Adventures in Moscow: May 2005

banya, banya, banzai!

I'll tell you what...I could have yelled banzai(!) real loud when that banya burned my bum(it still hurts)...but there were a bunch of Russians present and I don't think they would have understood...

Muscovite mauling...

Sorry for my silence this week...back to bureaucracy... I've dropped out of my classes and started staying with a professor and taking private instruction. As my money had not come through yet I wasn't able to pay the program so they were starting to get very annoyed. I was getting annoyed as well...classes were pretty much terrible. So I'm afraid I probably won't be able to post sweet pictures anymore...unless if I can find a wireless internet cafe or something (which I will soon be looking into). But I will have access to the blog and will try to post writings as often as possible.

So I had quite the experience moving out of the dorm... I knew that the security would say something to me leaving with all my stuff but I didn't think it would be a big deal, that I might just say they were some of my friends things or something... But I head towards the exit and one stops me and starts asking me about my bag or something, I didn't understand everything. So I eventually make out that he wants a propusk (pass) for my bag. So I'm thinking they aren't going to let me take my bag out of the dorm... He tells me to go to an office to get a pass...So I wait wait impatiently at the elevator praying to St. Nicholas for deliverance... so I go there and it's a housecleaning lady and she starts asking me stuff (I act somewhat dumb even though I know generally what she's asking me). I tell her that I'm moving out because I don't have any money, and she asks if I'm leaving the country but I don't really answer her (try to play it safe or something). She calls up to my floor to the administrator so I have to go up and see her...She asks some of the same stuff and so I tell her I have to stay with friends because I don't have any money (that seemed to explain everything to her)... So... she has to go inspect my room (make sure I didn't steal any fine bedsheets or particle board furniture) ... So I had put my keys over the door after locking it because I thought my suitemate was gone and knew he wouldn't be happy if I didn't lock the door... I tried to communicate that to her so she starts banging on the door...and thankfully my suitemate turned out to be home and he opened the door. So she looked everything over...she thought there was a little nighstand gone and asked about it...but thankfully gave up...So we went back to her office and she filled out a little propusk and sent me on my way with a smile and a wish for good luck...

That is all for now...

As you can see they need to put up lots of fence to keep the monks in....I kid, I kid...it's for keeping people like me out...

Entrance to St. Silouan

Sun setting over tower

St. Silouan Podvorye of St. Panteleimon-Mt. Athos

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St. Martina tower

St. Martina

self explanatory

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вход

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Perty Church

Another shot

Church under construction

I've tried photographing this ad several times and it looks like this is the best you'll get...it says сигарета душит тебя...quite the truism...

St. Nicholas Church (not totally sure but chances are good-about every other Church is named St. Nicholas)

Church tower

Pretty domes...

Shrine on wall of Church

Window of a Church...

Treatise 58: On lemonade...

So...at this restaurant, a certain Il Patio (owned by the same company as TGIF) we ordered a pitcher of "Homemade lemonade". What we received turned out to be mineral water with lemon juice... On the same note... I ordered a "chocolate milkshake" as I had been craving ice cream. This concoction turned out to be some sort of cocoa powdering in something resembling water (probably was some sort of milk product, however). While the Russians have taken the canned mixed drinks and ran with them they seemed to have dropped the ball on our non-alchoholic drinks...