Prince Caspian

I will leave it to others to post their thoughts on the production of Prince Caspian (and The Secret of the Old Cupboard - otherwise known as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), but I did want to upload photos of us meeting with the cast - just before we went backstage. What you see here are pictures of the talk-back with the cast, of some of the students backstage looking at part of the set for Prince Caspian, and a group photo of our group with the cast.

The Russian Babushka

The Russian grandmother is an interesting character. Stories of her antics are often told to the amusement and disbelief of American audiences. These stories, however, are not exaggerated. These women have an endless supply of advice and are "helpful" enough to share it with the nearest American student.

I was examining oranges at a grocery store a few days ago, (Russian produce is far from the painted perfection found in American super markets) looking for the least suspicious fruit when I felt a hand clench my arm. At no taller than five feet, and nearly just as wide, the gray haired women on my arm was not very intimidating. At least she wasn't until she began scolding me, very loudly, in Russian. She demanded to know why I was picking through the fruit and when I tried to explain that I was only looking for the unbruised oranges her fist only closed tighter around my arm.

She proceeded to grab a bag of oranges, put them in my basket, and squeezed my arm more testing manner. She apparently came to the conclusion that I was to thin and began telling me (voice gaining volume,) that I needed to eat more meat. Sensing freedom I nodded in agreement and moved towards the meat counter, away from her. However, once a Russian grandmother has taken on a task she will she it through to the end, and I was no exception.

Dragging me by my elbow, she muscled her way to the front of the line and began rapidly ordering the butchers around. Realizing I was going to end up with half of the counter's contents in my basket, I grabbed a cooked chicken in a final attempt to appease her. She eyeballed it for a minute and decided it was good enough for the moment. Nodding in approval she told me to wear my hat outside because it was very cold, and left without another word.

No thanks necessary I guess.

...

You know, for all the times that I've had it pounded into my head about how to keep my valuables safe, you'd think I would be more careful... I'm normally very conscious of where my things are: I keep my money, my passport, my camera, etc. on my person at all times, in concealed, zipped and covered pockets. I don't carry a bag, I don't leave my coat or any of my things unattended, I lock my door, but unfortunately I let my guard down for just one minute --- and that was all it took.

We were riding the beautiful Moscow metro, and Marc was showing us some of the most gorgeous stations. We would get off at a stop, look around until the next train came, and then hop back on. We did this for about 5 consecutive stops, and we didn't have much time to look at each one before the train would come back. The problem I had, was that by the time I unbuttoned my coat, unzipped my pocket, took out my camera, re-zipped my pocket, re-buttoned my coat, and turned on my camera to sneak a picture of the station (which is technically illegal, hence being sneaky), the next train would be coming and I'd have to go through the whole process again in order to put my camera away in time to get back on the crowded train.

At the first three stops, I had failed to take a successful photo of anything besides a stranger's torso, and I was pretty disappointed --- So on the next stop, I decided not to go through the trouble of re-concealing my camera. That way, I thought, I could just get off at the next stop and take my pictures without feeling rushed! Nothing was going to happen to my camera on a 5 minute metro ride while i was literally surrounded by oles. The train was so full, that the only non-ole anywhere near me didn't quite fit inside, so the doors shut on him and he squeezed back onto the platform. When we got to the next stop, I reached into my coat pocket for my camera, and it wasn't there... awesome. I realized then that the man who "didn't fit" on the train had probably seen me trying to take a photo, watched me put my camera in my coat pocket, and grabbed it just as the doors were closing so that I couldn't chase him down. Now it made sense that he snuck off at the last second, getting slammed between the doors.

Apart form being a bit incredulous at my own stupidity, I wasn't too concerned about my camera --- Yeah, it sucked, and yeah, it was stupid of me not to just put it back in my "safe" pocket, but it could have been so much worse. It just goes to show you that even though you may think "That won't happen to ME," "I'll just keep my valuables handy for a few minutes, that'll be safe," or "Nothing could go wrong while I'm surrounded by friends," you can totally get screwed over. Ugh.

As a side note, the photo I am going to miss the most is one I took of the moving escalator hand-rail, on which someone had written in bright, shimmery, neon purple writing: "CHAO!" (I have witnesses, it was totally there.)

The Diet

Now that we have sort of come adjusted to the parts the city around our hostel, we are able to venture out to places known to us as Prodoukty( im sorry about the spelling). Anyways, these are the equilviant of a small grocery store back in the states. Every five days we are given a certain amount of cash for which we are supposed to spend on groceries and or our choice of food( ie small kiosk, or coffee house) sometimes this is not the case. Learning how to budget was one of the quickest skills I have come to learn in this foreign country. Spending the time and patience in these stores ultimatley decides what you are going to be eating at the beginning, middle or end of the day. Knowing the exchange rate is critical , for it allows you to shop for better foods at low prices( Walmart slogan anyone??). This brings me to my final point, which is obtainig a proper and healthy diet while spending time abroad. Having one is key to enjoyng ones time, not having one can lead to stomach craps, crankiness, contanst headaches and a feeling of regret towards why didnt I buy that or eat this in the first place? So these are my wise words of wisdom, when traveling abroad, make sure to establish a solid diet, for it can ultimately decide how your trip shall play out.

