Now officially a Muscovite...

 

It was time to say goodbye to the countryside and run away to Moscow. Goodbye, Buska!

Hello Kutuzosky Prospect!

 

What I wouldn't give to be a part of their clique...

 On one of my walks I accidentily came across a milk festival. It was the most free samples of milk products I've ever consumed in my entire life. I could have walked around there all day eating and smiling, but it started pouring rain and I guess I was getting pretty full.

 

It made sense to me at the time to take the picture this way. I think I was trying to make a statement about globalization. Look at Red Square in the background. Pretty!

 

The Moscow River... and the ever ominous sky

 

The door to the one room apartment in which I currently reside with Natasha (crazy canadian Jay's wife), her two babies, her aunt, and the 2 Moldovian nannies. One room, seven people. CCCP style (?)

 

Andrew Sgueglia was at the Jao Da

 Marta and I during the wonderful stroll she took me on. This is us modeling at the beautiful Tsarina park.

 

I recognized this man right away on Starry Arbat (Thanks Petey Mac!). Had the pleasure of accompanying him while he played that positively mystifying instrument. I've never heard anything quite like the sound it makes. Had to buy an autographed CD.

 

Justina, the 3 year old who I sometimes try to teach English in exchange for shelter, and Tanya, her nanny.

 

One of Stalin's sisters

I'm in the process of trying to become a kindergarten teacher at the British school on Leninsky Prospect. I will let you know when I know for sure what my plans are, but I'm trying to get an apartment and live here for at least a year. I'm making a lot of new friends all the time.

Whatdayawant, some pictures or somethin?!

Natalia gave me a nice short little haircut, but then I had to burn the extra hair (sorry Tom) because if it ends up in a bad place, like if a witch finds it and makes a voodoo doll of me, there could be some harsh consequences. Unfortunately, my American hair is too strong to burn. We buried it in the yard instead. This is me being all illumnati with a piece of irredescent metal I found at one of the abandoned houses. Pretty!

 St. Basil's Cathedral... a sight for sore eyes after a long flight from JFK.

 Beautiful sunset at the close of the Harvest Festival at the Polyana

 Me and my injured ankle... its fine now! Just tooka  little spill when I was exploring on my bike is all... it didn't hurt at the time but then I danced all night on it and it got pretty bad. I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to do the folk line dancing. It's basically dancing meets a game meets speed dating. Every man dances with every woman, but you are constantly reunited with your partner. Good for couples and swingin' singles alike! Fun!

Some familiar faces, no? Tania, Vasya, and Kolya.

Single rainbow partially across the sky

 

 The old church! It's abandoned now, and there's no police in Blagodat' so you know what that means! No need to write letters to get me out of jail! I can explore to my little heart's desire. I found out Partner in Crime Peter also had a little looksie at this place... no surprise there. Buska the dog follows me everywhere even though I don't live at her house anymore. She also checked out the building with me and a certain Volodya. Not Vova, though I adore Vova and his wife Olga too! Everyone here has the same 5 names. Olga, Tania, Vladimir, Andre, or Nadia.

Galya and me and a Pereslavl' pond.

 On a walk through the woods alone in the evening, I started collecting wildflowers. The path kept going and going and going and I had no clue when it was going to end but something told me to keep following it. I couldn't turn back! In my psychotic mind, I convinced myself the end of the road would surely lead me to Baba Yaga's house, and I became very glad that I had the bouquet with me to give her as a gift. But alas, it got too dark to continue on and the bugs began to bite so I turned around. It is still a mystery whether or not Baba waits for me at the end....

 The church at the Pereslavl' art museum. I bought a keychain that seems to have an image from the same exact angle as the one that can be seen from up in the bell tower. See? two churches! One photo!

 My Moscow friends Igor and Marta and I makin' clay pots outta mud. This was one of my favorite days. Awesome hilarious people.

 Me and Katya! She has bought land in Blagodat' and is just starting to build her own house there with her friend. She wants to open up the first school here. And she showed me all kinds of wild flowers that grow around here you can use for tea :) We became friends so quickly! Hope to see her again when she returns from Moscow....

