Wednesday, March 28, 2007
accomplishments
Today has been a good day. I accomplished two things, and I wore SANDALS!! It was nearly 60F today, and now that we've had DST it doesn't get dark until 8 or so, and I have decided I love seasons.
The two things I accomplished:
1) I got IRAF to play nice. (I met with the astronomy professor and I learned about how to do photometry with PSF fitting, and it appears we were able to fix a couple of the problems I was having with IRAF in general.)
2) I printed a sheet of color photos on photo paper. (So that Mike can have an ID when he's in Russia.) Imagine a world without Kinko's and where no one owns a printer and you'll get a rough idea of just how accomplished this made me feel.
Also I bought COLD vanilla coke (harder than it sounds) today and am going to go eat dinner as soon as I finish this so that I don't forget and it doesn't wind up being 10pm and I'm hungry.
In yesterday's accomplishments, I Skyped Mike in Ukraine! (Technically I used Skype to call Catherine's cell phone - she's in the Peace Corp and he's visiting her as part of his tour de Europe.) But he is alive and well and jet lagged and in Kremenchuk for another day, then back to Kiev, then on to Amsterdam, then to Moscow!!
I haven't written much lately because not much exciting has been happening...I've been going to class and doing homework and running errands and sorting out room draw and picking classes for next semester at Mudd and spending too much time on facebook. That about sums it up. I am VERY EXCITED for one week from today! It's going to be such fun showing Mike my life in Russia. :) Until then, onward and upward...
The two things I accomplished:
1) I got IRAF to play nice. (I met with the astronomy professor and I learned about how to do photometry with PSF fitting, and it appears we were able to fix a couple of the problems I was having with IRAF in general.)
2) I printed a sheet of color photos on photo paper. (So that Mike can have an ID when he's in Russia.) Imagine a world without Kinko's and where no one owns a printer and you'll get a rough idea of just how accomplished this made me feel.
Also I bought COLD vanilla coke (harder than it sounds) today and am going to go eat dinner as soon as I finish this so that I don't forget and it doesn't wind up being 10pm and I'm hungry.
In yesterday's accomplishments, I Skyped Mike in Ukraine! (Technically I used Skype to call Catherine's cell phone - she's in the Peace Corp and he's visiting her as part of his tour de Europe.) But he is alive and well and jet lagged and in Kremenchuk for another day, then back to Kiev, then on to Amsterdam, then to Moscow!!
I haven't written much lately because not much exciting has been happening...I've been going to class and doing homework and running errands and sorting out room draw and picking classes for next semester at Mudd and spending too much time on facebook. That about sums it up. I am VERY EXCITED for one week from today! It's going to be such fun showing Mike my life in Russia. :) Until then, onward and upward...
Friday, March 23, 2007
marching through march
Perhaps it's silly, but I don't feel comfortable going shopping anyplace other than a grocery store by myself. Probably because all the little shops in malls are overpriced and no one is in them so I feel like I can't poke around by myself. What I wouldn't give for a Target or TJ Maxx...and I don't even like shopping!!
Mainly I want four things - a jacket that is medium-weight, shoes that are closed toed but not super-duper winter boots, nice "evening out" clothing, and a midsized purse. The annoying part? I have all of these things...at home. (Though I'll admit I am a bit lacking in the nicer clothes department.)
Materialism aside, global warming is seriously messing with Russia. It has been in the 50s and sunny for a week now. (No, David, I don't always complain about the weather.) :) In and of itself this is wonderful, but everyone I've talked to has said this is the warmest March they can remember.
This weekend was potentially going to be a trip to Vladimir/Suzdal or someplace else, but that isn't happening for...some reason. Instead, I'll probably go find my Aunt Rebecca's friend, Marsha, who is here in Moscow for a long weekend doing some stuff with the local Quakers, of whom there are about 10. I met up with her yesterday for lunch after a long series of incorrect directions and getting lost a la Moscow, but it was great to see someone I kind of knew from home, and I could speak FAST ENGLISH to her!! On a side note, Chinese fast food in Moscow is not particularly special, but ice cream is, though you have to order at least two scoops to get the equivalent of "one scoop" in the US. You have been warned. I miss Coldstone-sized portions.
Enough of my rambles, here are some pictures!
The back of a HUGE monument to Yuri Gagarin lit up at night. This was taken as part of the "Meredith got on a bus she thought would take her to get шаурма but instead wound up in a totally different part of town" adventure.
Moscow has telescopes!! Or, at least a building where astronomers hang out. There are bigger telescopes nearby, too, though the light pollution here is along the lines of that in LA. Anyway, this is about a 15-20 minute walk from my room, and it's where I go to talk to my research advisor.
Walking away from the main university building toward the Moscow River. This was about a week ago when the snow was still around.
I don't think any photo I take of this place can fully impress upon you how huge it is, but here's a pathetic attempt! My window is...just kidding, it's actually around to the right side and you can't see it in this picture.
Beautiful night sky. This is the view I get when I walk from sector в (part of the main part of the main building) to sector ж (where I live). It's an odd fenced off courtyard area that's mostly paved.
These guys were playing in the metro Ohotniy Ryad when there was mass confusion as to when and where everyone was meeting to go to the spontaneous Monday night concert. I stood and watched for a bit, and they were pretty dang good! They had a somewhat limited repertoire, but it was very cheerful Vivaldi-esque music and they had excellent ensemble.
BALALAIKA!! This was one of the many amazing performances at the Monday night recital. This guy was fantastic, and I finally got to see and hear a balalaika!
The ceiling was really cool in the recital hall, too. :)
If Rachmaninov wasn't dead and buried somewhere, his socks would have been knocked off by this cellist's performance. Sonata for Cello and Piano, op.19, 3rd movement if that means anything to anyone *cough*Peter*cough*. He also played a piece by Tschaikovsky called Petso-Caprichioso (ok so that's the phonetic translation from the Russian, not sure how it made it into English). Both were fantastic.
The latest view from my window - no more snow! Framed with ethernet cables! Lovely back alley with litter and dumpsters!
My still-unnamed plant, now at home in a new pot. (Sorry, but all your name suggestions just weren't quite right. And I have no idea what kind of plant it is. Green? OH - I've got it! That's the plant's name - зелёный! That's both a fun Russian word (pronounced zel-YO-nee) and an extremely obscure Star Trek reference that probably only makes sense to me.)
