Comforts of Home

My mom asked me a very good question the other day. Granted, I had already though about this before she asked, so I was pretty quick with an answer.

The question: "What is the first thing you will do/eat when you get back?"

My answer: Go to the Starbucks at the airport (purchase a American chai), grab some Chipotle (with the HOT salsa!). Then I will go to Target just to marvel at having everything in one store.

That sounds very typically American, but those are the things I miss about America. Spicy food, take-away coffee, and convenience.

Feeding my Soul

Once again, the weekend never fails to disappoint. Friday night was pretty laid-back. Alissa, Henrike, and I stayed in and played Monopoly. What was really neat was that it was Monopoly in German!

Saturday was looking to be ridiculously, mind-numbingly boring. By the afternoon this misty rainy cloud was just sitting over Moscow. It looked disgusting, but despite the weather, I took a walk to the promenade at Vorobyovy Gory, which overlooks the entire city. I love walking around the city, looking at different people and thinking about things. In the evening, we decided to go out with some of Meghan's internship friends for dinner. Since one of her friends is Indian and yesterday was Diwali, we celebrated by going out for some Indian food. It was great to eat Indian food again and meet some new people. Then we went to Vorobyovy Gory station with some fireworks. We weren't sure where we could set them off, so we asked the two militsa officers standing outside smoking, and they replied "Oh, off that way a little bit is fine." So we set off some huge fireworks (the kind you can't buy in America) and another militsa officer came by and said "I understand that you're young and like to set off fireworks, but that's very bad." The funny part was that he wasn't any older than us. But we left and went home anyway.

Sunday morning/afternoon I was planning on sleeping in more than I usually do, but Meghan barged in and announced that she was going to the Pushkin Gallery. I had really wanted to see this museum, so I was up for the adventure. First, though, Henrike wanted to buy some football tickets. We met a German friend of hers and bought some tickets for Bayern Muenchen vs. Moscow Spartak- apparently this is a Champions League match on November 22. After a little walk in the area of the stadium, we headed over to the Pushkin Gallery for some art. Despite my best efforts, I was charged the international student price instead of the Russian student price (free). The museum was worth the price though. It focuses on European and American art of the past 150 years, so everything is quite modern. I saw a lot of Picasso, Renoir, Pissaro, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh... all the famous ones. It was impressive, and in some ways, more intellectually satisfying than the Hermitage.

Then I came home and made a yummy meal of pelmeni with butter and plov spices. (Plov is a central Asian rice/meat dish, so it was pretty weird to sprinkle that on top of Russian ravioli dumplings, but it tasted good.) Also, everybody in Cincinnati, take note: It'll be warmer here in the next few days than it will be over there. I'm just hoping it snows here by my birthday.

Indian Summer

I’ve been hearing that the weather back home has been kind of icky lately. Not so in Moscow! Last weekend it was blustery, but since Monday it’s been sunny and warm every day. The temperatures have been in the high 60s or low 70s. So I’ve been trying to spend as much time outside because I know soon enough I won’t want to go outdoors. I’ve been walking to class, which is a 25-30 minute walk, even though I’ve also been lugging my laptop with me. We even walk back from the Metro station although there are buses there that drop us off basically at our door.

I took a really nice walk Friday with my classmate (and friend) Terri. We were in search of the elusive Sedmoi Kontinent supermarket, but we found something else really neat. We got off at Kropotkinskaya station, and literally standing outside the station was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This is a cathedral that was originally built in the 19^th century, but Stalin demolished it because he wanted to erect a huge “Palace of the Soviets.” Basically, he wanted to build a really big building with a really big statue of Lenin on the top. Instead, it became the world’s largest swimming pool because they only got as far as the foundation. Then in the 1990s, they decided to rebuild this cathedral. It’s huge, made from white stone with huge gilded domes, and it’s just really neat. It also sits on the river, and there’s a little footbridge that crosses the river. This bridge is neat, because one can see the cathedral, the Kremlin, and a huge monument to Peter the Great from it. So this was a pleasant surprise in addition to finding the supermarket, where I found American salad dressing and Pringles!

Then Saturday, us ladies did our “traditional” (it’s only the second time we’ve done it, but we plan on making it a tradition) Saturday meal. Last weekend it was Caucasian food, and this weekend it was traditional Russian food. Anyway, after lunch, Alissa said she wanted to see this cathedral, so I took her to it. I was telling her about this traditional art of bell-ringing along the Volga, where one or two guys ring like 10-12 bells and they sound really pretty. Just as I finished telling her about it, the bells starting ringing! It was surreal- one of those “I can’t believe I’m really here” moments.

