A week ago in the early morning of Saturday, 29 October, I said goodbye to my three travelling companions in a chilly Moscow railway station. We had spent ten days in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, meeting and talking to Russians about life in Russia and the current tensions between Russia and the West. We are part of the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. My three companions, Brian, Erica and David, are from the U.S. where VCNV was formed during the 90s. A UK branch was formed in 2012 when a group of us travelled to Afghanistan to visit the Afghan Peace volunteers. Thee have been several delegations since then, both from the U.S. and Britain.
This small VCNV visit to Russia is a recent development and I feel proud to have been part of it. So, what did we do and, more importantly, what did I learn? I can’t speak for the others and I look forward very much to reading their reflections but I thought that for myself I’d like to put down a few impressions of our visit and then write more pieces focusing on specific aspects.
This was my fourth visit to Russia and I have written elsewhere in this journal about previous visits. This was the first time, however, that I had spent more than a few hours in Moscow and the first time I’d visited Saint Petersburg.
We stayed in hostels in both cities. They were warm and welcoming places to stay. In Moscow we were joined by a guide and interpreter, Salla, who was an invaluable companion. In Saint Petersburg Volodya, a native of the city, acted as guide and interpreter. His love for his city inspired us as we walked the streets once walked by Pushkin, Dostoevsky and many other writers and artists.
During our ten days we met Quakers in Moscow, representatives of Memorial, a human rights group in the same city, and, in Saint Petersburg, we met groups working with vulnerable people in the city, language students and friends of Volodya and his wife who invited us int their homes.
We visited various museums in both cities connected to the recent history of the former USSR as well as the world famous Hermitage. We also visited several churches in both cities which were either places of worship or museums. A particular highlight for me was the boat trip we took on the Neva and the canals of Saint Petersburg.
Since returning I have been reflecting on this visit against the background of anti Russian sentiment presented in the media. I keep revisiting in my mind the people we met and the things they said. My next entry will focus on this.
Live Adventurously 