Sunset from my window. The fact that I can see the sun setting from my window means that the seasons are changing, because my window faces more or less west and when I moved in here the sun set too far south for it to be visible. Huzzah ethernet cables...
Crescent moon and beautiful blue sky that isn't quite done justice in this digital photo.
Walking back from orchestra rehearsal.
Telescope! I found a fun back way to walk back from the astronomy institute, and it took me past a few telescopes like this one that were trying to hide in the trees.
Whew, that was a lot of photos, maybe next time I'll have some with me in them. That's a bit difficult when I'm the one taking the photos, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Mainly I want four things - a jacket that is medium-weight, shoes that are closed toed but not super-duper winter boots, nice "evening out" clothing, and a midsized purse. The annoying part? I have all of these things...at home. (Though I'll admit I am a bit lacking in the nicer clothes department.)
Materialism aside, global warming is seriously messing with Russia. It has been in the 50s and sunny for a week now. (No, David, I don't always complain about the weather.) :) In and of itself this is wonderful, but everyone I've talked to has said this is the warmest March they can remember.
This weekend was potentially going to be a trip to Vladimir/Suzdal or someplace else, but that isn't happening for...some reason. Instead, I'll probably go find my Aunt Rebecca's friend, Marsha, who is here in Moscow for a long weekend doing some stuff with the local Quakers, of whom there are about 10. I met up with her yesterday for lunch after a long series of incorrect directions and getting lost a la Moscow, but it was great to see someone I kind of knew from home, and I could speak FAST ENGLISH to her!! On a side note, Chinese fast food in Moscow is not particularly special, but ice cream is, though you have to order at least two scoops to get the equivalent of "one scoop" in the US. You have been warned. I miss Coldstone-sized portions.
Enough of my rambles, here are some pictures!
The back of a HUGE monument to Yuri Gagarin lit up at night. This was taken as part of the "Meredith got on a bus she thought would take her to get шаурма but instead wound up in a totally different part of town" adventure.
Moscow has telescopes!! Or, at least a building where astronomers hang out. There are bigger telescopes nearby, too, though the light pollution here is along the lines of that in LA. Anyway, this is about a 15-20 minute walk from my room, and it's where I go to talk to my research advisor.
Walking away from the main university building toward the Moscow River. This was about a week ago when the snow was still around.
I don't think any photo I take of this place can fully impress upon you how huge it is, but here's a pathetic attempt! My window is...just kidding, it's actually around to the right side and you can't see it in this picture.
Beautiful night sky. This is the view I get when I walk from sector в (part of the main part of the main building) to sector ж (where I live). It's an odd fenced off courtyard area that's mostly paved.
These guys were playing in the metro Ohotniy Ryad when there was mass confusion as to when and where everyone was meeting to go to the spontaneous Monday night concert. I stood and watched for a bit, and they were pretty dang good! They had a somewhat limited repertoire, but it was very cheerful Vivaldi-esque music and they had excellent ensemble.
BALALAIKA!! This was one of the many amazing performances at the Monday night recital. This guy was fantastic, and I finally got to see and hear a balalaika!
The ceiling was really cool in the recital hall, too. :)
If Rachmaninov wasn't dead and buried somewhere, his socks would have been knocked off by this cellist's performance. Sonata for Cello and Piano, op.19, 3rd movement if that means anything to anyone *cough*Peter*cough*. He also played a piece by Tschaikovsky called Petso-Caprichioso (ok so that's the phonetic translation from the Russian, not sure how it made it into English). Both were fantastic.
The latest view from my window - no more snow! Framed with ethernet cables! Lovely back alley with litter and dumpsters!
My still-unnamed plant, now at home in a new pot. (Sorry, but all your name suggestions just weren't quite right. And I have no idea what kind of plant it is. Green? OH - I've got it! That's the plant's name - зелёный! That's both a fun Russian word (pronounced zel-YO-nee) and an extremely obscure Star Trek reference that probably only makes sense to me.)
Sunset from my window. The fact that I can see the sun setting from my window means that the seasons are changing, because my window faces more or less west and when I moved in here the sun set too far south for it to be visible. Huzzah ethernet cables...
Crescent moon and beautiful blue sky that isn't quite done justice in this digital photo.
Walking back from orchestra rehearsal.
Telescope! I found a fun back way to walk back from the astronomy institute, and it took me past a few telescopes like this one that were trying to hide in the trees.
Whew, that was a lot of photos, maybe next time I'll have some with me in them. That's a bit difficult when I'm the one taking the photos, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
spring, music, and ice cream
First and foremost: spring has sprung!!
That's right, one degree warmer in Moscow in the afternoon than in Claremont in the wee hours of the morning! And sunny to boot! Man, living somewhere with seasons is fantastic.
Storytime. So last night, I got back from Russian language class around 5:30, and texted Jack to see if anything was going on. Turns out he and Jeff were just about to get on the metro to meet Irina at Ohotniy Ryad metro station at 6pm to go to some kind of classical music concert! I was all, whoa, hold on, why didn't anyone tell me about this, I'm coming too......so I called Irina and she said "sure, I'm running late too, see you a little after 6." And off I went, grabbing a pancake thing filled with chicken at a Teremok stand on the way.
It became apparent that I wasn't going to get to the meeting point until 6:30, so I started texting people, but when I arrived I didn't see anyone I knew. Fantastic. Finally about 15 minutes later, Irina managed to round us all up from the various misdirections we'd all headed. There were probably 10 of us who were there. We followed her down side streets until finally at about 7:05 (the concert was supposed to start at 7) we arrived at a small little concert hall. But Irina knew one of the performers and had asked them to postpone starting the concert a few minutes. (Apparently that actually works here!) We filed into a very small, rectangular recital hall and sat down. And then the most amazing recital I've ever been to began.
It was seriously amazing. And the fact that it happened on the spur of the moment made it even better. The whole thing was two and a half hours with intermission. There were piano solos, violin solos, violin with piano, flute and clarinet with piano, classical guitar, cello, and, best of all, BALALAIKA!! I got a few pictures. Everyone was an insanely good musician - this is the Moscow Conservatory after all. They all played magnificant pieces, too. For instance, Chopin Ballad no. 3 (piano), Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo-Capriccio (AMAZING, violin), Sarasate, Tshaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, random Russian people I hadn't heard of. Two of the pieces I think I played in the accompanying orchestra at CCO - the Sarasate and one of the Tschaikovsky pieces (both violin solos). There was something about Russians playing Russian music that was simply fantastic. And the cellist blew me away. The whole thing blew me away. It was amazing. I also went through an entire roll of Halls' cough drops - but I didn't cough during a performance! I spasmed silently a few times, but I survived.
