Kremlin Cathedrals, Gorki Park, and Blini

Hey everyone! I hope all is going well with you! Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote; we've been super busy with life and there is lots to write down! First, I will tell you about the weekend before last, the 22nd. 22.9 We met up with Moscow 1 and Guyla at the metro, where we waited for the rest of Moscow 1 to show up. Our plan was to attend a military parade at the Kremlin, but when we arrived at the Kremlin, we discovered that the parade was cancelled for unknown reasons so we purchased tickets to enter the Cathedral Square, which is inside the Moscow Kremlin (Kremlin means ‘fortress’ in Russian). Honestly, I would have preferred to see the cathedrals anyway. They date back to the eleventh century and have such rich history behind them; plus, they’re gorgeous inside and out. I’m sure the parade would have been awesome, but I am satisfied by our visit to the cathedrals. There are three main Kremlin cathedrals: the Dormition or Assumption Cathedral, which is considered the mother church of all of Russia; the Annunciation Cathedral, which was a personal cathedral for Russian tsars and the Russian royal families; the Cathedral of the Archangel, which was used as a necropolis for the tsars up until Peter the Great. There are also three lesser cathedrals, though we only entered the Church of the Deposition of the Robe. None of them are actively used as houses of worship, though significant services, like marriages between people of power or the New Years’ service, are sometimes held within the Assumption Cathedral. The interiors of the Assumption and Archangel cathedrals were, for the most part, similar: a single vast room with four massive columns reaching up several metres to a domed ceiling and walls adorned with faded depictions of bible stories and icons in red, maroon, green and gold; every inch of wall, ceiling, and columns were painted. The Assumption cathedral had golden icons and ancient artifacts preserved in glass cases on the walls and on pedestals throughout the cathedral, while the Archangel cathedral had golden icons and more than a dozen golden coffins. The bodies are buried underneath the floor, but the coffins are there to represent the tsars, like headstones. The two other cathedrals were split into different rooms surrounding one main chapel, though all the walls, again, were painted. I daresay the cathedrals have an almost dank and gloomy feel, due to the lack of natural lighting and dark colors. That’s the biggest difference that I’ve noticed between Russian orthodox cathedrals and other religious cathedrals: the Russian orthodox are darker in color and lighting. Perhaps it’s simply because these cathedrals are thousands of years older than the Catholic and Lutheran cathedrals I’ve been in. To show respect, those of us females who had scarves wore them over our hair, as is customary in that religion. Guyla acted as our tour guide and told us the history behind all the cathedrals and their symbolism. Russian history is so rich and intriguing; I love learning about it! After the cathedrals, we walked past the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, which was formally the tallest building in Moskva, and the Tsar Bell, which was originally cast in 1508 to hang in the bell tower but it was so large and heavy that it fell and broke and was never rung. Next, we went into the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles or the Patriarch’s Palace, which is now a museum of ancient artifacts. There were ancient robes and head dresses, dinnerware, weapons and armor, and books and other such things. It was very interesting. Afterward, my girls and I separated from the group and met up with Vlad Tropi, our Russian friend. Vlad took us to the Gum (pronounced goom), a fancy-pantsy shopping mall right on Red Square. It looks kind of like Utah’s City Creek Mall on ritzy steroids and it has stores like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and the likes. It also has Bosco, the clothing company that created the jumpsuits for the Russian Olympic team. One can buy a jacket to match Mustafina for only $500! I did buy one thing at the Gum, though: a glass of Soviet-era-esque lemonade for 10 rubles (about $0.30). It tasted like watered down strawberry soda. The flavor that Whitney got tasted like watered down cream soda. Not too shabby—and it even came out of an old fashioned soda fountain pump! Once we were tired of looking at things we could never purchase, we entered Red Square and wandered around St. Basil’s cathedral, the coolest-looking building ever built. It’s straight out a Dr. Seuss book, without the fairytale ending: the architect and all the other architects who claimed to be able to design something just as awesome were blinded by a greedy ruler, who wanted the design all to himself. We crossed a bridge over the Moscow river, which provided a fabulous view of the Kremlin and Red Square, and then found a Russian fast food restaurant called Kortorshka, where Vlad introduced us to korsha kortorshka, or a baked potato with various toppings. I chose the ham, mushroom, and cheese toppings—it was delicious. We wandered a reasonably priced mall and then a street market—oh, how I have missed street markets! I love the local atmosphere and perusing all the interesting trinkets and souvenirs: Russian souvenirs are all so beautiful and intricate, like hand carved jewel boxes, knitted scarves, hand painted dinnerware, and colorful matryoshkas (nesting dolls). I want everything. Vlad took us to the metro, which is always an adventure, and then to Gorki Park. Gorki Park is a popular outdoor park in the heart of Moscow: it has a strong community feeling to it, with live local bands, bicycling, roller blading, dancing on the docks of the река Москва, or the Moscow River, giant community bean bags for lounging, amusement park attractions, food stalls, and other community events. It’s a great place for fun and people watching. One band, which was decked out in black leather and chains and ripped jeans, sang Russian country songs—the Russians aren’t always what they seem. After wandering the park, our next destination was a lookout point where you can see most of Moscow. We had to walk a year and a half to get there, however: Vlad never warned us that so much walking would be involved in the day’s events and I hadn’t worn proper shoes, and after a while my feet were ready to fall off. Nevertheless, I purchased an ice cream cone near the end of the trail and my mood instantly brightened—that’s how good Russian ice cream is. As we walked, we discussed stereotypes: Russians think Americans are fat and dumb and play video games all day and eat McDonald’s all the time; Americans think Russians are all stern and angry and cold, just like Russian weather. Of course, you can’t stereotype an entire country, especially such vast countries with so many differing cultures. But I digress: before coming to Russia, I viewed Russia as a grey, colorless place with abnormally cold and nasty weather, and all I ‘knew’ of the people were just as the stereotype suggests: stern, mean, and the villain in Hollywood movies. Nevertheless, and of course, that viewpoint is inaccurate. I’ve encountered some of the sweetest, friendliest, and most colorful people here; the men are generally more chivalrous than in the States, and people in general are very polite. It’s just like anywhere else: there are gruff, grumpy people and there are polite, congenial people. Americans think Russians are unfriendly and unhappy simply because they don’t smile in public, but it’s simply cultural to not smile at strangers. One of the signs that we are Americans is that we’re so smiley. And, obviously, the Russian viewpoint of America isn’t (completely) accurate; yes, there are people in the States who are dumb, fat, lazy, and eat fast food all the time, but we’re also the country that landed on the moon first and dominates in the Olympics. We also invented Apple—which Russians think is so cool they’ll pay $1,000-3,000 for an iPhone 5. This is why I feel international travel is so important: so that we can learn more about other countries and learn to love them for what they really are—not what the media teaches us. It’s definitely interesting finding out more about true Russian culture; in fact, I love it! I wish more people knew Russia on this level instead of the distorted view the media has. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard Russians exclaim that they don’t understand the tensions between Russia and America or other countries and they wish “everyone could just get along.” God willing. Finally, we reached the overlook of Moscow. The view was marvelous: four of the Seven Sisters were visible, including the one directly behind us: Moscow State University; one of the two main football stadiums, the Moscow River, and the rest of the beautiful city spread out before us for miles and miles. The sun was setting, and before long the world was only illuminated by street lights, traffic, and the night life. For dinner, we ate blini from another Russian fast food restaurant: Teramok (терамок). It has to be my favorite Russian fast food place. I had blini with strawberries, while Whitney had chocolate, Ally had apple, and Shelley had caramel and apple. Blini are between a crepe and a pancake, used in a crepe fashion with sweet or savory toppings. We also got Subway because we were starving. Vlad had us try квас (kvass), which tastes like vinegar and pee with a hint of rubbing alcohol. It was fantastic. On our way to the metro, we passed the Moscow State University, where we are technically registered for a course (according to our visas). It’s a gorgeous building, as it’s one of the Seven Sisters—buildings that are the tallest structures in Moscow, which were constructed during the Stalin era. All in all, it was an exhausting but exciting and beautiful day. When I have time, I will write you about this past weekend and our trip to the villages of Vladimir and Suzdal. Love to all!

