The Circus! Oorah!

Awhile ago, me and Sabine were able to fulfill one our childhood dreams by going to the circus! But this wasn't just any circus, it was the most famous Russian Old Moscow Circus. Along with Don and Tatiana, a couple that was also staying at our hostel and got to know our group quite well, we were able to walk to the place because it was only a few blocks away from the hostel. When we arrived and after coat check (I love that there are coat checks everywhere), me and Sabine were overwhelmed with excitement, probably even more so than most of the children there. In the entryway, there were stands and people everywhere selling everything a kid would want from pink wigs to ice cream cones. There were also baby lions that were roaring, sounding just like cub Simba on Lion King, and tigers and a weird looking baby bear animal. You had to pay to take pictures with them which we didn't want to do, but we really wanted to at least pet them, but they weren't letting people get too close to the animals and we didn't want to get yelled at in Russian so we just longingly looked on.

So after rushing around trying to see every single animal, we finally got to our seats while the show was just about to start. The performance arena was like a theater in the round with a band stage to one side; it was very big and grand i thought. The three of us girls enjoyed watching the show, while Don slept :) Our favorite acts were the juggling birds, acrobats, and the seals who did flippin sweet tricks. The only one we didn't like so much was the ice-skating bear which obviously didn't look very natural, but also kinda painful and tiring for the poor lil' guy.

This particular show was the holiday show because Christmas in Russia is on January 7th (I think), so we got to see a Des Maroz, the Russian Santa Clause, and the snow maiden skit...for the fourth time. See, every children's activity during this time has basically the same Santa Clause skit before or during it so we had already seen it three times before each of the three children's theater productions we had already attended. First, usually the snow maiden comes out and talks to the children in a high sing songy voice. Then, they either dance and sing or play a little game. And then, Santa Clause must be called out by yelling his name as loud as they can. Once he finally appears, the children must yell something else (I'm not sure what because it's in Russian) to turn on the Christmas tree lights. And then they finish it with the same song. Every child until about the age of 8 or 9 loves this skit and participates in it wholeheartedly, probably because they only get to see it once a year and not four times within four days like we did.

I'm super glad we got to experience the circus and accomplish such an important childhood dream :) Although this is the first circus I've been to, I'm pretty sure that the Russian circus is and will always be the best circus in the world! yup that's it.