СССР vs. Россия

Hi all,

Today is Monday. I had such a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I'll begin where I left off: Friday.

Friday was a national holiday -- Day of Russia. I suppose it's the equivalent to the "4th of July," but since the holiday came into existence only ~20 years ago, it's not a big thing. I asked people in the lab if there would be a parade or some other celebration, but they just chuckled and said no. People have the day off from work, but otherwise, not much happens -- like our Labor Day or President's Day. 

I looked on blog-fiesta.com to see what was happening that weekend, and quickly found that there was a Holi Festival on Friday. I don't know much about Holi since I'm not Hindu, but now, for better or for worse, Westerners have turned the holiday more into a celebration of music/color than a celebration of religion. Almost no one in Russia is Hindi, but that obviously didn't stop ~1000 young Russians from celebrating. It's the same in the US. 

Anyways, I decided to check it out. As soon as I arrived at the metro station, I was greeted by hundreds of young Russians in white t-shirts in groups of friends. I followed the growing crowd and soon stumbled upon a huge Arena/Stadium. The concert and festivities were to take place outside the Arena in a big open space. It was SO. FUN.

After crossing security, I passed through throngs of people who were throwing colored powder on us and high-fiving/hugging people.  It was pretty surreal. There was also a huge stage with singers and DJs. I spent a few hours there, enjoying the concert, having colors thrown on me, snacking, relaxing, people-watching. It was really great and I got some awesome pictures.

At one point I was just sitting and watching people, and I realized that this sort of concert could have happened in the USA and I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference, save for the languages. That was a weird realization. I’ll get to this more in a second, but there is SUCH a difference between the older and younger generations here in Russia (much more so in the USA) since these generations were brought up not only in “different times” but also LITERALLY in different countries.

The music at the festival included many Russian artists, but all of the DJs were playing Western pop and EDM. There were even FLOWER CROWNS…. Yes, flower crowns in Russia. Everyone there was a young person – and it was just so obviously trying to be a hip western thing… I don’t know, it was very strange.

I read an article about how the West needs more Russophiles (which I agree with), but I think a lot of our current American Russophiles are simply enamored by this illusionary romanticized Russia filled with Tchaikovsky’s, Dostoyevsky’s, communism, idealism, art, literature, take your pick…. And although that history is vital to understanding the country as it is today, I don’t think Russophiles like to see (or admit) that now young people in Russia want to be part of the western trend.

I guess the point is that it’s important to accept the country as it is today and to not reject it or say “why is it trying to be western?! What happened to soviet nostalgia?!” because that is not their reality anymore.  Remember I was even struck by this western desire with Katya and Dasha in St. Petersburg – I am in no place to judge this desire.

Anyways, so that was Friday. It was super fun and I’m glad I went and got to see young Russian people in their element. J

After the festival, I was tired and in need of a shower, so I headed home. On the way, I stopped at a Produkty to buy chicken for dinner, and I ran in to other people – with colors on them – who had obviously been at the festival as well. We kind of chuckled to each other… it was a cute moment (and surprising since the produkty was very far from where the festival took place).

On Saturday, I was craving a bagel, so I looked online to see where I could find bagels. Since shops open and close for business pretty rapidly, I was a little nervous that the shop I chose would be closed. Lo and behold, after getting to the area and searching around for 15 mins, I concluded that it was. Since I had travelled so far to find a bagel, I didn’t just want to go home, so I decided to explore the area and see what I could find. After only a bit of walking, I stumbled upon the Moscow Planetarium!

I had visited the Planetarium once before with Susan, Luke, and a few others when we came to Moscow for the weekend, but for some reason (I think it was too late in the day?), we couldn’t actually get into the museum at that time. SO, seeing this, I decided to spend the day at the planetarium.

There was a tour (in Russian of course), I got to explore a few rooms of the museum, AND I got to see a show inside the Planetarium itself. The tour was funny. The lady who conducted it (an old бабушка) was very passionate about space and about the fact that Soviets had the best and most advanced technology of all (especially over Americans). She went on and on about how pioneering Soviet space technology was (which is true) and KEPT emphasizing the fact that they were better than Americans. Intermittently, she would ask people on the tour specific questions about Soviet space history, and I was PRAYING that she wouldn’t say anything to me because I knew that as soon as I opened my mouth, my secret (that I’m American) would be revealed. Luckily, she didn’t.

