Today was the honey festival. Right next to the honey festival is also a palace that was constructed for Catherine the Great. Ironically, she never lived there because when she saw it, it "wasn't to her liking". It was quite beautiful though and if *I* were Catherine the Great, I would have lived there. It's on a huge plot of land and there are winding pathways, a river, ducks, and gorgeous landscaping. Although I was miserable walking (it was extremely cold and rainy.. and I'm sick) I liked it better than the Honey Festival (Ярмарка мёда). I was hoping for some honey flavored stuff, but it was literally all honey, with the exception of two things: медовуха (a honey beer type drink) and чак чак (a honeyed cereal snack). I had both and they were good. I had no idea that honey could taste so different; it was pretty insane. But it was cool nevertheless.
After the Honey Festival, we were starving, so we went to a cafe-bar near the metro. It was smoke-filled, but we didn't care because we were starving. At the table next to us was this extremely skeezy looking drunk Russian, chain-smoking like crazy. He's just staring at us and I'm facing him, so it's hard to look away. He stares and stares and stares and then starts talking to us. We ignore him and he stops, but a little while later he starts up again. He starts saying random stuff trying to hit on us, but again, we ignore him, hoping he'll shut up. Then, he gets up and comes over to Andrew and starts telling him that his woman (Francine, who, btw, is not his woman) is a little too bossy and активная for her own good (this was after he witnessed Francine ordering a beer for Andrew). He told him he should be more manly. Then, he asked Francine to dance. Mind you, this is a cafe, not a dance hall. She's like, "Нет, я не танцую". And he's like, "But, please?" And she's like, "Fucking нет, ладно?".
Then, he turns to me and proceeds to tell me that I am very beautiful and that my forehead is especially beautiful. It's unusual, but very nice, he says. He goes on to say that I look like I should be in a painting because of my forehead (I think he was saying it looked aristocratic?). And he kept repeating himself on how my forehead was so beautiful and that it should be in a painting. Wait...
MY FOREHEAD?!??
I've never gotten a compliment on my forehead before. I've always been made fun of for it... since it's so large. But I guess now I can claim aristocratic origins. I still can't believe that guy made an Ode to my forehead in the middle of a fucking restaurant at the top of his voice. So weird...
Russia just keeps getting better and better.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tomatoes make my heart smile
Finally... vegetables!! I bought tomatoes and cucumbers and the Ryc market the other day. Tonight, Francine and I had hot bread with melted cheese with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, with salt and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Yum! My heart was thanking me so much for some actual vitamins. I also bought some mint green tea, so hopefully that'll help as well.
Russian grocery stores are ridiculous. One aisle is all tea and coffee, another aisle (both sides) is all candy/cookies/sweets, and another aisle (both sides again) is all booze. Mind you this is three aisles of an approx. 12 aisle store. And one aisle is Соки (Juices), but half of the aisle is beer, which apparently is not alcohol, but juice. So yeah, that's a Russian grocery store for you. Now maybe you can see the difficulty in eating semi-healthy here.
I've been a little homesick the past couple of days. I'm missing the warmth (literally and figuratively) of Phoenix. People aren't very friendly here and are actually often kind of rude. Don't get me wrong, there are definite exceptions to the rule. But for the most part, people just push you, tell you to move, and scoff at you when they realize you aren't fluent in Russian. And while I am not saying that American men are gentlemen, men here rarely if ever hold doors and will usually go in front of you, so "ladies first" doesn't really exist here. I'm sure they'd say that it's their progressive proletarian gender equality, but I have my doubts.
However, Russians must intuitively sense that I am a friendly American because men on the subway seem to have developed a penchant for sleeping on me. Twice now guys have passed out on my shoulder... for like a half hour. And one of them was bloody from a fight. *sigh* I really wish they'd sleep somewhere else.
Russian grocery stores are ridiculous. One aisle is all tea and coffee, another aisle (both sides) is all candy/cookies/sweets, and another aisle (both sides again) is all booze. Mind you this is three aisles of an approx. 12 aisle store. And one aisle is Соки (Juices), but half of the aisle is beer, which apparently is not alcohol, but juice. So yeah, that's a Russian grocery store for you. Now maybe you can see the difficulty in eating semi-healthy here.