Classes and Kids

18.9 Today, I want to talk about my students. The first week of teaching we had about sixteen students—last week we went down to about eight. We were bewildered as to why this was happening—we saw a few of our students in different classes at the same time as English class, while other students simply weren’t anywhere to be found. It turns out that most of the students are sick and a few of the younger students dropped the class because they wanted a longer nap beforehand. The children usually sleep from 1-3 and have a snack from 3-3:15, when class starts. The younger students weren’t happy about being awoken so soon and they dropped the class; they may show up late once they’re sufficiently rested. I found that rather entertaining: how many students wish they could drop a class simply because they wanted to sleep instead? I suppose if you have the kind of money these kids have, you can. The twins, Paulina and Alycia, dropped to the little kid class at the school, which is probably good as they were too young to focus on our lessons and to comprehend anything. I’m glad we can still see them around the school, though—they’re absolutely adorable in their matching outfits and curly hair. We teach from 3:15-5:15 every day. Whitney and Shelley are teaching the basic method with the younger, less advanced students; Ally is teaching Basic Reading with the more advanced students who have been in the program for at least a year. The older kids are pretty well behaved and are learning quickly, though Savva has the attention span of a three-year-old. The younger kids are at differing levels of success and good behaviour. I’ll give you a run-down of all our (current) students: Basic Reading (age 5-6): Robert has one of the broadest vocabularies of all the students; he’s accustomed to having the other students and the teachers look to him for help with communication problems. He has a fluffy dark brown mullet and chubby cheeks. Sasha P. also speaks English very well (compared to the other students) and can usually communicate her thoughts and desires. She can already sound out most of the English alphabet and therefore sound out basic words. Unlike the other children, however, she lacks a sense of humor and is usually very stern; I’ve heard tell that her parents are similar and rather intimidating. Savva probably has a better vocabulary than Robert, though he’s one of our wildest students. He’s incredibly bright and catches on quickly, but he would rather goof off or tackle a friend. He’s also rather hilarious with the things he says; he definitely has a sense of humor.

