In Europe we were hangers-on and slaves, but in Asia we are masters. In Europe we were Tatars, but in Asia we too are Europeans.-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1881-
On Friday, I fell asleep to yells of joy and fireworks. Flashes of white light speckled the wall of the dorm across the alley. I heard this happened last Friday as well and wonder if it will happen every Friday.
The next morning, Danya showed a few people how to make Syrniki. We enjoyed them with condensed milk and jam. After breakfast, some did homework while others hand-washed clothes in the sink and hung them out to dry in the sunny, warm air. We left in the afternoon for the central market, which is a huge conglomeration of markets.
Shanghai City, a Chinese market, is a land full of Adidas mountains, glittering trails of ballet flats, sweater waterfalls, and dresses floating past in the sky above. Stall owners call out as you walk through the narrow path. If you can speak Russian, you can haggle. Danya spent a bit of time trying to find a simple black ballet flat in her size and had the haggle once she found it. She suggested holding out the bill that you want to pay with and insist that it is all you have.
We ate at an incredible vegetarian restaurant that Danya found online: Govinda! “I was searching for vegetarians in Irkutsk and eventually found a “Vegetarians in Irkutsk” group on a website, Vkontakte. I saw a post on the forum about good veggie restaurants. It said there wasn’t much in town besides Govinda.” Danya was ecstatic by the time we neared the restaurant.
We ate samosas, rice with chutney, some kind of cutlet, a soy sausage that was very much like canned Vienna sausage, and stuffed red bell peppers that were covered in cheese. Everything was absolutely phenomenal. Food is served cafeteria style, which keeps costs very low. A samosa, rice/chutney, and cutlet meal was only 120 rubles, which is a little more than three American dollars. It was pretty exciting for the vegetarians. The atmosphere of the restaurant is stunning as well: satin wallpaper, thick curtains outlining sheer fabric, chandeliers, and mosaic tile inlaid in the walls. We ate small truffles for desert.
We went to another part of the central market after work. This reminded me very much of the markets back home in Washington state. Every neighborhood in every city has local markets full of fruits, veggies, desserts, bread, and more. This market in Irkutsk though was very intense. There is a central building full of stalls selling piles of fruits, veggies, torog cheese, sour cream that has the consistency of yogurt, all shades of honey, mounds of headless and whole fish, bread bread bread, cookies, and fabulous cakes. Dries took individual photos of stalls and entitled the stall owners according to what they sold. There was the fruit lady, bread lady, meat lady, fish lady, cookie lady, and faceless lady when they refused to be in the picture. Outside the building were more stalls but out there, they sold mushrooms!! I found a woman selling chanterelle mushrooms but Danya could not understand her accent and I got too terribly nervous to try to buy any. There were buckets of some other mushrooms with seemingly green spores, which is often what I look for in a mushroom I DON’T want to eat. There were a few birch boletes as well. Unfortunately, there were cages of kittens and puppies. I felt a bit emotional as we walked by them all. Seeing the stray dogs is tough around town as well. I assume they don’t show the famed Sarah McLachlin commercial here with the teary-eyed yellow lab.
We shuffled back home for a bit of rest before going out for the evening. I bought some mid-high heels earlier and got as dressed up as I could with the clothes I brought. We headed over to Harat’s pub. The last time I was there, a bunch of American films dubbed with Russian played all day. On this night, a live concert of the band, Leningrad, was playing loudly. The entire pub was filled with smoke and hot, thick air. Danya and I got Harat’s Stout, which may or may not be local to the pub. It was dry and a little bitter but enjoyable. I also tried something from the Czech Republic that was served in a huge glass.
We sat with Alyona and Zhenya. Over the course of the night, more of their Russian girlfriends arrived. At times, they would burst into song, singing along with the concert. It was the birthday of a friend, Tanya. She was turning 18. Close to 11pm, everyone started to head back to the dorm, which closes at 11pm sharp. The night before, a few guys (which will rename nameless unless they plan to share the story) made the babushkas downstairs pretty angry by coming home in the middle of the night. As we left the pub, Harat’s Bus showed up. This bus is super vintage and red. It drives around the city in the evenings full of people drinking and enjoying each other's company. Then, around 11pm, it stops at Harat’s, where the party continues. It looked pretty fun.
