Sunday, August 29th 2010

I am currently sitting at my desk wanting to scream. Between the gratuitously loud metal grinding on metal that is piercing the air outside my window and the fact that the University ATM ate my debit card (true story! I have no idea what to do about that, either, other than calling my parents at an obscenely expensive rate very early in the morning) and the fact that I cannot concentrate on my cemetery assignment worth a damn, I am downright cantankerous.

      So, upon discovering that I am, in fact, impoverished until further notice, I walked to the 24-hour produkti (grocery store) and purchased what I like to call “crisis beer” and “crisis chocolate.” I am now awaiting some sort of divine intervention so that I know what my next course of action will be.

      Anyway, my life is not full of crises. Yesterday was an amazing (albeit incredibly rainy) day! (Although, true to form, I did not take any pictures. To be fair, I didn’t want my camera to get wet and die my first week in Moscow and I’m pretty confident that I’ll find myself going to Red Square again before I leave)

      We met Marina (our coordinator and wonderful city guide) at a Russian restaurant (whose name I can pronounce but cannot type) and had lunch, courtesy of Beloit College. It was especially exciting for me, as it was my first real meal since arriving in Russia. I ordered green tea with jasmine and soup, which was cold and had only two ingredients that I could readily identify (those being dill and green onion). It was fantastic.

      Then, we took the metro. Now, I’ve taken the subways in New York and the metro in Paris, but the Moscow metro is a completely different animal. Katie and Ashley had warned me that the escalators were a trip. They were not kidding. I’m not sure exactly how many stories underground we were, but those damn escalators seemed to stretch for miles. It was like being sucked underground in some sort of Willy Wonka-esque fun house mirror scenario. It was pretty fun.

      The actual metro stops are gorgeous and ornate. There are sculptures and mosaics and painted tile everywhere, and each stop has its own motifs. This is not so different than other cities, but for some reason these felt so much older and more regal. I can’t really explain without sounding really pretentious, so I’ll stop myself and just take some pictures next time.

      When we got off at our stop we followed Marina like ducklings. In fact, we followed her like ducklings all day long, being led down rainy streets and through crowds seeing but not really taking in the sights around us. Truly, I need to go back another (at least one more) time just so that I can really see Red Square and its neighboring buildings.

      The rain made it incredibly difficult for us to enjoy or even really take the time to appreciate what we were being shown, so the most time we spent in any one place yesterday was spent in GUM, the mall on Red Square. Free from umbrellas, we all actually got to look up and around, which was fortunate because the architecture alone was amazing. People were everywhere, and at first I was surprised by a bride making her way through the crowd in her wedding dress. Then I saw another, earnestly moving through the throngs of people in an ivory gown. It wasn’t long before I realized there was perhaps one bride for every 30 shoppers. Women in their wedding gowns were being photographed on the walkways between sections of the mall, in front of the giant fountain in the center of it all kissing grooms and generally hamming it up for the camera.

      And brides weren’t the only ones being photographed. Models were tucked away in staircases, spinning and posing amidst hundreds of passers-by. It was an incredible thing to witness (and be a part of; it seems impossible that each person in GUM didn’t make a cameo in one or more wedding pictures).

      After GUM, a group of us took the metro (without Marina’s guidance) back to the university campus. Luckily for me a few people in our group knew the way back, because I was absolutely clueless. I’ve realized that when traveling I tend to ignore the route in favor of ingesting the surroundings – something I’ll need to change should I want to venture out on my own sometime. From there I simply fell asleep in my bed, around 6:00.

      So for today, besides the panic about my bank account situation, I’ve been relaxing and (trying) to finish some assignments. I should really be preparing for my placement test tomorrow; Instead, I’ll probably read and daydream about my plans for my birthday. So far nothing has been decided, but I think I’ve been here for long enough that I could handle a night out…

      More later, and here are a few pictures of my room!

My crisis beer and chocolate

My lovely side of the room

The view from my desk

Thursday August 26, 2010

I have somehow managed to arrive in Moscow safely and soundly. By some miracle (be it God or otherwise, and I tend to skew towards “otherwise”) I navigated through the airport, was one of the first people to receive her luggage, negotiated my way into a van ride (which would have been harrowing had I not known what European driving entails), completed a shitload of documents (most of whose purpose I am completely unaware), purchased dinner (comprising of drinkable Activia, half of an apple and 5 liters of water) and sort of settled into my dorm room (which, while obviously not shiny and new, is incredibly cozy and perfect – it has a freaking sink and so much storage space!). On the list of things I have yet to do is figure out how the hell I am supposed to charge my laptop (because for whatever reason my adapters are clearly not up for the job) and get eight 3x4 MATTE (emphasized about a squillion times to myself and about ten other people) photographs so that I can have a real-life honest to goodness ID for school. And, you know, probably a lot more things that I can’t even begin to imagine.

