Moscow!

Warning: The following is a rather long entry detailing everything I did during my five days in Moscow last week. If you’re not interested in reading all of it, there are a few pictures that you can scroll down to check out and skip all of the distracting words.

Friday, October 2^nd:

I stepped out of my dorm into the cool early autumn air

of Southern Russia at 6:15 in the morning. The pre-dawn sky was still black, and I almost didn’t notice Andrei as he walked up the path to meet me. Andrei is a graduate student at the institute, and very kindly agreed to be my guide to and through Krasnodar. He is soft-spoken and exceedingly polite, but can navigate the city like none other. We walked the few blocks to the bus stop and boarded the 6:45 direct bus to Krasnodar which, in fabulous Russian fashion, left within seconds of the appointed departure time. I honestly have to say that, despite my (almost overwhelming) anticipation of the Moscow trip, I was a little sad as we drove out of Slavyansk-na-Kubani; while I don’t know that it has necessarily become a home to me just yet, it is a place whose streets I’ve gotten to know, and in a strange country, there’s comfort in anything recognizable, particularly if you’re going somewhere new.

It took about an hour to drive across the steppe (beautiful during sunrise—though unfortunately we were driving in the wrong direction to see it too well) to Krasnodar and another hour to drive through Krasnodar itself to get to the bus stop. From there, the ever-patient but quick-moving Andrei (with my suitcase in hand, in gentlemanly fashion) lead the way to a jam-packed Russian trolley (with the American fear of getting too close to someone, you’ll never see any bus or trolley packed as tightly as this one was) and then to a shuttle that would take us the rest of the way to the airport. After making sure I got checked in all right, he left, and I boarded my plane to Moscow.

From the air, I got my first good look at the general landscape of my region (I was barely conscious on my first flight in and didn’t notice much). Imagine the flatness of the Midwest. Now make it flatter, emptier, and bigger. I have to admit, I was kind of impressed b y the vastness of the nothingness that we flew over. I’m curious as to how much of the land is owned and cultivated. I know that this region is an agricultural center of Russia, but with that much space, I’m pretty sure that you could feed armies or small countries for quite some time. It’s pretty mind-boggling.

I also want to take a brief minute to give Aeroflot their due. Sure, the carryon baggage bins are half the size of regular bins and sure, their flights have been the bumpiest I’ve ever been on, but I’ll give credit to any airline that still gives out a free meal on two hour flights. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t kind of look forward to their tasty desserts.

Ahem…

I think that I really have been spoiled by the gorgeous

weather we’ve been having in the south, because I was a little confused at first when we landed and everyone started putting on their heavy coats, gloves, and fur hats. I did, too (though I don’t have a fur hat), mostly because everyone else did and the insecure twelve-year-old in me didn’t want to be left out, but I became pretty grateful for the layers as soon as I stepped outside the plane.

My dorm babushka’s warnings against freezing in Moscow were well-founded—it was cold! Not bitterly cold, but it was a bit of a shock to my system, where the afternoons will see temperatures in the seventies, not the thirties. Of course, after four years in Chicago, where snow in early October was not uncommon, I’ve learned to deal.

Masha, my lovely fellow-ETA, was kind enough to come meet me at the airport. I was absolutely thrilled to see her again, and we spent the entire marshrutka ride into the center of town chatting away about our towns, our schools, our friends, and anything else we could think to chat about. It was wonderful to see a friend again and to talk about our experiences so far in Russia—not to mention to talk with another native English speaker. I had forgotten how good it felt to talk fast without worrying that I wouldn’t be understood!

We made it back to the apartment of the incredible couple, Masha’s former professor and her husband, who had agreed to host us during our stay in Moscow. They weren’t home at the time, but a pot of borsch was waiting for us on the stove, which we heated up and enjoyed, again in Russian fashion, with smetana. It was my first taste of actual borsch with beets (the borsch here must be a regional variant, because as far as I can tell, they don’t use beets), and I actually rather enjoyed it! So in case any parents or grandparents have been worrying about my eating habits: no need to fear! I’m coming to enjoy Russian food (Susie and Tyler: your days of eating my pickle chips may be at an end, I’m sorry to say).

