Siberia, eh?

  Irkutsk, Russian Federation
Friday, May 20, 2005

Irkutsk 1

Irkustsk 2

Irkutsk 3

I made it.  The guy from the hostel missed me at the station (apparently), so I got ripped off for 150 rubles for the taxi.  I knew I was getting fleeced, but I didn't feel well and certainly didn't want to walk - or argue.  So.  Whatever.

After brunch and a rest, I went out exploring.  I went to a museum - the Irkutsk Regional Museum - but everything was in Russian so I couldn't really do more than look at the pictures.  Then I went to check out some churches and then one of the Decembrists houses.  I guess I picked the right one, because it had English captions. I tried to go to the second one as well, but I guess it closed early (understandable on a Friday afternoon).  At that point I just went back to the hostel.

A church!!!

The church

Inside the church

The Decembrists were an aristocratic group that wanted equality via the ending of the Tsarist regime.  The rebels were caught (defeated in their December standoff) and exiled to Siberia, after being stripped of their titles (Princes and all).  They had to work in mines, though their "cells" didn't look too rough, all in all.

Jesus on the wall

Traditional house

Soviet building

I internetted briefly.  My Dad left me a frightening message with the subject "Granddad".  Scared the shit out of me.  And thanks to the lightning speed of the Irkutsk Internet service, I sat panicking for ages before the message itself loaded that said to call Granddad.  Not that he was dead, as I had feared.  Why couldn't he have put "call Granddad" in the subject line?!  I'm going to have to talk to him about that.  Unnecessarily stressful.  Still, with no further information, I still don't know WHY I have to call me Granddad, so the panic is only slightly subsided.  What could be so important that I have to call immediately, from SIBERIA of all places, that can't wait?!?!? 

So my next challenge (apparently losing my bank card to the machine in Beijing right before the week-long national holiday wasn't enough) is to figure out the Russian system for calling abroad... 

I tried to get a train ticket on train #1 in platzkartny but evidently the ticket office closes earlier than the 10:00 written in my guidebook, so I was SOL, as the Russian lady screamed at me.  It was very intimidating.  I think she was angry that I speak English - as though that means that I expected her to as well.  I dunno.  My big feat (my Russian breakthrough!): "Tomorrow?" "Time?" in Russian. Thank you, thank you very much.

I guess I look Russian enough (any white person would, really), but it totally surprises me when people ask me stuff.  Maybe directions?!  I don't know what they're saying and I tell them so...  in English.  They usually get it then.  ;)

My first impression of Russians is that they all look like the types I would consider "sketchy" anywhere else.  But I don't really suppose everyone in Russia can be "sketchy", so I'm trying to find proof that these people know how to smile.  Note: you won't make it happen by smiling at them.  Nobody here smiles - at least, not at strangers.  They generally seem to be dressed up more than me in my khakis and t-shirt - but not always in what I would call a tasteful manner.  Women are usually in skirts and have dark lined lips.  The people seem angry.  Unless they're with others.  To their friends they seem nice enough.  They're often in groups, or at least couples.  Much more so than in Japan at least.  For sure.  But hey, what are first impressions but a starting point?!