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!