Hello everyone!
So I've been in Volgograd for about four whole days now and I figured I should probably put up a post on my blog...so here it is:
Since arriving on Friday evening, I haven't done much besides sleep and observe a few classes. But mostly, I've just slept (I'm always tired. Haha. Hopefully that'll begin to fade as I get over the jet lag). Yesterday (Monday) was my first day being at the school. I observed six classes, three individual lessons and three group lessons. Starting next Monday I'll begin teaching the classes I've been observing. The students range from about 12 years old to adults. For the most part, they all seem really nice and eager to learn English. All of the teachers at the school have told me that the students are very grateful and really looking forward to learning English from an American (me). For the rest of the week I'll just be observing more classes and as I said above, I'll start teaching on Monday.
Today (Tuesday) was my day off so I decided to go out and explore the city a bit. It was a pretty chilly day (low 40s) and very windy but I put on my winter coat and decided to brave the elements because as someone told me, it's only going to get colder ;-)
Volgograd is kind of a weird city. It stretches up the west bank of the Volga River and the Russians that I've talked to told me it is about 80 km long (about 50 mi). Wikipedia verified this information. My apartment is located in the Dzerzhinsky District of the city which is about a 20 minute ride on a trolleybus to the Central District. So today I hoped on trolleybus number 15 an took it into the center. From there I walked about 10 minutes to the Stalingrad Panorama Museum. The museum is dedicated to the siege of Stalingrad . On the grounds of the museum stands the only building that survived the battle. Yes, out of all of the hundreds of thousands of buildings that were in Stalingrad before WWII only one building was left standing after the war had ended (also, one wall of another building was still standing). The museum was closed but the grounds had many cool military artifacts from the war (see pictures below).
From the museum I walked to the metro station to go out to Mamayev Kurgan. [A quick note, the Volgograd Metro is a bit of a joke among the city's citizens. It is nothing like the metros of Moscow or St. Petersburg. But it only costs 10 rubles per ride (about $0.33) and you never have to wait long for the next train to arrive, so it isn't that bad] Anyways, Mamayev Kurgan, for those of you who didn't click on the Wikipedia link, is a big hill in the center of the city. Actually, it is the highest point of the entire city and was a main focus for both Soviet and German troops during the battle. Located on the hill is a statue called The Motherland Calls. It was constructed as a memorial to the battle. It is absolutely H U G E!!!! Like almost as big as the Statue of Liberty including its platform. Anyways, also located on Mamayev Kurgan is a 'monument' (for lack of a better word) that houses the eternal flame for all those who died during the siege. Some of the most famous soldiers from the battle are also buried on the hill and there are numerous smaller statues as well as a couple of man-made reflection pools. It is a very pretty setup and from the top of the hill you can see most, if not all, of the city.
Well that does it for my spiel about Volgograd. Below are some pictures and captions so you can know exactly what you are looking at. Enjoy!
So I've been in Volgograd for about four whole days now and I figured I should probably put up a post on my blog...so here it is:
Since arriving on Friday evening, I haven't done much besides sleep and observe a few classes. But mostly, I've just slept (I'm always tired. Haha. Hopefully that'll begin to fade as I get over the jet lag). Yesterday (Monday) was my first day being at the school. I observed six classes, three individual lessons and three group lessons. Starting next Monday I'll begin teaching the classes I've been observing. The students range from about 12 years old to adults. For the most part, they all seem really nice and eager to learn English. All of the teachers at the school have told me that the students are very grateful and really looking forward to learning English from an American (me). For the rest of the week I'll just be observing more classes and as I said above, I'll start teaching on Monday.
Today (Tuesday) was my day off so I decided to go out and explore the city a bit. It was a pretty chilly day (low 40s) and very windy but I put on my winter coat and decided to brave the elements because as someone told me, it's only going to get colder ;-)
Volgograd is kind of a weird city. It stretches up the west bank of the Volga River and the Russians that I've talked to told me it is about 80 km long (about 50 mi). Wikipedia verified this information. My apartment is located in the Dzerzhinsky District of the city which is about a 20 minute ride on a trolleybus to the Central District. So today I hoped on trolleybus number 15 an took it into the center. From there I walked about 10 minutes to the Stalingrad Panorama Museum. The museum is dedicated to the siege of Stalingrad . On the grounds of the museum stands the only building that survived the battle. Yes, out of all of the hundreds of thousands of buildings that were in Stalingrad before WWII only one building was left standing after the war had ended (also, one wall of another building was still standing). The museum was closed but the grounds had many cool military artifacts from the war (see pictures below).