Masha and I were both pretty tired in the evening, she having spent all night on a train with three strange men and I having not slept much the night before, but we had to get out and do something on our first night in Moscow (that is, my first night, and her first night on this trip—she has spent time in Moscow before, which I was grateful for, as she very adeptly guided us through the metro). So we headed out around 6pm and hopped on the metro.

Let me digress here for a moment. The Moscow metro. New York City has nothing on the Moscow metro system. The masses of humanity converge underground in Moscow. I swear, I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. Plus, you think the Washington, DC escalators are steep? Nope. Not compared to Moscow’s they’re not. You can spend three minute just riding an elevator up. I got pretty bad vertigo my first time, actually. Finally, the stations themselves are often works of art, with paintings or engravings on the walls, statues and chandeliers, and magnificent halls. Some of them were pretty incredible.

Masha indulged my weakness for Russian literary icons, and we got off at Pushkinskaya station. We came above ground, and the first thing I saw (aside from the giant MacCafe) was a somber-looking Pushkin statue. I was positively giddy—I’m not ashamed to admit that I may have let out a squeak or two. I dutifully took out my camera and snapped some shots, completely unconcerned with the fact that my body language and actions just screamed “Tourist!” I didn’t care—this was Pushkin, by god!

From there, we walked down Tverskaya (still giddy, recalling every familiar street name from Dostoevsky) to Red Square (at the entrance to which I very coincidentally and very appropriately got a call from Brinton in Tajikistan!). Let me tell you, pictures do not do Red Square justice. My jaw just dropped when I passed beyond the gates. For one thing, it’s a lot bigger than I imagined. Most impressive, though, was, of course, St. Basil’s. If you ever have a chance to see it in person, I would encourage it. The building is so much more beautiful in real life than any picture would suggest. We also happened t get there just after dusk, while there was still some light in the sky, as gray storm clouds were blowing by. I can’t imagine a more iconic Russian image.

We headed back to the apartment after that, as it was cold and dark and we were getting rather tired. We stopped off in a market to pick up something for dinner and went back. When we arrived, we were met at the door by Tatyana Evgeneevna, Evgenii Semyonovich, and their dog, Chara (a chocolate lab! I felt like I was home). I want to take a minute to just express my gratitude to them and to say what wonderful people they are. They both speak impeccable English, but we decided to speak only in Russian. I have to say, I’m kind of impressed with myself—I understood almost everything that was said during my stay there, though I wasn’t always able to respond. It was a huge relief to me, since I had been worrying that my Russian wasn’t improving as fast as I think it should. However, it might be that the accent here is even thicker than I had thought, which would explain why I can’t always understand things that I really should. Or it could just be that the vocabulary I learned isn’t really suitable in conversational speech with teenagers, which is mostly what I hear here. Ah, well…

Anyway! Tatyana Evgeneevna took the chicken that Masha and I had brought and magically made a fantastic dinner out of it. Like my grandmom, she seems to have the skill of throwing whatever happens to be around together and making a delicious meal out of it. Alas, I don’t think that this is a skill I will ever acquire…

It felt so good to be in somebody’s home again. I’ve lived in a dorm before and am very familiar with the pleasant feeling of returning to a home after the bare walls and stale air of a dormitory, but I think the feeling was even heightened this time just because I’m so far away from my home. Crawling into bed that night, I felt calmer and cozier than I had in a long time.

Saturday, October 3^rd:

Masha and I got up early on Saturday morning to shower and eat breakfast before heading out. A nice breakfast of tea and fried cheese patties (for lack of a better explanation for those who aren’t familiar with Russian traditional cuisine) was waiting for us—another unexpected but welcome luxury of living in a home. A home-cooked breakfast! My usual breakfast of crackers and juice with the occasional banana no longer seems so tasty.

