So I posted a ton of new pictures, some from Tomsk and some from Moscow. I'm not really going to talk about them here; I'll do that through the captions.

As an overview of what's been going on, though, I've been enjoying my free time before I have to go check out the State Archive of the Russian Federation tomorrow. Thankfully, I didn't have any terrible bureaucratic messes to sort through here, since the visa service will just take care of everything for a fee (they didn't have an office in Tomsk). So now I'm registered, I have an apartment that I've fully paid for, and I have working internet, which is really all I could ever need.

In my spare time, then, I've been going back to some of the places that I remember being really cool two years ago. I went to Red Square and Tverskaya like I've already mentioned, and today I went to VDNKh (I'll explain, hang on) and stopped by RGGU (Russian State University for the Humanities), where I studied two years ago.

VDNKh (pronounce it Veh-Deh-Ehn-KHAH, but fast) stands for Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy (at least that's how I'll translate it). During Soviet times they built it to inspire awe and pride in the technological advances, productivity, and culture of the Soviet Union, with some special emphasis on the nationalities. For all its universalist communism, the Soviet Union made a very big deal about the so-called "Friendship of Peoples" between the nationalities within its borders, and at VDNKh they had separate pavilions to display the achievements of individual nations.

So imagine an enormous area of land with wide sidewalks, fountains, and lots of large buildings with majestic architecture. That was VDNKh before 1991. Since then, the place has turned into probably the best example anywhere of the communist past and the capitalist present coming into direct contact. Basically, the grounds have been partially transformed into a carnival...there are open-air shashlyk (kebab) cafes everywhere, popcorn stands, a Ferris wheel, horse rides, carnival games, and even a couple roller coasters. Honestly, it surprised me today even though I'd seen it two years ago, because the carnival has grown considerably since then.

Clearly, it makes a really interesting contrast. As you can see in some of the pictures, you've got lofty Soviet monuments next to cheap souvenir stands. I'm sure Lenin wouldn't be happy about how things have turned out, but there's nothing he can do now but watch from his statue in disgust.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

(As a postscript, I noticed three separate instances today of policemen asking Central Asians for their documents. So much for the Friendship of Peoples.)