Well, I imagine the word is out at this point. I am getting out of Russia for good. Planning on going back to the good ole US of A and trying to actually have some semblance of a life. The question is though, how do I find another job after being more than 2 years out of my field? Well, any comments are welcome, but I imagine I'll just send my CV to basically any company I can think of. Oh, and I guess I'm going to be doing a lot of reviewing my old text books when I get back.
The Roman Empire flourished for more than 600 years in the face of constant invasion of barbarian hordes from the north and in the end, the Ottoman Horde from the east. The Empire spread far and wide making its way as far north as Southern Britain and France (formerly known as Gaul), while taking hold of almost the entire southern coast of the Mediteranean. These accomplishments could only have come about as a result of two major factors: the vast military might at the disposal of the Roman government, and the groups of engineers that laid the initial groundwork for the future development of the Empire. The integration of a vast network of roads, leading from Italy all the way to Northern France, many of which can still be seen today, provided a fast means of transportation to anywhere within the Empire.
The Roman Empire was one of the first civilizations which created an engineering class. These engineers were treated as lords in their own right, being one of the first castes which could allow a peasant of low birth to make a name for himself in the world. Creating aqueducts and roads, for the first time in Europe, large populations could finally live in a large condensed group, something only previously possible in the civilizations in the Far East and Persia. These engineers left many things left around today, the crumbling aqueducts in cities covering the south of France and Spain, entire cities that have since been built over without the inhabitants knowledge of the cities former glory (Londinus... yeah, London began with the Romans).
Even in present times, the aqueducts of Ancient Rome remain a marvel of engineering. A water source in the mountains would be tapped, and construction would begin, always maintaining the proper declination in order to prevent any turbulent flow which might further erode the brick and stone used, these canals and tunnels would travel through mountains, across valleys stopping every 1000 meters to break into a catch basins where larger debris would remain behind, unable to continue. Upon reaching the city, water would poor into the water chamber, a place high enough in the city to allow gravity forced plumbing throughout. Each location carried an enormous amount of water, in most cases enough to provide the entire population of the city with water for a few days.
This brings me now the point of this entire blog... The Bath Houses.
This first started coming to my attention in Russia, but then after visiting England and seeing Bath, I finally received an understanding of where this idea really came from. In Bath, the Roman citizens had to have a little fun, right? Well, the orgies of Rome weren't that predominant at the time in Briton, and a soldier had to relax after a hard day of hacking up barbarian hordes, so what was the natural thing? Build a big indoor swimming pool and bath area where you could relax. It was one of the few getaways that they could afford in those days, and the idea of 14 year old boys scrapping mud and grease off of the upper class piqued a few peoples interests. So the bath was born. First starting in Rome, it travelled across with the separation with Byzantine, and continued to proliferate throughout the world. Now as you all know, the primary religion in Russia has always been of the Orthodox. Being based nearby in Constantinople, Moscow had the hope for centuries of becoming the next Rome, and a center of religious activity for the eastern world. Needless to say, this didn't happen. But at least they got something out of it.. The Baths.
Now a Russian bath (Banya for those of you up to trying the language) is something I had never really quite been interested in, or for that matter, even knew of before my stay in Siberia. However, after being out of contact with civilization for a week or so, you start to believe that almost anything is better than the smell you are emitting when you wake up in the morning. So one fateful night (and countless others afterwards) I took the plunge. Now, as is proper with Turkish and Russian, and even Roman Baths, the idea is to shock the system between hot and cold extremes, in order to produce a feeling of clarity and alertness afterwards. And it works, but I will still let you know about my first experience to give you a better idea of what I am really talking about.
Like I said, I was without a shower for at least 1 week. I was actually getting quite fond of the smell, but in retrospect, I think it might have been the smells all around. Anyway, I walk into the little wooden hut in the corner of the wellsite. Entering the door, all you see is a bench on the side with clothes hung up on pegs lining the wall. I proceeded in fashion and walked into the next anteroom, wishing I had remembered sandals (green growth on the floors, slippery). So I pass the two shower stalls that are currently occupied and walk in the sauna type room. I check the thermometer, it reads 130°F, and grab a wooden slab and sit down with the other 4 guys trying to sweat an accumulation of 1 week of sweat and dirt out of my pores. At this time, I was still unlearned in the way of the Russian Language, but one of the operators I work with asked me to sit in the other direction, I wasn't sure why, but I figured I was sitting the wrong way. I reposition myself closer to the heater and next thing I know, I feel a sting against my back. Imagine my surprise when I realize that one of the guys are hitting me with a bunch of wet pine branches. Nothing better than smelling like an evergreen forest. After about 10 swings I finally get the guy to stop hitting me, while the only response I get from him is "Good , yeah?". I didn't offer a reply. Walking out, I realize its time to wash all of this sap and pine needles off my back and actually take a real shower. The whole room is scorching hot, what else would I expect then than ice cold water shooting out of the shower head? I hope out of the shower shivering and run back into the Sauna. And so the cycle continues until you can't take it anymore or become a prune. This process, the drastic shock between hot and cold is what most community bath's (especially in the Middle East and Eastern Europe) are all about... well, minus the pine branches...
