Hot Cocoa's Moscow

We Were Always Meant To Say Goodbye

2010-05-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

The time has come to leave the third Rome. I never expected that a year could have such an impact on my life. . It's been such a crazy ride.

Our last dinner with our wonderful program director Irina was out of this world. We ate at a restaurant called "In the Darkness". It's a pretty crazy concept. Customers have four plate choices: blue(seafood), red(meat), white(mix), and green(vegetarian). Then they are to the darkness, where they dine in a completely pitch black environment with blind waiters. It was definitely a unique experience. It was so weird not seeing what you were eating and having to feel around for the fork or like the bread. I don't think I will EVER forget something like that.

Moscow has been a really interesting city to live in. Moscow is scary, amazing, huge, fierce, dirty and surprising. It will chew you up and spit you right out if you aren't ready for it. For that reason I love Moscow. It is a city like no other. But at the same time I have to be real to myself and say that I could never call this city home. As much as I like the take-no-prisoners demeanor of the city, I could never feel at home here. It isn't that I don't like big cities. I actually cannot imagine myself living anywhere else. But unfortunately, Moscow just doesn't have have that something I'm looking for in a home. I'm alright with it though. I in no way regret spending my year here. Sure there were moments where I browsed around for a ticket back home the next day, and thought about telling some of my fellow group mates off... but it was all totally worth it in the end. I got to experience/see so much and I made a ton of progress with the language. There is no way it would have been the same if I didn't stay.

The last few weeks have been unbelievable. One of my favorite memories is the birthday party that was thrown for me. Kelly, Kara, Phil, Kim and even my roommate Darcy made a little surprise birthday party for me at Kelly and Phil's. They cooked hispanic inspired dishes which were wonderful. I also really loved it when we gave our presentations because we all together celebrated our freedom.

I will miss a lot from Moscow. I will miss my Russian friends and homegurl Eleonora. I will miss having so much to do and just having the option of hoping on the metro 2 min from my house and just going somewhere. Moscow left an imprint on me that cannot be erased.

As I promised, a link to Kiev photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170630&id=673767863&l=241dca85c0

Kiev and the lasts

2010-05-15T04:49:00.000-07:00

The moment has finally arrived. I had my last excursion yesterday and I finished all schoolwork for the year. I am free.

I'll start by talking about our trip to Kiev. So our last trip of the year was to the Ukrainian capital. On the way there we were all separated into groups of two which meant each pair shared a room with two other Russians. Kelly and I were together and we shared our train compartment with Irina's friend Masha and her son. Her son is a young super energetic thing. When we got to Kiev it was weird seeing everything in a different but so similar language. I was really surprised at how pretty the city is. I like couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It was sunny and like everything was green. I also want to point out that the guys were better looking than in Moscow. I'm not saying that they were 10s... or even 7s... I'm just saying they were cuter. We had the usual excursion and like walked around and enjoyed the nice weather and sun. I missed the sun like crazy so I tried to soak up as much as I could. Ironically, one of the things I enjoyed the most was our trip to the monastery. I obviously refused to enter any of the churches but I did walk around and tried to get browner, which I think was a success. It was quite amusing to see everyone in the group just turn red throughout the day. During the night time I was pretty much a grandma. I had a lot of work to do so I actually brought it with me. So unfortunately I have no report on what the nightlife is like in Kiev. This was definitely my favorite trip out of all of them. It was simply amazing.

I plan to include a link to the photos in my last post.

It feels really weird being done with everything. I can't believe it was just last week when I was freaking out because I didn't know how I was going to get everything done. Now I am in my room, looking at the last souvenirs I needed to buy before I leave on Monday. The plan is to go to Germany and visit one of my BFFs Braeden for a few days then head back to the states and see my senior friends graduate. Meanwhile, I have been counting my lasts in Moscow. My last day of classes...my last excursion... my last weekend... and in a couple of hours my last dinner with the group.

I Have Been Seeing the Wrong Shows

2010-04-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have less than three weeks left in Russia. It's very difficult to describe the way I feel about it. Basically here is some of what I feel: scared, sad, excited, happy, shocked, and unprepared.

So the past few weeks in the academic sector have been about as boring as watching paint dry. It's all just looking at my calendar and freaking out for like 15 seconds because there's such little time left. The main thing I am focusing on at the moment is getting a project done for the semester. My project is basically about the cultural influences on Cuba from the Soviet Union. It's been pretty interesting to see the changes that occurred in Cuba's culture because of their political/economic liaisons with the USSR.

Something simply amazing happened a few days ago. I discovered queer Russian theater. This is probably one of the coolest things that has happened since I first found a gay bar in Moscow. I saw Oscar Wilde's Salomé, which was directed by the most famous gay theater director in Russia Roman Viktyuk. The way I got tickets to the show is also pretty cool. Homegurl Eleonora went to the ticket office trying to buy tickets for me and her but unfortunately they were out. To her surprise, Roman Viktyuk walked into the room and she immediately put on her charm and started to chat with him. She explained the situation to him and apparently even talked about me. Viktyuk offered to help her out by giving her two tickets for his show. These also weren't just any ordinary tickets, they were tickets for the section where the director's closest people sat. I was astounded by homegurl Eleonora's adventure.

The show was beyond spectacular. All but two of the actors were men so this meant that a majority of the roles were played by men. Even the role of Salomé was played was played by a man. The makeup used by the actors was really intense. It was definitely not your regular theater makeup. The male actors who played the role of a female tried to do justice to the performance of femininity. It was not used for comedic relief as some of the plays we saw earlier. I couldn't believe what was happening on stage when I was seeing the play unfold. The show also had a good deal of dancing elements. The characters at times wore a minimal amount of clothing and were in intimate dance numbers together which created a big display of homoeroticism on stage. This was such an amazing change from the regular performances that we've been usually watching. Usually we get to see a lot of the classics and things of that sort... obviously without half naked men running around dancing with each other haha

It's always a breath of relief to find spaces where queer culture is fostered and nurtured in rampantly homophobic environments.

Day Travels and Busy Times

2010-04-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

It hit me a few days ago that it is April. Time flies by so fast. I'll try to get you all caught up on what's been happening with my oh so busy life in Russia.

I have taken a couple of day trips since the last post. The first one was to Rostov which is one of the towns on the Golden Circle. We went on a bus tour accompanied by our lovely Russian friend Alina. It was basically a tour for Russians and with Russians. I'm not going to lie, I'm going to be very honest. I am pretty tired of churches. I am tired of hearing about church this and church that and then going to visit churches. And of course, this trip that was filled with churches. We stopped at a monastery and we walked around the grounds for a bit. The weather was actually pretty nice, the sun was shining! I went on top of a tower and saw this huge frozen lake which was pretty nice. It was quite entertaining to see Russians not only ride their bikes across the lake, but also drive their cars. Our last stop was of course at the Kremlin, We had a tour of the place with the other Russian people and afterwards were allowed to roam free. During our free time, we decided to have lunch at the restaurant inside the Kremlin. It was pretty awesome inside the restaurant, it was like some kind of middle age banquet style seating. The trip was pretty nice. I'll have a link to an album on facebook at the bottom of my post.