Before we reached the dorm, we ran into Luis, Juan, and Jacob. They were heading out to Harat’s and on to a nightclub. I decided to join them. They told me that we had to stay out until 7am when the dorm re-opens. I have to say, I was absolutely unsure if I was capable of staying up all night. At Harat’s, Alyona was very excited that I had returned. She hugged me and yelled out, “You are very cool!” The Russian group had grown. I felt all the more unsure of the night. I had no one to talk to at first---as I’ve said before, what with the whole not-speaking-Russian-thing.
About an hour later, the most incredible thing happened: I met Lena. Lena is 20 years old and studying French language at the same university as me. Her father was in the military so she has lived in many places around Russia but usually says that she grew up in Ulan-Ude, which is about 8-9 hours east of Irkutsk by train. She longs to live in Armenia and was disappointed that Armenian language was not offered to students. We talked for hours. She does not speak very much English though. Every now and then, she had to ask Alyona for a word, who would ask Zhenya, who would ask someone else and then, once the word was found, our conversation would continue. It was marvelous. We bonded with a lot of intuition.
She took Jacob and me in a furry-seat taxi to the nightclub, Akula, which is Russian for “shark.” It is right on the Angara river. We walked into the first room to pay for tickets. Then, we walked through a metal detector and my bag was searched. My water bottle was removed. Then, we walked into a different room to check coats. Then, we put money on a card to pay for drinks inside. Then, we walked into what I call “The Techno Room.” There was house music playing with lights and smoke filling the dance floor. Half-dressed dancers were on a stage entertaining the crowd. We walked right through this area to what Lena called the “vintage room.” This looked like something out of a Beach Boys music video. Floats hung from the walls, which were lined with record prints. A fake shark dove down from the ceiling and everything was painted in vibrant pinks and yellows. A few people danced around the area between the bar and booths that lined the walls. We all sat in a big booth. It was just Jacob, Lena and me.
Lena turned to me and said, “You want to go to toilet?” I told her I was fine but she leaned close to me and said this amazing sentence: “I want you in toilet. I want to see you in toilet.” I had this image of myself sitting on the toilet talking to Lena and thought to laugh. Instead, I just joined her to toilet. I think she just wanted to make sure I knew where it was. The bathroom was amazing. Each stall door had a photo of a famous Russian model. Inside the stall was an eastern-style toilet. This means that you actually stand and squat over a hole. It sounds quite different from the toilets in the United States but it’s really quite fine. The only thing that made this bathroom very unique was that when you squatted down, you were face-to-face with one of these famed Russian models. It was unnerving throughout the evening.
I really enjoyed this club experience because we did not have to dance all night. We all sat in the booth and chatted until an enjoyable song was played and then all the girls got up and danced. Sometimes we held arms and spun and other times we just danced in a circle facing each other. I loved that it had nothing to do with attracting anyone. It was just simple fun. I spun with Natalya, Lena’s roommate that is now considered a sister, and she hugge me afterwards.
Around 5am, I realized that it was possible I could stay up all night, though I was wondering what the next day would be like. Lena left around this time. I spent the remainder of the time speaking with Radimir. I met him a couple days before through Juan. He is a Russian student studying at the university as well. Radimir is from Kyzyl, the capital city of the Republic of Tuva. There are 90 republics in Russia. He refers to his republic as the “motherland.” His mother is Asian and his father is Russian. His first language is a local dialect. He explained that it was difficult for him in Irkutsk because of discrimination. He would like to study in the U.S. but it is difficult because of immigration policies so he hopes to study in Vancouver soon.
Around 6am, we left the club. There was still a large group dancing in the techno room. We walked to Macfoods, which is a little like McDonalds, except that it has pizza as well. Jacob was the only person to eat food. The rest of us had tea. We walked to a bus stop and waited for our ride home. During the wait, Jacob told me this incredible story about when he was in high school. One night, he and his friends were drinking a bit too much. They decided to go to their high school and spray paint some rather ridiculous graffiti. First, they drew their principal as a leprechaun. Then, they drew the vice principal’s name with bitch. The following week, there was an interrogation. He was discovered during his interview when he was asked to draw a leprechaun. He was put in school-suspension for a week but then, he was eventually dismissed from the high school altogether. He had to finish the last five months of his senior year at a different school. I asked him if his parents were upset and he told me that they were really only upset at the harshness of the punishment. It really was quite intense.
We rode home on the bus, watching Alyona, Zhenya, and another one of their friends being quite hilarious. I was a bit tired by then though. I only slept about three hours before I had to wake back up for a trip to Lake Baikal...