I've been a little homesick the past couple of days. I'm missing the warmth (literally and figuratively) of Phoenix. People aren't very friendly here and are actually often kind of rude. Don't get me wrong, there are definite exceptions to the rule. But for the most part, people just push you, tell you to move, and scoff at you when they realize you aren't fluent in Russian. And while I am not saying that American men are gentlemen, men here rarely if ever hold doors and will usually go in front of you, so "ladies first" doesn't really exist here. I'm sure they'd say that it's their progressive proletarian gender equality, but I have my doubts.
However, Russians must intuitively sense that I am a friendly American because men on the subway seem to have developed a penchant for sleeping on me. Twice now guys have passed out on my shoulder... for like a half hour. And one of them was bloody from a fight. *sigh* I really wish they'd sleep somewhere else.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Those pesky Russian doughnuts
I realized belatedly that I never mentioned the Russian doughnuts in my last post. Oh well...
Us in the dorms have discovered Russian doughnuts that are sold at the nearby Vykhino market (right next to the metro stop of the same name). They are denser than American doughnuts and less sweet (amazing, considering how much Russians love sugar). They are SO good and now Francine (my roommate) and I have a whole bag in our room. Uh oh. This is bad. Because now, in addition to all the white food I eat on a daily basis (bread, potatoes, sour cream, cheese, sugar, and eggs) I now have doughnuts. Despite all the walking I'm doing, I don't think I'll be losing any weight due to all these rich foods. Plus, it's hard when the gross food as well as the delicious food are both bad for you.
When I come back in December (which is a looong ways off), I think I will resemble a bloated wedding cake.
Us in the dorms have discovered Russian doughnuts that are sold at the nearby Vykhino market (right next to the metro stop of the same name). They are denser than American doughnuts and less sweet (amazing, considering how much Russians love sugar). They are SO good and now Francine (my roommate) and I have a whole bag in our room. Uh oh. This is bad. Because now, in addition to all the white food I eat on a daily basis (bread, potatoes, sour cream, cheese, sugar, and eggs) I now have doughnuts. Despite all the walking I'm doing, I don't think I'll be losing any weight due to all these rich foods. Plus, it's hard when the gross food as well as the delicious food are both bad for you.
When I come back in December (which is a looong ways off), I think I will resemble a bloated wedding cake.
Russian, Russian, Russian (and some doughnuts)
On Saturday, we went to the ballet to see Romeo & Juliet. I have seen Romeo & Juliet at home and loved it, so I was excited. The theater was beautiful and the staging and dancing was awesome! The choreography wasn't as interesting as Ballet Arizona's, which was surprising, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, especially since I haven't seen ballet in over a year. However, I discovered first-hand that I will never be a true Russian woman. I brought tall black high heels for my "formal outfit", not thinking that we'd have to ride the metro for an hour and walk for almost an hour each way (1/2 hour to the metro, long metro ride, then 20 min or so of walking to the theater). By the end, I could barely stand. It hurt so much!! But I learned my lesson. Luckily, I have comfy walking shoes.
Russian class here is intense. I say 'class' singular because we only have one teacher and we have class for three and a half hours in a row. We do different subject within each 3.5 hour period like literature or grammar, but it's basically a fluid class since it's the same people and the same teacher.
I am so glad that I've gotten this opportunity to study Russian. The program here at Grint (center within Moscow Humanities University) is so much better than at home that I know I am going to improve so much. Class is challenging instead of easy, and while that keeps me on my toes, I'm also learning tons. I'm using Russian more than I thought I would and it's fun to practice in real life. It's definitely a rush to successfully get your point across in Russian to a random stranger. I am less afraid than I thought I would be about making mistakes. Andrew and I always gush to each other after we talk to a stranger and we probably look like goofs (which is probably a pretty accurate assessment lol). Class is mentally draining and I am not used to classes being challenging. Classes at ASU (in general) are too easy. As far as Russian goes, I could write a whole paper on what needs to be changed in the department and curriculum. Taking classes at another university has only confirmed my suspicions: we are ill-prepared to enter a Russian speaking world if we only take classes at ASU.
