На Дачу! To the Dacha! (Daaacha)

Note to self: I should be posting things in a more timely fashion...

Anyway.

This past Saturday (hence the note to myself), I was given the opportunity of going with my girlfriend and her grandma (Бабушка) to their Дача (Dacha). For those of you unfamiliar with this bit of Russian culture, it is easiest to compare it to the concept of "having a cabin." Many people own cabins and go there from time to time and relax and fish and hunt and do all sorts of things. The Дача is a similar concept but not. For Russians living in big cities like St . Petersburg and Moscow (and Nizhny Novgorod, etc...), space is limited. Everything around you is an endless stretch of concrete and stone, food stands, bustling crowds, and crazy drivers. And after work, you return to an apartment to relax and eat and perhaps work a bit more. The Дача offers an escape from all of this. Well, maybe not from the working part...


What follows is my experience at the Дача. It was not a complete Дача experience as I will explain as I go.

First, we head to the электрички (elektriktrichki), a train that moves on electricity. The station we go to is on the northern edge of St. Petersburg, the last stop on one of the metro lines.

There were quite a few people gathered waiting for the train to arrive. And when it finally did, there were quite a few more people already on the train. It was a scene right out of a novel or movie. People of all sorts riding on a train with seats for half of them. Everyone had different sorts of things with them. Those without seats sat on their luggage or the floor. Others (I included) stood and waited for our stop. The ride was about 30 minutes, taking us out of the claustrophobic city to the wild and free Russian countryside.

A few words on what I saw of the деревня (countryside). When I say wild and free, I mean it. Growing up in  Central Illinois, I saw country almost day. Long stretches of corn and soybeans; far as the eye could see. But the nicely ordered rows and plots of the Midwest look more like city blocks when compared to Russia's countryside. Trees and plants have been left to grown as they wish. There is little to no trimming to make way for people. The trees are cleared away from the train tracks and that's about it. The paths and roads that have been made are all dirt. People seem to have built with nature, not against it.

Once again, I felt like I had just stepped into a novel or an article on Matador (online travel site). But here I was, walking down a narrow dirt path on my way to the дача. As we moved away from the platform (and it literally was just a platform, not "station"), дача-s started popping up out of the forest like trees. A small village was ahead. While the point of a дача is to escape the crowded confines of a city, it is often the case that your дача will be within a small village of other дача-s. That doesn't take away from the atmosphere whatsoever. In fact, it adds to it. Whereas in a city, you may not have time to interact must with your neighbors or really get to know them, your neighbors at the дача are a different story. Your gardens are next to each other and you are now not worrying about catching our bus or trolleybus. Life is slowed down.

"Community meeting on August 27 at 1:00 PM on the field"

   So we heading down the path and come to larger road (not that much bigger, but big enough for a car) and head for a small store. The store is a place to buy things that you may not have at the дача such as meat, bread, water, vodka, toys. There's quite a random assortment. It is also a community message board of sorts. We stopped in because I had to buy some sausage to bring as a gift to the дача, another tradition/courtesy of sorts. With my sausage in hand, we headed to the дача itself.

That little building there is a well. An actual well.
And I got to use it!! I was really excited. A lot more
than I should have been....

 This particular дачa was surrounded by a fence, the front fence being a tall black iron gate. Inside was a wild patch of plants, a well, a house, and a large garden in the back.

     We approached the house and I was introduced, I presented my sausage and some candy I also brought along and they were set aside for lunch. After introduction with the grandma, I was introduced to some cousins who were out back. Then our purpose for coming to the дачa was revealed. As mentioned earlier, people don't come out to the country to just rest; there is work to be done.

You may either tilt your head or your computer,
whichever is smaller.

We received a tour of the garden and given our assignments for the day: trimming and cleaning up around strawberry bushes, moving a bench, and picking leaves for tea. We set about at our tasks right away. The weather was prefect! Not too hot and definitely not too cold. Perfect gardening weather. Our work was accomplished rather quickly. It was nice to be outside and away from the city and getting my hands into fresh Russian dirt.

Other traditional дачa activities include the баня (a sauna of sorts with lots of traditions attached to it), gathering грибы (greeboi/mushrooms), gathering berries, and roasting шашлык (shashlik/meat on a stick). We didn't do any of these, but that did not lessen the experience. There are certainly more days to enjoy these traditions.

   I actually enjoy much of these traditions at my host family's apartment. They've gone to their дачa and picked mushrooms and berries. The homemade jams and морс (morse/juice) are woooooonderful.


  We worked in the garden from around 11:00 to 13:30. Then, it was time for lunch! Today's menu consisted of boiled potatoes, fried mushrooms, sausage, and a salad. It was simple, but delicious! Very filling. And then, as Russian meals go, we finished with чай (chai/tea) and the candy I brought. It was right out of the 19th century. We cleaned up the kitchen and ourselves a bit.

With our work outside complete, our next step in дача-land was the lake. As we walked along the dirt road, surrounded by дачаs on all sides, we saw people working outside, cutting branches, digging gardens, burning wood, enjoying life. Прикрасная жизнь.







 One aspect of the countryside that immediately stuck to me was the completely Russification of the place. It may sound silly to so this when I'm living in St. Petersuburg, but the country seems more Russian than St. Petersburg. In the city, many signs are written in Russian with either the words spelled out in Latin letters below or an English translation. There are Макдональдс (MacDonald's) and Сабвей (Subway) and many other American and Western European stores. I could go on a rant about this, but I think I'll save that for another post. For now, let's just say that I was taken pleasantly by surprise when I looked up at a sign giving directions and found that it was completely in Russian. You either know it or ya don't. That's that.


 Okay. So we walked down the path, enjoying the weather, the trees, and life. We eventually came to a small beach that had many people enjoying the sun and the water. It was beautiful! And quite big. We sat down and watched the waves and the people and talked. We didn't have much time, but it was nice to enjoy life without cars and buses rushing by every second.

 The waves washed against the shores, children ran around, splashing into the water, and others laid out on the grass; reading, talking, and resting.

 Unfortunately, our time on the beach was short. We had to return to the station soon to catch the train back to Piter. We left the beach reluctantly and headed back to the дача. Along the way, we almost got hit by a jeep racing down the road. But other than that, it was a peaceful walk back.

   We reached the дача and gathered our things. Looking back, we took it all in before the trees would be replaced by buildings. We made our way back to the station and awaited our train.

All too soon, my day at the дача had ended, but it was a great introduction to the life that lies outside the bustling cities of Russia. I look forward to plunging deeper into this Russian tradition. Hopefully, my future time in Russia will present me with such opportunities.


Until then, I shall enjoy the urban jungle until it is time to stretch my legs and mind.