Today, we were told that a special new tour would be available for the first 20 people who signed up today... A tea party. Brad got up early and signed Yvonne, Ngaire and me up for it as today was to be another day of monasteries and icons. Now, onion domes, churches, bells, icons are great the first 7 days, but I was looking for just a bit of diversity in tourist attractions. It has now become apparent outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia ain't got much. It looks a lot like Maine with a lot of 16th century monasteries. Shortly before 9 an announcement was made that they were restarting the list and you had to come down again. I was washing my hair in the shit and shower bathroom, whisked a
towel around my hair, flushed the toilet, and quickly ran out
so we could get in line, which Doug agreed to do. Then, I realized I had flushed my new earring down the toilet in the hubbub only to find out that three people had scooped up all the spots. So, the morning began.
Leslie went to an interesting lecture on Russian life in which she found out three generations of families normally live together in a few rooms with the average wage being $200 to $300 per month.
Later on, we learned both from our guide and folks who went to the tea party that they have electricity but no central heating. They have one wood stove in the center of the room, with beds against the stove for warmth. They have a lake where they go to each morning to fetch water. In the winter, holes are cut in the ice. I saw photos of the interiors and they are quite attractive - like ski lodges. Decor is somewhat kitchy.
As far as their diet, everything is home grown. They only eat meat once per week, fish ( self caught) twice per week, and the rest of their diet consists of vegetables - beets, onions, cabbage, carrots and potatoes are their bread. For some reason, celery is very expensive and rare. I did see blueberries. They also make kefir and sour cream. Agriculture is a key economy along with tourism.
As we got off the bus, vendors were selling lots of furs and leathers for excellent prices...fox, mink, chinchilla. There were lovely knit goods as well. I asked our 23 year old guide if she owned any of these items...such as a $75 fox hat. She answered that she would love to but she could never afford anything like this in her life. She buys plastic ones in the market. I looked around and saw all of the rich tourists purchasing this goods in carloads. I spoke to the others and we decided to buy her a hat. She looked a bit like my daughter in coloring, so I told her I was going to buy a hat for my daughter and asked her if she'd help me? She agreed.
She had fun trying them on and it wrenched my heart when she loved the hat so much that she didn't want to take it off
but made me feel awfully good knowing how happy we will make her. It made a crappy morning much better.
She is a language student in college and passed an interview to be a guide on our ship. When she finishes her education, she will be an English teacher. English teachers make $300 up to 500 per month where a professor only makes $200 per month. I can't really figure out all of the salary numbers they are throwing at us. They don't make sense. Pensioners make $200 per month but so do working folks? Maybe it is city versus country wages?
Lunch today was tasty. Wonderful Russian quiche Lorraine and Ngaire and Doug said they had a good fish dish. Dinner tonight was Ukranian. I'm sure Leslie will post some pictures of our gnome toadstool salad and our rat pears.
Ngaire, Ken, Guy and Brad have been having fiercely competitive games of cards. Doug and Leslie have been
dealing with uploading photos. Yvonne has been doing work related things, napping and has from time to time become transfixed playing Angry Birds, which I taught her. I took a course on making nesting dolls and painting them. Mine looked so bad ( as did everyone else's) I will now pay much more for them ( I guess that was the purpose),
Then there was Goritsky, our port today. There was a monastery and convent there. What a surprise! In 1917, the monks were killed, the icons preserved and it was turned into a museum by the state. It is amazing that while the government was not in favor of the churches, the government did recognize the artistic value of relics and buildings and did not destroy them.
Every place we go, family members seem to be murdering one another. This convent was founded by a princess who was the wife of Ivan the terrible's son. Ivan imprisoned her and her son there and then murdered his son, his family and drowned her. Thereafter, the convent was used to imprison women of disgraced Nobel families. We've seen lots of these convents on this trip. As our guides have said, it's better to be in a convent, then to behead you, as in England. Ah, the Middle Ages, the good old days!
Looking at modern day Russian men and women, they look like any European or American. Their clothes and haircuts are modern in appearance. Many speak excellent English. However, from my vantage point, they have a much harder life than we have. Guy said looking at them shows you just how our ancestors lived before they had modern conveniences. It was a simpler life. I don't know if they are any less happy than we are, but I don't think I could go back. [/QUOTE]
