The biggest aspect I learned is that there are a few critical factors to why Russia is the way it is. I think of these to be: geography, survival, and the origins and history of Russia. One of the coolest parts of the trip was seeing that Russia is not Easter or Western (or at least Moscow). Whether it be geographic, political, or religions, the country is based off of survival and the preservation of the past. Starting with Stalin, Russia wanted to become a dominant, powerful country, and they have. Starting with Stalin, the history also reflects what the world thinks of them today.
It is interesting because part of Russia’s culture is that the people are very stern and solemn. I believe this is because of the political consequences it has endured. How people gain power in Russia is different than us; starting with Stalin who outsmarted, killed, and manipulated to get into totalitarian rule, power is something that is obtained through cheating the system and a different type of intelligence is encouraged. If society is corrupt inherently, society needs to all be corrupt to survive.
Russia is a very conservative country. Religious is embraced and people dress well and want to represent themselves nicely, with traditional values. Tradition is also intertwined with history- which makes sense.
This trip helped me to find what I really want to accomplish. While many were confused why I went, it forced me to come up with a good answer. I want to do counterterrorism- not a field that many suspects or thinks a girl majoring in psychology could do. But the reason I want to travel the world to learn about history and different places, is because if you want to understand people, you must understand their culture first. I believe the only way to stop terrorism is to understand why people turn to it in the first place, and you can only understand people by learning about where they lived. In the United States, especially in my psychology classes, they teach things through the lens of an American. “Americans do this to ___”, “Americans do this because ____”. I want to learn why others are motivated to do this. Going to Russia helped me understand exactly why I want to learn about others and travel the world.
After this trip, there is so much more I want to learn. Russia being really important to national security, it is so interesting to see how we are both so similar and different. Maybe by understanding these, it can help the relationships and politics between our countries.
exploration
Inside the Kremlin
live music
The Maslenitsa Festival
Cathedral Selfies
Saint Basil’s Cathedral