ok. so when i was first hired for this job in russia, i was so super stoked. then i got scared. cuz we all have these stereotypes and ideas about russia from growing up during the cold war. yes, of course, i knew it was an incredible work opportunity and i would be crazy to turn it down, and i was intrigued by the adventure. but i was also scared...would i find joy there? would it be as oppressive as the news reports still say? if i used "putin" in the wrong sentence would i get thrown in jail like the members of pussy riot?
and then my dad's friend tom sent me a link to a youtube video of a flash mob dancing to "puttin' on the ritz" on a bridge in moscow. and it was incredible. i watched it over and over and i thought, if a group of people in that city can put on this kind of a fun, energetic, joyful performance on the street in february when it is cold, and drizzling and grey and miserable outside and not get thrown in jail, then i will be just fine.
AND THEN. today, i found out that one of my russian colleagues PRODUCED that flash mob. her production company has done several incredible flash mob performances. they rehearse them, get all the permissions from the city government (and there are a LOT. believe you me.) finds a team to film them, and then goes out and does them, no matter the weather, the crowd, the challenges, whatever. she did one in st petersburg in the river. in may. when the river was 10 degrees (like 40 degrees F). and they got the group of 600 volunteer dancers to run and splash and dance in the water. amazing. and i already liked and respected her so much, and then to find out she was behind the video that tipped my emotions and made me confident i would be just fine in russia...well, that is beyond words, if can be so dramatic. and makes me think i am meant to be here. good things are in store. like the radiohead song "everything in it's right place." that's how i feel right now. even thru all the frustrations with learning a new job, learning a new language, figuring out a new culture, missing my family and my friends. i'm supposed to be here. i have been given the opportunity to shine here, and i hope that i can.
so here are the links to the inspirational flash mob video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgoapkOo4vg
and here is the link to the st petersburg one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJYmMmkNOkI
and tonight i did my taxes and am getting a $3 federal refund. woo hoo! see? all good things. let's hope this luck keeps up.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Settling in...to more snow!
it's been a while since my last post. not sure why, but i know last week i didn't have much to say, was a pretty average week. worked a lot, tried to work out in the eve's, then eat, by then it's nearly time to head to bed! (well, for me, who is an early-to-bed kinda gal). we are all kind of settling in now...i have breakfast at the hotel every morning with the italians...and some brits and a canadian. we take the shuttle to work, either buy or make my coffee. work a few hours. go to the grocery store for lunch. work more. shuttle home. work out. dinner (either cooked, or in the exec lounge...but if i go to the exec lounge i'll likely get pulled into working more by the producer, so sometimes i avoid it), read a bit, maybe practice russian, then it's time to go to bed! sometimes i'll call home...planned a trip for my folks to come out in june - can't wait! hopefully i'll know a bit more russian so can order things all in russian, and get around. that's my weakest area at the moment...wanting to learn more russian language. meeting a tutor in a couple weeks for regular lessons - looking forward to that.
and then on friday night, we went out to Propaganda again to celebrate Glenda's birthday. Glenda (or Glendina or Glendushka as we like to call her) is a fiery, dramatic italian girl. just turning 29. she is fantastic and one-of-a-kind. speaks her mind, and we love her for it. so we went to dinner and ate one of the best meals i've had since being in russia. delicious tomato and basil salad and an entree of korean-style bbq beef. yummy. then the place turns into a nightclub, so we danced (horrible music, but it's the company that matters, right?). a very fun night out. i spoke a lot with another sara(h), from england, also 37. works in casting. so she and i and guido (italian, early 40's), spent the majority of the eve talking while the "kids" danced. and then we joined them for a bit. lots of vodka shots, as it was the waiter's birthday as well! when in rome...