Imasha, or Iman, is Asian/Russian and one of our best-behaved students. She’s first to sit in her chair and focus on the lesson and the teacher and loves to participate in the activities. Nikita is another wild child, who likes to grab my arm and pretend to squeeze the life out of me. He has also blown me kisses and loves it when I sit by him; I believe he has a crush on me. Oh boy. I tease him a lot by naming the subject of the story we’re reading after him, and he objects but I can tell he loves the attention. Basic Method (3-5) Sofi, 4, although she is a perfect little diva princess, has already stolen my heart. She can summon tears faster than anyone I have ever known and throws fits when she doesn’t get what she wants (we call her our little Mustafina), but when she’s participating in the lesson she comprehends most everything and is extremely bright and just so darn adorable. One time, she walked past me and I gently put my hands on her hips and swayed her back and forth; she giggled, and then walked away like a diva with her hands on her hips. Last Friday, she came into class upset. The Russian teacher told me, “Sofi, last class. No more class.” Because Sofi refused to participate in the lesson, I figured she was dropping because she didn’t like us/the class. She sat on the couch and I sat beside her. I tickled her knee and rubbed her back, and she finally gave in and leaned into me. Not saying it was my fault, but she’s come to class every day since. Yesterday, she threw another tantrum and walked out of the room. I followed her and knelt in front of her. She said, “No class. Run!” She motioned to the room we were in—the gym. “You want to run?” I asked. “Yes, no class. Run!” Thinking quick, I grabbed a ball from the supply wall. “You want to play catch?” Her sky blue eyes lit up, and her doll smile appeared. So, we played catch; although she thought she was lucky in skipping English class, I was really tricking her as I had her speak English to me while we played. “Do you want the ball?” “I want the ball!” “Should I throw it high or low?” “Throw high! No, low!” Before long, she was giggling and smiling like a little angel; that was when she realized the class was coloring, and she decided to return and participate. From then on, every time she saw me she would instantly smile. Today, I was watching Shelley teach her class and I stood behind Sofi. I began to play with her light blonde hair with gentle ringlets, and she leaned her head back to see who it was; when she recognized me, her face broke into a smile and she turned around to wave. I think she got me. Irada, 5, is quiet and doesn’t usually act up, though sometimes she is stubborn and simply refuses to participate, but for the most part she is very sweet and active in the lessons. Jemalia, 5, is very well behaved and loves to participate in the lesson. She is always smiling during class and waving to us outside of class. Her English skills are better than most, but she is not advanced enough to enter Basic Reading. Yacov, 3, is Jemalia’s brother. Just like her, he is well-behaved and very cute. He is easily entertained by the littlest things and can sit quietly and focus on a popsicle stick for a long time but will look up and repeat anything you ask him to; I still don’t believe he has any idea of what he’s saying though. Nikito, 4, doesn’t like to stay in his chair but he will say anything you ask him to just to get something, like saying, “I want a pom pom” in order to receive a pom pom; he refuses to participate in the lesson though, and won’t use his supplies to build anything—he just puts the materials in his pocket. He throws a lot of pointless fits as well; I’m not sure he quite likes English class—perhaps because he can’t understand anything. There were a couple new kids today as well: Ygor and Timo. Ygor seemed sweet and quiet, and knows little to no English. Timo only knows No, Yes, and Hello. He got frustrated after the first class and refused to go back in so I took him to Irina, the head teacher at the school. Apparently, he doesn’t understand anything and so he doesn’t like the class, but Irina told him that eventually he will understand and to give the class a chance. However, after the next class he again refused to go back in, and one of the Russian teachers sat in all his classes from then on to reassure him. We’ll see if he comes back tomorrow. Some teaching days are better than others, but everything seems to be going rather well.

Church!