I like pretty much everyone on the trip; everyone is pretty low key, which is nice. In Spain, my group of friends was that way, but there were definitely some high-maintenance people. I get along really well with my roommate, which is a blessing. However, I miss my friends! But I'm so busy here I don't get much time to think about it, which is good.
Time to study. Dosvidanya!
Russian class here is intense. I say 'class' singular because we only have one teacher and we have class for three and a half hours in a row. We do different subject within each 3.5 hour period like literature or grammar, but it's basically a fluid class since it's the same people and the same teacher.
I am so glad that I've gotten this opportunity to study Russian. The program here at Grint (center within Moscow Humanities University) is so much better than at home that I know I am going to improve so much. Class is challenging instead of easy, and while that keeps me on my toes, I'm also learning tons. I'm using Russian more than I thought I would and it's fun to practice in real life. It's definitely a rush to successfully get your point across in Russian to a random stranger. I am less afraid than I thought I would be about making mistakes. Andrew and I always gush to each other after we talk to a stranger and we probably look like goofs (which is probably a pretty accurate assessment lol). Class is mentally draining and I am not used to classes being challenging. Classes at ASU (in general) are too easy. As far as Russian goes, I could write a whole paper on what needs to be changed in the department and curriculum. Taking classes at another university has only confirmed my suspicions: we are ill-prepared to enter a Russian speaking world if we only take classes at ASU.
I like pretty much everyone on the trip; everyone is pretty low key, which is nice. In Spain, my group of friends was that way, but there were definitely some high-maintenance people. I get along really well with my roommate, which is a blessing. However, I miss my friends! But I'm so busy here I don't get much time to think about it, which is good.
Time to study. Dosvidanya!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Stray Dog Capital of the World
My first week in Moscow has been filled with adventures. One of the things I've noticed that is very different is that there is a very large stray dog population. In Phoenix, and even Almuñecar, feral cats roam the streets, but usually if someone sees a dog running about it's assumed that it's lost and has a home somewhere.
In Moscow though, I've only seen two stray cats, but I've seen a myriad stray dogs. One nice thing about them? They are all really friendly and don't bother you. They are all so cute and I want to feed them/take them home to the dorms with me. I suppose that's what happens when you're me. I have pet one of them but most are centered around the metro stops (lots of people=more scraps) so there are usually so many people and I'm walking fast. Everyone in Moscow walks extremely quickly. I'm not sure why.
Another cultural phenomenon? Six-inch heels. Literally, 90% of women wear six-inch everywhere and walk as if they are in tennis shoes. And about 95% of women wear knee-high boots, heeled or not (usually heeled). I definitely need to buy some when I'm home for Christmas because it's a must-have for Russian women. And the flashier the boot the better. Russian women take flashy/classy to new levels here. I'll try to load some pictures of the Russian women later. But apparently it is hard to upload pictures with the dorm internet connection so we'll see.
In Moscow though, I've only seen two stray cats, but I've seen a myriad stray dogs. One nice thing about them? They are all really friendly and don't bother you. They are all so cute and I want to feed them/take them home to the dorms with me. I suppose that's what happens when you're me. I have pet one of them but most are centered around the metro stops (lots of people=more scraps) so there are usually so many people and I'm walking fast. Everyone in Moscow walks extremely quickly. I'm not sure why.
Another cultural phenomenon? Six-inch heels. Literally, 90% of women wear six-inch everywhere and walk as if they are in tennis shoes. And about 95% of women wear knee-high boots, heeled or not (usually heeled). I definitely need to buy some when I'm home for Christmas because it's a must-have for Russian women. And the flashier the boot the better. Russian women take flashy/classy to new levels here. I'll try to load some pictures of the Russian women later. But apparently it is hard to upload pictures with the dorm internet connection so we'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
