some clear sidewalks!

Shortly after we came here we heard that the local tv station ran a poll asking whether the person in charge of the city streets should resign or kill himself (I’m not kidding!!) I haven’t heard the outcome of the poll, however, we were talking with Oksana from Moscow who said that she called home and told her husband that he can’t complain about the streets in Moscow because they were nothing compared to Saratov (and she was here when things were getting better). We have also heard that there was a BBC report on how bad things were here!

Finally, I don’t know how I neglected to mention the wild dogs! Wild dogs roam the streets and they love to loiter on Kirova and around the market. This has been disconcerting – I certainly don’t want to have to undergo rabies shots in Russia! Ken has had the most problem with the dogs – they tend to ignore people but when he runs this seems to agitate them. There are not a lot of runners here! On one occasion Ken resorted to chucking ice at an overly aggressive dog (we have observed people throwing ice at the dogs but never thought we would join in)! I’m not sure what Ken will do in the summer when there is no ice!

GETTING AROUND TOWN

Transportation ...

Getting around Saratov has been a learning experience. There is no subway here, but there are trolleys, buses and marshrutky. Marshrutky are a cross between a bus and a taxi - they have a fixed route, but if you can communicate well with the driver they will let you off wherever you would like. The public transportation is very inexpensive - Marshrutky cost 10 R per person and buses / trolleys are 7 R per person. (25-30 cents per ride). We tend to travel on the buses and trolleys because we are more likely to all fit on. The marshutky can only accommodate 10-11 people, so if they are full we all may not fit. The main struggle we have had with the public transportation is that there are no published route maps. So my trusty runner husband will often run to our destination, scope out the buses / trolleys and marshrutky numbers for ones that we are familiar with and then we can board them with some confidence that we will get to where we need to go! It is always an adventure. The kids have been adventurous with the transportation. We are fortunate that we are located near the city center so it is easy to catch most of the buses and trolleys that we need!

Our other main form of transportation is, of course, our feet. As I mentioned earlier we are quite near to many places. Socialism (local grocery) is only a few blocks away, as is the covered market. We are only a few blocks away from a pedestrian street (Kirova). This street is pleasant to walk on - they keep it cleared of ice and snow (as best they can) and it is lined with shops and street sellers. I was amazed to see people standing on the street all day it bitter cold weather selling their wares, Brrrr!

Of course navigating the streets in winter has been challenging. The roofs are shoveled but not the streets! People will occasionally attack the ice and pick away at it and there will be huge chunks of ice piled on the sidewalk. (See photo) We discovered that in some places we are walking on about a foot of ice on the sidewalk.

Now that spring is here melting / falling ice is becoming a problem. Ken was walking to the University and saw some ice fall off of a roof onto wooden steps. It came down with such force that the steps broke. A man has died this winter from falling ice. We are quickly learning to walk very close to the street and to check out roof tops as we walk.

We have had a couple of warm days and things are melting rapidly creating a walking nightmare. The streets are rivers of muddy water and the sidewalks are not much better. We are very thankful for our sturdy, waterproof boots.

Russians seem to take all of this in stride - they race up and down the icy streets (rarely falling), they sit in ever present traffic jams and wade through muddy intersections without missing a beat. Getting around has truly been an adventure, but I'm proud to say that we are learning our way around Saratov (OK - Ken is learning his way and we are going along for the ride)!

Katie and I will have our first adventure together today. We are meeting our friend Maria who is an English tutor to two girls Katie's age. We are going to let the girls talk together and are hoping to have some friendships emerge!

Food Glorious Food

Our first month in Saratov we spent a lot of time figuring out how to get food! Our host Natalia took me to a large supermarket on the outskirts of town on our first day here – the Supermarket Real. She was helpful in identifying the best juice to buy and figuring out what everything was. Things like flour and sugar come in much smaller amounts that what we are used to. She advised me on the best brand of toilet paper (imagine my surprise when I realized the orange toilet paper I bought actually smelled like oranges)! To the delight of Katie and Dylan she advised me to buy a “sweet cake for the children.” We were well stocked after that first shopping trip but quickly ran through the meat and fruit that I had purchased. Now what to do?

Thankfully I have a resourceful husband who likes to run. Ken would run in the morning and find local sources for food. Our most common place to shop is the local market. This is an indoor/outdoor market (for you PA folks it reminds me of Green Dragon/Roots but on a much smaller scale). This market keeps us stocked in fruit, bread and snacks. The fruit here has been a pleasant surprise. It is delicious. I wasn’t sure what kind of quality we would get in winter. We just had grapes the other day that were almost the size of golf balls! The snacks here have been fun to explore – lots of mysterious cookies and chocolate yummies. The kids like to go and try new snacks. We definitely have a few favorites! We can get meat at the market but have only bought chickens. The beef and pork are butchered to order and we haven’t figured out how to do that. It’s also not fun to order a pork chop with the pig’s head looking right at you! The kids are always eager to avoid the meat section of the market!

Ken also has discovered a small corner store near our flat. We always laugh at its’ name – Socialism. Yes, I have shopped at Socialism! The store is very tiny but carries a nice variety of items.

On one occasion when we were running low on meat and getting tired of chicken Ken ventured out to a store by the Volga. He stocked up on meat and other needed items and then trudged it all back home – he had sore arms for a few days. Then, we hit the gold mine! Ken figured out how to take public transportation to Supermarket Real! He made a trip to the store and I was giddy because the freezer was stocked with meat! We are planning a trip to the store tomorrow!

