Moscow in the Spring...and EUROVISION!

spring has hit with massive enthusiasm here in moscow!  the temp has been hovering between 25-30 degrees every day.  sunny and gorgeous.  a few rain showers here and there, but they only help the cause.  it is incredibly lush now.  a COMPLETELY different city.  like spring anywhere, but it is especially dramatic here because it did happen so fast, seemingly overnight.  and we were longing for it.  was a particularly long and dreadful winter here this year i'm told.  lucky us!  here are some pics to show you the dramatic comparison:

this is the view out of our office windows.  the top one was less than 8 weeks ago.  the below one was just the other day.

some photos of the park near my apartment.  it is a sunny, beautiful place now, full of families and laughing children.  

i think the difference is exacerbated by our preconceived ideas of moscow being a cold, forboding place where there is no joy.  the joy is different here, i truly believe that.  but it is there.  the sun shines here and brightens this world just as much as anywhere else.  it's just a bit harder to see through the bureaucracy, fear of the government and fear of the unknown and under the control of an extremely strict and conservative religion.  a couple of days ago on the International Day Against Homophobia, gay rights advocates tried to stage a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia.  they were attacked by crowds throwing stones and many say the attacks were led by orthodox priests.  charges have yet to be pressed which shows how much influence the church has over the government...the city government is too scared to do anything or question the attacks.  it is true they tried to protect the ralliers and get them out of harm's way, but that is about it.  there is a great article in today's NY Times (ny times article).  and this coming weekend in moscow there is a planned gay rights rally.  however, it will be done illegally as the organizers have been turned down three times when trying to get permits from the government.  there is always a reason as to why they can't hold a rally.  so they are going to hold it anyway.  you can read more on www.themoscowtimes.com.  and we were issued a memo at work today warning against being around the rally for fear of violence and arrests that will likely happen, which is what historically happens at gay rights rallies here in russia.  i have an argument inside myself about this.  on the one hand, i am very supportive of the rally.  on the other, i will likely putting myself and my work at risk by attending.  which is ultimately what needs to be happening here in order for things to change.  at the end of the day, it is up to the russians themselves to change their society.  they know the rest of the world is much more tolerant, and in many places quite supportive of this issue.  but opinions here are very much driven by religion (as in many parts of the world) and orthodoxy has a strong influence (some might say stranglehold) on government (and thus many people) here.  i have nothing against religion (well, most religion).  but i do have something against people who try to tell me how to think and who are prejudiced (and violently so) against others.  but we have to believe that the younger generation here will do a lot to move things forward.  but it will be a long battle yet.  

on a somewhat different note...this past weekend was EUROVISION!!!  this is the amazing singing competition between every nation in europe...and israel.  each country submits a performance and each performance is judged by television viewers and judges in every other country.  it takes place over one week...2 semi-final rounds then the final round of 26 countries is broadcast live from the host nation.  (the country that won the contest the year prior hosts the current year's contest).  it is absolutely incredible.  here is a link to this year's winner from denmark:  eurovision 2013 winner.

and here is the incredible performance from romania (to show you how crazy-campy this show is): eurovision 2013 romania.  

anyway, some of our colleagues in the tech department hosted a party to watch the live final. however it was more than just a party.  we were each assigned a country from the finals.  we had to dress up in the spirit of that country.  and we had to bring food native to that country.  and we only had 24 hours to put this all together, cuz the final list is only published a day before the finale.  it was madness!  i was finland, along with one of my russian colleagues.  i had not met her yet, so this was a fab way to get to know her!  nastaya had the brilliant idea to dress up like finnish heavy metal rockers.  much easier than the native scandinavian dress!  and i brought a dessert of frozen cranberries with a white chocolate glaze.  and we brought finlandia vodka, of course!  so while the contest was going on, we did our own judging, and rated each country on the song, the costume, the camp-factor, and the performance overall.    in our contest, i think greece won.  here is a link to their performance: eurovision 2013 greece.  followed closely by azerbaijan: eurovision 2013 azerbaijian.  watching these links are worth it, i'm telling you.  pretty incredible stuff.  if you want more, check out maldova and ireland, too.

anyway, here are pics from the party:

this is nastaya and i by the tv for finland's performance of marry me.  i think our group voted major points to finland just for the ending.  rather shocking for the russians in the room.

this is rebekah and andrew who were supporting, um, russia...duh.

this is andy, who bought a child's traditional belarussian outfit and pinned it to himself.

luke as germany (he made his go-pro harness into lederhosen!!), shannon went out and bought a traditional georgian outfit, and nathan as an ikea employee (ie sweden).

zirka in the colors of hungary and di as france.

julie-ann as great brittain (i still don't understand her outfit) and sasha as a romanian prostitute.

tom as estonia (with a wooden horse?) and dan and ross as ukraine (in ukraine's song, a HUGE giant in greek dress carries out the beautiful lady singer who is wearing a white dress...so they copied that...in their own way)

and here is russia's performance, which is pretty ironic considering my above paragraph about intolerance: eurovision 2013 russia.  it's a fantastic lesson.  what if indeed.