The other day trip we took was to the lovely state of Abramtsevo. It's basically a museum that used to be an colony of some of the most famous Russian artists. It's about an hour and a half outside of Moscow. I visited Abramtsevo last semester but that was only with Pat and Amy so it was everyone else's chance to see it. Our conversation teacher and her friend joined us on the trip which turned out to be great. The weather was really nice and the lake/river by Abramtsevo wasn't frozen so it was a really pretty view walking up to it. One of the cool things about this trip was that it was totally all organized by us(the group) and there was no guided excursion. Also there were no churches! Haha ok well that's a lie. There was a tiny church built by the artists for themselves way back when but I was inside for a max of 10 seconds so it doesn't count. I really enjoyed our little outing and I could definitely feel that spring has sprung.

Moscow is FINALLY getting warmer! The sad thing is that I don't think I am going to have a lot of time to enjoy it. One of the main reasons... well actually probably the only reason that I haven't written in a while is that I have been so busy. School and my internship have kept me pretty busy. Although I of course try to make time to stroll down Old Arbat while the sun is still out at 8 PM(What?!?!?!). One of the things that happened recently that was just amazing to me is this long dinner conversation with homegurl Eleonora about gender essentialism, feminism, and gay stuff. She was quite receptive to my ideas, which I was kind of surprised at. It was also weird for me to try explaining some of concepts especially when like this stuff NEVER comes up in Russian class. After our conversation she said to me "You know, I am really glad I met you because you really have changed my perception of what a gay person is. Before I was afraid and didn't like them, but now I know that they're people who deserve respect and love just like everyone else". It was so amazing to hear that. And I am really glad that I made even a small change in this world. Also, another big thing that happened in the home front was the arrival of my new apartment-mate Darcy. She is pretty awesome, and she's from Ohio University. I have lovely dinner conversations with her and we exchange impressions about the Russians, it's so great. So hopefully I will have more time to write in the future.

Link to Rostov Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159383&id=673767863&l=661a976150

Pulling Out The American Card

2010-03-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

Telling people you're American in Russia usually leads to a couple of different scenarios. Russians will definitely want to know why you decided to take up the task of learning their language. Russians will probably ask your opinions on political matters and obviously Obama. They might ask you what your thoughts are on Russia and it's people.

Being abroad in Russia as an American has been a very interesting experience. Seeing people's reaction to me being American never tires me actually. For the most part, they're pretty positive and just inquisitive. What I think is more interesting is when I haven't introduced myself and I am with the group and we're speaking English. People around us obviously tend to stare, especially when we are in other smaller cities since I'm sure they aren't used to a lot foreigners. They also quickly assume that we don't speak Russian a lot of the times. I've encountered it a few times when I hear some people walking behind me and talking about how we are foreigners and they can't figure out how to say something to us. To their surprise I turn around and just tell them "Umm.. I speak Russian..." and they're so surprised by it as if it's something completely inconceivable. I can't say that I don't get a quick out of those moments haha

Another thing being abroad for the year as an American has taught me, or rather made me more aware of is my privilege. I am much more aware now that as an American I have a certain amount of privilege in the world that isn't awarded to others(Russians for example). I can go travel to so many places and I don't need a visa or any special documents other than my passport. Also, American pop culture has a pretty big presence in other cultures. How does that work? For example I can name someone like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga and young Russians will immediately know who that is. But can I go to Dickinson and will they know who Dima Bilan or Jana Friske is? Not a chance.

Living abroad as American citizen who happens to not be white can also put me in some funny situations. I am always amused when I tell people that I am Mexican and the image they have in their head is of a cowboy in old American Westerns. It's pretty funny how far I am from that stereotypical macho image. I have definitely had some peculiar cultural exchanges with Russian people and I hope there is more to come.

Kazanorama

2010-03-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Now I am back from the city of Kazan. It was a pretty nice city and I had some interesting experiences there so I can't wait to tell all of you!

So we had a nice little 14 hour train ride there which wasn't bad since I actually got to sleep this time as opposed to the other overnight train trips I have had in Russia. Our hotel was pretty decent and was in a nice location within the city. The first day we met with one of our guides, Guzel. She led us around for the day and our first stop was of course the Kremlin. I was surprised and extremely happy to see a mosque since all I have seen are russian orthodox churches. After our Kremlin adventure we headed to the pedestrian street, Baumana, which reminded me a lot of Arbat in Moscow actually. Then we headed to lunch where I had a nice little conversation with Guzel. We were just talking and she asked me "Do you have a girlfriend?" and I just told her "No, I'm gay". Oh my god! Her expression was PRICELESS, I wish I could of taken a picture of it. I imagine that I was the first openly gay person this poor girl has ever met. She was definitely shocked and for some reason thought I was joking. But the situation subsided and we headed to the national museum where we learned a bit about Tartarstan. Our dinner was fun, we ate at the hotel and watched some movie that was basically a combo of Hocus Pocus and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Our second day we had a tour at an island that is near Kazan. On the way there our guide(not Guzel, thank baby Jesus) gave us some bits about the city as we saw it. We got to the island and okay... it's like the beginning of March and there are supposed to be two rivers but everything is FROZEN. Once you get on the island, the view of the frozen everything is quite amazing and eerie at the same time. Our tour on the island consisted basically of churches and more churches. One really interesting thing was the icon that was made with a non-human head. It seemed kind of weird and out of place to me but I liked it. After our island trip we had lunch at some little cafe where we got to taste some Tartar foods. That night we had a theater event to attend, Delafruz. It is a remake of a Soviet play in which a girl picks her true love out of 4 candidates. It was a fun little endeavor and the whole thing was actually in the Tartar language, but we had headsets that translated so it was alright. We decided to go to an Irish pub afterwards and we met the owner who took us through a very creepy tour of his second bar which is currently being renovated. In the end we all made it out alive and now we have a new friend in Kazan.

Our final day in Kazan was Monday which was International Women's Day! We made some plans to visit the souvenir market, hit up another church, and possibly see some of the metro. Okay... so I'm not gonna lie... this was pretty much the worst day during our trip, in regards to weather. It was snowing and pretty cold, so we weren't really excited to hit the road and get our day started. We got to Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral and it was like one I have never seen before. The outside was ornately decorated and the inside was as well. Afterwards, we walked a while towards the souvenir market. It was a nice little setup inside of the city's exhibit center with interesting little souvenirs. We decided to see some of the metro and compare it to Moscow's. So Kazan's metro is only one line with basically six stations. It is pretty much a tiny little thing when compared to Moscow's insanely huge metro system. At the end of our day we were all pretty beat, we were so ready for that overnight train. We got on the train and headed back to Moscow.