After eating and getting ready for the day, Masha and I headed out. Our destination that morning was, for me, a pilgrimage of sorts: the Tolstoy museum (and yes, I do know how much of a dork that makes me)! After asking directions of several people and walking past the museum at least once, we found made it there. The museum is actually Tolstoy’s Moscow estate, preserved and kept the way it was when he lived there. Honestly—and I say this without shame—it was almost like a religious experience for me to be there (…all right, not totally without shame, after seeing that in print). It was incredible. I saw the study where he wrote “The Kreutzer Sonata, “ “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” and so many other incredible works. Walking into his reception room, I could perfectly picture the St. Petersburg society gatherings in War and Peace. It seemed strange though, that someone who disavowed that work, along with Anna Karenina and all previous works, founded Tolstoyism and favored going to the peasants over society life could stay in an estate like that. More of the paradox of Tolstoy, I suppose.

We left, very satisfied and with posters of the writer in hand, to meet up with another friend of Masha’s for a brief drive through the city. Meeting all Masha’s friends, I started to realize how important connections and networking actually is, especially in a foreign country. The entire Moscow trip was made so much easier by the people she knew, all of whom were more than willing to help out in any way they could. But again, I digress. He dropped us off by the MacCafe, and Masha and I headed off to meet Tatyana Evgeneevna and Evgenii Semyonovich for lunch (from here on T. E. and E. S.). We met outside of T. E.’s university where E. S. picked us up in their car and took us to lunch. We went to a nice restaurant in the center of town where I indulged in autumn flavors with pumpkin soup and apple pie. I left with a very warm (and full) feeling in my stomach.

From there, T. E. and E. S. took us to Kolomenskoe, formerly an ancient tsarist village on the outskirts of the city. It was incredibly beautiful, with gardens and orchards everywhere, and an absolutely stunning church overlooking a lake built by the father of Ivan the Terrible. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures (the morning was warm, but the cold air arrived in the afternoon, and the thought of taking my gloved hands out of my pockets was not terribly appealing to me), but this is another place that I would definitely encourage any travelers to Moscow to visit. It was absolutely gorgeous.

After that, we decided to drive past MGU (Moscow State University), considered to be the best (and possibly the biggest—I’m not sure) university in Russia. It was quite a sight. Long paths lined by birch groves lead up to a massive and impressive-looking building on one side and a landing overlooking the entire city on the other. I’d like to go back and have a closer look around the area some time, but due to the cold and the fact that we were all getting a little tired, we only briefly got out of the car to have a look at the view of the city, after which we headed home for tea and sleep.

Sunday, October 4^th:

I woke up on the cool Sunday Moscow morning to another nice breakfast waiting for me, this time kasha (which I had never had before) and yogurt (the first tasty yogurt I’ve had, though unfortunately I haven’t been able to find it here). After a leisurely meal, Masha and I headed out with T. E. to Red Square, where we were going to meet up with a Fulbright Scholar, Katriva, and her son, Chase, and tour the Kremlin. After some phone snags, we found them in front of St. Basil’s. It was nice to meet up with another Fulbrighter, and I have to say, Katriva and Chase are pretty fantastic people. They are learning Russian, and I think that Chase’s “спасибо!” (spacibo / thank you) when T. E. handed him a souvenir was perhaps the cutest thing I have ever seen (he’s five)… besides his cry of “сыр!” (sir / cheese) when we were taking a picture.

The five of us headed into the Kremlin together, with T. E. as our guide. She seems to know everything there is to know about this city, its history and culture. I was very grateful to have her there with us. We walked all around the grounds and visited a few churches before heading out. We went back to Red Square, where we met up with Matt. It was great to see him again—it’s always exciting, too, to see a reminder of home in a foreign country. T. E. left us to go to work just as Matt joined us, and we went to grab a bite to eat before deciding what to do next.

Luckily, as it turned out, a whole group of ETAs just happened to be at Red Square at the same time, so we were able to meet up with them for lunch and adventures. It was wonderful to be reunited with everyone. We hadn’t seen each other since July, and even then we only spent five days together, but it seemed as if no time had passed at all, and we all got along just as well as we did in DC. I really want to emphasize what a great group of ETAs we have—I feel very lucky to be a part of it. I’m only disappointed that the ETAs in other countries in the region weren’t able to join us. I hope we’ll have a chance to meet up with them again at some point.

Anyway! After lunch, we walked around a little bit (acting totally like the tourists we are) and made our way back to St. Basil’s. This time, however, we actually went in. The cathedral is stunning from the inside as well as the outside. Every little chapel, every little room, was stunning in its own way. The entire second floor is a maze, however, and you have to be careful not to get lost and not to miss anything.

