Shop til You Drop...and buy a fur hat...

1this weekend was all about entertainment!!  on friday night my friend (and now russian teacher) sasha and i went to see ballet moskva perform adaptations of 2 short ballets.  Wedding and Rites of Spring.  both by Stravinsky.  choreographed in a very modern style by a french choreographer.  i didn't love the choreo, but the performers were amazing.  only 10 (5 men 5 women).  the theatre was really small, a black-box, and reminded me of something i'd see in brooklyn...like at st ann's warehouse.  such an incredible performance.  we could see the dancers breathing and sweating.  they were leaping around, jumping into each other's arms, climbing walls, rolling on the floor.  very modern, like i said.  they were amazing, so strong and so expressive.  can't wait to see another program they do.

saturday beckie and i went the mall.  normally, i hate malls.  but my life isn't normal anymore, so i get to like them on occasion in moscow.  and this weekend was on occasion.  plus, it was suddenly spring, and i realized i didn't bring nearly enough warm-weather clothes (i blame it on packing for a moscow winter in the middle of a utah one).  so i needed some new spring tops that i would wear in the office (which on the whole is a bit more formal than i'm used to).  and a spring jacket.  scored!  got some cute stuff at all the british shops in the mall that beckie knows about.  (she has great taste, and totally nailed mine).  we went to a mall near my apartment, a HUGE 8-story monstrosity that had everything.  it was kind of nice to be wandering around amongst l'occitane, marks and spencer, topshop, banana republic, the gap...all shops that i am familiar with and remind me of home.  it felt good to feel "normal".  a cute leather jacket, and 4 tops later, we stopped for coffee and a snack before heading to the circus!

the circus.  what can i say.  it was the circus!  just like when i was a kid (or i imagined it would be, i can't actually remember if i ever went as a kid!).  some of the acrobatic acts were incredible.  and there were some amazing animal acts, but i wasn't sure whether to applaud or not...whether the elephants were really having fun standing on one leg while swinging hula-hoops around their trunks.  the trainer seemed to be very affectionate with them, giving them pats and kisses, but still.  and then there were the dogs that took turns jumping onto a horse's back as the horse ran around the ring with a bobbing plumbe of feathers on it's head.  kinda sad.  but 30 of us went to say we did it - we went to the circus in moscow, one of the world's most renown circus cities.

then it was the birthday of a russian colleague of mine, irina (the one who directed the flash mob videos), so anne and i went to her apartment for a house party on sat night.  that was great.  also nice to feel normal, going to a house party.  most of her friends spoke english, and we got to know more local folks in the arts world.  hopefully she will have more parties!

today gerri and i braved the wind and chill (no more spring today...) to go to ismailova park, where there is a HUGE tourist market.  matrushka dolls for days.  and pretty much anything else you could want that is remotely russian, including old soviet paraphernalia.  crazy.  so we were good tourists and bought things.  and then warmed up in an uzbeki cafe nearby.  i swear i could not even begin to tell you what uzbeki, or georgian, or azherbaijani cuisine was 3 months ago.  now i've had all three, multiple times.  they are staples of the restaurant scene here.  lots of bread, kebabs, cabbage, cucumbers, cold soups with sour cream and yogurt.  actually quite tasty, especially the puffed breads with sesame seeds. yumm.

was a good weekend.  finally felt relaxed, and as i said "normal."  unfortunate that it took a trip to the mall to do so, but somehow that doesn't really matter right now.  i had needs, was able to fulfill them successfully, and now i will be able to look cute and stylish on the streets of moscow.  maybe next weekend i'll go after shoes...  :)

here are some pics from the weekend:

my health insurance card!  all in russian, of course.  but i have enough knowledge of cyrillic to know that is my name on the bottom of the card.  hopefully i will never have to use it!

look, no snow!!!  this is the park near my house!!  it looks totally different all thawed out!

bowling night!  as an "integration activity" to get to know our russian colleagues. super successful and super fun.

some bedtime reading.

the mega-mall!!  see, 8 floors or something.  and TONS of advertising.  

in this mall, you can't drink, roller-blade, eat ice cream, bring your dog, use your gun, or bring your luggage.  as an american i'm outraged.  how am i supposed to relax and enjoy myself without ice cream and my gun?!?

pre-game at the circus.  they bring a select few animals into the lobbies so you can pay to take their picture with them.  this dad is really proud of his son holding the elephant's trunk.

boy and monkey.  which is which??

family and dog/cat/rabbit/sad kid/sleepy dog.

cheetah.  no on wants photos with the big cat.  i wonder why?

the elephants on display!

the market!!  see, matrushka dolls for days...

and days...

tablecloth from the uzbeki restaurant.

soviet-era sculpture in the metro station by the market.  and they say we are obsessed with guns.  i've seen more sculptures of people holding guns here than i have ever seen in america.

gerri bought a matrushka set of russian leaders (lenin, stalin, yeltsin, putin, and mevedev)

i bought american democrat leaders! (obama, clinton, carter, johnson, kennedy)

and i bought a traditional set, all painted with traditional russian village-life scenes.

me and my new russian hat drinking out of my new soviet-era mug.

another pic of the uzbeki cafe.

i got it!  my silver-fox fur hat.  i'm legit now.

