Soup again (I am not kidding!) But food aside, my hosts are wonderful and gracious! I could not have asked for two nicer people to stay with.  Nadejda actually did a wash for me yesterday. And I found out that they dry clothes the same way we do in New Zealand.

Clothes dryer machine in my room

My typical day starts with a 30 minute trip on the Moscow Metro. It is incredible efficient, with trains arriving every 2-3 minutes. But the mornings trains during rush hour are very, very crowded. You do not have to hold onto the railing since it is often so packed, you can't fall down.

Since I am short, this is my view in the morning

. 

Today was interesting. After class I went to Red Square. It is only one Metro stop away. It is everything you imagine when you think of Russia.

To enter Red Square you need to go through the Resurrection Gates.

These gates were actually rebuilt in the 1990's. The originals, built in the 1600's, were torn down by Stalin so tanks could enter Red Square. Note St. Basil's Cathedral through the right hand gate. 

Just before the gates is the spot which is supposed to be the "centre" of Russia. Traditionally, to have your wishes come true, you throw a coin over your left shoulder. Ten minutes later the coins are retrieved by children or elderly women.

Here is a woman demonstrating (but she is wasting her money because she is throwing it over the wrong shoulder!!!!!).

Red Square is the home to several Russian icons:

At one end of the square is St. Basil's Cathedral, originally built in the mid 1500's. Rumour has it that Czar Ivan IV blinded the architect so he could never create a more beautiful building. It was used by Napoleon's troops as a stable and was slated for demolition during Stalin's early years (but, for some reason, eventually spared).

Lenin's mausoleum is right in the middle of the square. If you look carefully, you can see the reflection of the huge GUM department store (see photo of GUM below). His preserved body lies inside and is open for public viewing (sorry, no photos are allowed). He looks very waxy. His body was removed and sent to Siberia in 1941 when it was feared that Moscow might fall to the Germans. I included a stock photo from the Internet of Lenin's body

Across from the Lenin's tomb is GUM (a huge mall, in what used to be an incredible

and beautiful department store). Formerly called Государственный универсальный магазин (Government Universal Store), it is now called Главный Универсальный Магазин (Main Universal Store). It is very expensive. There is a joke that a Russian went to Paris and bought a Russian made hat for $500. When he returned, his friend asked, "Why did you get the hat in Paris? You could have picked it at GUM for $1000". Russian humour.

GUM

Other things that I did today: I tried to get tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet, but they are not performing while I am in town :-(

This evening I went to see the movie, Magic in the Moonlight, which was dubbed into Russian. Theatres in Moscow are much the same as those in the U.S. and NZ, complete with a popcorn, candy and Coca Cola. Like NZ, seats are assigned.

Movie concession stand.

For those interested in my school:

My languages classes start at 10 am and typically go to 1:30. Then I start again at around 3:30 pm for another 2-3 hours.  The following is an unsolicited advertisement for my school:

If anyone is looking for a Russian language school right in the heart of Moscow (and I know many of my close friends and relatives are), with reasonable rates, which offers both small classes and individual lessons, RussianLab is a fantastic place. The directors and teachers are all very, very professional and competent. One of the directors actually met me at the airport and we took the express train into the heart of Moscow the evening I arrived. When you walk through the school's door for the first time, the teachers and students make you feel more like a friend than a student. It is an atmosphere fostered by the people who run the school. There is fresh brewed coffee available all day long, so I have been very happy here.

Elena, the managing director of the school.

 View of classrooms

The kitchen with a 

  the students who have also become friends

One of my teachers

One last note for today:

Finding good internet has been one of my missions in Russia. It has been one problem after another. Here is just one of a series of internet headaches for me:

I bought a T stick from Megafone, the largest provider of phone service, to plug into my computer.  It would not work on my Mac. I brought the stick and my computer to an Apple resale store and the salesman told me that Megafone sold me an incompatible modem. So I returned to Megafone and explained in my best Russian (which was not very easy) that the modem did not work. You would have thought that I came into the store and wanted their first borns. After several hours (I am not kidding...I left and came back a couple of times), I finally got my refund.

Tomorrow: School and a visit to the Tretyakov Gallery.

I am including two days here because the internet was down yesterday evening (what a surprise!)
Yesterday I had 3 hours of Russian lessons in the morning (a great way to start the day!!!) and then I was off to the gym. The gyms are really no different from U.S. or NZ gyms. Except for the device on the right. It is a coin operated tanning boothe in the men's locker room (1 minute for 20 rubbles.....about 60c). Some guy saw me take these shots and I think he thought I wanted naked photos of him. Enough said!

I had to ask these scarry Russian guys to spot me!