After St. Basil’s, we took a stroll through ГУМ (the huge department store on Red Square), mostly just to see what it was like, and then went off to Izmailovo, a huge outdoors crafts/gifts/flea market-esque complex. I’m definitely going to go back there next time I’m in Moscow to buy souvenirs for everybody. It’s really pretty amazing. You really could find anything at all there. I was particularly amused by all of the Soviet memorabilia. I’m going to have to stock up on pins and posters before I leave.

I split from the rest of the group around 5:30 and left Izmailovo on my own to go meet up with Masha (who had split off earlier to take care of something) at Pushkin, because T. E. and E. S. had arranged to take us to see an operetta! It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture on their part. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see the theater in Moscow, and I really enjoyed the show we saw (and I understood almost all of it, which was quite exciting). We headed back home after that, had tea, and stayed up for a little while chatting and taking advantage of the wi-fi in the apartment. I don’t think we got much sleep that night, but hey—we were in Moscow, and who needs sleep, anyway?

Monday, October 5^th:

We had to get up early on Monday, which didn’t help the whole sleep situation. Ah, well! I wanted to go to the hotel where the rest of the Fulbrighters were staying in order to check in and register, as well as to meet up with them to head to the embassy. We joined them for breakfast (T. E. had already prepared omelets for us at the apartment, however) and then set out as a group, Valya at the head, swiping all of us into the metro with her super metro card. To my great surprise, we all made it onto the same train and got to our stop in one group. We arrived at the embassy on time, went through the long process of getting through security, and then it was off to the meeting.

I actually found all of the sessions at our orientation on Monday pretty interesting. We heard more about the other Fulbright programs, about safety, etc., but perhaps most interesting was the session on economy. Who would have thought that I would enjoy a session on the economy? But somehow this was quite engaging. However, the most exciting part of the morning was when the ambassador himself came in to introduce himself. Apparently, he was just passing by when he heard that a group of Fulbrighters was in the building, and wanted to stop in to greet us! I have to admit, I felt like kind of a big deal when he came in.

After our meetings, we all went to lunch. I found it kind of amusing that, out of all the restaurants in Russia, we picked a burger joint, but hey—I’m not complaining. I got red meat in my system for the first time in a month and a half, and now I can say that the first real hamburger I had was in Russia. Not weird at all!

From there, we all went to the Moscow American Center to meet the people who run it and to hear about all of the resources available to us there. More and more on Monday, I realized what an incredible expat network there is in Moscow and how many opportunities and resources are available to us. Unfortunately, I’m too far away to make much use of it, but it really did encourage me even more to reach out to anybody and everybody relatively close to me and to take advantage of all possible opportunities to participate in events and programs in my region. I’m willing to take an overnight train every now and then to Rostov-na-Donu or to Sochi (which is a little closer) to participate in the Access programs from time to time, if I can. I’ve already started emailing contacts there, so here’s hoping I’ll be able to take part somehow.

But again, I see that I’ve digressed. After the (pretty brief, since we were running late) meeting at the American center, we broke off into groups for walking tours through Moscow. Unfortunately, as we were late, the tours had to be shortened, but they were still pretty interesting. Our tour guide reminded me of Baba Yaga (except that she was super sweet) and knew everything there was to know about the city. She guided us through the rain back to Red Square, explaining the history of the streets and the buildings on the way. Unfortunately, I think we were all pretty tired and didn’t pay quite as close attention as we would have liked, but it had been a long day, and we were exhausted and hungry. At the end of the tour, our lovely little guide gave us all hugs and kisses and sent us on our way.

