{"id":562,"date":"2010-03-25T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=562"},"modified":"2014-07-16T19:50:30","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T19:50:30","slug":"dacha-glorious-dacha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/dacha-glorious-dacha\/","title":{"rendered":"Dacha, Glorious Dacha!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of the year when many Russians get ready for another \u00ab\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0441\u0435\u0437\u043e<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [dacha season]. \u00ab\u0414\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> is something I came to think of as uniquely Russian. You can see it translated into English as an allotment, a vacation home, a house in a country, a summer cottage, a hobby farm or a weekend retreat. Yet none of these translations truly reflects the meaning of the word \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> which is a combination of all of these things.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What do Russians call their dachas? Well, there\u2019s of course the good old \u00ab\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0430\u00bb.<\/strong> There\u2019s also \u00ab\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0441\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [six hundreds, referring to the size of a typical dacha plot – 600 sq meters]. Then there\u2019s the ironic \u00ab\u0444\u0430\u0437\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0434\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [a hacienda], adopted back in the early 90s after Russians lived through the Brazilian teleseries \u00ab\u0420\u0430\u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043d\u044f \u0418\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u0443\u0440\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [Isaural the Slave Girl; lit: Escrava Isaura<\/em>].<\/p>\n

The history of dachas goes back to the early 19th<\/sup> century. The first dachas were the places for the well-off townsfolk to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life, especially in summer. A lot has changed in the last 200 years, yet many dacha owners still view their \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u00bb<\/strong> [plot of land] as a refuge and a vacation destination.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00ab\u0427\u0435\u043c \u0432 \u0434\u043e\u043c \u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0434\u044b\u0445\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0435, \u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 \u043a \u043d\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0443 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0435\u0437\u0436\u0430<\/span>\u0439!\u00bb<\/strong> [Instead of going to a sea-side resort, you better come over to our dacha!]<\/p>\n

\u00a0In Soviet Union, dacha owners couldn\u2019t build any structures on their plots. Then the regulations were relaxed to allow small, under 25 sq meters (225 sq feet) buildings with no electricity and indoor plumbing. In other words, the dacha was where one \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0436\u0435\u043d <\/strong>\u043f\u0430\u0445\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c, <\/strong>\u0430 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u0431\u0430\u043a\u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0448\u0438 <\/strong>\u0431\u0438\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [must toil, not waste time in trivial pursuits]. After Perestroika, the 25 sq meter limit was dropped altogether.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Of course, there were always two different types of dachas – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043b\u044f <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u0445 <\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [for ordinary people] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [dachas for social elite, such as academics, generals, Communist Party functionaries, etc]. The later ones, as you might imagine, were bigger, better, and more conveniently or scenically located; some of them were downright palatial in size and amenities. These were the dachas for leisure and entertainment, not for growing tomatoes.<\/p>\n

The dachas for ordinary people, on the other hand, were less than scenic. I remember very well when my family received our dacha in the late 80s. We all got into our baby-blue \u00ab<\/strong>\u0417\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u0446\u00bb<\/strong> [a relic Soviet car with a 30-horse-power engine and no air conditioning] and drove fifty miles to the entrance to our \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0430\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u0434\u043e-<\/strong>\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 <\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0438\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [dacha community; lit. garden-vegetable community<\/em>] and another 3 miles over a rutted dirt road to our 600 square meter allotment. And what an allotment it was!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Imagine a flat rectangle of former \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [belonging to a collective farm] land, depleted of all nutrients and overgrown with \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043e\u0440\u043d\u044f\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [weeds]. The nearest \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u044f\u0436\u00bb<\/strong> [beach] was 30 minutes away and no scenic \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u0443\u0433\u00bb<\/strong> [meadow] or \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0449\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [grove] anywhere near.<\/p>\n

\u00a0All around us were similar newly minted dachas, some already fenced in and sporting freshly built outhouses. These were the first two improvements every sensible dacha owner made – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u00bb<\/strong> [fence] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0443\u0430\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0442<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [toilet, here – an outhouse].<\/p>\n

Pretty soon, however, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0430\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [tool sheds] would be erected next to the outhouses; \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u044f<\/span>\u0434\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [vegetable beds] laid out; \u00ab<\/strong>\u0444\u0440\u0443\u043a\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u044c\u044f <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u043a\u0443\u0441\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [fruit trees and berry bushes] planted. And then the owners would start building their tiny \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0438\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [cottage].<\/p>\n

\u00a0A few years later, the wasteland would be turned, square meter by square meter, into a beautiful garden with enough fruits and vegetables, except potatoes, to support \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0440\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u0441\u0435\u043c\u044c\u044f<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>[an average family] for a year. Every weekend and a few times during the week, this average family would drive their \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0430\u0448\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [car] or ride \u00ab<\/strong>\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0431\u0443\u0441\u00bb<\/strong> [bus] to their dacha. Once there, they\u2019d plant, water, weed, and harvest until it was time to go to bed or to go home.<\/p>\n

\u00a0From November to February, dacha owners led regular lives with maybe just one or two quick winter trips to their \u201chaciendas\u201d to make sure trees were overwintering ok and thieves didn\u2019t break into cottages.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But come March, the windowsills of dacha owners\u2019 apartments would become crowded with tiny \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0449\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u044f <\/strong>\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [vegetable seedlings, plantings]. Soon after that, with the first warm days, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0431\u0443\u0441\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [overcrowded buses] would fill up with people carrying \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u043e\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [shovels], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u0433\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [spades] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0431\u043b\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [rakes].<\/p>\n

\u00a0As the economy stabilized, the attitude towards dacha as an intensive mini-farm has relaxed. More land is now given to flowers, evergreens, lawns, water features and areas for grilling and relaxing. Once again, it seems that dachas are emerging as places to get away from it all and enjoy quiet evenings and endless conversations over a bowl of freshly-picked \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0430\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0441\u043e <\/strong>\u0441\u043c\u0435\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043e\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [raspberries with sour cream].<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Old

A 200-sq foot house for a family of four – check. A 30-horse power baby-blue car – check. Buckets, rakes, shovels – check. We are ready for a weekend at a dacha.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,995,913],"tags":[7773,7775,7776,7774],"class_list":["post-562","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-soviet-union","category-traditions","tag-dacha","tag-fun-in-russia","tag-russian-weekend","tag-soviet-dacha"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6146,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562\/revisions\/6146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}