And the End is Near

Well, just finished my last class of the semester. Super sucky... Loved the class, loved the professor. Had a blast and now it's over. This is depressing. Said I wouldn't cry, but don't know how long that is going to last... le sigh

been having an awesome last week. Great food, friends, tanks, and large military trunks carrying missles that shut down the main streets in Moscow. Yep. And I will leave you all with that for now. This is probably my last post until after I get home, so I if I don't write until then, tootles!

Wow, now I am depressed. I don't want to leave...

The Last Weekend

Well, I officially finished my last weekend in Moscow. I was really ill this week and while it didn't completely defeat me, it definitely slowed me down. I went out to dinner Wednesday to get info. About leaving Russia and again on Thuirsday with Jason and Amanda because Jason was going home. Other than that, I just stayed at home, started packing, and hallucinated about being a vampire ninja. Yea for fevers... But I couldn't stay in on Saturday, so I went with Amanda and Francesca for one last hurrah at Izmailovo. Finished up sopping, ran into some more friends there, and went to dinner at my favorite little Chinese hole-in-a-wall. It was quite difficult ordering without Hongda, but we managed to order something. Not quite sure what it was, but that's why I love it so much there. It was lots of fun, but perchance a bit too much, for I spent the rest of the evening in my pajamas, hacking up my lungs while my friends force fed me tea in an attempt to make me get better. I love my friends.

On Sunday, we finally got to go see Lenin. Yes, that Lenin. And, yes, we actually got to see him. You see, they actually mummified Lenin and put him on display. For a couple months out of the year, visitors can walk through the Kremlin cemetery, go into this dark, guard-infested building off of Red Square, and look at the creepy, decaying Lenin. Of course I had to go! It was really quite cool, although I am pretty sure he is mostly a wax figure by now. You walk into the building, tripping along the stairs because there is zero light until you finall make yourself into this room. There, laying on this really fancy bed with a red glowing light, is Lenin. I stopped and gapped because it was just that weird. Then I tried to get closer to see if I could poke Lenin and promptly got yelled at and poked by a guard. Assat grabbed me and dragged me away, hissing in my ear that you don't DO that. Hehe. It was fun.

After Lenin, we headed off to do a river cruise around the city. It's a great way to see some of the many landmarks and it just opened up last week for the summer. We got on by the university and toured around the city for about 2 hours. We saw the Kremlin, Church of Christ the Savior, the glass bridge, some monasteries, a few of the Seven Sisters. We thought that we could stay on until we ended up back where we got on but, of course, that would be sensible. And Russia is anything but sensible. So, we got dropped off across the city, in an area neither Susan or Kara had ever been before, with no way to get back and no idea where to go. Fortunately, I had been in the area before (its right near the monastery where Princess Tarakanova was interred), so we were able to get back home eventually.

On our way home, we got a call from Sarah inviting us for dinner. Her parents visited from the US last week and brought tons of goodies. One of those goodies...peanut butter!! Woohoo!! So, we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now, I know that might not sound very awesome to you all but trust me, over here, its gold. Yum. They also brought cookie mix, which we made and then realized that, hey!, our ovens don't work. So, Hannah attempted to fry cookies in her pan. Yes, fry cookies. They weren't actually that bad, surprisingly enough. Go figure.

Anyways, that was the weekend. Have a marathon of classes this week, one day off, and then I come home. Lots to do and I am still quite sick, so I am going to watch some Russian Winnie the Pooh and go to bed. Tootles!

Oh yeah, I will get around to typing up my trip to St. Pete. Eventually...

Blech, again

OK. So, just got back from St. Petersburg yesterday. Was really cool, will write more on it later. Still haven't written a post for last week either. Will do it when I get the time. Have a week and a half left and I am getting sick. Woke up with a croup cough, fever, and achy body. Like that will stop me, hah! Going out with friends tonight, tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, Saturday... OK, you get the point. I can be sick back home. So take that! I've got Airborne and vitamins. Bring it on...

OK. Crazy post, I know. Need to finish up work and head off to class so I can do stuff. I don't want to go back to Florida yet!!! There is still so much to do! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha! I Love Coincidences!

OK. Quick little post. I was walking into CafeMinimum (um, I mean, CafeMax) to use the internet. Stopped to get some tea and in walk two Englishmen (well, an Englishwoman and an Englishman). They try ordering some drinks, but are having a difficult time. I help them order, we chat a bit and then leave. About an hour later, Susan walks up. Apparently, the two Englishmen are her parents and were telling her about this nice American girl who helped them out. That would be me. How funny is that? So, good first impression. Check. They gave me some Cadbury chocolates in thanks! Yes! They are now off to brave the inside of MGU, so I might never see them again. Poor, brave souls...

OK. That's it. :P

An Entire Week in One Blog. Ready, Set, Go...

I am trying to remember everything I've done this week. I think I've gone out everyday in my desperate attempt to do everything before my last three weeks are up and I go home. So, I am properly exhausted. Still, I can't quite yet! I have tomorrow off, so I'll see what I can get up to (stupid Monday's and everything closed). Wednesday Joe leaves for St. Petersburg, so I might go with him and spend a week there (if I can get my passport back and if I can get out of classes and if I can finish work...). If not, it's another theater night and back to the Tretyakov. Susan's parents are here, so she's doing a lot of stuff with them. I might see if I can join them for something... Anyways, that's besides the point. First things first: this week.

Right. Let me see if I can get this right. Monday was a trip to the Kremlin, but I already wrote a blog about it that I may or may not post. Tuesday, I went out with Sarah to Beauty and the Beast: The Musical in Russian. Her great aunt just died, so we were trying to cheer her up. She got tickets from her program and invited me. It was awesome! Definitely one of the best musicals I've seen (I am actually listening to the soundtrack right now). Because I was familiar with the movie, it was very easy to follow along and I was able to understand a lot, which was great. Beautiful theater only three metro stops from my university, great sets, and good actors. While not quite as brilliant as Les Miserables, it was definitely up there.

Wednesday, I went out for another $.66 Bolshoi night with Susan, Kara, and Bethany. We saw Spartacus the ballet. Being the Bolshoi, it was, of course, amazing. Again, because I knew the story going into it, I was able to appreciate it much more. It was largely a cast production with only a few dances done by the main dancers alone (a change from the others I've seen), so it was very lively. Loved it. Another recommendation. Although, I am pretty sure you can't go wrong with a ballet at the Bolshoi.

Thursday, I had work, with an exciting little crisis in the middle. It was actually not a crisis, as dad will attest. It was just Hannah being indecisive and dramatic. To feel better, I went out again with Susan, Kara, and Bethany for dinner. It was wonderful. I got a buffet, which was a real buffet (meaning that you are allowed more than one plate) and I ate so much I was sick. A great change from the ramen and cereal I eat all the time. It's quite the conundrum. The food here is world-class, if your willing to pay for it. And, at the markets, the freshest food is dirt cheap. However, that means you have to cook. Normally, I would be in heaven (well, I am anyways), but I have all of a pot, a pan, and plastic silverware. No spices, no refrigeration (its getting to warm to keep things in my window), and nothing to cook with. And no idea what half the stuff is and how to cook it. Eating out is horrendously expensive. Even dinner in the food court can be no less than $8 for a meal. Thus, ramen and cereal it is. Why don't we have markets like this back home? Fresh herbs, fruits, vegetables. Meat still klucking, mooing, swimming, and whatever farm animal noise you can make. Fresh made breads and home-made pastas. Food pickled, boiled, or stewed by the babushkas selling them. Street corner food that I can't even describe (most of the time, I don't even know what I am eating. It's better that way.). sigh I am going to miss markets so much.

But, again, that is not the point. We are only at Thursday. Let's see, Friday I had classes all day, so I stayed in and cooked (Susan and I have discovered the joys of fried eggs on toast. We go through a dozen eggs ever time we make it. Which is generally about 3 times a week. I have become such the college student...).

