The round table "Women in Difficult Professions" was held at the headquarters of PJSC Sovcomflot. Graduate story
Colleagues from the magazine "Morskoy trade union bulletin" introduced me to this girl. Everything about her is unusual - her name, her profession, and the fate that leads her, and with which she breaks, the stereotype that has been established throughout the world for centuries. Lyana Mitrofanova - captain's mate on a large modern vessel - the gas carrier "Pskov". Lyana is a real sailor.
And the first question that I eagerly asked the girl was exactly this: how does the male crew react to the girl on board, given the old adage that a girl on a ship is not very good?
They reacted differently, but there was never anger, '' Liang replies quite seriously. - There was mistrust, doubts, but now we are used to it, they only joke a lot, but they always help if necessary. In general, it seems to me that relationships in a team do not depend on gender, but on how you yourself relate to people.
Revolt against the future finance minister
But before she boarded the Pskov gas carrier, in order to start her duties, she had to go through and survive many tests. And it seems, where does so much strength and confidence come from in a fragile young girl. After all, the old omen about the "girl on the ship", in fact, is valid to this day, sitting in the minds of "sea wolves" of all ages. Lyana was just lucky - in the year when she thought about where to go after school, in the famous "Makarovka" - the State University of Maritime and River Fleet named after Admiral S. O. Makarov, the first year girls were admitted to the navigational faculty.
I thought: "Let me try." It was a kind of challenge, a kind of rebellion, ”says Liana. - My parents wanted to make me the Minister of Economy and Finance. And the profession of an economist was not to my liking. My family didn’t take my desire to enter “Makarovka” seriously, I was a domestic girl, and here is the profession of a sailor. They, it seems, did not believe for a long time - at the dedication, dad said: "Well, that's enough, let's go home, daughter!" I refused. And so every year, day after day, I fought with myself, with the opinion of my parents, with the circumstances.
Meeting with infinity
How serious this struggle was, it becomes clear, especially when you learn that the future mate of the captain never saw the sea - neither in childhood, nor in her youth. And my parents had no relation to the sea either: dad is a pilot, mom is a teacher. Lyana herself was born and raised in Transbaikalia. And the sea has always been a secret for her, she knew about it from books and films. Their first meeting took place only during the passage of swimming practice. Its first sea was gray - infinity gray. And it was an indescribable delight.
The first practice at sea took place on the Mir sailing ship, - she recalls. “But that has nothing to do with real work at sea. It is more of a romance, an adventure, a "game of work" at sea. We did not understand how serious everything really was, besides, there were friends and classmates nearby. This is just a small fraction of what you will face in the future, unless, of course, you do not give it up right after the first practice.
She didn’t refuse, didn’t “write off” ashore, like some of her classmates who said: “No, thanks. Please dismiss. " Someone was seasick, others simply understood: “not mine” ... Yes, and almost everyone initially has seasickness, it is just that over time the body gets used to it. And when the elements are raging around the ship, this is a strong stress for an unprepared person. Not everyone can stand it.
Rule: "we don't take girls"
And after practice, she only plunged deeper into education. He believes that the knowledge gained in Makarovka is more than enough and now they are very helpful. Over the years of study, I have learned so much. And the most important thing is persistence.
When I got my first working swimming practice, I went to all the companies in St. Petersburg, but they didn’t take them anywhere. Only when they saw me, they immediately said: "Sorry, we don't take girls." And I could not understand what the actual problem was, because this rule “we don’t take girls” is not spelled out anywhere, - it seems that the girl is still surprised.
This rule is not spelled out anywhere; it is the old omen that has been implanted into the brains of many generations of sailors.
By chance, when despair was already very close, Sovcomflot offered an experimental option - to undergo an internship on their ship. This moment became defining in her later life.
There is a brave captain
The largest Russian company Sovcomflot, known throughout the maritime world, decided to hire a girl. And now she is grateful to her captain-mentor, who was engaged in the employment of the cadets: Nikolai Zayats believed and believes in her, both when he arranged his graduate to practice on the ship, and later, when he continued to follow her fate. Other sailors also believed in her and shared their experience with her. Lyana recalls with pleasure Alexei Kirzhemanov, who took a bold step and took a young girl to practice on the tanker "Nevsky Prospect" - he is the first captain, under whose guidance she began to realize what sea work is. And the first brave captain who agreed to take her under his leadership, although he was quite surprised at the first meeting.
Liana herself realized that few are capable of this - people of the old school, more conservative - did not dare to take this step. She herself understands them perfectly. This profession requires a lot of responsibility, great knowledge and practice, because one mistake can lead to colossal consequences. It is necessary to always listen to the advice of senior officers, because the experience here is gained over the years. Her next practice was already on the recommendation of Captain Kirzhemanov on the Moskovsky Prospekt ship. And then a lot of work came.
Fourth assistant
Without the recommendations of the captains, whom she had in practice, she would not have gotten onto the gas carrier. "Pskov" is a modern ship: the level of computerization is the highest. The discipline is the strictest: it is forbidden to use telephones on the deck, lighters, only mechanical watches are allowed, nothing so that even a small spark could appear ...
This was my first contract as 4th mate. Of course, not everything worked out the first time, but I had experienced navigators and an amazing captain with me. I worked under the supervision of Igor Panasenko. Everyone helped me a lot, instructed and supported me, ”says Liana. - On the ship, all duties are clearly distributed among the captain's mates: one is responsible for navigational charts and equipment, the other is for safety, the third is for the documents of the crew members, the senior mate is responsible for cargo operations. The captain is responsible for everything that happens on the ship. The hardest thing for him. I, as a junior officer, helped everyone a little, kept the navigational watch, kept documents for the arrival and departure of the vessel. This is a very big responsibility.
It helps in the work that he knows the English language almost perfectly, for which he again thanks "Makarovka". English at sea is very important. Radio exchange takes place only in English, and there should not be any difficulties with perception, because a lack of understanding of the meaning of the phrase often leads to large and small accidents and collisions.
Shark angel
Now she knows that the hardest part of this job is lack of sleep. And also - time zones. The body with its biorhythms simply does not have time to get used to their change, when the ship moves from west to east and back - then add an hour, then take it away. The body quickly becomes entangled. And, it seems, I constantly want to sleep. But since this is, first of all, work, people do not think about comfort, the main thing here is not to oversleep on watch. In addition, the sleeping person can be woken up at any time. And the result is tremendous stress; morally very difficult, it seems that all the time you think only about work, no days off. It turns out that the sailors are at work all four months. Well at least it endures the change of climate calmly.
During the first working voyage, the LNG carrier crossed the equator twice, but the first time she slept, and the second time she turned over the watch. Maybe next time he will take a closer look. But the memory of crossing the equator still remained: here she was ordained as a sailor. It was necessary to go through a special ritual: to crawl through Purgatory - a corridor made up of barrels filled with oiled rags and dirt. Passed. She received a letter about this and a nautical name - Angel Shark.
Relations in the crew are very warm, otherwise it is impossible to work, although you rarely see many because of the peculiarities of work: someone is also on duty, someone is asleep. For example, I almost did not see mechanics at all during the entire voyage, privates too, with the exception of the watch sailors, continues the Angel Shark. - But there is access to the Internet, several years ago it was not available, now I communicate with my family and friends. But this is the most important thing for a sailor.
She is accompanied by Dante, Hugo, Hemingway
For many of her peers, it is absolutely not clear how one can refuse the opportunity to go to museums, theaters, exhibitions, spend time with friends in cafes and clubs, just relax, wear skirts and dresses, shoes with heels, without many other joys. And Liana refuses this voluntarily in favor of overalls and watches away from home.
One of the few entertainments on the voyage is books.
You work at sea all the time, you don't have time to read, but at one fine moment you suddenly realize that stagnation has begun. I try to read before going to bed - I specially stock up on literature before the flight, moreover, I prefer flipping through ordinary paper pages. But you can't take a lot of books on a flight, you have to take an e-book.
One can be sincerely surprised at the seriousness of the pieces that Liang took on her second voyage. Dante, Hugo, Hemingway ... She does not know why the choice fell on these authors. “Apparently, she's grown up,” Liana smiles. I have already mastered some of the books.
