/ world at present information/ I used to be in Volgograd for 3 days. I did not see any bears taking part in balalaikas, and I did not hear about repressions by the “Kremlin Dwarf” regime. After all, the nation will not be an earthly paradise, as the opposite aspect of the talk typically naively tries to persuade us, there’s a strategy to go, however a very powerful factor I noticed was a rustic with a imaginative and prescient for the longer term, a sane inhabitants and individuals who can have heat emotions for Bulgaria.
I participated within the New Technology public diplomacy youth discussion board in Russia, held this yr at the side of the Volga Dialogue discussion board within the metropolis of Volgograd. The occasion was supposed to draw younger specialists in political science, journalists (and a journalist with a title of political scientist is your obedient servant – the creator of those traces) and businessmen aged 25-35. The great factor is that the occasion will not be held in Moscow like final yr, however within the former Stalingrad. I instantly instructed myself that I might additionally see a hero metropolis, and I might even have the chance to have an goal view of such a controversial nation as Russia.
The benefit of not being despatched to the capital, however to a regional metropolis of a given nation, is you could extra objectively see the actual scenario in a given nation. On vacationer excursions in Bulgaria, you’ll not take your visitor to Pazardzhik (Nothing in opposition to town, purely and easily the fifteenth largest metropolis within the nation, in addition to Volgograd is the fifteenth), however you’ll present him Sofia, on the similar time essentially the most most likely its yellow cobblestones, not ‘Fashionable Suburb’. It is also not like our western companions typically do a go to to the native equal of “Stolipinovo” with the following liberal whining about how individuals dwell in ghettos within the nation in query… Visiting a regional city provides a very good take a look at the common statistical scenario in a rustic.
After a protracted and arduous means of acquiring worldwide passports, insurances, visas and at one level a horoscope, I lastly made it to the airport. My flight was from Sofia through the Moscow “Sheremetyevo” to Volgograd. I additionally had 8 (EIGHT!!!!) hours to switch from Terminal B to Terminal D, which I spent shuffling my toes, clicking Heros Three on the laptop computer (Not one of the Russians within the ready room requested to play a Deathmatch – The First stereotype about Russians that they play this recreation with a full of life mouth-waving was mercilessly damaged (it would not be the one one)), ingesting one beer (do not make the error of ingesting beers at airports – each right here and in Bulgaria, I suppose in Abuja is tearing hides) and consuming at a neighborhood quick meals. The latter deserves consideration. The restaurant is known as “Kroshka Kartoshka”. The primary menu is a large potato baked in tinfoil with the pores and skin, cut up in two and unfold with some type of stuffing – the highest. They need to do one thing like this in Bulgaria as nicely – it’s apparent that it’s extra helpful than the döner and perhaps with the proper topping – tastier than pizza. So lastly, half lifeless for sleep, at 2 o’clock within the morning I flew to Volgograd.
On the airplane, passengers (though I solely realized it on the bus between the runway and the terminal) had been a part of the opposite youth delegates. The Italians, the French, the South Ossetians (Sure – there’s such a rustic, though we don’t acknowledge it) and the Maltese. On the spot, we had been met by volunteers – third- and fourth-year college students from the native college, who accommodated us within the “Intourist” Lodge, about 20 meters from absolutely the heart of town. After which I spotted that the complaints that Sofia Airport is way from the middle are groundless. Town of Volgograd is positioned on one financial institution of the Volga River. Its inhabitants is precisely a million individuals. The width of the city from the river financial institution to the final homes is about one block on common. Its size is 80 kilometers, of which we needed to journey 40 kilometers to achieve the lodge.
No sooner had I dragged myself to the room than I fell into the very first thing resembling a mattress. I do not bear in mind the registration. Fatigue typically works higher than Novichok. I awoke at midday in a lodge room that totally corresponded to the star class. Within the foyer, the organizers and a number of the individuals gathered early within the morning (we had been the primary to reach) and till midday had been already ready for us. Excellent news – a free day, the discussion board might be held for the subsequent two days. We have now room to stroll.
