The News from Siberia

First Letter

  I have waited a long time to write this email, in an effort to sort through the influx of ideas and feelings that have pulled on strings of thought, new and long untouched in my head.  So much has happened this past week, not just in terms of my new life in Russia, but in the world.

This mass email must be begun with some comments on the recent tragedy in the US.  Just as at home, everyone was in shock and knew not what to think. Ionia had stayed up all night watching the live CNN news report and class was almost cancelled.  The Russians were perhaps more upset than us American students.  Many teachers entered our classroom, near tears and offering their condolences.  Tons of flowers were laid down around the US embassy in Moscow and coverage of the US was really non-stop with the translated CNN reports and then the Russian correspondents in the US.  Lionia started smoking again (don't tell Ludmila Danielovna) and was often watching the TV and muttering "Kasmar" (a combination of impossible, terrible, and why?). America has been untouched for so long, that this incident seemed to shatter an illusion that many had held of a country free from harsh reality.   A plane running into the World Trade Center couldn't make it collapse, it must be another Hollywood film!

  Although the incident in the US still dominates the nightly news reports, the attitude has changed from one of somber condolences to a greater more silent, unspoken fear of America's response.  Can it be that I am disappointed in America?  Unfortunately, yes.  It's true that the response in aid to the people suffering in New York and Washington has been wonderful and for this I am proud to be an American. But, will America fail to look beyond their own immediate interests.  The fact that the majority of American's (we heard 94%) wish to bomb known terrorist nations is very disturbing and seems to highlight the narrow-minded stereotype of the American people.  Yes, what happened was terrible, yet there is no need to retaliate with twice the devastation.  America needs to learn from this incident.  Our country is an incredible place, yet it is not perfect. Terrible things can happen there just as they do in the rest of the world. Instead of unleashing our military powers on an enemy that is not yet obvious, we would benefit more by looking outward to a world that we are so closely connected to, recognizing that the majority of humanity is seeking the same goals and embracing this relationship.

  Now, on to a lighter subject.  I have returned to high school, I'm quite convinced, only this time around it is in Russian.  Well, I suppose this isn't entirely true, our classes and class schedule are more similar to an American University, yet the feeling of walking down the hallway, the groups of students clustered in their respective clothing distinguished groups, is just like high school.  Except for the Russian part, of course.  Because the structure of the Russian education system is different, many of the students are of American high school age.  This combined with the influx of foreign and rural students, who seem more sheltered in their mannerisms and attitude, creates the high school atmosphere.  Our Middlebury classes are a great break.  We can crowd in our classroom, shut the door and feel free to speak American-Russian, loudly and incorrectly.  Our teacher doesn't mind, she is expecting and willing to correct our mistakes.  There is no pressure to be understood.  My regular university classes are intriguing.  After the first class I learned it is better to sit in the second row to avoid the teachers fist pounding on the first row to make a point and the inevitable flying spit and gestures that follow as he continues on in a haphazard manner about the history of genetics.  Since this course is designed for seniors (or students in the fifth course)  the students in it do not seem quite as young as many that I have met in the International Department.  In fact, if it weren't for the language we could be back in Middlebury on the third floor discussing cells and class work.  The class is small, 6 female students in all, not including me, and they have been extremely helpful and friendly.  As usual I could write more. but I'm getting itchy sitting here. time to move about and finish this letter so I can get home before it gets dark. Ludmila Danielovna is the perfect grandmotherly figure and she worries when I am out after dark.  Completely understandable when I am like a two-year old wobbling around on unstable legs convinced I can run.

Second letter

  This past weekend I went rock climbing.  I spent most of the day, wandering around in the woods, crossing back and worth on the rickety bridge spanning the river between our camp and the wall, watching the advanced climbers move gracefully up the wall, then attempting myself, all the while pinching my arm to make sure I was still in Russia and not dreaming I was back in Vermont.  

Many outdoor sports seem to have an international aire to them. The look and attitude of the people is the same, the gear is about the same, and here, in Siberia the rock wall and the scenery were about the same as home, Vermont.  The day was perfect and the weekend weather unbeatable, complete fall, warmth from the sun, yet the cold reminder of the coming change to winter hidden around the shadows edges.   This popular climbing/camping location is located about an hour-hour and a half walk from the electric's stop an hour out of Irkutsk.  Due to the wonderful weather this past weekend, the narrow flat lining the embankment of the tracks was packed with people awaiting the last train into Irkutsk. The forests of Siberia are vast and it was amusing to see so many people streaming out of them when we had encountered so few on our walk in. Needless to say, the last train was as packed as the embankment and made for an interesting ride home.

Created October 6, 2001