A Tale of Two Dorms

Goodbye old home...

Hello new home...

And the gypsy cab that brought us there...

Remember that story about the 7 of us who fit into the gypsy cab? Well, this is what they look like. I would also like to point out that there were no people riding in this car (aside from the driver and our on-site coordinator). We decided to just pack up all our luggage into, and ontop of, the car, then we would take the Metro down to the university. Yeah, that's my suitcase on top there in the blue. The guy tied it down pretty well, so I wasn't too worried. Except for the fact that he was driving a heavily weighted down small car, which moments earlier he was making a few repairs to... Oh yeah, that made me feel awesome.

So, anyway, about 2 weeks ago, six of us, including myself, finally were able to move into our proper dormitories in the main campus building, which is a very impressive sight, I have to say. We were told we would be moved in by, at the latest, Feb. 25th. Why the wait? Well...short version: It's Russia. Long version:

We had to wait for vacancies, first (from the explosion situation when--I guess--some chemistry students [I'm lookin' at you chem. majors] decided to throw some small explosives [yeah, bombs] in the elevators, causing much damage, causing students to move out into the dorms we were supposed to stay in...).

Then, once there were free rooms, we had to wait for a signature. See, there're still some old leftovers from the Soviet days running the show, so to speak, in the higher-up levels of the administration here at the university. Basically, these are the people that know how to get work done...the Sovet way. That is, extort money from every possible source, while still maintaining the image that you're getting work done, when really, you aren't. At all. In fact, they tend to create more paperwork for the paperwork they already have, and hand that off to someone else. But at the end of the day, there still needs to be a signature from the guy, the head guy here at MSU (MGU) before anything is official. Well, needless to say, this guy is pretty slow in signing off papers, so it took a while.

And even now, after all this, only half of us are moved into these dorms.

But, I'm glad I was one of them that got to move in, because it's so much nicer than where we were at. There's laundry service (as in, they do your laundry for you; fold it and everything, or you can do it yourself), a nice little cafe with cheap food, etc. etc. Plus, I get my own room. The room is small, yes, but there's a lot of storage space, which makes up for its size. At some point, I'll post pictures of it.

Also, I get to walk to some of my classes now instead of having to take the bus (which could take a while, depending on traffic). It's only about a twenty minute walk, and now that the weather is getting better, I actually enjoy it.

It's sometimes a little difficult now to see the other half of our group now that we have moved. This is mainly due to the fact that it's hard to get into their building where we used to be because the security there is more strict (we don't feel like paying off the guards 200 rubles), and they tend to lack the spirit in coming out to see us. That's alright though. We have more fun than they do, and I swear, this time it isn't because of me. We've met some pretty cool people--other international student studying here--and I've learned some new Bulgarian card game. I'll need to write down all the rules at some point...

All in all, I really like the move, and I hope the rest of our group can move soon as well.

The library, a.k.a. biblioteka. Yeah, I can't go in. I need a stamp on some paper, and we all know how that goes...

Some shots of a few of the Metro stations here in Moscow. These are some of my favorites.

A bit o' leftover Soviet and Lenin promotion/propaganda, which are everywhere throughout the Metro stations. Actually, that's one reason why they were created--to promote the cause of the Soviet/communist agenda by showing off how pretty they could make their budding underground network of transporation look, or some such. Well, it's at least pretty.

Last Sunday, we went to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and I was allowed to snap a few shots of some of the artwork there. Above is a painting by Rembrandt ("Assureus, Haman, and Esther"), and below are a few statue pieces (most, if not all, are reproductions/castes of the original), including a room with a bunch of Michelangelo pieces. The paintings I was allowed to take only a few pictures of, and even then, it was hard to get a good shot of some of them because of the lighting. With the statues, on the other hand, I could take as many pictures as I wanted, unless it was specifically marked that you couldn't take any. So, I've got a lot pics of statues, and a lot of memory shots of the paintings. I really liked this museum. Maybe I'll go back at some point.

One of my fav's of Michelangelo's: The Pieta. I'll have to make a trip to Italy at some point...

Another -angelo...Moses.

Cloudy day.

Oh, and before I forget: I've finally started my language class! Woot! It's going to be intensive learning--well, that is, we meet twice a week for three hours per lesson--but the teacher is really nice, so I think it will be okay. I really need to work on my pronounciation though.

More to come...

Lots and lots of love,
Jessica