6/13: Lenin's tomb, Final Exam, Fulbright Center, and Swan Lake

Lenin's Mausoleum

We woke up early this morning to see Lenin's tomb before all of the Oriental tourists arrived (not kidding, they're everywhere in Russia). The display of Lenin's body has been a heated political issue in Russian politics since his death in 1924. He requested to be buried in St. Petersburg with his family, but the peasants wanted his body to be on display to worship the leader of the revolution. Stalin built a wooden imperial-style tomb for his "comrade" and had his body preserved and put on display for the world to see. Several Soviet leaders believed that science would reach a point to revive the dead, and wanted his body preserved in hopes of returning their glorious leader to life. Scientists have even dissected and studied Lenin's brain to find the source of his genius. In recent years, many prominent anti-Communists such as Yeltsin have called for his body to be buried, while the still-powerful communist lobby wants his tomb to remain in Red Square next to the Kremlin. In the Moscow Times, Putin's Culture Minister called for the body to be buried, but anyone can still see the corpse today free of charge. We thought it would be a good idea to see the rotting thing while we still had the chance.

Lenin's Body

Security at Lenin's tomb was tougher than it was at the Kremlin. No cameras were allowed in the tomb and we had to pass through a medal detector with security guards watching our every move each step of the way. If we stopped to wait for the rest of the group, we were yelled at by then guards. When we were inside the tomb, I began to speak, but was loudly shushed by a guard. The tomb was very dark. I was afraid I was going to trip, because I was unable to see the person in front of me or the walls on either side. We passed through to a red, ominous room that was lit by a single light, showing the upper half of Lenin's body (the lower half was wrapped in a red blanket). He looked like a wax figuring more than a human being. His skin was smooth and more perfect than humanly possible, his beard was well-trimmed, and his body was so shiny that the light seemed to bounce off of it. Lenin was shorter than I expected (he was only 5'5") and his face was completely expressionless. I could only see the body for thirty seconds before being yelled at by the guards to hurry up, but the impressions I got from it were crystal clear. Outside of the tomb were the grave sites of famous Soviet leaders. The likes of John Reed, General Zhukov, Yuri Andropov, Leonid Brezhnev, and Joseph Stalin were buried here. Stalin's grave site was less pronounced than I thought it would be. He sat between Andropov and another Soviet leader that I didn't know. All that was there was a coffin and a simple stone statue that bore the head of the infamous dictator. Two flowers sat atop the coffin, probably placed there by the officials who ran the tomb. Passing by some more graves, we exited the area, bypassed the Oriental tourists, and headed back to the metro station, taking in what we had just experienced.

On the metro, we hurriedly studied for our final exam. I had been filling my spare time by reading my notes for the past week or so. We were all worried about the final, because most of us had taken Dr. Goeckel's classes before and knew of his reputation for giving challenging tests. The final wasn't as difficult as we imagined; however. I recited some basic knowledge about Russian history, politics, and culture and that was that. After the final, Olga said goodbye to us and presented us each with a certificate acknowledging our completion of courses at Moscow State University.

We met with a Fulbright officer to promote SUNY and discuss the program. Fulbright sends tons of students and professors to various colleges free of charge. It would be an interesting opportunity to have, but the program lasts a full year. That's a long time to be away from home.

Scene from Swan Lake

Our last activity of the trip was to see Swan Lake. The story is about a girl, Odette, who falls in love with Prince Siegfried. Odette is cursed by a sorcerer to become a swan by day and a woman by night. The sorcerer also disguises his own daughter, Odile, and fools Siegfried into thinking that Odile is actually Odette. The story ends when Siegfried asks Odile to marry him, Odette dies of sadness, and Siegfried and the sorcerer are both killed in a dual with each other. The music was written by Tchaikovsky. Despite my prejudices, I really enjoyed the ballet. No talking took place in the entire show, leaving the uncultured viewer (me) to understand what is going on in the story. The music was lively and strong; however, and the dancing was excellent. I left the ballet a happy camper.

In the hotel, I packed up my things and stayed up until 7:00 AM so that I would be tired enough to sleep on the plane ride home. We took a van to the airport and I played Russian-themed American music from my laptop. Selections included Fiddler on the Roof, Anastasia, and "Moscow" (a really catchy and culturally offensive song about Russian stereotypes performed by a group of German singers). Tired from staying up, I began to nod off while "Once Upon a December" was playing. I don't know how many people are familiar with my song, but I guess that I'll end my blog by saying that Russia will always remain across my memory.