The following was written by Caroline Barrow, a former SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar now working in Kazakhstan. Through an acquaintance there, she was invited to a traditional Russian funeral lunch – and shares her experience here. Each culture has its own way of honoring those who have left this world. Russians do this in […]

Like the soft, meringue-filled candy on which it was based, bird’s milk cake (торт «Птичье молоко») consists mostly of filling. Thick but exceptionally airy layers of soufflé are separated by thin, fluffy slabs of cake, and the whole confection is covered in chocolate glaze. The cake’s fantastical name, connoting rare and wonderful luxury, is fitting. […]

An eye doctor is called an “окулист” or “офтальмолог” in Russian, or, sometimes and informally, a “глазной врач.” While the word оптика (ophthalmologic optics) is a common name for an eyeglass store in Russia, there is no exact Russian equivalent to the English word “optometrist,” which can be loosely translated as специалист по подбору очков. […]

St. Petersburg abounds in museums, historic sites, and places that appear in Russian literature. At the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, there is one more unique way to experience history – by visiting the final resting place of some of the city’s greatest names. Located next to the monastery are four cemeteries – Lezarevskoe, Tikhvinskoe, Nikolskoe, and […]

According to the All-Russian 2010 census, Russia is inhabited by speakers of more than 150 different languages. Most of these various languages can be divided into four language families: Altai, Indo-European, North Caucasian, and Uralic. The languages of some native populations of Russia amaze international experts with their complexity. Some dialects have similar features, while […]

This resource is intended to serve as a map for the Russian labor market both in terms of official and unofficial labor practices and with general commentary on perspectives of these labor practices as taken from both the employee and employer. We have also tried to provide, wherever possible, commentary on Russian terminology and slang […]

10:17pm sunsets and 3:30am sunrises. That was my initial description of St. Petersburg when friends and family asked how my study abroad experience is going. The 18 hours of daily sunlight that mark St. Petersburg’s “White Nights” are nature’s gift to the northern city that is Russia’s cultural capital. Though the sun sets at around […]

The Village is a Russian-language publication in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev that seeks to inform locals about their various cities, their upcoming events, changes, and history. The following are two interesting entries from a series of short articles geared to answer the “strangest questions about city life” in the cities covered by the publication. […]

Russian has many sayings and expressions that revolve around Moscow and places within or near Moscow. The most famous for foreigners is probably “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears,” but there are many others such as “to yell to the whole of Ivanovskaya” and examples that might not seem to refer to a specific place […]

The following information originally appeared as part of a longer article on The Village, a Russian-language lifestyle publication.  It has been adapted by SRAS and translated here by SRAS intern Mae Liou.   Gerda, a professional Russian wedding emcee: People often ask me about this, so for some time now I’ve been aware of several […]

The Armenian Temple Complex is a collection of buildings in the north side of Moscow. The large 500-meter-long square property contains an Armenian restaurant, a community center, a collection of various monuments, a museum, and the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral – the largest Armenian Apostolic Church outside of Armenia. The complex was designed to be a […]

Kvass (Квас) is sometimes referred to as “bread drink” or even “bread cider” in English. We recommend just sticking with the word “kvass,” though. Brewed from black or rye bread, the drink may come with a range of consistencies similar to those found in beer and a distinctly “bready” taste. The first recorded mention of […]