After all that awesomeness, we headed to Asia Cafe for dinner/snacks around 10pm. This being Russia, we didn't get out of there until midnight, and I didn't get back to the dorm until nearly 1am. But it didn't matter, what a wonderful evening.
Today I have been getting little things done, namely laundry. I enjoy doing laundry here, because usually I get to spend an hour practicing my Russian by having a conversation with another person who is annoyed that the laundry room isn't open. "Do you know when it is open?" "No, I have already been here 20 minutes." etc. And then it becomes "where are you from?" and "what do you think of Russia?" and all that fun stuff, and an hour or so later the laundry room lady arrives and you finally get to do your freaking laundry. Only this time there was the added bonus of "you have a bad cough and need to go to a doctor." Um. It's not that bad. Really. You should see me in LA smog.
And last but certainly not least - ice cream! I wanted an ice cream bar and decided to get adventuresome and buy one that didn't have a picture on the front and was written all in Russian. I deciphered "ice cream," "chocolate," and "vanilla," and figured I couldn't go wrong. I win! I essentially bought a huge brick of vanilla ice cream with little chocolate shavings/flecks in it. YUM. Ice cream makes everything better.
Okay, now it is time for me to go get my laundry.
That's right, one degree warmer in Moscow in the afternoon than in Claremont in the wee hours of the morning! And sunny to boot! Man, living somewhere with seasons is fantastic.
Storytime. So last night, I got back from Russian language class around 5:30, and texted Jack to see if anything was going on. Turns out he and Jeff were just about to get on the metro to meet Irina at Ohotniy Ryad metro station at 6pm to go to some kind of classical music concert! I was all, whoa, hold on, why didn't anyone tell me about this, I'm coming too......so I called Irina and she said "sure, I'm running late too, see you a little after 6." And off I went, grabbing a pancake thing filled with chicken at a Teremok stand on the way.
It became apparent that I wasn't going to get to the meeting point until 6:30, so I started texting people, but when I arrived I didn't see anyone I knew. Fantastic. Finally about 15 minutes later, Irina managed to round us all up from the various misdirections we'd all headed. There were probably 10 of us who were there. We followed her down side streets until finally at about 7:05 (the concert was supposed to start at 7) we arrived at a small little concert hall. But Irina knew one of the performers and had asked them to postpone starting the concert a few minutes. (Apparently that actually works here!) We filed into a very small, rectangular recital hall and sat down. And then the most amazing recital I've ever been to began.
It was seriously amazing. And the fact that it happened on the spur of the moment made it even better. The whole thing was two and a half hours with intermission. There were piano solos, violin solos, violin with piano, flute and clarinet with piano, classical guitar, cello, and, best of all, BALALAIKA!! I got a few pictures. Everyone was an insanely good musician - this is the Moscow Conservatory after all. They all played magnificant pieces, too. For instance, Chopin Ballad no. 3 (piano), Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo-Capriccio (AMAZING, violin), Sarasate, Tshaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, random Russian people I hadn't heard of. Two of the pieces I think I played in the accompanying orchestra at CCO - the Sarasate and one of the Tschaikovsky pieces (both violin solos). There was something about Russians playing Russian music that was simply fantastic. And the cellist blew me away. The whole thing blew me away. It was amazing. I also went through an entire roll of Halls' cough drops - but I didn't cough during a performance! I spasmed silently a few times, but I survived.
After all that awesomeness, we headed to Asia Cafe for dinner/snacks around 10pm. This being Russia, we didn't get out of there until midnight, and I didn't get back to the dorm until nearly 1am. But it didn't matter, what a wonderful evening.
Today I have been getting little things done, namely laundry. I enjoy doing laundry here, because usually I get to spend an hour practicing my Russian by having a conversation with another person who is annoyed that the laundry room isn't open. "Do you know when it is open?" "No, I have already been here 20 minutes." etc. And then it becomes "where are you from?" and "what do you think of Russia?" and all that fun stuff, and an hour or so later the laundry room lady arrives and you finally get to do your freaking laundry. Only this time there was the added bonus of "you have a bad cough and need to go to a doctor." Um. It's not that bad. Really. You should see me in LA smog.
And last but certainly not least - ice cream! I wanted an ice cream bar and decided to get adventuresome and buy one that didn't have a picture on the front and was written all in Russian. I deciphered "ice cream," "chocolate," and "vanilla," and figured I couldn't go wrong. I win! I essentially bought a huge brick of vanilla ice cream with little chocolate shavings/flecks in it. YUM. Ice cream makes everything better.
Okay, now it is time for me to go get my laundry.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
another weekend
Last night was an adventure to be sure!
I met up with Katie and a few other people from her Math in Moscow program at the metro университет stop. We took the red line a fair way, a bit past the center of the city, and set off to find a place called Проект ОГИ. A kind of "alternative club" as described by waytorussia.net.
Well if by "alternative" they meant "hard to find and really smokey," they were correct! Thankfully we were following someone who had been there before. We got there around 9pm, had some snacks and drinks, and just chatted for a while. Finding people here who speak English and you can just TALK to is wonderful! Plus Katie's birthday began at midnight, so it was a good excuse to have a fun night. I ordered a quesadilla, and I tried to get it without mushrooms, but apparently that wasn't possible, and I saw why when they brought it out - it was essentially a diced mushroom quesadilla. Oops. Oh well, Katie got to eat a pile of diced mushrooms and I got to eat fried tortilla with bits of cheese!
Some more of the Math in Moscow people joined us a bit later. It's a pretty small place and it's in a basement, so we had to fend random Russians away from our centrally located, relatively large table. I forgot to mention, unfortunately there was a 350 ruble cover charge, but we weren't about to turn around so we just paid.
A bit after 10pm, a band appeared, and they weren't bad. I am, however, terrible at classifying musical genres, so don't ask me what kind of stuff they played. Slightly too loud and in Russian? :) They had two female singers, and three or four guys playing percussion, guitar, keyboard, etc. The singing had a bit of an Imogen Heap edge to it, but the similarity ended there. Anyway, it was too loud to have conversations well, but not so loud that my ears were screaming "leave now or die." So that was good.