Nevertheless, it was hilarious to hear history from a different point of view. Later that night, I was talking about it with Alec, and we were both laughing about it, and at one point he exclaimed about how “obviously America won the Space Race since we ultimately sent the first man to the moon!” This is true. But then I realized that history is not static and that it does not contain some “truth” that we uncover. History changes depending on who is in power and from whom the story is told. History has lenses and depths.  I was very much aware of this fact at that planetarium. Americans and Russians are told very different stories about the Space Race, but is one truer than the other? Not necessarily.

I was also very in tune with how the lady spoke so nostalgically of “our Soviet Union” (yes, she said “our”). For me, the old planetarium lady spoke so perfectly towards all my thoughts of the day before. Again, there is this HUGE separation between the old and young generations. Roza, the Planetarium lady, Balaban (to a certain extent), other old people I’ve spoken with over the months…. There IS nostalgia for Soviet times. People reminisce often, and I see this sly, sweet hint of a smile when older people talk about it. They’re also very confident. “The Soviet Union – in its prime - was the most advanced and powerful country of the world.” Period.

The younger, “net” (as Conn likes to call it), generation does not feel this way. They, seemingly, could care less about Soviet History. While this isn’t to say that history doesn’t influence the present (that is not true at all), I do see a certain amount of disconnect and apathy among young people. Now, it’s about iphones, Holi music festivals, t-shirts with English splattered across them, fast food restaurants, and so on. Maybe a certain degree of this comes from the fact that we’re in a city, but nevertheless, the culture has undoubtedly changed. Russia is open. In the Soviet Union, no one entered and no one left! Now, there is this diffusion with the rest of the world that hasn’t happened in almost 100 years. It’s exciting.

Anyways, after the tour (phew back on track), I headed to the main planetarium. I could have watched the film in Russian, but since I saw that there was an English version available, I decided to go for it. I felt a little guilty, but then again, I never speak or listen to English with anyone. My ears and brain deserve a break. So I asked the man for English headphones and went to settle in.

The movie was cool – pretty standard – and afterwards everyone traipsed out to an outdoor garden/statue/place that had good views, artifacts, and telescopes. Eventually, I headed home, and stopped at Ashan on the way back to pick up the remainder of my groceries (mainly gummies, I will be honest).

Sunday was a very lazy day for me. I thought about going on a day excursion somewhere outside the city, but I was sleepy and not wanting to do anything, so I let myself have a lazy day of bed and movies and Netflix.

Movies I have watched!

1.     Prometheus. Thriller/Drama. Pretty creepy and apparently is part of the “Alien” series. It was fine, but forgettable.

2.     In Time. Sci-Fi. Old favorite (fun) movie with Justin Timberlake about a capitalistic society that is operated with “time” as its currency.

3.     Interstellar. Sci-Fi. THIS MOVIE IS SO GOOD. It completely rocked my world and makes me want to join NASA. It’s directed by Christopher Nolan and the special effects/music are amazing. Towards the end a little, “wait what?” but overall SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. Watch.

4.     Maze Runner. Action/Thriller/Sci-Fi. Based on a book (that I never read). Pretty good, but predictable. Kind of reminded me of Lord of the Rings but contemporary version. Dominated by boys.

5.     The Best of Me. I don’t know why I finished this movie. It was fine, but boring. Typical Nicholas Sparks. Except obviously the Notebook is way better. Chemistry between the characters was weird too. ALTHOUGH…. You do get to look at James Marsden for 2 hours…. Which is always nice.

I think that’s about it for now. Yesterday my parents celebrated their 35^th wedding anniversary. I can’t imagine BEING 35 let alone being MARRIED for 35 years.

What is life.

Have a great week everyone!

Спокойно

Hellooooo,

Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of June. This past Monday marked the beginning of my fourth week here…. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone; I’m almost half done!

This week has begun slowly, but I don’t mind. On Monday not much happened…. This week I am back with Katya and Peter. Oh! Nastya made blini. Earlier, we talked a lot about yummy Russian foods, and she decided she wanted to make blini for everyone. It was absolutely delicious…. I want to know how to make them! They’re different than crepes and different than pancakes.

I also Skyped my mom for a bit on Monday which was nice. My family is coming to visit in 2 weeks! I’m very excited to see them and show them around.

Tuesday we isolated RNA from ribosomes using different protocols. Everything went without a hitch until all of the samples were spilt after 3 hours of work…. #science

Today is Wednesday and I desperately need to go grocery shopping. It’s a little tough with one person to cook for, since I can’t buy anything in bulk or else it will go bad. Maybe I will make another batch of banana bread tonight.

