Kirov orphanage

So since our return from Moscow, it’s been back to the daily grind, but with a rather fun twist. Yesterday, Andrew and ourselves organised an english day about the history of the english language, and how it came to be the way it is today. Andrew got carried away with his researches, as usual, and misjudged the english level of the children visiting from the neighbouring town, Baryatino. We tried to make it as visual as possible, with powerpoint slides, and a little colour experiment, to show how complicated the english language gradually became. Although it was very interesting for people with a suitable level of english, the rest had difficulties understanding. Luckily, we gathered in groups at the end, and were able to chat with them, and explain thing they hadn’t understood. We then went on to discuss their opinion on Russia and abroad (if they had been abroad, which few of them had). One of the Baryatino boys, who happened to look like Legolas from Lord of the Rings, had quite extreme views. He disliked russian mentality, and as soon as he would get the opportunity to travel, he would move to America, which he felt was the promised land, although he’d never set foot abroad. This is something I have noticed in a lot of young russians. After this, we visited a small orphanage in the neighbouring city, Kirov. I had asked Serge, the father in my family, if it would be possible to visit any orphanages, for my year abroad project on social orphans, and out of interest. This orphanage was quite a successful example of a small, well-run and friendly orphanage. Of course, I have nothing but Kitezh to compare it to, which I do not consider as an orphanage at all. The headmistress seemed very engaged, and pleased that I showed interest in the place. She brought in her whole staff and suggested I ask them questions about their work. After a while, I ran out of things to ask, but it was very interesting, nonetheless. The facilities themselves were very clean and neat. It seemed to me like a small boarding school. Serge later told me that the headmistress was famous in the region for refusing to give up “her orphans” to foster families or places like Kitezh. This was not out of attachment to the children,although it might be part of the reason, but mainly because if the children were removed from the orphanage, the government would be allowed to bring in new children when it suited them. It is of course easier to work with children you already know, hence why she refuses to give her children the opportunity to experience a family life. As Andrew said, there is no replacement for real attachment, no matter how small and loving her orphanage is. This week, and the next (which is our last week in Kitezh), we are organising a small christmas market, with food, decorations, christmas carols, etc. It should be great fun, and it is already putting us in a christmas mood. 

Moscow trip

So I haven’t been on this blog for a while, again. Last time I posted, it wasn’t a very positive post. Since then we have celebrated Halloween in best way possible. It was by far the funnest Halloween celebration I’ve had in a while. There were games, dances, songs, and many other crazy things. Since we were feeling tired and felt like we needed a holiday, Alex and I decided to go for a little holiday in Moscow. It wasn’t the relaxing type of holiday, although I’m not sure those are my thing, but it was fun and exciting. I had already been to Moscow a year ago, for just a day, and loved it. But this time I could really get a sense of the city, especially living in a prime location such as our hostel, Fabrika, which I highly recommend. It is situated at the end of Bolotny island, where an old chocolate factory used to be, called Krasnii Otkyabr. It is now quite a hip area, full of cafés, bars, hostels, and the Strelka institute of design. We were just on the other side of the Church of Christ the Savior, which was absolutely stunning. Every morning, I was amazed at how beautiful that particular area of Moscow is. With the church on one side, the Kremlin on the other, and many other important monuments. All this with the Moscow river flowing by, reminding me of strolls along the Seine in Paris, minus the massive, multi-coloured domes. The first day, we made our way from tyoplii stan, which is where the bus arrives from Baryatino to Moscow (the closest village to Kitezh) to our hostel. It is quite a long way from the centre, but for Moscow distances, it is actually quite reasonable. The metro is quick, cheap, and there’s plenty of it (one every minute). Compared to the outrageous London tube prices, the Moscow metro is very cheap and reliable. On top of that, you get a free “museum visit”, as some of the metro stops are absolutely stunning. Chandeliers, high ceilings, or soviet style metro stations, there is a station for every taste. After arriving at the hostel, we strolled around the red square, which is beautifully lit up at night. The GUM (luxury shopping centre on the red square), was lit up in a Harrods-like fashion, making me feel very christmassy. We passed the Bolshoi Teatr, which sells tickets for extremely expensive Ballet shows. Next to it is the Malii Teatr (small theater), which is considered as one of the best theaters. e then passed Pushkin square, and ended our evening with a hot chocolate at Shokoladnitsa, Russia’s version of Starbucks, or Cafe Nero. The second day was a bit of a fail, as it was pouring it down, and seeing as the previous day had been a national holiday, the tuesday then functioned as a monday, which meant all museums were closed. Russian logic. We declared ourselves defeated, and went into the nearest café, which was a very pleasant place. Ismailovsky market was our next destination, but finding it was not an easy task. Again, under the pouring rain, we attempted to find souvenirs for a reasonable price. Having missed out on a whole day of sightseeing, we compensated on wednesday, by trying to fit in as many places as possible. The first stop was the Pushkin Museum of Fine art (nothing to do with Pushkin), which was quite interesting, but disappointingly enough, a lot of the ancient Greek or Egyptian statues were plaster casts. The next stop was the modern museum, Garaj, which is located in the infamous Gorki Park, next to Pioneers pond. It is a wooden building with big glass windows. The exhibition was about modern architecture installations in Russia, most of them being in Tula and Kaluga, which is near Kitezh. There was also a section about the first architecture exhibition in Russia, which was in 1923, also in Gorki park. After this we met up with Alex’s friend, Anya, who kindly showed us Bulgakov’s house, and patriarchs ponds, which is a key place in which Bulgakov’s novel, “Master and Margarita” , takes place. There was a funny sign next to the pond, which said “Don’t talk to strangers”, with the outline of the main characters in the book. After this we went for another stroll with our friend Valya, a lovely russian volunteer from Kitezh. We saw “The house on the embankment”, which is meant to have housed many famous Bolsheviks and civil war heroes, the most famous one being Georgy Zhukov, a soviet officer, who is meant to have played a key role in the liberation of the Soviet Union, and the defeat of Nazi Germany during the second world war. Absolutely exhausted after a full day of visiting Moscow, we made our way to a Georgian restaurant, located in a dodgy back alley. The food was nice, but my stomach disagreed later on. On the last day, we had a couple of hours to fill before our bus left, and so decided to finally visit the Kremlin, Lenin and St Basil’s church. Big surprise… It was closed, yet again. So we only saw St Basils, and replaced the Kremlin and Lenin with the Tretyakov gallery, which I’d already seen, but it is worth seeing again and again. So that was it for Moscow, I’ve been back to the routine for a few days now, but have been helping Andrew fix his kitchen, and thereby gaining some handicraft skills, which I find quite exiting. Other than that, I only have two weeks left in Kitezh, before my return in January (for 4 weeks). Although I love this place, I am really looking forward to going home.