Belarus: the More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

1. Idiots Abroad (the Sequel)
2. Barcelona: Russians, Strikes, Lingerie Billboards and Man Buns
3. Welcome to Mallorca! OK, Time to Leave
4. My quick taste of Andorra and France

This post has nothing to do with miles and points. I’m not sure I can even call it a trip report, since it mostly consists of musings and reflections. It’s about going home, which is probably the closest thing we all have to a time machine. And nowhere is this concept more true than in my native country of Belarus. I know many of you will be going home next week, so hopefully you can relate.

The propaganda

I grew up in Soviet Union and witnessed first-hand the slogans and banners meant to stir up patriotic feelings (see the backstory of how I ended up in America). After Belarus gained independence and Communist party collapsed, those things faded away. Until now.

Belarus is going through an economic downturn (again), and prognosis is bleak. For that reason, many young educated people are leaving for greener pastures in the West. When we were visiting Spain, I got into a conversation with an IT  manager from Switzerland. She said her best engineers grew up in Belarus.

That’s why local government in my home city of Grodno  has put up banners on the main square with pictures of young people saying “I love you, Belarus!” It’s an odd throwback to my childhood and something I didn’t think I would ever see again. And of course, the statue of Lenin is still standing in the same place where it always has been.

At this point, having it around has nothing to do with idelology. In my opinion, it’s still there because 1) It gives older ones warm and fuzzy feeling of continuity, 2) Those in authority are too lazy to remove it. Ironically, the Soviet relics have become income generators, as I saw several organized tours in the area.

The bumper cars

Despite anemic economy, life goes on.  During summer months people soak in the sunny weather and make pilgrimage to numerous lakes and rivers.

On weekends, families fill up the main amusement park in the center of the city just as they did back when I was a kid. It’s one of those cheap thrills even my parents could afford, though my sister and I were only allowed two rides each. This time my mom said that her grandkids could do as many rides as their heart desired. Fancy! She insisted it was her treat.

My husband decided to take my son on a bumper car ride. Bad idea. I saw him hitting other cars thinking that’s OK. Not in Belarus! Then  he slammed the car into a barrier, which, naturally, was not padded. This decision resulted in a huge cut on his leg, from which he now has a permanent scar. My son wasn’t injured, thank goodness.

Belarus version of Bumblebee

The angry “babushka”

One of the things I always try to do while in Grodno is visit the museum in the old castle. I’ve been there a dozen times by now,  but it’s a nostalgic kind of place for me. My mom refuses to pay for the same museum twice, so she said she would buy a senior ticket and let me use it instead (not my idea).

I thought the cashier (an older lady, aka “babushka”) would have a mild heart attack when she heard my mom’s devious plan. To prevent her from calling the police on us, I assured her that I will gladly pay an extra 50 cents for regular ticket. Crisis averted.

Inside the exhibit rooms, the museum management  usually places older ladies, who are basically working there  for peanuts. They get bored out of their mind pretty quicky and look for any excuse to give visitors  a hard time. One of them yelled at my sister-in-law. Just the way I remember things.

Nevertheless, we had fun and snapped some neat photos.

Traditional Belarus clothes and musical instruments

European buffalo

Belarus is one of the few places where you can still see one in person (the live kind).

The tire

My mom is the most frugal person I know. As kids, we were always encouraged to utilize what we had rather than buy new stuff. Most of the time, we didn’t really have a choice. Even though I now do have a choice, this philosophy is ingrained in me to this day.

My old house still has most of the same furniture that I remember from my childhood. If something breaks, it gets fixed with tape, glue and spit. One time my husband and I were visiting my parents and I felt the mattress spring poke me in the leg. What the heck? My mom’s idea of a fix involved putting a blanket between a mattress and a sheet. We bought her a new mattress that day.

At times her frugality produces some, ahem, whimsical results:

The above set-up reminds me of expression: “You know you are a redneck if your outdoor furniture was indoors at one point.”

But as frugal as my mom is,  she loves to grow flowers even though they serve no practical purpose aside from looking pretty.

The music

The main drag in the center of town is now filled with merchant stalls and local artists trying to make a few bucks (or rubles, to be precise.) My husband bought a unique painting depicting a local scene.

There was even a Burger King and apparently, they deliver!

I was delighted to once again find lemonade machines reminiscent of my childhood days.

There was a young street performer, singing his heart out and playing a guitar. To my shock, all the songs were from my youth. Everything old is new again! The nineties in Belarus were an exciting time, full of hope and cultural awakening. I was surprised that I still remembered the words to the songs, and got choked up a little bit. My son ran up to him and left a few rubles in the hat.

Speaking of music, the other day I was listening to this  amazing cover  of “Tonight, tonight”, my favorite song by The Smashing Pumpkins. Anyone old enough to remember the Pumpkins?

Anyway, it reminded me of being in high school and listening to these guys and watching their videos on TV. The music was so weird, yet somehow relatable. Mind. Blown. It was a strange new world and a zany window into American culture of the nineties.

Ironically, listening to their song now made me think of  home, back when I was 17 and had a whole life ahead of me.

Time is never time at all

You can never ever leave

Without leaving a piece of youth

And our lives are forever changed

We will never be the same

The more you change, the less you feel…