was FREEZING this weekend. like, -19 freezing. so, teens in fahrenheit? and snowy!!! we probably got 6 inches of fresh "powder" today! and really, it is lovely snow. parkites would love this snow. it's no fun to maneuver around moscow in the snow and ice (seriously...we need some salt here...the sidewalks are SO icy!), but it would have been delightful to ski on! very dry here, so the snow is light and beautiful. i was one of the few to venture out both days this weekend. a lot of people are starting to move out of the hotel now, so saturday i went on a walk-about around the neighborhood where the italians will be living. and today i went to visit mike and julie-ann (our artistic production coordinators) at their flat in the arbat district...which used to be the old part of town, but now is the new part, with lots of modern hotels and restaurants and lots of neon in some parts. they live right by the hard rock moscow (i didn't go, but they did!). and they made me a tasty espresso from their espresso machine in their very modern ikea kitchen. then we braved the cold again to go shopping at GUM, to the sochi merch store!! if i'm going to nyc in april, i have to buy gifts to send to folks back home. much easier to fly to nyc with gifts, and ship from there than to ship from here. i got a PACKAGE from mom this week! and it was fantastic!!!!! more love in a box!! the only not-fantastic thing was that i had to stand in line at the post office for an hour to pick it up. there was only one woman working. and i think you have to fill out forms in triplicate even to buy a stamp it seems. whatever it is, it takes FOREVER. i guess that is a comforting thought...post-offices are notoriously slow around the world. but i got the package, after being cut in line by a 10-yr-old boy, who only wanted to buy a lottery ticket for his dad, so i let him cut, and then it took, i'm not kidding, 15 minutes to get the lottery ticket. insane. so much for being accommodating.
anyway, it was very snowy and very cold and very russia today. spring is very much NOT around the corner. sigh.
so i'm trying to settle in. get into a routine as much as possible while still in the hotel. hopefully moving soon. i'm rooming with gerri, a lovely woman from canada. she's the accommodations manager, and wants to live close to work, so i figured hey, we'll likely get a nice place if she's the accommodations manager! plus, she wants to live near the river, which will be fun in the summer, and there are lots of parks and things in our future neighborhood. hoping to get the lease on the place this week, and moving shortly thereafter. that will be terrific, and then i can finally feel like i'm "living" in moscow.
so here are some pics from the weekend:
mike and julie-ann's place. julie-ann is making me an espresso. :) and, there's a HUGE shower, which is also a steamer, and has speakers inside it!
from today. soviet mural in the revolution square metro stop. and snowy sidewalks of moscow!
and then on friday night, we went out to Propaganda again to celebrate Glenda's birthday. Glenda (or Glendina or Glendushka as we like to call her) is a fiery, dramatic italian girl. just turning 29. she is fantastic and one-of-a-kind. speaks her mind, and we love her for it. so we went to dinner and ate one of the best meals i've had since being in russia. delicious tomato and basil salad and an entree of korean-style bbq beef. yummy. then the place turns into a nightclub, so we danced (horrible music, but it's the company that matters, right?). a very fun night out. i spoke a lot with another sara(h), from england, also 37. works in casting. so she and i and guido (italian, early 40's), spent the majority of the eve talking while the "kids" danced. and then we joined them for a bit. lots of vodka shots, as it was the waiter's birthday as well! when in rome...
was FREEZING this weekend. like, -19 freezing. so, teens in fahrenheit? and snowy!!! we probably got 6 inches of fresh "powder" today! and really, it is lovely snow. parkites would love this snow. it's no fun to maneuver around moscow in the snow and ice (seriously...we need some salt here...the sidewalks are SO icy!), but it would have been delightful to ski on! very dry here, so the snow is light and beautiful. i was one of the few to venture out both days this weekend. a lot of people are starting to move out of the hotel now, so saturday i went on a walk-about around the neighborhood where the italians will be living. and today i went to visit mike and julie-ann (our artistic production coordinators) at their flat in the arbat district...which used to be the old part of town, but now is the new part, with lots of modern hotels and restaurants and lots of neon in some parts. they live right by the hard rock moscow (i didn't go, but they did!). and they made me a tasty espresso from their espresso machine in their very modern ikea kitchen. then we braved the cold again to go shopping at GUM, to the sochi merch store!! if i'm going to nyc in april, i have to buy gifts to send to folks back home. much easier to fly to nyc with gifts, and ship from there than to ship from here. i got a PACKAGE from mom this week! and it was fantastic!!!!! more love in a box!! the only not-fantastic thing was that i had to stand in line at the post office for an hour to pick it up. there was only one woman working. and i think you have to fill out forms in triplicate even to buy a stamp it seems. whatever it is, it takes FOREVER. i guess that is a comforting thought...post-offices are notoriously slow around the world. but i got the package, after being cut in line by a 10-yr-old boy, who only wanted to buy a lottery ticket for his dad, so i let him cut, and then it took, i'm not kidding, 15 minutes to get the lottery ticket. insane. so much for being accommodating.