From Pskov to "Pskov"
Apparently, indeed, everything in her fate is not accidental. And the fact that she came to work at the Pskov gas carrier is also a special sign. I think the team thought so too. Not only that, one of the first girls in the Navy in a serious, responsible position came to them on board. But even when they learned that Lyana, who came to them as the fourth mate of the captain, was herself from Pskov.
At first, they joked in the crew, they said that my life was monotonous: from Pskov to Pskov and vice versa, - the one who bears the name Angel Shark smiles. - It seems to me that everything that happens in our life is not an accident.
But she does not feel like a pioneer in the development of the sea by modern girls. She treats this status calmly and simply, like a job that has become a favorite. He does not set big goals yet. In general, he doesn't like making plans. Sometimes it seems to her that she is moving through life thanks precisely to the fact that she does not make plans ...
And on the shore with strangers on the topic of Liang's work, he tries not to talk too much:
Precisely because my work is non-standard for a girl. People are attracted to it. Questions begin about the size of the salary, about my personal life, which I try not to talk about, about the attitude towards the crew. They ask other ridiculous questions - and I don't like that.
But Liana answered one purely personal question in our conversation. This one: "Do you think it will be difficult for your husband to wait for you on the shore?"
It's always hard to wait. But it seems to me that when you love, there are no barriers. Moreover, now, when there is a connection with the house every day: the Internet, telephone. My young man understands that many respected people believed in me, invested knowledge, experience, and therefore does not prevent me from doing what I love.
Girls deserve to wear a navy uniform
Liana loves May 9 very much. And if it happens to be on the shore on this day, then he always puts on his naval uniform for festive events - as a sign of respect for those generations who have gone through wars, who served on land and at sea. And I am firmly convinced that the uniform, especially the sea one, paints a girl no less than a man. Yes, and they have every right to wear it:
The girls proved that they can be sailors, soldiers, pilots, and not because they tried to prove something to someone, but because they do it well. And if, doing just this, albeit non-standard work, the girl benefits, then why should she forbid it ?! It seems to me that it's great that now girls are hired in exclusively male professions, because you have to follow your dream. Previously, this was more complicated. Although even then, remember the Great Patriotic War, women managed to perform responsible work with dignity on a par with men. But many people think that since you are a sailor girl, you are trying to prove something. You don't need to prove anything to anyone, you need to be honest with yourself and do what you love.
Liana is now at sea, on a regular voyage aboard the Pskov gas carrier. She again sleeps a little, works a lot, but this is her favorite thing. And you can be sure of one thing, no matter how the fate of the Angel Shark turns out in the future - the sea will now forever remain with her.
Igor Dokuchaev,
photo from the personal archives of Lyana Mitrofanova and Sovcomflot.
We are grateful to the editors of the "Marine Trade Union Bulletin" magazine for their help in preparing the material.
On October 22, 2015, the headquarters of the Sovcomflot Group of Companies in St. Petersburg hosted a round table “Women in difficult professions”, Dedicated to the work of women in the navy, as well as in other industries traditionally dominated by men. The round table was organized jointly by the SCF group, GUMRF them. Admiral S.O. Makarov (St. Petersburg) and the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics.
Participants of the round table, including women-officers of the fleet, representatives of the teaching staff of the GUMRF them. Admiral Makarov, psychology experts, ship captains of the SCF group, as well as cadets of the university's navigational faculty, analyzed what exactly motivates women to choose difficult professions and how difficult it is to fully work in the industry and advance in service.
The key speakers of the event were two participants: the pilot-cosmonaut of the detachment of the FSBI Scientific Research Institute “Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yu.A. Gagarin ”Elena Serova and the third mate of the captain of the gas carrier“ Pskov ”of the Sovcomflot group of companies Lyana Mitrofanova.
