What do you know about Russia?

Hello again from Olga. No doubt that EVS is a great chance to discover a new culture and get used to different type of daily life. But I am here not only to learn Spanish culture, but also to share the knowledge about my homeland Russian Federation. 

It can sound strange to you, but I am not from Moscow or even not from Saint Petersburg. Everybody knows that Russia is enormous but it’s difficult to imagine any other city except these two. Let’s get acquainted with two more at least.

I am from beautiful small city Cheboksary, which is situated on the river Volga. It’s one hour by plane from Moscow and we consider it as the central part of a country. To tell the truth, I am not originally Russian, I am Chuvash, and Cheboksary is the capital of Chuvash republic. We are one of more than 160 nationalities that you can find in Russia. We have our own culture and language, that take their origin in turk roots. 

Also I was studying and working in a neighbour republic Tatarstan which capital Kazan is rather famous all over the world because of Universiade 2013 and Football World Cup 2018. Tatar people also have their own language and traditions. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that majority of population are muslims. In the historical center of Kazan grand mosque is pleasantly staying close to orthodox cathedral. It’s a magnificent symbol of tolerance and cultural mixture that we have. People congratulate each other with religious holidays and enjoy this great diversity. 

Russia is so big and unexplored. Even for me it is difficult to imagine how do people live in East Siberia or Far East. And it seems almost impossible to travel through all the country. One day I met a group of French senior citizens who were making their journey through all Russia in 60 days. They said that it costed them a lot of money and maybe it was their final great travelling but it was absolutely worth it. I was so amused by their brave desires! 

Finally, there are some basic stereotypes about Russians that everybody knows. I want to share with you some real facts about my compatriots.

1. Russians drink a lot of … tea. Almost with every meal that they take. When I found out that there is no kettle in our flat for volunteers, I was so frustrated!

2. Russian is not someone who never gets cold but someone who wears a lot of warm clothes. Now here in Galicia I feel extremely cold sometimes and try to keep myself as warm as I can. And this fact makes galicians confused. How can you be so cold if you are from Russia? Well, in Russia we have 24-hours working heating system and not this high level of humidity.

3. The main holiday for Russians is New Year. There are the longest holidays - 10 days! Almost one month before people start to prepare: look for place where to celebrate, buy a lot of food and fireworks. For ten days people are eating, drinking, visiting relatives and friends, watching old Soviet movies on TV. 

4. Two weeks after Christmas, that we celebrate on the 7th of January, there is a time of so-called Epiphany Frosts. During this time the temperature usually is extremely low (25-30 degrees below zero). And exactly at this time many people repeat the process of Jesus Epiphany: they dive three times into the ice hole in a river or a lake, give blessings to God and quickly go out of the water. It’s some kind of a traditional challenge that commonly believed to bring health and blessings for all the next year.

5. Russians are not grumpy. Even if we don’t smile a lot or share our emotions, we are open-hearted and sensitive. Don’t think stereotyped, explore everything by yourself!