Uncle Banya (2/7/2002)

Privyet Rebyata,

Greetings from the Great Empire of Slavdom. Things here have warmed up, meaning, of course, that the weather is far worse than it had been when temperatures were around -5 (pre-wind chill of course). Now that inches of snow and ice are melting, coupled with the horendous public sanitation system, the streets are filled with contaminated water and loads of muck and mire. Joy. This should last through this weekend, when all should freeze again and the whole process commences again.

Other than the weather, though, things are very well. School is simultaneously stimulating and frustrating; I feel like the average household pet, i.e. understand a good deal but can say nothing. Ah well. Language comes.

Novgorod, where my group spent this past weekend, was a lot of fun. It's a smaller city (250,000 people) and is far more typically Russian than the European St. Pete. We did the usual student group stuff (city tour, all the large churches, monestaries, etc.) but also had our share of free time as well. This, of course, we used to take pictures of ourselves with Lenin statues and such. We also ate what our advisors claim is the best example of old Russian food - a three-course, I-have-no-idea-what-this-is-supposed-to-be-but-I-love-it-anyway meal in a restaurant which seems to be a cross between a medevial dungeon and the Gryffindor dining hall in "Harry Potter". Quite the atmosphere, I must say. Then, of course, the power went out halfway through and we had to eat the rest of the meal by candlelight. Ah, Russia.One of the other things we did in Novgorod (as well as the previous week in St. Petersburg) was to visit a banya. For those unacquainted with them, they are basically saunas on steroids, where the heat and humidity are enough to make you sweat gallons within a few minutes. In addition to the heat, the banya trip involves hitting oneself with birch branches so as to (supposedly) bring all the blood to the surface and clean one's pores.

Finally, because we get cheap student tickets ($2-6) to the Mariinsky and other theaters in town, I have begun exploring their repertoire. Tuesday, a group of six of us headed to the Mariinsky to check out "Romeo and Juliet", Prokofiev's ballet version of the world's most overrated love story. I was floored. I've never seen a ballet or even a "regular" performance of R&J that powerful, emotional, and expressive. It was amazing - Boston Ballet, despite its worldwide reputation, doesn't come near it. As a result, I got more ballet tickets for "Don Quixote" in two weeks. Tomorrow I'm off to a performance of "The Cherry Orchard" by your favorite playwright and mine, Anton Chekhov.

Anyway, I am pretty sure I will be spending my spring break in Siberia (Irkutsk, Lake Baikal region) this year, but more on that when I find out the details.

Keep in touch. And let me know how things are in the town that is home to America's latest champions.

Matt