Just thought I would post this photo....manicurists are  EVERYWHERE. Here is a kiosk in the middle of the mall which had about twenty manicurists. I have to say that Russian women are incredibly well-dressed and take a real interest in their appearance. To generalise (and, hopefully, not to sound sexist),  they are very beautiful.

After a hearty dinner (below), I had cabin fever  so I decided to take the metro to the cinema which took about an hour. I was surprised to see a Russian bicycle share program and also saw signs that it was supposed to be a "car free day" in Moscow. However, there seemed to be just as much traffic as usual.  En route to the cinema, I passed the building below. It is classic Soviet architecture. I believe there are seven similar building scattered throughout Moscow. It was very imposing at night and very beautiful in its own way.

I spent

Sunday morning at Izmailovsky market. It was absolutely huge and

a treasure trove for souvenirs. They are also famous for their Kababs and I indulged. I also went on a souvenir buying frenzy and hope Arleigh wants to the house decorated in Matryoshka nesting dolls.

Even though it was Sunday, I had a Russian class from 3:30 until 7 in the evening.After my lesson I walked to the Arbatskaya Sqare which is a huge pedestrian mall, filled with people and street entertainers, even at 9 pm on Sunday night. I treated myself to dinner (could not face soup again).

Russian street performer

Then it was home and to bed. Here is a photo of my host family, Nadejda and her son, Andrei.

Tomorrow: Lenin's tomb, Red Square, and St. Basils Catherdral

I think I have found the perfect diet. It is called the Russian home stay plan. I know I am losing weight, but there is no scale here. Last night I was alone as my hosts (Natasha and her son, Andrei), went to their dacha overnight. I was left dinner which was a pot of canned soup, although there were these chicken nugget things thrown in. 

Dinner last night

Breakfast this morning

I am alone with their two Siamese cats whom I offered to feed (morning and evening) and I have to change their newspaper-lined kitty litter box shortly (Yech!).  Since their litter boxes are like bird cages, they need to be changed daily. Then I will be off to my class which goes from 10:30 until 2 with a 30 minute break.

To be clear, however, my hosts are really, really nice and welcoming and almost all of the Russians I have met have been friendly. The directors and teachers in my school have been fantastic

BTW, I hate Russian internet.

Yesterday after class I went to the Kremlin, specifically to the Armory Museum which was quite good. I paid 500 rubles extra (about $15) to see the “Diamond Fund” which is the Russian equivalent of the Crown Jewels of England. It was absolutely amazing. Display after display of diamonds over 200 carats, 100 huge gold nuggets, some as big as Rugby balls, most the size of cricket balls, a pure platinum nugget the size of a grapefruit (purportedly worth about 35 million USD) as well as other incredible jewels. 

Entrance to the Kremlin/The imperial crown of Catherine the Great, adorned with 4,936 diamonds.

Did I mention that I hate Russian internet? I am writing this document on my word program and will have to publish it once my internet server goes back online. I picture this 90 year old grumpy woman behind a desk who, for no reason, decides to turn off the system at the most inconvenient times. To outfox her, I bought a T-stick to give my computer G4 capability, but, as expected,  it also doesn’t work. There is a store that sells Apple computers near the gym and I will stop in to ask for help. If nothing else, it will give me practice with my Russian.

I actually found a gym that was closer to my school and one which is in a neighborhood where I do not feel I am risking my life. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find a gym that offers day, weekly, or monthly rates. This one, which is called Alex Gym, has a monthly rate with is not outrageous, but still pricey at about $130, but considerably less than the other gyms around. I checked one gym and, before going inside,  I had to put my foot in a machine that wrapped plastic around my shoes. 

My new gym is located in a posh mall about 4 metro stops away from RussianLab. The Moscow Metro system is both efficient and some of the stops look like museums. Each has a different theme. I will devote a blog just to the metro system when I run out of things to write about.

The mall where my gym is located

Moscow Metro

After class, I am going to work out (my trainer in NZ sent me an email this morning (below)  before the old lady turned things off IN RUSSIAN to check how my training was  going....how neat is that?).

обучение обновление

Inbox

x

Pete Mortimer	5:15 AM (3 hours ago)
to me

привет
как тренируется будет для вас в России ?

Will write more tomorrow and post (if the old lady is in a good mood)!

So it is my third day here and it was very busy. I got up early and took the metro to Китай Город which translates to "China City",  a metro stop close to the Kremlin. I was expecting a Chinatown, but it was typical Russian. This is where the large Jewish synagogue is located and, since it was Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, here I was. After getting oriented after exiting the Metro, I found the synagogue a few blocks away, located on a side street. Here is a photo I took on my way over.

Construction was started in the 1880's, but was stalled severel times due to anti-Jewish regulations. It actually had to be built outside, what was then,  the city limits.