Cooking has been interesting. We only have a stove top, no oven! We believe that the microwave is a convection but haven’t figured out the buttons yet. I have had to be creative with cooking under these conditions. Imagine cooking with no stove and limited supplies (only fresh fruits, pasta, rice, some veggies and limited canned/prepared foods). It has been interesting. If you have easy stove top recipes, send them my way!

We have been eating out a little bit. There are lots of little café’s and restaurants that are cafeteria style. We also have a favorite bakery that is close by. Yesterday the kids and I ventured to the pastry shop and bought cake and piroshki (meat pie) to surprise Ken on his first day of teaching. It was yummy.

Eating has been different – no cereal for breakfast. The kids eat a lot of yogurt, bread and fruit. Lunch is bread, cheese, fruit, leftovers, or family sausage (hot dogs). Dinner is whatever I can create! I miss pretzels, cooking with an oven and my spice rack! I love all the fresh food, Russian cheese and the pastry shop!

Traveling to Saratov

Thanks to everyone for their patience… We finally have internet service – a little sketchy but something is better than nothing. I thought I’d go back in time and tell a bit about our adventures from the beginning.

Our journey to Saratov began on a snowy February day. PA was still digging out from a major snowstorm and we were headed to Washington Dulles airport. We left very early anticipating that some of the roads might be drifted. We had a lot of difficulty even getting to the airport – highways were closed and detours were not marked. We finally arrived and went to check in…

Checking in was interesting…The representative at the desk looked at our passports/visas/return tickets and immediately noticed that our visas expired before we were scheduled to return. We told her that we were planning to extend our visas once we were in country. Apparently that was not good enough. She confiscated all four of our passports and informed us that she would need to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the Russian Embassy and we waited and waited. She finally returned and told us that we would be allowed to board the plane but that they might send us right back once we arrived in Moscow! Not good news. Ken contacted the Fulbright office who encouraged us to board the plane and promised to inform the Russian Fulbright office of our difficulties. By the time we grabbed some Subway to go and made it to our gate they were getting ready to board the plane. We had no time to spare!

I have not seen such an empty plane in years. I guess there aren’t very many people interested in flying to Russia in February! The flight was long (10 hours), but the kids were fantastic! We were served dinner and breakfast and were able to watch some movies. We encouraged them to sleep but all of us had difficulty getting good sleep. We arrived in Moscow around 10:00 AM (Moscow time) on Feb. 13. Our driver, arranged by the Fulbright office was there to meet us and we had no difficulties going through migration and customs. The driver took us from the airport to the train station. As we were driving we heard “It’s Raining Men” on the radio - just a little bit of home!

The train station was an adventure. The driver found some porters to help us get our luggage (7 large suitcases and 4 carry on bags) from the van to the waiting area. The waiting area was on the second floor with no elevators. We’re fairly certain we overpaid the porters but when we don’t speak the language and the porters are intoxicated we decided it was best to not quibble. Thus began our 5 hour wait in the train station. We started off with the kids and I standing guard with our luggage and Ken went exploring…Where are the bathrooms? Where can we get some food? Where will our train be? Well, Ken found the bathrooms (we got to pay 20 Rubles each for the privilege of using a Russian “squatty potty” – poor Katie, she was a trooper but she only went once!), Ken found some food – the Russian equivalent of a hot dog), and Ken mostly figured out the train system. While we were waiting we were befriended by a Russian babushka (pictured on the left). She asked me to watch her belongings while she used the bathroom. When she returned we attempted to ask her about the train to verify that we knew what we were doing. She, of course, spoke no English, but through our very basic Russian, sign language and Pictionary, we were able to make some sense of the train station! She also corralled a student on his way to Saratov to help us! Our train arrived and our over-eager porters returned. Again, we over-paid, but it was a small price to pay to guarantee getting to our train on time!

We stuffed our luggage into our train compartment and were thankful that everything fit. The trains were an experience! We were prepared for the cold Russian winter but not prepared for the stifling trains! They were extremely warm. We were all exhausted but thought we would get something to eat first. We finally communicated that we would like their recommendation and they said (we thought) “Fish sticks for the children.” We enthusiastically said, “Yes, Yes.” Our meal came and there were no fish sticks in sight. We were puzzled but ate our meal (the kids had a ball of meat with a sunny-side up egg on top and Ken and I had some kind of boiled beef.) Much later we realized that what we actually received for the kids were Russian Bifshteks – a Russian hamburger with a fried egg on top!

After eating we were all exhausted and decided that it was time for bed. The train was an overnight train from Moscow-Saratov (a fifteen hour ride). The kids eagerly hopped on the top bunks, Ken and I took the bottom and we settled in for the night around 8pm. Sleeping was difficult because of the heat and the frequent stops and starts of the train. At 11pm, Dylan was up and ready to read a little. We told him that it was still time to sleep and he tried to settle back down. A while later, Dylan cried out, “I just want to die.” He cried for a few moments, in a pathetic and heartbreaking way. We did our best to encourage him, but later Ken and I both admitted to feeling rather low at that moment ourselves. Morning finally came and with morning the end was in sight. We all took one last trip to the bathroom (we were amazed to discover that the toilets flushed right out onto the tracks!) and we gathered our luggage. Our train pulled into the station and before we were off the train Natalia (our host) had pushed her way onto the train to find us. She was like an angel! She grabbed the kids and got them off of the train while Ken and I finished up with the luggage. A short car ride later and we were at our flat!

Thanks for hanging in through the telling of our travels. I’ll write more in the coming days of what we have been doing and seeing. The good news is that we are feeling settled and are learning our way around town. We have some favorite stands at the market, have fallen in love with Russian bakeries, and have been having a chance to have some fun together as a family!