16.9 Today, again, was long and tiring but very fulfilling. We awoke at 6AM and left at around 7AM to the bus stop. We caught the 121 bus to the Molodezhnaya metro station—a 30 minute trip—where we hopped onto the metro. After one train switch and an hour later, we arrived at our stop where we walked about a mile to our Church building. Y’all should be grateful for church buildings just down the street, just saying. Sacrament was great—the topic was honesty. One of the speakers was Luke, an African who speaks only rough English; it was sometimes difficult to understand his talk but you could tell it was from his heart and that he truly believed what he was saying. Again, half of the congregation is African, most of whom speak French. Whitney’s calling is to serve in the nursery every other week, but her co-teacher wasn’t there so Shelley and I offered to help. It was a bizarre experience to play with children who spoke English, who already knew how to communicate with us and could understand us. We found ourselves talking to the four two-year-olds like we do to our students, saying things like, “Do you want a snack? I want a snack.” The kids would just look at us and say, “Yes, I want it.” Every time it shocked me that English came out of their mouths—and I’ve only been here three weeks. The children were absolutely adorable. Kylie is black and is the adoptive daughter of the second counselor in the Bishopric; her vocabulary at two is unbelievable. Jacob has curly hair and big brown eyes and a crooked smile that instantly melts your heart; he’s also quite mischievous. Thomas couldn’t have been older than eighteen months; he had white blond hair and clear blue eyes and was too shy to really interact with us or the other kids. Andreus is the son of a member of a high council member, who is Russian and met his American wife at BYU—theirs is such a cute picturesque family. After two hours of bubbles and making Lego soup, the entire ward congregated before the baptismal font downstairs, where we welcomed two new members of the international ward; both are African and only speak French, therefore the baptismal and confirming ordinances were done in French. It was a new and exciting experience for me. The adults and the children eventually wandered home, leaving only the young single adults and the CES missionaries. We were going to watch the CES broadcast from last week, with Elder Holland’s talk, but the internet was down so we watched Elder Jensen’s inspiring message from earlier in the year. I’d seen it before, but it was still meaningful. Vlad had invited us to go to the Moscow Stake viewing of the broadcast that evening at the central building (like the Stake Centre), where we could meet his Russian friends, but the three of us were absolutely exhausted so we cancelled (he then told us he wouldn’t make it either) and returned to our apartment for a relaxing evening.

Football, Peach Juice, and New Friends!