During the conversation, the women shared their experiences of how they got into the profession. Speaking about motivation in her career, Elena Serova said that her interest in space arose in early childhood thanks to an elementary school teacher who taught children a lot about space. For Lyana Mitrofanova, on the contrary, the choice of profession was rather a surprise. “I never planned to go to the maritime profession and never saw the sea in my life. I just wanted to be independent and not depend on my parents. " However, the meeting with the sea influenced the choice of life path. According to her, the sea makes it possible to fully concentrate on work, without being distracted by other issues. “There are undoubtedly elements of romance in the work on the ship: it attracts with its power and unpredictability, makes it possible to enjoy the beauty of the natural element, seeing it in completely different manifestations, and also to look at the world while working on board an ultra-modern ship. At the same time, long periods of vacations provide an opportunity to devote time to family and loved ones. "
According to Elena Serova, it is necessary to clearly understand that in any profession you need to meet the requirements. “Not every man can become an astronaut or sailor, but our examples with Lyana prove that women can make a career in space or at sea if they fit necessary requirements and they must have the courage to pursue their goals. "
Speaking about the difficulties experienced at work, Lyana Mitrofanova noted that at first it was not easy to achieve recognition in the men's team, to prove to colleagues that she, a woman, deserves to stand on the captain's bridge. Elena Serova pointed out the necessary physical fitness. "It is important not only to get the necessary education, but also to be physically ready for flight - these are very strict rules, because of which most of both men and women are not accepted as astronauts."
If we talk about tasks that are easier for women than for men, then both the cosmonaut and the navigator agreed that we should not talk about gender competition to the detriment of work. The best results are achieved with mutual cooperation and cross-gender interaction.
Based on the results of the round table, the participants made the following conclusions:
The effectiveness of work in complex professions primarily depends on the availability of the necessary skills, knowledge and responsibility of a specialist; to a lesser extent, it is effective to replenish gender quotas to the detriment of the level of training of a particular specialist.
Women who have achieved recognition in difficult professions should set a positive example for society and encourage young colleagues to broaden their horizons and not be afraid to go into previously uncharacteristic areas of activity.
The myth that it is impossible for women to work in space and at sea must be debunked, and the best is confirmation - examples of biographies of women navigators and astronauts.
Employers must have a certain amount of courage and see women first as professionals, and only then as female. This is a key factor in eliminating gender stereotypes.
At the end of the round table, Elena Serova presented the crews of the Sovcomflot group of companies with photographs taken by her during her stay in space. One of the photographic landscapes was solemnly presented to Lyana Mitrofanova and will go on the next voyage to the Pskov gas carrier.
PJSC Sovcomflot CEO Sergei Frank said: “This round table has become an excellent opportunity for us to exchange experience with our colleagues, to remind once again of the importance of the maritime profession and the profession of an astronaut, including for women. Our main advantage was and remains human capital, and just like the Cosmonautics Federation, the Sovcomflot group of companies is interested in employment and further professional development highly qualified specialists with great development potential. We stand ready to strive to ensure that the employment of women on ships is encouraged, as this is an integral part of our corporate social responsibility.
The results of the past round table indicate the need to improve the quality of informing young men and women about career opportunities for work at sea, especially in conditions when knowledge about this profession is clearly insufficient. I sincerely thank all the participants of the round table for their contribution to the discussion, and in particular Elena Serova and Lyana Mitrofanova, who have achieved high recognition from professionals, for the excellent example they set for young people. "
Press Service of PJSC Sovcomflot
Sovcomflot Group of Companies (SCF Group) Is the largest shipping company in Russia, one of the world's leading companies in the marine transportation of hydrocarbons, as well as servicing offshore oil and gas exploration and production. Its own and chartered fleet, specializing in the transportation of hydrocarbons from areas with difficult ice conditions, includes 144 vessels with a total deadweight of about 12.5 million tons. A third of the vessels have a high ice class. Sovcomflot is involved in servicing major energy projects in Russia and the world: Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Novoportovskoye, Yamal LNG, Tangguh, Peregrino. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, with representative offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, Madrid, Singapore and Dubai.
VOCATION
How a girl can become the 4th mate.
The first voyage on the Pskov gas carrier of the Sovcomflot company for 24-year-old Lyana Mitrofanova as the fourth mate was completed successfully. She not only coped with her professional duties, but also became convinced of the main thing: the choice of her life path was made correctly. Lyana, graduate " State University sea and river fleet named after admiral S.O. Makarova ”, one might say, was lucky: she got a job in her specialty immediately after graduating from the largest shipping company in the country and after the first contract was not disappointed in the sea.
