Vodka Binge Drinking... an Early Death to Men?

     It has been discovered that alcohol is the primary cause of the high number of premature deaths in Russia.

A recent report shows that 25% of Russian men die before the age of 55, with the majority of these deaths attributed to alcohol (particularly vodka).  Some Russian men said that they drank up to one-and-a-half liters of vodka every week, however researchers say the main reason behind the high death rate is not in the amount of alcohol consumed, but in the way Russians drink alcohol. They predominantly binge drink.  During the course of the 10-year study, more than 150,000 adults living in three Russian cities were monitored by researchers.  Throughout this time, 8,000 participants died from alcohol-related diseases including liver disease and alcohol poisoning. Many of the participants also died in accidents or after getting into fights.  The report also showed that smoking aggravated the negative health effects of alcohol, and that mortality rates were lower among women.  Moral of the story, binge drinking leads to a higher death expectancy, don't do it! :)

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/vodka-binges-kill-quarter-of-russian-men-prematurely-research-shows/493666.html

70 Year Anniversary of the Leningrad Siege.

This month the country of Russia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Leningrad Siege. The Siege at Leningrad cost more than a million Russian lives, military and civilian alike. The siege began on September 8th, 1941 and was not over until January 27, 1944. This was a total of 872 days. Celebrations included a reenactment of the first break through German lines to lift the siege, along with a parade of Soviet Era T-34 tanks. Many veterans of the war came across the country to come to the city for this day of remembrance. A memorial service was also held along with the reenactments. President Putin visited the city because he was from there. His family was also personally effected by this attack, his mother would survive but his uncle would become a victim of starvation due to the Nazi blockade of the city. He laid a wreath of flowers underneath the memorial dedicated to the victims.  The German government also sent their condolences to the people of Russia, acknowledging that it was their country who was responsible for the suffering of the Russian people. In a letter to President Putin, German President Joachim Gauck wrote "Germany recognizes it's historical responsibility for the suffering inflicted on the people of Leningrad and for the brutal warfare of it's soldiers, commandos and SS formations." The lower house of the German parliament dedicated it's Memorial Day to the victims of Nazi Germany, including the people of Leningrad. Noted Russian author, Daniil Granin, was invited to the Bundestag to share his experiences with the German government. Daniil Granin is a 95 year old war veteran who participated in the fighting when he joined the Red Army at the age of 22. German politicians listened as he talked about the cruelty which he had witnessed, admitting it took a long time to forgive the people of Germany for the crimes against humanity and Russian people.

http://rt.com/news/leningrad-siege-end-celebrations-265/

Jan. 30 End of St. Petersburg

The Russian Studies Spring Film Festival kicks off with Конец Санкт-Петербурга... The End of St Petersburg, dir. Pudovkin. How did the Bolsheviks come to power? Как пришли к власти Большевики в 1917 г?

Russian Studies Spring Film Series...

Russian Studies Spring Film Series...

• Jan. 30 End of St. Petersburg 
• Feb. 13 Volga-Volga
• March 13 Our Own
• March 27 Spring on Zarechnaya Street 
• April 3 Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

All films are THURSDAYS @ 6pm Russian Studies House

Cultural Credit served

Forget your Past: the Abandoned Mount Buzludzha Bulgarian Communist Party Headquarters

After the fall of the Soviet Union, many ideological monuments and places have fallen into disrepair. Although Lenin's mausoleum remains maintained, and a variety of statues in his honor litter the post-Soviet landscape, there are impressive places that have fallen into complete disrepair. One such is found in Bulgaria, which had formerly been a Soviet satellite state.

The saucer-line monument still looks impressive from afar. Images taken in the days of its use on Mount Buzludzha are even moreso, showing the detailed artistry behind the structure and its otherwordly appearance. 

But now, it exists only as a rotting husk. The government does not maintain the structure, and it remains essentially abandoned -- battered away each year with the elements.

Graffiti on the entrance reads in English, "Forget your past."

Because of the holiday season, I figured it would be suitable to talk about how Russia celebrates the holidays. 

To begin, St. Nicholas is especially popular in Russia. The legend is that the 11th-century Prince Vladimir traveled to Constantinople to be baptized, and returned with stories of miracles performed by St. Nicholas of Myra. Since then many Eastern Orthodox Churches have been named for the saint, and to this day, Nicholas is one of the most common names for Russian boys. The feast of St. Nicholas (December 6) was observed for many centuries, but after the communist revolution, the celebration of the feast was suppressed. 

During the communist years St. Nicholas was transformed into Grandfather Frost. Other religious traditions were suppressed during the communist era. Before the revolution, a figure called Babouschka would bring gifts for the children. Like Italy's La Befana, the story is that Babouschka failed to give food and shelter to the three wise men during their journey to visit the Christ Child. According to tradition, she still roams the countryside searching for the Christ Child and visiting the homes of children during the Christmas season. Babouschka never completely disappeared, and now in the post-communist era, has returned openly. 

Christmas trees were also banned by the Communist regime, but people continued to trim their "New Year's" trees. Most Christian Russians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and it is customary to fast until after the first church service on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve dinner is meatless but festive. The most important ingredient is a special porridge called kutya. It is made of wheatberries or other grains which symbolize hope and immortality, and honey and poppy seeds which ensure happiness, success, and untroubled rest. 

