The Dangerous Life

I know many people back home are worried that Russia is a dangerous place, especially with the recent attacks at Domodedovo.  Living in Voronezh, however, I usually feel quite safe.  My friends always make sure to walk me back to my apartment at night, for example,  and I’ve never felt unsafe the way I sometimes did walking around late at night in New Haven.  As the winter wears on, I have started to feel unsafe in ways that I would not have expected.

1. Treacherous Icewalks. I know that this isn’t anything new, but this week has been especially bad because we had a few warm days when everything turned into slush before the weather got really cold again and all the slush turned into ice.  It’s much harder to walk on uneven ice-covered sidewalks than I imagined. It requires complete concentration (for me at least, novice).  Eyes remain on the ground two feet in front of me.  Preferred method is reminiscent of a penguin waddle.

2. Icicles, also known as Hanging Daggers of Death. Ok, to be honest, I thought that the whole icicles-falling-and-injuring-people was a bit of an urban legend.  Something Russians liked to tell foreigners, to show how extreme winter is here. So I used my brain, googled the words “icicle death Voronezh” in Russian, and OH MY GOD A WOMAN DIED LAST YEAR WHEN SHE WAS IMPALED BY AN ICICLE.  On the next street over from where I live.  This is so terrible and tragic, she was walking with her pregnant daughter when an icicle fell and mortally wounded her.  Someone else was seriously injured last month when an icicle fell on his head “with the speed of a bullet from a gun”.  Now I’m extra paranoid and trying to look out (up?) all the time for falling ice and I can’t walk under or near buildings.

It takes me twice as long to get anywhere, with all the ice-shuffling and icicle-watching.

3. Falling Ice Blocks. In order to prevent death-by-icicle, most buildings have janitors or people who will go on the roof and basically chop the ice off.  This is good. Except for when you’re walking on the sidewalk and suddenly all around you these huge blocks of ice are falling like bombs.  If you’re not part of the problem, you’re part of another problem.

4. Car Crashes. Unrelated, but when two of my friends were walking me back to my place on Monday, we were waiting to cross the street when an accident happened right in front of us.  In fact, the light had changed and it was our turn to go when a car accelerated through the intersection, running its red light, and smashed into an oncoming car. Ok, so this isn’t as big of a deal, except that if we had started crossing the street when the light changed, either we would have been much closer to the accident or the crazy driver would have crashed into us instead of the other car.  AHH.  Clearly this isn’t Russia and winter-specific; I’ve seen more than my share of accidents and near-accidents driving on the freeways in L.A.  For some reason, though, the screeching brakes and awful sound of impact still freaks me out.

 

Those are the main ones.  Don’t worry though, I will be fine.  I am extra vigilant.  As my friend’s dad told me, “Look at the ground, look up, when you’re on the street always be careful.  You can rest once you’re in your apartment.”

Unless…no I’ll leave the Dante’s Peak water story for another day.