Exonian Profiles
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Erin Waters ’97: Learning from the Babushki
Here’s how Erin Waters ’97 has spent her year as a Fulbright fellow: chatting and drinking tea, playing clarinet in a dance band and sightseeing. But what sounds like a fun-filled year abroad has also been a serious research project. The Hamilton College graduate has returned to Russia, where she spent her junior year of college, to chronicle the lives of older Russian women known as babushki. Waters’ interest in these older women and the changes they have witnessed grew out of her longtime interest in Russia. For her college senior thesis, she explored how photography was used to catalogue the Russian Empire. Wanting to investigate a different aspect of the country’s history and culture for her fellowship, she came up with the idea of returning to Russia to interview babushki about their lives. “I had really enjoyed talking to my host babushka while in Russia and I decided that I would try to tell her story,” Waters explains. “I also wanted to incorporate my love for photography so I decided to take photographs of the women that I interviewed. I also wanted a project that I could have fun with and I couldn’t see a way not to have fun with babushki.” Getting her subjects to cooperate has been no problem, she says. “Babushki usually are very ready to speak their minds, so I often find myself just chatting and drinking tea—or, if the occasion is more festive, vodka.” While not sure what final form her research will take, Waters is convinced that she has learned valuable lessons from the babushki about themselves and their view of their country. “The babushki have both taught and reminded me of the need to respect others, to value your family and to put your all into your work, whatever that may be,” she says. “A lot of babushki I’ve talked to witnessed most of the communist period, WWII and the fall of the USSR. The conclusions they draw from these events varies. I’ve met communists and women who think that Putin is on the right track. I think that all babushki agree that the pension system needs to be revamped. No one has any savings and the pittance the government gives to older people is hard to live on in a world of rising prices.” Waters is also taking full advantage of the varied opportunities that the Fulbright Foundation has provided. “I’ve realized that my project is really only a part of the whole Fulbright experience. I try to stay busy with other things as well, including travel. For a while I played my clarinet in a small band I met at a dance for older people. I also attended many local hockey games and cheered on the under-18 U.S. hockey team when it was here playing in the world championships. I’m also taking classes in Russian grammar and linguistics and have just started studying Old Church Slavonic.” Russia figures in Waters’ plans for graduate school. “Right now I’m thinking history or a Russian Studies program,” she says. “I know that my further education will be tied into whatever happens with what I’ve done this year.” —Julie Quinn |
