Who Are the Evenki, Anyway?

Posted on June 6, 2014 by malnare

Our course readings and tours in Buryatia occasionally mentioned an ethnic groups of ‘Evenks’ or Evenki. It felt as though they appeared for contrast, a group of people against whose backdrop others gained more definition. I only understood a little at this section of the Ulan-Ude Ethnographic Museum, and looked into closer research.
The Evenki are best known as a race of Northeast Asia who lived by their reindeer herds. They lived nomadically, moving with the herds as they looked for food or reared calves. They lived off the land, hunting, fishing, or gathering food, although they did not eat their reindeer. They provided milk and transportation to the Evenki, who cared for them and kept them safe (Vasilevich 620-4).

A birch-bark home, such as the Evenki might have used, found at the Ethnographic Museum.

The Evenki made teepee-like dwellings of a variety of natural materials, such as bark or hides. They were very conscientious about what they consumed and would keep and move the same dwelling as long as they could. Their culture greatly valued the lives of animals and they never killed without honoring the sacrificed life. With respect to the slain animal, they would eat the meat, save the hide, and use the sinews or bones for other tools. The value of these creatures appeared in wooden constructions that had religious importance for their shamans. They also used tree bark for natural cures or medicine (Reid 49).

This is a carving of a moose! There were three moose grouped together, three being a powerful number. Shamans believe in three worlds, high, middle, and low, just like the Buryat tradition of three flames for times past, present, and future.

There are not many Evenki left today: the 2002 Russian census identified less than 36,000, with about 4,000 of whom were living in the area around Lake Baikal, although ethnographer Reid reported only half that number around the same time (36). Russian expansion into Siberia contributed to this decline, for small pox devastated the population in the 17th Century (Reid 48). Fur taxes and Cossack raiding, rampant through all of Siberia during its colonization, might also have been rough on a people perceived as ‘meek and mild,’ ‘more hospitable,’ or just ‘simple-minded’ (Reid 176, 124). Cited as being unfamiliar with the October Revolution and subsequently persecuted under Stalin (Reid 160, 166), perhaps it is not too surprising that this shrinking group became somewhat overlooked.
Reid, Anna. The Shaman’s Coat. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London: 2002. Print.
Vasilevich, G. M., and A. V. Smolyak. “Evenki.” The Peoples of Siberia. Ed. Stephen Dunn. Trans. Scripta Technica, Inc. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1964. 620-54. Found per online text.

Language Barriers Broken, the Key

Posted on May 23, 2014 by malnare

Sometimes it is necessary to stop and wonder, is the challenge and occasional frustration of learning a foreign language worth it? At various points on the program, I have found myself thinking, “That’s the fourth sentence in a row this class that made absolutely no sense. I wonder if it’s still on the same topic?” Or, “Why did this person on the street pick out me as the target of a political campaign I can’t understand?” And occasionally the desperate, “Please repeat that once more, I promise I’ll understand this time.”

We try especially hard to listen in Phonetics!

But occasionally a break-through is found: I had an effective conversation with a stranger. I was eating at the stolovaya late one night when someone asked to sit at the other end of my corner table. I agreed and we both ate in silence until I decided he didn’t quite seem native. “Are you from Russia?” got us started: we have both learned a little Russian in college as a second language. But coming from a rural corner of southern France, he understood less English than Russian. I could understand his French better than his Russian, as we figured out when we both completely failed at asking each other’s names.

Communication, man. It’s confusing no matter what. No, my apologies, this is not the dear nameless Frenchman of whom I write.

