World by Noelle

The meaty stuff, part 2

Posted on August 8th, 2006 by tallgirl.
Categories: travel, russia.

Brief update, and then I’ll get back to the meaty stuff. Promise.

Today was a touristy day, that we started later - it was great. We all got to sleep in! We drove to a Museum of the Siege of Leningrad, which looked strangely familiar. And it was - I went there when I was 16. I didn’t remember all of the stuff in it, but I remember the Soviet pride that went along with it. I find it interesting that I’ve been to more WWII museums and memorials here in St Petersburg than I’ve been to any war memorials in the US. No question. But, having a city under siege for 900 days is a pretty big deal. I feel that the Soviets had to pump SOMETHING up, to make people forget that someone was always watching… just my thoughts, though.

We then went to Peterhof, which is one of Peter the Great’s palaces. It’s on the Gulf of Finland, and has amazing fountains around it that Peter himself designed. They are powered with gravity, and then the water runs out to the Gulf. There are also palaces, but that cost more and there were giant lines to go in them. There were TONS of tourists: US people, Europeans, Russians and Asians. We just went among them, and through them… it was great. Great that we had Yaroslav as a guide and could just wander as part of a smaller group, not the giant TOUR GUIDE GROUPS… blech.
Anyway, I promised meaty stuff… here we go again.
On Monday, we talked about Islam and Extremism. I will say again that I appreciate the history that Alexander gave us, but the references to violence in the Koran are hardly ever reflected in the Bible - not that they’re not there, but that they’re not referenced equally. Christians fight - look at the crusades, look at Northern Ireland. I know that it may seem that Muslims fight more, but I do not think that it makes them any less pre-disposed to peacemaking, any more than we are pre-disposed to peacemaking, or not. (Did that even make sense? It seems to in my head.)

But, I think that it might be different, having had a war on our own land. Something that we’ve lived with in the past. The Chechen war is something people here in Russia have had to live with for a long time. Natasha said, while watching a video on a priest’s actions in Grozny from 10 years ago, that it was like yesterday, even though she knew it was 10 years ago. War and violence on a scale such as Russians know is something we know nothing about. 9-11 and Oklahoma City were nothing compared to life with it.

Part of the PCUSA Resolution says that we need to look at the root causes of terrorism, some of which are the position of terrorists in the country they are in. The Chechens are unhappy with their place in the area they are in - so they commit acts of terrorism. These are Beslan, the Nord Ost Theatre, and the war. The other thing we as Americans have to realize is that some of the stuff that is exported (there was going to be a picture of a Miami Vice movie poster linked to here, but I cannot upload it…) is offensive to those around the world. I am not saying that this is a reason for terrorism to occur, but just that we need to understand that all we export, in terms of entertainment, isn’t always well-received.

Tomorrow we will hear about the story Hadji Murad, which is a Tolstoy short story about some parts of Chechen history. The roots of the Chechen conflict go way back. Then Brandon will talk about State Sponsored Terrorism and Terrorism by the State.

And then it’s off to the Hermitage - I’m super excited about that. We have pretty much a free afternoon - I’m looking forward to that.

On Friday the guys leave St Petersburg, and then I’m on my own! Yaroslav will hopefully have found the proper number for my host mom, by tomorrow, and I’m really looking forward to connecting with them.

I need to go do laundry, so I must run away. My bathroom sink is calling me!

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