Minsk, Belarus. Anyone been there? Tell me what I need to know

January 21, 2018 4:34 PM

My wife and I are in our mid 50s and will be moving to Minsk Belarus this summer and remain there for 1.5 years. What should we know, avoid, do, see, learn, etc. We will try to learn Russian, of course. Even though it is economically depressed and a totalitarian state, we'd like to find the gems and see the good in the people and culture, if you can point it out.
posted by luvmywife to Society & Culture (5 answers total)

Best answer: I've been to Minsk. In fact, my husband is from there (moved from there to the US about 10 years ago for grad school and met me and ended up settling here). But he has a lot of fondness for Minsk and absolutely loved growing up there. I think it would first of all be a good idea to be a bit open-minded - yes it doesn't have a super vibrant economy and the President has decided to stick around for a good long while, but it also has a lot going for it - I didn't see any poor people there at all for one thing, not a single beggar or panhandler. The streets were clean and wide and the public transit was excellent. There are many parks and green areas. My husband informs me that it is the second greenest capital in Europe after Kiev. There is a good ballet and philharmonic orchestra if you're into that kind of thing.

I had it fairly easy in terms of meeting people because of my husband - in my experience people were not super friendly in the way you would expect in the US - but were very hospitable once you got to know them. Minsk was mostly destroyed during World War II so apart from a small historical district, housing can be a bit monotonous - lots of high-rise apartment buildings.

You could take trips to other parts of Belarus - we visited the fortress town of Brest which was interesting for its role in World War II. In fact, you could take this as an opportunity to better understand the role of the USSR in World War II - it looms large in the national psyche in a way that is hard to understand in the West given the scale of the destruction here. A short trip away from the city is Mir Castle - recently restored, quite interesting from a historical perspective.

Another trip we really liked was to the Beloverzhskaya Puscha - some of the last remaining primeval European forest and the last home of the European bison. We stayed near there in a little farm stay. Despite having perhaps the worst decor choices I've ever seen (lots of crazy patterns that didn't go together), we loved our stay here - super relaxed with bike rides in the forest and card games at night. The owner cooked amazing quantities of food for us - all of it delicious. I remember in particular this soup cooked with pork from her own pigs and mushrooms gathered in the forest. A taste I'll remember forever. Cuisine in general is hearty, based on lots of meat, potatoes (in fact the first thing you'll hear from a Russian if you tell them you're from Minsk is some joke about potatoes) and soups. But I actually found lots to like - syrniki (little pancakes made of farmer's cheese (tvorog) - served with sour cream and/or jam), Ukrainian borscht (super meaty, the beets are more of a flavor enhancer rather than the primary player) and draniki (potato pancakes - a bit like latkes but less crispy). Try also the drink kvass - a bit of an acquired taste, but it's a bit like a non-alcoholic beer.

Do let me know if you have any other specific questions!
posted by peacheater at 5:06 PM on January 21, 2018 [15 favorites]

Best answer: I think it's great that you are going in to this intending to see the best in Belarus, but you also seem to have very low expectations, based on how you phrased your question. I'd encourage you to re-think some of those. You're going to a country that, in some ways, takes better care of its population than the US. (See, for example, how the two compare on child mortality). Belarus is certainly not a totalitarian country. Its government is authoritarian, but that is, unfortunately, not that unusual for the former Soviet Union. it was stupid of Condaleeza Rice to call it the "Europe's last dictatorship" back in 2005 (it borders Russia, after all). I wouldn't recommend taking part in anti-government demonstrations, but, as westerners, your interactions with the state will almost certainly be benign. I was there about twelve years ago, and I found that most civil servants, border guards, etc. I had to deal with had never seen a US passport and regarded me with a kind of well-meaning curiosity. These interactions were certainly less scary than those I have had with Russian officials. I also wouldn't call it economically depressed, although its economy has suffered from the downturn in Russia's economy, with which it is closely connected. Still, when I was there, over ten years ago, when the country was definitely poorer than today, I still found Minsk to be a clean, well cared-for city with very little visible poverty. As peacheater points out, I didn't see a single beggar or homeless person, although this might mean that the police crack down on them. But the people on the street generally looked like they were doing fine. You're not going to see people struggling to survive like in Russia in the early '90s.

I second peacheater's list of places to visit. As far as the people, if you haven't spent much time in eastern Europe, you will probably find that they are not as outwardly or immediately friendly as Americans. Service staff can be stern. People often seem guarded around strangers. I like to think of this as a different way of apportioning emotional energy so that people can save it for their friends and family.

You'll notice the importance of twentieth-century history wherever you go. In Minsk, there are (or were, twelve years ago, but I don't think this has changed) plenty of visual reminders of the Soviet regime. Monuments to World War II are ubiquitous. Keep in mind that something like one in four people in Belarus died in the war.
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 6:14 PM on January 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Friends that have been there recently have been surprised with the new hipster wave. It apparently isn't as bad as it used to be for material goods.
posted by k8t at 6:30 PM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Belarus Free Theatre are some of the bravest performers I have ever watched. Their artistic director is in exile in London but I believe they do semi secret shows in basements and abandoned buildings. They make incredible theatre.
posted by Uncle at 9:20 PM on January 21, 2018

Best answer: Went there in May last year. Even if it is "economically depressed", you wouldn't know it. Minsk is one of the cleanest cities I've been to and seems very safe, with beautiful buildings and parks abound. Food quality is highly variable, and comparative to other ex-Soviet countries, I'd say it's some of the worst I've had. I'm sure there are some decent places out there, but I say this in that you probably want to get recommendations from others rather than just taking your chances. I would try to get these from other expats if possible.

Level of English is generally poor, even worse than in Russia - you'll not only need to just *try to* speak Russian", you *will* need to speak at least some. Not sure how much travelling you've done in ex-Soviet countries, but if you've been to Russia, you'll be well prepared for things like service standards, which are at odds with what you're likely used to.
posted by ryanbryan at 2:34 AM on January 22, 2018