But both of us were interested and on equal ground. So we continued talking in Russian: he came here to study mathematics and made fun of me for leaving America, where he dreams to work. I spoke of my interest in linguistics and languages, my high school, and home town. His specialized vocabulary made it clear that he had learned some Russian from his ‘linear algebra’ and ‘abstract number theory’ courses (I think that’s what he said). My back-story got him interested in the English word “Aurora,” though my limited vocabulary made it a Herculean feat to explain the concept.
This conversation left me feeling exhilarated and led to two discoveries:
1. I can communicate with people from random corners of the world (given enough time to work through it)!
2. I am child again, frustrated with understanding concepts to which I cannot give words. It is frustrating. It leaves you feeling inferior and unappreciated. And sometimes I just want to be accepted as a language learner, like those children at the park who have one often-repeated dialogue:
-Vot “Here!”
-Da I chto? Well, what is it?
-Morozhenoe! “Ice cream!”
-My seychas poobedali. We just had lunch.
-A/no hochu! “But I want!”
-Nu ladno. Well, okay.

Popular everywhere.

A Room with Character

Posted on May 23, 2014 by malnare

Going to a museum to learn about the great minds of Russia is marvelous, but what better captures the individual than the home? The houses or apartments of famous writers, politicians, or merchants throughout Moscow have been transformed into museums preserving their impact on the Russian history and the city itself.
We visited two such residence-turned-museums, sites devoted to Alexander Pushkin and Lyev Tolstoy, on the Night of Museums. The contrast in their character was striking and really helped to portray the differences between these writers.

The exterior of the Pushkin home and museum, complete with multiple stories and balcony.

The Pushkin museum was a complex two-story affair, with elaborate wood trim, different wings, and an interior balcony overlooking its own ballroom. Most of these features were probably sought by Natalya Goncharova, his high-class and extravagant wife.

The Arbat Monument to Pushkin and his wife, in formal attire.

She was a very popular figure of the aristocratic social circle of the day and naturally would have hosted as well as attended many of the soirees so glibly described by Tolstoy. The museum had a variety of small rooms and gave the impression that its décor would have reflected the original varied styles and bright colors. The entire building gave a feeling of charming character and sophistication, a constant goal and concern for Pushkin, who felt he was not appropriately well recognized nor received in society.

Facade of the Tolstoy Museum, being perhaps the fanciest part of it.

Tolstoy, although himself a son of a old, minor noble family and fairly wealthy individual, idolized the simple life, country lifestyle, and folk values and culture. He believed his own philosophy combating the 19^th trends of displaying or even flaunting one’s wealth, preferring instead that people live with less of the extravagant waste and more with what they needed. His single-level museum spoke to this goal, being a single ring of rooms in shape where Pushkin’s twisted and turned. The furniture and décor were of a classic style for the period, but were far plainer, usually just a single color instead of patterned. It is not clear what space would be reserved for guests since most of the rooms looked just like the others.
Being able to visit these museums consecutively really helped to emphasize the differences between them, between their owners, and between those men’s intentions on how the home was to be used. Seeing such contrasting personalities in buildings so close together is, I must add, really fairly typical for Moscow’s patchwork architecture.
Information about the writer’s lives and beliefs found at the museums, assuming accurate understanding of what I read there.

Shadow of the Gulag

Posted on May 23, 2014 by malnare

One day I was in the center of the city and decided to get away from it, heading in the direction of Taganskaya Station to meet our group there. This wandering took me circuitously through the region of Kitai-Gorod. It was a nice walk and nice day, but due to the casual nature of the place today, I never quite grasped what lie there until looking for information (and translation) later.

The Lubyanka Building as it was originally made for an insurance company.

Passing through Lubyanka Square actually brought me closer to the legendary, fearful KGB than I even would have hoped. Meaning “Committee for State Security,” this group acted as the defence, intelligence, and secret police branch of the Soviet Union regime from 1954-1991, today broken up into other organizations such as the Inter-republican Security Service. The Lubyanka Building had been the central headquarters of the secret since its creation as the Cheka. For nearly a century this place would inspire fear in passers-by, doubt at whatever is foreign or dangerous, anxiety about being dragged in and imprisoned inside the building.

The Solovetsky Stone, a simple but powerful memorial for those many victims; flowers appear like this on most memorials year round.

