Catch up: KAZAN!

ok!  quick re-cap of the last week:  i went on an audition tour of 4 cities...moscow, and 3 cities in the south of russia, the krasnodar krai region.  this region includes sochi.  we were searching for cast members for the show.  so i got to have a quick taste of kazan (well, that is technically in the tatar region, not krasnodar krai, but if anyone reading this blog besides tom and betsy know that, i'll buy you a bottle of vodka), sochi, and krasnodar.  amazing.  a great insight into actual russia...the living, working lives of russians.  and i got to meet a lot of sochi 2014 olympic winter games volunteers.  very inspiring.  just in time to make me remember what we are really doing here...how amazing this project is.  it gets hard to see the forest thru the trees sometimes...and i'll say that in every city i shed a few tears just seeing the impact we were having on the volunteers and the auditionees.  they were so excited, and it means so much to them to be involved in the games.  brought it all home and again made me realize how lucky i am.

so, a few pics and stories from the places we visited.  it was, um, not without it's challenges, let's say that.  but overall, a pretty cool experience.  just to put it in context, it was as if one went on a tour to des moines, palm beach, and charleston, sc.  all three VERY different cities with very different vibes.  so here you go...first up, kazan...the charleston of russia:

the clocks in the lobby of the hotel.  because don't you always think of kazan when you think of the 4 most important cities in the world?

a beautiful park in the center of town.

beautiful building

soviet-era soda machines!  for 10 rubles you can get soda water with a flavoring.  these used to be on every street corner and cafes.

(most of) our group!!  me, diana, elena, glenda, ben, matthew, ale.

the entrance to the old kazan kremlin (which means castle...or fort)

mosque inside the kremlin, from when kazan was ruled by the islamic tatars several hundred years ago.

inside the mosque

me, angelic, inside the mosque

gates to the kazan historical museum

dragon, which is one of the symbols of kazan

lenin standing proud

yura enjoying a hookah at the uzbeki restaurant we went for dinner

russians like their fountains and their neon lights.  there are a series of fountains lit up in the river that runs thru the middle of Kazan

me and a sculpture of a lazy cat...the cat is also a symbol of kazan

the pedestrian street in the historical district

historical district church

lunch in a tradition tatar/uzbeki restaurant

sunset over the kremlin

the beautiful "beach" by the river.

kazan celebrated it's 1000th birthday last year.  and this summer it is host to the 2013 universidad games...the olympic games for universities.  so it was undergoing quite a face-lift when we were there.  not just the "beach," but half the city was torn up...sidewalks and roads were getting replaced, the airport is being remodeled, buildings re-done.  it kind of looked like the city was built only 3 weeks ago, rather than 1000 years!  was a fabulous visit for me, as i likely never would have gone there otherwise, and it really is a beautiful city, with it's own culture and language.  it was tatar, which was kind of more mongol than russian...it was muslim, and fought long and hard against being absorbed into russia.  so much so, that when it was finally conquered, sometime in the 1600's i think, the rest of russia rejoiced by making a specific religious holiday marking the date of conquering.  and there is a HUGE orthodox cathedral in st petersburg commemorating the take-over.  needless to say, it was a big deal.  kazanians still hold onto as much of their culture as they can...some still speak tatar, and many signs are written in both tatar and russian.