The younger members of our group met up with the rest of the ETAs for dinner, after which most of them went back to the hotel to rest for a little while. At this point, I wanted to move into the hotel, because a) it would be much more convenient to get to the meeting and eventually to the airport tomorrow from there and b) I wanted to have at least one night with the rest of the Fulbrighters. I felt bad leaving T. E. and E. S. after all they had done for me, but they understood that it was simply more convenient this way. Matt was kind enough to accompany me and Masha back to the apartment, which was very nice. We stayed for tea (how could we not?) and ended up sitting around until, I think, about 9:30. Once Matt and I realized what time it was, we decided to head out. After dropping my bag off at the hotel, we followed the instructions of the rest of the ETAs who had gone out (they left only a few minutes before us) until we all found each other at a bar somewhere downtown. It was nice just to relax and hang out with everybody for a little while—again, this is a really great group of people. We stayed until just before the metro closed and left just in time to make it back to the hotel. A few of us ended up staying up until four in the morning just hanging out, playing the banjo, and singing. That meant that I only got three hours of sleep that night (and I had a cold coming on, to boot), but it was well worth it—though I will say, Fulbright doesn’t skimp on the hotel rooms—those beds were very, very comfortable.

Tuesday, October 6^th:

After another early breakfast in the hotel, the ETAs headed back to the embassy for a final session. This meant that I had to say goodbye to Matt at breakfast, which was too bad. I was kind of disappointed that I wasn’t able to go see Lenin with him, but I suppose that will have to wait for next time. We made it to the embassy without Valya’s help this time, and only a little late. Once there, we had one more session on Fulbright programs and resources that we could take advantage of, and picked up a lot of free Fulbright swag. After that, we gathered on the couches and just talked about our experiences so far, teaching methods, etc. It was really helpful to hear what other people had been going through—it seems like we’ve all been having some similar experiences, which was encouraging.

People started to split up after that, as some of us had planes and trains back to our towns to catch. I had time for a quick lunch with a few of the remaining ETAs, but I had run back to the hotel right after that so that I could catch my plane.

I really did not want to leave Moscow, I’ll admit. More and more, I’m realizing that I really am a city girl. Being in a big city, with all of the resources, activities, and sites made me really nostalgic for Chicago (a feeling which was emphasized by the similar weather). I think that I am in one of the smallest towns of all the ETAs—I hadn’t even realized how small my town was until I talked to a few of the others. As I boarded the plane, I wondered how on earth I was going to stand a whole year way out in the country, with only a few trips to “real” cities. I have to say, I was kind of sad to have to leave.

However, those feelings were, at least in part, mitigated when I landed in Krasnodar. Andrei was there to meet me with a friend of his who was going to drive us home. His friend was so excited to meet me, so surprised that I spoke some Russian, and so excited to have the chance to speak some English, that I couldn’t help but be excited myself, despite the exhaustion that plagued my mind and my body and the cold that was starting to take its toll. It is nice to be somewhere where people are genuinely excited to have you.

Wednesday, October 7^th:

Slept all day. Nothing terribly exciting.

Thursday, October 8^th:

The reception I got on returning to the Foreign Languages department on Thursday from teachers and students alike further helped to temper my big-city longings. Katya greeted me with a huge smile and tons of questions. I went to two classes with her, and in one of them, I even got to lead a discussion, which was pretty exciting. I wish I had had more time to prepare, but I think it went well, regardless. I also had a meeting with A. A. in the afternoon wherein he told me that my request to be utilized more in the classroom has been acknowledged (I think I have Becca at the Moscow Fulbright office to thank here), and that in addition to the graduate class in which I will be the assistant teacher in November, I will also be given my own class of undergraduates to teach. My very own class! I was very excited, and headed home pleased. As I stepped off the marshrutka at my stop, I didn’t even have time to turn my head before I heard someone call my name. I looked over and saw Masha and Roseanna, with big smiles on their faces, telling me that they missed me and were glad to have me back! It was so sweet to hear. I ended up chatting with them for a while (during which I got a call from the dean of the Foreign Languages department to organize a time to meet tomorrow to discuss my classes) before heading home. I spent the rest of the evening continuing to recuperate from my cold in my room, so there isn’t much more to say here…

Friday, October 9^th:

Today, I officially became a teacher!

…Well, my classes don’t start until Tuesday, but I officially have classes, so I feel at a liberty to take the title.

Starting on Tuesday (I will usually have classes on Monday, but not this week), I will be teaching a class on American Culture to third and fourth year students—three classes of third years and three classes of fourth years a week. I get to pick whatever I want to discuss. I can’t say how excited I am. I don’t have too much time to start planning, so this will be a busy weekend, but I am really looking forward to it. Hooray!