anyway, it was very snowy and very cold and very russia today. spring is very much NOT around the corner. sigh.
so i'm trying to settle in. get into a routine as much as possible while still in the hotel. hopefully moving soon. i'm rooming with gerri, a lovely woman from canada. she's the accommodations manager, and wants to live close to work, so i figured hey, we'll likely get a nice place if she's the accommodations manager! plus, she wants to live near the river, which will be fun in the summer, and there are lots of parks and things in our future neighborhood. hoping to get the lease on the place this week, and moving shortly thereafter. that will be terrific, and then i can finally feel like i'm "living" in moscow.
so here are some pics from the weekend:
the bday party. glenda is in the black and white stripes. the waiter is in black. we were his favorite group he's ever waited on, he said. i bet he says that to all the groups... but he did speak english which was very nice.
sarah (also my age!) at a lovely cafe we came across in the tverskoy neighborhood where she will be living. there were photos of nyc on the walls of our booth!
mike and julie-ann's place. julie-ann is making me an espresso. :) and, there's a HUGE shower, which is also a steamer, and has speakers inside it!
from today. soviet mural in the revolution square metro stop. and snowy sidewalks of moscow!
bikes! the stores at GUM are ready for spring. there are trees with fake cherry blossoms inside, and a sports shop has it's beach bikes out for sale. reminds me of silver star...tho there aren't any friendly bulldogs begging for food at this bike shop.
my first matrushka doll purchase! and i think it is quite appropriate that it is part of the sochi merch...this one is very mini...only about 3" tall! very cute and touristy.
so yeah, i'm settling in here now...just can't wait to get into an apartment!! we are getting to know the city better, starting to spread our wings and feel more comfortable going out and about. will be fun to visit everyone's places when we all move out. sad that i won't be having breakfast with the italians every morning, but will just need to meet them for sunday brunches in the city instead!
big hugs home. xoxo
Sunday, March 17, 2013
A proper night out, another Maslenitsa fest day, and Sunday Ski Day!
what a weekend! went out for a proper night out on friday night...went to a popular club (well, according to Lonely Planet it is popular...so who really knows, but it was fun) called Propaganda. extremely smokey. everyone is trying to indulge while they still can...smoking ban hits next month in moscow - thank goodness!! but drinks were cheap, company was great, and we did some dancing. and still managed to catch the last train home. the younger folks stayed out and took "dodgy cars" home...basically, you just stick your arm out as if trying to hail a proper taxi, and pretty much just anyone can stop to pick you up. you negotiate the price, then they take you! and if you are with a group (and someone in the group speaks russian...that helps...) it's fine. i wouldn't EVER do it alone, or even with another woman. and actually, i probably wouldn't ever do it period, but these guys did and they were fine. i prefer the metro. ha ha!
and then this weekend was the culmination of the week-long Maslenitsa festival...the one where we ate pancakes and drank vodka and watched traditional dancing ladies...it keeps going all week. and every park in moscow had some sort of festival happening. we went to gorky park. some strange performance art/outdoor theatre shows, but lots of crafts for kids, kiosks selling home-made crafts (i bought a fab leather bracelet/watch), live music on a huge stage, and more blinis that you could imagine. we didn't eat them however, were full from a fabulous american-style brunch at a terrific cafe chain called Correa's. there is one where my apartment will be, so i have a feeling i will be a regular. it's a terrific cafe. fresh food, delicious coffee. and the waiter called my entree "super duper." yep, it was pretty awesome. so we wandered the festival, and i had my first drink of mead! the old honey beer...the oldest alcohol in the world, some say. i felt like harry potter. and i bought a "winter"...a doll made out of straw that i am supposed to burn tonight signalling the end of winter and the beginning of spring. but i'm not going to burn her. i hope that doesn't mean spring won't come. there is a HUGE burning in many parks of giant winter dolls...i think that will do the trick.
