Elections

Yesterday was the presidential election, which was incredibly non-interesting. Obviously, Medvedev won, but I guess what was more surprising to me was the lack of attention it got here. I watch the news every morning and night when I eat at my homestay, and it is rarely mentioned – there is far more coverage of the US election than the Russian one. They showed Medvedev constantly, but never mentioned that he was running in the stories (from what I could understand) and I still don’t know any of the names of the other candidates. There were no posters or anything for candidates – there were announcements of the elections everywhere ( I already put up a picture of that one ) and this week a giant billboard of Medvedev and Putin was placed in Red Square (the picture here), but compared to other countries I’ve been in during elections it was nothing.

Many of the people I talked to were either going to vote for Medvedev and really didn’t care, or they didn’t like Putin/Medvedev and didn’t know what to do. In Russia, there used to be an option at the bottom of the ballot that roughly translates “against all” for people who didn’t want to vote for a candidate and just wanted to cast a protest vote. That was gotten rid of though, so people are left with three options: 1. to vote for Medvedev; 2. to vote for candidates who they dislike just as much and really have no experience or support; and 3. to just not vote at all. These are all options which really don’t encourage progress.
Oh, and while I was very tempted to attend some rallies (most of which were opposition rallies) my friends and I did not. While getting arrested and deported would be an incredible way to end a trip here, we decided we should wait ‘til the end of the semester. Haha…

Another interesting occurrence was that yesterday (Election Day), we went on an excursion to the Kolomenskaya Estate on the outskirts of Moscow and on the banks of the river, where the tsars had a summer palace. When we started the tour we were told that about two hours beforehand, Medvedev had been there to pray in the church on the grounds. Kind of cool that we were so close to seeing him.

This is the church Medvedev was at.

The excursion itself was kind of boring – we were all lured there with the promise of blini because it was in honor of Maslenitsa (maslo is ‘butter/oil/fat’ in Russian), a Russian festival to mark the beginning of spring and Lent. It would have been a lot better if it weren’t the worst weather ever, nothing resembling Spring, just a mixture of snow and slush and flooding everywhere. So after two hours of being bored and outside, we were finally given the blini, with some dancing and games to go along with it. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but it was definitely fun. We had to carry in the Lady Maslenitsa and be greeted by some Russians in costumes. Then they danced and sang and made us participate in skits and games. During one, our TA Lena and I were chosen to be the ‘sisters’ and we had our own teams. Everyone on our team had to run up and tie giant scarves around our heads and whichever team was done first won. Basically picture me with eleven scarves (which were the size of blankets) tied around my head. I felt a bit top heavy. Then some friends had to dress up as babushkas and dedushkas (grandmas and grandpas) and one was a bear and had to dance around. The end was definitely worth the two hours of hell we went through because I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a really long time.

I'll put more pictures up when I get them - I tend to be lazy about taking my camera out all the time, so I have to steal the pictures from other people =) I also put up some more pictures from around Vykhino and the dorms on the picasa photo albums

John, Shamella and I bought tickets to a Rihanna concert in Moscow the end of March. We had been looking at one of her cds here one day and talking about her music, and then the next day saw that she was coming to Moscow and decided we should just go and see her, even if she’s not any of our favorites. It will be at the Olympic Stadium too, which should be fun.

Though I haven’t gone to any clubs yet, Russians practice what they call “face control.” It is just what it sounds like. They don’t let you in to bars or clubs unless you are attractive, and oftentimes you also have to appear quite wealthy. I guess I’m not that surprised about the practice itself, but I think it’s amusing that they are so open about it. When you see an ad for a club or bar it lists what kind of food, the hours, the kind of music, and then whether or not it has face control (which is usually a positive thing).

Also, I have discovered that Skittles and Starburst here are not the same, it’s highly disappointing. Skittles have strange flavors like strawberry and red currant. Starburst are not as chewy and have apple and some other flavors. I keep buying them hoping I will like them (I’ve become slightly addicted to Skittles and Starburst in college) but, no, I never do. I’ve also been on a hunt for Root Beer. I’ve been told that it does not exist here and since my Russian friends had never had it before when they were in Arizona, I should probably believe them, but I’m determined.