September 01, 2005 To Bathe or Not to Bathe Our neighbor Kalkan has probably been clean and sober only a dozen times in his life. The last time he bathed in a barrel of water warmed in a wood stove he came down with a bad cold and vowed never to do it again.
July 01, 2005 When P.R. Sounds Like Samovar Many English words and phrases have wedged their way into the Russian vernacular, and not all with benign effect. Witness the effect of P.R...
July 01, 2005 The Defense of Sevastopol Russian soldiers held off the French at Malakhov Kurgan for 349 days, before it fell, 150 years ago this month. The end of this battle brought an end to the Crimean War.
July 01, 2005 War with Japan The last thing Russians wanted after finishing the war with Hitler was another war. But three months later, in August 1945, they got one anyway, when Stalin joined the war against Japan, taking the Kuriles and Sakhalin as spoils.
July 01, 2005 Train Fare A short look at the history of fare aboard the Trans-Siberian railway, with a recipe for pelmeny you can prepare between stops...
July 01, 2005 Ski Story A few years ago, I went to buy a new pair of cross-country skis at a little shop in East Montpelier (pop. 2,600). When I learned that one pair (brand name “Maverick”) was made in Russia, that was all I needed to hear.
July 01, 2005 Back in the USSR Eastern Moldova - also known as the Transdniester Republic - remains wedded to its Soviet past.
July 01, 2005 Saving the Desman For 30 million years, the desman and its ancestors have lived in remote Russian lakes. But in the last few decades, its numbers have dwindled by half.
July 01, 2005 Unusual Imports Oil, aluminum, precious metals and other natural resources are commonly-known U.S. imports from Russia. We went in search of lesser-known consumer imports and found some surprising items.
July 01, 2005 Riding the TransSib Photographer Mike Buscher spent two months riding the Trans-Siberian railway and brings us this photo essay.
July 01, 2005 The Unhappiest Country Some say that Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, is the unhappiest place on Earth. Or is it?