Blogs from Biysk, Siberia, Russia, Europe

In Russia, there are two holidays, akin to Mother’s and Father’s Day. March 8th is like Mother’s Day, except that it is for all women… all women. March 8th is International Women’s Day. (I’m looking forward to this holiday) February 25th is the day for men, obviously akin to Father’s Day, although it really could apply to either men or women. February 24th is “Protectors of our Fatherland” Day. Why fatherland and not motherland, I’m not quite sure, but generally men receive some kind of gift and are congratuled. I spent Protectors of our Fatherland Day with an old friend, Nadia Arikova. Last year when I was in Gorno-Altai, my mom and I lived with a wonderful woman named Nadia. She fed us, took care of a visa registration discrepancy for us, and exposed us to ... read more

Biysk. It is a lovely city, albeit a bit run down. On Sunday (Feb 10th), Alicia (who will from now on be spelled as Olesya) and Sasha (and Danil) took me to the old part of Biysk with the historic buildings. *some of the pictures shown here are from a presentation on old Biysk buildings that Olesya has allowed me to use. Biysk was built a little over 300 years ago by Peter the Great as an fortress to protect the South-eastern flank of Russia from the Mongols. The city is an ideal location for a fortress because it is at located on the Biya and is some of the last fertile land before the Altai Mountains begin. Furthermore, the main fortress was located on a hill that looks down on one of the only safe ... read more