May 19, 2014 UPDATE - My trip to Russia As much as I don’t like to have a pre-flight anxiety, any travel is a great adventure to have. While tearing us from the habitual environment and associated with it feelings of familiar comfort and security, any travel opens up a door to a different dimension, if you wish, where there is a plenty of opportunities to see, to hear, to learn, to meet, in short – to enjoy. Seattle airport is the point of my departure on the way to Paris, first, and then Moscow. Compared to some airports, Seattle offers a nonchalant easiness of a sort – there is never any rush, no anxiety, no humiliation on the part of the airport security guys. This time, I even managed to go through security line with my shoes on. In the aftermath of 9/11, being tamed to take the shoes off if needed, I was pleasantly surprised that I could keep my dignity and pass through the invisible barrier – that separates those why fly from the rest who stay – not barefooted but having 2-inch platform sandals. Isn’t it a treat these days? So far so good! I found my seat, wedged my long legs in between the two backseats – my chair and the one up front (not completely comfy but I can manage, it is a small price to pay for the international travels!), had a snack, and have just finished watching a movie, The Monuments Men. This movie is about a team of art historians, architects and museum curators from the United States who came to Europe to recover renowned works of art stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them. Quite a touchy movie, actually – and with the well-known Hollywood actors of the likes as George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, and even my favorite actress Cate Blanchett – which emphasized the intangible preciousness of art, history, and the human life being paid to save the masterpieces that preserve a very important connection between generations of people in the past, in the now, and in the future. Indeed, people come and go, but the remaining pieces of art – whether paintings, sculptures or architectural buildings such as cathedrals, castles, etc. – connect and intertwine the various human sectors of the social and political life. Without these important artifacts, how do we know where did we come from, who we are, and where are we going to? This movie was very clear about this seminal connection – and even showed a few scenes related to what kind of treasures are worth for which segment of a society. For example, when the “monuments men” found the entire German gold reserve, there was so much official jubilation that one of the characters in a movie said, “Well, the army cares much more about gold than about the art.” Verily! Although, to be clear, it is not so much the army but rather the government that values gold more than any art. No surprise here, if you ask me! Our politicians do care about money or gold much more than about art, architecture or even precious human lives! Unfortunately, but it is the case that the people’s lives are sacrificed for the politicians’ goals – just take Syria, for one. After the U.S. intervention, at this point in time there are about 160,000 people in Syria who perished in the fire of this senseless conflict, but the U.S. top brass – supported by the British and few other western politicians – still arm and otherwise support numerous terrorists groups in Syria, who kill, maim, torture the regular Syrians. Anyway, pardon my detour to the Middle East! Obviously, the U.S. foreign policy which borders on criminality is one of my peeve points. Back to the movie! If you like art, and also like watching G. Clooney and a few other celebrities, this film worth your attention, but rather than that it is definitely not a cinematographic masterpiece. Well, the amusing part for me personally was that even in this movie the political dissonance between the United States and Russia could not be avoided. It was not overly stressed out, but there was enough of clarity as to a certain competition between these countries, in terms of who will find the famous pieces of art quicker. In real life – was there any danger that the Soviets would steal these masterpieces if they found them first? It is a very interesting topic to explore, actually. Anyway, the “monuments men” were up to the task, obviously, and they managed to move out all the found art pieces at the nick of time – right before the Soviets came to the German mines where the art treasures had been kept. This particular implication – competing with the prospective “enemy” (although, at that time these two countries were the allies in the vicious war against Hitler!) and winning a race against time and the Soviets – was very much predictable, in a way, and kind of childishly sweet. There are 6 more hours till our arrival to Paris. If I had connection to Internet, I would check the news about situation in Ukraine, I would translate some, and I would write my comments and the daily update to post on Facebook. To be frank, I was doing it every day since March 16 this year, and I got quite involved in this activity – spending 5-6 hours per day on the research, analysis, translation and writing became my daily routine. And I love doing it too – it reminds me the times when I worked for CounterPunch, for 7 years of such a fun and intellectually stimulating activity. Now, I do it for free, just for myself and mostly for the other people who read my updates – for my main intention is to share the news and, to a certain degree, to educate the others, because there is not much incorruptible information is getting through the mass media these days. Even if there are only about 25-32 people who read my daily updates – not thousands as it is the case with CounterPunch – I am still happy that I don’t it in vain, and that there are some people who are interested to read what I have to report and to know what is really going on. Few hours and few movies later, we landed in Paris – everything went as smoothly as expected in the capital of elegance. Although, surprisingly enough, my shoes beeped when I went through security gates, so… I had to take them off this time. Hmm… the Paris security screening is more sensitive to the platform shoes, as it seems. My flight connection was very quick – I had about 40 minutes before boarding on the plane to Moscow. My favorite coffee – a la Viennese – was not offered at the local coffee spot, alas. Well, I will have a chance to enjoy it on the way back, when I stop in Paris for a day. I checked the souvenirs and duty free shop, just out of curiosity mostly. Does it seems to me or is there a price surge for the trinkets offered there? One can get a small plush bear for 10 Euros, and a neat package of the gummy bears for 8. The latter is offered in Olympia for something like $1.50 – a real bargain compared to its French twin, which is definitely overpriced and more expensive than I remember. My last trip to Paris was almost 4 years ago – in August 2010. It is amazing how the time flies, really! And, with the time, the cost of everything goes up. The European Union is certainly in the economic trouble, as it is the case everywhere else, it seems… We are up in the air for a while now. The Russian crew is not in a hurry to offer us any snacks. Perhaps the economic situation in Russia is even worse than it is in the European Union?! Well, I am kidding of course, but still… Oh, I was too quick to complain – the drink cart has just been wheeled in the aisle. It seems that the flight attendants are French, actually – perhaps I was too much in a hurry to criticize the Russians, who have nothing to do either with feeding or starving the passengers. On the plane, people talk in French, Russian, English – everything seems so peaceful and amiable. Basically, no matter what language and culture the people are born into, we are all the same, having the same basic needs and desires to live comfortably and happily – with some minor differences of course, depending on our interests and inspirations. If not for the politicians in general, I doubt we would have any wars between the different nations, just to think about it…Oh, maybe I am mistaken and the human nature is not as benevolent as I would like it to be?! In any case, if people are not hungry and make enough money to sustain themselves, they are in quite a peaceful mood, given that their politicians are not psyche them to fight “the others.” My computer battery is dying – I wish some tech whiz could invent a battery that could last for more than 24 hours of the straight use. No such luck so far…at least not when the laptops are concerned. Moscow met me with the bright sun and the 81F. Surprisingly, the airport was almost empty – no time to waste for getting luggage or going through security lines – it took just a few minutes to run through, and then… a big bouquet of flowers was another great surprise! My nephew, the only one I have, is such a gentleman that he brought these beautiful flowers to welcome me with the arrival to Moscow. Last time I saw Sasha was in May 2007, wow, 7 years went by as a quick dream. The traffic was quite slow, but, getting completely engrossed in our lively chat, we didn’t even notice when we arrived. My oldest niece, Natasha, lives in the old Moscow, and frankly, it is the only Moscow that is the real city for me personally. All the new districts, with their high-rising building clowning one another, not enough trees and located so far away – those suburbs do not have the Moscow feel, so to say. They are exactly that – just suburbs. I love old Moscow buildings, with the high ceilings, and also the old Moscow inner yards, with the lush greenery and flowers and little children running around. Ahh, here I am now, in Moscow, the city that I like so much, but which became a sort of enigma for me since I moved to the U.S.A. – after all, there are so many new places, habits, traditions evolved after I left this beautiful city!
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 07:06:50 +0000
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