Kazan!

You haven't gotten rid of me just yet! After a blissful 7 days at home, I have returned to the Motherland- this time to Kazan, which is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan and home to the Tatar people.

Before coming to Russia, I had no idea that Tatarstan existed (shame on me, I know).. but now that I'm here I've learned that it is the 3rd capital of Russia, and home to many different cultures and religions. Like I said, it is a republic, and thus has its own flag, and not one, but 2 official languages: Tatar and Russian. From the time of 500-700 AD, Volga Bulgaria (not to be confused with the Eastern European country Bulgaria) had an influx of Turkish people, which explains the appearance of the Tatar people. Tatarstan used to be Volga Bulgaria until the Mongol invasion of 1230, where the inhabitants accepted the name of Tatarstan. And lastly in the 1500s Kazan was conquered by Ivan the Terrible, making Tatarstan become part of Russia.

Another interesting fact... since the Tatar people are descendant of Turkish people, many Tatars are Muslim (Sunni)... 54% of Tatarstan is Muslim, the rest Christian (mostly). The two religions exist peacefully and as I'm told there are never really any problems between the two.

Whew! I'm living with a host family once again- a Muslim family of a mother, father, and 2 daughters. They are very welcoming and are already teaching me several phrases in Tatar! Besides the air mattress and sometimes overly exotic food, everything is quite comfortable.

Enough of my rambling, here are some pics:


Qolsharif Mosque


The Kremlin


My Host Family!

First thing my new host mom said to me: (literally, as I was walking through the door for the first time) "My, you have big feet!"