A ceremony involving the blessing of the home is frequently observed. A priest visits the home accompanied by boys carrying vessels of holy water, and a little water is sprinkled in each room. The kutya is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity.

Arms Dealers!

Everyone assumes Russia has a ton of big scary men carrying huge guns around all the time just like in the movies right? Well that may still certainly be the case! Russia is a major player in the sales of weapons worldwide. Russia has its sights set on an interesting goal by 2020. 

Russia wants to be the top arms exporter in the world by 2020, quadrupling its annual arms sales to about $60 billion per year to other countries. When asked about how much extra they would have to sell yearly, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. "It is four times the current amount." This seems quite confident to me. To put these numbers in perspective, the U.S. sold $69.1 billion worth of weaponry to foreign customers last year, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Russia became the world's second-largest arms exporter in 2011, generating $13.2 billion in revenues.

Last year, Russia exported $15.2 billion worth of weaponry while adding Afghanistan, Ghana, Oman and Tanzania to a list of about 80 foreign customers.

Hopefully, they don't mix vodka with all extra money they will have from the sales. 

The Red Army Choir

The Red Army Choir, (after the fall of the USSR called the Alexandrov Ensemble after its first director Alexander Alexandrov), is the official choir of the Russian Armed forces. It started out around 1928 as a small group of vocalists, which grew to 300 performers by 1933, including dancers and an orchestra. After Alexandrov died, the group was taken over by his son Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov. The choir became so well disciplined that he could sometimes leave stage for up to a half hour, with the choir performing perfectly despite his absence. For their discipline, and the generally stellar quality of their musical performance, the group became world renowned.  After the fall of the Soviet Union, the group continued on, only with the renaming of the group.

I found out about this group from a youtube video of a performance by the choir in 1992, in the Tchaikovsky Hall, in Moscow. I listened to the first part and just couldn’t stop. The vocals are supremely beautiful and the dancing is really quite interesting (the dancers all maintain a distinctive Russian folk-style dress, and dance with an obvious ballet influence.)

I have linked the video below; it is well worth your time to watch it! 

Have a great Winter break, happy holidays, and a great new year. See you all in class next semester!

Russian Cuisine: Baba Romovaya Cake

      I really like food from all over the world and I have not tasted that much Russian food in my life so far and so I decided to find a recipe. I searched for a long time for something that sounded good to me and I actually found a lot of things but then I saw the Baba Romovaya cake and I knew I wanted to make that. Sadly I have no kitchen supplies since I live in a dorm but as soon as I get home I will be making this cake and a lot more recipes I found like "Rice Kasha with Cheese," "Borsch," and "Ossetrina pod Syrom (a.k.a. Sturgeon Baked with cheese)." Below I have posted the recipe for the yummy cake and a picture of one I didn't bake, hopefully someone else will get to enjoy it this holiday season!

Baba Romovaya cake recipe

Ingredients:
3 ea eggs
5 oz flour
5 oz sugar
--Icing:
5 oz cherry juice
2 tbsp rum
--Sauce:
4 tbsp rum
2 ea yolks
8 oz cream
1 tbsp starch


Method:
Beat up eggs with sugar with the mixer until there is foam. Stir in flour very gradually and make dough very quickly. Fill in the form half (the dough wil rise twice) with dough very very carefully. Grease the form abundantly with butter and sprinkle with flour. Close all windows and doors to avoid draughts otherwise "baba" will catch a cold". Put in a warm place, don't move it. As soon as the dough rise up to the top, bake in the oven (180C) until it is golden. It is very important to keep the form of "baba" after baking. Put upside "baba" in the form down on the paper until it is cold. Don't take it out of the form until it is cold. Mix rum with cherry juice in a large bowl and sink "baba" in this syrup. Beat up yolks with cream and starch, pour in rum. Put the mass on a "steam bath" (put a smaller pan with cream mass in a large pan with water) and bring to thickening. Pour the sauce over "Baba" before serving.

Nadezhda Durova

Nadezdha Durova was a woman who, while disguised as a man, became a decorated soldier in the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic wars. She was the first known female officer in the Russian military. She left her father’s house while in her late teenage years and joined a nearby Cossack regiment. She was always very rebellious growing up. Always running off into the forest to go on adventures all by herself. However this was not appropriate for a girl in 19^th century Russia. Especially a young aristocratic girl as she was. Her father was a captain in the military and she was born on a military base where he worked. This is how she first became associated with the military and where she was raised to love the sound of a canon and the cry of battle. Once old enough to be mistaken for a young male she cut her hair and fled home to chase after the life she always wanted. The Russian military asked a few questions as some did say she looked too feminine, but she scraped by and was in the military for three years serving in countless battles until her bravery on the front lines got her noticed and she was discovered for what she truly was. Durova was a strong woman and no doubt she was fearless, and her time in the Russian army was a great inspiration in her time for the feminist movement. Proving to Russians of both genders that females were more than just dolls dressed up in makeup and gowns.