Last night I was showered and comfy in bed with a movie by 8pm. Score. I also painted my nails (all 20 of them). So far, I’ve watched…

1)   The Invisible War. Documentary/Drama about sexual assault in the US Military. Such a light/fun movie. (Not. It was good though.)

2)   Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Great Rom Com with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Highly recommend.

3)   Compliance. Drama based on true incidents of a prank phone call that turns awful. Such a great movie, and so creepy that stuff like this (or the Stanley Milgrim Experiments or Stanford Prison Experiments) happen.

4)   The Spectacular Now. Coming of age film. Solid.

This is a very short post, but so far the week has been quiet. I always see kitties and puppies outside the institute and it really makes me want to take them home. I know I can’t, but I can’t wait to have a pet of my own (not that I don’t love you, Whiskers!).

This summer is already the most perfect summer – do I have to go back to real life in the fall? I wonder how Emily and Maia are doing in their internships (dance friends). Em is in Belize and Maia is in Alaska. I wish they kept blogs too. I wish everyone kept blogs. 

Be well, comrades.

С Леким Паром

Happy Sunday all,

Today is a lazy morning but soon I am going to head to the Sandanny Banya (oldest most famous Banya in Moscow). Before I do that, I will talk about Friday and Saturday.

Friday was a tough day. It started out well and I was able to do PCR and gel electrophoresis by myself, but then we went upstairs for tea. I don’t really want to go into detail about what happened, since I’ve already vented about it quite a bit, but basically, comments were said about me – but not to me – regarding me getting lost/me not understanding things/etc.  I know that Balaban cares for me a lot, but I feel like lines are crossed when your BOSS at work starts saying mean things about you in Russian to your colleagues. I understand that he thinks of me as his responsibility or as his quasi-third child, but when we’re at work, I do not want to be belittled. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

And maybe it wasn’t so much as what was said, but how it was said. I felt like I was a tiny bug in the room, unable to say anything or defend myself.  I’m not quick enough to retort in Russian, and even if I was, what could I have said? I’m a young WOMAN American student in Russia. I’m in no place to retort anything! There was just such an obvious power dynamic that told me I was in the losing court… and there was nothing I could do about it.

Eventually I just left the room…. And then Nastya saw me visibly upset and tried to console me…. It was just all blah.

At one point Balaban was also saying comments about Obama and how he “needs to get his head on straight” and in that moment, I was the odd man out. Science is an equalizer. But politics makes me a stranger and an enemy to these people. I hate politics. I also felt/have been feeling that I have some weird “duty” to kill stereotypes of America since a) we’re not all rich, b) NYC does not equal America c) not everyone thinks Obama blessed the Earth, d) not everyone carries a gun, e) not everyone is fat. For a lot of these people, not only am I the first American they’ve come in contact with, but I am also the first native English speaker they’ve met.

There is a lot of responsibility in all of that.

One example, actually, happened on Thursday. I was talking with someone from the lab about American and Russian stereotypes, and he asked if everyone in Texas had a gun. I said, no, of course not – being conservative doesn’t necessarily mean you own a gun. And then he asked if all Americans believe that Russia is full of snow/bears/vodka, and I answered, “I hope not – it’s just a stereotype.” It was strange that he even had to ask those questions – stereotypes are stereotypes. Adults are supposed to recognize stereotypes and REALIZE that that’s what they are. Meep.

There is also still a lot of racism here – it’s less blunt than Roza’s, but people still say, “oh black people go to that university… it’s a bad school… etc.” It’s sad. I’m so thankful that I can blend in easily here and not be subjected to the stares that anyone who is not white certainly receive….

Anyways, so that was my mess of a Friday. I went home and watched a romantic comedy, drank wine, took a bath, and that was that.

OH! Balaban also sent me an emailing apologizing… so that was nice…

Saturday I decided to spend my day at Gorky Park. The park is HUGE and there’s so much to do! I should have brought my book, but I didn’t think it would be so nice. I went to a Hungarian Festival there. It was small, but I got some free info on Budapest, which I was happy about since I will be going there in a little over a month!  There was music, and I strolled about, happy to be out and about on such a gorgeous day (there were even blue skies whaaaaat).