15.9: Today was a busy day. I wanted to feel pretty after days of not feeling so (due to strep), so I wore my blue t-shirt dress with ¾ sleeves, light pink tights, flats, and a beanie; I curled my hair and put a smile on my face. My ladies and I took the bus to our metro station, Melodozhnaya, and then met up with Moscow 1 at the Arbatskya station. Last semester’s teachers met and made friends with two Russian men, Nikolai and Miron, who Emily (Moscow 1 head teacher) invited to join us on our outing; we met them at Arbatskya as well. Nikolai and Miron guided us through further metro stops until we arrived at our destination: the Locomotive stadium. We were attending a Russian football (soccer) game! It was Locomotive vs. Rubin. I purchased a Loco scarf for 500 RUR and wore it with team spirit. It was a large stadium but Nikolai explained that Loco is only a local team; there are two bigger and more famous Moscow teams that play in the gigantic stadiums downtown. Nevertheless, it was still the biggest sport game I’ve ever attended (besides the Fort Wayne Tin Caps or Mad Ants) and it was much cooler because it was a football game. Most of the fans in the stadium wore red and green scarves (like the one I had purchased) and cheered and chanted throughout the game; it looked exhausting but quite exciting. If we go to another game, I might like to try to sit in the crazy fan area and participate in their fanfare. Nikolai sat by me and I was able to chat with him about Moscow culture and life. Some interesting facts: most people believe that it’s bad for babies to be around big city air and so the parents and the baby live outside of the city for the first two years of the baby’s life. Also, many sports are popular in Russia but the most popular are boxing and MMA. Winter in Moscow doesn’t really start until January; it’s mostly very cold and rainy in the earlier winter months. Nikolai used to box but quit because it so many hits to the head were turning him “stupid.” There are all kinds of genres of native music in Russia: rap, rock, acoustic, and even country; they listen to all the popular western bands but of course have their own native musicians in every genre. I can’t wait to hear Russian country music! We will probably hang out with Nikolai and Miron in the future; it is exciting to know we have Russian friends! At the end of the game, the crowd shuffled out of the stadium and past a wall of stern-faced uniformed policemen. Apparently football fans are infamous for being hot-blooded, and games require hoards of guards to maintain the peace. Good to know after we attend the game. Whitney, Shelley, Ally and I met with Vlad Tropi, a Russian native who recently returned from serving an LDS mission in Rostov, Russia, with my past seminary teacher and her husband. Sister Davis informed him that I was coming to Moscow, and since he lives here we should meet up. Vlad was born in a small town in northern Russia but moved to Moscow to go to university. He studied English in London for a few months and traveled to Utah, Nevada, and Arizona a few years back; plus, he served with “too many Americans” on his mission and learned English from all these experiences. He speaks incredible English and was so helpful and polite to us. Since we were starving, he took us to a Russian pizza restaurant where we ordered margarita and chicken pizzas and peach juice—his recommendation. The pizza was tasty, but the peach juice was to die for—oh heavens, it was drinking a peach right off the tree. So glad we chose that place over the neighboring McDonald’s. Here, Vlad rehearsed to us his conversion story: although he has always believed in God, he was a rebellious teenager and got into things he shouldn’t have, like drinking and drugs and such. One day, he was nursing a hangover and watching South Park—the episode all about Mormons—and wonder of all wonders, he felt a strong desire to learn more about these “Mormons.” He went onto Mormon.org and contacted the missionaries in his area and they set up an appointment. Before the discussion, he figured the missionaries would brainwash or hypnotize him into believing their words, but he found out that they were just normal human beings with really bad Russian language skills. For the most part, he found the discussion boring but then he felt something melt within him; he said he looked around, trying to find what the missionaries were doing to him, until he realized the feeling of warmth was coming from his heart. He had goose bumps and he knew he needed to hear more. A year from his baptism date, he put in his mission papers and off he went to Rostov. Two years and four months later, he met us. What a crazy story! His interest in the Church was piqued because of South Park! Who would have ever thought? After dinner, we walked down the street to the Russian Exhibition Centre, a gigantic park surrounded by old colonial-style/Stalin-era buildings. During the Stalin era, the buildings were used as museums and exhibition centres; any new Russian invention or great piece of artwork was first displayed in one of these buildings. After the fall of communism, the exhibition centres fell into disuse and have since been used as market centres or public gathering places. The park has become a sort of carnival ground with small amusement rides and carnival games and food stalls. It’s quite disheartening to see such beautiful buildings being misused. In the center of the park rests a gorgeous fountain. Brass-colored statues lean out of the spray with their arms outstretched in a welcoming way; it is the Fountain of Friendship, symbolizing peace between countries. We walked a short distance to a skyrail, or a metro that runs on an elevated track above ground, which we took to the foot of the famous TV tower here. The TV tower is 680 metres tall and has a revolving restaurant with a panorama view of the city at the top. If I had the money, I would eat there. Across the street was a lake and a golden-crowned cathedral; the sun was setting and the weather was perfect, creating a beautiful scene. The four of us sat on a bench and chatted. Vlad admitted that when we, Americans, speak Russian, we sound Chinese because our voices are so high—I would have never thought. Also, it’s disappointing to find out someone is American, as opposed to English/British. And I look very Russian—that’s the fourth person to tell me that; I find it flattering. As long as I don’t smile and keep my mouth shut, I will fit in here. There was a grocery store nearby, so Vlad guided us through it and pointed out all his recommendations and the things we shouldn’t even dare try; his advice will be extremely useful. He recommended these mini ice cream bars, which turned out to be utterly delectable, and packaged peach juice, which is amazing and I will buy it every trip to the grocery store. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Vlad and get to know him; he’s such a funny guy and actually knows enough English to understand and play along with my sarcasm. He wants to show us other places around Moscow this semester and he wants to introduce us to all his friends here—most are from his Russian ward. We plan on attending his ward not tomorrow but the next week—it should be quite the experience! He promised us one hundred new Facebook friends—and he was dead serious. I’m excited!

3.9: First day of teaching

9.3 Today was our first day of teaching. Our schedule is quite confusing because we’re trying to fit a three-hour routine into two hours with only three teachers, so I thought meeting with Guyla to organize things would help. However, the only time Guyla was available to sit down with my teachers and me and discuss a workable routine was an hour before teaching was scheduled to start, and she threw us several curve balls. We discovered no one knows for sure how many students will be in the program or what ages they will be, which makes lesson planning and progress charts complicated (nearly impossible); also, we learned that one class is too advanced for the Catch Up program and will have to start Basic Reading, an ILP method class that I’ve never been trained to teach, no less trained to teach someone to teach it. When the kids arrived, we realized that we had the advanced class with the seven-year-olds and a class with three-year-olds who hardly even speak Russian and a class of five-year-olds with minimal English skills. Although the youngest kids were absolutely adorable, I feel they’re too young for the program as their attention spans hardly exist and their motor skills are still undeveloped. Padima and Alysia are identical twins: they wore coordinated black and white dresses; there is also Sofa, Paul, and Felix. Felix, who is barely three, may be taken out of the program because he’s too young and can’t focus on the lesson. He’s cute, but a handful. Most of the children are very well behaved with only the typical child-like attention spans and energy. Today we had thirteen students; in total, since classes can have a maximum limit of eight per teacher, we will only have sixteen—Ally will be teaching Basic Reading instead of Catch-Up. In general, the day was chaotic and exhausting. We all came home totally spent, and I let the girls relax instead of holding yet another training meeting. I was feeling rather discouraged—the Lord has allowed everything before this to fall right into place, making these less stressful for me; I suppose I got comfortable and the Lord decided to remind me that I need Him to get through this. I definitely know that I can’t do this without Him; I feel very inadequate in this position, and oftentimes completely overwhelmed and confused; however, I know that if I put Him first in all I do, everything else will fit and work out. This is why I’m challenging myself to start my day with a heart-felt kneeling prayer and scripture study; I want to get to the point where I simply can start my day without doing so because it’s habitual and thenceforth a daily necessity in my mind and heart. I can’t fall asleep at night without praying, but for some reason I don’t have a habit of saying a real morning prayer except over my breakfast. My goal is to change that; I have faith that doing so will lighten my burdens and brighten my days. It makes sense to say a prayer in the morning: why not ask God for help during yet another opportunity to prove your allegiance to and faith in Him? When I feel discouraged, like I was today, praying and scripture study always brings comfort to my heart and mind.

