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Published: November 2nd 2010
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Raskolnikov's House
Marker showing where Dostoevsky's main character in "Crime and Punishment" lived. They say you can count the steps from here to the door of the woman he eventually murders and it adds up to exactly what Dostoevsky wrote in the book (I didn't really read it and forgot the part that I did read). Part 2 - Not with a bang but a whimper
I had intended to write this second part on Sunday night when I wrote the first part, however I was so tired that I decided to go to sleep and write this entry the next day (Monday). I hadn't planned on meeting up with some friends at a bar chain called "SPB" (as St. Petersburg is called by the locals) and drinking 2 liters of beer! So here I am 2 days later finally sitting down and finishing this entry.
Sunday morning we had a program excursion to the Dostoevsky Museum. Our resident director, Kathryn, tries to schedule one excursion each week and these are already paid for by our program fees. So I met the group at the Vladimirskaya metro stop. For reference, I live at Ozerki, on the blue line; see metro map here:
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/transport/metro/map.asp
The museum is housed in Dostoevsky's apartment, but there are only a few items that actually belonged to him. The rest of the furniture and other things are just period pieces. It was interesting, but I wouldn't have paid for it. After we left we went on a tour around
the area and were shown the apartment where he lived while writing Crime and Punishment, the place where his character Raskolnikov lived, and the apartment building where Raskolnikov committed his murder. I enjoyed the walking tour more than the apartment, especially since we were able to enjoy a rare day of sunshine.
Once the tour was over everyone went their own way. My friend Emily and I went to an Asian chain called, "Dve Palochki" (2 Sticks), to eat. It is an interesting chain. All the servers are male and wear t-shirts with funny phrases on the back. They also have TV monitors showing arrival and departure times at the airport. I have no idea why since most of the restaurants are located far away from the airport. Very random.
Emily was killing time before she went to mass at 7 so we had a few hours to walk around the city centre area. The weather was great on Sunday so we walked quite a bit (I'm still worn out from all the walking I did this weekend) before we bid each other adieu and went our separate ways. I walked to my favorite pirogi place, "Stolle". They
I forget which street this is...
...I was trying to find the monument to Gogol's "The Nose" but I was unsuccessful this time...and that municipal building on the right was really interesting. have the BEST pies! I had one with mushrooms (Russia has the BEST mushrooms) and one with tvorog, a kind of sweet cheese filling similar to what you would find in a cheese danish. SOOOOOO good! Once I finished and drank my coffee I decided to head down to Palace Square to take some pics at night and then walk across the Neva to take the Gor'kovskaya metro back home.
Stolle isn't far from Palace Square so I was there under 10 minutes. As I came around the corner I saw a small group of people standing around the Alexander Column with a few vans. There was also some people flying a kite so I thought is was some kind of tour group and walked closer to see where they were from. As I got closer I noticed that the group of people were handing out pamphlets and seemed to be discussing something and that the vans I saw from the distance were actually police vehicles. We had noticed a very heavy police presence throughout the day and wondered about it, but it wasn't until I saw the police surrounding this group that I put two and two together.
This was a political protest! Every 31st day of months with 31 days the various groups that make up the opposition to Putin and Medvedev try to stage rallies in the bigger cities of Russia (Art. 31 of the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly). They always apply for permits and are always turned down for one reason or another so that the police have a reason to disperse the crowd and there is usually some violence. The new mayor of Moscow had actually permitted a rally in that city (limited to 800 people) but the St. Petersburg regime did not. Even so, from what I saw it wasn't very rowdy and the police did not need to use much force. Of course they never pass up an opportunity to flog the opposition and I saw one kid (literally, he couldn't have been older than 18 or 19) with what would soon be a black eye. That's before the police threw him into one of the vans along with a few other of the more vocal protesters (including an old woman) and drove them away while the crowd chanted "It's our city".
In truth it was quite a pathetic
Protest Cont.
Police are putting someone in the van. rally. There weren't very many people. In fact, the police outnumbered the protesters at least 2-1 (not to mention the sinister riot police waiting in the wings in their storm trooper gear). There were also more journalists and onlookers (myself being one) than actual protesters. I guess this is what comes from having the entire weight of the state thrown upon you. Anna Politkovskaya wrote of an atomised society where individuals only care about their own life and the instant gratification to be derived from it while the government plays a bit of divide and rule and puts on a great show of democracy while not actually adhering to those values which define a democracy. Especially freedom of expression and freedom to gather in public areas. Even many of the people who did show up didn't seem to take it all that seriously. The young man with the black eye was positively smiling for the cameras as he was being taken away. There was another man dressed in blue with a plastic head sticking out of his sweater. When I asked him why he was dressed like that he said that he couldn't say at the moment but we would
Police vehicles on Palace Square
By the time I took this most of the people and police had left and I was walking away too. find out in December. As he walked around the police just smiled and laughed. Maybe there were even more attention seekers than actual protesters. My heart was with those who actually wanted a change in the way Russia is governed (incompetently and corruptly) and I talked to a few but I doubt that my scholarship program would approve of that kind of participation in Russian society. Anyway, after standing there for an hour and talking to journalists, protesters, and onlookers I was most impressed by the seeming surrender of those not involved in the protest. The most common line I heard was "It's good to try to do something, but nothing will change." I walked past the ominous grey armored truck carrying those jack-booted storm-troopers as I made my way off of Palace Square and back toward the metro. The first song I listened to on my ipod as I rode the metro home was the Clash's version of "I Fought the Law".
There's an article on the Moscow protest with a little back story here:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/hundreds-rally-quietly-amid-tussles/421489.html#no
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Susan Malloy
non-member comment
Humor and Despair, a true Russian tale!
Your accounts are written so well, they have made me laugh, smile and feel saddened, much like the Russian authors I have read! Is it Russia or you in Russia that brings out such ironies?