Sunday after Victory Day

Hi again,

It’s Sunday night and some of you expect some discipline in my reporting… and one of these days I’ll learn how to get pictures in the right format to attach…

Well, I stopped at the end of Thursday. On Friday I, or better we, that is Ivan and his crew and I, continued battling the bureaucracy by getting my passport translated and the translation notarized, an important building stone for admission to the university. He called me about 11 and I rushed to the bank and yes, he had the document and I wasn’t even allowed to accept the coffee invitation of Maria from HR but immediately had to go to ‘”my” university.

Meanwhile I knew the way well and within a few minutes my Yamaha got me there and I went up to the admin office where I already was expected. They filled out 3 forms required to pay in the fees and sent me off to another bank about 10 min by motorcycle (and I shudder to think what it would have taken by public transport) which was comparatively easy as only one person was ahead of me. So after another 15 min (sic!) I had gotten rid of my USD 860 for 1 months tuition (on individual basis, not group!) and was back on my way to the university where immediately, it was now about 1pm,  they introduced me to my teacher Galina, a nice lady of about 50+ who speaks excellent Russian and French and a little English and German. Actually she is the ideal teacher for me as we are basically forced to communicate in Russian as my French has turned real bad and therefore the other languages are really only for emergency use…

You may have noticed that I didn’t have any time for lunch as we immediately started the instruction. Normally there should be a 20 min break after each “academic hour”. Not with Galina! She went on until I protested about 3. We took a break in the cafeteria (she hadn’t even known that) where I got some coffee and a snack and we went back upstairs to continue the instructions. Shortly after 4 she finally gave in and I felt drained… (she too admitted some tiredness). It is quite impressive that straining your brain can be physically exhausting.

What I had not expected was the effect on my Yamaha’s battery. It also suddenly showed signs of exhaustion and I barely was able to get it started. Funny actions on my LED display followed but I managed to get home. But that was it! Once home there was no more starting. Well, I called my guardian angel, yes, Ivan, who immediately organized a motorcycle mechanic for the next morning at 820. Meanwhile I tried to recharge the battery with my special charger and it looked ok for a moment but as soon as I got it into the bike the current dropped. After some further checks by the mechanic the next morning and a trial jumpstart it was clear: the battery had died of sudden death. Well, no prob, let’s get a new one… Much easier said than done in a country with a low, I’d say ultralow 2-wheeler population (today I saw 2 and I was on the road for about 40 kms in town). So you might guess, Ivan found one by noontime and delivered… I still don’t know how and where he found it (have to ask tomorrow) but it is a Bosch and very reasonable. So I was “back in business”, however by that time the weather turned from 24C to 4C at night with complementary rain which made me recapitulate my lessons from Friday and learn some vocabulary. Yes, it is difficult and takes even more effort than 48 years ago… but then she said that I wasn’t doing so badly… we’ll see the result in about a month.

Today, Sunday in the morning I continued my revision and vocabulary repetition but by noon had really enough. I hopped on the bike and proceeded to the center looking for a place with WIFI as only then I could download some literature on my Kindle (compliments of my staff, really thoughtful). One of the coffeehouses on the main street (Nesavisimosti) claimed to have WIFI so I went in. After some difficulties were solved by local staff I was able to log in and had quite a decent lunch too.

Back to full strength I proceeded my discovery of the city by driving around, finally ending up at the War Museum. It’s a rather drab 50’s building next to the People’s Palace and the Cultural Palace but once you are inside it’s daunting. As an Austrian a medal certificate of a German “Gefreiter” for participating in the occupation of Austria in 1938 right in the first showcase was the introduction. The rest was exclusively in Russian with the exception of German Army and SS declarations. But most pictures told more that 1000 words and many were really awful to look at. What this people had to suffer was definitely far more than their share! And it makes understand the certain skepticism towards everything German (maybe except their cars) although I am told that more students now chose German over English. I would like to go back though if I could get a proper guide who could get some more information about the many objects and pictures… It is really difficult to understand how it is possible how a museum like this has not a single publication in any other language than Russian…

After this I went to the Komarovsky market and surroundings, Minsk’s answer to Les Halles. Well, not quite, but still quite impressive. It’s quite a large modern (60’s ?) structure selling predominantly meat in any shape and form thinkable and judging by the attendance on a Sunday about 5pm very popular by the Minsk population. The same can be said by the vegetable market next door. I got some very nice tomatoes and strawberries (intensive red and tasting strongly, yes, like strawberries, not like that stuff from Spain we are used to). And further next to it are again some markets, not the fancy mall-type but pretty much like, say in Hongkong or Jakarta, one little stall next to the other, interspersed with some larger shops. Here Minsk’s girls and ladies apparently get their stuff to make them attractive… But by that time it was 6pm and many of those shops were shutting and I found it was time to get home. On the way I stopped at the concert hall to check their program. At the end of the month Fedosejew will be conducting. Let’s see if I can grab a ticket…

I just realize, again so much, sorry, but then again I’m enjoying myself here quite a bit and the city in spring is quite nice with it’s many chestnut trees abloom everywhere…

Till next time or as he said: I’ll be back…