Kazan was a pretty nice city but I definitely expected much more Eastern influence than what I got. I also think it would be a city that is much more beautiful during the warmer months when every body of water isn't totally frozen.

Express yourself don't repress yourself

2010-03-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

So now my schedule seems to be getting more regular and I am sort of settled in. I just want to say how crazy I think that it is already March. It seems like just a week ago I arrived back in Moscow for my second semester. Oh how time flies..

At the moment I am taking the regular courses for the Dickinson Program. Something we had to do this semester was find a class with Russian students that we liked. After searching while I have settled for some Spanish classes which I am enjoying so far(Translation, Literature, and Grammar). Going to classes with Russian students, at least in my experience, is different than going to a class at Dickinson. I would say that Russian students have a tendency not to show up to class, especially language classes. I have also not mentioned this before but cellphone etiquette is much different here in Russia than it is in the US. Professors and students answer their cellphones during class without even hesitating, people LOVE to talk on their cellphone during a movie in the theater, and people have no qualms about texting right in front of the professor during a lecture. It seems weird because in the US that would definitely all be pretty rude, but here in Russia it seems to be quite the norm. I still wonder why but I don't really question it since I have gotten used to it, although I have not adopted the Russians' celletiquette (that's right, made it one word) yet haha. As for internships, I do believe I have two at the moment. I have one at an HIV/AIDS center that specifically caters to gay men and men who have sex with men(MSM). For that one, it isn't really clear what I am doing, translating probably. Also I have picked up another one at the Cervantes Institute which is a place that promotes the spread of the Spanish language and knowledge of Spanish-speaking cultures. I am doing quite a bit with Spanish this semester, which I am really glad about actually since I have always thought since I got here "Who am I going to speak Spanish with?!?!"

So lately I have been thinking a lot about the way I express myself in relation to sexuality and gender. In Russia, things a bit different than in the US when it comes to gender relations and expression on non-heterosexual sexuality. I am not going to sit here and try to quantify oppression and compare it between two countries because that is just not how I work. In class, especially when it comes to more personal topics(i.e. marriage) I obviously try to give my two cents. I was actually glad that the other day when we talked about marriage and we just stuck to kinds of weddings/matrimonial traditions rather than go into a conversation about our own personal visions of what we want our weddings to be like. If we did take the more private route I would obviously try to express my opinions as best as I can in the Russian language and probably come out to the whole class right there and then. The problem in this scenario is that I don't have an amazing command of the Russian language which would allow me to express myself fully and defend myself in case things go awry. As for gender, well currently we have this class in English on the arts in Russia in which I have noticed that the professor is quite rigid on her ideas of gender. There have been several occasions where she's made it quite clear that something is for boys and something else is for girls(i.e. a makeup video to learn about color theory is for girls only). I have made sure to tell her that actually, I am not so interested in buildings and telephone technology, I actually LOVE fashion. In this case I am not so hesitant to give my opinion because of the language, the class is in English. But these interactions are all within a classroom environment. Outside of the class is a whole different story. Just like in the US, I am at times aware that I am not really acting gender-appropriate and I may get a stare or two. What actually worries me more is my race rather than the way I am acting at a certain time. The whole gay thing actually goes way over the heads of a lot of Russian people. I haven't encountered a situation yet where I have had to hide who I really am in order to feel like I belong or even to feel safe, and for this I am grateful.

So in a couple of days I will go off to a city to the East of Moscow called Kazan. It's one of those long weekend trips and I am looking forward to it. My next post will def be when I come back.

So much to do so little time

2010-02-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Privet! So this semester has begun(like two weeks ago) and I am already tired haha But in all seriousness, this semester is shorter than the last one and it seems like I got a lot more to do/learn. I'll try to catch you all up on my life in the big Russian city.

The first thing I want to say is that my schedule is AMAZING. I pretty much am in love with it. So far I have no classes on Friday's and I can sleep in most days. My whole schedule is not done yet since I still have to get an internship and pick a class with Russian students. I plan to do that pretty soon, maybe. It felt so weird when I first came back to Moscow. I can't really describe it concretely. After a few days the feeling wore off and I realized that this semester is going to be much better since I got the hang of things and I have a much better understanding of the Russian language than last semester. Homegurl Eleonora is pretty much the same, still pretty ridiculous. Unfortunately, at the moment she's pretty sick, she has some sort of cough. So everything at the university and the home front is going pretty well. I have to talk about my trip to Vladmir and Suzdal now!

So our first trip outside of Moscow was a weekend trip to the Vladimir and Suzdal area. We went by train to Vladimir then took a bus to Suzdal. In Vladimir we did the educational thing and went around with Alina and saw several churches and went into a museum. When we got to Suzdal we went to.... THE BANYA! A banya is basically a Russian sauna and it was pretty amazing. We basically all were in this huge wooden room and we sweat it out and once in a while we ran outside and jumped in the snow. This is supposed to be traditional custom during the winter. We also got beat each other with birch branches hahaha My favorite experience was definitely the banya. The next day we went to a Russian festival called Maslenitsa. It's basically a reason to eat dairy products that aren't allowed during Lent for orthodox russians. The most traditional food during this festival is the bliny which is the Russian version of a pancake. They make the blyni because it represents the sun meaning that winter will soon be over(yea right...). I of course had my fare share of the bliny and had a fun time although it was FREEZING outside on the square. We also got to taste the famous Medovukha which is a traditional Russian honey liquor. Overall it was a pretty good time.

Within the next few days I will have to decide for reals what I need to do as an internship and the class with Russian students. The downside is that I will have less free time to do other things(such as write on my blog) but the upside is that I will gain lots of experience which will be helpful later. I hope to update all of you frequently though and I think I have the video posting almost figured out so hopefully with my next post there will also be a video :)

Hot Cocoa's Vacation Part Two

2010-01-27T02:29:00.001-08:00

I am back in Kara's house now from my trip around Europe. Sadly, my winter vacation is basically over. I am just packing/relaxing today and tomorrow morning I will be Moscow-bound. It's been an amazing time here and I really cannot believe it's coming to end. But the bright side is that I am going back to Moscow and it's going to be better than before since I know my way around now.

