August 29, 2019

Summer Fun for All Faiths and All Ages


Summer Fun for All Faiths and All Ages
You could lose your marbles trying to imagine how much marble it took to build the biggest mosque in Europe. The official site of the Head of the Chechen Republic

Quote of the Week

“Pobeda [a Russian airline], company of sadists, be cursed!”

– A priest from Yekaterinburg allegedly cursed an airline that refused to let a crying woman get on a flight in order to travel to a funeral, because of baggage issues. She didn’t take off, but the story did. 

 

Happy birthday, Akhmad Kadyrov and 6-year-old Artyom! 

1. Who says that Russia is only known for onion-domed churches? On August 23, the largest mosque in Europe was officially opened for worship in Shali, Chechnya. The massive mosque can fit 30,000 people inside – three times as much as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow – and 100,000 people on its overall territory, which is more than double the total population of Shali. The date of the ceremony coincided with the birthday of Chechnya’s first president, Akhmad Kadyrov (current president Ramzam Kadyrov’s father), who played a significant role in bringing peace to Chechnya. While some wanted to name the mosque in honor of Kadyrov Junior, the final decision was to look at the bigger picture for Europe’s biggest mosque, and name it after the Prophet Muhammed. Peace be upon him, and peace be in Chechnya. 

2. Erdogan screams, Putin screams, all of Russia screams for ice cream. At the annual International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS) in Moscow President Putin bought ice cream for his guest, Turkish President Erdogan. He used a 5000-ruble note (about $75) and asked that the change be put toward Russian aviation development. He quickly changed his mind, though, and decided to buy ice cream for the whole delegation instead. His choice for Erdogan was a bit vanilla – literally vanilla – but Putin, never one to be boring, bought himself both chocolate and cream-flavored ice creams. (It sounds less redundant in Russian.) Putin bought the same ice cream at the same conference two years ago, when it was a whopping 15 cents cheaper, a fact that made headlines for some reason. 

Putin buying Erdogan ice cream
Certainly can’t accuse Putin giving the Turkish president a cold welcome. / Dmitry Smirnov | Twitter

3. Artyom, a five-year-old, reported that one of his toy cars had been stolen by another boy. And he reported it to the regional head of the police. The authorities didn’t play around. They took immediate action to settle the conflict between the children. Then, when Artyom turned six this past week, the local police chief came to his house to wish him a happy birthday from the regional head, gift him a new toy car, and give him a ride in a real police car. No wonder Artyom now says he wants to become a police officer when he grows up.

Russian police officer gifts a child a toy car
Never too young to start on the road to good citizenship. / Official site of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Primorsky Krai

 

In Odder News

  • The Ministry of Labor proposed national expansion of a program developed in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug to fight loneliness among the elderly. The program: paying families to host the elderly.  
  • Volunteering is now officially considered a qualification for work in Russia, so you can both do good and get a good job. 
  • A memorial to Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, appeared in… Cleveland
Reveal of Gagarin statue in Cleveland
People are gaga for Gagarin all over the world! / Embassy of Russia in the USA | Facebook

 

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955