The Orthodox Church In Russia

Many people in Russia are very religious, and their religion is called Orthodox. The religion is a denomination of Christianity, and people worship in churches and cathedrals. Nearly all of the places of worship in Pushkin and St. Petersburg (and nearly all of Russia) are of Orthodox, and inside them one can find idols, paintings, and mosaics. Idols are pictures of saints, according to Russian Orthodox, often plated in gold. The saints include, for example, Nicolai II and his family, the Bogoroditsye (The Virgin Mary), St. Cyril, and Christ. There are idols standing all over the cathedrals and there are candles standing around the idol or in front of it. It is here where people pray to the idols by lighting a candle in front of the idol. By lighting a candle, there prayer can be put forth.

Different idols mean different things to people. For example, one of the "powers" of the Archangel Michael is that he can control water, rain, and waterfalls. So if there is a flood somewhere, people in that town may pray to him to stop the water. Also, many families often have a family idol, which is the idol that family prays to especially. It often brings a connection to families here. Individuals have many idols they pray to, and there are many different reasons one might pray to a certain idol, and many reasons why someone may pray to so many idols.

Although I am not Christian myself, I do believe that these idols in Russian churches are beautiful. When you walk into a church you are almost overwhelmed by their beauty. Also, the magnificence is often matched by its silence and holiness. It's quite a feeling, and just the religious fervor mkes me want to be more religious, of course in a much different way.

There are many cultural customs one must obey when entering an Orthodox Church. First of all, men cannot cover their heads, and women must cover their heads. This probably dates back to the very patriarchal times of Russia, and in my mind this tradition is quite archaic. However, it must be obeyed or you will be chastised. Second, nearly everything is done in silence, except for gatherings on Sunday and on holidays. It's a very quiet place because people are always worshipping.

Jabber Jaws

This term is one of the best to describe the character of people. It relates to so many, yet it can have a negative or positive connotation. Everybody knows someone who just keeps talking and talking and talking. After awhile, you just want that person to stop talking and rambling. For me, I met one of those persons today.

Today there was a meeting held at our house for my French class' trip to France this summer. I have never been before, and my parents had decided that this would probably be the cheapest price he would ever be offered to go to France. Also, he would be going with his friends and his teachers. So at the meeting, many of the parents of the students also came. The trip leader and my mother had decided that it would be good if we had some sort of fund raising before the trip, and that money would go towards the kids' fees. So to help get money, we would need parent participation, which is why many of the parents were there. One parent there is especially a jabber jaw. She couldn't shut up, and she had to give her opinion about every single subject we talked about. Whether it was raising money or what her son was to be seeing on the trip, her opinion seemed utmost important. She was quite annoying, and now when I think about a jabber jaw I think about her.

Nobody wants to be around a jabber jaw, especially when the jabbering is irrelevant to what is actually going on. Thankfully, this particular parent is not going on the trip, but I now realize that there are some jabber jaws who I'll have to live with. There are some people in this world that think that they are the most important people in the world, and they think that what they to have to say supercedes everyone else's reasoning and ideals. I hope that I am never like that in my life, and I am sorry if I have ever been like that. I think it is also important that I am always evaluating my ideals and my personality. The world changes all the time, so I believe that people must change also. Hopefully this means that jabber jaws will become less jabbery, and will become more friendly and conscientious. I wouldn't mind if a jabber jaw became a lockjaw, would you?

Monica! Monica!

When we visited Russia, we stayed with friends who had previously visited their friends in Belgium. Now, they didn't learn any Belgium during the visit except for one word, "Monica!" It's not a name, it's not a place. It's what their friends said when someone drove crazily. When someone was driving extrememly fast they would just shout out, "Monica! Monica!" They had no idea what it meant, but they found that after they had returned home they also began to say it when they drove. So when they my grandmother and I were passengers with them, we would hear this word many times in one trip.

In Russia, there are many car accidents because the driving rules are not as strict as America, let's say. Also, young drivers in Russia do not like to obey the existing rules very closely. Some people may just stop in the middle of the street, or sometimes may speed down the street in a rush of energy. Many drive drunk, not knowing the consequences. In any matter, drivers in Russia are pure crazies. Here's a video to show you one place where driving can get particularly wild.



Not only are there speedy drivers, but there are also lots of traffic jams in Russia, especially in the biggest cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. When we were there we stayed in the town of Pushkin, which is very close to St. Petersburg, and for the past several years there have been many projects to try and eliminate the traffic jams by building freeways and such. Just several months ago they finished the highway that made a circle around Petersburg, connecting all of the cities around it. Lately, they have been working on a highway connecting just Pushkin to St. Petersburg. Although there has been lots and lots of construction, it is in my opinion that it has done hardly nothing for all of the traffic jams. Now, there are just a lot of people on the highways. Even though there aren't as many people driving on the smaller streets, the highway is still quicker despite the traffic jams. And as a result of all of the traffic jams, people drive even more insanely to try and get around them. Monica, monica!

To those who are planning to go to Russia, I would just like to say that you should probably expect some psychotic drivers and some traffic jams. Driving in Russia is so much mroe intense than it is in America, and it's basically a free-for-all, in which nearly all rules are allowed. Vladimir, the man we stayed with, however, says it is a great deal easier to drive here than in America with all of the arbitrary rules in America. He says that in Russia, driving is very safe as long as everyone is sane. However, everyone is not sane when the drive in Russia.

