On the Train back to Moscow

Back on the train, gang. This time, back to Moscow. Our morning was quite a bit more relaxed as our train didn’t leave Nizhny Novgorod until 9:40 a.m. That gave us time to shower, take advantage of the good wifi in our Air B&B and pack up at a leisurely pace. At around 8:00 our Air B&B host, Katarina, and her son, Max, met us at the apartment to collect a little extra payment that we had agreed upon earlier. She raised her rates for the World Cup, something I’m hearing has happened with a lot of people. I didn’t mind, and I had agreed to it a few months ago. The cost of the apartment was still far less than we would have paid at a hotel. Katarina was beyond kind and helpful. As we hung out a bit in the apartment she had all sorts of questions for me now that she had her son, whose English was pretty good, to interpret for her. The questions were typical of those we’ve been asked while in Russia. “What did you think of the match? What do you think of our city? Why did you come here to see Sweden and Korea?” The people just seem so genuinely curious about us. I’m not sure if that’s the culture in general that people tend to ask lots of questions, or if they’re more curious about us because we’re from outside the country. I don’t mind. It’s actually quite fun feeling like people are so interested in our lives.

Katarina offered to drive us to the metro station, an offer that seemed very genuine and one if I refused might seem insulting. So we happily agreed and packed into her little car for an adventurous ride of slamming on brakes and wildly shifting lanes through the city. Katarina continued with the questions. She asked about my job, about why my wife wasn’t with us, what Tricia enjoys doing and more. At one point she asked if we live in a house. She went on to say that living in a house is a dream for her. Talking with people like this when you’re traveling definitely helps you put your life into perspective. When she also told me I’m a happy man because I’m a teacher and I don’t have to work in the summer, it reminded me that I really do have a lot to be thankful for. I asked Katrina and Max a few questions of my own including the obligatory question, “What do people think of Putin?” Casey later said he was nervous when I started talking about politics, but Max and Katarina seemed happy to answer. Max said that he does not like Putin and thinks it’s especially bad that he had been president for 18 years. He knew that in the U.S. presidents can only serve for 8 years and he thought that is a much better system. Katarina said she likes Putin. She likes his because he’s strong and a good leader. Max rolled his eyes and laughed when she said this.

At the station we said our goodbyes then took the metro to the central train station where we went to a little bakery in the basement of the mall we had seen yesterday when buying some water at the grocery store. (By the way, prices here are incredibly low. As reference, we bought two giant water bottles last night, each costing about 20 cents.) We bought just about every type of pastry they had – strawberry croissants, lemon pastries, meat pies, potato pies and some wet, pastry thing neither of the kids liked – then sat outside in the beautiful train station plaza area to eat our breakfast. While eating I noticed a small stand where the people were selling woven items. I couldn’t resist buying something hand-made and authentic so I snatched up a small table cloth for home.

Now we’re on the train. It’s a four-hour ride from Nizhny to Moscow. We’ll get in around 1:45 with our game tonight at 6:00. This bus isn’t as rowdy as yesterday’s, and the people in our car are mostly sleeping and chilling, but I did manage to meet a guy from Senegal. I was walking down the train car aisle and I noticed this guy looking up at me and checking out my jersey. I pointed at it and said, “Senegal.” He immediately got out of his seat and we began talking. He’s studying in Nizhny Novgorod for three years to get his masters degree in international affairs. He has learned Russia along the way. He asked me why I’m cheering for Senegal and all I could really tell him was that I picked a team to cheer for in each match and that I’m hoping the teams from Africa do well. We took a bunch of pictures and talked some more. He was a cool guy. He said he’s meeting up with some Senegalese friends in Moscow for the match and is also traveling somewhere else in Russia to see Senegal play Japan. This interaction is so typical of the dozens of interactions I’ve had with people on this trip. It’s just crazy, and awesome. Everyone is so friendly and eager to chat.

Yesterday in Nizhny was another great day. Once in town we grabbed lunch at the McDonald’s near the train station. The kids did the ordering this time. As I wrote in a previous post, the young people are so excited to help us and talk with us. We feel almost like celebrities, with everyone staring and smiling and wanting to talk. Following our burgers, we solicited the help of one of many young World Cup volunteers stationed around the main city centers. He helped us to get a cab to our Air B&B. He initially asked a cabbie parked by the plaza but reported to us that the cost was far too expensive, about $15. Instead he called a cab on his phone and arranged a price of about $3.00. We had to wait a bit for the taxi to arrive. We also had to walk down some back streets to meet the taxi as many of the roads around the station were closed due to the World Cup. While walking, the young man first asked me how old Sammie was. He then went on to ask if she had a boyfriend. When I told him “yes” he said, “Oh no. I am going to die.” He was completely serious and seemed devastated that Sammie was already spoken for. It was pretty hilarious. Sammie didn’t hear this exchange but laughed about it when I told her later.

Our cab driver spoke no English but got us to our destination. We had to hunt a bit to find the correct building for our Air B&B, but eventually got there then met up with Katarina. We didn’t have a lot of time, and after showing us around the apartment, Katarina offered to drive us to the bus station. Thankfully the bus stop had good signage for World Cup transportation, and we hopped on the first numbered bus that would take us to the metro station. But calling the thing a bus doesn’t give one a complete or accurate description of the vehicle we took. It was a tiny bus, shorter and more squat than any other bus I’ve been on in my life. Seated, it probably held about 20 passengers at the most. And, the thing was old. Really old. Much of what we’re seeing in Russia looks very old, from the cars, to the buses, to the train cars, to many of the homes. In some ways it looks like at one point in time in this country parts of life came to a halt. Was this around the fall of the Soviet Union? Was it before that? I’m not sure.

The match between Sweden and Korea last night was another fun one. It wasn’t the rowdy chaos provided by the Mexican fans the night earlier, but it was great nonetheless. One difference was the amount of local Russians in attendance. There were a lot of them, many with flags from both competing countries or faces painted in both the colors of Korea and Sweden. They were just there to have a great time like us. We had a little Russian boy behind us going crazy on his mini vuvuzela horn throughout most of the game. Sweden won 1-0 on a penalty kick. The Swedes in the stadium, calm and quiet throughout most of the match, finally went wild. The World Cup sure is a chance to observe how people from different cultures act and show emotion. The highly expressive fans from Mexico proved to be a huge contrast from the mostly stoic and restrained fans from Korea and Sweden. I guess that’s to be expected.

The match ended around 6:00, giving us time to actually sit down for a meal. We unfortunately picked a place that was crowded and that had only two servers waiting on all the people. I pulled out one of the few Russian phrases I know - “isvinitya” - to say “excuse me” to a waitress. It worked, and she came right over. I had a big beer and my first-ever bowl of borscht. Casey has some pork and vegetable thing. Sammie had roast beef, mashed potatoes and salad. We all also shared a plate of pickled vegetables. It was a good meal, but a long meal. By the time we made it back to our apartment – on the metro and on another crazy little minibus – we were exhausted and ready to relax for the night.