Later in the afternoon, I tried to find the Panda Festival, but after looking and not finding it (the area was also very quiet), I gave up and went home. When I checked back on blog-fiesta, I saw that the Panda market was actually on Friday not Saturday… oops.

Today (Sunday), I went to the Sanduny banya. It was really nice and some ladies were giving me advice on where to sit and what hat I should buy. It was soooo relaxing. I did a lot of rounds of sauna, ice cold water buckets, shower rinse, cold pool, then relax in normal dry land… it was great. And I love that it’s all women and no one wears clothes. How freeing! The banya I went to in NYC with the Russian department was co-ed so everyone had bathing suits – the real Russian way in Russia is better. I stayed there a few hours and then headed home.

Once I got home, I realized that I was exhausted from relaxing (tough life), so I took a shower and then napped. What a great first full free weekend! Tomorrow is day 1 of week 4… I can hardly believe how quickly this is going.

I think that’s it for now… oh wait! I’ve watched a lot of movies.

1)   Moneyball. Film with Brad Pitt about the business of baseball. I hate sports and this movie was AMAZING so that should be reason enough to watch it. It also related to life in general and how we’re all part of this ridiculous game that we’re not aware of.

2)   12 Years A Slave. Holyyyyyy Toledo. Do not watch this movie if you’re depressed since it’s insanely heavy and graphic. I will never ever forget this movie….

3)   Appropriate Behavior. Iranian woman who struggles with her bisexuality. Pretty good, but I don’t think it deserved the 98% on Rotten Tomatoes… (that rating is unheard of on the site FYI)

4)   Ex-Machina. Film about a robotic “human”… very thought provoking. What constitutes a human? If a computer is able to feel emotion, generate new ideas, think with innovation, and understand idioms, aren’t they then a human? The biology doesn’t have to match…. Just think of trans people. The hardware only tells half the story and even then it doesn’t define you.

5)   This Means War. Solid Rom-Com with Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Harding. Two CIA agents competing for one woman. Can’t go wrong.

Anddddd I think that was it… I forget. Tomorrow is Monday, weeeeee. Have a great week all J

Первый Блин Камом

Hiiiii,

I know I’m behind in blogging (surprise surprise), but my internet has been AWFUL the past few days (as in, I don’t have it) so I will do my best to catch up.

Monday was the start of my third week here. The last two weeks, I had been working with Peter and Katya on their synaptosome project, but this week (and next week), I am going to be working with a girl named Nastiya. Nastiya is probably the youngest one here, since she received her PhD just last year. She is very short and smiley and always has painted nails. Obviously, I liked her already.

Anyways, she told me to come in for 11am, and on that day, we did a lot. Since it’s now almost Thursday night, I don’t remember exactly what we did, but in these four days, we’ve done 3 PCR, 2 rtPCR, 3 gel electrophoreses, 2 DNAase preparation, 2 reverse transcription, and I watched a cell culturing thing. It’s been a lot, but I’m learning so much with Nastiya. She describes everything a very well and isn’t afraid to repeat herself or elaborate (which I appreciate). Of course I’ve done a PCR and I’ve read about it…. But did I REALLY know what it was? No. I feel like I’m learning about nuance and about what “good” versus “bad” results look like, etc. I’ve been here almost 10 hours every day and it’s definitely paying off.

Nastiya also speaks to me almost entirely in English (when we’re working on something scientific). This has pros and cons. Since I know fewer scientific words in Russian than I had originally thought (they’re not all cognates), it’s VERY helpful for my understanding to get an explanation in English. When I go back to doing science in America, no one is going to care that I can speak in Russian scientific terms, but they ARE going to care that I know how to do this technique, that technique etc. I know I’m supposed to be conducting myself in Russian, but if I really want to learn science, then I’m going to need English too. I almost always reply to her in Russian, so at least I’m still getting practice in speaking. Overall, I think it’s good and of course people here want to speak to me in English since they haven’t had many interactions with native speakers. It’s a win-win.

Speaking of which, Katya actually found my blog and sent me a nice message. It made me very happy to hear that she enjoyed my impressions of Moscow and the lab. She also said I was brave for coming here alone… which I guess I am. When I was younger, I never would have thought I’d do something like this… ever. Hehe.

Oh! One more thing about science in Russia: apparently students at university have science classes in Russian and different science classes in English.  Americans do NOT have that obviously…. So already I’m at a disadvantage. But it’s all good. My job here is to speak as much Russian as possible, absorb as much of Russia and as much culture as possible, and to learn science things (paper is bonus). That’s basically it. And I’m doing that, therefore all is good.

