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.