My plane ride was absurdly comfortable. The girl sitting next to me was Russian, and when I got back from going to the bathroom at 3 AM she asked me why I was going to Russia and I had a hard time explaining why. I should mention that we were speaking in English because it adds to the ridiculousness of my inability to engage in ANY form of communication with someone today.

I think my favorite part of the day, however, was the ride from the airport to the school. It took about an hour and the guy who was driving the van was insanely ballsy. We drove from the outskirts of the city to the center and it was astonishing how stark the transition from suburban to urban was. Billboards multiplied, people became visibly affluent, globally-themed restaurants popped up, increasing exponentially, drivers became far more aggressive, and the diversity of architecture exponentially increased. The oft-discussed juxtaposition of Old and New Moscow was every bit as obvious and beautiful as described. It’s amazing to me that I’m a block or two away from Red Square and just a stones throw away from St Basil’s because I couldn’t see either from the drive.

The better part of my day was spent in complete linguistic solitude. Except for Ike, and when I ran into some other Beloit students, I was cocooned in the white noise of a foreign tongue. Sometimes it was frustrating, like when the director of international students was trying to explain some task I had to complete and I could not for the life of me comprehend her. For the most part, though, it was simultaneously comforting and thrilling. It makes me excited for the days later on in the semester when I will have a better understanding of the world around me.

Anyway, I keep trying to write more (and believe me, I have tons to say) but the city sounds and my jet lag are making it damn near impossible. It’s like a lullaby except way more effective, like if a sleeping pill existed that caused really soothing lullabies to play in your head and your tummy to feel like it is full of warm sleepy-time milk.

Travel's Eve

Well I am all packed, my bags weigh under 50 pounds each, and I have intricately planned out my outfit for tomorrow. I had my last meal in the USA for 4 months, said goodbye to my friends, and had 5 separate meltdowns today.

I'm getting ready for bed, but it's more of a formality because I just know that I am not going to be sleeping tonight. At all.

Also, I can feel my dinner sloshing around in my tummy and my throat is all bile-y.

I don't know why I'm trying to write a blog post. All my brain is doing is going "AHHHHHHHHSZKJGBDKG."

Even Lady Gaga on the radio is unhelpful.

GOODNIGHT USA.

Monday, August 23rd - Panic Sets In

For the last week or so I have been obsessed with making lists. Lists of clothes I want to purchase before heading to Russia, a list of things to do before I leave, lists of things I must not forget at home. While writing these lists must somehow help me to prepare, I think they have lulled me into a false sense of security. After I make a list I think to myself, "Wow, great job, you're a really responsible person! To reward yourself, spend an hour looking at fashion blogs so that you won't stick out like a sore, poorly dressed thumb in Moscow!" I trick myself into thinking that preparing to prepare is a very productive use of my time.

Well, today I had a rather unpleasant wake up call. Writing down exactly what I need to do is not, as it turns out, the same as actually completing said tasks. I know, big surprise.

This little reality check happened at roughly 10:30. I skipped down the stairs to my basement where my parents were watching TV, plopped down in a chair, pulled out my laptop and began making another one of my lists. I felt empowered and excited and in control. Until my parents asked me questions about the less glamorous aspects of my semester. What will you do about banking? Have you called Dell about an international warranty? How will you keep track of your spending? Etc.

My delightful little world of delusion came crashing down around me.

As naive as this realization may seem, it has only just occurred to me that I am an adult. And being an adult means that sometimes I have to put on my big girl pants and call Customer Service representatives and think about budgets and warranties and international banking.

Some may think me spoiled or ignorant for not having thought to plan for these things until two days before I leave the country, but (and this could be totally wrong - I am, after all, myself) I think it has more to do with the fact that my optimism has a tendency to leave me a little flighty. I think "Oh, well, this will all work out in the end, there's no need to stress out about it." Until, of course, I end up inevitably stressing out about it because I have, once again, left absolutely everything until the last minute.

So here I am, at 2:30 AM on Monday morning panicking and making three new lists, wishing for it to be 7:00 AM so that I can begin my day and check off as many items on my to-do list as is humanly possible. I would transcribe it all here as a testament to my lunacy, but like all good compulsives I get a little territorial about my eccentricities. A three page to-do list is a little too revealing for a first post. Perhaps another time...


Do svidaniya,

Emily