Vladimir

Okay, so I think I'm going to do this two posts...

Last weekend, we went to Vladimir and Suzdal, two city/towns outside of Moscow part of the "Golden Ring"--sites that were established during the very early days of Russia's formation. There are a lot monuments and cathedrals, and some awesome scenery. I liked Suzdal the best, but I'll start out with Vladimir.

Vladimir was the first place we went to before moving onto Suzdal, where we spent the night. The weather looked to be disappointing, but actually held out nicely for our time in both places. My overall impression of Vladimir was that it seemed like the Soviet Union tried to do a lot to industrialize it and build it up into a more thriving city, but after the fall, it was left unmaintained and somewhat forgotten, except for its cathedrals, which are possibly Vladimir's only saving grace.

We didn't stay there for too long, comparred to Suzdal, but I still enjoyed the country-side views we got from atop the museums and cathedral sites that we visited.

Inside the church-turned-museum: The stairs that led up to the roof...

Wedding celbrations were going on all day.... Here, cars would drive around and around the Golden Gate honking their horns--generally making a lot of noise, but it was pretty fun to watch. It's always fun to watch other people being crazy and silly. Hmmm...maybe that's why we get so many stares...

I gotta get me one of these.

Then we moved onto the Assumption Cathedral, and man, was it beautiful inside. We couldn't take pictures of the inside, but yeah, it was pretty cool...and big. It is still what it is too, a church, and people were going in a out, praying and lighting their candles at various icon paintings of the saints and Jesus; many women, mostly the older women, wore the head-scarves, according to the Christian Orthodox tradition. There was also the preserved remains of a prince in there, but I've forgotten the name.

Pidgeon hunting.

More wedding celebrations...

Kings of the Hill:

Semi-gypsy cab ride to Suzdal up next.


Lots of love,
Jessica

I Predict a Riot...

"MOSCOW (AP) - Hundreds of demonstrators defied authorities Saturday by trying to stage an anti-government rally banned from a landmark downtown square, setting off sporadic clashes with police across Moscow and bringing a wave of arrests.

A coalition of opposition groups organized the 'Dissenters March' to protest the economic and social policies of President Vladimir Putin as well as a series of Kremlin actions that critics say has stripped Russians of many political rights.

Thousands of police officers massed to keep the demonstrators off Pushkin Square, beating some protesters and detaining many others, including Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who has emerged as the most prominent leader of the opposition alliance."

Read the rest of the article here.

So, here's the breakdown of the situation (at least, as best as I can describe it; it's all very complicated):

There is an opposition group against Putin and the Kremlin (that would be with the world chess champion, Kasparov, a.k.a. the "United Civil Front"), and they wanted to protest at Pushkin Square...and march, calling for, essentially, the liquidation of Putin's regime. But, unfortunately for them, they just so happened to get their papers in one minute later than the other group. Who is this group, you ask? Why, the youths that support Putin, of course! So, Kasparov and his homies took up another location, further away from the center (Turgenev Square)...and they were forbidden to march. Now, what do you think a Russian is going to do when you tell him he's forbidden to march? It's like telling a kid not to peek inside the mysterious box in the corner, which also brings to mind Futurama episode.... Anyway, so of course they try and march to and through Pushkin Square. One problem. The Kremlin dispatched around 9,000 authorities to the area to prevent them from entering the square. Needless to say, many were arrested.

Why are these protests really so important? Well, remember those little revolutions called the Orange Revolutions? The most famous is probably the one that happened in the Ukraine about 3 years ago in 2004 (when Yuschenko was poisoned). The others occured in Georgia (2003) and Yugoslavia (2000). These puppies occur when a semi-authoritarian and corrupted regime appears to make its power through democratic means. In the Ukraine, there were falsified votes, which led to opposition, which led to the final acknowledgement of these falsified votes, and the opposition won, putting Yuschenko in power instead of Yanukovich.

[As a side note, Putin (and his regime) supported Yanukovich, not Yuschenko. Russia therefore entered Ukrainian politics, and in a way, almost threatening them; Russia would continue its cheap supply of gas to the Ukraine (which would in turn would sell it to Europe at European prices--a major part of Ukraine's economy) if the Ukrainians supported Yanukovich. If they didn't, then the gas flow would stop. Yeah, the Ukrainians got really p.o.'d at the Russians meddling in their affairs, and Yuschenko was elected, however, no compromise was found on the gas situation after Yuschenko was put into office. December 31, 2005-January 1, 2006, this supply was cut off, and a compromise was later found...no one really knows how it works, but someone, somewhere, is getting a heck of a lot of money. Typical Russia.]

Putin is considered, by many, to have too much power, that his rule is too similar to a totalitarian rule. And here are some stats: Compared to Europe, the "Index of Freedoms" in Russia have decreased from 58% before Putin took office, to 27%, in 2006. Russia's corruption level is rated as being next to Afghanistan's, and its internal policy is about as effective as Saudi Arabia's. Meetings with foriegn diplomats, mainly Western, have decreased by 2 times, while talks with Eastern countries, such as China, have increased (to a vague or unspecified amount).

The Kremlin has been keeping a pretty close watch on the opposition groups, and after the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, they initiated a group of youths that would support the Kremlin and fight against the opposition (called "наши"/"ours"). Putin and his regime are very nervous about a revolt, and they will show their force and take any necessary measure to prevent another Orange Revolution, however much of a mistake it may seem in preventing demonstrations, such as the one here in Moscow.

As my teacher said though, it is the psychology of the Russian people to rise against the government.


