I've been ignoring this and you. Sorry. So much stuff.
6/21 - Sat.
Dinner at Masha's flat. She made us really good rice with vegetables. She showed us her father's collection of Nazi swords and sexy pics of her on the Russian version of facebook. Weird --- yes. But awesome. She has a boyfriend who dances for a hip hop group. He's suppsed to be buying a gun soon. She said he'd kill us and her if he knew we were at her flat. Oh, she also went to a movie with us earlier in the day. She's promised a trip to her dacha, where we will drink and go wind surfing. We'll see if it happens. She had a keychain on her mobile and after asking her what's on her phone she said,"It's the cat in the cow."
6/22 - Sun
Went to the Kuskovo Estate. A huge palace that looks like the set of some romance movie taking place in the 18th century.
6/23 - Mon
Went to Gorky Park. It's pretty famous. It's like a really crappy, soviet esque version of Kenny wood. We rode the Byron, it's an original space shuttle that the soviets were planning on putting into space. But now it's a ride for small children. J and I went on it. LIke idiots. Cost only 7 dollars! We got in there, threw some privets out to the cute girls dressed in rainbow outfits, and sat in our seats. We thought the seats would shake during takeoff.... but nothing. Then when the screen showed us in outer space, the girls in the rainbows came around and manually shook our seats..... no hydrolics.... just two girls pushing and pulling our seats to simulate zero gravity. We completely lost it. I couldn't stop laughing for 10 mins. The most we've laughed since we've been here. 7 dollars was def. worth it. Oh Russia.
6/24 - Tue
Went to Lenin's Tomb. It was pretty cool. I"ve never seen a preserved dead body that is also that important in history. In case you didn't know this guy died in 1924. And they have his body completely preserved and on display. He looks like an inflated doll. Rumour has it that it's not even real. They love Lenin here.
6/25 - Wed.
Went to St. Basils..... you know that really really famous cathedral, that looks like it should belong in Disney World or on top of a cupcake? The inside was really cool.
We went to the Natural History Museum afterwards. Not as cool.
We went to one of the oldest streets in Moscow. Don't ask me the name. Lots of very old cathedrals. Cathedrals, Shmedrals.... now i know what L. Lehe was talking about in that highly controversial Pitt News article about how much he hates cathedrals. I'm starting to develop and aversion as well--- but never towards ones that are "of Learning." Lou, you could have saved so much hate mail if you mentioned that.
That night, we accomplish one of my goals. We stay overnight at a flat. It's Anatomy Anna's flat. We met her at the medical academy. Her mother wasn't home that night so she said we could come over. Well, we basically invited ourselves. We got there at like midnight. WE used her free internet a lot. Watched a bit of a movie. And ordered pizza. Two larges-- came to about $45. Don't you love Moscow prices? I do. I shared her mothers bed with B, while Dodge slept on a reindeer hide. Yes, not kidding. J slept in Anna's top bunk. The whole apartment had two bedrooms, 1 kitchen, and 1 bath. It's weird that these flats don't have any common areas, not even a place to eat together. There seems to be a huge void concerning family values in Moscow. Doesn't really exist. And it's rare for anyone to have siblings.
6/26 - Thu
Tried to get into the Armory. But it's Russia and things are disorganized and we couldn't get tickets even though we were there for hours. So, we went to a nearby exhibit of a very new Russian artist. Anatomy Anna and her friend Nastia came along. Later we find out they came because they each have a crush on one of us. One on Dodge. One of Me. The exhibit was a lot of flowers and girly landscapes.
That night was the Russia vs. Spain soccer match. Oh, it's the Eurocup. And it's VERY big here. Last game, when Russia beat the Netherlands, people were riding on top of cars down the street carrying flags, etc. So this game is even bigger, because if they win, then Russia goes to the Championship --- the final game. And Russia hasn't done that, maybe ever? We (J, B, Dodge, C, and I) watch the game with Anatomy Anna and Nastia as some bar that serves pizza. We all buy Russian soccer gear. I drop 40 bucks on a shirt. it's sweet though. we borrow some guys face paint. paint flags on our cheeks. yeah, we're girls. we can't find real flags though. i find a guy in the bar, and he says, in russian, that i can have his flag if Russia loses. Well at half time, it's tied at 0-0. Then the second half, Russia sucks. We end up losing 3-0. But hey, now i got a russian flag. ANd now i look really russian.