My first stop was in Palma De Mallorca, Spain. When I first went outside and saw the clear skies and palm trees I knew it was going to be amazing. The hotel I stayed in was pretty decent for the price. The location was amazing as well, a two minute walk from the beach. Kim and I did the tourist thing and saw the huge cathedral and we went to a recreation of old Spanish architecture. One of the highlights from the stay was when I saw the churreria(a churro stand). For those of you who don't know what a churro is, omg you are missing out! It's this fried dough stick sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and it's just so good. I also definitely missed speaking Spanish. In Moscow I really don't have many opportunities to speak Spanish. And speaking of languages, I knew Palma was like a tourist spot for Germans but I didn't realize how much until I got there. I am not kidding, almost every sign for restaurants and stores had German translations. Also, in the hotel I stayed at, like almost every person I ran into was German. But anyways, now to the most amazing part, THE SUN. Sorry but Moscow is not really the place to go if you are trying to soak up those UV rays. Now that it's winter, I rarely see the sun. I know it's sad, but it's the truth haha... Walking along the sea in Palma De Mallorca while the sun was shining and not having the need to wear a sweater or anything was AMAZING. In all honesty, I loved it so much. I really want to live there. I'm definitely putting it on my list.

So my next stop was England. I went to Norwich to visit Maddie and Grace. It was so great to see them both. We got there at night and we headed to the campus pub(WHAT?!?! Love it) to catch up and stuff. The next day Grace and Maddie took Kim and I around the town and it was pretty cool. It was a really nice little English town. I also got to see another person from Dickinson I knew, Flow!!!!! It was really nice seeing her again even though it wasn't for long. The next morning I set off for London to stay for a couple of nights. As I was on the train heading for London I realized that I actually do miss Dickinson. Seeing people back from Dickinson always makes me feel that way. I miss hanging out with them and just seeing them from time to time.
Well, when we got to London, we had to take The Tube to our hostel. I got two words for whoever controls the tube TOO SMALL. I am not kidding, there were several times when we couldn't get on a wagon because there wasn't any room. The wagons and stations are very modern looking but you gotta expand the wagons. We spent the first evening in the Natural Histoy Museum, I'm a total sucker for all that science stuff. The next day we went to Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The National Gallery, and Westminster Abbey. The squirrels at Hyde Park were crazy, like they came right up to you and even follow you, it was pretty funny. If you have ever been to Dickinson, and you think the squirrels there are crazy, you need to go to Hyde Park. One of my favorite parts was walking around Leicester Square and seeing all the theater advertisements. I freaked when I saw an ad for Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Trust, if I would of had 29 pounds I would so gone to see it. Overall, London was cool. But I'm going to be honest and say I really liked it, but I didn't love it. We headed back to Kara's house after London.

At Kara's we just relaxed before our next and final city, Paris. So I've been pretty excited for this trip since forever because Paris is one of the cities that I have wanted to visit since forever. The first night I got there we of course had to visit the Eiffel Tower. I can't even put seeing the Eiffel Tower at night into words, it simply took my breath away. We also went to go see the Arc de Triomphe. The next day we went to the Louvre and spent pretty much the whole day there. We then walked around for a bit at night on the Champs-Elysees. I had a croque monsieur which is this ham sandwich on toasted bread with tons of cheese on top. It was amazing. I actually spent the rest of my money on it haha and it was worth every cent. The last day we made our way to the Sacre Coeur which is pretty much the highest land point in Paris. The view from there was unbelievable and actually rivals the one of the Eiffel Tower at night. On my way up to the Sacre Coeur I was stopped by some guys trying to sell me an hakuna matata bracelet. He told me he was from Kenya and asked me where I was from, I of course told him I was from Spain. He started speaking to me in Spanish and explaining how the bracelet is for good luck and it's also hakuna matata to which I replied "oh yea like the Lion King" and he laughed and said of course. I actually found 30 cents in my backpack the night before and gave it to them telling him that's all I had(which wasn't a lie). He of course wasn't happy but whatevs, I was fine, I got the hakuna matata bracelet. We visited a couple of cemeteries which were really cool and I got to see Oscar Wilde's grave which was a pretty cool one. It was basically this statue of an angel flying but like a ton of people just put on lipstick and kiss the grave, leaving their lip prints. People also write on it and stuff. It was funny since his grave had a plaque telling people to not deface it and how it's punishable by law and all that boring junk. After that we headed to the Latin Quarter and walked around for a bit and saw the Luxembourg Garden, the Pantheon, and the Notre Dame. They were all incredible sights. Also, the metro in Paris is quite good. I would say it's better than The Tube. Paris was an incredible experience, I really wish I could go back or stayed longer. Also, I don't know why there's this stereotype that French people are rude. They were nothing but nice, but I mean I also spoke French the whole time so I think that definitely helped. As I was sitting in my room and getting ready to leave, I thought I started hearing Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. I opened the window and realized someone was playing it loudly from their car and people where singing it was they walked by on the street. I thought at that moment YES this is for me. That was the last sign I needed. Paris is definitely the city for me.

So that's been my little journey through Europe. I return to Moscow tomorrow and I'm actually feeling ready for it. I also want to take this little bit to say thank you to Kara for housing me for a while. You are amazing Kara, <3 And I will be returning to my regular updates from Moscow.

I Just Want To See The World! Hot Cocoa's Vacation part one

2010-01-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well... I haven't done one of these since forever but I will try to continue to do what I always do. I'll do my best to provide somewhat of an update of my busy life abroad haha So I guess I should get started.

I arrived in Germany several days before Christmas. On the way to Kara's house there were two things that kept popping into my head 1) OMG Germany is BEAUTIFUL and 2)I need to learn German. Thankfully I know some survival phrases. Not knowing the language made me feel a bit helpless, which I wasn't a big fan of. But of course, I'm a survivor so I can handle it. Kara's house is in a small German town called Bitburg. Her house is really nice and her parents are wonderful people. They've been hosting Kim and I for quite a while. I have seen quite a bit of Germany since I have been here. I have been to Trier which is the oldest city in Germany, used to be a Roman capital. We went when it was time for the Christmas markets which were these stands of amazing food, drink, and Christmas-themed items. It was so incredible! We also went to Manderscheid which is this nice little town with a couple castles. Basically, I'm in love with Germany right now. I could definitely see myself living here for reals. We also took a couple day trips to Bruges and Luxembourg. Both cities were also unbelievable. My favorite so far was Luxembourg, I loved how everything looked. Not to mention, I finally got to practice some of my French in both Bruges and Luxembourg. Bruges was pretty awesome as well. Going up the bell tower is definitely an unforgettable experience. I also got to see some friends on another trip I took in Germany.

