Syrian Hussein Shaat seemed to me the most Russified of the heroes of our project about foreigners. His words and voice contain irony and slight sadness, inherent in the characters of Anton Chekhov or Georgy Daneliya. The Russian wisdom to come to terms with the circumstances (which is sometimes mistakenly perceived as humility) is also noticeable. When a Syrian walks around Saratov, people often call him and say hello. These are acquaintances, colleagues, but most often grateful patients. Over the long years of life in the “city of golden lights”, Dr. Hussein treated the teeth of thousands of children and adults: “I was born in Syria, and when I was one and a half years old, we moved to Kuwait. My father worked there as an engineer, my mother as a nurse, later she became a housewife: there were eight children in the family. I only remember a very uncomfortable climate: it was always so hot that I wanted to hide somewhere, I was either at home or at school. And in 1990, Iraqi troops invaded, and we returned to Syria, to the city of Aleppo, I finished my last year there and left for Russia – was Syria very different from Kuwait? The country was closer to the West, and part of it was closer to the Arab world – Christians, Muslims, representatives of other religions – everyone lived next to each other and found a common language. Amazing history, culture, architecture. My uncle, an archaeologist, was the director of the National Museum of Aleppo. I often went to his work, it was so interesting to look at all these antiques and treasures. Now there is nothing left of the museum. As well as Aleppo in general: the city is very destroyed. But my uncle died before the war and, fortunately, did not experience all this. – When was the last time you were in your homeland? – In 2008. There was still peace then. In 2011, the war began, all my people left there. The family is now scattered all over the world: my mother and two sisters in the USA, the third sister in Canada, the fourth in Germany. One brother is in Austria, and I took the other one to Saratov, he has his own small business here: he opened a cafe… I have no one left in Syria. And my country no longer exists, there is nowhere else to go and no reason… – Why did you choose Russia to study at all? – There were very good relations between our countries. We were friends and respected Russia, we knew that it was a big, very big country. It was frosty, of course, but when I looked at the map, Russia reminded me of a blanket: yes, it is cold, but you can wrap yourself up. (Smiles.) I also knew that you have strong medicine and great scientists, so I decided to study in Russia. Dad insisted on an operation, but I wanted to become a pharmacist. My father did not agree: a pharmacist is a salesman, not a serious profession for a man. And we agreed on dental treatment. (Laughs.) I arrived in October 1992. Moscow impressed me, well, it has always been majestic and beautiful. This is approximately how I imagined a real communist capital. But from Moscow I had to go to Saratov, which I knew nothing about, I had never even heard its name. At that time it was still a closed city, and at first I could only call my family during trips to Moscow. Well, they put me on a train. Syria is a small country, about the same size as Karelia, I had never traveled there by train. And then I got into a camper van, in a compartment. It took 18 hours to get to Saratov, I could have slept a little, but I didn’t sleep and looked out the window the whole way. There the forests gave way to fields, lakes, and again and again… And I became scared. How dare I come here? What is in front of me? These were my thoughts. When we got out of Saratov, I felt a little better. I was met and taken to a family-type guest house. And again everything around became different. Now we have a beautiful city, it has changed a lot in thirty years, but then it was a big village. Everything is gray and small compared to Moscow. I didn’t understand anything in the hostel, it was very crowded and nervous: there were families with children; I asked to move to another hostel, for a fee. The conditions were better. And my Russian life began, additional courses, neighbors, friends… I remember my first New Year. There was two meters of snow. We went to the party in the center of Saratov through a snow tunnel! The people around were cheerful and flushed. Everyone was dancing and walking in the square – and they weren’t cold, they were happy! Hussein’s Russian New Year with his wife Kristina and daughter Arina was wonderful. And I couldn’t go home in my first Russian summer. I was waiting for my father to come here. So I was left alone in the hotel. We were hosting an excursion group: schoolchildren, schoolchildren and their teachers from Moscow and Vorkuta. They had a big tour of Russia. Although I didn’t really speak Russian yet, I already understood a lot. We met and became friends. And they suggested: “Why are you here alone? Come with us.” I couldn’t agree to the whole excursion, I was afraid that my father would come and I wouldn’t, but I dared to do half of it. They gave me a seat on the bus, they allowed me. We sat with them at the stops, I had lunch with them – that’s it! So we arrived in Penza: ancient cities, temples… I really regretted that I couldn’t go with them And my father stayed in Syria that summer. Then, unfortunately, he couldn’t come – In 30 years, this hasn’t been your only acquaintance with the country – Yes, I studied in Moscow, St. Petersburg, worked for some time in Tyumen, and I went on vacation to the south with my family? more than once: Adler, Sochi… They didn’t accept you as one of their own there? Sorry, doctor, you look a lot like our southern guy or a Jew. My neighbor even calls me Galustyan. .) – By the way, about “dental geography”: is the dental condition of Tyumen residents very different from that of Saratov residents? – It’s more or less the same everywhere, Tyumen residents have the same teeth, but the standard of living is noticeably different. (Laughs.) In general, many people believe that the condition of their teeth is affected by the water in their region, the climate and the diet, but from personal experience I can say that the main thing is hygiene and timely visits to the doctor. It’s useful to go to the dentist for preventive purposes, when nothing hurts, so as not to end up in the surgeon’s office, that is, in