Museum of Soviet Life. Kazan

 

Museum of Soviet Life; Kazan

 

April 10, Kazan

I had texted our future guides, students connected to Stepan, and asked them to text us when they'd arrived at our hotel. We had been told there would be "sightseeing" and basically left it to our hosts. We descended the stairs from our room to find 3 nice young women, Regina, Aida, and Margarita. The first two were linguistics students at the University, the third an economics major who knew our friends as a result of participating as hosts in the 2013 Kazan Olympiade. Stepan is quite the networker,and in Kazan at least, most of them didn't even know him firsthand. They all spoke English and we promptly headed for the Kremlin. When you have guides like this, you learn the deep back story to the whole place. They explained the big bowl in the distance, the President's residence(These young people are very proud of their status as a Republic within Russia, and aware of the vast natural resources that emanate from within---they have a lot of oil and gas). The leaning tower was explained as a local girl's trickery to avoid marrying Ivan the Terrible---she agreed to the union if he'd build the tallest tower around; then climbed it and jumped off to avoid marrying the apparently ugly Ivan. It was very chilly again----rivers here were still completely frozen----unlike St. Petersburg(all melted), or Saratov(melting). Hundreds of guys still icefishing in the distance. We all decided it might be nice to see the big mosque from the inside----here in Russia, Islam is ultra-moderate, and this is allowed. Margarita led the way, but appeared to me to be entering through the exit door....выход as opposed to entry, usually marked вход. Don't they seem very similar? I started to warn her, but thought the better of it, and soon enough there was a raised voice and back out she came. I felt a little better at this point, as it appeared that even Russians get confused by the regimenting sometimes. So we all trooped in through вход and were immediately summoned to remove hat(me), cover heads(girls), and women wearing skirts asked to wear longer garments covering legs. We all also were charged a small amount for plastic baggie slippers. I was a little uncomfortable in this place. It was absolutely beautiful, wonderful colors, paintings, lighting. We climbed some stairs and were able to get a very nice view of the whole mosque. Our hosts, we were now becoming aware that Regina was the leader, had been here once when younger, but I think it was an experience for them as well. We all got along very well, each of them pairing off with one of us at times to ask questions. I being my father's son, went about interviewing each of them about education, future plans, politics etc. When one of them couldn't find the correct words in English, the others helped. Everyone really wants to speak with "native" English speakers and so we are happy to oblige.
After the Mosque and some more exploring the Kremlin, we head downtown to check out the Museum of Soviet Life. I expected a gray, depressing, clinical representation of the deprivation of Soviet times. We got quite the opposite. It is a private museum, upstairs in a 3 story building, and just the coolest thing. It really is sort of a Soviet "pop" culture museum. There is a collection of Levis---many signed by Sting and the like. Really cool toys everywhere. Interesting electronics. Tons of cool uniforms. Musical instruments. Music playing that is very different. Tons of unique stuff. At some point, the owner, realizing there were Americans in the midst, became very friendly. He gave me a military button. Laura got an actual  portable radio as a gift. He spent 20-30 minutes telling us stories about his famous visitors. He finances the whole collection himself----many times people bring him things. He is thinking about expanding to another larger space. We are there for over an hour. When we leave, Regina asks if we need them to walk us back to the hotel and seems surprised that we know how to find our way back. They are all so kind and seem genuinely worried about our well-being---it is so nice. She even says at one point....."but Russia is so dangerous...." I almost feel rude declining their offer, but we are only a few blocks away and I know these girls have busy lives.. We ask them if they's like to have lunch with us the next day. Margarita has a class conflict, but Regina and Aida seem happy to accept. They offer to pick a restaurant that will give us an authentic Kazan cuisine. We promise to communicate by text and say goodbye for the evening. Just the nicest people---very good at English, kind, smart, patient with my numerous questions. I think we all had a nice time.