Around the Neighb

learning to make my way around the neighborhood.  shortcuts to work (there aren't any, really), best grocery stores (the big one by work...and there is a fancy one a few blocks away...like Dean and Deluca...tasty!), good after-work drinks place (cafe michelle).  have had a couple of russian language lessons, too!  i can say "my cat"  "my friend"  "my house".  and a few other workplace greetings and things.  little by little!

they say pictures are most fun, so here are some pics from around the neighborhood!

the largest of the seven sisters buildings...this is across the river from my apartment block.  it also houses the radisson hotel.  it is gorgeous at nearly all times of day!

wine at cafe michelle.  they aren't generous with the pours, but we still like it.

an attempt at english...this is outiside a bank near my apartment building, indicating the line beyond which you cannot park.

the seven sisters from outside my building door at dusk.

in the foyer of my building!  i can't wait to meet the owner.

on the bridge over the river near my apartment.

from the bridge...the ice is melting!!  spring is actually arriving!  this is from saturday, when i went for a jog along the river.  it was the first really beautiful warm-ish day.  lots of people were out, it's like we all came out of the woodwork, out from hibernation!  and the sport of choice: rollerblading.  too bad i got rid of my skates 10 years ago!

another view from the bridge.

a couple enjoying a view of the river.

sun setting behind the commercial center of moscow...west and south of me.

cookies!!  my first attempt at baking in moscow!!  very successful!  peanut butter chocolate chip.  i used peanut butter that was sent from the states, and chocolate shavings from the choc shop in zurich.  no real "brown" sugar, but we made do!  oh, and powdered vanilla.  but it worked!  the office lapped them up.  and it's good to know i can have a little taste of home when i need it.

Redemption at Red October

after my defeat at the ashan on saturday, i was determined to have a good day out.  had tried to organize a brunch, but everyone bailed.  so i decided i was on my own.  i went out to see the Church of Christ the Savior.  HUGE orthodox church in the center of town.  raized to the ground by stalin, but rebuilt in the 90's by the mayor of moscow at the time.  it's gorgeous - the mother ship of the orthodox churches.  also where, because of that, i think, pussy riot performed and subsequently were jailed because of their performance in that church.  i could see why.  it's an intense place, very special to muscovites.  a symbol of the freedom of religion again after the soviet period.  but also, a HUGE symbol of the tight-knit relations between putin/government and the church, and the strong patriarchal society of russia.  two things that are worth protesting i think.  anyway, so i visited that church and was stunned by it's beauty, and it's power.  and then i walked across a pedestrian bridge to an island in the river where the old Red October chocolate factory still stands.  tho it no longer produces chocolate.  now it is home to all the latest and chic-est design firms and galleries.  also some digital and film production companies.  and the lumiere brothers photography center.  so i buried myself in art (once i could actually find the way inside the bloody thing - stores are sometimes not well-marked...you just gotta yank on some doors sometimes!).  here are some pics from my day of redemption:

cool-looking building near Christ the Savior Church

Christ the Savior Church.  It's an incredibly beautiful building.  And the inside is even more stunning.

Across the river from the church there is a gaudy sculpture of Peter the Great by Zurab Tseretelli, a Georgian sculptor.  He made an impressive, and in many ways, quite beautiful totem sculpture using the georgian alphabet in another part of town, but everyone hates this one.

funky yet useless former b-ball backboard inside the red october complex.

photo of airplanes in star formation from soviet-era photo journalist jacob rumkin.  

parachute parade photo by rumkin.

wierd art.  from an installation by a german "extreme artist."  i thought this was funny cuz it was an advertisement for sting and jennifer beal in the rocky horror picture show!  in german!

on the steps up to the "digital october" center they have key dates in the history of computer technology development.

more wierd art from the same german art installation.

fun doorway in the red october complex (we didn't try to open this one)

locks on the pedestrian bridge.  the story goes that newlyweds place them there as a symbol of their commitment to one another.

tired doggy at red october.

the red october complex.  pretty cool place - will be rockin' in the summertime!

so i felt a bit better on sunday.  just want it to warm up soon!!!  hopefully in may.