But today the square feels like just another part of the city. A monument 2002 monument placed on the square provided a simple reminder of past ills, a stone with a plaque honoring victims of the Gulags. Reading about it connected a few dots in my head, for I have heard of undesirable monuments being moved, changed, or hauled away (not unlike various victims of the KGB in the past). Many Russians today balance pride and shame in a miraculous way, bearing fond memories of the Soviet state while remembering, or perhaps trying to forget, its flaws. Some of the statues of Soviet leaders currently standing in a tight cluster near one developing area of Muzeon Park southwest of the center have caused long conflicts, continuing even today. The legacy of government oppression remains a dark side to the security and hope of a peaceful and safe life that the KGB was meant to provide. 2012 protestors chose this site as a place to hold an anti-Putin rally, connected his former KGB service to oppressive leadership.

The KGB Crest. Since I neglected to take pictures that day, pictures in this post appear courtesy WikiCommons.

I have had the chance to speak with several older Russians, all of whom remember the bitter past of Soviet enforcement: each one knew or was related to a victim of Stalin’s purges. It is with respect to painful memories like these that many want to remove connections to their perpetrators. This does not mean forgetting, for who can forget the loss of family or friend with no warning, that lifestyle of fear? Instead, the goal is to remove the honor associated with monuments, to draw a contrast between those great Russians worth remembering, and those who are remembered with infamy.
Information found at the following sites, having located the place per Google Maps:
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Здание_органов_госбезопасности_на_Лубянке
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KGB

Shivering in Anticipation of the Winter Palace

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

It was incredible (although initially underwhelming) to first behold the grand Winter Palace: it was the legendary place so frequently put forward by old friends as a dream, the most beautiful place in the world. It appeared again in high school when learning of the last days of the Tsar’s family, mentioned as the opulent seat of Romanov power. And perhaps my expectations were too high, at least for the facade.

The facade itself is very wide and entirely identical. My first impression was not ‘wow!’ but whimsical.

At only three stories, it appeared shorter than most buildings in Petersburg, and the entire front showed the same repeated patterns of Baroque style and mint-toothpaste-colored paint. I was hoping that it would just be the clouds that prevented the true color and gilding from standing out, and waited until we got inside to see the Hermitage.
The courtyard began to change my mind, but I was still not really convinced that this was a grand palace, the place from which a powerful family could hold sway over the broad expanse of Russian domain and snatch a place among the great rulers of Europe.

It still all looks the same! But one does begin to get the impression, “This is a big building.”

That impression did not arrive until we actually entered the museum and arrived at the Jordan Staircase. The mere amount of gold was impressive, but what caught me was the magnificent effect of the space: the extensive gilded woodwork all hand-carved, the enormous mirrors making the stair swallow its guests, the massive ceiling mural, and solid marble columns that provided a stern and impressive backdrop.

Wow!

It caught my breath in a way that made me realize it is not just a figure of speech. For the next few hours, passing from hall to hall of carefully carved wood floors, elaborate gilding, soaring ceilings, tall windows and mirrors, semi-precious vases, and stunning pieces of art, I simply could not regain my breath. It was far too much to believe that anyone could own such a place! Truly this could be the center of an empire, where the mightiest and wealthiest rulers could rule. The extravagant throne room only proved that this is the very seat of the empire!

If only I could have gone up to the throne!

Crossing Moscow

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

Moscow has drastically changed its shape in order to accommodate vehicle traffic, most notably the massive highways cutting through the city or encircling it with winding asphalt. The largest and most intimidating of these I have encountered on foot was a whopping 18 lanes wide: while it is possible to cross this on foot, it is only possible to do so with the aid of signs marking a countdown to the change of the lights. Unlike the Chicagoland area, drivers actually respond to the changing of the light, probably because they want to avoid hitting the mass of people that instantly floods the street upon green, each member intent on stopping traffic so that he can cross.

Our most familiar crosswalk with a number countdown in green on the right side.

Our most familiar crosswalk to the University Metro Station with a number countdown in green on the right side.

But the better option for pedestrians are the under ground crossings, called podzemnye perehody or ‘underground foot-crossing.’ They mean that traffic does not have to stop and people can cross the street without worry of what the vehicles are doing, overall a pretty great solution.

A perfectly normal walkway between two nondescript staircases.

