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If you trust me enough to take my advice on Russia, then I suppose it’s only fair that I tell you a bit about myself (the good bits). My name is Lucy Pyne, I am a 22-year-old student and I have spent one-eleventh of my life in Russia. Hopefully that gives me the relevant qualifications to be a fairly reliable Russia guide. For my interest in Russia I have to thank the A-Level history course. While my daily history classes on the Russian revolutions and the Five Year Plan were hardly the most stimulating experiences of my life, they did stir up an interest in Russia. I used to sit in class and wonder what Russia was like.

From such idle, time-filling speculation developed a more solid idea: I wonder what it would be like to actually go to Russia, just to see what it’s like. Then no more A-Levels, no more history class, and freedom! A whole gap year spread before my eyes like a map of the world unfolding, I only needed to stick a pin into the map and I’d be there. That is until the small matter of cash came into the equation. Where could I go and make money to support my champagne lifestyle at the same time? Russia! I found a job as an English teacher in Moscow, perfect. So off I went with absolutely no Russian language, not a clue of what to expect and a ticket with a changeable return date, just in case things didn’t quite work out. Lucky for me they did, and I had a brilliant year. Brilliant because it was my first taste of freedom away from home and brilliant because I tasted it in one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

It left me with a hunger for more. I wanted to return and return with Russian so off I went to University in Dublin. For the last two years I’ve been trying to fit in a bit of study (I am a student after all). Now in my third year I am on my Erasmus year in Saratov, south-east Russia, again trying to fit in learning the language around learning the ‘culture’. Being outside Moscow has really opened my eyes to ‘real’ Russia as opposed to ‘pseudo’ Russia as Moscow is commonly described. Life in the provinces is much tougher and rougher around the edges, and the people that bit more curious. ‘Why is an Irish girl learning Russian in Saratov’ they ask with their eyes wide open.

As your humble and honest editor I don’t want to make my experiences in Russia glow like fairy lights and gloss over the reality of daily life here. Russia is a difficult and challenging country to be in because of its tumultuous history, and it is still struggling to find its place in the world. I despair at the poverty here and curse Russia for its bureaucracy and backwardness, but at the same time I am drawn to it. I remember my 19th birthday in a banya, my first taste of black caviar, emerging from my flat during a drinking session to be greeted by the first snow of the winter, heading to the tiny towns of Marx and Engels just because they are called Marx and Engels. That is why I like Russia and that is why I think you will like Russia: anything is possible. Bring on the randomness!