Busy 2 weeks.

The last two weeks went by as a hurricane. The good weather officially arrived and with it life itself

As it turned out, it is not so simple after all to renew my visa. In theory the university would have done it for me, but after days of suffering it finally turned out yesterday (25th April), that I have to go to the police by myself and do the whole process again. After all I’m not surprised at all, but it would have been so much easier to tell me right away to do it on my own. It is not so difficult to understand that I don’t wish to fiddle around in the country with a valid visa. Hopefully today I’ll manage to carry out the sacred act and get the necessary stamps.

Though yesterday I was furious, the lovely Anna in the office, who’s the mother and saint of the foreign students, managed to calm me down, since she promised that I could copy everything in the office. I just want to get my Russian transit visa done on Monday, because I don’t want to deal with all the paper work just before I go home. I saw it yesterday that it would be a nightmare. On Friday I accompanied Mélanie in her heroic search for the accountant in the university. It’s good that I was with her, because now I’ll be able to prepare myself when I’ll have to do it myself. 

Changing the groups proved to be a great idea. I like our group a lot. The people are nice and the teacher is good as well. Though she sees that I’m a bit behind, but I’ve managed to prove her that I have a place in the group. I’ve tried so many different groups compared to the average students, that I could become an advisor for students, when it comes to which group they should choose. :D For this reason the lady in the library also learnt my name by this time.

This week was quite crazy, in terms of activities and events and the running around. On Monday I bought a very useful book about Russian Syntax. It cost a fortune, but those who study foreign languages, in my opinion, are used to pricey books. It is worth every ruble though, because the book is very detailed and modern.

On Tuesday we visited a monastery nearby Minsk with our and a few other groups. It was very interesting and I bought a jar of honey with pollen that the nurses made. They manufacture and sell a huge variety of products, from soaps, ceramic pots to clothes. It is quite impressive. The day had a perfect ending: on our way home a sudden and fierce downpour surprised us, for which I was really grateful because I’ve been missing it for a while. I love storms.

Since Mélanie and Simon go home soon (Mélanie on Sunday, Simon on Monday), I sort of gave upon studying in the end of the week. :D On Thursday we ended up going to small get-together at Nikita’s, a local friend from CS, place. It’s been a lovely night with lovely people and Zubrovka. J

Friday I decided to skip university and we organized with Mélanie the birthday of Simon. We went to a local restaurant called Kyхмистр (Kuxmistr). The decoration of the place is just something beyond words. The wallpaper was simply gorgeous: peacocks with butterflies and flowers. Pure kitsch! :D A must see. I wanted to rip off a tiny piece and keep it as a memory. But in the end I just took some Roni-style artistic pictures.

I ordered and tasted draniki, the local dish at last. It is potato pancakes served usually with sour cream. I ordered mine with bacon and onions. I basically stuffed myself. I was so full I could hardly move.  It was super delicious.

Here I have to babble a few words about mistranslations in Belarus. It is yet again another country, where language freaks can have a great time discovering the different mistakes. For example, yesterday I ordered draniki, right? The English translation was the following: “Potato pancakes with fried lard and onions”. They translated the Russian word “сало” as lard. Obviously it is a giant mistake. They should have translated it as e.g. streaky bacon. Having seen lard for the first time, I had the impression that something went seriously wrong. Imagine that you don’t speak Russian, and you see the word lard. Wow, they serve soft white fat obtained from piggies? Yummy…  Doesn’t sound that good. It was a funny experience. 

We welcome the month of public holidays, May with a week almost entirely without classes. I have to go to the Russian Embassy on Monday, so I’ll have to miss half of the classes. Then, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are holidays. As I’ve mentioned that before, I’m going to Brest on 29-30 and am going to return to see the parade on the 1^st of May in Minsk.

The official countdown has begun. 35 days left and I go home. With only 5 weeks left here and with Mélanie and Simon gone, I shall dedicate myself completely to Russian.

Well, that was a summary of the last few days. With busy days behind me, all I long for now is peace and calmness.

Пока!

Breaking News!

As I said beforehand, in the last 2 weeks I wasn’t entirely myself. I knew that I needed radical changes. So, I told my teacher that I would have liked to go one level up. I spent yesterday in a group, but it still was not what I wanted, so I went one level higher. As it turned out, apparently… it is the highest group. I decided to stay, despite the fact that it’s going to be really hard. I could follow the class all right, but I need to acquire new grammar, practice old grammar and learn a great deal of words.

But you shall not think that I’m a genius or anything. I just know that in the absence of the necessary pressure I am not motivated enough. Now I have it I guess.

I have to work really hard in the next 7 weeks. I want to prove to myself that I can do it.

Let’s try!

Музей Современной Белорусской государственности (The Museum of Modern Belarusian Statehood)

Pictures about the museum start from Picture 274

We visited this museum on 10th April with Mélanie, Simon and Benjamin. I have to say that it is one of the most interesting museums I have visited in the last few years. It is a must for those who are interested in the country’s politics.