Towards the end of the game, Nastia, the 17 yr old, started flirting with me harder. Whatever, she's a cute russian blonde. We end up going to a dance club afterwards and she kisses me. 2nd russian kiss. but still no marriages.
6/27 - Friday
Went to the State Tetyakov Gallery. The largest fine arts museum in Moscow, and largest collection of Russian art. It was pretty darn big. Saw a lot of cool artwork. I'm so artsy. and so cultured.
6/28 - Sat.
Excursion to Vladimir and Suzdal. Vlad used to be the old capitol of moscow. Suzdal is just some old town. Both about 4hrs from Moscow. Vlad was a bit boring, just old buildings. Suzdal was old buildings, but they were cooler. We ended up missing our train at Vladimir departuring back to moscow, so we got a new one at 2am. Soooooooooooo, we went to a dance club. It was kind of lame, until we went upstairs. And then our coordinator, Ir, joined us in dancing. This is the first time she's drank with us and first she's danced. And damn, she was good.
Finally it was time to go. We're walking home and some short russian starts following us. then he starts saying random things angryly. then he starts yelling "GO HOME YANKEES!" I mean, i don't really like the yankees myself personally either, so i thought i'd get along with this guy, but then i realized he didn't mean Derrick Jeter. He didn't like me. Or the the 6 other guys and 3 girls in my group. Well 2 girls. One was Ir. So we ignored him. Kept walking. Didn't turn around. Didn't do anything. HE started getting closer. Then he started touching us. Started pushing us in the back. First B. Then J. Then me. But we kept our cool, and kept walking. TOld him "Go away. Leave." He kept getting more angry and more violent. Pushed J pretty hard in the back, J had enough and pushed back with one arm. The drunkard fell over on the ground. He stood back up. Swung for C, hit him in the throat, but barely hurt him. C didn't fight back. IT wasn't worth it. We kept walking. Then the guy kicks B. Right between the legs. Ok. it's time we kill this guy. WE're on a dark street. no one around. B swings a right hander and lands it on his left temporal lobe. the guy felt that one. before anything else could be done, a russian police car pulls up. two officers get out of the car holding automatic rifles. we might die.
our coordinator, Ir, goes up to them immediately and says something in russian. they take the drunk russian and throw him in the cop car all while he's still screaming "GO HOME YANKEES!"
This was the first case of anti-american, anti-foriegner in general, that has happened to us. We were told later that was because it was Vladimir. Moscow deals with foreigners much better.
6/29 - Sun.
Cathedral of Christ Our Savior. I got in;looked at the magnificent ceiling;said I got to take a picture of this; I did; got escorted out by some guy in a suit. Guess i wasn't allowed to do that. The 2 min tour was pretty sweet though.
6/30 - Mon.
Last day of Histology. It's our final. It consists of: 1. pick out your favorite microscop slide 1. tell me what you know about it. It was so easy. We all got 5's, which is an A. Took about 3 mins each to complete. The class was a joke. The last day of class, we convinced our teacher to end about 2 hrs early so we could go eat chocolate, drink tea, and eat whatever snack she baked us. Her granddaughter Masha (the one whose flat we visited first) came, i have an awesome video of us bugging our Babushka about when is she coming. I will try to upload.
This evening we got on the bus to St. Petersburg. It was about a 14 hr bus ride. On the crappiest, oldest, dirtiest bus you could ever imagine. with the smelliest people you can ever imagine. so uncomfortable. and we only traveled about 300 miles. 14hrs....300 miles..... you do the math. we went about 15 mi/hr on avg. the worst ride of my life. but we go to St. Petersburg..... at 8am the next day.
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Monday, July 7, 2008
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