I’m Baaaaaaaaaack
I am once again in the Motherland! For those of you who don’t know, I am in Moscow this spring for an internship, sort of as a capstone project for my degree. During work hours, I will be at the PIR Center contributing to a project on Russian-American cooperation in nuclear policy. I’m very excited to be working on this here in Russia, where I will have much greater access to Russian opinions and viewpoints on the topic than I would in the States. If last week, my first, is any indication, this is going to be a busy 4 months but very rewarding due to some intelligent coworkers and fantastic location.
Some of the highlights from my week:
Moved into my apartment: After some intense housing hunting, I finally got a “the room is yours!” from a friend of a friend of a friend (literally). My roommate’s name is Masha, she was born and raised in Moscow, she’s about my age, and she has started going back to school while working full time. While we don’t see a whole lot of each other because we each have busy schedules, we enjoy each other’s company when we’re both around. I’m not sure what I have done to deserve such good luck with roommates over the years, but I’m very thankful. The one downside to this apartment – Masha is having the kitchen remodeled starting next week, so we have a microwave and steamer to cook with until it’s done, which will be in 2-3 weeks. However, I have some wonderful friends out there who have sent me links to microwave cooking recipes, so I’m actually looking forward to the challenge (check back in a few weeks and see how I feel then…).
Bathrooms at work: Oh so nice! By this I mean that the stalls have toilet seats and toilet paper, the sink has warm water and soap, and there are paper towels. I realize this seems trivial and almost (or completely) funny to you, but if you have ever been to Russia, you understand my enthusiasm. Public restrooms come in all shapes and sizes, but most (all?) without TP, warm water, soap, or towels; in some places, it’s a porcelain hole in the ground. Even the universities in past trips have not had such nice setups. Moving up in the world!
Weather: Some of you have been sending me news articles about how cold and/or snowy this winter is for Moscow and for Russia in general. After the past week, I have concluded – there are two Moscows in Russia. That is the only explanation. Every day this past week, except last Tuesday, the temperature has hovered around 0C (32F) and my down jacket looks pathetically damp from walking with slush falling from the sky. So there must be two Moscows – the one in the news, and the one I live in.
Food: There’s this restaurant near work. It’s called (transliterated) “Moo-Moo” and has a cowprint background on the sign. I laugh every time I see it. And then I go inside, because the food is pretty good! It’s Russian cuisine, so lots of meat and potatoes and less veggies, but I like it. And I’ve been able to find some good-looking produce at the store to make up for that. Yay! Based on past experience, before coming, I was bracing myself for 4 months of so-so veggies, some good citrus, and plenty of meat/potatoes/oil. I’m so happy to say that I was wrong.
Space: Masha and I went to the Moscow Planetarium Saturday, and it was spectacular. As the short version of the story goes, the planetarium was the 4th such in the world when it was first opened in 1929, it was a part of the WWII war effort, but then fell into disrepair after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was finally renovated and updated, and re-opened to the general public a few years ago. It’s quite awesome. Masha and I took a guided tour of the Museum of Urania, which has a number of fantastic displays and models for teaching about our solar system (including all plaques in 4 languages – Russian, English, French, and Chinese). Then we went to the Grand Star Hall, where we got to watch a 45-minute show about stars, constellations, etc. If you’re ever in Moscow, I recommend swinging by!
Well, that is plenty for now (and hopefully not too much). Until next time, TTFN!
