Street Artists of the Moskva River

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Yesterday Renee and I decided to find Gorky Park. We to the metro station Park kulurniy and then crossed the Moskva River. The Moskva River is gorgeous. Beautiful golden domed churches and monuments line the river. When we crossed to the other side, we looked down from the bridge and saw about 50 booths with paintings. Wanting a closer look, we took the stairs down and entered the art market. Every piece there could have been in the Ann Arbor Art fair. Most of the paintings had beautiful nature or village scenes. There were a few modern paintings as well. All the prices were much less than they would cost in America. The most expensive painting I saw cost about $500 and was an enormous with amazing detail. Every painting sold there is an original. I didn't have very much money on me-only 1,000 rubles ($40), so I was resolved to just look. But as I continued down the booths the prices became lower and lower. At the very end there was an amazing artist who can't afford to buy proper canvases, so instead he paints his beautiful oil landscaped on cardboard, covers from hardcover books, and really anything else he can find that serves as a semi-decent canvas. I bought 6 small paintings from him for only $40. When I looked around some more another artist asked what I had bought and wanted to see it. When she asked that I was expecting that she would act like the other street vendors and talk about how what I bought is of such low quality, that I need to buy from her instead. Instead she looked at it admiringly and looked very suprised that I had paid so little. A few other nearby artists came over to look at it too.
The place is open year round so I will have to bring my mom to it when she comes. I feel bad that the artsists have to sell their pieces for so little. There were very few other people looking at the art, I don't think they get much business. I didn't see any other tourists and none of the artists speak English.

When I returned home I had dinner with my family. The food was great-tomatoes and cucumber from a friends' dacha, some sort of meat, and potatoes. For desert they gave me this marshmello-coconut fruit candy.
After dinner, I asked my family if it would be ok if I pay a little extra to have my mom stay in my room while she's in Moscow. This is the traslation of what happened:
Immediately when I asked Nina Nicolaevna's face drops. She says, " We don't have another room or another bed"
Me: "It's ok, I can sleep in my sleeping bag and my mom can sleep on my bed"
Nina: "You want to sleep on the FLOOR?!"
Me: "umm...well I would have the sleeping bag"
Natasha: "But it is so cold on the floor!"
Me: "It's ok. I would have a sleeping bag".
Nina: "We don't have anywhere else for someone to sleep. This is a nightmare." She holds her hand to her face and starts to get tears in her eyes.
Natasha: "Mama, don't get upset. It will be ok. Go to bed and we will think about this problem in the morning". She looks somewhat upset as well and hugs Nina.
Nina: "oh what can we do." She shakes her head, looking so upset and walks out of the room.
Natasha (to me): "In Russia we have a saying that we don't think about problems at night, only in the morning. We don't want to think about problems when we sleep."
Needless to say, I let the topic drop last night. And in the morning I told them not to worry about it, my mom can stay at a hotel.

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Photos

Me
Me in Gorky Park by the Moskva River

Comments

[Genna]

Comments
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[Dad]

Mom's visit.
It sounds like your family really cares about providing you with a safe and comfortable enviroment for your studies. I'm glad to see that you are adapting well with the host family. Please don't be concerned about finding a bed for Mom when she visits, a hotel arrangement is very suitable and I'm sure that Mom is not looking to impose on your host family. Your visit to Gorky Park and viewing the work of the artisans was most interesting. I'll be anxious to see what kind of paintings you selected. What was the rest of Gorky like? How big is the park? Were there many activities in the Park? Bicycling? Running? kayaking etc?? What does the average Muscovite do for entertainment in an outdoor setting? Best Wishes.

[mom]

not to worry
Please give your host mom a big hug from me, and tell her that everything is set, that I have reservations at a hotel already. It is sweet of you to ask her, but I certainly never expected that I would be staying with you. We will have a grand time, touring Gorky Park, the Kremlin, and visiting with your friends and host family. I will only be staying for the weekend, to allow you to focus on your studies during the week. Bethann has been so gracious to connect me with friends of Natalya and the adoption agencies in Moscow for transportation. Dad and I have immensely enjoyed your blogs, e-mails and phone calls. We are so proud of how well you have adjusted to the Russian culture! Your background with Kidsave, your Russian friends here, and your dedicated focus on the Russian language have well prepared you for this experience of a lifetime! May the good Lord continue to bless you, love and hugs, mom

[BARB JACOBS]

THE UPSET ABOUT MOM'S VISIT
SOMETHING SIMILAR HAPPENED TO ME WHEN I WAS AN AUPAIR IN ENGLAND. SOMEONE PHONED WHILE THE MOM WAS NEXT DOOR VISITING. wHEN SHE RETURNED I TOLD HER SOANDSO CALLED. SHE BECAME VERY UPSET THAT I HAD NOT COME TO GET HER. i COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. tHIS WAS A FRIEND WHO PHONED FREQUENTLY. sHE WOULD CALL BACK LATER. uH OH ---- LANGUAGE BARRIER!!! IN eNGLAND, A CALLER IS A VISITOR, AND THE MOM THOUGHT I HAD TURNED HER AWAY!

[Wendy]

Hey Genna!!! It sounds so awesome that there's artwork sold on the streets all year round; you'll have to show me the 6 paintings you bought when you come back! (It's cool that the other artists all appreciated it too, but it's a shame how cheaply foreign artists sell their talents...) Russia sounds really cool to me now, just for the street art! =P I'm also glad to hear that you're getting along with your host family, they seem really nice and caring. Although I was surprised with how they reacted to you wanting to sleep on the floor =P (I guess they really care about making their guests comfortable!). Anyway, I hope you keep on having an awesome time in Russia, Genna, and I MISS YOU! -Wendy