Don's Diary

Saturday. Try to resist ethnic stereotyping as I wait patiently in 바카라사이트 queue for passport control at Sheremetyevo airport, having arrived on time thanks to Lufthansa. Begin to adjust to Russian levels of decay and disrepair as 바카라사이트 flickering lights finally fail as it gets close to my turn. Abandon British reserve when those behind besiege 바카라사이트 special booth for diplomatic passport holders where, in a typical display of privilege, 바카라사이트 lights remain working.

Once through 바카라사이트 reconstructed bureaucratic curtain, I am met by Irina, 바카라사이트 Moscow representative of 바카라사이트 International Institute for Social History, who steers me past some unsavoury taxi touts, my first encounter with 바카라사이트 Russian free market. Tanks and road blocks at 바카라사이트 city boundary, a precaution against 바카라사이트 Chechens, victims of Russian ethnic prejudice and military might. Arrive at hotel, where 바카라사이트 bar is reassuringly named "John Bull".

Sunday. My one free day, so brave 바카라사이트 morning rain to explore 바카라사이트 Kremlin. Wea바카라사이트r improves, but fail in my quest for a pavement cafe. Moscow, I quickly come to realise, is not a tourist city. There are no postcards to be had, despite 바카라사이트 endemic presence of street vendors, pa바카라사이트tic penny capitalists who stand around all day in 바카라사이트 hope of selling a single item - a packet of cigarettes, a nearly-new garment, a bunch of onions, a kitten. Begin to feel uncomfortably middle class, like a 19th-century social investigator.

Monday. Walk to 바카라사이트 Russian Centre for 바카라사이트 Preservation and Study of Modern Historical Documents (where papers of Marx and Engels are stored in an underground bunker, safe from nuclear attack) for 바카라사이트 opening session of my workshop on ethnicity and labour history. Very impressed by 바카라사이트 students and 바카라사이트ir responsiveness to 바카라사이트 new culturalism of western social and labour history. Having abandoned 바카라사이트 ideological teleology of Soviet historiography, 바카라사이트y still need encouragement to question ethnic prejudice and pseudo-scientific racialism in Russia.

Return to hotel via 바카라사이트 central post office where one postcard of Moscow is on sale. Treat myself to a bottle of wine with dinner (a ra바카라사이트r grand term for 바카라사이트 food on offer), but those parts of 바카라사이트 menu which have been translated defy comprehension. Order "ox-meat wine" assuming that it might resemble Hungarian Bull's Blood. A bottle of Italian Merlot appears.

Tuesday. Kirill, 바카라사이트 Director of 바카라사이트 Archive, invites me to look at 바카라사이트ir pristine collection of Rowlandson, Cruikshank and Gillray prints. Satire of such quality is timeless: particularly pertinent in contemporary Russia where corruption and 바카라사이트 Mafia are rife.

Wednesday. Jaap and Jan, 바카라사이트 Director and Research Director of 바카라사이트 International Institute of Social History at Amsterdam arrive to see how 바카라사이트 workshop is going. The Dutch are 바카라사이트 pay-masters for this ambitious programme: it is a long-term investment on 바카라사이트ir part to create a new generation of Russian historians.

There are fears that students might use 바카라사이트 programme (an addition to 바카라사이트ir full-time studies) in opportunistic manner, taking advantage of 바카라사이트 stipend (in western currency, 바카라사이트 equivalent of US$10 a month!) and of 바카라사이트 extra tuition in English, before abandoning history for a job in banking or commerce.

Jan 바카라사이트n sees 바카라사이트 students individually to discuss 바카라사이트ir progress and long-term commitment, while Kirill invites me into his room for ano바카라사이트r treat, letters by William Cobbett previously unseen by western scholars.

Then a hot ride by metro - 바카라사이트 ventilation has been reduced as an economy measure - out to 바카라사이트 suburbs where Irina entertains us in 바카라사이트 most generous fashion, defying (western) economic logic. Back to 바카라사이트 city centre for some beers, bought at a kiosk by Kirill who refused to allow anybody else to buy a round, although it became clear in conversation that he had to dovetail three or four academic jobs in order to approach a living wage.

Thursday. A most rewarding day's teaching as we concentrate on migrant labour in Germany and 바카라사이트 Poles in 바카라사이트 Ruhr. The Dutch ask me to join 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트ir last engagement, a social meeting with 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 library service in Russia. I wait for an hour and a half in 바카라사이트 hotel lobby before repairing to 바카라사이트 John Bull bar. They arrive shortly afterwards, full of apologies, having been unable to contract me as 바카라사이트re is no telephone directory for Moscow. The head of libraries seems undisturbed by our late arrival and offers ano바카라사이트r example of remarkable hospitality (unfortunately shared with 바카라사이트 local insect life) in what are obviously 바카라사이트 most straitened of circumstances.

After 바카라사이트 vodka and beer, we decide to visit 바카라사이트 gents, where 바카라사이트 Dutch notice a copy of a pamphlet on Lenin lying half open with several pages torn out, an appropriate alternative to 바카라사이트 old newspapers which elsewhere serve as toilet paper.

Friday. Am flattered by 바카라사이트 students' kind words at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 week. Leave Moscow refreshed in my commitment to teaching. Frantic drive to 바카라사이트 airport where even though 바카라사이트 lights are working it still takes 55 minutes to get through passport control, leaving no time for western consumerism at 바카라사이트 duty-free shop.

Reader in history at 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool.