Museums, monuments, and musicals (oh my!)

My goal of exploring Moscow this final month was definitely not in vain!

I found out about a science exhibit online, and this past Saturday some of my friends and I decided to check it out.  Some of the group had planned on visiting the Cosmonaut Museum, so we began our day there, but since it was the 50th anniversary of the Russian space landing the line to get in was really long and we ended up just looking at the surrounding monuments.

Russian space landing monument

Markus and I at the base of the monument. I'm in there, I promise!

Afterwards, we headed to the space museum. Finding it was quite an adventure...I have come to find out that even if you think you know where you're going, you should still bring a map.  Things never look the same in real life as they do on google maps.  The wandering ended up being a lot of fun, though. We found a photography exhibit of Russian photos c. 1970-1990, and also found a really cool park (that I plan to go back to!).  We eventually made it to the science exhibit, and it ended up being in an area that had a lot of art exhibits.  It turned out to be a really fun day :)

one of the galleries

something robotic and science-y

Monday, about half of us went to see a production of Seussical the Musical. Also a lot of fun! I loveeeee theater, so it was cool to see a Russian take on a musical I've seen before in the states.

As for my math classes, they're going well also.  Not as exciting (or friendly) as Moscow, so I'll spare you from the gory details. 

Sun, it shines

Most of the group

Crammed into a one-person elevator. So Russian!

At the Hermitage. Favorite part of Russia so far.

I've heard before that the years seem to get shorter as you get older.  I've also heard (forgot where?) that time seems to last longer when you're learning and and experiencing new things, that's why days seem like months when you're a child, but shrink as you age.  That must be why the days seem to last longer here--so many new experiences, so many new things to see...

With the weather warming up, street musicians are beginning to show up, as well as people selling things on the sidewalk.  When I get out of class I'm no longer walking as quickly as possible to the metro stop and then to the dorm.  The weather makes it much more pleasant to linger and take everything in. With less than 2 months left, it's time to get out and explore. 

Time to make every hour count.  I'll keep you posted on all of my adventures!

(ps- Recently, one of the girls here shot a few videos for a comedy competition.  Here's one where I make a guest appearance: http://vimeo.com/21881549)

Vladimir and Suzdal - skazal chto?

Looking out over Vladimir

This past weekend we went on a trip to two towns a few hours outside of Moscow, Vladimir and Suzdal.  It was a ton of fun, and it was really cool seeing other parts of Russia that aren't so industrialized and built up.  It was amazing seeing buildings and paintings from as early as the 12th century; I don't think I've seen very many things that old before.  One of the buildings we saw actually contains the oldest secular standing wall IN THE WORLD.

oldest secular wall in the world

My favorite parts of the trip were: a) a pottery place we visited in Suzdal; and 2) the museum of wooden architecture in Suzdal.  I actually really enjoyed making pottery, and although I was awful at it, I would love to do it more and maybe make it in to a hobby.  I think Rhodes has a ceramics class, so maybe I'll look into that for senior year...

Church of the Transfiguration, a wooden church from the 18th cent.

pottery making

Also, on the trip I came up with translations of a few English phrases that are commonly used in my vocabulary, yet I did not know: 

- милый (meelih) : cute

- как (kak) : like

- сказал что? (skazal chto?) : say what? (courtesy of Matt)

- все это хорошо в окрестности! (vse eta horashow v akpectnactiy!) : it's all good in the neighborhood!

I promise I'm doing math here also! Lots of math! Classes are going well so far, but not much is new with that...except for when the algebraic number theory said we were going on a "trip back to high school" and then proceeded to comment on fields with only one maximum ideal...which I did not know until last semester. Math is certainly taught differently (read: better) here.

Well, that's it for now! Today is Defenders of the Fatherland Day, aka Men's Day, so we're gonna go see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves in. Also, I think we may try cross-country skiing this weekend, so I'll keep everyone posted on that!

russian reggae in china town! and more! moscow is crazy!

So, I decided I'm pretty bad at this blogging thing...it's been over a week.  I'll try my best to update what's been going on here since then, though.

I've finally decided what classes I'm going to take: combinatorics, complex analysis, and advanced linear algebra.  While I would love to take more classes, I don't want to spend my time in Moscow overwhelmed with work; I want to be able to get out and enjoy being in a new place.  Also, hopefully taking only 3 classes will mean I'll be able to really focus on the material in each class instead of feeling scatter-brained.

Besides classes, I've enjoyed getting to know the city better this past week.  On Saturday night, a few of us went to a bar in China Town that had a reggae concert. That was probably the biggest cultural clash I've ever witnessed--Russians playing reggae music in China Town.  Moscow continues to surprise me.  Everything is SO different.  From the way people act, to the way they dress and look...not many specific details are coming to me right now, but I'll try to take note of them as they happen and remark on them in my next blog.

Last night, Allison and I bought some plain blini (a pastry very similar to crepes) from a bakery and got some traditional Russian toppings to fill them with (as well as some fun ones) and laid it all out for everyone to try.  The usual topping for blini is caviar and sour cream, and while I tried a bite of that, I preferred my nutella/banana/cherry jam combination.  Below are some pics of the night.

the setup

caviar and sour cream

banana, nutella, and strawberry jam

Well, that's it for now! I'll try to update more frequently because I know I'm forgetting a lot when I wait so long between posts.  More later!

i can has cheezburger

Privet my friends!

I just got back from my second day of classes.  Yesterday I had combinatorics and advanced linear algebra, and today I had advanced Russian. So far the professors have been wonderful. They all seem to be really helpful and accommodating.  In Russian we had an exam to test our knowledge, and while I think I had the idea most of the time, I can tell the class is definitely going to be a challenge.  I enjoyed both of the math classes.  Combinatorics was pretty interesting and linear algebra was mostly review, which I definitely need since I haven't had it in awhile.  Tomorrow I have algebraic number theory, which is the class I am most interesting in, so I am looking forward to that.

Backtracking a little, Friday we took our orientation test to see what classes we would be prepared to take. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I was thinking, and it seems like I'll be able to take all the classes I was planning.  yay! Later that day, we had a dinner for all the international students currently studying at the HSE that live in our dorm.  First we ate some traditional Russian food, then they had a powerpoint on our specific dorm (rules, history, etc.).  They told us to "love our dorm," so Sunday I bought a cactus.  His name is Todd. I saw him in Ashan (a local grocery store), and knew it was meant to be.  So I potted him, and I pleased to say he is doing quite well.

Todd soaking up some sun

On Saturday we had a bus tour of Moscow. I feel like I've seen a lot of the city already, but it was nice to hear about the history behind where I've been living for the past couple of weeks.  We also got to go inside of the Cathedral of the Resurrection, which was beautiful.  The cathedral was demolished during the soviet era, but was reconstructed a few years ago.  I can only imagine how much that must have cost.  The inside of the cathedral was the most impressive part, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures. Below is a picture of the outside of the cathedral.

On Sunday, Allison (my roommate) made fish tacos for the whole group so we could all kind of chill together a little bit and wind down before classes began. It was fun to hang out and cook together, so I think we're going to make it a tradition. It think my turn may be this week, so more on that later!

Lastly, I had a McDonald's cheeseburger today after classes on my way back to the dorm. It was delicious and worth every kopek.

IMHO

First of all, yesterday we ate at a restaurant called "Cafe Moo-Moo". No this is not a joke.  I have photo evidence.

Please observe the cow print on the plates and bowls

That's pretty much all worth noting about yesterday.

Today we had our orientation. First, we heard a little bit about the faculty we will be studying under (The Independent University of Moscow and the pure math department of the Higher School of Economics), then each of the professors spoke about the courses they would be teaching this semester. Out of all the courses being offered, I am most interested in Russian II, advanced linear algebra, algebraic number theory, calculus on manifolds, complex analysis, and non-euclidean geometry. Unfortunately, I think that will be too heavy of a load, so I'm going to have some narrowing down to do. Luckily, we do not have to register for classes until the end of February, so I can keep attending as many classes as I like until then.

Afterwards, some of us walked around the city. We stopped at a coffee shop, where I ordered a latte, not noticing it was 225 rubles (about $8). Too bad. On a brighter note, Santiago was taking some pictures of an art exhibit through the window, and the artist came outside to invite us in, which was really nice.  The art was really thought-provoking and it was really cool to look around. The exhibit was entitled "IMHO" and the pieces seemed to revolve around technological advancement in relation to perversion of nature. The whole city seems to have an obsession with the internet, technology, and the implications of these things, so it seemed a very fitting theme for an art exhibit.

One of the pieces of artwork from IMHO

We also visited the Red Square (for the second time), and I got some cool pics of Saint Basil's Cathedral.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

in moscow for four months, brb

I got into Moscow three days ago, and even though I haven't been here for long, some friends are already giving me grief for not updating (*cough* Alex *cough* Cathryn *cough*).  The past few days have been really busy, but I'll do my best to give a brief description of what I've been up to.

After landing in the airport, we went grocery shopping and to a bank to exchange our money to rubles. Later on, some of the students went to the red square, where we saw Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin. We then went to a mall food court for dinner.  I had borshct for the first time, as well as a "russian caesar salad", which basically means they put mayonaise on it, and split a half liter of beer with another girl on the program.  We all seemed to have a really good sense of humor after dinner, which was when we realized that the alcohol content of russian beer is noticeably higher then american beer, so...

The dorms here are pretty nice. Nicer than I expected, actually.  The only thing is the sheets are itchy and the toilet paper is rough, but I suppose I'll get used to it. Also, there are no dryers, so below is a picture of the clothes line Allison (my roommate) and I made.

Today we explored Moscow some more and went out to dinner. The metro kind of jolts when it moves and I accidentally grabbed on to some man I didn't know thinking it was a student on the program...oops. 

Tomorrow is program orientation, so definitely a lot more info then.  Right now I'm thinking of taking Russian language II, algebraic number theory, advanced linear algebra, and non-euclidean geometry, which all seem really exciting so I can't wait for classes to begin! Classes officially begin this coming Monday, and the next few days we have some sessions to orient us with the city and we also have to take a math placement test :/ 

Well it's 3am here (sleep schedule still hasn't quite adjusted), so I should probably get going! Until next time, до свидания!