The American girls were brave the other night and ventured to the Moscow-equivalent of a Wal-Mart all by ourselves! We didn't have any Russians to help us translate and, surprisingly, we all made out just fine. We're learning to navigate the city (especially the metro-if nothing else, we'll be experts in that lingo). Probably my biggest goal is to be able to get around the grocery stores or markets and be familiar with the vocabulary and phrases. We picked up some food for dinner and when Maksim and Bolshoi Max heard that Shelli was cooking dinner, they both said, "Shelli's cooking? We'll stay!" Shelli whipped up potatoes and Russian pork with green beans and fresh bread. It turned into another great international family dinner.
Yesterday we got to tour the departments of the university and get a glimpse into the studies of the many Russian students. I don't remember the specifics about the programs but MSAU specifically has partnerships with certain agriculture-based companies (such as John Deere) that provide training to the students on their equipment, ultimately providing future career opportunities. We got to tour the military department where we learned a little about the Russian occupation in World War II, or the Great Patriotic War as they refer to it. On the walls were pictures of veterans and generals, including a prominent picture of Stalin. It's interesting to get a glimpse of history from the Russian perspective, particularly such prominent figures as Stalin and Lenin. Here they are revered (at least in public forms) whereas our history has a much different view.
In addition to the school tour, Karlie, Miles, Maxim (the French edition) and I went to Arbatskaya-one of the major centers in Moscow-to find the Дом Книги, a mega bookstore in Moscow that has books in English. I bought a book of Russian fables written in Cyrillic. Optimistic? Maybe, but I hope that it will improve my vocabulary as well as my reading. It's probably a bit of a stretch to think I'll be able to read it with any kind of fluency by the time we leave but I'm going to give it a shot!
The weather today was particularly Russia-esque, that is to say...the type of Russia I was expecting before we left. It was gray and snowy all day, although not very cold until we got back to the hostel. I noticed as we were trekking around in the winter wonderland that for a city the size and significance of Moscow that should be used to this kind of weather, it's surprisingly ill-equipped to handle the slush and snow. The city had been described to me as dirty and up until this point, I hadn't really seen it. But the slush and melted snow leave everything a mess. The stairs to the metro are slick and the sidewalks are slushy and full of puddles or sheets of ice. Cars kick up the brown slush and cover the lines in the road. I would have thought that the city would have perfected some kind of system for handling this kind of thing, seeing as how they experience it a great portion of the year...
Today, we're going to a Russian high school to observe Russian students learning English, possibly to help them later in the semester. And....Maksim has arranged for me to be able to play the piano! I wish I had thought to prepare something but just being able to play will be wonderful! It seems like it's been a long time, even though this trip has already flown by.
Well, it's still early in the day so I may post later, depending on how the day unfolds. I feel like there's so much more to say!
пока!
Every winter, city authorities responsible for cleaning the streets are caught unprepared when snow starts falling. They would be giving lame excuses like,"The winter came early this year. We didn't expect this much snow." REALLY?? It should get better by mid-March. Easter is on April 24th this year and, usually, the weather remains cold until after Easter. You might try to hurry in the spring by participating in Масленица (Maslenitsa), a welcoming of spring festival that dates back to pagan times. It literally means "Butter week". During this week, there are a lot of fun activities all over the city: open-air performances, folk dancing and singing. You will see pancakes being served everywhere, as they symbolize the sun. In fact, Maslenitsa is all about pancakes! A necessary component of the week-long celebration is scarecrows representing winter being set on fire. It's a lot of fun, really! Maslenitsa starts on Feb 26th, I believe.
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