Dogs here, dogs there

One of the key differences between small-town Russia and small-town America is that Russia has lots of stray dogs. Some stray dogs meet you just outside the flat, while others meet you on the way to metro. Stray dogs are nearly everywhere. In America, there are hardly any. Why is this? My reasoning is that in Russia, stray dogs are taken care of by the people who often see them. For example, there is a dog that stays outside of the building where we stayed, and when people walk by him they would give him some food. In Russia, the dogs are friendly because many people are friendly to them. In America, everyone is scared of stray dogs. They think they are dangerous just because they don't have a true home. I must say that I was scared of stray dogs when I went to Russia, but after my trip I realized that those dogs would not touch me. It was a weird feeling to trust these dogs, but somehow I did.

It is often stressed in our culture that a stray dog needs a home. People think that dogs would be much happier living with a family who loves them. This is quite true, and I agree with this statement completely. However, this statement is only true if the family that adopts that dog truly gives love to the dog. In many cases, true care does not prevail for a dog that is adopted, in which living by itself in a pack would be a happier setting. In Russia, dogs living in packs works. Russians do not have large homes in which our dogs can roam and live freely. Many flats in Russia are very small because they are so expensive. They would be much happier living with other dogs and getting food from friendly people in the streets. Thus, stray dogs in Russia are very content are people friendly, unlike in America.

In America, however, stray dogs could come into conflict with the dogs who do have homes. No one can restrain a stray dog, and if someone here was walking their dog down the street and encountered a stray dog, conflict could easily erupt. Stray dogs are looked down upon here, which is why the stray dogs that do exist are unhappy. Also, dogs that have a human family are much more common in America because Americans often have larger homes than we do. Dogs have lots of luxuries in America, and Americans can afford taking care of a dog. So in the end, stray dogs are not a threat in Russia, just as home dogs are not a threat here.

"His hands were cut off before he built it"

Sunday. My grandma, Irina, and I were on our daily walk together. We walked out of Catherine's Palace through the victorian gated doors. Getting out onto the cobblestone street my grandma held onto my arm so that she wouldn't trip. As we looked up we saw the majesty of Catherine the Great, her five domed facade towering above us. It was perfectly gold, such that pictures in America do not give it justice. We love it here in Pushkin, with all of the palaces and such. We walked to the main street of Pushkin leading to the city hall. As we reached Malo Street we saw a horrendous looking building. The building was just plain ugly. The building was brick with concrete patches. It didn't fit the rest of the buildings of the town, not as quaint. Irina remarked, "They must have cut his hands off before he built it."

In Russia, they say this phrase to describe an ugly building. In the tsarist days of Russia, many beautiful palaces and cathedrals were constructed. These same places are sometimes the most remembered things about Russia: the domes, the mosaics, the architecture. In those days, however, all of the leaders in Russia were competing with other leaders in Russia and around the world. Each czar not only wanted to have the most beautiful palace in Russia, but also the most beautiful palace in the world! Thus, for such buildings as St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square and St. Isaac's Cathedral in Petersburg, it has been told that the czar in rule cut off the hands of the architect. The czar did not want the architect to build another cathedral with such creativity and beauty, so s/he cut off the architect's hands. No longer did the architect have a job, yet no longer could he create such a masterpiece as St. Basil's or St. Isaac's. However, he could create an ugly building, which is why they say that "his hands were cut off before he built it" to describe a place that is harsh to the eye.

Although you may think differently, Russians do know that they have been politically flip-flopped throughout our history. They have not always been an economically strong nation such as America and Britain. To them in the modern age, this inconsistency is rather comical because now they realize how irrational some of their leaders have been. This is just one example, and they embrace it.

"She is looking through pink sunglasses."

This phrase, "she (or he) is looking through pink sunglasses," is widely used in the mother country, Russia. The phrase itself brings in a good moral, but it also sheds light upon the attitudes of Russians towards their own lives. The phrase is said when someone is being too positive, too hopeful, or too carefree. They are seeing a pink world that is only of mirth. They look at everything going on around them, and they simply ignore the bad things and not caring about them. They aren't taking time to fix problems around them, assuming that others will fix the issue, either directly or indirectly.

In Russia, however, no one can look through pink sunglasses and live happily. No one can rely on luck alone for everything to be all right. Hard work must be done in order to achieve happiness. One must be diligent, conscientious, and goal-oriented in order to succeed. Problems must be recognized so that they can be fixed. When you look through pink sunglasses, you see no problems. If you don't see problems, you will face severe consequences.

All of us no someone like this, someone who "dances through life." We all no someone that didn't care about anything when they were younger, and then it came back to bite them in the bite, either physically, mentally, or socially. If someone just eats whatever they want to when they're young, they will be mad at themselves five, ten years later. Also, if someone doesn't work hard in school, they will soon realize that this was a wrong choice. No one can just walk through life; it takes hard work, even if you have lots of money. Let's say you were born into a well-off family. Although you can just use power and money to achieve things, all things in life do not have a pricetag, such as the love of friends and family.

Seeing through pink sunglasses can often be dangerous to yourself and the people who you influence. Although a president must be positive, he cannot look through pink sunglasses because he would bring no change to the society that he or she controls. A father cannot look through pink sunglasses because he would bring in no money for the family as a result of his poor working style. A schoolgirl cannot look through pink sunglasses, although she might have them, because she will not get a good education.

I hope you understand that this Russian phrase does not only deal with Russians. It should be a moral that everyone knows and lives by. Russia cannot look pink, but most importantly, the world cannot look pink.

Hello! I am Yehoshua! I hope you enjoy my blog!