Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sunday, April 27, Saratov.
Interesting little scene just outside my window this afternoon. I am working at the computer. I keep hearing men's voices. It starts to get a little annoying and I get up to look out the window. Fellow about my age is pretty drunk, sitting on the ground underneath my window. There is a police car at the curb--an older model white Lada sedan. There are two officers out of the car standing about 5-6 feet away from the guy, speaking with him in calm tones. They are smartly dressed. He's a little agitated and has a cut over his right eye, a big bruise on his face. Blood has dripped down one side of his face and dried there. He looks rough. He is a pretty big guy, probably 6 feet 200 lbs. This goes on for about 20 minutes. One of the officers carries a little sub-machine gun over his shoulder. It never gets tense. Not once. They let him call someone on his cell phone at least twice. There is some very mild amusement on the part of the officers once in a while. They speak with him almost softly. One of them sits in the car and at one point speaks to whoever is on the other end of the guy's phone. They never act threatening towards him in any way. I don't think they have any sort of dash-cam. The guy stands and walks over toward the one with the machine gun. He calmly removes it from his shoulder and hands it to his partner in the car. They just kind of leisurely keep an eye on him. Nothing physical, no real interrogation of any kind. An ambulance arrives. The medic very kindly takes a look at the guy and guides him over to the ambulance. Another guy, his wife, and a baby carriage go by and he shakes one of the officer's hands as they pass. The cops get in their car and drive away. The ambulance follows shortly.
I am impressed at the low key aspect of the whole interaction.
I am impressed at the low key aspect of the whole interaction.
April 15, Tuesday; Trip to Khvalinsk
For a few weeks now, there have been plans for an excursion to environs outside Saratov. About 200K up the Volga to the northeast is a beautiful town called Khvalinsk, home to about 14,000 people, with a ski area, a national park, several cool museums, and is the home of the great Russian painter, Petrov Vodkin. This place was founded in 1556 and is the oldest settlement in Saratov Oblast. Apparently one of the our SVRIA/PAGS institute's top administrators, Vladimir, knows the town's administrators very well. He and the international office have kindly arranged for all of us to spend a day touring this place, known for producing 56 tons of delicious apples annually. It is also supposed to have amazing gardens, but alas we will be too early in the year to see much of that.
At the last moment, Vladimir has to cancel his participation in the excursion, but the rest of us, Natalia, Valia, Masha, Yulia, Janet, Laura, and myself, have been confirmed to take Institute vehicles(traveling in style..BMWs!) to Khvalinsk early Tuesday morning. The trip will take over 2 hours each way, so we must leave at 6am.The forecast calls for a cold rain which diminishes the enthusiasm a bit, but we all are looking forward to a little change of scenery.
Natalia shows up at our apartment about 6am, with a car and driver----the others are in another BMW and we meet on the road headed north. The other car is larger and Natalia transfers when we stop, leaving us with a lot of room, a chance to snooze a bit, and a driver who is quite the character. He doesn't speak any English, is a pretty quiet fellow, takes his driving very seriously, so there is not a lot of small talk. It is raining. Russian drivers are a different breed, pretty aggressive in accelerating, passing, and slow down quickly as well. This guy, Nikolai, is an excellent driver, there are a lot of things to deal with on Russian roads. The road is mostly 2-lane, is in decent shape, but it can go bad in a hurry----huge potholes, actual holes, cracks, and patches of dirt can materialize very quickly. There are also numerous semi trucks, people in the wrong lane coming the other way, farm vehicles, and the random local puttering along in a Lada. There are also the Novi-Russkis, of whom Nikolai is not terribly fond, who hurtling around in their black, speeding German SUVs, are making things interesting. Our driver is also trying to make good time, and thus there are frequent interruptions to our attempts to slumber. I've been in Russia a while now, and this style of driving does not bother me, but I think Janet and Laura get a little worried from time to time. Nikolai and I wear seatbelts in the front seats, unfortunately they are not available in the back.
Police in Russia hang out at intersections. Not sure why. There is usually an officer carrying a billy club standing there waving over unfortunate drivers. A car with other officer(s) is also usually present. I get the impression from my driver that they are looking for seat belt scofflaws too.
