Irkutsk had some of the most amazing graffiti I've ever seen. When Dima showed us around the city we saw some great work. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to take pictures of what we saw when we first arrived but the trip wasn't all a loss.
Dima also showed us a spot in the middle of an apartment complex where someone had drawn the alphabet to help their children learn. He quizzed Katherine on the letters, but I still can't speak Russian, so I only knew one or two words. I really recommend meeting up with locals when you travel because you'll see things you'll probably never see if you go on your own.
Have I convinced you to like graffiti yet?
Um, YES :) Convinced. And that giant eye is really something!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of respect for Russia's literacy rate. For as many problems as the country has, they do an amazing job with teaching people to read and write. Through my outsider's eyes, it's created this special environment where it's common to do things like paint the alphabet on apartment buildings (saw this in Ukraine a lot too). Can you imagine that happening in the US? And it's also given rise to a culture where "безграмотный" (illiterate) is what you say when you want to seriously talk trash about someone.
By the way, is your school not giving you Russian lessons? It seems like a lot of schools that hire native speakers offer some vaguely-worded promises of lessons...
I just wish their schools taught them critical thinking. It's something the country as a whole lacks, a product of communism I suppose.
DeleteNo. I've asked my director several times if he could give me information. He always promised to but didn't. I was seeing a private tutor once a week, and I progressed a little, but he needed to stop for the summer. I can't really afford anything though.