On Friday, I fell asleep to yells of joy and fireworks. Flashes of white light speckled the wall of the dorm across the alley. I heard this happened last Friday as well and wonder if it will happen every Friday.
The next morning, Danya showed a few people how to make Syrniki. We enjoyed them with condensed milk and jam. After breakfast, some did homework while others hand-washed clothes in the sink and hung them out to dry in the sunny, warm air. We left in the afternoon for the central market, which is a huge conglomeration of markets.
Shanghai City, a Chinese market, is a land full of Adidas mountains, glittering trails of ballet flats, sweater waterfalls, and dresses floating past in the sky above. Stall owners call out as you walk through the narrow path. If you can speak Russian, you can haggle. Danya spent a bit of time trying to find a simple black ballet flat in her size and had the haggle once she found it. She suggested holding out the bill that you want to pay with and insist that it is all you have.
We ate at an incredible vegetarian restaurant that Danya found online: Govinda! “I was searching for vegetarians in Irkutsk and eventually found a “Vegetarians in Irkutsk” group on a website, Vkontakte. I saw a post on the forum about good veggie restaurants. It said there wasn’t much in town besides Govinda.” Danya was ecstatic by the time we neared the restaurant.
We ate samosas, rice with chutney, some kind of cutlet, a soy sausage that was very much like canned Vienna sausage, and stuffed red bell peppers that were covered in cheese. Everything was absolutely phenomenal. Food is served cafeteria style, which keeps costs very low. A samosa, rice/chutney, and cutlet meal was only 120 rubles, which is a little more than three American dollars. It was pretty exciting for the vegetarians. The atmosphere of the restaurant is stunning as well: satin wallpaper, thick curtains outlining sheer fabric, chandeliers, and mosaic tile inlaid in the walls. We ate small truffles for desert.
We went to another part of the central market after work. This reminded me very much of the markets back home in Washington state. Every neighborhood in every city has local markets full of fruits, veggies, desserts, bread, and more. This market in Irkutsk though was very intense. There is a central building full of stalls selling piles of fruits, veggies, torog cheese, sour cream that has the consistency of yogurt, all shades of honey, mounds of headless and whole fish, bread bread bread, cookies, and fabulous cakes. Dries took individual photos of stalls and entitled the stall owners according to what they sold. There was the fruit lady, bread lady, meat lady, fish lady, cookie lady, and faceless lady when they refused to be in the picture. Outside the building were more stalls but out there, they sold mushrooms!! I found a woman selling chanterelle mushrooms but Danya could not understand her accent and I got too terribly nervous to try to buy any. There were buckets of some other mushrooms with seemingly green spores, which is often what I look for in a mushroom I DON’T want to eat. There were a few birch boletes as well. Unfortunately, there were cages of kittens and puppies. I felt a bit emotional as we walked by them all. Seeing the stray dogs is tough around town as well. I assume they don’t show the famed Sarah McLachlin commercial here with the teary-eyed yellow lab.
We shuffled back home for a bit of rest before going out for the evening. I bought some mid-high heels earlier and got as dressed up as I could with the clothes I brought. We headed over to Harat’s pub. The last time I was there, a bunch of American films dubbed with Russian played all day. On this night, a live concert of the band, Leningrad, was playing loudly. The entire pub was filled with smoke and hot, thick air. Danya and I got Harat’s Stout, which may or may not be local to the pub. It was dry and a little bitter but enjoyable. I also tried something from the Czech Republic that was served in a huge glass.
We sat with Alyona and Zhenya. Over the course of the night, more of their Russian girlfriends arrived. At times, they would burst into song, singing along with the concert. It was the birthday of a friend, Tanya. She was turning 18. Close to 11pm, everyone started to head back to the dorm, which closes at 11pm sharp. The night before, a few guys (which will rename nameless unless they plan to share the story) made the babushkas downstairs pretty angry by coming home in the middle of the night. As we left the pub, Harat’s Bus showed up. This bus is super vintage and red. It drives around the city in the evenings full of people drinking and enjoying each other's company. Then, around 11pm, it stops at Harat’s, where the party continues. It looked pretty fun.
