Helen Herst

My recent trip to Russia began with the flight Vienna-Hamburg-Moscow, which was enjoyable and relaxing. Again I was surprised by the noticeable difference between Europe and the Motherland just after getting out of the plane. Here I got involved into purely Russian cramped and pushing passport control.

«I’ve got a baby here!», «And I have one at home waiting for me,» «And I am a retired person!» — Most of the people had their excuses to go ahead in the queue. The plane has had a delay, and the passport control lasted about an hour. So I was left with a very little time to get to the Kazan railway station where I was supposed to get my train to my home city Saransk.

45 minutes in a comfortable “Aeroexpress” (a special train connecting Domodedovo Airport with the city of Moscow) were followed by a sprint with the suitcase between Paveletskaya and Komsomolskaya metro stations. Unfortunately I wasn’t a successful sprinter this time having a miserable five-minute delay to my train Moscow — Saransk. In Russia you don’t have a possibility of traveling between the cities every hour or two. Either you can use the same ticket for another train.

So I had to get through a kind of a bureaucratic quest, including the task to find the right cash desk to exchange my unused ticket.

Fortunately next to me was my friend Alena, who was even trying to detain my departing train.

Night at the generously heated compartment of the train passed with dreams of the desert … However, on arrival I found the snow. Lots of snow.

Saransk didn’t surprise me with its lack of the clean roads. Some streets are by now closed for the construction of the «Millennium Square.» In addition, the city is actively preparing for bidding of the FIFA Football World Cup 2018. A variety of sports and tourist facilities are being built so even if the city won’t get the opportunity to host the World Cup, it’s going to have an updated and improved infrastructure.

 

Strolling through the city during the first days of March you could still find a shabby Christmas tree, swaying in the wind on the central square of Saransk.

It was just too similar to an old Russian joke:

Two men talking:

— What’s new?

— Argued again with my wife. Annoying, she is! I am sitting, nicely celebrating the Victory Day (the 9^th of May), and she’d just keep telling me: «Will you finally take away the Christmas Tree”! :)

 

Once again I got convinced — hey, guys, my city is pretty nice ;) Colorful and bright!

 

I shouldn’t forget about the 4^th of March: the event, which caused discussions months before, against which people went to demonstrations and showed their protest. Yes, I am talking about the inevitable and merciless Russian Presidential Election 2012.

It was the first time I was in Russia being full-aged during the election time. So I couldn’t have missed the opportunity to feel myself as a «part of a big country».  And in fact, you’re kind of feeling a certain responsibility when you’re putting a cross in front of the name of some candidate. I wasn’t sure in this choice, after all, I haven’t been living in Russia, for about five years and create my opinion about the life there just of the stories I hear from my friends or relatives. However, my vote was given, and hopefully taken into account.

During this trip I realized how much I’m becoming estranged from my home. The first week I could barely realize, where I am, and whether I like it or not. Some people I called friends of mine wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet me, with others I couldn’t find a topic for a small talk.  Probably the people who remain are the closest ones, who really want to be with me and the ones I want to be with.

Being at home and checking some old things that used to be your present, you get a strange feeling. Memories are streaming through your mind. Thoughts and events, already forgotten, come up and make you a little bit sad. It’s not that I would like to go back in time and relive different happenings all over again. But exactly this sense of uniqueness and the irrevocability of the past creates a melancholic background. Old photo albums, school notebooks and diaries, toys, dusty and faded … It’s not easy to get rid of the things, important in the past, though you know that you’re not going to use them ever again. So during this visit I reviewed all of my things … and took them back to their places.

I was particularly glad to spend one of the most remarkable days (for a female part of Russia’s population) — the 8th of March — in Russia.

Originally invented as a day of showing the whole world the equality of women, the International Women’s Day in Russia became a day when every woman is being reminded of her femininity and fragility. She’s being given gifts and praised with compliments and flowers. The things I miss living in Germany. ;) This time I was really pleased with my flowers and congratulations.

I should also write about my well-balanced diet in Saransk. My beloved grandmother cooked for me a lunch for breakfast, lunch for lunch and, logically, lunch for dinner. Go for the soup and meat instead of muesli for breakfast!! Yummy :)

On my way back I had a free day in Moscow. I decided to spend it with some wisdom, going to the Tretyakov Gallery. This visit is worth a separate post about, which I will do next.

Back to Bremen I was expected by a nice, very spring-like weather. On the first day I didn’t want to go out my place as always being back from Russia. But as it should be, the sun and warm breeze won this battle. Perhaps, they always help to get everything back on the row. The new spring brought new ideas and a sense that everything can be overcome and achieved.

Good luck to you, dear reader! Good luck and inspiration!