I made my way over to Bremen with Kim and Kara where one of my best friends is currently studying. I was thrilled to see him(Braeden) again since I thought I wouldn't see him again until August. Bremen was a nice town. It was really cold and it snowed a bit. I got to see more touristy stuff and took pictures. I need to upload pictures, I know it will get done but I just don't know when. We also went to another town called Bremerhaven which is a port town in the north of Germany. I got to see the North Sea! Well... sort of. I saw the river that leads up to it I guess. The nights were fun and full of us singing in Braeden's room late into the night. Leaving was really sad. But I did have a little taste of what I am about to do tomorrow. I will fly to Palma De Mallarca in Spain with Kim. After a few days I will go to visit my Norwich people and then to see some of London. I will write another blogpost once I am back at Kara's.

So, as I keep seeing more and more of Europe I am starting to like it more and more. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about Moscow. I have my flight back on the 28th so I fully intend on going back to the Third Rome. But I can definitely see myself living in Germany or even Luxembourg. How will I do it? I have no clue but I'm pretty sure it's possible. So... I will definitely update this once I am back and I will tell you all about my Spain and England experiences.

The End of A Semester and the Start of Hot Cocoa's Vacation

2009-12-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a while since I've written on here. It's the end of my first semester in Moscow. In this post I will talk more about my thoughts so far on life in Moscow more than retell recent events. But I'll include a few of course.

The last day we had some group event was yesterday when the remaining people went to go ice skating on Red Square! It was umm.. well.. an experience for me haha All I am going to say about it is my people were not meant to be on ice. But I'd like to thank Kim and Kelly for helping me finally get off the wall. Sadly at the end we had to say goodbye to Amy at the end since she was only here for the semester. A week before we also had our goodbye dinner with Pat and Nina who have already left. It was a great semester with the three of them and I will miss them dearly. I feel like it's going to be really strange to start the next semester without them here. But I will definitely see them when I get back to Dickinson next year, even Amy, she's coming to visit.

Today is my last day in Moscow. I haven't packed yet haha but that's alright, it doesn't take me long. I will be flying with Kim to Frankfurt and then taking the train to Kara's house. I have some travel plans for January which include: Bremen, Palma De Mallorca, London/Norwich, and Paris. I am beyond excited for this winter. I finally get the opportunity to travel in Europe and I am definitely taking advantage of it. I will hopefully be able to update while I travel in segments I will call "Hot Cocoa's Vacation".

My experience this semester in Moscow will definitely be unforgettable. I would have never imagined myself here in a 100 years. But I would not trade this experience for anything. Out of all the places we've been to and seen, in all honesty, Moscow is still my favorite. I can't quite put my finger on it but there's just something about it that the other places just do not have. The interactions that I have had with Russian people have all been interesting. On the street and on the metro the blank cold face is put on by almost everybody. But once you get to know them and are in an environment where you can socialize with them, their attitude changes and their bright side definitely comes out. Also, living with homegurl Eleonora has been quite the experience. She is a character, our previous conversations have been about UFOs, our past lives, politics, and traveling. I will obviously miss her. Next semester is going to be crazier with the internship and project and a CLASS WITH RUSSIAN STUDENTS. But of course, I will keep you guys updated. I know it's early, but one of my new year's resolutions is to write a lot more on here.

I know I know I know

2009-12-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I've been bad. But what can I say? Again It's been quite a while since my last post. But I do have a semi-good excuse. I've just been SO busy. Life in the big Russian city doesn't keep you idle. Plus classes just got a little more real.

So, in this post I just want to discuss my trip to Pskov. I actually plan to make a post around Sunday discussing other things that have happened in the couple of weeks before. I like reverse chronological order. So it was a pretty busy time in Pskov. On the first day we met with out lovely guide Annya in the AM. Our first stop was the Kremlin of Pskov. We got a tour and went inside a church. It was quite different than what we have previously seen. The style was much more simplistic, which is not a bad thing. Afterwards we went to this like metalworking place. We got a tour and we got to make our own Pskov coins! And you know what was even more amazing? WE WERE ON TV!!!!! So I got to make my own coin by striking a piece of metal with a hammer and I got my exposure on TV. It was a successful dyen(day). After everything we were left to relax and do whatever. So... what do American students do in a small Russian city at 11:30 PM? We go see New Moon of course. If you don't know what New Moon is, it is the sequel to Twilight, a teen romance movie with werewolves and vampires. Like it's a pretty horrible movie, but it was in Russian so it wasn't all in vain.

And the next day begins with an hour trip to Pechory which is a few kilometers from the Estonian border. In Pechory we visited the Pskovo Pechersky Monastery. It's a large monastery that houses about 100 monks and priests. I liked it quite it a bit and we learned about how it there were caves where people are buried. But unfortunately, people are no longer allowed down there. So we continued our journey and headed to Izborsk, where one of the oldest fortresses in Russia is located. We climbed to the top of a tower from where we could see the whole place. It was a pretty amazing view. We also headed to these springs where if you drink from them you will receive either love, money, wisdom, or like death. Obviously I drank from the spring of wisdom haha Our last stop of the day was the honey farm! We got a tour of the place from the head beekeeper and at the end we got to sample pretty much all of his products. They were all pretty good which was evident when everyone in the group went up to buy something after the tour ended. That night we didn't do much except go out to eat. No new cinema adventures unfortunately(New Moon was the only thing playing x_x)

Our last trip with Annya was to a pottery class. It was pretty amazing. We learned how to make different little things out of clay and we even got to throw pottery! I made a hedgehog, a cat, a Pskov plaque, and my own pot. I really enjoyed everything that was planned out for us. Going to a small Russian city was quite a different experience than being in big Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. I felt more at ease in Pskov than I did in Moscow. But at the end of the day I could not survive if I had to in a place like Pskov for a year. I just don't feel like it has what I need, it doesn't have the energy and that "it" factor that Moscow does. But overall it was a nice break and I could definitely visit again.

Circus and Sickness

2009-11-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Sorry this post is a bit late, but my internet wasn't exactly being cooperative last night. But now it's all good. Last week was a bit odd since I was out because I got sick with the flu(I know x_x).

We had our first official holiday off from school this past week. It was on Wednesday to celebrate Day of People's Unity(Dyen Narodnovo Edinstva). Nina and I went for a walk that day through Manezhnaya Ploshad and the surrounding area. At one point we found a huge line for something, we were curious so of course we asked one of the people waiting in line. It turned out to be something for the orthodox church. It amazed me how devoted people are. They will use one of their days off(I don't think it's many) and they will wait in a huge line in the cold to see some icons. So we continued on our stroll and guess what we found?! Stalin and Alexander I haha I of course could not miss the chance to take my picture with them simply for the ridiculousness of it. I'm definitely uploading that one to my flickr account. And later that night the group went to the circus!