my office. I extract teeth, operate on cysts and put in implants. – Doctor, no offense, but the work of a dentist is quite routine, isn’t it? – No, what are you talking about! Almost every day I see something amazing. Two eights or even four eights instead of one: patients joke that these are spare teeth. But, unfortunately, no, they need to be removed. But the opposite happens. They brought me a child who had only 8 teeth at the age of 10. They installed a plate, and when he grows up, we’ll do an implantation. – What is the most memorable case from your practice? – I was working in a hospital, and we received a patient with lymphadenitis: a tumor under the jaw. It was at night. The ENT wrote: no pathology. He checked: the teeth are also normal. I said: should I look at your throat? He looked and pulled a 15 cm long branch out of his throat. “How did it get there?!” – He doesn’t remember, he was celebrating holidays… – In preparation for our conversation, I read that until the end of the 1970s, Soviet dentistry was in a completely antediluvian state. It received a promotion after specially invited German specialists took care of Brezhnev’s problematic teeth. New materials and technologies began to enter the country. – Yes, at the institute they told us about the development of Soviet dentistry, but I saw a lot with my own eyes. Even in the early 1990s, training was like spinning wheels: they had to be launched with your foot… You probably don’t remember this anymore – I don’t remember?! Once, the lights went out in the student clinic, and the drill got stuck in my tooth. The doctor pulled it out with pliers, leaning his knee on the chair, and hissed: “We’ll tolerate it, don’t cry.” (Both laugh.) – Yes, ancient drilling machines, glass syringes, novocaine – it was pretty scary. The impressions were made with plaster, and one of my classmates had this plaster hardened in her mouth, and it had to be sawed off. But, fortunately, until 1998, I personally never went to the dentist with any problems. My first bad tooth was treated by a guy, and I was his first patient. The 90s, of course, were very difficult. I remember when I applied for Russian documents, the passport officer, looking at my name and surname, said: “Why are you staying here? My son is Russian, he graduated from university and is suffering without work. And you are not Russian, it will be a hundred times harder for you!” Yes, it was difficult, and there was uncertainty, and the salary was small, but I felt good here. And I decided: no matter, we’ll live and see… And now I’ve been in Russia for 32 years, well, yes, like the teeth of a healthy person. (Laughs.) I’m walking with my daughter. “Arina Khuseynovna is the most important one in the family,” her father admits. He began working as a surgeon in 2002. He treated both children and adults. It’s easier with children. They don’t remember Soviet dentistry, they don’t shiver in chairs. I tell the child: now I’ll spray it with cold, the tooth will freeze like ice cream and fall off. Sometimes you don’t even need to take tweezers: the teeth are labial, you just squeeze, and that’s it. The nurse told me: “Doctor, at least take the instrument for demonstration!” Why bother a child? In gratitude, children bring their drawings and beaded bracelets. And adults sometimes have moonlight. (Laughs.) I don’t drink it, but of course I’m happy about the attention and appreciation of my work. — What awaits dentistry in the foreseeable future? — If earlier crowns and implants were placed by eye, now everything is calculated on a computer, a 3D model is made and transferred to the patient’s mouth. And in time, I think robots will treat teeth altogether. Everything is very clear and neat. But, on the other hand, a robot doesn’t talk to you, it won’t calm a child down… — But enough about work. Is it true that the most beautiful girls live in Saratov? — It’s true, I’m married to one of them! (Laughs.) How did you meet? Eight years ago, Kristina got a job as an administrator in our clinic. She came to me. I removed the seven, I really liked the girl, but I was embarrassed to ask for her phone number. I looked at the outpatient card, took the phone number from there, called: “How are you doing after the removal?” — “Everything is fine, thank you.” He asked me out on a date, but not right away, for a few days I felt like I was under anesthesia; I am already 40 years old, I was already married, I have a daughter from my first marriage, and I felt and behaved like a teenager. (Smiles.) Kristina joins the conversation: “After the first date, Hussein walked me home, and my mother met us. And she is a seer, a very wise woman. She saw him and said: “Come into the house, son-in-law.” They found a common language very quickly, they have a wonderful relationship. Happy newlyweds Hussein and Kristina – Kristina, he is a wonderful son-in-law, but what a husband he is. – Kind, open, simple, does not hold a grudge against anyone. If someone offends, he will immediately forgive. But most importantly, he loves his family very much. I would describe my husband in one word: comfortable. He spends a lot of time with his daughter. Arina was a restless girl and slept only in her arms until she was six months old. During the day I am with her, and in the evening our dad came home from work, sat down with our daughter in his arms on a pregnancy pillow and slept like that, sitting up. And in the morning I got up and went to work. Our dad is the first. How is everything arranged in your family: what is according to Arab rules, and what is according to Russian ones? Hussein: “I am the head, and my wife is the neck.” There are no strict rules here, we both have an equal right to vote. And our most important one is the youngest, Arina Guseinovna. She is six years old, smart, wonderful. We needed to go to the playground, but I said: no, daughter, we are talking now. She is sitting, waiting … – Hussein, why do you love Saratov? “I just love it, just the way you love a man.” The Third Season is a project of the Nasio magazine, created with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. These are the stories of foreigners who once came to our country, were imbued with Russian culture, vastness, people – and in fact became a little Russian themselves. Tell your friends about our hero, share this story on your social networks.
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