It snowed on our last full day in Russia. It was actually fitting as we had decided to go traipse around the Moscow Kremlin that day and it seemed to make sense. The temperatures were warming up though, so it was a wet snow, much different than most of the time we spent in Moscow where the air was so cold it sucked the humidity out of the air.

All in all, a good trip. From a purely professional perspective, it was great to share my Russia project (Russia, Coming of Age) with the Russian people. Many of the comments that I received talked about how my photographs helped them remember their recent past and realize just how much their lives had changed in the last 15 years. Every time I turn around in Moscow, it seems like something else is evolving right in front of my eyes.

From a personal perspective, I came away from this trip with a few new friends, explored some parts of the Moscow region I had never seen before, and revisited some I hadn’t seen since my first trip in 1993. While the purpose of my trip was to exhibit and share my work with the Russian people, I ended up learning as much, if not more, than they did. This trip just reinforced that there are no real differences between the Russian people and Americans.

Of course there are cultural differences. They speak differently, they act differently. But when it comes down to it, they face the same problems (money, jobs, school, homelife, family) that we all do. They aren’t better at it, or worse. They are just people. And on that level, we have a lot more in common than separates us.

If you want to see some photos from the exhibition at the House of Cinema, follow this link. http://dnevnikfest.3dn.ru/index/svjataja_anna_13_03_10/0-09 Its all in Russian, but scroll down to where it says “Открытие фотовыставки Эрика Дугласа” and those are photos from the exhibit. Also, the first minute or so of the second video on that page shows it as well.

I’ve also just posted a few more photos to the Facebook album from this trip. You can see them: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206377&id=839029017&l=c13976ec47
Until the next time.
Eric.

The city of Korolev, Russia, a suburb of Moscow, is home to the Russian Spaceflight Control Center—the Russian equivalent of the American Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas.

Korolev is also where I’ve spent a large part of my time in Russia. It is where our exchanges began in 1992/1993 and where they still happen today. Throughout my time here, one very special place is always involved. The very special School 11, a school that specializes in teaching English as part of their curriculum. While all Russian schools teach languages, this one pays extra special attention to teaching language and usually one other language as well—on top of the regular subjects like math, science, literature and whatever else.

This school’s focus on English, though, is why we have spent a lot of our time there, and why I have spent much of my time there. Many of the translators we used in the beginning were English teachers from the school, many of the students who’s English skills were judged good enough to come and study in America were from that school and in the fall of 1994, I spent 3 months working with English classes in that school—I was accepted as a teacher, although my only qualification was that I spoke English and could converse with the students helping them to practice.

What that time in the school also gave me was tremendous access. I was able to photograph students while they studied, and eventually they forgot about me. Many of the photographs from that period make up my current “Russia, Coming of Age” project. When I returned to Russia in 2008 to follow up on my earlier photographs, I returned to the school and again got many great images of students which are also featured in the new exhibit.

So, it was natural that on this trip, one of the places I would stop was School 11. This time, though, I showed them my work and let them talk about it. I showed the students a video made up a still images and quotations from people I’ve met over the years. While most of the kids in the room weren’t even born when the earlier photographs were taken, I think many of them were intrigued with what I had captured. And, of course, a couple of the students I photographed in 2008 ended up being in the room this time around, warranting some giggles from the students.

The reason I believe they were interested in what I was showing them was I had been warned not to expect too many questions from there, so I was instructed to talk and fill up the entire hour I was allotted. But, stubbornly, I opened up the floor to questions anyway. They were a little shy at first, but then the questions came and then came and they came. Before I knew it, we were running over our time.

Ultimately, that generation will need to know what has passed on before them, of course, but they will also be the ones to move beyond their past and build anew without the past hanging over their heads. They are the ones to watch.

Heading home in the morning. As always a long, long flight. More when I get back to wrap it all up..

The Christ the Savior Cathedral in the center of Moscow is an imposing structure, dominating the skyline in an already impressive downtown. Walking inside is a breathtaking moment of awe as you look up and feel overwhelmed by the majesty of the place—exactly what the architects intended, by the way. It was the largest Orthodox church ever built. Which makes it all the more gut-wrenching when you realize this is the second time this church has been built. And what happened to the first one.

