May 16, 2018

This morning felt a little rushed, but I was able to get myself to the American Home on my own using the bus system! I did reference a few map/bus route apps to ensure I was doing the right thing and taking the right buses, but alas, I was able to direct myself. Hopefully that gets less stressful over time. Russian class this morning was an extension of yesterday’s class, with a focus on using our homework from last night to create more conversation and facilitate better use of the language. I really and appreciate Nelly as a teacher. Evidently she taught Prof. David when he taught at the American Home.

I had been excited for today’s excursion, as it started our jump into the Russian arts. We ventured to the workshop of a very accomplished Russian artist, Tatyana Grebneva, who specializes in tapestries, but does a lot of work with fabrics, costumes, and set design for performances. I am absolutely fascinated by the passion she puts into her work. Her workshop is hidden behind this metal door, but has a messy-at-first-glance-but-there’s-obviously-a-method-to-the-madness type of look and feel. There were fabrics and works of art on every single surface from the walls to the couch to the shelves and even the floor. She was able to explain to us what she does and why she does it. Tapestry making is a dying art, and she is preserving it to the best of her ability. She fell in love with it while studying art, and evidently she’s a pretty big deal in the art scene. I’m absolutely blown away and impressed with everything she showed us. Prof. David translated the entire time since she didn’t speak English, but I did my best to get what I could from her Russian, understanding parts of it. Regardless of the language she spoke, the way she talked showed obvious pure passion for what she does. She spends hours on end in that workshop, and has even spent nights there. She showed us how she makes the tapestries, using one of her current works as an example. However, even with that tapestry more than halfway finished, it would take her another year of solely working on it - no other projects - to complete. I’m bewildered at the level of patience. It’s a little sad to think about how she loves to work on her tapestries, but has to put them off so she can work on projects that will bring in revenue in the meantime. Yet, she doesn’t seem too upset about it - probably because she still enjoys working as long as she can work and experiment with fabrics and threads. What does upset her, though, is how the arts are slowly fading, especially at the hand of new administration in Vladimir and the new director of the art museum in town. Evidently lots of art, including her most important tapestry, has been put away and none of the artists know what’s happened to it. They’re “modernizing” but in doing so, removing the majority of culture. She even invited us to join a protest it here in a few days.

Afterwards we had lunch, and this is where I’ve begun to notice something else. A lot of lunch locations so far in Russia have been cafeteria style, and are extremely cheap. I cannot complain about the price by any means, but it’s just interesting to note how common cafeteria style is.

Then we were blessed with a casual walking tour throughout the heart of historic Vladimir. Our guide was a professor and friend of Prof. David who apologized for his English when he knew words I’ll probably never know in Russian. It’s a little surprising how much Russians, including my host, apologize for their “poor” English when it’s often better than I could even ask for. Vladimir is extremely historic, with some of the first human remains in the entirety of Russia even being found in the area. We learned all sorts of things, from how christianity spread throughout Russia starting in the area to how Vladimir is arguably the first (or second) capital of Russia (depending on how you view Suzdal in the equation). We also finally got to explore one of the token landmarks of Vladimir, the Assumption Cathedral, signifying the assumption of Mary. The church is incredibly ornate, and has a rich history including several fires. The original of the most famous Russian icon - Our Lady of Kazan - was even kept in this church for a long time before being moved, supposedly it saved Russia several times. With each turn and with each sentence spoke throughout the tour I felt like more and more layers were continuously added to Russia’s history, and I got to experience it all walking along the same path who knows who else walked. Another famous landmark of Vladimir, the Golden Gate, actually served as the gate through the city wall. However, it’s famous doors have been lost after Mongol invasion centuries ago. Many powers evidently have tried to find them, but to no avail. I’m still not used to the amount of history that constantly surrounds me. We shortly stopped at a cafe near the end of our tour, and I realized how rare cafes are. Coffee isn’t very big in Russia, it’s mostly a tea place. Most restaurants have all sorts of tea on their menus. Another thing that’s becoming a food trend that I never fail to point out to everyone else because it BAFFLES me is the near complete lack of solely sushi or solely pizza places. For some odd reason, Russians associate sushi with pizza because they are always advertised together and so many restaurants are sushi and pizza places. I don’t get it.

Later, we attended a dance concert celebrating the anniversary of a dance program at the university. The dances were beautiful and so many of the students are very talented, but I felt like it was less about the dancing and more about the host - Andrei. Andrei had a very outgoing personality and wasn’t afraid to receive several of the awards given throughout the program, much less sing several, very flashy songs. We call it “the Andrei Show”.