So, the circus is something quite different than what we usually do here. We usually go to like ballets and plays. I think I've only been to the circus like one other time in my life haha But anyways, I had mixed feelings...It was a nice show and some of the tricks the acrobats and the people on the horses did were quite amazing. It just felt awkward at times because it felt like I was at happy hour at the playboy mansion rather then at an event for children. Women usually wore quite revealing outfits/costumes and did some dances. Also it just seemed a lot of the times the women in the shows had animal costumes while the men were running things. I wasn't really crazy about all of that. So yea, but I'm really glad I went and I'm excited for the events that we have planned for this month (especially Pskov).

Things at home are going well, except that homegurl Eleonora recently got really sick but I'm pretty sure I gave it to her when she was helping me out(oops...). I went to the doctor on Friday which went alright. His English was a little broken but he was quite helpful and I'm mostly better now, all I got is a cough. On another note, I can't believe the semester is almost over! I think we have about a month left. Overall I have enjoyed my stay in Moscow so far and I'm sure there's way more to experience and I definitely have time :)

Calling Out All My Single Ladies!

2009-11-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello! I just got back from the Beyonce concert! I was so excited to go and it was a really great time. I went with one of my favorite single ladies here in Moscow, Kim. I'll discuss some thoughts that came up during the concert later in this post. But first I'll recap my life, as usual.

Unfortunately, the whole week was a bit uneventful. It's just one of those weeks you know? Plus, although it is not a secret to anybody here. I have been feeling pretty down lately. I think I have finally hit that depression stage in the study abroad year. Hopefully I will get back to feeling my normal self soon. Classes are going well, although I am starting to feel a bit tired of the routine. There was one little change in the routine last week though. Pat and I went to an art history class with other Russian students. It was a bit interesting to see real Russian students in a classroom setting. But I don't think Pat or I are going back anytime soon, it just wasn't our cup of tea. On the home front, homegurl Eleonora has been pretty great so far. We had a lovely conversation today about the pyramids and reincarnation haha She totally believes in it which I am all for. One of these days I am going to ask her what she was in a previous life.

My weekend was actually relaxing for a change. On Friday we went out to this place called Billingua. We were there before, but only as a cafe during the day. At night it turns into a pretty chill club. The music was pretty fun, it was all like 70s music and in English of course. We all had a really good time until the end. Some asshole decided to come up to our group and talk shit about me because I'm Mexican. But thankfully Nina was there to stand up for me(Gracias mi muñeca Griega). Halloween was a bit weird. Like back in the states I would of definitely been in a more celebratory mood. Here in Russia, Halloween isn't really celebrated all that much, I mean you see like a couple costumes and like you see clubs having some special DJ or w/e but it's not like the big event back home. So it's weird, I don't feel like I missed anything by just staying home on Saturday. Sunday I went shopping with Kim, I thought maybe the rush of consumerism would make me feel better. Don't get me wrong, it did, but it was only a quick fix.

So now the Beyonce concert. First, I got to say it was amazing. Beyonce is a great performer so it was quite a show. Now onto what I want to really talk about. One of the parts of the concert was her singing Etta James' "At Last" with a video backdrop of the civil rights movement and then some Obama clips. As soon as I saw it I thought about how weird it was. Here I am in Moscow, and at a concert there are clips of like a moment in American history. It also got me thinking about how Americanized other parts of the world have become or are becoming. Now I know it's Beyonce and she's an American celebrity, but still. It just makes me wonder sometimes...

Out On The Weekend

2009-10-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I am actually going to keep the updates on the regular. Unfortunately this last week I was out of commission since I was sick. But thankfully I got better by Friday so I have plenty of stuff to talk about :)

Alright so nothing really happened during the week except sleep. Although when homegurl Eleonora realized I was sick, she went into like super host mom mode. She brought me like some chicken noodle soup, like two different kinds of tea, lemon slices with honey and oranges. She also cleaned my room and said that if my room looks nice I will get better soon. And on top of it all, she made me recite positive affirmations in Russian haha it was like "I am too strong to be sick... The Russian cold is not cold to me" and some others. She was really sweet and I definitely need to buy her some flowers soon. I also told her today that I am going to the Beyonce concert next week and explained Single Ladies to her. She totally loved it haha

Alright so now onto my weekend. So Friday I returned to my regular schedule. I felt much better and all that good junk. So the usual group plus Pat's friend and our classmate went out to this club called Propaganda. It was a fun time except they took forever to clear the tables to make the dance floor. We had to leave early though since we had an excursion to Yasnaya Polyana(Tolstoy's Estate) early the next day. I got up on time and everything, but all I'm gonna say is I should not have had that extra Long Island Ice Tea haha... His estate was really nice. My favorite place was his actual house, I have read his books and it was just so interesting to see where he made it all happen. It's also always really interesting to see the huge contrast between huge cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg and like the rural areas of Russia. The only really unpleasant part of the trip was the train ride. I don't know who thought it was a bright idea to heat the train up to like 90 degrees, like I know it's freezing outside but let's calm down. After we got back from the trip Pat and I decided to go out.

This time I really wanted to see the drag queen show. So we met up later and went back to Tri Obezani. We had a really great time. We actually met this one Jewish guy who goes to the theater institute here. Pat and I call him UFO because of his hair haha all I'm saying is gurl needed some help with that. It was actually quite hilarious because he thought Pat and I were together and he asked me "are you going to share him?" and I looked at him and was like "ummm no..." and said "oh you bitch" he laughed and so did I, then I said "Yea, I know". We ran into him a few more times. But anyways, we stayed long enough to catch the show! I was so excited. I actually couldn't believe I was watching this defiant act of the gender norms in Russia. They did a few Russian songs but they also performed "Stronger" by Britney and "Human Nature" by Madonna. It was a nice little performance but I was a little dissatisfied with how little attention some of them payed to their tucking technique. Some of you reading this might not know what I mean by "tucking" haha well it's basically what drag performers do in order to hide their junk down there. I mean, it's part of the whole performance. So, we left a little bit after the show and called Kim up because the plan was to stay at her place since the metro is closed and her apartment is like 10 minutes away from the place.

Finally, on Sunday, we went to the Bolshoi Theater. We went to go see a ballet, Giselle. So far, this has been my favorite one. I enjoyed it more than the first one we went to in Moscow and the one in St. Petersburg. Basically, it was a love story, how could you go wrong right? Well that's what has been going on during the past week. I'll definitely keep on updating this thing regularly(I'll probably have a new post up every Monday night).

It's Been A While

2009-10-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! It definitely has been too long since my last post. I think it has been almost three weeks. Well don't worry, I'll try to catch you all up with what has been happening in my busy life in Moscow.