Before we reached the dorm, we ran into Luis, Juan, and Jacob. They were heading out to Harat’s and on to a nightclub. I decided to join them. They told me that we had to stay out until 7am when the dorm re-opens. I have to say, I was absolutely unsure if I was capable of staying up all night. At Harat’s, Alyona was very excited that I had returned. She hugged me and yelled out, “You are very cool!” The Russian group had grown. I felt all the more unsure of the night. I had no one to talk to at first---as I’ve said before, what with the whole not-speaking-Russian-thing.
About an hour later, the most incredible thing happened: I met Lena. Lena is 20 years old and studying French language at the same university as me. Her father was in the military so she has lived in many places around Russia but usually says that she grew up in Ulan-Ude, which is about 8-9 hours east of Irkutsk by train. She longs to live in Armenia and was disappointed that Armenian language was not offered to students. We talked for hours. She does not speak very much English though. Every now and then, she had to ask Alyona for a word, who would ask Zhenya, who would ask someone else and then, once the word was found, our conversation would continue. It was marvelous. We bonded with a lot of intuition.
She took Jacob and me in a furry-seat taxi to the nightclub, Akula, which is Russian for “shark.” It is right on the Angara river. We walked into the first room to pay for tickets. Then, we walked through a metal detector and my bag was searched. My water bottle was removed. Then, we walked into a different room to check coats. Then, we put money on a card to pay for drinks inside. Then, we walked into what I call “The Techno Room.” There was house music playing with lights and smoke filling the dance floor. Half-dressed dancers were on a stage entertaining the crowd. We walked right through this area to what Lena called the “vintage room.” This looked like something out of a Beach Boys music video. Floats hung from the walls, which were lined with record prints. A fake shark dove down from the ceiling and everything was painted in vibrant pinks and yellows. A few people danced around the area between the bar and booths that lined the walls. We all sat in a big booth. It was just Jacob, Lena and me.
Lena turned to me and said, “You want to go to toilet?” I told her I was fine but she leaned close to me and said this amazing sentence: “I want you in toilet. I want to see you in toilet.” I had this image of myself sitting on the toilet talking to Lena and thought to laugh. Instead, I just joined her to toilet. I think she just wanted to make sure I knew where it was. The bathroom was amazing. Each stall door had a photo of a famous Russian model. Inside the stall was an eastern-style toilet. This means that you actually stand and squat over a hole. It sounds quite different from the toilets in the United States but it’s really quite fine. The only thing that made this bathroom very unique was that when you squatted down, you were face-to-face with one of these famed Russian models. It was unnerving throughout the evening.
I really enjoyed this club experience because we did not have to dance all night. We all sat in the booth and chatted until an enjoyable song was played and then all the girls got up and danced. Sometimes we held arms and spun and other times we just danced in a circle facing each other. I loved that it had nothing to do with attracting anyone. It was just simple fun. I spun with Natalya, Lena’s roommate that is now considered a sister, and she hugge me afterwards.
Around 5am, I realized that it was possible I could stay up all night, though I was wondering what the next day would be like. Lena left around this time. I spent the remainder of the time speaking with Radimir. I met him a couple days before through Juan. He is a Russian student studying at the university as well. Radimir is from Kyzyl, the capital city of the Republic of Tuva. There are 90 republics in Russia. He refers to his republic as the “motherland.” His mother is Asian and his father is Russian. His first language is a local dialect. He explained that it was difficult for him in Irkutsk because of discrimination. He would like to study in the U.S. but it is difficult because of immigration policies so he hopes to study in Vancouver soon.
Around 6am, we left the club. There was still a large group dancing in the techno room. We walked to Macfoods, which is a little like McDonalds, except that it has pizza as well. Jacob was the only person to eat food. The rest of us had tea. We walked to a bus stop and waited for our ride home. During the wait, Jacob told me this incredible story about when he was in high school. One night, he and his friends were drinking a bit too much. They decided to go to their high school and spray paint some rather ridiculous graffiti. First, they drew their principal as a leprechaun. Then, they drew the vice principal’s name with bitch. The following week, there was an interrogation. He was discovered during his interview when he was asked to draw a leprechaun. He was put in school-suspension for a week but then, he was eventually dismissed from the high school altogether. He had to finish the last five months of his senior year at a different school. I asked him if his parents were upset and he told me that they were really only upset at the harshness of the punishment. It really was quite intense.
We rode home on the bus, watching Alyona, Zhenya, and another one of their friends being quite hilarious. I was a bit tired by then though. I only slept about three hours before I had to wake back up for a trip to Lake Baikal...
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