Saturday, I got up early and took off for the Muzeon and art market. The Muzeon, also known as sculpture park, is this, well, sculpture park. It's along the river by the Church of Christ the Savior, the Red October Chocolate Factory (which closed down. No!), the New Tretyakov Museum, Gorky Park, the Central House of Artists, and the monument of Peter the Great. Not bad, no? The park was originally a graveyard for sculptures removed from public squares during the Soviet Union, but is now hold hundreds of statues of all kinds. Saturday was sunny and warm (ok, warm for Russia) with a great breeze. One of the nicest days we've had, so I made the most of it. It's going on my list of off-the-beaten-track places. Because, although its is near basically everything and hardly off the beaten track, apparently it is mostly frequented by locals.

On either side of the park is this great art market. In front of the park is the Central House of Artists, so all the artists who work there sell their art outside along the river. I've been there before, but wanted to go on the weekend. The prices weren't bad for hand-painted art, but still a little out of my price range. Nevertheless, a great place to walk around.

From there, I walked along the river until I got to the Old Tretyakov Museum. The river runs along all the most prominent landmarks in Moscow and I wanted to hit all of them. About 3 hours and 15+ miles later, I made it to the Red Square (great view. I had never seen it from the river before), watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and met up with Joe. We walked along Tverskaya (one of the main streets) and did an exchange of sorts. I took him to FAQcafe, one of my favorites in the city, and he showed me Duma Cafe (one of his old favorites) and Transilvanian Records (probably one of the best record stores in Moscow). Then we headed up to Scans, as per usual, had some drinks and dinner and hung out for a while.

And now for today, Sunday. It's been a couple of weeks (ok, so maybe 1 1/2) since I've been to Ismalovo and I still needed to by souvenirs. Sarah's been wanting to go, so we headed off. Spent way too much money on presents, of course. Nobody was willing to bargain today. Like, at all. I think that it's finally starting to be tourist season and they are much less willing to bargain with tourists. Oh well. I still got lots of stuff for much cheaper than anywhere else. We didn't go to my favorite sketchy restaurant, but walked around the Chinese and Vietnamese sections (my favorite) and got some food from the kiosky places. We then left and walked around the Red Square for a while.

Today was Russia's version of Palm Sunday (next week is Easter) and I had heard rumours about old ladies waving the Russian version of palm branches and giving away cake. While, alas, there was no free cake, there was instead old ladies with palms, which was cool. I am excited about what Easter will bring. Should be interesting.
Finally, it was theater time, so we got our $.66 tickets and went to see Cvetlyi Roochei (Light Stream?). About half way through the first act, Sarah got really sick and we left. No worries. We were both pretty exhausted anyways and it was really crowded. So, now I am back home, drinking tea and writing to y'all. Tomorrow will bring more adventures, I'm sure, so I'll be back with more later. Now, I am going to go listen to Beauty and the Beast and search my guidebook for something I haven't done yet... Wish me luck!

A Mall is NOT a Market...

I have been hearing about this market around town called the Gorbushka Market. From what I have heard, it was the biggest electronics market in town and one of the favorite hang out of college students. Due to my love of markets, I decided to check it out. Who doesn't love cheap, bootleg movies and crappy Russian music? So, with Jake, Asat, and Sarah and tow, I head off to the market. We get off at the appropriate station where I get slightly distracted at the local market and then head off to the electronics market. We look and look, but cannot find it. But wait, wasn't it supposed to be right off the metro. We see a sign and decide to follow it.

Finally, we end up in front of this modern, mall-looking building. A little confused, we walk in and find the Gorbushka shopping center. A market in only the vaguest of senses, the Gorbushka is a big (as in, really, really, big) mall filled with many shops and vendors selling everything from CDs to cameras and blenders. Jake loved it, but I can't say it was my favorite place ever. If I wanted to go to a mall, I would be in an American suburb. Prices were negotiable in some places and, in comparison to many places in Moscow, some of the electronics were cheaper, but still way more expense than prices in the US. Walked around a bit, but then headed home, slightly disappointed and freaking out because I lost one of my only weekend days left.