1.9: Boat Trip and the Ballet

1.9: We met Guyla and Moscow 1 at the metro at 1PM. From there, we took the metro to the main station, right below Red Square. During the ride I perused my Russian phrasebook and began learning Cyrillic letters. I may not know what anything means, but I will eventually be able to pronounce any word in Russian. Moscow 1 teachers live in host families and April’s “host sister” tagged along for the ride; her name is Margorita, or Margo (mar-GO) for short. She’s eleven (though she’s as tall as me) and absolutely adorable; she is excited about everything, especially learning English. I think she basks in every moment she gets to spend with Americans/English speakers. I bonded with her almost immediately, and she spent most of the day with her arm linked with mine. I practiced my meager “pah-roo-ski” skills with her and she taught me new words and phrases, while I taught her some English. I do regret never living with a host family with ILP as I think that would have been an incomparable foreign experience, and one of my goals for Russia is to make native friends, so I am going to try to take advantage and not take for granted this opportunity to befriend Margo. Guyla took us on a boat trip around Moscow. The boat was a large, two-leveled ferry; we sat on the top floor in the open air. Providentially, the weather was decent: sunny at times with an inconsistent cool breeze; although it was chilly, we were grateful that it wasn’t raining. The ride took us by the Moscow soccer/football arena, the Seven Sisters (seven magnificent buildings built in the Stalin era (late 1920s to early 1950s) for various governmental and residential purposes), the Kremlin, St. Basil’s, the Kremlin Chapels, a gigantic metal ship monument dedicated to the Russian navy, the Chapel of our Lord and Savior (a magnificent cathedral we will tour someday), the University of Moscow, an apartment building where Stalin’s spies built secret passageways that enabled them to overhear the residents’ conversations and catch them in the act of insulting the government (Guyla explained that it’s a well-known tragic story), and other beautiful buildings. The architecture here is awe-inspiring; Moscow itself is an (surprisingly, considering its population) attractive city: the buildings are beautiful and the city is very green, with parks, gardens, and trees. I haven’t felt claustrophobic from the population, either: even during City Days, the city doesn’t seem extremely congested. Granted we take public transportation everywhere, but perhaps I’m simply comparing Moscow to Shang Hai and 14 million is nothing to 27. In any case, it’s a lovely city. On the boat trip, we met a Mormon from Sandy, UT. He’s going to our international branch tomorrow. What are the odds? It’s just proof that one must be a true example of Christ no matter where you are, as you never know who you’ll meet and who will be watching. We passed a couple on a bridal photo shoot; Guyla explained to us that people shout “Gorki! Gorki!” to newlyweds, and then the couple kisses to “make it sweet.” So we all shouted “Gorki” and the couple waved at us until the groom planted a wet one on his bride. It was incredibly sweet and a fun memory. I’ve noticed that even though Russians may be reserved and distant in public, couples are shamelessly affectionate. Once the boat docked for the final time, we rushed off toward the metro. Another thing I’ve noticed about the Russians is that the men, for the most part, are very chivalrous. On multiple occasions I’ve witnessed men sacrifice their seats for women of all ages (though it happens every time without fail for the elderly, the babushkas), offer to carry heavy bags for women, tote around their lady friend’s purse, etc. It’s an endearing characteristic of the people. Our next stop was the Kremlin Theatre. We waited in line, went through security, passed over a large stone bridge, and entered the Kremlin square walls. The Kremlin Theatre, located within the Kremlin, is apparently the largest in all of Russia. The inside is modern and simple: no ornate carvings or statues or intricate decorations. Yet, it’s sleek and beautiful. The ballet, by Pushkin, was exciting, humorous, visually stimulating, and sometimes shocking. I summarized the storyline earlier from what Guyla told me, and her description was quite accurate. The music, by live orchestra, was fantastic and I want to find the recording somehow. It’s moments like this where I just have to stand back and think, “Wow, I’m really doing this. How is this my life?” I just saw a ballet in the Kremlin Theatre in Moscow, Russia. My mind is blown.