Well I left off with the trip to St. Petersburg. It was an amazing trip. I did so much and was quite exhausted at the end of it, but it was well worth it. I saw Catherine the Great's Palace, Dostoevsky's home, Pushkin's place of study, Mariinsky Theater, Hermitage, and of course some old churches. It seems like I can never escape them haha But anyways, I would have to say my favorite place was Dostoevsky's home. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about it just really captivated me. The hostel we stayed at was actually really nice too. The location was great. And of course, people have asked me which city do I like best. St. Petersburg felt different than Moscow, and it is definitely more Western than Moscow. But in all honesty, I don't think I can answer that question. I was in St. Petersburg for about 4 days and I spent those days as a tourist. I didn't actually live in St. Petersburg. It is impossible for me to judge a city like that. If I ever do spend time actually residing in St. Petersburg, then I will definitely know the answer.

Now, onto the next weekend(that's when everything happens). We had an excursion through Chistiye Prudy(Clean Ponds) and went to a quite peculiar museum. It was a museum about the history of lights in Russia. It was interesting because it's something so specific and something I actually have never really thought about. Well, onto the nightlife haha So Pat and I decided to go to a new club that weekend, Tri Obezany(Three Monkeys... yea I don't name these places). So I would call this one an actual club, it has three floors and a huge dance floor which was cool. The other place I mentioned before is more like a bar... like where you can have a few drinks with your friends and listen to music and stuff. It was a fun time and I'll definitely go back. I actually really want to see the Russian drag queen performance. But, highlight of the night haha we got stopped by the Moscow police. We were rushing to the metro because it was about to close so this police car like rolls up and I told Pat "uh.. I'm pretty sure this is for us..." So we stopped and so did the car. Two officers came out and asked for our documents aka Passport + Visa. They like asked us where and what we studied. Then asked if we used and had any drugs, to which of course I replied no. They patted us down then gave back our stuff and let us go. Unfortunately they made us late to the metro so we had to take a taxi home. The taxi driver told us he liked Obama so it was all good haha

And now, this past weekend was pretty good. On Saturday night, the whole group was invited to Pat's house for a performance/party. We also got to meet Amy's parents who were visiting for a few days. They were pretty cool, I liked them. Pat's host father was in the band that played which was really awesome. It was a really good time. I could actually see the band having a good following back in the US like among college students and people of that age group. Overall it was a good time, Pat's host family is really cool and his apartment is actually really nice and big. On Sunday Kim and I made a rough plan for our travels to Europe this Winter. Kara's house in Germany is headquarters, which I'm really excited for.

Ok, so I summed up the past three weeks very briefly. I will definitely go back to my weekly schedule(and will def talk about homegurl Eleonora). So expect another update next Monday :)

It's Getting Real

2009-10-01T06:48:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my last blog post. Sorry to everyone, but don't worry I'll try to catch you up with what has been going on. I'll start with last weekend :)

We finally left the city to travel a bit. We went to Alexandrov Kremlin and Sergiev Posad. We had to meet early for the train to Alexandrov. We didn't go with Irina, we went with someone named Dasha. She was quite fun. It was quite strange for me when I first got there because I was used to the big Russian city and I just got to this town. We went to the Kremlin which was the residence of Ivan the Terrible. I really liked that tour and I could understand a lot of what our tour guide was saying. We went to Sergiev Posad next and met two of the people who unfortunately overslept. It seemed like it was a bigger town than Alexandrov. We had lunch there and I had what is possibly my favorite thing to eat, pelmeni! I don't know what it is about them, but some pelmeni with sour cream just makes everything better. But anyways, we got to the church and it was really nice. There were some souvenir stands set up in front of the church that I browsed with Nina. I thought it was kind of odd that there was this church place and right in front of it is some Russian guy selling all kinds of fur items. The contrast was a bit weird.

This week something really exciting happened. Well... at least I think it was. I finally went to a Russian gay club! After our meeting for info about the trip to St. Petersburg(keep reading haha) Pat, Nina, and I decided to go try it. The place was actually pretty decent. It was small but there were a good amount of people for the space. I felt like I found a good place in Moscow to just let my hair down and have some fun with a friend or two. The music was really good, it was like better than a lot of the stuff they play back at Dickinson parties haha I got to just dance and have some fun which I needed. I am definitely going back there again and possibly exploring more of the gay scene here in Russia. From what I have seen and heard, it's more of an underground thing. Hmmm possibly for my research project next semester? I think so.

Now to the future. I am leaving in a couple hours for St. Petersburg. I have heard a lot about the city but I have not actually seen it. I am expecting this European looking city and a different atmosphere than Moscow. Our schedule is packed with stuff to do and see. I'm really excited but part of me is a bit worried. I'm gonna be real for a second. I have a feeling like 9 people are going on this trip but only 6 or 7 are coming back. I am definitely coming back so don't even worry haha So yea... I expect some drama to happen. I mean, it's only natural with the kind of group we have. Not that we don't have a fantastic group, but I'm just saying... there is definitely some clashing happening. It's gonna be fun :)

PS. I want to plug Kim's flickr account. It's www.flickr.com/moscow-2009. It's probably going to have more photos than mine haha Don't worry, I'll upload when I come back from St. Petersburg.

Homegurl Takes A Tumble

2009-09-19T03:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have been in Moscow for about 4 weeks already. Time goes by too fast. Lately I've been feeling like Moscow is becoming like home to me. But at the same time I still feel like I'm some crazy foreign city and I don't know what's going on. I'm sure as the semester progresses I will feel more and more at home in Moscow.

How's the academic part going? It's actually going great. I have no complaints about the classes so far. Although this week I started to feel a bit overwhelmed by the language. I mean I understand pretty much everything the professors say but when I'm at home flipping through the dictionary or even looking at the new words we learned in class I can't help but feel overwhelmed. There are so many words, so many constructions, and so many rules to learn. But I'm pretty sure I got it. I'm not like cocky, but I'm confident I'll learn it haha Also, I'll give my thoughts about the other students. So far, I definitely only like the Korean and Japanese girls in our class. The Dickinson group has also gone out with a couple of french girls, they're also pretty great. The other American students are just like really weird or sound like tools. My favorite professor is still the phonetics professor. She makes us get up in the end of class to stretch and we repeat some words while we do it, it's actually quite fun haha

I unfortunately have some sad news about homegurl Eleonora. Early this week she fell. She told me she was going down the underpass and didn't see the last step and she went down. When she first showed me her ankle I of course freaked out and said "Oh my god girl what happened?!?!" and few seconds later I realized that she did not understand a word of that. It has gotten better from what I can see. I actually asked her yesterday how was her ankle and she said "Well, I cannot dance, but I will survive" which I thought was hilarious. As for my roommate Chris, he's pretty cool so far. When we have breakfast or dinner together we talk about everything that's going on in our lives. The Dickinson group wants to meet him haha so I definitely need to set up a date. So far the life at home is going well. We'll see what happens next week :)

I'm Loving It

2009-09-12T01:50:00.000-07:00

Another week in Moscow has ended. I am starting to get really comfortable here. Although I do think to myself once in a while "oh my god. I am here for a whole year. What did I get myself into?" I'm pretty sure that's completely normal for students studying abroad. But overall, I am definitely loving life in the big Russian city.