They played for a good hour and a half, and then Katie got all excited because it was almost her birthday, and she had to have a shot at midnight as per Mudd tradition. We sang for her, loudly and not in unison or in tune. The place was starting to close down, though, so we headed out pretty soon after midnight. The metro stops running at 1am anyway, so it worked out just fine. I couldn't believe how smokey all my clothes and hair smelled - it was gross! But aside from that, it was a pretty fun way to spend a Saturday night in Moscow.
This morning I went to church, and this afternoon I've done nothing productive. I'm about to tackle Thermal Physics and Russian Language homework. May also grab some cheap dinner from the cafeteria in a bit. Nothing too exciting planned for this week...I'm honestly looking forward to a "normal week," if you can call it that. :)
I met up with Katie and a few other people from her Math in Moscow program at the metro университет stop. We took the red line a fair way, a bit past the center of the city, and set off to find a place called Проект ОГИ. A kind of "alternative club" as described by waytorussia.net.
Well if by "alternative" they meant "hard to find and really smokey," they were correct! Thankfully we were following someone who had been there before. We got there around 9pm, had some snacks and drinks, and just chatted for a while. Finding people here who speak English and you can just TALK to is wonderful! Plus Katie's birthday began at midnight, so it was a good excuse to have a fun night. I ordered a quesadilla, and I tried to get it without mushrooms, but apparently that wasn't possible, and I saw why when they brought it out - it was essentially a diced mushroom quesadilla. Oops. Oh well, Katie got to eat a pile of diced mushrooms and I got to eat fried tortilla with bits of cheese!
Some more of the Math in Moscow people joined us a bit later. It's a pretty small place and it's in a basement, so we had to fend random Russians away from our centrally located, relatively large table. I forgot to mention, unfortunately there was a 350 ruble cover charge, but we weren't about to turn around so we just paid.
A bit after 10pm, a band appeared, and they weren't bad. I am, however, terrible at classifying musical genres, so don't ask me what kind of stuff they played. Slightly too loud and in Russian? :) They had two female singers, and three or four guys playing percussion, guitar, keyboard, etc. The singing had a bit of an Imogen Heap edge to it, but the similarity ended there. Anyway, it was too loud to have conversations well, but not so loud that my ears were screaming "leave now or die." So that was good.
They played for a good hour and a half, and then Katie got all excited because it was almost her birthday, and she had to have a shot at midnight as per Mudd tradition. We sang for her, loudly and not in unison or in tune. The place was starting to close down, though, so we headed out pretty soon after midnight. The metro stops running at 1am anyway, so it worked out just fine. I couldn't believe how smokey all my clothes and hair smelled - it was gross! But aside from that, it was a pretty fun way to spend a Saturday night in Moscow.
This morning I went to church, and this afternoon I've done nothing productive. I'm about to tackle Thermal Physics and Russian Language homework. May also grab some cheap dinner from the cafeteria in a bit. Nothing too exciting planned for this week...I'm honestly looking forward to a "normal week," if you can call it that. :)
Saturday, March 17, 2007
gray day
lovely.
Deadly plane crashes aside, all is well here.
Moscow has basically melted in the past week. There's a bit of dirty snow on the ground here and there, but it got as warm as 45 F yesterday and the only recent precipitation has been rain. It's nice that spring is on its way, but it makes me wish I'd brought something in between a sweatshirt and heavy duty winter jacket.
In the past two days I've had a lot of Politology class. A couple tidbits of recent Russian politics for your amusement:
1) Around 1997-8, the Russians spent a ton of money to spread negative propaganda about this one government guy so he'd resign. Then the government asked him a year or so later to negotiate on their behalf to borrow some money from the International Monetary Fund because they were broke and he was the only guy who had a chance. He agreed, and the IMF said "okay we'll give Russia $20 billion." Then the $20 billion completely poofed and Russia went bankrupt. No one knows what happened to it.
2) There can be no more Deputy Prime Ministers than there are rooms on the fifth floor of the white house. Except for when they decided there should only be 1 or 2 or there could be as many as they want.
Oh, Russia. Today is a lazy gray day and I haven't done much of anything. On the agenda: food, homework, probably going out with Katie and some of her friends to celebrate her 21st birthday. The next two weekends we have planned excursions - one to Vladimir/Suzdal and another to Novodevichy Cloister, so it seems like I won't have too much free time relatively soon, which is fine by me!! Of course, the best part is that Mike will be here in three weeks... :)
I randomly met a guy named Andrey while doing laundry a week or so ago, and he wants to practice speaking English with me (I think Jack from the KEI group is going to join us). It's been a little, well, Russian, trying to coordinate it, though, because every time he'd text me saying he was free I'd be in class and vice versa.
I've got a question for all you avid readers - what would you do if you were in Moscow? Is there something huge I'm forgetting about? A place I need to visit, something I need to buy, a food I need to eat? I'll also entertain requests for souviners, though I can't guarantee anything until the day I pack to come home. :)
I'm hungry so it's time to make some instant noodles! Then I'll see if I can't get my cygwined IRAF to actually reduce some data. (Translation: I'll do some astronomy stuff.)
Oh, just got word from Katie - at 8 we're going to a place called Proekt OGI. Looks like an artsy club of some sort...should be a fun adventure!
Deadly plane crashes aside, all is well here.
Moscow has basically melted in the past week. There's a bit of dirty snow on the ground here and there, but it got as warm as 45 F yesterday and the only recent precipitation has been rain. It's nice that spring is on its way, but it makes me wish I'd brought something in between a sweatshirt and heavy duty winter jacket.
In the past two days I've had a lot of Politology class. A couple tidbits of recent Russian politics for your amusement:
1) Around 1997-8, the Russians spent a ton of money to spread negative propaganda about this one government guy so he'd resign. Then the government asked him a year or so later to negotiate on their behalf to borrow some money from the International Monetary Fund because they were broke and he was the only guy who had a chance. He agreed, and the IMF said "okay we'll give Russia $20 billion." Then the $20 billion completely poofed and Russia went bankrupt. No one knows what happened to it.
2) There can be no more Deputy Prime Ministers than there are rooms on the fifth floor of the white house. Except for when they decided there should only be 1 or 2 or there could be as many as they want.
