Blogs from Belarus, Europe

“Rochelle! Rochelle!” a friend of mine told me to say in the streets of Minsk. Unsure as to whether I had found my ‘Rochelle or her daughter’ I thought maybe she had reached Minsk? I arrived at the airport and immediately was forced to pay for medical insurance by the government. The official piece of paper was put in an envelope, which had a map of Belarus. On this map I saw a place called Pinsk. Those that have followed my Milan to Minsk journey will recall that this part of my trip is dedicated to Seinfield and their fictional movie called Rochelle Rochelle, with a twist. ‘A young backpackers strange and ‘hopeful’ erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.’ Now, on the show when that movie gets turned into a Broadway musical, a line for the ... read more

As Hannah and I boarded the train to Minsk, Belarus, it should have been a sign of things to come as our ‘seats’ were actually beds above the seats as we were on a sleeper train that had started much further west in Europe and wasn’t finishing until Moscow. So we sat as best we could as I read and Hannah wrote her journal. We would have talked with the others in our section but we were the only English speakers around. This was especially helpful when we came to border and despite having the correct visas, they wanted to see our medical insurance. I pulled out our travel insurance which covers us for the world but apparently this wasn’t acceptable, and after the pulling out his phone, the border guard called someone who spoke English ... read more

I spent my birthday building a fence around some compost in Belarus, which, as strange as it sounds, is stranger still as the compost heap didn't look like it was about to escape. We were in the middle of a visit to the capital city, Minsk, when it was decided that a sojourn out of the big smoke and into the countryside was in order. Karina's Grandmother had a cottage out there somewhere and the prospect of digging up vegetables and eating them too was delightfully foreign and appealing to me. (Back home, I rely on an excellent fruit and veg supermarket just down the road...) What's more, the house had no heating, no running water, no phone, and no internet. I've experienced this once before after not paying the bills in a London share house, ... read more

In the last post about Minsk, I talked a lot about Sovietisms, and ended with a frankly pathetic "life goes on". It's hard for me to know how to feel about Minsk. Even in the USA's darkest days under George W. Bush, and in spite of some liberals' worst fears, W never did some of the creepy things Lukashenko has done in Belarus - like a rigged referendum to abolish term limits which, since the presidential elections are rigged as well, allows him to serve as president for life if he wishes. (Even Putin didn't do it quite that way.) What does that mean for Belarusians? I have no idea. It depends what the president does with his power, right? Lukashenko is criticized in the west for being cozy with Russia; I don't know what that ... read more

"You know, some tourists come to Minsk because it's supposed to be the most 'Soviet' city. Can you believe that?" - Natalia, a Belarusian "(mumble)" - me So, this place is supposed to be "Soviet"? Let's see.... Hammers and sickles, stars, and other Soviet emblems still prominently and non-ironically displayed? Check. Minsk's relationship with Lenin is complicated. Плошча Леніна/Площадь Ленина (Lenin Square) was renamed Плошча Незалежнасці/Площадь Независимости (Independence Square), and for a while its associated subway station was also ostensibly renamed to Independence Square, except no one ever changed the signage on the subway. Residents of Minsk protested the confusion and demanded that the signage be updated. Instead, it was decided to rename the subway station back to Lenin Square,... read more