From Russia With Love
| August 31, 2017 |
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Five Loyola School of Communication film students got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Russia to collaborate on a documentary about Chicago and Moscow with Russian students from Moscow鈥檚 Institute of Contemporary Art. The project was funded by the Eurasia Foundation, allowing both Loyola and ICA students to travel to each other鈥檚 countries at virtually no cost.
Before I even came to Loyola, I always dreamed of studying abroad. But as my junior year was drawing to a close and I had yet to travel abroad, I was getting anxious. So when my Video Documentary professor, John Goheen said, 鈥淲e have a grant to go to Moscow and collaborate on a documentary. Do you wanna go?鈥� I responded, 鈥淔ree trip to Russia? Sign me up.鈥�
The location was not a typical Loyola study abroad destination, but it was abroad, wasn鈥檛 it? And opportunities like this rarely just fall into your lap; it was truly a right place, right time situation. I was excited for the chance to travel and to continue working on a project I鈥檇 spent the whole semester on. It wasn鈥檛 until I started telling my family and friends about the trip that the location became more significant. I had, of course, heard the buzz surrounding Russia in the news, but wasn鈥檛 concerned about my own travels once Professor Goheen reassured me it was perfectly safe.
But nonetheless, when I would tell friends I was headed to Moscow, the responses ranged from, 鈥淎re you going to uncover election hacking?鈥� to, 鈥淎ren鈥檛 you worried about the Russian mafia?鈥� (For the record, no definitely not, and well, I wasn鈥檛 until you brought it up.) My excitement turned to apprehension as I soaked in everyone else鈥檚 concern. Honestly, by the time I boarded the plane, I was truly nervous about what I had gotten myself into.
As soon as we landed I was grateful to find I was proven completely wrong. The stereotypes I鈥檇 been fed were just that, stereotypes. Moscow is a beautiful, vibrant, historic city and it welcomed us with open arms. With few exceptions, the people we encountered were kind, generous and helpful. One day we were out filming in the park when a police officer approached us. Initially, I was concerned we would be thrown out. He came over and said, 鈥淐an I help you all find something? If you鈥檙e looking for nice things to film there鈥檚 a historical reenactment over there.鈥�
Our hosts, though, truly went above and beyond the call of duty to make us feel welcome and share their city with us. We got to sommerkart (scooter) down the river walk, ate potatoes in every conceivable way they could be prepared, and danced with babushkas in the park.
We certainly got to have some fun playing tourists, but we were there to work. This is where we encountered difficulties I hadn鈥檛 anticipated. As anyone who has ever done a group project can attest, working with others can be hard, and the more opinions you have the harder it is to find consensus. So you could imagine that with six of us and nearly fifteen of them, deciding on a direction for the film took a lot of back and forth. We were there to participate in a cultural exchange, but at our first meeting, the only thing that seemed to be exchanged was exasperated sighs from both sides.
What became symbolic of this gap in understanding because of cultural, language, and personal differences was this 鈥淩ussian specialty food.鈥� One of the Russian students, Misha, would tell us, 鈥淵ou must try a special Russian food, it鈥檚 green and crunchy.鈥� 鈥淚s it green beans?鈥� we would ask. 鈥淣o, not that,鈥� Misha would say, 鈥渓ike cucumber, but sour.鈥� 鈥淥h, so a pickle,鈥� we realized. 鈥淣o, no. It鈥檚 a cucumber, just sour.鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pickle,鈥� we鈥檇 respond. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what is pickle, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 that.鈥�
We鈥檇 go in circles like this, both trying to help the other understand, but lacking the capacity to fully communicate what we meant. It was frustrating on both sides because we both honestly wanted to learn, but there was so much to overcome just to have a simple conversation. So eventually we鈥檇 half-heartedly smile and say, 鈥淚t鈥檚 okay, it doesn鈥檛 really matter.鈥�
Filming and conversing was much the same, slow and sometimes frustrating, but we eventually made progress. The earnest curiosity to learn about each other鈥檚 countries is what kept us talking, pausing to translate, and asking again.
We covered many topics, from pop music to skyscrapers. While most of the conversations were lighthearted, given the buzz, we couldn鈥檛 help but ask, 鈥淪o what鈥檚 the deal with Putin?鈥� Putting personal politics aside, one very enlightening thing came out of that conversation. Misha said to me, 鈥淲e love your country; we think it is so beautiful. Your government is so beautiful and you have all these freedoms, you are so lucky.鈥� I nearly did a spit take, 鈥淗a! You must be joking.鈥� 鈥淣o, no, we are serious. We know nowhere is perfect, but you don鈥檛 realize how lucky you are. You can speak out, protest, impeach, we don鈥檛 have any of that.鈥�
I was taken aback, but he was absolutely right. In the current political climate, you won鈥檛 find many raving about the 鈥渂eauty鈥� of our government, but I think we all need to be reminded of the immense privilege we possess as Americans. We are not perfect, not even close. But the perspective I was given reminded me that we at least have the opportunity to change things if we don鈥檛 like them. It was those small moments of understanding that fulfilled the purpose of our trip.
Slowly, but surely we came to understand each other better. We found points of common ground, shared our culture with them, and got back what we gave tenfold. They taught us how to say 鈥淚 love you鈥� in Russian, which sounds like 鈥測ellow blue bus鈥� if you say it fast. We taught them that Americans don鈥檛 really eat hamburgers every day. And we made plans for all the places we鈥檇 take our newfound friends when they were to come to Chicago (they came for a week in late July).
By the end of the week, a real bond was forged, one that extended beyond any cultural divide. We learned in the end that we all live, as the Russians say, 鈥�under one sky,鈥� the title of our upcoming film.
And on our final night in Moscow I finally got to try the 鈥楻ussian specialty food鈥� Misha talked about. It was a pickle.
