vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #556 / Vladivostok by Braille / Reading article...

Two truly Russian events hit this week in Vladivostok. One a cause for dismay, and the other a cause for celebration. Both however lie at the root of Russian culture, and its modern day connections to a deep and ancient past.

There is possibly nothing quite as thoroughly Russian as a snowstorm. The word in Russian for their constant northern companion is “snegopad”, which sounds in English more like a rare Amazonian insect or comic book monster than a meteorological event.

I heard this word for the first time when a stranger standing next to me at the university leaned over and whispered, “a snegopad is coming…..” I raised one eyebrow and glanced furtively out the large window in the stairwell, expecting some Godzilla-esque creature to appear suddenly on the skyline.

While Vladivostok remains safe from The Snegopad of my imagination, the very real blizzard hit with the force to be expected of such monsters, descending on Vladivostok to wreak havoc once again on city streets. Along with the wind and the snow, blizzards here can cause massive bursts of thunder and lightening, and to escape this fierce creature’s path the vast majority of the city’s residents lock themselves up in the safety of their homes, including me.

I did however face the monster briefly enough to attend my regular courses at the university. I walked in from the belly of the beast and into the main hall to find a sprightly little girl made of straw standing next to the schedule board in a floral summer dress. Once again I raised my eyebrow, and passed her with curiosity.

“This is the first day of spring!” exclaimed my teacher jubilantly when I questioned the presence of the straw-girl in the main hall. I looked out the window and into the roar of the snegopad, returning my gaze to my professor and requesting an explanation.

This week marks the celebration of the ancient Russian holiday “Maslenitsa”, otherwise known as pancake week. The Russian pancake, or blin, is a symbol of the sun, and is made during this festival to celebrate the end of the long winter, and the coming of spring.

Christianity has made its mark on this beautiful pagan recognition of the spring equinox and, like Venice and Rio de Janeiro’s ‘Carnival’, this event now also marks the last week before the beginning of Lent. Despite the influences of Christianity, and the suppression of the festival during Soviet times, Maslenitsa retains much of its original pagan symbols and practices.

The straw-girl is constructed at the start of the festival and on the last day she is set ablaze, much reminiscent of the modern day “burning man” gathering in America. Her ashes are spread into the snow to fertilize the soil for the upcoming year’s harvest.

On Sunday, marking the last day of the festival, Vladivostok residents will turn to family, friends, and strangers alike to give the traditional “prostite”. A collective request of pardon from their neighbors, so that they may move fresh and unfettered towards the summer sun.

It is hard to imagine that spring is indeed on its way when the city lies in blankets of white winter slumber. Yet the little straw-girl in her bright summer dress assures us that it is so. The pardons will be made, the ashes spread on the ground, the snow will melt and soon summer will arrive to Vladivostok.