Things have been picking up since my last update--classes have started, classes have been rearranged about five times over, and I'm more or less adapted back to life in Irkutsk. After our introductory week of classes at МИЭЛ, everyone was ready for some weekend adventuring around the city. My friends from the Czech Republic, Zuzana and Petra, as well as our German friend, Eva, recently returned from their trip to Vladivostok, which naturally meant that a trip to our favorite Uzbek restaurant was in order. Eating out in Irkutsk is actually pretty inexpensive if you know where to go. On average, I can eat a full meal for $6 and under (including tea and bread/appetizers). I've eaten as cheaply as $1, but that's more along the lines of grabbing a snack in the central market or something from the university dining hall/stolovaya. Finding new, cheap, and tasty holes in the wall is one of my favorite things to do here. It was in that spirit that I invited our new students (plus Phillip) to come join us at our favorite little hole in the wall.
My favorite Czechs, Zuzana and Petra :-)
For the life of me, I can never remember the name of this restaurant, nor have I ever been able to properly explain to anyone how to find it. This isn't so much a commentary on my Russian skills so much as my ability to read maps, pay attention to street signs, and generally explain to other people how to find things. I usually orientate by getting lost one or fifteen times or so and then letting my natural honing skills kick in. It's easier for me to just show people where stuff is and then let them give concrete directions next time round. It's a win-win for everyone. The best way I could describe how to find this place is that it's somewhere in the back of the central market and involves weaving through a labyrinth of slapped together Chinese and Uzbek run stalls where people simultaneously try to get you to buy knock off goods and touch your butt as you pass by. It's the sort of place that someone has to take you to or you'll never find on your own, good directions or not. The place is run by a group of little Uzbek ladies, who, the first time we showed up, were somewhat confused as to what a group of foreigners were doing in their establishment, as the majority of their clientele are local traders and not twenty something year old university students. At this point, they more or less know what's up, but they were still a little taken aback when our horde blew in on Saturday for lunch. We had a very large, very lively group this weekend--six Americans, two Czechs, two Germans, and a new student at the university from England--all of whom were speaking Russian with varied fluency and accents. To say that we called a little bit of attention to ourselves might be a bit of an understatement. Luckily the people who run the restaurant are really nice and have a good sense of humor so we managed; we enjoyed their delicious food and they enjoyed our delicious money. Between eleven people, I'd venture to say that we ate quite a bit...
At the Uzbek restaurant enjoying some zharkoe, a mix of some sort of grilled meat (better not to ask/know/find out/think about), french fries, and veggies, all slathered in a savory sauce. It is all that is good in this world and costs $5. Mmmmm.
One thing I like about typical Russian service (probably the only thing) is that waiters aren't checking in on you every two minutes trying to rush you out the door to turn over your table, so you can spend a couple hours in a restaurant without being hassled. It's especially easy to do that in said establishment as the booths are actually comfy couch-like platforms which you can stretch out on as you enjoy your meal. The only thing that kept us from staying longer was the lack of a bathroom and the overabundance of tea, a dangerous combination, to say the least. Our next stop of the day was the small ice-rink near МИЭЛ, where my friends and I have gone a couple times to practice for our future Lake Baikal skating ambitions. This time it was with Petra, Phillip, and three of the undergrads. My practice paid off a little bit. I was by no means graceful but I didn't fall this time, so that's something. The same can't be said for my fellow Southerners. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post from the part of the outing as I was more concerned about not killing myself than I was about documenting it.
Our final stop of the day was without a doubt the most interesting. Ever since my Russian friends found out that a group of American guys would be coming to Irkutsk they've been bugging me to bring them to Lingua Cafe. Lingua Cafe is a weekly meet and greet between some of the local Russian students and visiting foreigners, where people can meet up and practice foreign languages. Among other things. It also happens to meet at Most Cafe, which happens to be Irkutsk's one and only (to my knowledge) gay club. This is something that I happened to forget to mention when I made the invitation to my new friends--yes, I honestly did forget to mention it, probably because I've been there so many times now that I associate it more with being Lingua Cafe than with being a gay club. This is mostly due to the fact that we met there on Thursday nights last semester when the place was pretty empty. Saturday nights are a different story, as I found out. The night got off to a strange start. Most Cafe is located in a somewhat sketchy part of town down by the river. During the day, the naberezhnaya (think river walk) is one of the more scenic, pleasant parts of town to visit if you're looking for a nice place to get some fresh air and clear your head. For whatever reason, it becomes one of the sketchier parts of town the second the sun sets and is frequented by all sorts of hooligans (in the words of every babushka I know). The fastest way to Most Cafe from the main bus stop is through an isolated, wooded path, then through an abandoned gas station parking lot, and then through a hole in a fenced off alley way. As I said, it's a little bit sketchy. Since I've done this a couple times, I have what can best be described as an "eh, it's Russia, what can you do?", sort of attitude towards this sort of thing. I remembered just how bizarre this probably was once we got inside of the club and everyone was looking at me like I was on crack for taking them to such a degenerate place and questioning what exactly I do with my spare time outside of class. These expressions were only intensified once we made our way into the main room, which is filled with pictures of mostly naked dudes. It was then that I remembered to mention that it was a gay club. I'm happy to say that we've got a very chill, open minded group of guys who took that information in stride and barely even blinked when the resident drag queens showed up. Молодцы. It also helped that I had a group of my (female) Russian friends waiting there to meet us.
Directions to Cafe Most: wild dogs not included on the map.
All in all, I'd say it was a fun and original way to kick off the semester and all of the sketchiness can be chalked up to a bonding experience. It was great catching up with my old friends, as well as indoctrinating my new ones into the east-meets-west enigma that is Irkutsk. We'll see if they ever trust me to make weekend plans again...only time will tell...
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