Below are some pictures from the protest/demonstration at/around Pushkin Square. Jeff, Jack, Celina, Nick, and myself went up there. Most are my pictures, with few thrown in from Jeff and Jack's collection. We basically decided to stay around Pushkin Square, where the pro-Putin demonstrators were at, instead of heading down to Turgenev Square, where the anit-Putin people were. Jeff wanted Kasparov's autograph though. The anti-Putin protesters who did manage to find their way down, were quickly apprehended or pushed out of area. Very interesting to watch.

Arrival at Pushkin Square.

When we arrived, it was cold, and we were hungry. But alas, our McDonalds was closed off due to some kind of protest. Those golden arches never looked so beautiful.

These were the culprits blocking our BigMacs and french fries. (The youths supporting Putin.)

And these guys (and girls) were protecting the pro-Putin demonstrators, surrounding that entire section.

Freeeeeedooooooom!!!!!!! The so-called "Freedom Riders".

Armed vehicles arrive.

9,000 dispatched.

Goin' to the bighouse...

My homies.

A bit of opposition going on across the street, near the pro-Putin rally.

Next to an exit from the Metro...no one was getting past these guys unless you had a pass...or a small child.

Peace brothah!

They should put this on the back of cereal box: Can you count all the chrome-domed OMON?

And then they came a'marchin': my youtube video

Eventually these guys were pushed out further, and probably went up to Turgenev Square. Yeah, I saw some black sticks flying...

These guys could be models...check out that posing!

Send in the Storm Troopers...

...And the army elite. A few moments after this picture was taken, they got a call, and jumped into their vehicles, and quickly sped away up the street. We didn't follow them.

They were going to the same place as well.

Ha! The clean-up crew still does their job! Now that's dedication.

Afterwards, we went in search for food, and ended up just outside of Red Square, which was naturally blocked off by authorites with shiney black sticks.

Riot control trucks to my left...


...Weddings to my right...

And just in case the 9,000 men with sticks weren't enough, they always could bring in the cavalry:

That's all folks!

Here's some better video someone else put up: detaining Kasparov.

Also, I should mention, their were a few other protests going on that day. One was protesting illegal immigration (which is the least of Russia's problems, trust me), and another was a Nazi demonstration, which was lead by none other than, yes, the skinheads. We stayed away from that one.


Peace out,

Jessica

Is it April Already?

Well, well, well...fancy seeing you here. I thought you left. But I know, you just couldn't stay away...

The Updates:

First up--Fiesta!!!! Yep, FIESTA!!! In Moscow! In Russia! I made the pinata. See, mis amigos and I decided we were sick and tired of the Russian diet (you know, that bread based on bread-based diet), so we threw a Mexican fiesta, with all the stuff--most of the ingredients, by the way, were courtesy of the United States Embassy. God the bless the US of A for taco shells and salsa dip.

Many people were invited, and I think they all came. At least, that's what it felt like. It was held at Jeff's professor's place (the guy is actually our age), which he never uses apparently. We also celebrated Alex and Jack's birthdays! (The youngest and the oldest in our group, I believe.) And we got to scare all the neighbors when we took swings at the pinata, which I named Monsier Blu, because he was blue and looked like a french fry...and that was the first thing that came into my head.

I would like to add that one of our (Russian) guests said that it was so strange to be in Russia, in Moscow, having a Mexican fiesta, and talking to a bunch of Americans. Heheheh...

Yeah, we ate that pretty quickly.



Group shots! I could explain who everyone is, but I'm lazy.

Alright, here are pics of my awesome dorm room, just for those who were curious. Basically, we live in a two person, two seperate room, dorm, with a bathroom and toilet in each "block", I guess you could call it. The room are exact mirrors of each other, although mine tends to be a bit messier. This was laundry day when I took this, so don't mind the pants hanging over the chairs--they're just chillin'.

Our internet: First, it comes in from the outside, from a complex system of wires (which you'll see later), then travels through this box...

...into my room...

...and finally reaches my computer...

My stuff holder.

My bed. (Sorry about the angle there)

And they even gave me hangers, how nice.

Le bathroom.

And the All Seeing Eye? Nah...that's just the light.


Kitchen pics:

Easter lunch/supper:

And Easter snow:

It snowed, and snowed, and snowed. You know what the funniest thing was? The one's who refused to believe it was snow, and kept on roller blading....

As you can see in the picture above, there are many entangled wires. These wires are the internet. Now you know why they call it the "internet".


And after the snow. Lots of pretty, pretty:

Some random shots I took one day:

Well, it's been pretty much the same ol'-same ol', though I have learned a few new card games, and ate fish from Lake Baikal. And I watched the new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' in Russian. Speaking of which, this language is hard, man...to speak, that is. I can usually generally understand a person when they speak in Russian, but the heck if I can communicate back to them. It usually results in really bad Russian mixed with English and whole lot of body language. I might not be an expert in Russian, but I'll be the master at charades by the time I'm done here. It's the Russian grammer....oye....too many words can change--your name can change--depending on too many things. For instance, you want to get just one (odiin) thing? No, you can't just say odiin, it's odnu for this, or odna for that... Think gohd, gohda, and lyet are different things? Nope. They're the same thing: "year/years", just used for different numbers. But hey, at least the English language seems to be butting its way into Russian society, mostly because of technology, and the best part? A lot of the new English words don't change, unless it's your name. Yep, that's your average level 3 language for ya. Only 693 more hours to go until I reach "immediate fluency". Oh yeah.

Tons of love,
Jessica