Lyana Mitrofanova sailed the seas on a par with experienced sailors at SCF even in practice. To obtain a working diploma, she was gaining a swimming qualification on the vessels "Nevsky Prospekt" and "Moskovsky Prospekt". But work on a new gas carrier equipped with the latest technology marked a qualitative growth in the girl's career.
JOKE EXPERIMENT
Lyana says that she chose this path by chance, it all started with a joke, when, taking pictures in the studio of her native Pskov, she learned from the photographer that his son was studying in St. Petersburg at the Makarov Academy at the navigational faculty. And I decided on an experiment: I will do it or not. When it came time to choose between Finek ("St. Petersburg State Economic University") and Makarovka (she entered several universities), the girl stopped at the latter.
Lyana says:
At first it was a kind of riot, my parents wanted to make me the Minister of Economy and Finance Russian Federation... And the profession of an economist was not to my liking. My desire to enter Makarovka was not taken seriously, I was a domestic girl, and here is the profession of a sailor!
My parents thought that I would go to the faculty of International Transport Management (MTM), but that year, girls were first recruited to the navigational faculty, to the budget, to the full-time department. I thought: "Let me try." It was a kind of challenge. Three more girls entered with me, and in general there were girls-ship mechanics on our stream. One of them goes to the seas on ships of the Stena Line company.
At the dedication, dad said: "Well, that's enough, let's go home, daughter!" I refused. This is how every year, day after day, I fought with myself, with the opinion of my parents, with the circumstances. And here I am the fourth assistant.
I am the only child in the family, and this makes my responsibility to my parents even more tangible.
My parents have nothing to do with the sea. Dad is a pilot, mom is a teacher. I was born and raised in Transbaikalia, for me the sea was a secret. I knew about him only from films and books. My first encounter with the sea happened during my swimming practice and caused indescribable delight. My first sea was gray. Infinity gray.
PRACTICE
We did our first practice on the Mir sailing ship, but this has absolutely nothing to do with real work at sea. It is more of a romance, an adventure, a "game of work" at sea. A person does not understand how serious everything really is, besides, there are friends and classmates nearby. The first work practice shows only a small fraction of what you will face in the future, unless, of course, you give up on it right now.
In practice, I met other foreign girls who are now working as navigators. For example, in the “Stena” company foreign girls-navigators followed the target program. Employment of women abroad has long been a normal practice.
DIFFICULTIES
When I got a job at my first working swimming practice, quite by accident, Sovcomflot offered me an experimental option - to do an internship on their ship. Of course, I agreed, and this was the defining moment in my employment.
I was very lucky from the very beginning, when our captain-mentor Nikolai Georgievich Zayats, who is directly involved in the employment of cadets, got me on board for practice and subsequently followed my fate.
The help of Aleksey Anatolyevich Kirzhemanov, who took me to practice on the tanker "Nevsky Prospect" of the SCF company, was very important. In the company, he became the first captain, under whom I worked.
I got a job on the Pskov gas carrier according to recommendations after successfully completing an internship. I worked under the supervision of Igor Leonidovich Panasenko. Of course, not everything worked out the first time, but I had experienced navigators and an amazing captain with me. They were very helpful, mentoring and supportive. This was my first contract in the position, which ended successfully.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities are divided as follows: one assistant is responsible for navigational charts and equipment, another for safety, a third assistant is responsible for the documents of the crew members, the senior assistant is responsible for cargo operations. The captain is responsible for everything that happens on the ship. The hardest thing for him. As a junior officer, I helped everybody a little bit.
The 4th mate, like any other mate, maintains a navigational watch - first under the strict guidance of the senior mate, then independently. I was also responsible for filling out and maintaining documents for the arrival and departure of the vessel. This is a very big responsibility.
Pskov is a modern gas carrier. Everything is computerized and everything is very strict. The use of telephones on deck is prohibited on tankers. Lighters are prohibited, only mechanical watches are allowed. All equipment must be special, excluding the occurrence of sparks, so that nothing is ignited.
