Not by Bread Alone: Social Support in the New Russia

1. Transnational Soup

1 cha pter 1 Transnational Soup No matter the time of year, mornings are busy in Moscow. From the center to the outskirts of the city, subways and buses are crammed with jostling passengers on their way to work, school, and the markets. Although there is a certain homogeneity to the morning commute all across Moscow, the specific stories that are related in this book converge at the Park Kul’tury (Culture Park) metro station (figure 1), centrally located just a few stops from the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theater, and Moscow State University. During rush hour, the train cars that arrive at Park Kul’tury are packed so tightly that it is impossible to hang on to the railings; commuters are kept upright simply because there is no room to move. When the train stops, the doors open, expelling an anonymous mass of bodies. The crowd moves as one, along the platform and up the long, packed escalators to the single set of exit doors that lead to the street. Just outside, young women hover expectantly, thrusting flyers describing offerings such as English lessons, fur coats, and trips to Greece and Egypt into the faces of commuters. Finally, the crowd dissipates as Muscovites break away and head toward their respective destinations. Along the sidewalks and underground walkways that tunnel beneath the busy Moscow streets at Park Kul’tury, store clerks busily open their shop doors. Vendors unroll the flaps of their stalls, unload wares off the backs of trucks, and unpack goods from battered boxes and bags. The aromas of freshly baked bread, roasting pork, and recently picked garlic and dill mingle with exhaust fumes and the smell of stale beer. Even before nine o’clock, customers have already lined up in front of kiosks that offer bread, sausage and other meats, fresh fruit, beer and snacks, ice 2 TR ANSNATIONA L SOUP figure 1. The Park Kul’tury metro station is a busy site as Muscovites stop to shop and visit. cream, lottery tickets, transportation passes, flowers, newspapers, and shoe repair. Under the supervision of imposing security guards, clerks at currency exchange booths post the day’s exchange rate between the ruble and the U.S. dollar. Policemen armed with heavy weapons watch pedestrians walk by and occasionally stop young men to ask them for their documents. During the day it is not unusual to glimpse workers from the nearby circus exercising camels and horses along the side streets. Pedestrians in an underground crosswalk may have to step around paramedics tending to a homeless person who has passed away during the night. In this historic district of Moscow, a neighborhood whose residents have included famous writers, dancers, and politicians and whose landmarks have included military academies, artists’ unions, foreign embassies , and the Park Kul’tury, for which the metro is named, a steady stream of students, faculty, and other visitors make their way from the metro station and bus stops to the Moscow Scientific Institute (a pseudonym ).1 This university, one of the most prestigious centers of higher TR ANSNATIONAL SOUP 3 education in Russia, is located in a squat historic building just blocks away from the Kremlin. Immediately beyond the main doors, two uniformed guards stand duty at a rusty set of turnstiles. They occasionally break from their animated conversation to glance at those who come inside , check entry passes, and answer questions. Inside the hallway that opens off this entry, students huddle in small groups and review their notes, chat with friends, inspect pencil choices at the school supply kiosk, and queue for the automated bank machine in the corner. Posters and flyers announcing upcoming lectures, study trips abroad, and organizational meetings are scattered on the walls, adding touches of color to the otherwise institutional brown that pervades the building. The scents of boiled cabbage, sausage, fresh bread, and coffee waft through the corridors . A scruffy cat darts through the crowd and then disappears down a long hallway. Those who have time before their first class wander toward the cafeteria, stopping along the way to browse at tables covered with books, cosmetics, and (today) slippers that are for sale. Mingling with these fashionably attired and coiffed young people and conservatively dressed faculty are members of another group of Moscow residents. The composition of this group is more mixed, reflecting the vast experiential diversity that both separates and unites them. Most of these...