This week classes finally started. I have 5 classes and 4 of them are in all Russian. Unfortunately our Dickinson group was separated into two different groups for the Russian classes. I was talking to Kara(a girl in the group) how it felt like forever since we have hung out or something and she felt the same. We laughed when we realized it had only been a day and a half since we all had lunch together at a cafe. I guess that's what happens when you're attached at the hip the first couple of weeks and then you suddenly different schedules. I am happy to meet new people though. In my new classes I met 4 new students, two are from America, one is from Japan, and the other one is from Korea. The girls from Korea and Japan are pretty cool. The one from Korea speaks English but the one from Japan does not which forces me to use my Russian with her. So far my favorite class is phonetics, the teacher is really great and I like what we learn. I'm pretty happy with my schedule.

Things at home changed a bit as well. Someone new arrived at the apartment. His name is Chris and he's from Brown but he's from Germany. So far he's pretty cool. His Russian is better than mine, which means he can talk more with homegurl Eleonora. It's great having somebody else living here with me other than homegurl Eleonora. Not that I don't like her. Other than last week's incident she's been great. Plus I'm still calling her homegurl. It just feels awkward for some reason just having the two of us and the cat. Maybe it's because in the beginning there were three people in the house. I don't know haha The one thing I will say is that she tries to feed us all the time. I'm just like sorry homegurl Eleonora, I'm not a turkey, you can't stuff me. I feel bad sometimes because she says that I must not like what she makes and I of course try my best to tell her that it's not that, I'm just really full or still full from the previous meal. It was actually quite funny, on Monday she called me during classes just because I didn't eat butter brod (like a sandwich?) with breakfast and also I didn't have any tea haha

Last week when the whole coming out incident occurred I was relieved to find such great support from everyone in the group. I am also very thankful to all who sent me emails/facebook messages and such. Your support means a lot. Thank you :)

Photos

2009-09-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

As I promised I have uploaded some photos for all to see flickr.com/hotcocoasmoscow :) I will add many more tomorrow. Also I would like to plug my friend Pat's blog moscowinlightandshadow.blogspot.com It's a great photo blog! Also I will definitely make a new post in a few days so look out for that.

Всё будет хорошо

2009-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

My second week in Moscow is coming to an end so it's time for another post! I feel like the sightseeing has slowed down a bit and now we are slowly being left alone to explore the city on our terms. I am looking forward to the day where we are in full РГГУ mode next week and have our regular classes and everything. It's actually quite daunting haha

Being the only one living in the apartment with homegurl Eleonora is a bit strange. Since James left there is nobody else to help me so you can imagine the many awkward moments where I have to go to my room to get the dictionary. I wouldn't want it any other way though, I came here for the real experience. I was also left alone for the weekend because she went to the dacha(summer home). Today she told me that the student from Middlebury will be arriving tomorrow. I'm actually a little bit excited, the only thing I know is that his name is Christopher. We'll see.

Now onto a more serious subject. I feel like me and her definitely had a falling out today. I decided to ask her about marriage and when people in Russia usually get married. She said now it's usually when people have their careers set. I said it's like the same in America a bit, and then she asked me when I plan to get married. I thought about for a second, "should I lie or should I be completely honest?" and what did I decide? To be completely honest of course... oh what a mistake. I told her how I don't believe in marriage and then I came out to her. At first she seemed completely fine with it, she said oh you know if that's how you want to live your life, to each his own. But as we went on, she was definitely not accepting. I could tell that her stance was that people are made gay or they can change into the "correct" and "normal" orientation. It was quite difficult for me since I am not really anywhere near fluent in the language so it's not like I could defend myself. I simply did my best and flipped through the dictionary desperately trying to find words that would make her understand. Unfortunately there weren't any. We ended the conversation by having some wine, which wasn't bad.

Right now I could be quite pessimistic about my future and also vent about how close minded some people are. But I will not. I am quite resilient, even if I don't appear to be. This experience won't stop me from continuing to enjoy my stay in Moscow. I'm simply gonna take it one day at a time and hopefully всё будет хорошо(vsyo budyet khorosho, everything will be alright).

My First Week in Moskva

2009-08-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! My name is Jonathan and I am a junior at Dickinson College. The main purpose of this blog is to simply share my experience with the world while studying abroad in Moscow. I will do my best to update this often(weekly/maybe biweekly?) and such. Now onto my week :)

The first week in Moscow is pretty much coming to an end. This is definitely one of those moments I'll remember for the rest of my life. I arrived Sunday evening with my friends Kim and Pat. When I got to my host mother's apartment I was terrified. I could barely understand what she was saying to me and plus I was tired. Thankfully the director of the program(Irina) was with me and helped me out a bit. I also met James, the really hot italian guy who lived with Eleonora(my hostmom/homegurl) during the summer. Unfortunately, he went back to Italy today. He was quite helpful since I could ask him anything I didn't really understand. I moved into my room which I jokingly call a closet since it is probably a little bigger than a walk-in closet. Eleonora, James, and I had some tea and I attempted to speak but nothing seemed to really come out. James and Eleonora were just chatting it up and I simply listened. We all finished our tea and I went back to my room to go to sleep.

During this whole week I feel like I have walked around more than I have ever walked in my entire life. It is crazy how big Moscow is and how much there is to see. I have been to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Red Square, Manezhnaya Ploshad, Novodevichy Cemetery, various cafes, Tsaritsina Park, a couple of really really really old monasteries/churches, and more. I promise pictures will be up soon, I will do the flicker thing. Our group also has class for a couple of hours starting at 11 am at РГГУ(the university) which is just basically review of Russian and our chance to ask Irina anything about the language. There is a new girl that joined us and her name is Amy, she's from Wesleyan and she's pretty cool. The group is actually really awesome. We will definitely have fun this year.

So far Moscow has been amazing. I am definitely liking it. My favorite place so far is Tsaritsina Park. It is just so huge and pretty. I will probably go there often while the weather is still good. And let's be honest, the situation with racism/nationalism is not the best. During the day I feel pretty safe since I'm always with the group and such. I have only been out at night twice and both times I am just always looking around for any suspicious/angry looking people. So far so good. Let's hope it stays that way. Also, about the coming out situation, I haven't given it that much thought but I do plan on coming out to homegurl Eleonora. I don't know when or how... but it's probably not anytime soon. I need to know her stances on those types of things first, although we did have a conversation about racism in the US which went pretty well. We'll see what happens. But so far everything is great and I am definitely glad to be here :)