Добро пожаловать
This blog might otherwise be titled Confessions of a Russoholic, because it reveals my impressions, observations, and opinions formed over decades of travel in the former Soviet Union. Part-travelogue, part-memoir, the blog aims to convince you to glance past the bleak headlines that dominate reporting on Russia and take a look at some things that never make the news.
Looking for Something Specific?
Please utilize the search function or the site archive listed below.
-
Arkhyz
8
- Dec 27, 2015 Lunch in the Caucasus
- Dec 24, 2015 The Special Astrophysical Observatory
- Dec 15, 2015 The Wheels on the Bus
- Nov 30, 2015 The Conference begins...
- Nov 22, 2015 First night in Stavropol
- Nov 8, 2015 The triumph of Sharif's photo session
- Nov 8, 2015 Don't try to make Sonoran dogs in Moscow
- Nov 3, 2015 October means back to Moscow
-
BAM & Baikal
16
- Mar 7, 2013 Moscow is old hat to me
- Mar 5, 2013 Best day maybe ever
- Mar 4, 2013 Back in the USSR
- Mar 2, 2013 The amazing Dusya
- Mar 1, 2013 Ulan Ude
- Feb 28, 2013 Yes, I'm in SIberia but what I really needed was a bikini
- Feb 25, 2013 First walk to Baikal
- Feb 25, 2013 Goudzhekit
- Feb 25, 2013 Arrival to Severobaikal'sk
- Feb 23, 2013 Tynda!
- Feb 22, 2013 Komsomolsk and first day on the BAM
- Feb 21, 2013 Komsomolsk-on-Amur famous
- Feb 21, 2013 Sunrise in Komsomolsk
- Feb 20, 2013 First day in Komsomolsk na Amure
- Feb 20, 2013 Khabarovsk summary
- Feb 16, 2013 Planned route-- east to west
-
Belgorod
5
- Jun 19, 2017 Saudade in Belgorod
- May 27, 2017 Belgorod: What I miss now and what I will miss later
- Dec 22, 2016 Belgorod vs. Tucson
- Oct 5, 2016 A little more about Belgorod
- Sep 8, 2016 Belgorod the Beautiful
-
Conference Season
4
- Nov 27, 2016 Oh, those Russians!
- Nov 26, 2016 A day without Russians
- Nov 21, 2016 Detour to Hanoi
- Nov 10, 2016 Politicians never listen
-
Crimea
5
- Apr 21, 2017 Yalta
- Apr 17, 2017 Sevastopol
- Apr 16, 2017 Balaklava-- not the knit mask
- Apr 3, 2017 Apparently I knew nothing about Crimea
- Mar 30, 2017 Shhh...I'm not sure I'm supposed to be here
-
Life & Culture
19
- Feb 26, 2022 НЕТ ВОЙНЕ
- Apr 26, 2018 Novuss
- Apr 15, 2018 "Aeroflot is always exciting!"
- Nov 12, 2017 Tucson could be a little more like Belgorod
- Dec 22, 2016 Belgorod vs. Tucson
- Dec 7, 2016 We are what we eat
- Nov 27, 2016 Oh, those Russians!
- Sep 27, 2016 Russian Internet Dating
- Jan 30, 2016 Medovik|Медовик
- Nov 8, 2015 Don't try to make Sonoran dogs in Moscow
- Nov 3, 2015 To be continued...
- Sep 27, 2015 TASS is authorized to declare....
- Sep 26, 2015 Are Russians Friendly?
- Jul 5, 2015 22 Ways Russia was Hipster Before Hipster Was Even a Thing
- May 14, 2015 It will always be better than it has been
- Apr 28, 2015 Rocket to Russia
- Dec 25, 2014 About this blog: 25 of irrational obsession with Russia
- Feb 18, 2013 I've arrived!
- Feb 14, 2013 Most of the way there...
-
Media
3
- Dec 6, 2017 Somehow wound up on TV again
- Feb 22, 2017 Media Roundup
- Jun 18, 2015 Article and a Controversy
-
Moscow
2
- Apr 23, 2018 Moscow's new park
- Dec 3, 2017 This is an odd trip
-
Rachel's Family
16
- Sep 4, 2015 Big Brother Comes to Russia
- Jul 11, 2014 Rich and poor....a day with a theme
- Jul 7, 2014 Peterhof, the Cottage Palace, the metro, and a surprise dessert
- Jul 3, 2014 The Hermitage..and a late night for me
- Jun 23, 2014 Catherine's Palace and Putin's birthday restaurant
- Jun 17, 2014 Tatiana, and other beautiful things
- Jun 11, 2014 To St. Petersburg with some Mozart
- Jun 9, 2014 The Kremlin and, later, dear friends
- Jun 5, 2014 Georgian dinner
- Jun 4, 2014 Victory Day
- Jun 4, 2014 From Tretyakov to Tchaikovsky...