and then today, i went skiing!!! a group of us organized a little day-trip to a small (SMALL.) ski "resort" about an hour or so north of moscow. we rented a mini-bus, found a backwoods rental shop for gear (semi-decent actually!), and made a day of it. the slopes are definitely nothing to write home about, but the company was good, and it was fun to get out of the city for the day...if not mountains, at least the rolling hills were nice. and we saw the sun for about 15 minutes which was glorious! and we had glint vein...(hot wine...tasty...one of my fave things about europe). and then we stopped fro beers on the way home, and seeing as i don't drink beer, our russian-latvian colleague convinced me to buy a small bottle of cognac and a bar of chocolate. apparently that is very russian. a swig of cognac followed by a bite of chocolate. i'm not sure that is a tradition i'll be bringing home with me, but it was fun.
a great weekend overall. pics of everything below...
and then this weekend was the culmination of the week-long Maslenitsa festival...the one where we ate pancakes and drank vodka and watched traditional dancing ladies...it keeps going all week. and every park in moscow had some sort of festival happening. we went to gorky park. some strange performance art/outdoor theatre shows, but lots of crafts for kids, kiosks selling home-made crafts (i bought a fab leather bracelet/watch), live music on a huge stage, and more blinis that you could imagine. we didn't eat them however, were full from a fabulous american-style brunch at a terrific cafe chain called Correa's. there is one where my apartment will be, so i have a feeling i will be a regular. it's a terrific cafe. fresh food, delicious coffee. and the waiter called my entree "super duper." yep, it was pretty awesome. so we wandered the festival, and i had my first drink of mead! the old honey beer...the oldest alcohol in the world, some say. i felt like harry potter. and i bought a "winter"...a doll made out of straw that i am supposed to burn tonight signalling the end of winter and the beginning of spring. but i'm not going to burn her. i hope that doesn't mean spring won't come. there is a HUGE burning in many parks of giant winter dolls...i think that will do the trick.
and then today, i went skiing!!! a group of us organized a little day-trip to a small (SMALL.) ski "resort" about an hour or so north of moscow. we rented a mini-bus, found a backwoods rental shop for gear (semi-decent actually!), and made a day of it. the slopes are definitely nothing to write home about, but the company was good, and it was fun to get out of the city for the day...if not mountains, at least the rolling hills were nice. and we saw the sun for about 15 minutes which was glorious! and we had glint vein...(hot wine...tasty...one of my fave things about europe). and then we stopped fro beers on the way home, and seeing as i don't drink beer, our russian-latvian colleague convinced me to buy a small bottle of cognac and a bar of chocolate. apparently that is very russian. a swig of cognac followed by a bite of chocolate. i'm not sure that is a tradition i'll be bringing home with me, but it was fun.
a great weekend overall. pics of everything below...
on the left...sasha, mike, beckie. on the right, us trekking out in the snowy cold to the club.
propaganda club! cafe by day, dance hall by night.
having fun! sasha (russian), me, julie-anne (canadian), lorenzo (italian), haith (brit), sara b (italian)
funky sculpture on the way to the cafe on saturday
my super-duper entree at correa's for brunch.
festive decor at the entrance to gorky park for maslenitsa!
frosted pretzels!! well, um, actually, hard-crusty stale frosted white dough rolled up like a pretzel. disappointing. not very good. but we tried them!
amazingness in line for soup. traditional dressed lady, and lady in a crazy fur coat. and regular people.
one of the "winters" on display in the park. not sure this one gets burned...may just be for display.
mead!
the stage...that is made to look like a stack of blinis on a picnic table, with a bowl of caviar next to it, also a jar of jam, and pots of honey. this was a traditional medieval music band, but they also played cover songs! they played yesterday by the beatles, and also a cover of a gorky park song...gorky park was a russian band, popular in the 80's or 90's i think. i remembered that song "moscow calling" and it was fun to hear it in moscow! played on an accordian and a few lute-like instruments!
i bought my "winter" from the medieval santa claus.
the ski resort! and i mean, this shows you pretty much the WHOLE resort. it was tiny.
the group having a mid-day break.
small community next to the ski hill.
i'm on top of the world! or, well, at LEAST 200ft above it.
on the left, all the things you are not supposed to do at the park. on the right, me and elena (greek) on the lift.
the whole map. yep. that's it. the whooooole place.
my apres ski. i really wanted nachos.
beautiful wooden church by the ski rental shop.
the dodgy ski rental shop. but it was fine, in truth.
