I must once again apologize for the infrequency of updates. As I get more and more accustomed to life here, I find less and less blog-worthy. However, I think I can find some of the interesting tidbits and expound upon them.
The most interesting thing that I've done since my last update is travel to Moscow for Fulbright orientation. Although I have lived in Moscow, I had a very different perspective on Moscow this time because I've lived in the provinces for nearly 2 months now. After getting used to 5-story apartment blocks and very few new buildings, arriving in Moscow and taking the train to the city and seeing 30-story apartment blocks and new buildings everywhere felt like a new experience, even though I had seen this same route 2 months ago. I couldn't help but look at construction projects and think: they could take 1% of the money out of Moscow and send it to Buryatia and they could make an extremely good start at overhauling their roads. Or they could tax the countless Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, and Porsche owners and achieve the same result. Our conference in the US Embassy and Carnegie Center did little to assuage my sentiments. A particularly disturbing fact was that much of the Russian elite owns large properties outside of Russia, so when the system begins to truly fall apart, they can just leave. I also have a much better idea of how Moscow prices compare to the rest of Russia, or better, how there is no comparison. In my 3 days, I spent more money on cheap, dinky meals than I would spend on two weeks of full meals here in Buryatia. On the other hand, customer service in Moscow has skyrocketed in the last few years (at least if you look ethnic Russian). This is a very heartening trend. I honestly couldn't say where I would rather live. I just feel guilty saying Moscow at this point (interesting how living in Buryatia has made Moscow a guilty pleasure). One huge difference between Moscow and Buryatia: in Moscow, I get on the metro and am surrounded by millions of frowning people. In Buryatia, I get into a taxi and have a long conversion about the Siberian soul. There's just something about the attitude people here have about their homeland that really speaks to me.
I've also gotten to attend two interesting cultural events, mostly thanks to the contacts that I've made. The first of these was an ethnic musical spectacle by the group Baikal. I got to go to this because one of my colleagues at the museum knows the director of the Buryat Opera and Ballet Theater personally, so I got to walk backstage and then sit in one of the box seats in the incredibly beautiful theater (made by Japanese POWs during WWII). It was a night of amazing music and very interesting folk dance. The other event was a ball held by the Orthodox Diocese in the area. I felt like I was in 19th century Russia. It was a very cool evening, even though I am a terrible waltzer.
One of my side projects now is helping a local NGO apply for a grant. Their purpose is to protect patients' rights in hospitals, particular those of disabled children. It's been getting me more and more interested as I work on it and I really hope that this group gets the funding. I'm just translating into English and helping with some of the more logistical parts of the application, but I am starting to feel part of this cause. In the US, it's hard to even imagine a doctor trying to extort a patient, but it's common here. Future Fulbright applicants: take note. This issue is growing in importance as more and more people realize that corruption doesn't have to be a fact of life.
I'm honestly not sure what else I have to report. Classes continue. Work at the museum goes on (they did want me to sell tickets to my friends, which I failed at. Not much of a salesmen, as my parents quickly learned doing school fundraisers). I continue to make new friends, and continue to be surprised by how everyone really does know everyone here. And more and more often, people tell me that they've heard of me but didn't know what I look like. I'll try not to let celebrity status get to my head. Weekends continue to be the same. Friends have birthday parties. I learned how to make buuzi (Buryat meat dumplings) last weekend with a bunch of European volunteers. I think my American buuzi were better than the French ones. I actually met a girl whose mother is a PhD candidate at KU; she's lived in Lawrence for five years and just graduated from Lawrence High. Sometimes this world is so small it's scary.
Ok I'm just rambling now. I promise I'll try to update more often.
The most interesting thing that I've done since my last update is travel to Moscow for Fulbright orientation. Although I have lived in Moscow, I had a very different perspective on Moscow this time because I've lived in the provinces for nearly 2 months now. After getting used to 5-story apartment blocks and very few new buildings, arriving in Moscow and taking the train to the city and seeing 30-story apartment blocks and new buildings everywhere felt like a new experience, even though I had seen this same route 2 months ago. I couldn't help but look at construction projects and think: they could take 1% of the money out of Moscow and send it to Buryatia and they could make an extremely good start at overhauling their roads. Or they could tax the countless Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, and Porsche owners and achieve the same result. Our conference in the US Embassy and Carnegie Center did little to assuage my sentiments. A particularly disturbing fact was that much of the Russian elite owns large properties outside of Russia, so when the system begins to truly fall apart, they can just leave. I also have a much better idea of how Moscow prices compare to the rest of Russia, or better, how there is no comparison. In my 3 days, I spent more money on cheap, dinky meals than I would spend on two weeks of full meals here in Buryatia. On the other hand, customer service in Moscow has skyrocketed in the last few years (at least if you look ethnic Russian). This is a very heartening trend. I honestly couldn't say where I would rather live. I just feel guilty saying Moscow at this point (interesting how living in Buryatia has made Moscow a guilty pleasure). One huge difference between Moscow and Buryatia: in Moscow, I get on the metro and am surrounded by millions of frowning people. In Buryatia, I get into a taxi and have a long conversion about the Siberian soul. There's just something about the attitude people here have about their homeland that really speaks to me.
I've also gotten to attend two interesting cultural events, mostly thanks to the contacts that I've made. The first of these was an ethnic musical spectacle by the group Baikal. I got to go to this because one of my colleagues at the museum knows the director of the Buryat Opera and Ballet Theater personally, so I got to walk backstage and then sit in one of the box seats in the incredibly beautiful theater (made by Japanese POWs during WWII). It was a night of amazing music and very interesting folk dance. The other event was a ball held by the Orthodox Diocese in the area. I felt like I was in 19th century Russia. It was a very cool evening, even though I am a terrible waltzer.
One of my side projects now is helping a local NGO apply for a grant. Their purpose is to protect patients' rights in hospitals, particular those of disabled children. It's been getting me more and more interested as I work on it and I really hope that this group gets the funding. I'm just translating into English and helping with some of the more logistical parts of the application, but I am starting to feel part of this cause. In the US, it's hard to even imagine a doctor trying to extort a patient, but it's common here. Future Fulbright applicants: take note. This issue is growing in importance as more and more people realize that corruption doesn't have to be a fact of life.
I'm honestly not sure what else I have to report. Classes continue. Work at the museum goes on (they did want me to sell tickets to my friends, which I failed at. Not much of a salesmen, as my parents quickly learned doing school fundraisers). I continue to make new friends, and continue to be surprised by how everyone really does know everyone here. And more and more often, people tell me that they've heard of me but didn't know what I look like. I'll try not to let celebrity status get to my head. Weekends continue to be the same. Friends have birthday parties. I learned how to make buuzi (Buryat meat dumplings) last weekend with a bunch of European volunteers. I think my American buuzi were better than the French ones. I actually met a girl whose mother is a PhD candidate at KU; she's lived in Lawrence for five years and just graduated from Lawrence High. Sometimes this world is so small it's scary.
Ok I'm just rambling now. I promise I'll try to update more often.