At some point we meet up with the other car about 45 minutes into the trip for a bathroom break at a kind of a truck stop. The other car's driver, Alexy, opens his trunk and there are at least 40-50 meat, hot dog, and potato pie/pastries---pirozhok---for us to eat there by the side of the road, still raining. The girls go the the restroom and are introduced to the 2-tier system where you have to pay a few Roubles to get a decent bathroom. Apparently you do not want to see the alternative. Poor Laura, the vegetarian does not get much variety with the pirozhok. I put some in my pockets, I find them tasty and delicious. Soon we are back in the cars, lurching toward Khvalinsk. We are seeing some of the same type of country that you see from the train. Higher terrain, more trees. It is nice. I have been wanting to see some nature since I got here. Lots of little dirt/mud tracks going off into the woods. There are even a couple of people you can see from the road who are camping. It reminds me a little of the roads leading into the Jemez or Pecos in my New Mexico---the mountains are not as high however. at one point we see a large body of water to the right. Janet says..."is that a lake or something..?" The driver says....VOLGA! The river is huge here. I don't want to get this wrong, but I think 8-10K wide?
We pull into what looks like Khvalinsk and wait for the second driver. A silver sedan pulls over in to the side in front of us. Two well dressed people get out in the rain, talk to Natalia for a minute. The cars start up an we head into the mountains to what looks like a little resort, log cabins, etc.,The road is rough in places, still raining. Some nice views. We get out at the resort area and there are the introductions. We are going to spend the day with Sergei Yurievich Verbin, Head of Administration of Khvalinskyi Municipal Region, and Galina Fedorovna Erantaeva, Head of the Department of Culture and Administration, Khvalinskyi Region. Essentially the mayor of this town and his cultural liason are going to spend the whole day with us. Nice! We also meet the head of the National Park and several of his people.
http://nphvalynskiy.narod.ru/
Our drivers all look like they're going to hang out with each other for a while. I am interested in driver culture.
Everyone is very nice. We get a history tour of the grounds. There are some very interesting 18th and 19th Century outdoor exhibits of tools and things used by these people in the mountain region. There is a spring from which you can drink the sweetest water. Our tour guide drinks and so do I. Still raining pretty good.
There is also a very cool little Orthodox Chapel there. The park has a working relationship with Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Butte_National_Monument
The director mentions that personnel from Wyoming have visited several times and that they are modeling the parks administration and business strategy based on some this professional exchange. The park here is essentially self sustaining, they have a large nursery and are investing in growing the tourism sector. They mention that there is of course skiing, but also mountain biking, hiking, and camping. Guides are available. What sounded amazing to me is the 5-10 mile hike in a corridor where there are hundreds of species of songbirds. If and when I return here---this is what I would like to do!
We get to see a bunch of local art on display---much of it done by children. Most of it is of nature or relating to the park. Nice. These facilities are really maintained well. It is just like being in a lodge in West Virginia or Colorado. We are then seated at a large table for tea and pastries and spend some pleasant minutes chatting. I tell the park manager I like his uniform---it is a deep green, lots of patches and medals. This guy looks like a real Russian---he looks like Boris Yeltsin's handsome much younger brother and is very likeable. He is very proud of the park and facilities and I don't blame him. It is an impressive place.
We are then driven off to the town itself where we pull up to a petting zoo and animal rescue facility. Lots of barnyard animals. Some camels that have been here since silk road times---huge shaggy coats. Horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigeons, guinea fowl. Also rescued injured and/or unable to live in the wild, wildlife. Boars, foxes, badgers, owls, hawks,rabbits, and a wolf! The wolf we were told has a girlfriend who is a dog. She visits all the time. There are puppies from this unholy union!
I don't care much for zoos, but this is a rescue facility, and despite the harshness of the Russian climate, these guys all seem well cared for and in decent, clean shelters. Better than many American big city zoos.
We are then off to visit the Khvalinsk Fire Department!
At the last moment, Vladimir has to cancel his participation in the excursion, but the rest of us, Natalia, Valia, Masha, Yulia, Janet, Laura, and myself, have been confirmed to take Institute vehicles(traveling in style..BMWs!) to Khvalinsk early Tuesday morning. The trip will take over 2 hours each way, so we must leave at 6am.The forecast calls for a cold rain which diminishes the enthusiasm a bit, but we all are looking forward to a little change of scenery.
Natalia shows up at our apartment about 6am, with a car and driver----the others are in another BMW and we meet on the road headed north. The other car is larger and Natalia transfers when we stop, leaving us with a lot of room, a chance to snooze a bit, and a driver who is quite the character. He doesn't speak any English, is a pretty quiet fellow, takes his driving very seriously, so there is not a lot of small talk. It is raining. Russian drivers are a different breed, pretty aggressive in accelerating, passing, and slow down quickly as well. This guy, Nikolai, is an excellent driver, there are a lot of things to deal with on Russian roads. The road is mostly 2-lane, is in decent shape, but it can go bad in a hurry----huge potholes, actual holes, cracks, and patches of dirt can materialize very quickly. There are also numerous semi trucks, people in the wrong lane coming the other way, farm vehicles, and the random local puttering along in a Lada. There are also the Novi-Russkis, of whom Nikolai is not terribly fond, who hurtling around in their black, speeding German SUVs, are making things interesting. Our driver is also trying to make good time, and thus there are frequent interruptions to our attempts to slumber. I've been in Russia a while now, and this style of driving does not bother me, but I think Janet and Laura get a little worried from time to time. Nikolai and I wear seatbelts in the front seats, unfortunately they are not available in the back.