From the museum I walked to the metro station to go out to Mamayev Kurgan. [A quick note, the Volgograd Metro is a bit of a joke among the city's citizens. It is nothing like the metros of Moscow or St. Petersburg. But it only costs 10 rubles per ride (about $0.33) and you never have to wait long for the next train to arrive, so it isn't that bad] Anyways, Mamayev Kurgan, for those of you who didn't click on the Wikipedia link, is a big hill in the center of the city. Actually, it is the highest point of the entire city and was a main focus for both Soviet and German troops during the battle. Located on the hill is a statue called The Motherland Calls. It was constructed as a memorial to the battle. It is absolutely H U G E!!!! Like almost as big as the Statue of Liberty including its platform. Anyways, also located on Mamayev Kurgan is a 'monument' (for lack of a better word) that houses the eternal flame for all those who died during the siege. Some of the most famous soldiers from the battle are also buried on the hill and there are numerous smaller statues as well as a couple of man-made reflection pools. It is a very pretty setup and from the top of the hill you can see most, if not all, of the city.
Well that does it for my spiel about Volgograd. Below are some pictures and captions so you can know exactly what you are looking at. Enjoy!
First, here are some pictures from the grounds of the Museum.
Here is the lone building from siege. It was a steam mill.
Another view.
Here is a close up of one of the walls. You're probably wondering what all those small holes are in the bricks...they're bullet holes!
One of the planes located on the grounds.
A tank. Written on it is "For Stalingrad"
This is an actual tank that was in the battle. As you can see it was completely mangled and destroyed.
Here is a train that was used to move Soviet soldiers into the city.
Here is one of the train cars that carried the soldiers.
The other side of the steam mill, along with some tanks on the wall and an awesome Lada taxi.
Here is the other wall that survived the siege.
And now onto Mamyev Kurgan...
This is the "Wall of Sadness"
The first of many stairs on the way to the statue. It says "For our Soviet Motherland! USSR!" You can see the top of the sword.
The walkway up to the statue. See I told you it was big!
A statue called "The Strong Man"
Walking up more stairs. The next three pictures are of the walls on either side of these stairs.
You can see many things carved into the wall. Including, but not limited to: soldiers, women's faces, guns and of course Lenin in the top right.
A close up of some soldiers on the wall.
"Everything for the Front. Everything for Victory"
A great view of The Motherland Calls along with the reflection pool. The next three pictures are of statues that are on the right side of the pool.
The eternal flame of glory. All of those dark rectangles on the wall list all of the soldiers that died during the siege. (See next photo)
List of the deceased soldiers
A monument called "The Weeping Mother"
Ahhh, The Motherland Calls
As I said above, many of the most famous soldiers from the siege are buried on Mamayev Kurgan. Here is the grave of Vasily Zaitsev. Now if you're thinking "hey that name sounds kinda familiar" it's because there is a movie about him called "Enemy at the Gates" starring Jude Law. He (Vasily, not Jude) was a Soviet Sniper who killed 225 German soldiers during the siege. The grave says "Hero of the Soviet Union / Sniper / Zaitsev Vasily Grigoryevich / UNDYING GLORY"
A view of the factories and some other buildings. Note all of the smoke stacks.
Again, this statue is large.
Your's truly with the statue in the background. I was just jamming to some tunes while touring. Ha
Here is the grave of Vasily Chuikov (this name probably doesn't ring a bell for many of you). He was the Soviet Commanding Officer for the siege.
Another view of the eternal flame along with the names on the wall. Also, you can see the top of The Motherland Calls through the hole in the ceiling.
And now for your viewing pleasure, I've decided to include some pictures of my apartment :-)
This is the first of two doors leading to my apartment. Also, I guess it would be worth noting that I live on the 9th and top floor; however, the elevator in my building was only built to go up to the 8th floor. So I have to take the elevator up to the 8th and then walk up a flight of stairs to get the 9th floor. Also worth noting, the elevator is by far the most terrifying contraption I've ever been in!
Door number two. Mine is the door on the right. I have not met my neighbors yet.
The foyer, complete with chandelier
The bathroom part A. This has the sink, shower/tub and the washing machine
The bathroom part B. Basically a closet with a toilet
The kitchen
My bedroom (please excuse the mess, mom and dad!)
The balcony located right off of my bedroom
The view from my balcony to the east
...and the view to the west
So here is a picture of my keys (with cell phone for size comparison)
And finally, a picture of the man who sells whole, freshly caught fish out of his van in front of my apartment. Apparently he has some customers. See, I told you I was not making this up!
Well, I guess that is it for now. Hopefully you enjoyed the photo-tour of Volgograd. Talk to you all soon.