From Russia, With Love.

What an experience. I have to admit at first I was a bit skeptical of how much I was going to enjoy this trip, given the fact that I'm not fluent and this is basically a full immersion interim. However after the first week I must say that the word impressed would be a dramatic understatement. The more appropriate term would be "In awe". Everything is just beautiful here, the atmosphere is great, the people are great, and to be able to experience some of the things that we are experiencing here seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Yeah, it's cold. Yeah, jet lag sucks. Yeah, it's expensive (here in moscow), but honestly, there is no other place in the world I would rather be right now. I am excited to see the next play, and go experience another day in what seems to be an entirely new world. I dont have the camera equiptment to post pictures on this blog, but even if I did, I would probably just flood it with all the pictures I've taken. For my first trip outside of the states, It doesn't get much better than this. Just today, I was able to go backstage at one of the theaters and after that, some of the actors brought myself and another student to their dressing room for an exclusive question and answer session, and one of the actors gave us a copy of one of the movies he is in. That's just part of one day here, I honestly have no clue what to expect next. There are also just some things here that I have never seen before and may never see again, for example, the man on the metro with the blade part of an ice auger. Or also the Red Sqare and all of its beautiful buildings. There's so much here that there is no way I will ever get all of it, but I'm trying to get as much as I can, and so far, the trip is yet to disappoint.

Lines

Hello from balmy Russia!

It is only -4°F and -20°C this morning and I hear the swimming is wonderful this time of year. However, if I wanted to try the polar bear dips in the Moskva River I would have to deal with lines down by the bank.

The standing in line in Russia is something that you have to experience once in your life, it should go on your bucket list right next to the running of the bulls (I'm still not sure which one is safer). The term "standing in line" also is a little misleading, the last thing you do is stand. Imagine this, you are at the theater and you have to check in your coat, there is a line forming. We have all dealt with this situation and in the US what you would do is stand at the end of of the line and wait your turn. The line would be a little haphazard maybe and somebody would be saving a spot, the line would move slowly and we all would wish we had arrived earlier and secretly covet the person in front of the line's spot.

Now in Russia what would happen would be a little different, for starters the line would be less of a line and more of a mob. To me, if people in front carried some pitchforks and torches they could easily recreate the storming the castle in Jame Whale's Frankenstein movie. Once you have joined this mob to wait for the coat check lady, be prepared for the ride of your life, you will get shoved and you will get jostled. The first thing I can guarantee is that when you are in the line you will be instantly surrounded by other people. When you are surrounded, don't see your new neighbors as people. That little babushka on the right, to you she is no longer somebody's grandmother, she is your rival, your opponent, your blood enemy who has sworn to cut you and take your place in line. The family of three on your left with the cute little daughter, they are a tag team of cheating; one will distract you, one will cut you, and one glare at you when you try to get your spot back. After sizing up your opponents you need to prepare yourself, you are now at the starting gates of a race, when line begins to move get ready. The person in front of you will start their trek froward to the next space in line by shifting their weight first, this is where you start as well, lift a leg up an inch or so and mentally prepare yourself for the rush forward. When the person in front of you makes their move you follow suit and step forward, keep a straight line and steady balance, that babushka will push. Use your size and weight against the babushka and your quickness to speed past the family. If you have won the dash make sure to glare at your former rivals and make sure that they know that you knew they wanted your spot and that they couldn't get it because you are that much better than them. If you didn't win the race and find yourself behind, be sure to glare even harder then they do and make a mental note to find a voodoo store. Once you have finished glaring prepare yourself and look around at your new opponent next to you in line. The race doesn't end until the coat check.

A note on dining out

Hello all,
Sarah, Brad, Joey and I went to a fairly nice, decently priced restaurant called Sherbet on Ulitza Petrovka (same street as the prodyktbi) this afternoon. The food is actually quite good, but I ran into a bit of trouble when dealing with the menu. I looked for the most reasonably priced drink on the menu (besides water), and I found tea for a mere 40 rubels. HOWEVER, when the bill came around my total for the tea was 260! Kak uzhasna! The tea on the menu that I intended to order was simply a cup of tea, but they brought out a whole pot. When we asked the waitress about the price mixup, she said the bill was correct and that they don't even serve single cups of tea. Maybe it was my fault for not reading the menu more thoroughly, but in my humble opinion, restaurants should not have items on the menu that they will not be serving. Otherwise, I would have settled for a Pepsi.

Look before you leap,
Will