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Published: February 23rd 2011
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Ok, so it's been quite a while since I've last posted and a lot has happened since in terms of the present here in Piter. But I want to finish this series before I start talking about the here and now....
12.12
Phone is not working again! I received a message from a friend in Piter but was unable to reply. It comes and it goes, but I guess that's to be expected on the way to Siberia.
Today has been a good day on the Trans-Sib. It began around 0300 when we got our new suite-mates...two old soldiers! When they first came in I caught a glimpse of their badges and thought, "Oh shit! We're rooming with militsia!" But thankfully they weren't Russian cops, but Russian soldiers who are usually much nicer and these were no exception. They shared their breakfast with us, some really good pastries and meats, and talked with us for a bit. One of them actually called his wife to tell her he was drinking tea with an American and she didn't believe him so he put the phone up to my mouth and told me to "Speak American!" They got off at Yekaterinburg to switch trains. We also got off there because we wanted to explore the city (boundary where Europe meets Asia, place where the last tsar was executed), but, unfortunately, 42 minutes is not a long time when you have to walk two kilometers to the city center so we gave it up for lost and headed back. On the way we saw a man get hit in the face by snow that workers were throwing off buildings, I guess to keep them from collapsing. After stopping to buy beer and other essential supplies we noticed that we were almost out of time and had to run back to the train! Once we got back we got on the wrong wagon and had to walk through some of the other cars, some of them platskart, they weren't so bad, but I was happier with our wagon after that. Anyways, once we got back in our wagon we tried to show the provodnitsa our tickets but she just smiled and said "Of course I remember you guys!"
Incidentally, we have two provodnitsas. One works days and the other works nights. Both are rather cute, but the day prov. is
Picture Time!
Pausing for a quick pic before our sprint back to the train. much cuter and really nice to boot. The night prov. is a actually a total bitch...no smiles for travel-weary foreigners whatsoever! Plus, she is a typical representative of Russian service, basically believing that her only job is to sit on her ass and frown at people who might need your help with something.
So we found two new suitemates waiting for us when we returned to our room. They were both railway employees on their way home. They got off after a couple hours and were replaced by two more rail workers going home, Vladimir and Svyataslav. Vladimir was around my age I think, while Svytaslav was a quite a bit older. Both were really talkative and Djib and I conversed with them for a while. Svyataslav was what you might think of as the stereotypical Russian guy, grey-bearded with a gold-toothed smile. They were really nice and we passed the time practicing our Russian. After they got off we got another new suitemate, Mikhail. He's quite amiable and greeted us with a "Hello, young people." He's older and seems quite interested in what two foreigners are doing in Siberia in the winter. He was visiting his daughter and
her husband and is now on his way home, a small town a couple hours past Novosibirsk, so he'll only be with us for the night.
Other than that we've been passing the time mainly by watching the scenery while it is still light outside. This is quite a pleasant activity, particularly in the afternoon after the morning's flurry of activity has passed and we are the only ones in the corridor looking out. It provides one with a certain calmness and peace that I don't feel very often. Just sitting there and looking at the beautiful snow-covered fields and forests (no hills or valleys yet) is cathartic. I'm able to just sit and think without having to worry about doing anything or being anywhere. Most of the time I can't even tell you what I've been thinking about, just let thoughts run in and out of my head. Nights on the train are quiet and its during this time that I write in my journal or read my book and struggle to stay awake until the next chapter.
The time difference isn't nearly as difficult to adjust to as it is going by plane. Leaping eight hours
ahead or behind in a single day really throws me out of sorts while going relatively slowly by train gives us time to adjust and sleep as much, or as little, as we need. I can feel myself getting tired as I write. Tomorrow we're going to wake up earlier to make it off the train for about a half hour at Novosibirsk. Hopefully we'll get to take a few more pics this time. According to my guidebook there's a cool, abandoned Kirov statue within walking distance of the station and a WWII families monument at the platform because this is where many Siberian families said goodbye to loved ones heading to the front, and almost certain death. And with that gloomy thought I'll put up my pen and lay down my head...
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