Police in Russia hang out at intersections. Not sure why. There is usually an officer carrying a billy club standing there waving over unfortunate drivers. A car with other officer(s) is also usually present. I get the impression from my driver that they are looking for seat belt scofflaws too.
At some point we meet up with the other car about 45 minutes into the trip for a bathroom break at a kind of a truck stop. The other car's driver, Alexy, opens his trunk and there are at least 40-50 meat, hot dog, and potato pie/pastries---pirozhok---for us to eat there by the side of the road, still raining. The girls go the the restroom and are introduced to the 2-tier system where you have to pay a few Roubles to get a decent bathroom. Apparently you do not want to see the alternative. Poor Laura, the vegetarian does not get much variety with the pirozhok. I put some in my pockets, I find them tasty and delicious. Soon we are back in the cars, lurching toward Khvalinsk. We are seeing some of the same type of country that you see from the train. Higher terrain, more trees. It is nice. I have been wanting to see some nature since I got here. Lots of little dirt/mud tracks going off into the woods. There are even a couple of people you can see from the road who are camping. It reminds me a little of the roads leading into the Jemez or Pecos in my New Mexico---the mountains are not as high however. at one point we see a large body of water to the right. Janet says..."is that a lake or something..?" The driver says....VOLGA! The river is huge here. I don't want to get this wrong, but I think 8-10K wide?
We pull into what looks like Khvalinsk and wait for the second driver. A silver sedan pulls over in to the side in front of us. Two well dressed people get out in the rain, talk to Natalia for a minute. The cars start up an we head into the mountains to what looks like a little resort, log cabins, etc.,The road is rough in places, still raining. Some nice views. We get out at the resort area and there are the introductions. We are going to spend the day with Sergei Yurievich Verbin, Head of Administration of Khvalinskyi Municipal Region, and Galina Fedorovna Erantaeva, Head of the Department of Culture and Administration, Khvalinskyi Region. Essentially the mayor of this town and his cultural liason are going to spend the whole day with us. Nice! We also meet the head of the National Park and several of his people.
http://nphvalynskiy.narod.ru/
Our drivers all look like they're going to hang out with each other for a while. I am interested in driver culture.
Everyone is very nice. We get a history tour of the grounds. There are some very interesting 18th and 19th Century outdoor exhibits of tools and things used by these people in the mountain region. There is a spring from which you can drink the sweetest water. Our tour guide drinks and so do I. Still raining pretty good.
There is also a very cool little Orthodox Chapel there. The park has a working relationship with Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Butte_National_Monument
The director mentions that personnel from Wyoming have visited several times and that they are modeling the parks administration and business strategy based on some this professional exchange. The park here is essentially self sustaining, they have a large nursery and are investing in growing the tourism sector. They mention that there is of course skiing, but also mountain biking, hiking, and camping. Guides are available. What sounded amazing to me is the 5-10 mile hike in a corridor where there are hundreds of species of songbirds. If and when I return here---this is what I would like to do!
We get to see a bunch of local art on display---much of it done by children. Most of it is of nature or relating to the park. Nice. These facilities are really maintained well. It is just like being in a lodge in West Virginia or Colorado. We are then seated at a large table for tea and pastries and spend some pleasant minutes chatting. I tell the park manager I like his uniform---it is a deep green, lots of patches and medals. This guy looks like a real Russian---he looks like Boris Yeltsin's handsome much younger brother and is very likeable. He is very proud of the park and facilities and I don't blame him. It is an impressive place.
We are then driven off to the town itself where we pull up to a petting zoo and animal rescue facility. Lots of barnyard animals. Some camels that have been here since silk road times---huge shaggy coats. Horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigeons, guinea fowl. Also rescued injured and/or unable to live in the wild, wildlife. Boars, foxes, badgers, owls, hawks,rabbits, and a wolf! The wolf we were told has a girlfriend who is a dog. She visits all the time. There are puppies from this unholy union!
I don't care much for zoos, but this is a rescue facility, and despite the harshness of the Russian climate, these guys all seem well cared for and in decent, clean shelters. Better than many American big city zoos.
We are then off to visit the Khvalinsk Fire Department!
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