SCF is a very promising company. Recently, in addition to Pskov, two new gas carriers were produced in South Korea: Veliky Novgorod and SKF Melampus. The fourth vessel in the series, SCF Miter, will be delivered to Sovcomflot this year.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
One of the advantages of such work, in addition to professional implementation, is the salary, which is more than decent, especially for a girl. But while the girls on the shore can afford to go to museums, theaters, spend time with friends in cafes and clubs, relax, wear skirts and dresses, you walk in overalls and work away from home. But I, like any normal student, by the end of my studies at the university realized that life consists not only of fun, parties end with the end of student life.
LOADS
The stress is really colossal, morally very difficult, a lot of work, it turns out that a person is at work all 4 months. You can be woken up at any time, so the top officers generally sleep very little. The elements are raging around, this is also stress. Not everyone can stand it. I remember that even during the practice there were guys on the Mir sailing ship who described their impressions in the following way: “No, thanks. Please dismiss. " Someone was seasick, someone simply understood: "not mine." Almost everyone initially has seasickness, it is just that over time the body gets used to it.
Time zones are a separate topic. The body does not have time to get used to it, it has its own biorhythms. And here you move from west to east, then back, then plus an hour, then minus an hour. Sleepy. The body starts to get confused. But since this is, first of all, work, people do not think about comfort, they only care about not oversleeping on watch and therefore they constantly ask whether the clock has been changed or not. Perhaps the hardest part of this job is lack of sleep. During the flight on "Pskov" we crossed the equator twice, the first time I slept, and the second time I passed the watch. I tolerate climate change calmly.
CREW - FAMILY
Now, on all modern ships, each crew member has his own cabin, shower, and all the amenities. My cabin has everything you need: a desk, a sofa, a bed. We have access to the Internet, you can easily get in touch, communicate with family and friends, several years ago it was not available. But communication with family and friends is the most important thing for a sailor. I called up with my parents through satellite communication, it turned out a couple of times a week, with friends less often.
The relations in the crew are very warm, otherwise it is impossible to work, although you cannot see many of them at all due to the peculiarities of the working conditions. Someone is also on watch, especially the mechanics - I hardly saw them at all, privates too, with the exception of the watch sailors.
"Pskov" is a modern ship, equipped with a gym, sauna and swimming pool. If you do your job on time and are willing to sacrifice a little of your sleep, of course, you can take advantage of this. Someone prefers to watch a movie, even if not the whole, well, at least a piece. It happens that the navigator enters the recreation room, sees that they are watching a movie, and asks: "What are you watching?" He will sit for a while, and then say: "That's it, I went to watch."
I used to play basketball at school. Now I try to read, learn something interesting for myself, in order to develop, improve. You work at sea all the time, you don't have time to read, and suddenly you realize that stagnation has begun. I try to read before bed, stock up on literature before the flight.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
The education I received in Makarovka helped me a lot. And I want to say that this knowledge is more than enough, plus practice, and I had a decent practice. It is necessary to heed the advice of senior officers: experience is experience. This profession requires a lot of responsibility, great knowledge and practice, it is like a doctor, one mistake can lead to colossal consequences.
I know English, I can't say that it is perfect, but I know. Again, thanks a lot to my dear Makarovka. The English language is the most important thing, because there are many cases when people do not understand the meaning of a spoken phrase, and this leads to tragedy. Radio exchange takes place only in English, and there should not be any difficulties with perception, because if there is no understanding of the contractual discrepancies with the ships, an accident may occur.
I try not to talk too much about work, because my work is non-standard. Especially for a girl. People are attracted to it. Questions begin about my personal life, which I try not to talk about too much. When you say who you work, people are interested in the facts of personal life and the size of the salary. And about the attitude to the crew, they ask some ridiculous questions - I don't like that. I believe that a person will tell about himself if he wants to.
You need to enjoy life and try to do everything to the maximum. In any case, a negative experience is also an experience. I don't like making plans and making plans. Who knows what kind of surprise life will bring. I know many people who planned their marine careers and in the end did not even finish their studies. My dad always says that problems need to be dealt with as they arise. No, of course, there is some kind of orientation for the future, but I try not to make plans. Sometimes it seems to me that I’m moving somewhere precisely because I don’t make plans.