 

Me on the roof outside my room at Galya's

Andddd the inside of my room and the kitchen:

The line dancing I mentioned.... great entertainment! Oleg played the accordian the whole time we danced. He knows a LOT of folk songs.

 

Alesya, my wonderful first host, outside the bania.

 

Listening to songs around the fire

 

Sunset in the Russian countryside...

 ГУМ, the oldest mall in Russia as I understand?

 

A painter painting another church in Pereslavl'. Again, two churches in one picture. Recursion?!

And one last thing. I had no idea how much Russians ACTUALLY eat borsht, but as it turns out, its all the time!

Aw man I just wrote a long post and the Internet went out.

Basically, what I like about this place is: fresh goat's milk every day (I milked Korotka the goat twice already), fresh eggs from our chickens, fresh vegetables, fresh honey, really really healthy food all the time. Everything smells amazing, like hay and flowers. I get up around 8am, go to sleep around 10pm. Everyone I meet is friendly and interesting. Everyone here sings, and most people have some kind of art they are really good at. Painting or sculpting, etc. The people are youthful and glowing with health.

I met a bunch of young people randomly when I was hanging around the playground.

Professor Tittler, you HAVE to move here. You would fit in perfectly with the people here, they remind me of you. A friend, Julia, gave me gooseberries and I thought of you.

I visited the ancient city of Pereslavl'-Zalessky where Alexander Nevsky was born.

On Monday I am going to go to the children's camp nearby because they are only allowed to speak English that day so I am going to help.

I have met 2 people in this teeny tiny village of friends who speak English, and sometimes it's hard when I don't understand what people are saying in Russian, but most of the time it is easy to have interesting conversations with everyone. I had one choir rehearsal. We are singing a lot of folk songs in the choir, very exciting!

I still don't know how to post pictures. Peter, I met Vova. Didn't get to hang out much yet but I'm sure we will!

I am finally here!

Privyet! I am here in Blagodat' and I absolutely love it. I arrived Saturday in Moscow after a great flight with my new friend Ilya, and in Moscow I received a personal tour of the city from Viktor, who picked me up at the airport. I was tired and jetlagged, but Viktor was pretty intent on showing me absolutely everything, from riding the ski lift to get a good view of the Moscow river, to seeing Red Square (St. Basil's Cathedral was even more beautiful than I had hoped!), to the pond they mention in Master and Margharita, to Bolshoi Theatre and DUMA, and we finally ended by taking a boat tour. Viktor's mother made us blini (pancakes) and borsht, a genuine Russian meal. It was very nice of them to host me in their Moscow apartment for the night. It's true what they say about Russian hospitality. My American phone doesn't work here (I thought it would, not alas no) so Viktor just gave me his to borrow for 2 months! I have my own sim card. Viktor speaks English well, but they don't speak very much English at all where I am now, which is fine! I am learning at a rapid pace! (I like to think).

I took the bus yesterday to Pereslavl'-Zalesski, where Alesya and her son Vasya picked me up. They are friends of Galina and will be hosting me until August 11th when Galina returns from France. I am not sure which things to write about because so much has happened since I got here that I am finding significant. I have already filled up over 15 pages in my personal diary. But the rural country is a beautiful place right now. These people are so nice. We are able to communicate very well, as they speak more slowly than people in Moscow do, but when I don't understand something they do a very good job of explaining it for me. When I got to their home last night, we drank tea and then sat singing folk songs while Alesya and Vasya played guitar before going to bed at 9pm. Their home is lovely-- they built it themselves out of wood and some clay. There is no running water, which I have always wanted to experience. They use rain water to wash the dishes. They also have two dogs, one is a collie: Lusya and Busya. I have my own room upstairs, it's very comfortable. And the air everywhere smells so good and fresh. I love being so close to nature. Today Vasya and I collected branches outside for the cows to eat in the winter when there is no more grass, and Alesya and I went swimming in the pond on their land. I am really having a blast. I am so glad to be here. Tonight we are going to Julia's, a friend of theirs. I hope to meet all the neighbors!