And so, the tour of town started. The primary impressions of town additionally started. The very first thing that appeared in entrance of the door of the lodge was the newly constructed cathedral, which turned out to be later referred to as “Alexander Nevsky”. “Ah ha, so they do not see something from us,” I sneered beneath my mustache. However not solely the cathedral was being constructed within the metropolis – development cranes had been erected within the distance in 3-4 locations, after which we noticed how the method of taking down the scaffolding was occurring after the prophylactic of the statue “Motherland is asking”). Later, I obtained the sensation that there’s life on this nation, that one thing is being created, that there’s actual creation, and never facades and the opening of factories for steering wheels, as they do in Bulgaria for the time being.
The stroll with a small group of vacationers was by way of town promenade, passing from the Obelisk with the Everlasting Hearth within the Sq. of the Fallen Heroes and reaching the banks of the Volga. The whole hero metropolis is stuffed with monuments associated to the Battle of Stalingrad. About 20 meters from the obelisk was a centuries-old tree on which the bullet holes are nonetheless seen. Just a little additional down, a bas-relief with a Spaniard, a Tatar and a Russian who died within the battle in opposition to fascism. Just a little beneath, a statue made out of a fraction of an exploded aerial bomb, above a determine of a lady embracing a toddler (of the lifeless civilians).
In one of many intersections, I finished by the native steel store (Sure, I’ve a behavior once I’m overseas of shopping for a t-shirt of some native heavy and wire band). And oops – within the native equal of Halite, there was a small store with a 20-something woman with piercings who was simply as stocked because the individuals. And right here is the primary disappointment – the t-shirts of Russian teams had been solely of “Aria” and “Gaza Sector”… Ultimately I got here out with a t-shirt of “Batyushka” from the brand new album (worth 25 quintals in Bulgarian levs), however they’re Poles, so it would not depend . There was additionally a poster of a neighborhood band that was taking part in in some bar, however there was no time.
So, I went again alongside the banks of the Volga, after which we went purchasing on the native mall (Mall like mall, like these in Sofia, I will not go into particulars, I do not like malls). And he was within the so-called high-rise district with mirrored home windows. And right here it’s time to speak in regards to the buildings. The panels left from these instances have been restored, and fairly pleasing to the attention with reliefs. Within the district in query had been the enterprise buildings, the shiny vehicles and the costume outlets. And sure – right here is the largest distinction in favor of Russia, in comparison with us. Our nation is alive in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. The in-between is a desert, we all know that. In Russia, it seems that there’s life outdoors the 2 largest cities.
And right here it was time for one more tradition shock. I walked into a neighborhood bookstore. My spouse is a bookseller, I needed to inform her in regards to the costs and contents. The primary youngsters’s guide by a neighborhood creator, which might value BGN 15 in Bulgaria, prices BGN 10 there. Evidently each guide there’s 30-40% cheaper there. The opposite factor that amazed me was that there are few illustrations within the books, however the textual content is small and dense. The data is nicely composed, there isn’t a infantilism. Apparently, the state makes positive that the inhabitants will not be as dumb as a tick. The factor that confirms my opinion was that from the home windows within the passing metropolis tram you can see much more individuals with their eyes caught in a guide (Not all, however the ratio of guide to smartphone was 50:50, whereas in Sofia it’s 20:80). The bookstore had native authors, reprinted classics, and international literature.