Oh, Russia. Today is a lazy gray day and I haven't done much of anything. On the agenda: food, homework, probably going out with Katie and some of her friends to celebrate her 21st birthday. The next two weekends we have planned excursions - one to Vladimir/Suzdal and another to Novodevichy Cloister, so it seems like I won't have too much free time relatively soon, which is fine by me!! Of course, the best part is that Mike will be here in three weeks... :)
I randomly met a guy named Andrey while doing laundry a week or so ago, and he wants to practice speaking English with me (I think Jack from the KEI group is going to join us). It's been a little, well, Russian, trying to coordinate it, though, because every time he'd text me saying he was free I'd be in class and vice versa.
I've got a question for all you avid readers - what would you do if you were in Moscow? Is there something huge I'm forgetting about? A place I need to visit, something I need to buy, a food I need to eat? I'll also entertain requests for souviners, though I can't guarantee anything until the day I pack to come home. :)
I'm hungry so it's time to make some instant noodles! Then I'll see if I can't get my cygwined IRAF to actually reduce some data. (Translation: I'll do some astronomy stuff.)
Oh, just got word from Katie - at 8 we're going to a place called Proekt OGI. Looks like an artsy club of some sort...should be a fun adventure!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
ah, tuesday
Today has become one of those days where suddenly nothing is happening.
Last night I got a call from Natasha from the chamber orchestra saying not to come to rehearsal Tuesday evening. This morning I decided to sleep in because I was tired and didn't have class in the morning. I was going to take a shower, but the hot water wasn't working, so I got dressed. Then the hot water started working again. (Figures.) Just a few hours ago I learned that Russian Studies Seminar is going to be rescheduled and is not happening today.
So, since I have little else to do, here are some photos!
Outside the circus (a week or so ago), heading in. To the right are a bunch of crazy carnival rides, including one called "Crazy Bus" that we found quite amusing.
Artistic photograph of colorful liquids at an undisclosed location with anonymous people who may or may not be present. No seriously, I love this photo.
Alex Padua, me, Alex Von (KEI), Nick, Jessica. Outside our old dorm just before moving.
My new room! Small but cozy, and the best part is it has all my stuff set up in it. Of special note: the stupid metal frame and wood board that is part of the bed.
This time the view is from by the window. Out the door there's a very small entryway with a toilet to the left, the rest of the bathroom to the right. Jessica's room is on the other side of the wall in this picture. Bonus: map of Russia that was cut in half and on the back of my door to block the light. I decided to hang the sketchy throw/rug thing over the door instead and salvage the snazzy map for the wall.
David, Dima, and Felix pose in the metro station on the way back from our Women's Day dinner.
My pink rose in my mug that has a picture of a pink rose on it! :)
The Большой Зал ("Big Hall") where we saw La Traviata on Sunday. We got there late and people had taken our seats, so we moved during the first intermission. During the second intermission a few of us went to the bathroom and the third act started without us, so we were allowed to sit in the balcony. Upshot: 3 different seats. It was fantastic, though, especially since I'd played in the pit for La Traviata for Richland Light Opera's performance senior year of high school. I didn't remember the plot well but I did remember the music. This performance was interesting because the orchestra was all on stage and it was quite large - I guess they didn't have a pit. And of course no subtitles or supertitles, and programs cost 40 rubles and were in Russian, so hooray for having no idea what was going on the entire time!
I decided to walk back from class in the medical building yesterday a bit after 5pm. It was the first time I was able to sense that spring was around the corner, and it was really neat, so I took a bunch of pictures and enjoyed the walk.
Another picture from the walk back to the main building.
Another picture from the walk. It was really nice to be able to walk on sidewalks and not have to dodge ice or puddles!
This is the outside of sector ж, the sector of the main building that I live in. See all those cables? That, dear readers, is the internet.
Last but not least: the view from my window, plus my new potted plant (I'm taking name suggestions) and various foodstuffs in the "refrigerator."
Last night I got a call from Natasha from the chamber orchestra saying not to come to rehearsal Tuesday evening. This morning I decided to sleep in because I was tired and didn't have class in the morning. I was going to take a shower, but the hot water wasn't working, so I got dressed. Then the hot water started working again. (Figures.) Just a few hours ago I learned that Russian Studies Seminar is going to be rescheduled and is not happening today.
So, since I have little else to do, here are some photos!
Outside the circus (a week or so ago), heading in. To the right are a bunch of crazy carnival rides, including one called "Crazy Bus" that we found quite amusing.
Artistic photograph of colorful liquids at an undisclosed location with anonymous people who may or may not be present. No seriously, I love this photo.
Alex Padua, me, Alex Von (KEI), Nick, Jessica. Outside our old dorm just before moving.
My new room! Small but cozy, and the best part is it has all my stuff set up in it. Of special note: the stupid metal frame and wood board that is part of the bed.
This time the view is from by the window. Out the door there's a very small entryway with a toilet to the left, the rest of the bathroom to the right. Jessica's room is on the other side of the wall in this picture. Bonus: map of Russia that was cut in half and on the back of my door to block the light. I decided to hang the sketchy throw/rug thing over the door instead and salvage the snazzy map for the wall.
David, Dima, and Felix pose in the metro station on the way back from our Women's Day dinner.
My pink rose in my mug that has a picture of a pink rose on it! :)
The Большой Зал ("Big Hall") where we saw La Traviata on Sunday. We got there late and people had taken our seats, so we moved during the first intermission. During the second intermission a few of us went to the bathroom and the third act started without us, so we were allowed to sit in the balcony. Upshot: 3 different seats. It was fantastic, though, especially since I'd played in the pit for La Traviata for Richland Light Opera's performance senior year of high school. I didn't remember the plot well but I did remember the music. This performance was interesting because the orchestra was all on stage and it was quite large - I guess they didn't have a pit. And of course no subtitles or supertitles, and programs cost 40 rubles and were in Russian, so hooray for having no idea what was going on the entire time!
I decided to walk back from class in the medical building yesterday a bit after 5pm. It was the first time I was able to sense that spring was around the corner, and it was really neat, so I took a bunch of pictures and enjoyed the walk.
Another picture from the walk back to the main building.
Another picture from the walk. It was really nice to be able to walk on sidewalks and not have to dodge ice or puddles!
This is the outside of sector ж, the sector of the main building that I live in. See all those cables? That, dear readers, is the internet.
Last but not least: the view from my window, plus my new potted plant (I'm taking name suggestions) and various foodstuffs in the "refrigerator."
Saturday, March 10, 2007
yesssss
Here are some reasons why life is fantastic right now.
2) I'm thoroughly moved in to my new room in the huge main university building.
3) I have internet access (!)
4) The MSU Chamber Orchestra is fabulous.
