Marina – the Russian friend

There are so many people in Russia with the same name and sometimes it is just really confusing saving phone numbers. I have to name them Marina Moscow, Marina Petrozavodsk, Marina Moscow Teacher, Marina Petrozavodsk Teacher etc.And if you say “Marina!” on the streets , the chances of 5 heads turning to respond to you is quite high.

On the train to Murmansk 2 weeks ago, I met a student, my age, from the PSU medical faculty, Marina. My host taught her anatomy during her first year. We met up again last Thursday for a chat. She lives in a small city Kandalaksha up North and only speaks Russian. It’s amazing how she managed to tolerate my consistent grammatically incorrect Russian for 2 hours .Anyway her city is near a beautiful fishing village Varzuga along the coasts of the white sea.( near : means 4 hours by bus/minivan ) Definitely off the beaten track, but the pristine state of nature will be intact. Perhaps if my timetable allows me in June and July, I’ll make a stop in Kandalaksha to visit Marina and the fishing village.

And this time with a better camera!

varzuga
photo from :http://www.kolaflies.com/images/rbrww1.jpg