In 1931, the Soviets, after the death of Lenin, demolished the church to build the Palace of the Soviets in its place. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, the foundation flooded and the building was never built. In the foundation hole that had been dug, they turned it into the largest open air pool in the world. In 1995, the began rebuilding the church and today it has been returned to its former glory. I didn’t take my camera there, knowing I would never be able to shoot inside, but here are a couple links for more information if you’re interested. Just as we were leaving the chanting began for an evening mass. As people began crossing themselves, opposite by the way from the catholic tradition (which is literally one of the reasons the two churches split), we decided to slide out and head for the next stop of the evening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskva_Pool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour

Mom and I along with Vadim and Natasha went to the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall for a concert by the Ossipov Balalaika Orchestra. It’s really amazing how much sound they can tease out of four stringed, strummed instruments. Except for a few flutes and clarinets and the percussion section, everything else was strummed like a guitar, only much, much faster. There are all sizes of balalaikas as well from the smaller ukulele size, the mandolin traditional size, to the bass balalaika that rests on the floor, but it still played horizontally like a guitar. Music truly does become international though, as we enjoyed that Russian cultural fair.

Which made it all the more amusing when we went to the Starlight Diner for a late dinner. Vadim figured since it was St. Patrick’s day we should have food from home, and I think he was curious how authentic the place was. So, he took us to a little diner near the river, styled very much like a 50s diner with old American posters on the wall and vinyl booth seats. There were some interesting things on the menu, including borscht, blini and pelmini (all Russian) and other dishes like seared Ahi tuna which are far from diner fare, but they did have a good selection of burgers and sandwiches and breakfast all day. It was funny and a lot of fun. And I finally got to pay for a meal. I ended up going with a burger and fries, but I have to say the meat was a little off. I’m not sure the reason, but it wasn’t quite the same flavor of ground beef that we are used to.

All in all, an interesting day of cultural twists and surprises in Moscow..

A series of cities dot the landscape in a rough circle, about two days horse ride, around Moscow. These cities are referred to as the Golden Ring as they are all ancient cities. Today we visited Suzdal, a city that is actually older than Moscow, founded in the 10th century.

Suzdal is about a four hour car ride from Moscow and seems fairly remote, although it is only about a half an hour from the larger industrial town of Vladimir. Suzdal has 33 churches and five monasteries/convents, with a total population of around 12,000. Pretty amazing. The biggest monastery is actually not a monastery any longer, but a museum. It’s a beautiful facility and is being restored having been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site about 17 years ago.

During the Soviet period, the monastery was turned into a prison. During World War II, it was a camp for prisoners of war and then became a prison for political prisoners/insane asylum. I’m guessing in the Soviet mind, those two things were one in the same.

Our tour guide was actually a friend of Vadim’s who isn’t a tour guide at all, but a police officer. He is just interested in history and has taken the exams to be regarded as a guide for the city. He was in his police uniform and it was amusing to see the deference he received as we walked around. While the monastery isn’t functional, the main church is actually used for special church holidays. I’m guessing here, but its probably one of the biggest in the city. Most of the icons have been removed from the church to another museum, but that actually made it easier to see the frescoes on the walls. All the more amazing when you understand that those frescoes were painted more than 400 years ago.

Our guide took us to an active church that still had the full iconostasis still in place called the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. It was being restored and I was surprised but they let me photograph inside the church. No one said anything, but I shot without flash, just using the available light. The light in a place like that can be amazing. And considering that every inch of the church is decorated in same way or another, you spend a lot of time looking up.

We actually did tour a smaller active convent after that. Vadim is a very religious man and he took the opportunity to say a prayer and light prayer candles while we were there. This chapel is also from the 15th century. Whether you are orthodox or not, religious or not, it is impossible to miss the reverence in the air in a church like that. Without even thinking about it, your own voice drops to a whisper.

While it’s difficult to get to, or at least inconvenient, if you ever visit Russia, definitely plan to make Suzdal a stop on your tour. It is well worth the time.
If you want to see more pictures, I have posted some to Facebook. If you’re not already a friend there, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206377&id=839029017&l=c13976ec47. And while you’re there, send me a friend request..