The first work practice shows only a small fraction of what you will face in the future,
unless, of course, you give it up right now.
While the girls on the beach can afford to go to museums and theaters,
wear skirts and dresses, you walk in overalls and work away from home.
This is Brainstorm and the OUTDOOR festival on the roof of Roof Place✨ I'm still in St. Petersburg, but (like Brainstorm) on August 18th I will be at another festival - Livefest on Rosa Khutor. I will stay in Sochi from 18 to 21 August. Meetings, filming, any suggestions - write to me! 📷
Teriberka. I often hear / read that Teriberka is dying, everything is bad, a nightmare, devastation, etc. But when I got there, I saw something completely different. I saw a wonderful place where many tourists come. They (and me) are attracted not only by the beauty of nature, but also by the authenticity of this place (that is, "nightmare-devastation"). ⠀ Someone seeks fishing here (Teriberka is called the poaching capital, and the fine for the caught Kamchatka crab is now 7184 rubles, but I don’t know who is watching this in Teriberka), someone is watching nature, someone is looking at whales, For the races and swims (hello!) that take place here, the Chinese come for the northern lights (do you know that according to their belief, if you conceive a child under the northern lights, he will be happy all his life? ). ⠀ I have a feeling that in a couple of years Teriberka may be completely different. New asphalt has already been laid near the village, they write that the graveyard of ships (pictured) has begun to be cleaned up (and this is one of the highlights of Teriberka, whatever one may say). ⠀ How to get to Teriberka? We went by car. If you wish, you can overpower the road from St. Petersburg to Teriberka in one day, leave early in the morning, late in the evening already there (this is almost 1500 km). But we drove 1300 km to Olenegorsk (left in the morning, there in the evening, the road allows + last year there was a repair and it took us a couple of hours), then to Murmansk and then we started to Teriberka. If not by car, then get to Murmansk (plane, train, blablakar), and from there to Teriberka 130 km. There is a bus every two days, you can order a transfer or taxi. The road is 90 km good, 40 km is a dirt road. In places so-so, in places ok, but everyone can get through (I'm talking about summer, I don't know about winter). Moreover, the day before I took the car from the car service, the timing belt was changed for me, and the cover was not available. They say, they say, you don’t have a cover here yet, so you don’t drive on primers, rubble and all kinds of incomprehensible roads, otherwise your new belt will end. "Aha", - I nodded and rushed over 1500 km to Teriberka on a dirt road.
We've got a conversation about all sorts of nasty food. Recently @olga_rozz shared how they tried surstroemming, a Swedish herring stink, at work. More precisely, someone tried, but someone could not even stand next to it. I have never come across this herring, so I dimly imagine how it smells, but I think that I would try it. After all, a hell of a smelly Camembert and any fish I have no questions about. I haven’t come into contact with durian either, so I cannot judge. But rotten eggs, as they like in China ... oh no, thank you. In Beijing, I once saw them and thought, why are they so green at all? Apparently, in order to somehow rhyme with the face of the one who will eat them I will also refuse to eat worms, but I tried grasshoppers in Mexico, they are dried, not at all nasty, even cool, they look like smelts, and if seasoned with chili sauce ( in Mexico it is really spicy and it's great), then it's generally super. At some point, I even decided that it would be nice for my future husband to be one of those people who can eat a grasshopper on occasion, but as you can see, I'm still not married to something else🙈 ⠀ So this is the question. Is there anything in our Russian cuisine that is quite familiar to us, but may seem terribly disgusting to a foreigner? We couldn't come up with anything. Sauerkraut? She seems to be good in every way. Jelly / jellied meat? For some it looks doubtful, yes, but it still does not stink at all (if it is not eaten on the 20th day after the New Year) and tastes neutral. My personal top list of nasty food is coarse milk and, forgive me, stewed rutabagas (but this is probably not appreciated by anyone). ⠀ In general, let's get nasty food here.