McSplurge

Well, the sting of homesickness was tempered yesterday by a very productive day on my part.

This weekend the Davis Cup semifinals are taking place in Moscow- Russia vs. USA, and although I planned on going, I still had to buy tickets. So I decided to go buy tickets, and I took Megan with me because she likes tennis too (even though she calls Andy Roddick “Andy Rodderick”). I had only a “vague” idea of where the Olympic Stadium was located, but I wasn’t really worried about finding it once we got off the metro- how can you miss a whole stadium?! Well, it wasn’t so easy, and I had to ask a few people before I finally found the ticket office. And luckily there was a very helpful woman in line who spoke some English and helped us out a bit. But we bought 2 tickets to the Sunday session!!!! We could have gone for the 100 or 200 ruble tickets, but we decided to go wild and buy 600 ruble tickets. That’s about $23, which is a bit of a splurge for me. Now I just have to figure out who I am going to root for- Marat or Andy?

Then came the second splurge and the second success- McDonalds! McDonalds is pretty straightforward in Russia- a Big Mac is a Биг Мак and Chicken McNuggets are Чикен МакНуггетс- phonetically, they’re the same. But the first time we went, they couldn’t understand our English/ Russian accents and they pulled out these little picture cards and I just pointed to what I wanted. It was pretty humiliating and I felt like such an American. Fast forward to today: I ordered in Russian, and they didn’t pull out the picture cards! I was very proud of myself. To tell the truth, I wasn’t planning on ordering anything but a Coke, but I decided to give it another go and I was superbly rewarded. Unfortunately, that bit of pride cost me 125 rubles, or about $5. But McDonalds in Russia really is better than in America.

Also, Meghan and I went to the rinok again today (that’s the market outside our Metro stop) to get some cookies. I swear, my sugar consumption has gone through the roof since I got here. Actually I am eating a lot of fruit too, because it’s cheap and you don’t have to wait a week for it to ripen. Anyway, we went to this one fruit stall that I go to often, and the woman was really friendly. She came off her perch and showed us where the ripe fruits were, and then started a little conversation with us. I’m getting really good at small talk in Russian- everyone asks where I’m from, what languages do I speak, why am I here, how long have I studied Russian, where am I living. The rinok is the easiest way to practice Russian, because you’re forced to speak it at some point.

Also, thanks to everybody who has left comments and sent me e-mails. I appreciate every word you guys write, so please keep writing me. I know I am awful at replying quickly, but I’m trying!

Things I miss

I miss two things about America:

1. Water Fountains. Water here costs money, even if it's 5 rubles for tap water. And mineral water is expensive. The other night I got blinis at a cafe for 55 rubles and mineral water for 60 rubles. Sometimes all you want is a sip of water!
2. American salad. Here a salad is a mix of vegetables, maybe some meat or fish, sour cream or oil, and some spices (usually dill). I am craving some romaine lettuce with good caesar dressing, or a real American Greek Salad.

Okay, next time: some things I like about Russia!

Lauren: can you e-mail me your e-mail address? I keep meaning to e-mail you, but I don't have my address book with me, and I can't get it from your blogger profile!

Four days!? (I lost count)

Hrm, four more days I think.

Last night I went to my brother's house for dinner. My momma cooked fried chicken with her milk gravy and grilled corn with lime butter sauce. Three of my brothers were there, and families, and Logan too. I had a great night, especially playing with my niece and nephew. Luckily I didn't get too upset saying goodbye to my brother and his family. I'm hoping that means I am emotionally prepared for leaving. We'll see, I guess.

Today my dad and I went to Columbus to do some shopping! I'm not buying any more clothes, I swear. All I need is a pair of winter boots, and I'm buying those in Moscow. On the way home we stopped at Jungle Jim's one last time, and I saw my favorite Starbucks barista for the last time too. And right now my dad is cooking my favorite dinner- Stehlin's sausage and sauerkraut. Yum.

I don't know if it's been this dreary, rainy weather, but I am feeling ready to go. Summer's wrapping up and I'm saying goodbyes. Like I said, I haven't been getting too teary or emotional lately, so hopefully that means I really am ready. A week from now I'll be sleeping in my bed in Moscow.

Here are some pictures of the cutest kids ever, and their daddies: