Karina Abdulbaneeva: Art, Russia, London, Spirituality, Nature, Nationality, New Year’s Day, Religion,

cork2005-collection.jpg

Title

Karina Abdulbaneeva: Art, Russia, London, Spirituality, Nature, Nationality, New Year’s Day, Religion,

Subject

Life History: Cork; Ireland; London; Russia

Description

Russian born Karina Abdulbaneeva, talks about coming to Cork from London in 2001 and her impressions of the smallness and accessibility of the city. She describes the helpfulness of Cork people and the spirituality of the country in which she feels she has been welcomed into and helped.
Karina was born in Moscow, Russia and came to Cork in 2001. She has two children and lives in Bishopstown. She is an art teacher.
Karina grew up in an apartment in a nine story building, with around five hundred other families, which was a common living situation in Russia. She describes a strong sense of community.
They children played games in the local forest. Karina loved ‘the secret’ which involved collecting beautiful items like coloured paper or flowers and burying them in the earth. They would only be shown to special friends.
Karina started school at seven. It was the custom there that children as young as four could be left alone at home. Karina spent hours drawing, which nurtured her passion for art and led to her eventually becoming an art teacher.
New Year’s Day was the day to celebrate. They didn’t recognise Christmas. Another holiday was the eight of March, International Women’s Day. They had no religious education in schools so there was no abeyance to religious holidays or rites. Karina describes Russia as being closed when she was growing up. They didn’t meet any foreigners until she spent time abroad with her parents.
Karina came to Ireland, via London, she says through ‘fate’. She was first struck by the smallness of the buildings and streets and how spiritual Ireland is.
Blarney Castle and St Finbarre’s cathedral are her favourite places in Cork. In comparison to Moscow. Cork is small and convenient for meeting your living needs. Karina mentions how cork people are changing and are more open to other nationalities.

Note; This interview was conducted as part of the Cork 2005 Project

Date

19 November 2004

Identifier

CFP_SR00346_abdoulbaneeva_2004

Coverage

Cork; Ireland; Russia; 1990s - 2000s;

Source

Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive

Language

English

Type

Sound

Format

1 .wav File

Interviewee

Interviewer

Duration

21m 54s

Location

Model Farm Road, Cork City, Ireland

Original Format

MiniDisc

Bit Rate/Frequency

16bit / 44.1kHz

Transcription

The following is a short extract from the interview transcript, copyright of the Cork Folklore Project. If you wish to access further archival material please contact CFP, folklorearchive@gmail.com

K.A : I had a very good impression of Cork people, and I think I made good friends straight away when I came here, so it was really great time, and I love Cork people.

L.C: Did you have any difficulties with the accent?

K.A: With the accent, with my accent?

L.C: The Cork accent.

K.A: Oh the Cork accent. Well somebody, well I met one Australian boy recently in Russia, actually so you see Russia is changing, and he said ok my friend is living in Ireland, and I said oh she’s living in Cork, and I hear Cork accent when I speak to you, so I probably have Cork accent myself already. It’s the only accent I heard really in this country, because I didn’t live in other places. So I accept it, it’s like my own language now, my own accent.

L.C: Can you think of a common phrase.

K.A: Common phrase.

L.C: A common Cork phrase.

K.A: Good luck, it’s not good luck, it’s good luck. And what else, em I don’t know are there are Cork phrase, I really should think about it, I can’t remember straight away.

L.C: We can come back to that later. Are there any places in Cork that give you a similar feeling to places maybe at home in Russia?

K.A: Similar feeling, actually I’m living in Bishopstown in Model Farm Road, and other side of the Model Farm Road is a forest if you know. So I go for a walk nearly every weekend, sometimes I walk to my college in the morning through this forest, I just go to Leeside, and that’s real beautiful place, I just love it, and it really remind me of the place where I was growing when I was child, yeah, it just really remind me.

Collection

Citation

Cork Folklore Project, “Karina Abdulbaneeva: Art, Russia, London, Spirituality, Nature, Nationality, New Year’s Day, Religion,,” accessed March 28, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/33.