I have tomorrow (Monday) off, but because its a Monday, most museums are closed. Will probably go to the Kremlin. Tuesday is classes until 5pm and then to the theater through Sarah's program (because she is the only person in her program, they gave her two tickets to the opera so she wouldn't have to go alone – cool, no?). Wednesday is classes then standing in line outside the Bolshoi to try to get tickets to Spartacus (yea!). Then two full days until weekend and Ismalovo again.

Doing the Toursity Thing

I have been in Moscow exactly two months and 19 days. I have eaten at sketchy restaurants no tourist has ever laid eyes on. I have become the resident tour guide for things to do in Moscow. I have written a list naming the top 10 “Off-the-Beaten-Track” places to go in the city. Yet, I had not, until this day gone to the Kremlin and Armoury. Yes, I know, shocking. Hannah has not gone to, arguably, the top tourist attraction in the city. In my defense, I was waiting to go with Bimini when she made her visit so that we could do the whole squeely touristy thing together.

But, today I decided that I might as well do it now just to make sure I did it.
Of course, who was to join me in my adventures other than my trusty sidekick, Susan (better known as Heat Girl due to her inability to regulate her body temperature), and our dear, nationality challenged, 3rd floor friend, Francesca. (For those of you who are wondering, I am Static Girl due to the fact that my hair is constantly conducting electricity and blowing up my mp3 player... Oh, and Siren and the African Pocahonas due to my ability to lure sailors to their death and my unidentifiable looks. Trust me, its better not to ask...) Anyways, we headed off to the Kremlin, fur hats, matroshkas, and dancing bears in tow. We went to buy tickets, got yelled at and told we couldn't buy tickets because there are only specific times in which they may be purchased (at which point I waved my guidebook at them to explain that, because my guidebook is infallible, they were wrong and I was right). So, we went to another kiosk and were told that it was the wrong place to buy tickets at. We then headed off to ticket office number 3, found that, yes, we could buy tickets, yes, it was the correct time, and no, we don't get discounts because we are not “real” students. Apparently, our Russian student ID did not qualify us for the Russian student discount because we are foreign students studying at a Russian university nor did they qualify us for the international student discount because the ID was from a Russian, not foreign, university. Ah, don't you love that logic. Anyways, tiny little Hannah was getting slightly upset (I had a very sucky Friday, more on that later, and was just not in the mood). And, when Hannah gets slightly upset, her Russian dramatically improves as well as her ability to make a scene in public.

Needless to say, we got in with the highest possible discount (750RUR to 200RUR, yea!). Because of all our ticket office hopping, we only had time for either the Kremlin or Armoury, not both. We were going to do the Kremlin, but our bright, warm, and sunny day suddenly became cold, windy, and overcast so we went for the Armoury.
The Armoury, for those of you who don't know, is a part of the Kremlin that used to hold, you guessed it, arms! No, not the arms that are attached to your body, but arms as in weapons. Nowadays, it not only holds weapons, but also carriages and clothing of different tsars, lots of gold items, jewelry, and different types of fancy things, anyone of which is worth more than my house and your house combined. The carriages were very interesting, if very overdone (these people had no taste!), as was the clothing (the change in styles and evolving ideas of beauty was very neat to see). The weapons were also quite fun, though I think the jewelry was more dangerous just due to the sheer size of the jewels. The gold was, well, gold and got boring pretty quick.

However, the entire time I was there, I just kept thinking about how the royal families spent so much money on things like diamond snuff boxes and golden cups while their people were dying of hunger. It seems completely ridiculous and quite disgusting. But, it was fun to see once, although I probably wouldn't do it again. We got to sing A Barbie World in front of all the hot pink jewels to the delight of the tiny children; we devised a new way to kill people – drop one of the very heavy, gold and jewel encrusted Bible covers on someone's head; and set off the warning bells placed to keep people from touching the carriages, repeatedly, to our delight and the desjornias complete and utter despair. All in all, a fun time.

We left Francesca who had to go teach and walked the entire two feet from the Kremlin to the Bolshoi to stand in line for tickets again. An hour and a half and a stampede later, tickets in hand, we walked around the Red Square. The market outside the Red Square has just opened for summer (even though it snowed yesterday) and I got some really tasty honey bread from one of the vendors.

