Home Sweet Soviet Home

August 13, 2008. Moscow, Russia.

I made it! It was a pain in the ass getting here, but I finally made it. Why was it so bad? Well, not to get into too much detail, but my bag was overweight in the Lake Charles airport (meaning I had to carry some of my clothes by hand the entire trip). I got lost in London’s Heathrow Airport for 2 hours trying to find my gate. I couldn’t even understand the Brits when giving me directions! “Great,” I thought to myself, “If I can’t even understand another English accent how the hell am I going to understand Russian?!?!” To add icing on the cake, I couldn’t sleep on any of the flights. When I finally arrived in Moscow, I was exhausted. Luckily, after waiting an hour for my bag, my roommate, Valeria, was waiting for me right outside customs. Although we had never met, it was easy for her to recognize me since I was perhaps the only confused American in the entire place. Valeria, who is from the southern Russia in a region called Osetia (which I’m sure you have been hearing a lot about on the news recently), guided me through the bus terminals and metro until we reached my home sweet home. (Bottom picture: My room. And the bed? The couch folds out, but I didn't know that until a few days ago...)

I started work immediately the next day- yes, still jet lagged and still exhausted. However, I only had a few classes last week since I am new to the school and since August is the vacation month here in Russia (meaning half the city is out of town). Therefore, I had a lot of time to explore the city and get to know my neighborhood a little better. My apartment is about 1 hour southwest of the Kremlin (which is the very center of Moscow). While this may seem like a long commute, it’s not; especially considering Moscow’s horrendous traffic problem. It is also nice being away from the dead center of the city because I get to experience the average Muscovite life. (Bottom picture: My building)

You can tell that my neighborhood was developed sometime in the Soviet era- all the apartment buildings are the same height, have the same blocky architectural design and are aligned perfectly in rows. Ah, the joys of centralized state planning. It’s not the prettiest sight, but I must admit, I do feel a sense of community here. In between all the apartments are playgrounds, benches, soccer fields and sport courts. On nice days, everyone conjugates with their kids to chat, read and/or play games. There are also neighborhood markets where you can buy fresh cheese, milk, bread, meats, grain and, of course, large bottles of alcohol. If you follow the main road in front of our building for two blocks, you’ll run into an outdoor market that sells everything from electronics, fruits, and clothes. There are also a few cafes and other restaurants in the area, including a McDonalds. I guess Capitalism found its way into this Soviet designed neighborhood faster than I did! I wonder what Stalin and Lenin would think of the golden arches towering over a perfect centralized planned communist neighborhood. Hm? (Bottom picture: My neighborhood)

Although I have only been here for 10 days, much has happened: One of Russia’s most famous writers- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, has died; a war has broken out in South Osetia between Russia and Georgia; and Russians swim, jump and run for Gold Medals in Beijing. As you can see, there’s a lot going on in the media. While these do affect my experience here greatly, my personal 10 days here have been engulfed by getting over jet-lag, exploring my neighborhood/downtown Moscow, learning enough Russian to survive and teaching English. Don’t worry though; I will definitely make sure to talk about all the current events taking place in my upcoming blogs. I’ll be back with descriptions on the war’s effect on society, Russian stereo-types vs. reality and some photos/descriptions of the famous sights around the city. Paka! (Bottom picture: The community park right in front of my room)