yea, yea,
I know its been a while, but I have been busy, what with going back to the States for a while and actually getting work done in Russia. It was pretty sad, but I had spent the first quarter of the year going on only one job. The rest of the time I was in training courses in Scotland and Houston (not such a bad thing getting paid while staying in a 3 star hotel in a big city). I have now been back for a week now, and been to one job. Last time I left Russia, it was still cold enough that the bugs hadn't made a huge difference in the enjoyment of the season. That now has changed. Damn, I was at the wellsite for a total of 2 days. Total bite count.... 46, at least the ones I can see, and this counts the 3 on my ass (don't ask how those happened). Right now, as I am typing, I can see 8 on my left hand and 5 on my right hand. I hate all bugs, I hope it drops to -40 tomorrow just so they all just whither up and die. More to come in a little...
I just spent a large portion of last night trying to argue to a couple Russian guys I work with about General Relativity and evolution. In Russian, and it was very frustrating to understand what they were saying (somewhat) and not being able to say anything but no, thats not right, and yes, I agree. A lot of good those 4 years I didn't spend in Russian classes at Vandy have done...
As you can see in the 10 or so pictures I uploaded below, I haven't been in Russia the whole time since I last posted (which isn't much of a surprise seeing as its a couple months) 2 months ago I started off my trip, passing through Amsterdam on my way to Scotland. There were reasons I was supposed to be there, something about work... however I didn't see much of that. After Aberdeen, had another flight to Houston, to go to one of our main headquarters for another tech school. It was at this point that I realized the drastic difference between the way we have to work in Russia and how these guys are making out. First of all, they have tennis and basketball courts, football fields (both the European and American) and a track encircling the "campus". But if that wasn't enough to occupy the average persons' 2 hour lunch break, you also have the opportunity of going to the gym, where you can have a private coach, or attend classes for an hour... We have a ping pong table in Russia, but no ball...
Ok, so anyways, got a chance to get home for a little after this with the hopes of spending the next week in Mexico. It did not dawn on me that this was Spring Break time until I actually called up the travel agent. Price for 10 days in Mexico, flying Nashville => Cancun => Los Cabos : $4000... yeah, I'll pass.
Instead I try something different and think about Eastern Europe. Didn't really know much, just a few historical tidbit's, but what better way to learn than be there... My goal was to pay less than 4k. That I did. Without a problem. Well, it might have been if I had to stay in Vienna. Damn the Euro and how it is destroying the dollar. Itenerary was as follows, Budapest => Vienna => Prague (trains inbetween, or at least that was the plan).
1.42 weeks in Eastern Europe. And I almost made my first big mistake 5 minutes after coming off the plane:
Hmm, need money... wonder what its called. And... oh shit, what is the exchange rate? No matter, I'll just push the 3rd from the top, it shouldn't be too much... 50,000 Ft, sounds like a lot. Oops, went over my daily limit.
Was I lucky, saved me about $600 of Florints.. which in 4 days, hell, in 4 weeks, I would have had quite a bit of difficulty spending.
Travelling by yourself is an acquired taste, most people you talk to that don't travel much say they could never imagine going and travelling just by themselves. However, when you stay in a place like a hostel, most of the people you meet are a lot like you.. Travelling by themselves, going from one place to the next, just trying to meet new people they can spend the next day with, and trying to meet a girl to spend the night with.
Previously, especially in Australia, all I met were Brits. This time around, it was Canadians. Good guys, even the French speaking ones...
Not to bore everyone (myself included) I wont give all the details, however I will say that all three cities have unbelievable views upon the river. Prague is old, even by European standards with some amazing architecture, but is also overrun by Americans. I actually think I heard more English than Czech when i was there. Oh, and the church at Stephenplatz in Vienna is fu.... amazing, except for that advertisement that covers the entire top section of the steeple....
I really need to post more, I haven.t touched this thing in more than 2 months now, after almost forgetting my password. Well, I am sure I'll have something to say after returning from this next job. There is nothing quite like working for extended periods of time outside in -25 C temperatures, its quite exhilirating. Also, on my return, I plan to fix the format of this site, and possibly introduce pictures and a guest signing section... we'll see how it works.