5) Astronomers exist in Moscow, and one of them has a bunch of CCD images of a supernova that I get to play with (a la IRAF and photometry)
6) I bought myself a potted plant.
7) There are places to eat around here.
8) Speaking of eating, the guys took us out to a restaurant called Дядя Ваня last night and it was yummy, plus they got us flowers (it was Women's Day).
and the number one reason why life is fantastic right now:
1) Michael Bigelow is coming to Moscow on April 4!!!
Only possible improvements on my current situation: ice cream, guacamole, clean socks, a comfortable bed, a computer that easily supports IRAF. Two of those things are possible, the others will have to wait, but no matter.
Also, tomorrow is Saturday and I am sleeping in.
2) I'm thoroughly moved in to my new room in the huge main university building.
3) I have internet access (!)
4) The MSU Chamber Orchestra is fabulous.
5) Astronomers exist in Moscow, and one of them has a bunch of CCD images of a supernova that I get to play with (a la IRAF and photometry)
6) I bought myself a potted plant.
7) There are places to eat around here.
8) Speaking of eating, the guys took us out to a restaurant called Дядя Ваня last night and it was yummy, plus they got us flowers (it was Women's Day).
and the number one reason why life is fantastic right now:
1) Michael Bigelow is coming to Moscow on April 4!!!
Only possible improvements on my current situation: ice cream, guacamole, clean socks, a comfortable bed, a computer that easily supports IRAF. Two of those things are possible, the others will have to wait, but no matter.
Also, tomorrow is Saturday and I am sleeping in.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
moving out, hopefully
Tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, six of us are moving to the main building, me included! FINALLY. Though it's too bad we can't all move together. Ah, Russian bureaucracy...
So, hmm, let's see. Monday was pretty cool, had some physics and some lunch and some language. I'm reading "Contact" by Carl Sagan right now and it's getting super exciting to the point where I don't want to put it down! Monday night a bunch of us went to Boarhouse, this bar/restaurant place where they have 4 for 1 drink specials prior to 8pm on Monday nights. Meaning, you order one drink, they bring you...four. Then I think it becomes 3 for 1 until 10pm, etc. I also had a burrito!! I don't know what it is with me and burritos. I think Jenna and I are in agreement that a Chipotle burrito would be about the best thing ever right about now.
Speaking of burritos, I have discovered the next best thing a la Russia: шаурма (shaurma). It's like...a burrito, actually, only, well, Russian style. Wasn't that descriptive. Oh, just come visit and try one for yourself. :)
I packed most of my stuff up Monday night in anticipation of moving today (Tuesday), but no such luck. Alex Von from KEI met with the group today prior to our Russian Studies Seminar class, and he cleared up a lot of stuff with regards to classes and housing. Though half of what he had to say was along the lines of "I'm sorry Russian bureaucracy sucks." hmmmmmm, yeah. But good news: I'm meeting with some astronomy professor (I think, anyway) this Friday to discuss research options! And we're going to an opera this Sunday, and apparently Irina knows some people there who might be able to connect me with another orchestra or musical ensemble.
So cross your fingers for a smooth move to the main building tomorrow evening! With luck and, well, more luck, I'll be moved in tomorrow night and have internet by the weekend. (Thursday March 8 is a holiday - Women's Day - so I doubt I can get much of anything done then, but on the other hand no classes means a day to settle in.)
Someone in the group came up with a good one today (I forget who it was) - "In Russia, you don't reschedule classes; classes reschedule YOU." true that.
So, hmm, let's see. Monday was pretty cool, had some physics and some lunch and some language. I'm reading "Contact" by Carl Sagan right now and it's getting super exciting to the point where I don't want to put it down! Monday night a bunch of us went to Boarhouse, this bar/restaurant place where they have 4 for 1 drink specials prior to 8pm on Monday nights. Meaning, you order one drink, they bring you...four. Then I think it becomes 3 for 1 until 10pm, etc. I also had a burrito!! I don't know what it is with me and burritos. I think Jenna and I are in agreement that a Chipotle burrito would be about the best thing ever right about now.
Speaking of burritos, I have discovered the next best thing a la Russia: шаурма (shaurma). It's like...a burrito, actually, only, well, Russian style. Wasn't that descriptive. Oh, just come visit and try one for yourself. :)
I packed most of my stuff up Monday night in anticipation of moving today (Tuesday), but no such luck. Alex Von from KEI met with the group today prior to our Russian Studies Seminar class, and he cleared up a lot of stuff with regards to classes and housing. Though half of what he had to say was along the lines of "I'm sorry Russian bureaucracy sucks." hmmmmmm, yeah. But good news: I'm meeting with some astronomy professor (I think, anyway) this Friday to discuss research options! And we're going to an opera this Sunday, and apparently Irina knows some people there who might be able to connect me with another orchestra or musical ensemble.
So cross your fingers for a smooth move to the main building tomorrow evening! With luck and, well, more luck, I'll be moved in tomorrow night and have internet by the weekend. (Thursday March 8 is a holiday - Women's Day - so I doubt I can get much of anything done then, but on the other hand no classes means a day to settle in.)
Someone in the group came up with a good one today (I forget who it was) - "In Russia, you don't reschedule classes; classes reschedule YOU." true that.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
church and circus
Interesting fact of the day: the Russian word for church is церковь, and circus is цирк. (Those sound pretty similar and I therefore find it amusing that both occurred today.)
Church was good, and there were more people this time! Afterwards there was some kind of youth bible study group that I got semi dragged off to (but it was not like I had anything else to do anyway). Apparently the group had just gotten restarted, and it was awkward for me because I was pretty clearly the new one but there was never an opportunity for introductions or anything. One guy who is from...Kenya? Nigeria? (one of those two and another guy is from the other) was leading it. His English was passable but not excellent, and we read "The Good Samaritan" in some old fashioned thee-thou language and he basically talked about it for half an hour. Stuff we'd all heard before so far as I could tell. At one point he decided to teach us to respond "Alleluia!" when someone says "Praise the Lord!"...which is okay I suppose, but a little more outwardly exuberant than I'm used to, plus it's Lent and I definitely have it ingrained that "alleluia" is not an okay word during Lent.
Anyway, I'll probably give it another shot next week, most of the people seemed pretty cool (plus they speak English!).