But some have taken to using them more constructively and set up rows of shops called kiosks. These can sell a surprising variety of items, from food to footwear to farby trinkets for tourists. The prices seem to be pretty reasonable, so long as shopping underground in a crowded passageway doesn’t bother you.

Look! Something that that word “kiosk” can mean!

Of course, perexod applies not only to passages under streets, which are immensely helpful, especially in the city center where traffic can be densest, but to the crossings that connect Metro stations or even contain the Metro entrances. Navigating the city successfully practically requires the use of these marvelous and helpful underground thoroughfares.

Tall (brick) Tales

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

The Moscow Kremlin boasts nineteen towers of matching bright red brick, and each one of them has a name (except for two) and a story. From my first trip around Red Square and the Kremlin, I picked out a few of these towers and shall share some of that history.

Spasskaya Tower and its magnificent clock, once the main entrance to the Kremlin.

The most striking tower on Red Square is Spasskaya Tower, or ‘the Savior’s’ tower, dating back to 1491. The name comes from a sacred icon called “The Savior Not Made by Hands,” which once hung over the main entrance of the Kremlin. The icon was so widely revered that even the old tsars would remove their hats or dismount when passing under this gate. Where all kinds of people once stood on even ground, all people now move by the same time: the Spasskaya became the clock with legendary chimes that sets Moscow standard time for the whole country. This most famous tower of the Kremlin helps cast the setting of Red Square.

The “water-drawing” tower, although that apparatus is not extant.

Vodovzvodnaya (yes, hard to say, isn’t it?) Tower appeared a little earlier in 1488 at the corner of the Kremlin, just outside today’s Red Square. It stands next to the Moskva River and its name indicates “water-lifting.” A machine for drawing water was installed in 1633 in order to keep the Kremlin supplied with water without needing to expose anyone outside the walls, a splendid defense mechanism for potential sieges.

Annunciation Tower, with the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great rising in the background.

The nearby Blagoveschenskaya Tower is special for having a varied past. Half a century after its completion in 1488, the tower was made into the Kremlin’s prison. But the prison was closed and a church constructed there, prompting its name, meaning “annunciation.” This title evokes a higher calling in honor of the Church of Annunciation and its famed icon of the event. The church, therefore, would have been but one of many inside the Kremlin, but something special for being in the wall!
Sadly, there’s no space to write about all of the towers, but they are definitely a defining feature of the city!
Information mostly learned in classes at Carleton, supplemented or checked at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Moscow_Kremlin_towers

A Taste of the World

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

After just a week here, I encountered the word “sous,” initially unable to understand that ‘sew-oos’ was a loose transliteration of ‘sauce.’ Since then I have been struggling to understand just how this term is used and have found that it provides a keen Russian take on foreign food.
Firstly, ‘sous’ can be nearly as broad a term as it in English. Sometimes spaghetti may be served with sauce, it can appear on pizzas, or as a variety of condiments.

“Pasta carbonara,” with a creamy tomato sauce seasoned with coarse black pepper and rasher bacon.

Second, ‘sous’ usually only appears on foreign food items; clearly it is not something native to Russia. The items themselves vary widely, but generally they all demonstrate a modern or imported feel. This may mean Italian, German, or American. The most common American sauce is ketchup, which brings me to another revelation.

A hotdog, of sorts: hotdog baked in a bun, with cheese, dill, and *spicy* ketchup.

Third- the Russian version of sauce is usually quite different from my understanding of its foreign inspiration! Never before have I even considered the concept of spicy ketchup, but I found it on an Americanized hotdog.* I was also surprised by what seemed to be a soy-sauce based “special sauce” on a McDonald’s burger. How about a tomato-base sauce strangely called “carbonara” (to me known strictly as alfredo with bacon or sausage)? Moreover, I have not encountered German “schnitzel” with a lemon sauce, let alone any kind of citrus!
Clearly the concept of ‘sous’ is meant to be exciting, a fun add-on that can break the barriers of normal Russian cuisine. It seems that anything is possible when shooting for the exciting and exotic!
*Word from the grapevine: spicy ketchup does indeed appear in America. I can only say for myself, then, that living two decades in the home of ketchup were not enough to teach me of its distinctive flavor.