tho, i would NEVER rent these gloves from the place. what is it with european places and being able to rent ski gear?? and in russia...it's not like people DON'T have gloves! it's miserably cold here! but you can rent them if you need them!
me, excited about the pretzel...and then we opened it.
so that was my weekend. pretty fun. a bit of culture, a bit of sport, and more than a few nights spent in the auna. i will miss this hotel and it's lovely spa when we finally have to move out!
xo's and big hugs to all.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Love In A Box
i got a package today!!!!!! from my lovely and generous friends matt and maren mullin in park city. my friends in park city are fantastic. they divided up the time i am gone and agreed to each send a package once/month. so kind and sweet and full of love! i am a lucky gal. today's package had all kinds of fun surprises. tasty treats, practicalities (like office supplies, gummy vitamins, and a quick-clot cloth sponge. hopefully i will never need that sponge!! :) ), and comfort things such as burt's bees foot lotion and spa socks. too sweet. i immediately shared the treats with my office-mates...making one of the russians eat a peep...he's never seen them before, and he liked it! so much love coming from one little box. well, one very generous box!! and a big thank you to russian customs for letting it get to me! fingers crossed the package from my mom will be just as lucky!
tonight was a very emotional night in room 1441-1443. Big Fish was on the tv...on one of the few english-channel stations on my hotel tv. the other english stations are the expected news stations, and of course, eurosport! so, i can watch dramatic news magazine shows, the nordic combined, or whatever random movie is on the movie channel. and tonight it was Big Fish. i love that film. it's one of the few that i actually own. i cry every time i see it, and tonight was no exception. it is a film about learning to forgive, learning to see, learning to love. a son learning to understand, and forgive and love his father. such a sweet film. it's not perfect, but i love it, probably because of that. and it has the sweetest song from pearl jam as the credits role..."man of the hour." and it always makes me think of my parents. and how much i love them. and how much i don't want to lose them. i believe we will all live forever and ever and ever. cuz i can't bear thinking about it any other way. i admit it, i was reminded of how important it is to love...from a digital box in my hotel room.
and then i downloaded a bunch of music (ok, it was all pearl jam) and some other movies about living and loving to the fullest...Buck, the documentary about an amazingly kind and generous horse-trainer, and Beasts of the Southern Wild. whenever i hear pearl jam i think of my high school friends, and my dear friend seamus who lives in berlin with his family, but mostly about my brother-in-law brian who probably loves pearl jam almost as much as he loves my sister. ha ha! so tonight i'm listening to pearl jam on repeat...the songs "man of the hour" and "just breathe."
and i'm thinking about my fantastic cousin ariana, who writes a blog that was more than a little inspiring for me to keep this one, and who is thriving from depression. i say thriving, because she is, to me, right now, the opposite of suffering. she has done that. she has suffered, but right now it seems like she is taking all these lessons she has learned in the past year through her struggles and is thriving from them. learning to love and forgive and understand herself, her family and friends, and the world around her. and i'm loving being reminded to do those things, too, by reading about her journeys.
whew!! ok, enough emotional talk. i can't blow my nose anymore tonight! here are some fun pics from my package from maren and matt. like i said, so much love from that little box.
tonight was a very emotional night in room 1441-1443. Big Fish was on the tv...on one of the few english-channel stations on my hotel tv. the other english stations are the expected news stations, and of course, eurosport! so, i can watch dramatic news magazine shows, the nordic combined, or whatever random movie is on the movie channel. and tonight it was Big Fish. i love that film. it's one of the few that i actually own. i cry every time i see it, and tonight was no exception. it is a film about learning to forgive, learning to see, learning to love. a son learning to understand, and forgive and love his father. such a sweet film. it's not perfect, but i love it, probably because of that. and it has the sweetest song from pearl jam as the credits role..."man of the hour." and it always makes me think of my parents. and how much i love them. and how much i don't want to lose them. i believe we will all live forever and ever and ever. cuz i can't bear thinking about it any other way. i admit it, i was reminded of how important it is to love...from a digital box in my hotel room.
