... in which i go to mockba

(or, as it's called in Hungarian, Moszkva). Um, actually, I'm in the midst of a very busy week. Finals are all too close, and my friend Steph is in town (we go to Amsterdam on friday), so it's been tough to find time. Briefly, though, Moscow was absolutely amazing. Tremendous. Words alone may not describe--gestures, for emphasis, are necessary. Rachel and I managed to take care of what has apparently been called the "holy quadrilateral" of Russian cultural experience, dacha (country house), banya (sauna in which you beat people with birch branches), vodka, and myasa (meat), in my first 24 hours in the city, not to mention Red Square, blini (fabulous crepe-like things), and an opera at the Bolshoi (which didn't make much sense) (all of which took place in the first day). I promise to include more details, but as a whole it was like no place I've ever been, and no trip I've ever been on, and I didn't even get robbed (ripped off, maybe, but not actually stolen from).

Also, Russia seems to be a country in which you have to know the language to get around; although I didn't get more than a half-dozen words or so, I did manage to learn how to at least pronounce stuff, allowing me to get around the extensive (ten lines) metro system on my own. A million thanks to Rachel, who I'm sure still feels amazed that I made it (the feeling is mutual), and who basically had to order every meal I ate and the ticket to every museum/"reggae" concert/ferris wheel we went to--except Lenin, for which there are no tickets, but I'm out of time. More soon.

sam

ps she wrote the whole trip up on her blog--claremontlove.blogspot.com--which may be useful if you're impatient.