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Published: August 20th 2006
My first view of Russia was from the airplane. There were vast open grasslands and groves of forests. Clusters of homes and factories were spread out along the road, but most of the land was open and untamed. When we landed it took some time to sort out our baggage and then we all boarded a bus to go to our dorms. On our way we passed these beautiful groves of birch trees where often the only trees you could see were birch. Arriving at our dorm, they assigned all of us roommates and gave us our keys. My roomate and I share a quaint soviet styled room. We have beautiful Russian looking blankets and curtains. The appliances, however, are defintely very soviet. At first we thought that we did not have hot water-then we realized that in our shower the red knob gave you cold water and the blue knob gave you hot water. After getting settled in, we all went out to dinner at about midnight at a Russian restaurant. About the only word we could understand on the menu was hummus s myasom-hummus with meat, so we all ordered that. Coming back to our dorm my roommate and I had trouble with the door- it took forever to open or lock. We talked to the security guy downstairs. He looked completely uninterested and some stuff in Russian. The only thing I understood is that he was telling us to keep on trying to open the door.
The next morning I took a shower (located in our room) and then all of a sudden heard a man and women talking Russian-and it sounded like they were inside our room. I heard them saying in Russian, "It looks like they are home, we should leave". I opened the door to the bedroom in time to see the door close. My roommate had just woken up and asked me if I had invited those people to my room. We had no idea what had just happened-we were told that maids come in the morning-but then why did a guy come to our room too? A couple minutes later, I'm standing in the bedroom with only the towel wrapped around me and the guy opens the door again. He looks suprised and steps out. Then the women comes over, tells me to go into the bathroom again. So I do that, while the guy works on fixing our door. Apparently he is the repair man. Throughout the day he disappeared and reappered carring various tools and working on our door. But unfortunately never knocking.
We went to our orientation and learned all the nifty little things you need to know about living in Moscow. One of the things we learned is that Moscovites are very cold to strangers and rarely smile on the streets. But with their friends they are often much more affectionate then Americans. I've seen many women walking hand in hand and men kissing each other on the cheek. Neither of these are a sign of homosexuality, only friendship.
We also learned that we can drink outside the door but not inside. However, it is easy to bypass this rule. The guards don't allow you to bring in alcohol. However, it is a completely different story if you give the guard some alcohol. When I came back from orientation the guard was looking rather red faced and warmly greeted some of the students with a smile and handshake. Some students had given him some beers the night before so that they could bring a bunch of alcohol in.
So far I haven't even drunk alcohol, mostly bottled tea and water. There has been so much going on I haven't felt like drinking.
Tommorow I go on the grand tour of Moscow and get to see some of the sights. I'll add pictures here when I have time.
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Dad
non-member comment
Hello from Rochester, MI
I'm glad to hear that you made it to Moscow safely. Your journal update was very descriptive and most interesting. However, I'm surprised and concerned that your "guard" is so disinterested. Perhaps, its the Soviet way or our perception of coldness. At any rate, do be careful with your belongings and I hope that you find Moscow to be an interesting learning experience. I'm sure that in just a few months you'll be able to understand a lot more Russsian. Things are good back here, the heat wave has passed, but there was a huge electrical storm (lightning) the other night that lasted for 4-5 hours. I've never seen anything like it before. There were lightning flashes every few seconds during the storm. It was awesome and beautiful. Matt and Jennie stayed at the cottge and said the view of the storm was amazing, as seen from the lake. Fortunately, we did not loose any electrical power. I'm still thinking of visiting with you in late October. Does this present any complications for your study program? Best Wishes - Dad