You guys, I don’t think I have ever been this stressed out about a vacation. It started with me being super-stressed, period. Like, all kinds of mess at work, and “this is all too much and I need to get away” kind of stressed. Which resulted in some very haphazard visa arrangements, which led to…
Yesterday I had the honor of being a part of the 3 million-large Immortal Regiment that marched across Russia. Relatives and friends of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War carried their portraits through more than a dozen Russian cities. Around 400,000 people are estimated to have walked as part of the Immortal Regiment in…
Finally I am getting around to recapping my September adventure in the Baltics. The trip happened because I decided that sure, it’s a brilliant idea to fly across several national borders just to meet a blogger friend for a few drinks! I will get to that bit of a good time over the next four…
This article at Salon.com hit home with so many points, my breath hitched several times while reading it. While I had a somewhat different Russian-American experience than the author (for one, I identify much more strongly as an American, but also I am way more defensive of Russia, including on a number of its geopolitical stances), there…
Victory Day is the most unifying holiday in Russia, because there is hardly a family in the entire country that was not personally touched by the tragedy of the Second World War. The day is filled with joy, gratitude and celebration of veterans — of all wars, but especially The Greatest Generation. There are parades,…
I am not an athletic person. In fact, I am pretty much the opposite of an athletic person. I have no upper body strength, or lower-body strength, for that matter. I absolutely do not have any semblance of hand-eye coordination. I did not participate in high school athletics in the US. In Russia, I got…
As I am writing this, I am still not sure if this post will actually get published. Because it doesn’t exactly present me in the best light, and especially in the light in which I want to see myself. __________ A couple of hours ago I was standing on the metro platform, reading a book…
There are really only two things about living in Russia that majorly and regularly bother me: the weather, and regressive cultural traditionalism. I’m pretty sure that it will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Russian society is deeply patriarchal, and for the most part, traditional gender norms are embraced by both sexes…
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” On the way back from my riding lesson this afternoon I took a breather in a small field/ playground that’s located at a midpoint between the stables and the metro stop. Slightly dazed from a minor equestrian…
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