Leavin' on a jet plane..

Now might be a good time to mention that I made it home for the holidays. My last week in Moscow was a busy one, full of visiting new friends, getting Christmas gifts, taking copious photographs of Moscow in the snow (n.b. Moscow is SO beautiful in the snow), having snowball fights at 1am at the dorm....lots of different things. The only 2 negatives were my cold and having to leave Moscow. 


Since I've been back in the UK I've actually really missed Moscow. I got really comfortable there and was enjoying the way of life. Obviously things were more difficult than life here in the UK, but I enjoyed it. The trains & subway ran on time, there was plenty of space, no annoying tourists who stop in the middle of the street to point at things, cheap transport, cheap food & drink.....I mean Russia vastly exceeded my expectations. I cannot wait to go back! 

Christmas in Russia..

"Winter in the park"

Russia's an Orthodox country so they celebrate Christmas on January 7th, not on December 25th like us. Hence why my university fall semester lasts until January 1st! Luckily I've been given special permission to go home for Christmas!

Christmas is a religious affair here and there are tons of long church services which are attended by the whole family. During the era of the Soviet Union religious celebrations & especially Christmas were discouraged & suppressed by the Communist & atheist government. Since 1992 Christmas has been re-instated as a national holiday here. Due to the lack of Christmas celebrations in Russia for decades Russians & the Soviets put more emphasis on New Year. Hence why all the posters & decorations have С Новый Годом - "Happy New Year" predominantly on them rather than "Merry Christmas". 

But the Russians do take part in some more normal Christmas activities, they decorate a ёлка - tree, have large family gatherings, and are visited by Дед Мороз - Grandfather Frost AKA Santa, and his granddaughter, Снегурочка - The Snow Maiden

More beautiful Metro stations..

Every single Metro station in Moscow that I enter is a work of art. They are a tourist attraction of their own. Each one is intricate with vast amounts of marble & metal work. They all have high ceilings and large halls. They're incredibly impressive.

This is партизанская (Partivanskaya) and it's about 15mins outside of the centre of Moscow (the Kremlin), so technically it's in the 'burbs. But it's huge! Large metal statues, vast amounts of marble & gigantic staircases. It's a sight to see. 

  

Ice Skating!

Last night, Solene, Edith, Jason, Paul & I went to Gorky Park to ice skate. The rink there is the biggest in Europe!! The ice is obviously man-made, but it's made to imitate ice that you'd find on a lake or a river, so it's not properly smooth & is left for longer periods of time before cleaning. 

I'm not a good skater as I haven't been since a school trip a number of years ago, but once I got back into the swing of things it was easier. Solene & I were helped by two Russian gentlemen who were extremely fascinated with the fact that we were foreigners! By the end of the evening I was managing to skate pretty fast on my own - though I won't be entering any contests yet!

10 дек - митинг

"We want fair elections"

Last Saturday a group of us went, against the advice of our administration & various Embassies, to the protest/rally being held at  Болотная площадь (Bolotnaya Ploshad'). It was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. A large amount of Russians, young & old, were thronging in the streets, cars were honking in support, flags & ribbons were being shared round and we were amazed at the peace & calm. 

The Omon - омон 

There was obviously a hideously large police & military presence, including the Omon, the famous cold blooded murdering controllers of the Soviet Republics. The police were however relatively sedate and also happy to have pictures taken - unheard of in Russia. There was an obvious air of tension but we had a perfectly peaceful experience. We were given leaflets, ribbons, balloons by passersby, all white of course. Following in the wake of Ukraine, Russia has chosen white as their color. 

Military Riot Police - packed into trucks

Trucks of military riot police lined up on approach to the park

These trucks were the first thing that we saw as we walked over the bridge to the rally. A slightly scary feeling came over all of us. We'd been smart and brought copies of our passports & visas, exchanged numbers, left emergency contacts in our dorm for friends and brought cash with us to bribe ourselves out of prison - IF it came to that. Nothing that we were expecting happened and we were pleasantly surprised. It was a fun experience and I'm so glad I went. 

Military Riot Police lining up.

Back up military riot police & regular police who eventually cut off all the traffic & controlled the crowds

We saw these riot police walking down from the hill as we were leaving. There were actually all such young boys and I thought a couple looked like girls but they were just young boys! We all realized that we'd probably picked the best time to leave! They all formed up and stood in formation for about 10 minutes. They then walked across the bridge and blocked off the traffic. There were also lots of trucks, tractors & gritting trucks all strategically parked and we noticed that they were all slowly moving so as to cut off the entrance & exit to the park. Effectively there was only one entrance & exit and you were trapped. Control was the word of the day. 

View of the stage & rally from the otherside of the river. Plenty of variety of flags - Communists, Yabloko, Anti-United Russia.

  

Rocky Road in Russia.

So I think you'd have to be living under a rock not to know the political situation in Russia right now. Safe to say the revolutionary lava is bubbling with gusto here. All of the Muscovite's I've spoken to are outraged with the election results and they're using social media and following in the wake of the Arab Spring. The Kremlin's biggest fear is revolution. There have been protests ongoing since Monday and there's a massive demonstration planned for Saturday. The Russian people, mostly the younger generation who've benefited from the criminality of the 1990's and increasing Westernization, are finding their voices. 
I had a walk around Red Square and other central locations in Moscow. There's an incredible sense of tension everywhere you go. It's almost like a return to the Soviet times. Police have put up barriers blocking access to Red Square meaning you have to go through one small entrance. There is a visibly beefed police presence, and on the way to class today I saw a whole platoon of Russian 'special police' sat in buses at the side of the road. 
It seems that the Kremlin's response to an irritated and restless population is to crack down and lash out. They've apparently just shut down the blackberry servers here. They don't understand freedom of expression and democracy like we do. Speaking out against the government or political practices is considered a crime. There is something inherently wrong with the Russian political mentality and has been for decades. It's a shame that all these people who desperately want and deserve change in their country are just being blocked by corruption, bureaucracy and force. But then I cannot judge them entirely due to the political faults in both my countries, they are not the angels in this situation. At least in the UK or US if you don't like something you have the right to protest and make your voice heard without fear of repression. Here in Russia demonstrating and protesting is considered a terrorist act and is illegal. Protests have to have official permission to occur and most of the time that permission is denied.  

These were plastered on top of the State election posters, they say "elections without an opposition are a crime" and "put x for criminal power - vote against all"

Elections!

The State Duma - what they're all fighting for power over

Elections are tomorrow in Russia for the Lower House, the Duma. Democracy in action! Putin's party, United Russia are hotly tipped to win these elections - well hotly tipped by state run media outlets. Independent media outlets have other ideas. What will happen I wonder? I've been advised not to venture out because of potential violence, protests & also an increased police presence - and police who are all geared up to beat someone up.

There's been plenty of propaganda all over the city. Posters have been up for over a month now reminding people of the reasons why they should vote. About 3 weeks ago they were all pasted over with logos of United Russia, just to encourage people to vote for the "right party".

My Russian friends are excited that they get to vote and are looking forward to it, although they all freely admit that they know who will win and admit there's no point in voting, but they enjoy the participation nevertheless. I think one of the great things about the Russian system is that they have elections on a Sunday so no-one has work. This means that electoral participation can be higher. Something England should definitely look at! The propaganda we can leave out, I don't think the British public would stand for an hour speech on BBC 1 by Cameron, like Medvedev did the other day.