Kazan Adventures

November is here! But the cold is not. Apparently this is the warmest November Voronezh has ever had. I like to think it is in celebration of my arrival.

Anyways, last weekend I traveled to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, with a group of international students living in Voronezh. If you look at a map of Russia, Voronezh and Kazan do not look very far apart, but in actuality Kazan is almost 24 hours away! So we got to experience real Russian roads (read: bumpy) and real Russian rest-stops (read: random fields). I mention the rest-stops because after our trip Ira and I explained to her husband, Andrei, that in America there are small fences on the sides of highways for safety purposes. With a confused look on his face, Andrei exclaimed, “But then how do they go to the bathroom?” The trip was actually not that bad- we watched Russian cartoons and sang Russian folk songs before trying to sleep in all sorts of weird positions in our cramped seats. Before I knew it, we had arrived in Kazan and began our tour of that wonderful city with the National Library of Tatarstan. How did they know that was first on the “Meri’s nerdy must-see list”?

The library itself began as the collection of Ivan Vtorov, a Kazan bibliophile and was opened to the public in the 1860s. Each room in the library was unique and housed works of art from different cultures and time periods. Many of the windows contained beautiful French stained glass from Paris. 

There were Oriental style dragons in the hallways, and there was even a room made to look like a cave with fish and unusual plants and statues scattered around the hall.

 Each room became a trip to a different culture. Spectacular library!

Our next stop was the Kremlin. Since Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan, the Kremlin (now a World Heritage Site) had both a cathedral and a mosque. The Annunciation Cathedral is the oldest building in the Kremlin and dates back to the middle of the 16^th century. Here is the inside of the church.

Here is one very tired Meri with the Kremlin in the background.

The theme of Russians and Tatars peacefully co-existing together carried over to the rest of the city where many signs were written in Russian and Tatar-sometimes just in Tatar.

We also visited many convents and monasteries including the Convent of the finding of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God as well as other monasteries located across the Volga River. The monasteries were not small but very quiet and peaceful nonetheless.  I asked at one of the churches and was told that there are only five monks total! Overall the long forty hour bus ride was well worth enduring just to have the opportunity of visiting such a beautiful city, rich with history and an example of the many various cultures of Russia- without even crossing the Urals!

Back in Voronezh, life is really great. I am busy with teaching my many students and taking Russian courses, but, as many of you know, I like my life busy.  I guess it just happens. This week I have engaged in many other typical Russian extracurriculars- attended a drama performance with all of my English teaching colleagues in the Sciences Department, went to the movies (and understood a lot of it since most of the humor was “oh he’s drunk and doing something stupid"—time to laugh), went to a birthday party at a medieval themed restaurant and serendipitously bumped into a friend getting married there (!), went to the circus (very popular in Russia. I felt underdressed in my jeans and cardigan), and even baked cupcakes (although can you really call them cupcakes if they mostly consist of cottage cheese and farina?). I even managed to convince the scary Russian RA ladies to let me have access to the one key for the one washing machine in the building next to me. Ура! I have also become such a regular at the bookstore/coffee shop across the street that I have become friends with my favorite waitress, and she even saved my "frequent guest" card after I accidentally left it one day (I guess it wasn't too difficult to figure out whose it was as I am probably the only "Dabldei" in Voronezh).

Finally, a big shout out to Natalia for sending me the biggest care package I have ever seen with enough luna bars and Annies to make me see no reason to ever learn how to cook.