I arrived this morning and one of the first things I saw was a McDonald’s built just like in the US, except the roof was green. The golden arches are always recognizable, but apart from them the exteriors of McDonalds in Moscow have little in common with their counterparts in US suburbs and towns. Perhaps one of the most surprising things for me when I travel is how much alike everywhere is. I have some expectation that I don’t admit even to myself that someday I’m going to find myself in Narnia or a scene from an old copy of National Geographic, but thanks to globalization, I’m always disappointed arriving somewhere new to find how much it is like the place I left.

Despite all that, Kazan does have it’s own distinct character. This morning Almira took me on a walking tour of a bit of downtown Kazan, including the Mirage hotel with a huge glass and steel pyramid and the Kremlin. It had more wooden structures than the Moscow Kremlin and its most prominent place of worship was a mosque, not an Orthodox cathedral. They have treated this historic space more respectfully than Moscow would be capable of; there were none of the huge, multi-story ads that surround the country’s tourism capital. Souvenir stands as well were more tastefully separated.

In the afternoon we headed to a home to have tea with a family Almira is friends with. At their gate, there was hole cut out for the dog to be able to observe what visitors might come. Once we entered the gate, I saw the father helping a young child saw firewood. Inside, Almira and I got to play with the youngest member of the family, a baby who is only a few months old. It’s very rare for me to interact with families here. I was flooded with joy in the same way one might feel a thrill petting a puppy.

Afterwards we walked past the church building where both Almira and this family worship. Different denominations use the same building and seem to share space just fine. In fact, the family I met was part of a different congregation than Almira, and yet Almira helps the mother with some of her services. We also spent some time at Kazan State University where Almira studies and walked down the historic Bauman street, which reminded me greatly of the Arbat in Moscow.

This evening two of Almira’s friends came over. We spent some time talking, although sometimes it was difficult for me to understand. Some people in Tatarstan seem to have a different pronunciation of Russian than is common in Moscow. Although I don’t have this problem with Almira and she grew up speaking both Tatar and Russian, I do think that what sounds like an accent to me is probably the result of having two prominent languages in the region.