One of the first things you’ll notice walking around Moscow on a chilly day is the amount of fur. Fur hats, gloves, scarves, and especially coats. Fur clothing is not only expensive, but also controversial in much of America and I was shocked at just how much of it I was seeing in public. A […]
During my last day in Moscow, I had the opportunity to go with Julia P. to an upscale hotel to visit her mom. We also spent some more time around Patriarch Ponds, and it was then that I was able to realize something that was happening to us while in more tourist-y areas. Usually if […]
What are you? Where are you from? No, where are you really from? These are all questions of which I’ve heard some variation while in both the U.S. and Russia. While in the U.S., there’s a certain level of disrespect inherent in having these questions asked by someone you’ve only just met, and at first […]
For our neighborhood, we (Julia Preston and Maya Costales) chose Patriarch Ponds. We visited the area a total of four times together over the course of the term. We chose Patriarch Ponds because we’d read about it in The Master and Margarita and we were curious what the area was like today in comparison to […]
Perhaps the most challenging cultural difference I’ve had to grapple with since coming to Russia has been the prioritization of supervision and safety ahead of privacy. This isn’t something that just applies to interpersonal interactions- it influences the way dorms and grocery stores are set up. In my first blog post I talked a bit […]
I tried my best to go for a run frequently in Russia, and I am a little disappointed with how infrequent it actually turned out to be, but the times I was able to were extremely memorable. In Moscow, all my runs were along the Moscow river, and I usually would run northeast toward Gorki […]
So goes the saying at the end of every Passover seder, symbolizing the freedom of the Jewish people from the Egyptian pharaoh. Before my most recent seder this year, the last time I uttered this phrase was two years ago as a freshman at Carleton. This time in Moscow, I heartily proclaimed it in Russian […]
At my last piano lesson of the winter term this year, I had a discussion with my teacher about how I want to improve as a pianist, and the main thing we both decided to improve during my next two years was how to do more than simply play a piece. I had played in […]
My day started out just like any other day with class at MGU would; wake up, shower, grab a quick bite to eat, then walk over to the eleven-story building where are classes were. Having had breakfast with some of my fellow Carleton students, we all walked over to class together. It was our last […]