Tonight we went to the circus, which was an experience. I'm not sure how okay I am with all the animals they have...everyone says they have a great life, etc., but I just don't know. There were bears, cats, a monkey, a dog, horses, porcupines (I think), and elephants. I don't know, they just didn't look overly happy, it doesn't seem like animals should be trained to that extent. To the cats' credit, they were pretty obstinant, so way to go, cats! The coolest parts in my opinion were the magic tricks where people curled themselves up inside boxes and reappeared as another person, etc. There were also some pretty quality trapeze artists and dancers, "Clown Harry," and a giraffe unicycle that put South Dorm's to shame.
So, now I have been to the circus, and in Moscow of all places! I'm off now to finish up some Thermal Physics homework and call it a night.
Church was good, and there were more people this time! Afterwards there was some kind of youth bible study group that I got semi dragged off to (but it was not like I had anything else to do anyway). Apparently the group had just gotten restarted, and it was awkward for me because I was pretty clearly the new one but there was never an opportunity for introductions or anything. One guy who is from...Kenya? Nigeria? (one of those two and another guy is from the other) was leading it. His English was passable but not excellent, and we read "The Good Samaritan" in some old fashioned thee-thou language and he basically talked about it for half an hour. Stuff we'd all heard before so far as I could tell. At one point he decided to teach us to respond "Alleluia!" when someone says "Praise the Lord!"...which is okay I suppose, but a little more outwardly exuberant than I'm used to, plus it's Lent and I definitely have it ingrained that "alleluia" is not an okay word during Lent.
Anyway, I'll probably give it another shot next week, most of the people seemed pretty cool (plus they speak English!).
Tonight we went to the circus, which was an experience. I'm not sure how okay I am with all the animals they have...everyone says they have a great life, etc., but I just don't know. There were bears, cats, a monkey, a dog, horses, porcupines (I think), and elephants. I don't know, they just didn't look overly happy, it doesn't seem like animals should be trained to that extent. To the cats' credit, they were pretty obstinant, so way to go, cats! The coolest parts in my opinion were the magic tricks where people curled themselves up inside boxes and reappeared as another person, etc. There were also some pretty quality trapeze artists and dancers, "Clown Harry," and a giraffe unicycle that put South Dorm's to shame.
So, now I have been to the circus, and in Moscow of all places! I'm off now to finish up some Thermal Physics homework and call it a night.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
food is delicious
Today's adventure: Arbat Street.
It all started when Jenna said last night that she and Celina were thinking of going to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch today (Saturday). I mentioned that I'd never been to a Hard Rock Cafe, so we proceeded to google it and lo and behold they had a menu online, and it contained NORMAL FOOD. Which sounded pretty fantastic. So it became Jenna, Celina, Jessica, and me, traipsing off into soggy Moscow in search of the Hard Rock Cafe located near the Arbatskaya metro station (and on old Arbat Street).
Soon we learned that there are two metro stations called Arbatskaya. They are not in the same place, they are not connected via an underground walkway, and they are not on the same line. Oh, Moscow.
Anyway, after walking in a circle we found Arbat Street! Unfortunately it was raining and the ground was bricks/cobblestones/whatever that is technically called, and it was covered in a lovely combination of melting ice and mud. It was just above freezing, but it felt downright balmy compared to recent weather.
We were pretty hungry since it was nearly 1pm by now, so we headed straight to the restaurant. Normally I couldn't care less about "American" food, but it's been a month guys, and this was fantastic. The waiters all spoke English and the menu was in English. We ordered a ridiculous amount of food. It went something like this.
Appetizers: we ordered 2 - nachos and a chicken quesadilla. CORN CHIPS AND GUACAMOLE!!!! you have no idea. and the quesadilla had pineapple in it and was quite good.
Drinks: it's not so annoying being not 21 when you're in Russia. all together we had a cosmopolitan, a long island iced tea, a white russian, and a coffee with bailey's. and of course some bottled water.
Main course: I got penne with grilled chicken and alfredo sauce, and a side caesar salad because I really miss salads. it also came with garlic bread, which was a nice bonus. the others got burgers and one got some kind of steak.
Dessert: vanilla ice cream. plain and simple and delicious, split four ways.
We were then thoroughly in a food coma. The whole meal took some 2 hours, but we didn't mind, it was great! Random music videos from the US playing in the background, yummy food, good company. The only non-ideal thing was the occasional cigarette at a nearby table, but such is Russia. It is now 11pm and I haven't had dinner and I'm not hungry. It was THAT much food.
After the meal, we all bought Hard Rock Cafe shirts and headed out to explore the Arbat. It was still drizzling, but we took some random pictures and popped into a souvineer shop and I bought a Russian hat from a street vendor!! I was very proud of myself for talking him down 50 rubles (yes I know that is only $2 and I probably could've gotten a better deal if I had attempted to converse in Russian, but he seemed eager to talk to me in English, so I wasn't exactly going to argue). Anyway, now that winter is ending I have a snazzy winter hat a la Russia. Pictures forthcoming I'm sure.
Then for some reason we decided to venture up to the north part of the city to go to an odd assortment of electronics and DVD stores. This took a while and I didn't buy anything, but there were a LOT of sketchy Russian DVDs and computer programs.
Next it took 2.5 hours to come from that place to the universityet metro station, get money from the bank that doesn't charge me a $5 fee, buy some food at ramstore, and get back to the dorm. Trolleybus 34 has been seriously hating me lately.
That's about it! Tomorrow is Sunday and I plan to go to church, and rumor has it we'll be going to the circus in the evening. the adventures continue...
It all started when Jenna said last night that she and Celina were thinking of going to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch today (Saturday). I mentioned that I'd never been to a Hard Rock Cafe, so we proceeded to google it and lo and behold they had a menu online, and it contained NORMAL FOOD. Which sounded pretty fantastic. So it became Jenna, Celina, Jessica, and me, traipsing off into soggy Moscow in search of the Hard Rock Cafe located near the Arbatskaya metro station (and on old Arbat Street).
Soon we learned that there are two metro stations called Arbatskaya. They are not in the same place, they are not connected via an underground walkway, and they are not on the same line. Oh, Moscow.
Anyway, after walking in a circle we found Arbat Street! Unfortunately it was raining and the ground was bricks/cobblestones/whatever that is technically called, and it was covered in a lovely combination of melting ice and mud. It was just above freezing, but it felt downright balmy compared to recent weather.