And so . We returned to the lodge. Bathe. And an official dinner with introduction to the opposite delegates of the “New Technology”. We had been 40 individuals in whole – journalists, businessmen and politicians, with a median age of 30. Other than me, the representatives of the European Union had been two Frenchmen, three Italians, three British ladies from Coventry, a Hungarian, an Austrian, and a Maltese. There have been additionally two Lebanese, a Bangladeshi and a Japanese girl. The remainder had been residents of the CIS international locations – a hell of a variety of Belarusians, Ukrainians, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Abkhazians, South Ossetians, Kazakhs. And an acquaintance started. It turned out that I used to be certainly one of two individuals from the EU who knew Russian, so I typically needed to act as a translator. Typically, till the tip of the occasion, I communicated essentially the most with the native organizers from Volgograd and with the “Potatoes” (That is how Russians name Belarusians, in the identical means as in Bulgaria we name Romanians “Mammals”)
And naturally, it got here to the clarification of politics. And so. It seems that Russians actually like Putin, or at the least contemplate him one million instances higher various than Navalny and the opposite liberals on the market. Overseas Minister Lavrov and Protection Minister Shoigu are additionally in style, as is Tradition Minister Medinsky. There may be sturdy dislike for the ministers of financial system and finance. The perspective in the direction of Medvedev will not be precisely hate, however it may be referred to as mocking and condescending – you see, that is all you are able to do. I instructed them in regards to the scenario in Bulgaria, that right here too there’s an unchangeable authority, however not like theirs, ours can also be incompetent. I defined to them that Bulgarians in our majority both have a optimistic perspective in the direction of Russia, or on the very least we’ve an detached perspective and that the native Russophobes are a vocal minority, typically repainted apologists of the everlasting friendship with the Soviet Union in another instances and perhaps they’ve develop into Russophobes , if not due to the cash, then due to the truth that typically their mothers-in-law are Russian. Their perspective in the direction of the Bulgarians is basically like that of “brothers”, however they’ve their criticisms of us – each due to the bases, and since generally we wish pipelines, generally we do not, generally we wish good relations, generally we uncover spies. Typically, they actually settle for us as brothers, however like that brother within the household who obtained concerned in a silly pyramid scheme, marketed Zepter pots for lots of of leva and now they’re ready for him to seek out out for himself that he obtained concerned in one thing silly and someday he’ll come again after his second wit sprouts.
After all, we additionally mentioned costs, rents and salaries. Regionally, in fact. It seems that their lifestyle in Volgograd is just like ours in Sofia. And I got here up with the thought of ”Wage of 800 kegs” – such an bizarre beer that an individual can purchase within the grocery store with a wage that’s already thought-about sufficient to dwell independently. Costs in supermarkets for primary merchandise are about 20 p.c decrease than ours. A kilo of potatoes is about 50 cents, a loaf of bread about 60, a liter of milk is about BGN, a kilo of pork – six. Rents within the metropolis in a good neighborhood for a one-room residence are round BGN 420 (in Krasna Polyana they’re BGN 400-450). A younger specialist receives and is glad with a wage of about 30,000 rubles (820 BGN), with which he can purchase about 800 kegs of low cost beer. The costs of gasoline, heating, electrical energy and water are decrease than ours – a liter of gasoline is about 1.20-1.30. The approach (Western sanctions) is dearer there than right here. In brief, in a metropolis with a inhabitants of about one million, the usual of residing and the patron basket are roughly equal. In Moscow, Petersburg and Yekaterinburg it’s higher than in Sofia, in Mukhonasransk and Balalaikino it’s worse.
One other factor I spotted within the talks. In Russia, they’ve jokes in regards to the metropolis of Chelyabinsk. They sound one-to-one just like the jokes about Pernik. Together with the winkels…
After the formal dinner, our hosts took us to the native Irish pub. And right here I used to be barely dissatisfied. There are additionally Irish pubs in Bulgaria. If they’d taken us to one thing Russian and conventional, bro! I might like to go to an Irish pub if I go to Eire. Anyway, they’d clearly determined to impress the friends from overseas. The environment was good…
And so. We obtained house and it was time for day two of my keep and day one of many official half.
* An try at a travelogue about what occurred in Volgograd. Day one. Keep tuned for half two and half three quickly. #Volgograd #rossotrudnichestvo #Новоепоколение2019 #РКИТС
** Within the photograph, Viktor Turmakov with the pinnacle of the press heart of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, a favourite of world at present information readers together with her exact and uncompromising positions on essential worldwide subjects.
#Volgograd #anticipated #meet #bears #taking part in #balalaikas #repressions #Kremlin #Dwarf1 #half
