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.