We were pretty hungry since it was nearly 1pm by now, so we headed straight to the restaurant. Normally I couldn't care less about "American" food, but it's been a month guys, and this was fantastic. The waiters all spoke English and the menu was in English. We ordered a ridiculous amount of food. It went something like this.
Appetizers: we ordered 2 - nachos and a chicken quesadilla. CORN CHIPS AND GUACAMOLE!!!! you have no idea. and the quesadilla had pineapple in it and was quite good.
Drinks: it's not so annoying being not 21 when you're in Russia. all together we had a cosmopolitan, a long island iced tea, a white russian, and a coffee with bailey's. and of course some bottled water.
Main course: I got penne with grilled chicken and alfredo sauce, and a side caesar salad because I really miss salads. it also came with garlic bread, which was a nice bonus. the others got burgers and one got some kind of steak.
Dessert: vanilla ice cream. plain and simple and delicious, split four ways.
We were then thoroughly in a food coma. The whole meal took some 2 hours, but we didn't mind, it was great! Random music videos from the US playing in the background, yummy food, good company. The only non-ideal thing was the occasional cigarette at a nearby table, but such is Russia. It is now 11pm and I haven't had dinner and I'm not hungry. It was THAT much food.
After the meal, we all bought Hard Rock Cafe shirts and headed out to explore the Arbat. It was still drizzling, but we took some random pictures and popped into a souvineer shop and I bought a Russian hat from a street vendor!! I was very proud of myself for talking him down 50 rubles (yes I know that is only $2 and I probably could've gotten a better deal if I had attempted to converse in Russian, but he seemed eager to talk to me in English, so I wasn't exactly going to argue). Anyway, now that winter is ending I have a snazzy winter hat a la Russia. Pictures forthcoming I'm sure.
Then for some reason we decided to venture up to the north part of the city to go to an odd assortment of electronics and DVD stores. This took a while and I didn't buy anything, but there were a LOT of sketchy Russian DVDs and computer programs.
Next it took 2.5 hours to come from that place to the universityet metro station, get money from the bank that doesn't charge me a $5 fee, buy some food at ramstore, and get back to the dorm. Trolleybus 34 has been seriously hating me lately.
That's about it! Tomorrow is Sunday and I plan to go to church, and rumor has it we'll be going to the circus in the evening. the adventures continue...
Friday, March 2, 2007
it is decidedly March
Happy Friday!
Today started off a bit less than ideal. I still didn't have my bus pass and I had to get to class at 10, which meant getting up relatively early. When Irina finally came to give us the bus passes I was in such a hurry to get to the bus stop that my scarf fell off on the side of the road and I didn't notice until I was sitting on the bus!
I frantically texted Irina and Laura to see if they could search the dorm and the route between the dorm and the bus stop, but no response. I got to class early, but everyone else was half an hour late since their bus broke down just behind mine. And then David walked in the door with my scarf!! Apparently it fell of just before I went to cross the street and sat in a gross pile of slushy snow for about 10 minutes. So, thankfully I got it back, and once I wash it (it smells like gross presently) I'll be super sure to wrap it around my neck and not just drape it on my shoulders every time I head out.
Class (Politology) was fine, but I'm just glad we didn't have a double class since I don't think I could handle 6 straight hours of Russian Politics... :)
In other news, I just heard that Alex Von (from KEI) is coming to Moscow next week to help sort out some of the problems that have arisen with classes and scheduling and everything. Dang. Everything save research and a textbook and possibly another musical group is a-ok for me, but it seems some others haven't been so lucky.
Oh and newsflash - rumor has it we're not moving to the main building tomorrow. Surprise, surprise.
Yesterday afternoon I met up with Vincent, the guy I met at church last Sunday. I figure he's Russian and knows Moscow better than me, maybe we'll go somewhere scenic or he'll show me a random tourist attraction. Instead, we rode the metro one stop and wound up at...McDonald's. Which I found slightly amusing. He wanted to hear all my impressions of Russia and how I thought it compared with the US. It's hard to say "everything is disorganized and it's really cold" without sounding overly negative, because I don't have a negative impression of Russia, but both of those things are true!! Anyway, it was pretty random, and for the record, vanilla milkshakes at McDonald's taste the same in Moscow.
Think I'm going to head out now. (I'm in the computer lab in the medical faculty building since people are kind of lingering about here and the internet doesn't limit me on how many MBs I can use.) No plans for the weekend, really...I heard something about the circus on Sunday, maybe for real this time. We Shall See.
Today started off a bit less than ideal. I still didn't have my bus pass and I had to get to class at 10, which meant getting up relatively early. When Irina finally came to give us the bus passes I was in such a hurry to get to the bus stop that my scarf fell off on the side of the road and I didn't notice until I was sitting on the bus!
I frantically texted Irina and Laura to see if they could search the dorm and the route between the dorm and the bus stop, but no response. I got to class early, but everyone else was half an hour late since their bus broke down just behind mine. And then David walked in the door with my scarf!! Apparently it fell of just before I went to cross the street and sat in a gross pile of slushy snow for about 10 minutes. So, thankfully I got it back, and once I wash it (it smells like gross presently) I'll be super sure to wrap it around my neck and not just drape it on my shoulders every time I head out.
Class (Politology) was fine, but I'm just glad we didn't have a double class since I don't think I could handle 6 straight hours of Russian Politics... :)
In other news, I just heard that Alex Von (from KEI) is coming to Moscow next week to help sort out some of the problems that have arisen with classes and scheduling and everything. Dang. Everything save research and a textbook and possibly another musical group is a-ok for me, but it seems some others haven't been so lucky.
Oh and newsflash - rumor has it we're not moving to the main building tomorrow. Surprise, surprise.
Yesterday afternoon I met up with Vincent, the guy I met at church last Sunday. I figure he's Russian and knows Moscow better than me, maybe we'll go somewhere scenic or he'll show me a random tourist attraction. Instead, we rode the metro one stop and wound up at...McDonald's. Which I found slightly amusing. He wanted to hear all my impressions of Russia and how I thought it compared with the US. It's hard to say "everything is disorganized and it's really cold" without sounding overly negative, because I don't have a negative impression of Russia, but both of those things are true!! Anyway, it was pretty random, and for the record, vanilla milkshakes at McDonald's taste the same in Moscow.
Think I'm going to head out now. (I'm in the computer lab in the medical faculty building since people are kind of lingering about here and the internet doesn't limit me on how many MBs I can use.) No plans for the weekend, really...I heard something about the circus on Sunday, maybe for real this time. We Shall See.
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