The Beat-Down & Jagganath

My nap was interrupted by a workman climbing a ladder outside my curtainless window and getting an eyeful. It was hot! That excitement got me up and back on the streets by 8ish. I wandered for awhile searching out internet cafes (no luck) and a vegetarian restaurant called Jagganath. Oh, strange aside, by this point, I'd taught myself to read the Cyrillic alphabet by sounding out signs for MacDonald's; PizzaHut; etc. I don't think that I'll retain the knack, but it was quite useful.

Anyway, while looking for Jagganath in the nightclub/bar area near Kuznetsky Most, I turned a corner and happened upon a vicious beating. A car squealed to a halt right in front of me. I smiled, thinking it was a young man showing off his parking skills. Nope. In another second, 3 young men burst from the car. In two seconds, they were running toward a group made up of three young couples dressed for a night on the town (the women were in tiny dresses with high heels). One attacker threw a bottle while still running toward the group. The women started screaming. A second attacker kept hold of his bottle and used it as a club, taking down the apparent main target of the attack. I say that he must have been the target because as soon as he was on the ground, all three guys started kicking and hitting him while he was already unconscious. They only broke off to take on his two friends. At the apex of the event, the women were even involved, beating the heads and shoulders of the people attacking their dates. The attack lasted about 2 minutes. During this time, I had quietly scooted up the block, and stopped to take some photos (yes, I know that I'm a ghoul). There were also about 10 men standing around watching events unfold, and making not the slightest move to intervene. After the beating stopped, the two groups yelled at each other in Russian, while the downed man's girlfriend rushed to cradle his head in her lap. Then, the attackers pealed out. I lingered for a good 10 minutes. No one approached offering help. The police didn't arrive. The beaten guy didn't get up. Finally, I left feeling much less optimistic of the outcome of any cries for help I might make while in Russia. When I described the incident to the hostel worker on duty that night, she assured me that oh yes, people mind their own business in Russia and this was probably mafia related. Cheers.

I did finally find Jagganath that evening and had a good meal of tofu and vegetables in my newest cult-run veggie restaurant. I was especially excited by the discovery of a vegetarian shop onsite selling fake sausage. Yum. Mostly though, I was so unnerved by the beat-down I'd witnessed that I gave up my vague plan of a night out and was back at the hostel by 11. I noticed on the way home that the streets were pretty quiet and most restaurants were closing. Moscow is not the city that St Petersburg is. Despite the warm summer night, people still tend to go home early.

I settled into the hostel, and decided to go to bed and get an early start the next day. My two English roommates (girls from Brighton), woke me up stumbling in at 2am from the Hard Rock Cafe, but I was still up and out by 9am.

For pictures, see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/Moscow