Victory over Loss

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

On Victory Day, I attempted to explore the area around the Kremlin in the hope of entering Red Square. Although this didn’t work, it did put me in the right place for a very different opportunity: there was almost no line for the student tickets to the Bolshoi Theater. But why not? On a beautiful day and the great national holiday, who thinks of going to the theater?

Extra lights on Theater Square were set up for Victory Day.

The ballet was Bayaderka, “The Temple Dancer.” The show is set in Southeast Asia (I thought India, though I have read Cambodia) and presents a host of internal conflicts between the leading characters. A Prince and Dancer are in love, though the Prince is quickly betrothed to the Raja’s daughter, the Princess. The Raja, having heard of the Dancer’s skill, hires her to perform at her love’s wedding to another woman. The High Brahmin of the temple where the Dancer lives lusts after her and challenges even the Raja when displeased. The Dancer and Princess in turn try to kill each other for love of the Prince. The Princess triumphs, killing the Dancer by treachery in the second act.

Dancers in white represent the spirits of the departed in the rocky World of Shadows. Royal Swedish Ballet, 2007.

The third act proceeds in the ‘World of Shadows,’ with the spirit of the Dancer meets the Prince while he is in a trance. Their dances together are a marvelous display, confirming that neither ever had intended to be separated, and while in the real world the mortals continue their struggles, the lovers’ spirits escape their pain.
In this liberation they have won the only happy ending in the story, a victory of their own. Fitting to the holiday, this play challenges how victory is won: the immoral victory of the Princess ended only in her shame when she could not have the Prince. The victory of sincere love and faithfulness frees the heroes. This message patterns after the bittersweet triumph of Victory Day: the Soviet Union overcame a terrible time of shadows cast by the misdeeds of a conflict clearly dividing right from wronged.

Victory Park monument to St. George, Russia’s favorite saint of victory over evil.

My Victory Day experience probably was not at all typical or even expected! But I feel that I too won this day, and even got to catch the fireworks at the end.

Planning an Event

Posted on May 22, 2014 by malnare

Planning a study abroad event is not easy. But considering how many students (and praktikantki) had expressed a desire to go to the Bolshoi Theater, I was happy to use my knowledge of student tickets to oblige! So here’s a rough guide to planning such an event.
1. The first step was getting the idea, talking to people, gauging interest.
2. The second step was to choose a date. Thank you Lera for help with that!
3. The third part was spreading the word. I sent an email to our students, and Diane helped contact our prantikanty. Thank you Diane!
4. I asked for help with signing up for student tickets. The first part begins with getting on the list at the Bolshoi, which is admittedly a fairly sketchy process of talking to the random youth with a folded piece of paper. Thank you to everyone who helped sign us up!

And here we are in line for tickets!

5. Check that everyone knows when to come for tickets. I felt confident that we double-checked with everyone but Olga.
6. Complication. Something has to wrong. Sahree tried calling me a few times and I called back; neither of us could connect to the other through the Metro. But no problem- we got everyone together, in line, and ready on time to go so we all got our tickets. Great job, everyone!
7. Go to the show! Enjoy!
8. Take silly pictures afterward.

Look! The ruble bill and the real thing! So similar I can almost feel the rush of those powerful horses!

It was a little hectic to try coordinating such a group of people when we all had our own plans for the day. I hoped that everyone could come, then that they knew when to come, and finally that everyone would make it. It also proves that one can’t do it alone- my words of gratitude should show that planning only works when everyone works together to make it happen.

Carleton Moscow & Beyond 2014

Study Russian and come with us next time!

Author Archives: malnare

Who Are the Evenki, Anyway?

Language Barriers Broken, the Key

A Room with Character

Shadow of the Gulag

Shivering in Anticipation of the Winter Palace

Crossing Moscow

Tall (brick) Tales

A Taste of the World

Victory over Loss

Planning an Event