- Jun 1, 2014 Daniel-- extra hands and extra brain
- Jun 1, 2014 Miami to Moscow....finally.
- May 9, 2014 Failing at blogging
- May 3, 2014 Introducing our very special guests
- May 3, 2014 ...and we're back!
-
Rachel's Vitae
1
- Nov 19, 2015 My article in Watermark
-
Russia-Adjacent
5
- May 11, 2017 Up into the Racha mountains
- May 11, 2017 Sights close to Tbilisi
- May 9, 2017 Things I noticed about Georgia
- May 5, 2017 To the west-- Borjomi and farther
- Apr 27, 2017 Welcome to Tbilisi
-
The Fulbright
15
- Jun 19, 2017 Saudade in Belgorod
- May 27, 2017 Belgorod: What I miss now and what I will miss later
- May 15, 2017 The cheerful cow
- Mar 30, 2017 Winter-- it's no joke
- Feb 21, 2017 Hanging with the Babushki
- Jan 11, 2017 I followed the Moskva down to Gorky Park
- Dec 22, 2016 Belgorod vs. Tucson
- Oct 24, 2016 Always say yes
- Oct 23, 2016 30 years of sacrifice
- Oct 15, 2016 За Грибами
- Oct 5, 2016 A little more about Belgorod
- Sep 27, 2016 What my days are like so far
- Sep 12, 2016 Parkovaya 5
- Sep 8, 2016 Belgorod the Beautiful
- Aug 10, 2016 Some unavoidable politics
-
Ufa
8
- Apr 3, 2016 You might be a diplomat if...
- Mar 20, 2016 On The Town!
- Mar 11, 2016 Being an American Kid in a Foreign Country
- Feb 29, 2016 Ufa, Old and New
- Feb 28, 2016 An American, a Chechen, a gay Uzbek, and an Old Believer walk into a palace...
- Feb 22, 2016 My Tatar neighborhood
- Feb 22, 2016 Friendship of Peoples
- Feb 17, 2016 A Visit to the Moscow Asylum Office
-
Volga Volga!
16
- Nov 28, 2014 Back to Moscow and saying goodbye
- Nov 28, 2014 Leaving Razdolye and "tour" of Yoshkar-Ola
- Nov 27, 2014 Razdolye Part 2
- Nov 23, 2014 Razdolye Part 1
- Nov 21, 2014 An afternoon in Chuvashia
- Nov 21, 2014 How's that mid-life crisis going?
- Nov 19, 2014 A fucked-up travel day that was entirely my fault
- Nov 18, 2014 Kazan is BOOMING!
- Nov 16, 2014 Three sweaty, smelly men
- Nov 14, 2014 Saratov: delightful City of Nerds
- Nov 14, 2014 Wednesday afternoon
- Nov 12, 2014 "Everyone needs to be proud of something"--Andrei
- Nov 7, 2014 The Irony Museum
- Nov 6, 2014 The Russian Academy of Sciences
- Nov 3, 2014 Arrived...exhausted...amused.
- Oct 31, 2014 Why are you going to Russia in November?
-
Working Girl
9
- Apr 1, 2015 Wrapping things up
- Apr 1, 2015 International Women's Day
- Mar 29, 2015 Everyone has to pee somewhere
- Mar 27, 2015 The almighty test of the rental kitchen…
- Mar 20, 2015 The murder that shook the world, at least for a few days
- Mar 20, 2015 Girls and pies
- Mar 18, 2015 Doing everything in one day
- Mar 17, 2015 Getting comfortable
- Feb 22, 2015 Auspicious start! Sort of.
Rachel Wilson is an immigration lawyer from Tucson, Arizona.
A child of the Cold War, she took her first trip to the Soviet Union as a high schooler in 1990 and has been visiting Russia regularly ever since. She is fluent in Russian and holds a Master’s Degree in Russian and Slavic Studies. In 2016, she was awarded a Fulbright to teach and research legal issues in Belgorod. Due to COVID and the security situation, she has not visited Russia since 2019 but remains hopeful that peace will soon prevail. Like a gay cowboy in Wyoming, she just can’t quit the place.