Jennifer Lopez @jlo at CCM on August 11th. Over the past two days, I shot performances of two beautiful Ivanov and one Jennifer, but ladies first and all that. It was difficult to get rid of the feeling that you were photographing a picture from a video clip, yes, in general, I still did not believe that it was real🙈
Swimming is your worst drug! Everyone will be smeared with their petroleum jelly and how let's swim, wherever they get! ⠀ Yesterday I sailed around the Peter and Paul Fortress, my 2300m. I did it for the second time, and improved my result by 15 minutes compared to last year. ⠀ Initially, I did not plan to repeat this feat, but the swim across the Volga charged me so much that I wanted more and more (after all, @x_waters makes a real holiday). And since last year I liked sailing in the Neva, it does not require extra effort - I just leave the house and swim - why don't I swim here every year, I thought ⠀ A year ago, on the eve of this swim, I felt terribly lonely and abandoned by all. I shared my feelings with Anya @anna_ulianova and went to bed, and Anya instead took a plane ticket and when I woke up, she was just landing at Pulkovo. It was cool✨ And yesterday, too, everything turned out no less cool, Vika @ toria232, Misha @ohhh_misha, Katya @katuhin_in and even my mother came straight from Finland to Petropavlovka with me. A few more people, for various reasons, could not be, but all the same, even this intention alone is important for me =) I was glad to see Yaroslav @tyaroslav and Ildar @ildarbabikov floating, who also joined swimming, Olya @ olly.konnichiwa and Misha @naugolnov, with whom we trained at 7 in the morning, and now we meet at the heats ️ It was easy, light and joyful, thanks for this sunny morning! And for all those cool words that you write to me☺️ ⠀ If someone is interested in the details about the swim (because the promo slots for the next year are already on sale you have a chance🙈), then tomorrow I will make a detailed post, it will be here mitrofanova -m.lj.ru and here mitrofanova-m.com/blog
Teriberka😍 I was there last August (that's why the photo is almost a year old). I went on a swim in the Barents Sea, that is, practically in the Arctic Ocean, because Teriberka is the only place in Russia where you can get to the Arctic Ocean by car. ⠀ Last summer was warm (remember this, huh? =)), So the water temperature for my swim was as much as + 8-10 degrees (instead of the promised + 4-6), and the air warmed up in places to about +18, the sun was shining, leaving after itself a magical sunset. Now I understand that we were very lucky✨ ⠀ Teriberka and this whole trip became for me one of the best adventures of the last summer (until now, as I see the exit to the Kola highway, I cannot control myself😅). How it was. After the preliminary acclimatization swim, low tide began. He laid bare the island around which I was to sail tomorrow, turning everything into dry land. We sat on rocks and ate scallops. While I was swimming, a local uncle brought us to the beach a black bag, in which two live scallops clicked with shells of a kilogram. In order to eat them and not be left without fingers, it was necessary to adapt to quickly open the shells, and this is what we did, admiring the vastness of the low tide. It was so good that I thought like this: if tomorrow there will be snow, a hurricane and the end of the world, the trip is still a success. ⠀ After we went to the waterfall, looking at the "dragon eggs" (round stones), lake, weather station house on the way. We did not go to the coastal defense battery. There is also a ship graveyard in Teriberka, I will tell you about it later. And in the evening, remembering the words from the swimmer's memo "do not eat anything unfamiliar before the swim", we ate up the whole heap of scallops that we still had, eating the mushrooms that we collected on the way to Teriberka🙈 ⠀ I will have a detailed post with photos in blog: mitrofanova-m.lj.ru and on the site mitrofanova-m.com (direct link to the post in the profile). ⠀ Do I need to go to Teriberka? I definitely need it, I don't know if it will impress everyone, but I - yes. The north is mine
With this one of my favorite Filipino photos, I would like to inform you that you can buy any of my prints from me - to decorate your home or office with them, to give to someone or to make a gift to yourself ☺ Any print format - from large prints to small postcards. It can be landscapes, cities, countries, views of St. Petersburg and much more, and you can also get a photo-winner of The Best of Russia competition from Ruskeala or a photo-winner of the Adme competition from freestyle motocross on St. Isaac's Square Many are already busy with the selection of corporate New Year gifts and creating calendars. Photos for the interior can be one of these gifts. And my photos can be used for calendars - write and we will pick up something from the ready-made or I will take off what you need, specially for your order. Tell everyone who might be interested =)