The School, Food, and Shrinking Stomachs

31.8: Today was a more relaxing day. After a cheese and egg sandwich on this strange dense, dark brown bread breakfast, my teachers and I made the minute-long trip to the school. Galina, the director, once again wasn’t in her office but Alexander was; he speaks almost no English, so I called Guyla and she translated for us. Alexander showed us into the main part of the school and introduced us to Irina, the “grand teacher” of the school. She gave me a Kindergarten and Pre-Language schedule and took us on a tour of our teaching rooms. The school is small but clean and our rooms are spacious. Whenever we enter the school, we are required to wear these plastic foot covers, which are pretty much miniature trash bags with elastic for our feet. We feel rather ridiculous wearing them but their purpose is understandable. My teachers donated and organized the school and teaching supplies they brought with them from the States in our ILP Supply Closet, and then we went to lunch. The cook is a gruff, plump woman who always seems to be yelling at us (in Russian, of course), but she is genuine is purpose and cares that we’re fed and happy. I’ll learn her name eventually. Our meal consisted of a 4x2” fish patty, a scoop of mashed potatoes, green bean soup, and an uncooked tomato and cucumber salad. The drink was home-made fruit juice: various kinds of fruit rested at the bottom of the pitcher. Everything was quite tasty, and very filling: at the school, it appears that lunch is the biggest meal. Dinner that night was shredded carrot and apple salad, which was surprisingly delicious, but hardly filling. I know I’m going to lose weight while I’m here. Ironically, contracting strep throat days before I came to Russia may have been a partial blessing in disguise: my stomach is already accustomed to eating very little, and I believe it’s already shrunk. Even though I feel hungry enough to eat an entire pizza, I probably couldn’t (to anyone who really knows me, you know this is cause for alarm: I can usually eat like a fat kid—secretly, my appetite had grand dreams of being a fat kid). We did some more training that evening and I did some Head Teacher stuff; it was a quiet evening.

Kremlin, Lenin, and Jet Lag

So much has happened in the last couple days. 30.8.12 First, as the date states, in Russia the day comes before the month, followed by the year. Today, I woke up early despite jet lag and general exhaustion. I think I have so much on my mind and so many pressing matters that my body won't allow me to sleep in. However, it allowed me time to shower and finish up in the bathroom before the other girls needed it. We have one bathroom/mirror (which is located in the bathroom) between four girls; as yet, we haven't run into many problems and I think everything will work out smoothly. At 9AM, a van picked us up at the gate and drove us into town. Captains (my school) is about a thirty minute drive from the city, which makes shopping and site seeing somewhat inconvenient, but the environment where the school is located makes

