Skip to main content

Coming soon to every city in Russia: deadly stunts with a rag

    

Marina's photo of Spring Tomsk

Today I showed my husband an Instagram video of a young woman cleaning windows by literally stepping outside… on the fifth floor.

Well, it’s actually a well-known tradition to clean your home in Spring. And Easter is almost like a due date. There’s also a specific day - Clean Thursday—the Thursday before Easter. I don’t know the full history behind it, but the idea is simple: you clean and wash as much as you can on that day.

For some families, washing windows is an obsession: regularly in spring and autumn; it doesn't  matter on what floor your apartment is. Of course, not every woman does this, but many still do—I was one of them. I lived on the 8th floor, and I used to make sure to lock my apartment door with a key, not just a bolt (in case I wouldn’t be able to open it from the inside).

To be honest, I did this for about 5–6 years. Then we installed modern plastic windows that open inward, which made the whole process much safer and easier.

However, going back to Instagram video. The girl was pretty confident in doing what she was doing. Daniel was shocked. But I went to read the comments—honestly, they were quite  entertaining. One person mentioned he’s a paramedic in emergency services and had just responded to a call where a woman fell from a 7th-floor apartment and died. That part wasn’t funny at all, of course. 

Honestly, if you’re ever a little bored, create an Instagram account. There are so many funny videos about life in Russia. One popular trend right now is spring in the city—people post videos of streets that are less “walkable” and more “swimmable,” and then ask viewers to guess which city it is.

BTW, Instagram, YouTube, and FB - along with many other internet social media - are prohibited in Russia. That, in my opinion, makes all the Russian videos even more valuable. 

I am posting a few screenshots and links to bloggers that posted those reals on Instagram. 







Links to the videos:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Where Are You From? A Question I Know Well

  If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “Where are you from?” — well, I could probably buy a nice little shelf of new books for the library. But time changed, and I changed with it. Before, I would’ve answered right away. Now, I’m more cautious — sometimes even a bit playful — and ask back, “Why?”. Recently, a gentleman on the phone told me that his question (about the accent) was a compliment. “Oh, well… I’m from Russia,” I said. But in my head I thought, Come on, dude, from what planet are you? I’ve been living in the New Bedford area for almost 12 years. I’ve been working at the library for nearly 10 years. And you’ve never heard of the Russian librarian? (Well, technically I am not a real librarian, just a library assistant, but a good one). Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of Russians here. All are good people with families, friends, and jobs. But somehow it feels like I’m the one who’s most “publicly present.”  Working at the library, I meet so many pe...

Four days and Three nights of Vacation in Vermont

  I love going on vacation, but I love coming back even more. I'll tell you about the most remarkable activities for me. I will try briefly… We spent one night out of 3 in a tent. (We actually planned to have 2 nights in a tent, but the weather decided for us).  We visited Sugarbush Farm and Billings Farm & Museum, stopped at a store selling sheds and cottages, looked at the cider production process (Woods cider Mill), met with a representative of the company that will drill a well on our site, and asked questions to city officials.  And, of course, we admired the beauty of the season. It’s a pity that we couldn’t stop on the highway for photography.  At this time of the year, tourists travel to Vermont and New Hampshire specifically to admire the foliage. Daniel heard about the town of Woodstock even before the vacation. Therefore, we began to look for sights that can be seen there. As the first attraction, Google gave us The Sugarbush Farm. Google says: “ Rural...

Old New Year

  Do you know what day is today (Jan 13)?  Russians celebrate the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14. How did it happen that Russians celebrate the New Year twice?  Simply by adopting a different calendar. Of course, it was not really simple, but after the October Revolution (1917), the Bolsheviks switched from the Julian calendar to Gregorian one. Because of this, all the dates moved 13 days ahead. The year 1919 began on January 1st but in accordance with the new Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar was 2 weeks behind the Gregorian one, as a result of which the celebration of the new year was postponed from January 14th to January 1st. The Old New year isn't an official holiday. There are definitely no people who would remember the old calendar. Russians, by definition, like to celebrate holidays. The more reasons to celebrate, the better. The Old New Year is usually less festive. There may be no more gifts under the tree.  Many Russians will wait until t...