I was just asked a question and it makes me think that many more people may be curious to know the answer so, here goes. Russia is not covered in snow 12 months out of the year. Even when they do have snow on the ground, though, it does not stop people from going out and walking in it.

They do have summer here, hence the need for summer houses. Actually spring will arrive in just a few weeks here, too and when it does, it comes quick. The downside to spring, as all the snow melts off, the dirt that has stacked up in it for months then piles up on the roads and sidewalks and makes everything a dusty, dirty mess until they can clean it up. In the summer, it gets mild and comfortable. It rarely gets hot, but they do spend as much time as they can outside. Many Russian families have dachas, or summer houses, where they spend as much time as they can. Some are very nice, and others are pretty rustic, but it is still a chance to get away, within an hour or so of home. At many of these dachas, they will have small gardens for fresh herbs and vegetables, and some have banyas. A banya is a steam bath, but the Russian version is extremely hot, 210 degree F range. You just in for 5 to 7 minutes, and then out into the snow, a cold water bath or a shower. Get something to drink, a snack and do it again. Three, four, five times in a row. It’s interesting.

In contrast to that experience, we just got back from visiting a monastery close by. As part of the ablutions people make, they have set up a bath for the faithful to plunge into a bath filled with water from the mountain. The place itself is unheated, although it is covered, and the water is ice cold. They do this in honor of the monk that founded the monastery. He lived in a small cave and bathed in the spring. So, there you go. I passed when I was given the chance to try it myself.

Tomorrow, we are getting up early to visit Suzdal. This city is older than Moscow and is one of the best of the Golden Ring cities, but it is four hours away, so, probably no more posts until Wednesday..

There is something to be said for navigating around Moscow with a champion Russian rally race driver. Vadim, the host father, drove rally cars for 10 years and now owns a car and a race team, and you tell it when he navigates his way through Moscow traffic.

Yesterday was spent doing our best to bolster the Russian economy. We went shopping at Izmailovo. This is an enormous outdoor flea market/bazaar. I don’t know that it holds a world record for size, but it seems to go on for miles. There are sections that are for domestic products and housewares, but we were in the Russian souvenir section and that is plenty big enough.

Some beautiful handiwork there as always, along with basic tourist junk and military surplus. I’ve seen a little bit of everything there over the years from one visit to the next. I’ve even included a couple photos from the place in my exhibit. When I first visited there, it was very much just a flea market with people laying their goods on the ground and others with makeshift stalls that looked like they were cut from metal storage containers. Today, it has grown and evolved to include nice wooden, decorated stalls and asphalt paved streets.

Mom was busy talking to a seller about a purchase while I marveled at the young man’s excellent and nearly unaccented English. His response to my question was “I learned to speak English here in the market. Eight years of selling and you will learn to speak Russian, too.” I commented to mom later about just how incredibly smart he must be to have those sorts of language skills.

The shops were set to close around 5 pm and the day was winding down as we made a last purchase. It was something for my daughters, but mom was picking them out. The lady selling them (not saying what in case the girls read this) took an instant liking to mom. By the time we left, she was hugging her and kissing her on the cheek along with offering us meat pies and vodka. We declined. I have pictures with her on mom’s camera. Those will soon follow. She just hilarious, though. We all decided that the odds were high she had been trying to keep warm after standing outside on a cold Moscow day with a little vodka that probably led to her gregariousness. The young man booth next to her was dying laughing, too. Probably because he knew her antics and would be the subject of them himself later.

This was the first time, though I have ever had a chance to visit the Izmailovo Kremlin. This is one of the later additions to the facility and is pretty impressive. A kremlin simply means a fortress, usually stone walls to defend against invaders. In fact, there are 11 kremlins (I think) in Russia. This one, however, is built for the tourist trade and is made to look like an old village. There are shops and museums inside, including a vodka museum and a wedding chapel. We toured the vodka museum and I learned a couple things. Very fun. The place even has a website in English: http://kremlin-izmailovo.com/english.