In the “Cudablin” project, we send completely different people on trips at our expense! Marina Titova visited Ufa: learned a Bashkir folk dance, tasted traditional dishes and made new friends.
I’ll say right away – this was the most unforgettable adventure of my life and it began with a simple step: I just sent an application, and then things started to spin… Before I could blink, my readers decided to send me to Ufa; I booked my plane tickets and hotel through the OneTwoTrip app! I stayed at the Azimut hotel, and they checked me in early without any problems, charging an additional fee for early check-in. The guys at the reception desk were cheerful and cheerful, which I really liked. I decided to devote the first day to reconnaissance. From the window of my room I could see the Ferris wheel, so I headed there. Trembling with fear of heights, I climbed into the booth and prepared to enjoy the view. But the view was quite ordinary – treetops, roofs of high-rise buildings and some distant landscapes.
Afterwards I wandered around the city: small, cozy…
But I remembered my task, which my subscribers chose for me – to perform a Bashkir national dance against the backdrop of the monument to Salavat Yulaev.
And it was the most incredible adventure of my life!
Everything was decided on the task a couple of days before the trip. I literally don’t know how to dance, so I started writing to Ufa dance schools. Somewhere they didn’t answer, somewhere there were no teachers of national dances. But in the end, I contacted choreographer Veronica Keller and we agreed to meet… And so I arrive at the appointed time, and there… and there is pole dancing! For those who don’t know, a pylon is a pole in common parlance 🙂
And now a girl with a stunning figure, in a short top, shorts and thigh-highs, shows me basic movements. It was enchanting!
She showed me “Burzyanochka” – a simple dance and I seemed to even remember it quite well. One thing overshadowed this positive moment – I had nothing to dance in. Veronica said that it would be difficult to find a costume: the other day there was a parade of national costumes in the city, and Sabantuy and the city day are celebrated on the same weekend.
But the day before I met a girl with whom I had been communicating online for about 7 years and literally the day before departure I found out that she was from Ufa (for some reason I thought that she had moved from here). I decided to share my sadness with her and… you won’t believe it, it turned out that her classmate has a workshop for sewing national costumes! As a result, at almost 9 pm I rushed to the workshop and chose a suit. I can’t even describe the level of my delight and gratitude to you!
And so the next morning, accompanied by Nadya (an acquaintance from the Internet), I went to the monument to Salavat Yulaev. The weather let us down: by the time we reached the monument, we managed to get caught in the rain and hail.
Finally, having found a dry area in the bushes, I changed into a national costume. Several rehearsals and now we shot the video.
There were 4 or 5 takes in total, I was incredibly worried (dancing in a square in a foreign city was awkward),
and it started to rain again…
But it was fun: we laughed at failed takes, laughed while we were looking for an angle, tourists took pictures with me – now we have something to tell our grandchildren!
Well, I completed the task, I completed it, and with a feeling of accomplishment, I went with Nadya to a local cookery, very popular among the locals. There were no people (morning and the weather was not very good),
so I asked the saleswoman to recommend something for me. In the end, I tried Gubadia – a sweet pie of Tatar and Bashkir cuisine. Very, very tasty! I recommend trying it!
And in the evening I went to the “Ethnic Night”, which took place as part of the “Heart of Eurasia” festival, where I listened to performances by various groups and even met a guy who plays the bassoon and had performed at the “Symphonic Night” the day before.
What can I say? The people of Ufa are friendly and helpful, the city is nice and neat, and I managed to attend several key events, learn the basics and perform the Bashkir “Burzyanochka”.
And I will forever remember the stunned expression on the faces of taxi drivers who asked “Are you going to Ufa on a business trip?” and heard in response “Just like that!”.
Travel around Russia just like that, for no reason!
If you have more than 1000 subscribers on one of the social networks, participate in the Kudablin project, and we will send you anywhere on the planet at our expense. Where you will go and what you will do will be decided by your subscribers.
Travel is closer than you think. Apply to Project Kudablin and you might be the next one to go on an adventure!
Author of text and photo: Marina Titova (@marina_titova)
Preview photo: Shutterstock.com