One funny thing about labs here is that the culture has seeped into the science (as I’m sure it does in America too). For example, shoes. Russians are obsessed with shoes and having nice, clean shoes, and having different shoes for the street, and different shoes for inside a building or home. I knew that everyone wears тапочки at home (slippers), but I had no idea this mindset would transfer to work. Everyone has a bajillion pairs of shoes, and even MORE exaggerated, if you go into the sterile room, you have to either wear a 3^rd pair of shoes, or just socks. Socks in a lab! Can you imagine?  That made my day when I realized that.

On that day, actually, (sorry this post is very random), I shadowed Sergey (another boss-man), who showed me what he does in the culture/sterile room under the hood. Last summer I did A LOT under the hood (almost everything), so I was pretty familiar with what he was doing. He said he was working on proteins and cells in viruses, specifically HIV. That was cool to hear since HIV research has gotten a lot of press the past few months.

Today students from different universities came to the lab to hear lectures and take tours of the institute. It was funny seeing them around since many were younger than me. At one point, I saw them looking at me from the hall into the room I was in (I was doing stuff alone), and I realized that they probably thought I was Russian. It’s weird how easy it is to blend in with the right clothes. Some lab people had to talk to them (including Nastya), and they were all chuckling about it.

Also today, Balaban made me borcht for lunch! He brought it in in a plastic container, and I just heated it up, and voo-ah-la. This version had beans in it – so delicious.

Another interesting thing that happened today occurred when Nastya and I called over Sergey to analyze some results we had gotten. He was not happy that the results weren’t what we wanted (yet again), and hm, I don’t know how to explain it, but their interactions at the moment were very interesting. I don’t think Sergey wanted me to be able to understand or hear what he was saying, but I could understand a lot…. More than people think.

Also today I was talking with Nastya and another person (whose name I forget) and we were talking about books and movies, and I asked Nastya why she didn’t like current Russian films. (Katya had said that also). She answered that back in the 80s and 90s, directors were given a lot of money to make really good films, and now, film isn’t as valued and all directors want to do is make a fast paycheck and move on. No one wants to create masterpieces. She asked if this was true in America as well, and I said that it was…. But it’s more pronounced in the music industry.

Unfortunately because the government gave directors money back in the 80s and 90s, they were able to have a say in what was made. My impression is that a lot of current Russian films are sad/slow in response to the fall of the Soviet Union and in response to the lifting of the “necessity of happiness.” Many Soviet films are pieces of propaganda meant to show how happy, healthy, and beautiful the country was. There was a lot of pressure on directors to be positive. Now, that pressure has lifted, and directors have more options when it comes to plot. I think people are nostalgic for the comedic/adventure plot lines of late Soviet film. Current Russian film is different, but is it really “worse”? Isn’t all information good so long as you’re learning something from it? So what if the subject matter or opinion doesn’t align with your own?

This kind of connects to the other thing I wanted to say quickly about news sources and information in general. I mentioned an article I had read in the Moscow Times (in English) to someone about the need for Russophiles in the West, and he responded that that news source is typically Russia-phobic. This made me think about how people watch the news sources that they agree with. No one wants to challenge their own opinions – people stick with BBC, or Fox, or CNN and that’s it. But I don’t understand. Why listen to opinions that you already have? Is it simply for self-reassurance? Or to feel like you belong to some larger group who thinks a certain way?

This connects to ANOTHER article I read about how spreading unpopular opinions or opinions not of the norm, is incredibly dangerous now for professors since they can potentially lose student favorability/their job if not tenured. And THISSSSS connects back to the whole idea that no one wants to rock the boat. People are comfortable in their opinions and in their mini-bubble of a life, and they don’t seek new information, new opinions, different people, or unconventional experiences.

WHY?????

A month or so ago I was talking with an old friend who I don’t speak with much anymore, and he said that he didn’t want to leave college since it was “comfortable.” Maybe comfortable is good. But I think comfortable can be dangerous.

Blah sorry, rant over. ANYWAYS, ok there is more to say, but I think I will save it for next time, since I am sleepy and want to watch movies.

PLEASE check out the two articles I mentioned. They are very interesting, particularly the one about professors/limiting points of view (Vox).

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/college-professor-afraid

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-west-needs-more-russophiles-op-ed/522930.html

Have a lovely Thursday everyone!

Steph