During my Russian studies at Indiana University over the past two years, the concept of a “dacha” or Soviet-era summer home always intrigued me. While my family has taken multiple vacations during which we stayed in cabins in Indiana or the Great Smoky Mountains, we—like most Americans—were happy to return to our permanent home. Yet […]

Новодевичье Кладбище/ Novodevichy Cemetery Лужнецкий пр., метро Спортивная 9am-5pm Admission free Novodevichy Cemetery is one of my favorite places in Moscow, and what luck that it is absolutely free to visit! I have personally been there three times during my two stays in the city. Located next to Novodevichy Monastery, the this cemetery is the […]

To the reader: These vignettes are a collection of personal essays of my childhood experiences growing up in the former Soviet Union and my later impressions based on travels to Ukraine and to Russia as a college student. Please be aware that since most of my childhood was spent in the Ukrainian SSR while it […]

In Kiev store signs and street markings are in Ukrainian, and although I could still read all of them, half the time, I could not understand what they meant. The drive from Borispol airport to T. Clara’s apartment deep inside Kiev was speedy, thanks to our driver who traveled well over the km/hr speed limit. […]