Settling In

I'm settling in fairly well now. I've got a fairly good routine going on with work and such. I had Thursday off from work, so I went out to Red Square and took some touristy photos and what not. It's still a beautiful place, but it loses some of its allure after the first time (I'm such a jaded, experienced world traveler). The photos are mediocre at best because my camera is some what temperamental and mostly broken thanks to a certain Katerine Muto who shall remain nameless.

I finished my first project at work. Every six months we (Dom Druzei or Friends House Moscow depending on your language of choice) produces a newsletter to be sent out to potential donors. I had to translate and produce a synopsis of a long report on the groups work setting up school reconciliation services in Moscow and Kazan. I was able to follow most of the report in Russian, however I have no vocabulary in relation to peer mediation work. That should come quickly though, and google has a fairly good online translator for words I don't get. As a form of shameless self promotion I'll probably have the report up on here as a link or something so that any interested parties can read it. Maybe squeeze some donations out of you guys!

A story for Colby students...if any of you are actually reading this. On Red Square there is a place called Lobnoe Mesto (translates to Forehead Place...its where the tsar's beheaded important people). Its a large round, raised stone area but the entrance is fenced off. Inside the area is a large circular stone in the middle, with about a foot wide circle cut out of the middle of it. It's considered good luck to throw coins in there and great luck if you get it in the middle circle. So I watch some people throw coins and have a great idea. I walk up to the fence, pull out my five ruble piece, tap it twice on the top of the fence, and give my coin a back hand, overhand toss at least as high as it was tall. All of the Russians stare in amazement as I sink it perfectly in the middle. A man offered me a hundred rubles to do it again. I laughed, pulled out a two ruble piece and repeated the procedure, sinking the coin in the hole again. Shocked, he asked how I did it. I responed "Its way bigger than a solo cup." I refused the man's money...its too easy being a Colby kid.

I would be lying if I said I didn't miss home a bit, but I'm getting used to the flow of things here. I found out yesterday when I went out running that my house is quite close to the Moscow River. There is a great path along the river which I can run on, and a great hill to run up. I try my best to avoid the drunk Russian who tend to picnic along the river because my Russian isn't quite good enough to translate drunk-toothless-Russian just yet (think of a foreign kid coming to America and trying to translate for Larry the Cableguy...its a recipe for disaster.) I'm going bring my camera up there at sunset at one point because the view of the city and the river is spectacular. Makes running just a little more bearable for a fat kid.

My landlady is much nicer now. I guess Russians are just naturally suspicious people, so I had to deal with the breaking in period. Now she makes me tea when ever I come home and tells me stories. The communications isn't always perfect but we get our points across most of the time. That of course wasn't the case yesterday when I made myself a protein shake. Not only did I get a lecture about how steroids are going to kill me by forty, but I also went back into the kitchen to find her eating some of the protein powder. She told me not only is it bad for me, it tastes bad. Some times all you can do it laugh.

(Pictures are, from top: St Basil's Cathedral, Kremlin Entrance(the star on top is bigger than a car), the plaque on Lobnoe Mesto, GUM the worlds best mall, and a drunk guys passed out in the trash out side of the McDonalds on Red Square)

From Russia with love,
-Kрейг