Somehow in the course of a week, summer arrived here. Last week the children were still wearing jackets, and this week the shorts are out! That is a big deal here in the Russian Far East, where the temps amazingly are up to 100 degrees greater (F) than they were in the height of the winter. Already the abundant weeds and fewer flowers are everywhere, and the mosquitos are beginning to come out of hiding. The Russians are busy working on their dachas, planting their vegetable gardens, and generally enjoying their respite from the cold. In case you don't know what a dacha is, it is an old Russian tradition. Almost all families have one, however humble it might be. From what I have read, somewhere around 70% of Russians live in cities. Historically Russian peasants were actually gathered and forced into the cities to work in industries. Since they were made to live in the cities in tall, concrete apartment buildings, they did not become city dwellers of their own choosing. So today you will discover that their way of doing things is not really any different than their fore bearers, and the city-dwellers are basically still villagers at heart.
This carries over into so many aspects of their life. Russian families grow the majority of their produce and eat off their land. Many store their beets and onions in underground cellars in the city to last them throughout the harsh winter months. You may say that many city or suburb-dwelling Americans have gardens also. But here is where they differ. When you go into the grocery stores & markets during the winter months in Russia, it is difficult if not impossible to find decent fresh produce. They don't have it. You can find more nowadays from China but it is not always fresh, and you can be sure it isn't organic but is loaded with chemicals. When summer arrives, however, the outdoor markets will be full of homegrown, seasonal, organic produce of all varieties. Americans have become accustomed to eating what we want when we want it. You can go into Wal-mart and buy fresh strawberries, lettuce, or green beans any day of the year. Not so here where they eat much more seasonally. In the winter, they eat a lot more root vegetables and pickled vegetables that they have stored up during the harvest. We were recently invited to our friend's dacha, and it was a very interesting experience. It is remarkable how they have passed down this way of life from generation to generation with very little changing, almost Amish-like. In fact the only real difference is that there is an electric light and portable stove for heating water inside. 100 years ago there would just have been a coal stove. The dacha garden and all it entails is not just a summer hobby for them, but woven into the very culture of their people. So much so that they congratulate each other on the opening of the dacha season (somewhere around May 1) and store gear their advertisements toward this season. Last week I walked into the "Wal-mart" of Khabarovsk and found large bags of potatoes for sale at the entrance of the store - only they were seed potatoes for planting. It was even the subject of part of the sermon we heard last Sunday rebuking those that would spend their Sundays at their dacha instead of at church worshiping. Kind of ironic since the ones that were at their dacha weren't at church to hear that message. Aside from the fact that the ground is frozen and one cannot plant until May, the roads are so bad that a car or bus could not get to most dachas during the winter months. Nowadays there are more and more Russians who are able to spend money on a cottage with running water, toilet, and heat, so that they can stay year-round at their country home. But no so with the average Russian family. I suspect that this is more true in Western Russia near Moscow.