My final post

This will be my last contribution to BLOG-одать 2011. I have returned home to deal with affairs that are closer than anything to my heart and soul. I left Russia with a head full of new ideas, perspectives, and goals. This trip was hard for me everyday but I will miss every bit of it. It has opened a whole world for me. I have new friends to stay in touch with who will help me practice my Russian. I have new ideas about how to spend my energies while they last. I have new appreciation for where I come from and what it means to me. There is much I still don't know or understand about not only myself but humanity in general. I think I expected to gain some kind of unalterable wisdom and elevation from this adventure into the unknown. Yet, I have more often been only disappointed by my own weaknesses, the absence of clarity in my head. I know now how much I have yet to do and learn; how much effort and pain it takes to understand one's self beyond a superficial level. I not only want to but need to keep exploring the planet, humanity. I need to do this whether or not my head is ever clear. The smoke may never disappear, but someday it will settle into a calm mist over green grass and I will have happy memories.

The best of luck to Nuala as she tackles this most elusive of places. Her adventures in the land of the Rus' will bare beautiful fruit. I eagerly await hearing about them. Much love to all. Thanks for the support. I thought of every one of you.

And now some pics before I sign off:

The Russkies finally let me cook a bit. Eggs and onions over the outdoor pechka.

Cooling off in the prood (pond) after my first hop in the banya. As you can tell from my expression I am feeling rather unique. A bit like a new born and only slightly less confused.

After four banya rotations we sat down to a fine Russian dinner. Mushroom soup, black bread, vodka toasts. Oora! It was all a bit too much for the American at first but after pacing myself a bit I jumped back in there going shot for shot with the Russkies.

This picture is proof of that.

Vova, Kolya (the owner), and I sporting our banya sweats and dress. In between our intense blasts in the bath we came out and drank tea, ate sooshky (little biscuity things), and candy. I managed to communicate well enough to learn that Kolya has done some sick bike tours in Russia and Asia. He made his own panniers and did some work on his bike at high altitudes. A hard dude. Sorry for the lack of chronological order.

An impromptu day in Moscow

This cheloveck was chilling hard on the Arbat. Vova has seen him before and says he made that instrument by hand. His own design. It has an incredibly ambient sound, one that transcends human classifications of time and history. Just straight up music. If I could pick any sound for the Arbat it would be this thing. It fit that street like a glove.













This dude again... dig it













Vova, Anton, and I in front of Kievsky Vokzal (station). Beautiful day.













Decided to come to Moscow to get away from the mosquitos, take a shower, see the doc about my ailing stomach, and maintain in general. Vova and I hitched a ride with a friend and spent today walking all over the city. We checked out a couple memorials and saw such famous Moscow sites as Patriarch's Pond, and the Arbat (Bulgakov shout out). We met Vova's best friend in Moscow (Anton, a smashing chap) after enjoying the serenades of Moscow's finest street musicians and dope smokers. The World Press 2011 photography contest is displayed in Moscow until the 10th of July so we hit that up and got a nice dose of perspective. The general atmosphere in the gallery, with people viewing some 40 odd photos consisting of every tragedy befallen to mankind in the past 12 months, was of repentance for petty worries and muddled reactions to events none of us could truly understand. But... maybe I am just projecting. I found it hard to keep my jaw not dropped. A beautiful collection of photographs, I recommend them. After the exhibition we strolled down the starry (old) Arbat and took in the Moscow mid afternoon. That street reminded my of Ithaca. It is an attraction for tourists while also being a center for sub-cultures in Moscow. Cool to see. Tonight we are chilling, eating, interneting. My mind is cloudy so whoever can tell and cares will have to not care so much for a bit. Enjoy the pics!

P.S. didn't have a camera most of the day so forgive the lack of diversity with the pics.

and why not a couple more pics?

Helped a friend with his bees last night. So fun! The local bees are a very mean variety. I didn't get stung but my host got a little more than he wanted. I manned the smoke thingy, awesome experience. Maybe someday I will have some bees. The local raw honey is unbeatable.





Helping Vova build an outdoor stove for his mama. A little skin shot for the calendar (lawlz).







After working on the house we had a feast in a yurt. All gathered around talking merrily (and quickly). I just tried to not look as tired as I was. Delicious food and atmosphere. Everything with sour cream. Told the hostess a bit about your yurt aunt Christy. It is her dream to live in one. Although I am sure the house we built for her is nice too.