and then i downloaded a bunch of music (ok, it was all pearl jam) and some other movies about living and loving to the fullest...Buck, the documentary about an amazingly kind and generous horse-trainer, and Beasts of the Southern Wild. whenever i hear pearl jam i think of my high school friends, and my dear friend seamus who lives in berlin with his family, but mostly about my brother-in-law brian who probably loves pearl jam almost as much as he loves my sister. ha ha! so tonight i'm listening to pearl jam on repeat...the songs "man of the hour" and "just breathe."
and i'm thinking about my fantastic cousin ariana, who writes a blog that was more than a little inspiring for me to keep this one, and who is thriving from depression. i say thriving, because she is, to me, right now, the opposite of suffering. she has done that. she has suffered, but right now it seems like she is taking all these lessons she has learned in the past year through her struggles and is thriving from them. learning to love and forgive and understand herself, her family and friends, and the world around her. and i'm loving being reminded to do those things, too, by reading about her journeys.
whew!! ok, enough emotional talk. i can't blow my nose anymore tonight! here are some fun pics from my package from maren and matt. like i said, so much love from that little box.
so happy to see this!!
even happier to see this!!! and so was my colleague mike, who has been craving cookies!
kirill enjoying his first peep! he sits across from me, and we work closely together on the big show.
office supplies!!! including the cutest tape measure i have ever seen. nice work gallery mar!
this is just for fun...this is what i was doing when the argentinian pope was announced last night...even though i'm not catholic, or anything else hardly, it still is quite a historical event, and important to many people in my life, therefore important to me, too. and i won't forget where i was when it happened!
oh i'm a lucky man, to count on both hands
the ones i love...
some folks have just one,
yeah, others, they've got none, huh-uh...
those are some of the lyrics from "just breathe"...and yes, i am a lucky one indeed. i have a lot of ones i love.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Happy Maslenitsa!
so this is one of those holidays that is a crashing together of pagan and christian theology. or tradition. or ritual. or whatever. it's the celebration of the end of winter/the coming of spring, and ALSO the end of gorging yourself on winter treats and the start of lent. orthodox lent that happens before orthodox easter. if nothing else, this country has taught me that there is a massive difference between orthodox and catholic theology. ok, i mean, i know there was a DIFFERENCE. but i had no idea what it was. and it's funny, cuz the study of WHY religions are different is very interesting to me. i'm very interested in the cultural reasoning, or the traditions and why they remain, the rituals, what keeps people glued together, or tears them apart.
had a very interesting evening. so this week is "maslenitsa," the holiday, as stated above, celebrating the onset of spring, and the beginning of lent. during this week, lots of blinis are consumed. and i'm sure many other things, but tonight, our hotel honored it by serving complimentary blinis (like a crepe) with different sauces (honey, chocolate, sour cream). a very traditional russian food. and also some vodka!! cuz what's a russian holiday without vodka. so we had cranberry flavored vodka and pepper flavored vodka. and blinis. and they brought in a traditional singing group...three women dressed in medieval costume...beautiful costumes, with lace headdresses. and an accordian player. they sang for more than an hour. and traipsed around the hotel bar, pointing out men and singing to them, about them, for them, in russian. and bringing several men up "onstage" to dance with them, dress them, etc. very fun. very tourist, of course, but we ate it up. and we all got pens with matrushka dolls on them. and there was a raffle, and my colleague and friend julie-anne (canadian) won a matrushka doll set! yes, all out of a movie about tourists in russia, but fun none-the-less, and when you are sitting a a table with the GM and the COO of the hotel, and they are bringing you free drinks, you clap and enjoy yourself! so we did.
and we also had a very interesting conversation with the COO of the hotel (a 5-start Marriott hotel), who is Greek, but raised in London. he has been at this hotel for 1.5 years. previous to that, he was in abu dhabi, and then in saudi arabia. he has fascinating stories about the service industry in both countries. and the division of wealth in saudi arabia. and the fact that abu dhabi basically funded dubai. and that the real money is in abu dhabi. and it actually made me curious to go there, whereas i had NO desire beforehand. i am not a hotel person. i'm not a luxury person. but it fascinates me that a place that was strictly bedouin, nomadic, and temporary only 1-2 generations ago is now quickly becoming the financial heartbeat of the world...and even the cultural one!! cuz they can buy it!! so i kinda wanna see if for myself. i wanna see the place that can BUY the bolshoi theatre company and transplant it to the desert. or buy all the picasso's in the moma and transplant them to the desert. and watch people flock there to see it. a woman we are working with is producing a festival there to honor the bedouin roots...almost thinking a trip for the weekend to attend the festival and see the place would be worth it. anyway, a very cool evening of education, and stimulation and learning. this is why i came here. for nights like this. and the pancakes and vodka, of course!