I know I have mentioned this beforehand, but know I’ll write briefly down the whole process, that is, how you can get inside the museum. I do so just to have all the information at the same place.

Preparations: First you have to go to the National Museum of History and Culture of Belarus (12 Karl Marx Street), where they are going to make a photocopy of your passport and then you can settle on a date for the visit. It is a pity, that it is basically impossible for those to visit the museum, who arrive here on a short basis. It is better to count with 2-3 weeks. However, maybe it is possible to negotiate. We didn’t try though, because we spend here quite a long time.

Location: Presidential Office. The museum itself can be found at Entrance 4.

It is very cheap. Considering the fact that we are students, we had the pay 10.000 BYR each (~ 1 USD) + 35.000 BYR (~ 3.5 USD) for the guide, but that was the price for the whole group. Our guide was a nice, younger girl. She spoke in Russian, but uttered words of English when we didn’t understand something.

The exhibition is well-organized. There is a huge display of different artifacts, documents, models, photos. It wishes to show how Belarus developed since the 90s and, in addition, it tries to convince the visitor that Belarus is competitive and that it does have a place in the 21^th Century.

The museum is arranged into “fields”. We could follow through how the country has developed and what novelties it discovered in terms of agriculture, medical science, sports and international relations. Everything that is 100% Belarusian is introduced: the agricultural vehicles (models of tractors and other machines can be seen :) ), the traditional clothes, grains, etc.

It is kind of obligatory in my opinion that many photos of Lukashenko are on display. It is just the most interesting. You have to take a look at my pictures. I took photo of basically everything.

Let me mention it here, that usually they charge you extra fee here, if you want to take photos in a museum, but here they did not do that. I guess that they are just happy for the visitors and they want them to spread the word about this unusual place in the heart of Minsk.

This museum is one of a kind and it did worth our time. It is not too big, but we spent there over 1.5 hour. It gave me a great impression. It conveys the message that Belarusians are proud people and they can be proud of their achievements.

Hockey Championship and Other Stories

Only approximately 3 weeks left and the Championship starts. Yet again I have to feel like a time traveller. We are moving forward time. Although I do believe that this country has its charm and is underestimated, but change has its advantages (and disadvantages). This is quite a unique chance for Belarus to lay their hands on some foreign capital. I do hope that the tourists that come here will take their time to look around, and then will spread the word, so that other tourists would come as well. The people deserve it. The traditional Belarusian people are lovely.

Change № 1: BELTELECOM, the Wi-Fi service provider I use, made its service available in English, German and French as well. Smart move. Plus, from now on I can use the Wi-Fi in my room as well, since several additional modems have been set up all around the dormitory.

Change № 2: They announce the stations on the metro in English well. I have not been lucky enough yet to hear it, due to the fact that I hardly use any means of public transport here, but I’ll definitely ride once just so that I could listen to it. I wonder which name they announce: the Belarusian or the Russian version.

Another interesting observation here: on our way home from the university we saw a nice sign in front of a policlinic: “Dear tourists and participants of the Hockey World Championship. Here you can take advantage of our high-quality dental service.”

Change № 3: Inflation.

The prices gradually crawl up. You cannot hear many dissatisfactory comments, but the locals are definitely not happy about it. The government wants to use its chance to squeeze as much money out of the visiting hockey fans as possible. Again, smart.

Just some figures:

§  February: 1 USD= 9560 BYR

§  March: 1 USD= 9800 BYR

§  As of 11 April: 1 USD= 9900 BYR

Rumour has it that devaluation will follow. To be precise, it is already a fact, but the exact date is yet unknown.

Miscellaneous…

Surprise № 1: Snow on 10 April

My official record.

Surprise № 2: origin of certain English words

I was searching for something in my Encyclopædia Britannica, when I found the following passage: “...By the late 9th century the Hungarians had entered their present location, subjugating the resident Slavs and Huns there. Until they were checked a half century later, the Hungarians were the scourge of Europe, raiding as far afield as Bremen, Orléans, and Constantinople (the English word OGRE [stress added by me, Roni], a corruption of “Hungar,” attests to their notoriety).”

Did you know?

The building I forgot to introduce: The National Library

I have been there for the first time approximately 2 weeks ago. However I have already seen it on my way from the airport, since it just strikes the eye. The correct term for the shape of the building is rhombicuboctahedron (basically: diamond-shape). One cannot help but notice this enormous site. I have to return once in the night, because it is splendidly illuminated. So far I have only seen it on pictures.

The inside is really pleasant; the designers did a great job: it couldn’t look more modern. The best part of the building though, that it has an observation place on the top, and it is possible to go up there for around 1 EUR. In exchange you get a great view of the city. It is open until 11 PM, so it must be very romantic in the night.