Russian Life: August 1996

4: Here Comes the Nevesta Christina Ling
Marx was scornful, Engels was scathing. In his headier days, Lenin considered it a deplorably bourgeois means of oppressing women. But even in Soviet times, Russians got married. Now the way people go about tying the conjugal knot is changing too. Christina Ling takes a look at marriage in Russia, past and present.
Features

10: Samovars Lisa Dickey
President Boris Yeltsin decreed that this year be counted the 250th anniversary of the samovar. What better occasion for Lisa Dickey to visit the world's largest private collection of samovars, now on display in St. Petersburg?
Features

13: The Baptizers Isai Belenkin and Alexander Tropkin
An excerpt from "A Land Owned by Russia," a book to be published that describes the assimilatio nof Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and northern California by Russian explorers in the 17th-19th centuries, and the work of traders and missionaries in that period.
Features

22: Kamchatka: Where the River Runs Hot Andrew Tarica
The wilderness of Kamchatka provided Andrew Tarica with stunning volcanic scenery and a lifetime best day of fishing. In this issue's Travel Journal, he tells the story.
Travel

27: Three Feasts of the Savior Valentina Kolesnikova
A description of the three feast days celebrated by the Orthodox Church in August.
Russian Calendar

28: Keeping the Doctor Away Robert Greenall
Tips on navigating the Russian medical system and how to prepare yourself before you travel.
Practical Traveler

28: Dining Old and New Robert Greenall
A look at dining out in Moscow, then vs. now.
Practical Traveler

32: Getting in a Jam Yelena Utenkova
How to make varenye -- in this case a superb raspberry jam ideal for eating with tea.
Cuisine

212: How do we feel, doctor? Mikhail Ivanov
Health and doctor related phrases and idioms are this issue's prescription for improving your Russian.
Survival Russian