I arrived at the start of services and was surprised that there were so few people there, but, as the service progressed, the synagogue filled up. It started as a typical orthodox service, difficult to follow. Women watched from the balcony above. Then, just before the torah reading, something unexpected happened. About 10 men walked to the bimah (alter)  and because singing beautiful choral music. I would have loved to have gotten photos and a recording. The prayer books were in Russian and Hebrew, with Russian transliteration of the Hebrew. When the time came for the Torah reading, several members got up from their seats and crowed around the bimah.

After morning services, which went well over 3 hours, I was a bad Jew and went back for afternoon Russian lessons. I had my first иниваидульный урок (private lesson) in the afternoon after a group lesson. For those who do not know, I have been taking Russian lessons in NZ for about 2 1/2 years which the greatest Russian teacher in the world, Tamara, who lives in Auckland and gives me lessons twice a week. She is a very,very talented teacher and a wonderful person. The teachers here are very impressed with the teaching I have received and placed me in an "advanced intermediate" group. So far, all the lessons have been great. The group lessons are all in small groups of around 4 people. They are not formal and are more like discussion groups (we discuss life, current events, etc) with the teacher there to lead the discussion, all the time teaching new words and correcting our grammar.
My conversational Russian is getting better each day. On the way home, Iwalked into a small vegetable market where I was waited on by the owner (I ordered nuts, grapes, oranges, and bananas) and I think I passed for a native (but probably not).

My life at my homestay has settled into a routine. Two boiled eggs for breakfast (now with a banana thrown in). Dinner is borscht every night (which, I have to admit is homemade and very good). Last night I also got a cucumber, a tomato, and three packaged cherry blini. No main dish.  My hosts asked me if it would be alright if they went to their dacha this weekend and left me alone to cook for myself. I told them, they should feel free. I am going to cook myself a feast (or, more likely, go out to a good restaurant).

 The US has made some great contributions to Russian culture and cuisine.

Going home on the Metro


Since it is technically tomorrow (my jet lagged self is up at 3:30 am writing this), today I plan to visit the Kremlin after my lessons and do some siteseeing. Then to the gym  and maybe go see a good Russian movie.  Some of the expats at the school have also talked about getting together in the evening.

My second day

Long day today. I left my apartment after a hardy breakfast of two soft boiled eggs, a banana, and a tasty cup of full-bodied instant Yuban coffee with ultrapasteurised milk. Then it was off on the Metro to my school for lessons that ran from 10am until 1:30 pm and again from 6:30 until 10pm. The lessons today were all small group (3-4 students) and all the other students are expats, many here for over three years on work assignments. I only met one American so far. Others are from an array of countries....Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Czech Republic, Finland). We talk to each other in our common language....Russian. I am still very jet-lagged (and my being up now at 4:30 am is not helping)

During my break I thought I would go to a gym. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I had 4 hours. The gym looked close on the map, but turned out to be over an hour away. Which was not good since I was almost late for my evening lesson.I took the metro and had to walk about 2 km and go through a somewhat rough looking neighborhood. I would have taken some photos, but I was afraid someone would take my phone away.

The gym was nothing special...much like any American or NZ gym except it was filled with Russians. I asked a Russian trainer to spot me who was pretty nice about it. He seemed a little suprised at the weights I was lifting. The receptionist wanted to keep my passport as a deposit for my locker key! I told her that I was a честный человек (an honest person) and she changed her mind. I am getting around very well with my Russian. I bought a Sim card, ordered Japanese Food, talked to a guard in the bank when my ATM card didn't work, and bought some fruit from a vendor.



Below are some  photos which might be interesting to my many, many friends and family who plan to come to Russia to study at my Russian school.

Tomorrow I will let you know what it is like to be a Jew on Rosh Hashana in Moscow. I will be attending the Jewish Choral Synagogue (the largest synagogue in Moscow) in the Morning.

 This is Elena, the manager of the school. She met me at the airport. A wonderful person!

 Another wonderful person, also named Elena. I think she is the school's director. She is a workaholic and is at the school from morning to late at night.

 Pretty walkway that I walk under on my way home to the metro.

 Random Metro pic

 Random Metro pic

 Russian improvised ramps to the Metro for wheelchairs! These are all over. I keep wondering what happens if the wheelchair pusher accidentally (or on purpose) lets go.

 24 hour flower shop. No doubt for Russian husbands who come home drunk at 3 am

24 hour pharmacy for hangover remedies

Sign near my apartment. Gastroenterologist is on the top, of course (followed by dentist, Paediatrician, Gynecologist, and Surgeon)

 Nadejda, my host, and two friends over for breakfast this morning.

 Front door of my school

 My school sign

Tea Room at the school, Elena,  and one of my teachers (standing)