up for that. I heard that we live in the “Beverly Hills” of Moscow. Our school rests within a gorgeous forest—I don’t know the breeds of many trees, but aspens are among them that surround us. When walking to the bus stop, which is about a quarter to a half mile away, I actually feel somewhat at home, like I’m walking through the mountains (but without the mountains), miles away from the city. The school and our apartment are located within a gated neighborhood; the grandeur of the houses is awe-inspiring; they’re probably worth several, several million. I should enjoy this, as I’m sure it’ll be the only time I’ll ever live in such a place. Our apartment is the top floor of the guesthouse to one of these mansions. The mansion and the guesthouse are located in their own private walled courtyard, complete with pond, trees, porches, and the three pooches. The owner of the mansion and our guesthouse also owns the school. I would assume our students are the children of the neighboring millionaires. No pressure, though, right? Needless to say, we live in a gorgeous, secluded, quiet area, except for the Mercedes and Porches that drive by every now and then. Tangent complete. When we arrived in the city, we met Guyla, the Foreign Affairs Director, and the Moscow 1 ILP group. Emily Carter is the Head Teacher of Moscow 1 and she has eight teachers under her supervision. Emily volunteered in Weihai, China, the semester before I did, so we had a lot to discuss and relate to each other. Guyla brought us to the store where we got pictures taken for our new Russian visas (the ones ILP issued are short term, and law requires us to get new ones now that we’re in the country), then we walked down the street to locate the inexpensive grocery store, the post office, the pharmacy, and the best Russian chocolate shop in Moscow; all very imperative to our stay here. Then we went to the metro and purchased passes, which we then used to ride the metro to downtown. The main metro stop is lavishly decorated with chrome molding, bronze statues, and intricate carvings. The Moscow metro is famous for having some of the longest escalators in the world, and this stop was proof of that. I felt almost dizzy riding it to the surface. Our first stop was the Kremlin Theatre box office. We purchased tickets to a ballet by Pushkin for this Saturday night. It’s a romantic story about a princess who is kidnapped by a monster and her father promises her hand in marriage to whoever saves her. The tickets, for relatively good seats (we’ll see how true that is on Saturday) were 350 rubles, or about 11 bucks. The ballet will be performed in the Kremlin Theatre, which is located within the Kremlin itself and is the largest theatre in all of Russia. I’d say we got a deal! I’m really excited for this experience. Next, we wandered through the Kremlin gardens. The flowers were bright and beautiful. Outside the wall is a monument to all those who died during the Great Patriotic War, or World World 2. It’s a continuously burning torch before a statue of a helmet and gun; two live guards stand, motionless, on the sides. The guards rotate every twenty minutes. The next thing we knew, Guyla was shoving us into a line and taking our bags. Her only explanation was, “Go see Lenin! No bags allowed.” We followed a group of Russians through a gate, down a pathway lined with plaques dedicated to past leaders, and into a large black mausoleum. The inside was marble as well, which made it extremely difficult to see but we tried to descend the invisible stairs as gracefully as possible. The stairs led to a large open room which housed Lenin’s preserved body. Lenin rested on a raised coffin-like pedestal, encased in a glass box. It was, in fact, Lenin’s body; he has become a scientific study to see how long his body can be preserved (he died in 1927). To me, he looked to be made of wax. Kinda really creepy, but it was a must-see tourist attraction as I’ve heard. Lenin’s tomb is on the side of Red Square, so that’s where we went next. Moscow is preparing for City Days, or Moscow’s birthday this weekend, and so Red Square was filled with a mini stadium, an equestrian arena, and theatre stages. We watched three Russian boys practicing their traditional Russian dance routine and other boys doing tricks while riding on horses and guards swinging around colored flags to music. We maneuvered our way around these sets until we reached St. Basil’s Cathedral; we didn’t have the time to tour it but Guyla explained its history and we took pictures in front of it. It’s beyond visually stunning—I’ve never seen anything like it. Unlike most cathedrals, St. Basils doesn’t open up into one grand room: it consists of nine small chapels, all of which have their own title and purpose. Basil was a beggar who apparently had special abilities: he could predict the future and heal ailments and diseases. Everyone knew of him and when he died they named one of the nine chapels after him. We saw the Kremlin clock tower, the GUM (a gigantic high-end mall), the history museum (the outside), and a couple of the cathedrals by the Kremlin. As it was about 2PM and we hadn’t eaten anything, we were all starving so Guyla took us to a café. We ordered what she called “ravioli” and I prepared myself to gorge myself as I haven’t eaten much in days (the portion sizes at the school are small). When my food came, I looked into my bowl to see about ten “ravioli” at the bottom. To best describe the ravioli, they were more like tiny dumplings. They tasted delicious, but I was definitely still hungry afterward. Russians simply don’t eat like Americans—the food hasn’t been too unusual, the portions are just…pathetic, really. My daddy didn’t raise me to eat like this. Nevertheless, it’s part of the culture and I’m going to embrace it! Actually, culture changes are my favorite thing about traveling. I love learning how people live, love, and thrive in various environments; our diversity is what makes society and the world interesting and beautiful. After lunch, we returned to the metro and then went our separate ways. My teachers and I ride to the “Mel-oh-dehz-neye-uh” metro station where we board the 121 bus that takes us the thirty minute ride to the bus stop by our school. We had a training meeting and then took the rest of the evening just to recuperate and relax. I have a lot of tasks and check lists to complete as Head Teacher, some of which I cannot complete without Guyla’s or the school’s assistance, and oftentimes communication is difficult. I haven’t been able to meet the school director, as she’s never in her office when I visit, and she hasn’t tried to contact me about teaching schedules so a lot is up in the air. As it appears now, we will be teaching a Pre-Language Class (pretty much babysitting 2-3 year olds), Kindergarten (ILP method with 4-8 year olds), and at the University of Moscow. Apparently, our visas claim that we are students at the university and we are therefore required by law to “attend” a class at the university this semester—otherwise we’ll be deported. Technically, we’ll be “teaching” this class: these university-aged students should have a basic understanding of the English language and we will be there simply to allow them an opportunity to practice their English skills on native English speakers, as opposed to their Russian English teachers. As Head Teacher, I won’t technically be teaching but supervising and assisting my teachers in their lessons. This should be an interesting and rewarding experience. The only time we’ll actually be teaching the ILP method will be with the Kindergarteners. That teaching schedule has been quite confusing, though. Usually, ILP uses a three hour teaching routine; Captains provides us with two hours. It’s been complicated figuring out a schedule that fits; plus, my boss hasn’t responded to my questions in a couple of days and so I’ve been forced to take the initiative. I suppose that’s what he’s paying me for, though! That night, I laid down in bed at 8:30PM and didn’t move until 7AM. Jet lag finally hit me head on.