Then, we went to GUM to kill time until the show started. We saw the opera Madam Butterfly, which, unfortunately, did not live up to its fame. While we got seats this time, we still could only see part of the stage. It turned out not to be a problem as the sets were so simplistic as not to warrant a need to see the actual stage. The music was great, so I spent most of the opera sitting in my chair with my eyes closed. It was in Italian, so I had no idea was happened, but the music was nice. The players had decent voices, not the best I've ever heard, but they acted to woodenly (perhaps that was the point) it looked like they were doing a very bad job of the Robot (remember that dance?). Then, randomly, this half naked kid came in, walked around the stage slowly a couple of times, sat in a corner, and then repeated it. The whole thing was kinda weird... So, not the best opera ever, but not bad for a $.66 night. Susan and I have plans to go see another production on Wednesday, but I think we are going to try to stick with ballets from now on.

It's now about 2am, so I am going to go to bed and get some sleep before heading out with Jake for another market day tomorrow. Time to hone my bargaining skills...

Back to the Novadevichy

So, change of plans. Was planning on going to the Bulgakov Museum and Yeliseev, but decided not to do either. I was supposed to go with Jake to Yeliseev, but he just got back from Kazan and was dead to the world for most of the day. And, when I woke up this morning, I decided I just wanted to walk around and use as little brain power as possible. Susan agreed and, after finding out that going to Bulgakov would take some of that brain power we both abhor, decided to walk to the Novadevichy Convent. We had already gone a couple of months ago (remember the Sergeis and Uncle Solo?), but didn't get to see all of it.

It was nice out today, a little overcast but quite warm, so we decided to walk from the university to the convent. It was only about 3 miles or so and it takes us by a beautiful little park and the river. Or so we thought. Turns out the map made everything look a lot simpler than it really was. After attempting to slide down a steep embankment (unsuccessfully) we took the long way around and were almost swept aside by a fast running stream of melting snow. After we finally crossed the river, we get to a dead end and then ended up in the middle of a random market that was blocked all the way around by a 12 ft., metal fence. Fortunately, my sense of direction was not completely broken and we eventually made our way to the convent.

At the convent, we walked behind a group of people with our hoods pulled up, so as not to be recognized by Sergei and Sergei, the slightly creepy security guards turned tour guides. We spent a couple of hours looking around the cemetery, finding graves of famous people we missed before and other, nondescript graves that we just liked. Our favorite was the grave of a man named Фохт. If you can read and pronounce Cyrillic, you will know why it was out favorite. If you don't, well, it's probably for the best. I found the graves of Mayakovsky, yep more poetry, and then Alexei Tolstoy, at which point I nearly cried. It was so cool. Now I just need to figure out where Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoesvsky are buried (not at the Novadevichy, that's all I know. I think Tolstoy might be buried at Yasnaya Polyana...) and I will be good.

Turns out, we were not so sneaky as we had hoped and were later found by Sergei. Multiple times. I swear, the men here are like rashes or some other annoying metaphor... Anyways, eventually, the cemetery closed and we had to leave. I think we may go back again if there is time. Dead people are cool...

Now, all I have left are the Bulgakov House, Yeliseev, the Armory, and Lenin's mosoleum (Bimini, I am waiting for you. When you do come?) and I will pretty much be done with everything I absolutely must see this time around in Moscow. Once that is done, I will have more time just to walk around and take my time. I would really like to spend more time in the numerous markets around the city. So, for the next couple of weeks, I am just going to finish those things, do the theater at least once a week (yea for student tickets!) and go out of town. Vladamir, Suzdal, and St. Petersburg are a must. If I have time, I am also going to see if I can make it to Yasnaya Polyana and Arkangelskoe. We will see, we will see.

Wednesday (April 1st) marked the official beginning of the end. I know a month is still a long time, but it seems so short. So, I am a bit melancholy at the moment. I want to stay... Some friends and I are scheming to figure out how we can get a various passports (I want an EU one and they want either a US or EU one, depending on which country they come from). I think we figured out it could work if we all married each other. So, if I come home a married woman, don't worry. It was only for the passport...