so here are some photos from the eve:
had a very interesting evening. so this week is "maslenitsa," the holiday, as stated above, celebrating the onset of spring, and the beginning of lent. during this week, lots of blinis are consumed. and i'm sure many other things, but tonight, our hotel honored it by serving complimentary blinis (like a crepe) with different sauces (honey, chocolate, sour cream). a very traditional russian food. and also some vodka!! cuz what's a russian holiday without vodka. so we had cranberry flavored vodka and pepper flavored vodka. and blinis. and they brought in a traditional singing group...three women dressed in medieval costume...beautiful costumes, with lace headdresses. and an accordian player. they sang for more than an hour. and traipsed around the hotel bar, pointing out men and singing to them, about them, for them, in russian. and bringing several men up "onstage" to dance with them, dress them, etc. very fun. very tourist, of course, but we ate it up. and we all got pens with matrushka dolls on them. and there was a raffle, and my colleague and friend julie-anne (canadian) won a matrushka doll set! yes, all out of a movie about tourists in russia, but fun none-the-less, and when you are sitting a a table with the GM and the COO of the hotel, and they are bringing you free drinks, you clap and enjoy yourself! so we did.
and we also had a very interesting conversation with the COO of the hotel (a 5-start Marriott hotel), who is Greek, but raised in London. he has been at this hotel for 1.5 years. previous to that, he was in abu dhabi, and then in saudi arabia. he has fascinating stories about the service industry in both countries. and the division of wealth in saudi arabia. and the fact that abu dhabi basically funded dubai. and that the real money is in abu dhabi. and it actually made me curious to go there, whereas i had NO desire beforehand. i am not a hotel person. i'm not a luxury person. but it fascinates me that a place that was strictly bedouin, nomadic, and temporary only 1-2 generations ago is now quickly becoming the financial heartbeat of the world...and even the cultural one!! cuz they can buy it!! so i kinda wanna see if for myself. i wanna see the place that can BUY the bolshoi theatre company and transplant it to the desert. or buy all the picasso's in the moma and transplant them to the desert. and watch people flock there to see it. a woman we are working with is producing a festival there to honor the bedouin roots...almost thinking a trip for the weekend to attend the festival and see the place would be worth it. anyway, a very cool evening of education, and stimulation and learning. this is why i came here. for nights like this. and the pancakes and vodka, of course!
so here are some photos from the eve:
julie-anne (canada), mike (utah) and myself with our matrushka doll pens.
about to enjoy some cranberry vodka and blini with honey!
vodka and blini (with sour cream for mike)
colleagues enjoying maslenitsa!
the traditional singers
yannis (a latvian/russian by way of england colleague of ours). the only guy in the audience that understood russian, so they of course chose him to go in front of the crowd.
yannis getting dressed up like a proper gentleman. i actually have no idea what the song means that they were singing, but they were dressing him up in a hat, then a jacket...
then made him put on pants...
and now he has the whole outfit...they even gave him a prop pipe to smoke. then they undressed him, and before giving his own coat back, asked for a gift...he didn't know what to do until we all yelled "give them a KISS!" and he finally got it...so he kissed them each on the cheek and they gave his coat back. very funny. and they were gorgeous girls, too, so i think he actually got the better bargain.
they chose three more men in the crowd to dance with...my friend mike is the one in the white shirt.
julie-anne's prize matrushka doll!
the winning ticket!
so all-in-all was a wonderfully surprising evening. one of those when you're not quite sure what will happen, but you know you should stick around...and it paid off. if even to learn more about doing business in the middle east! so off to bed now, to dream of matrushka dolls dancing in bedouin tents in saudi arabia.
PS - and SUPER CONGRATS to my friend bridgette, who's book URGENT ARCHITECTURE was just published, and she's having a book party at Gallery Mar in Park City tonight!! (well, Tuesday night in PC). big hugs to all the pc gang. and massive high fives to bridgette who will live on in green architecture infamy. much love to you my friend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)