My mishaps with corporate security guards have just about
ended. I like to think it’s because I’m
feeling brave enough to speak a tiny bit of Russian with them, but in reality,
it’s just that now they recognize me. Speaking of speaking Russian, Kyle and I
have now spent almost 30 hours studying with our teacher Gyeorgy. Gyeorgy is a fine Russian man, with plenty of
teaching experience. His age is
difficult to determine due to the long years he’s spent addicted to nicotine,
but I’d venture a guess between 50-65 years old. It’s clear his favorite student is Kyle, not
me. That might be because of the fact it
takes me twice as long to sound out each word. Or that I ask the same questions
multiple times per lesson (wait, how do you say ‘money?’). Or that I mispronounce the word for ‘please’ Every.
Single. Time. Or maybe it’s because Kyle
likes to show off the vocabulary he’s been studying. Or that every time we come to new material
and Gyeorgy asks if we know it, Kyle nods his head fervently while I squint my
eyebrows and say, “Uh, I don’t think so..” Luckily, when I say Gyeorgy favors
Kyle, I’m not saying much. For instance,
during our last class, per usual, Gyeorgy instructed us, “Look at this picture
and ask each other interesting questions.” It was a picture of a house. Anyway, we complied. A few minutes into it, I turned from Kyle and
glanced up at Gyeorgy to get confirmation on my word choice. The man was sleeping!
During the work weeks, there is little time for grocery shopping,
let alone sightseeing. With such an overwhelmingly
active city, the plan is to visit at least one tourist site each weekend. However, traveling to all ends of the city
for our classes can be an experience in itself.
The city is truly beautiful, with parks, trees, statues, and monuments
at nearly every turn. The buildings
themselves are pieces of artwork.
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| Kyle standing with Dostoevsky |
Last weekend we rode into the center of Moscow to visit the
Tretyakov Gallery. Pavel Tretyakov was a
successful business man during the second half of the 19th
century. As his wealth grew, he became
deeply involved in philanthropy and art collecting. The Tretyakov Gallery is a tribute to him and
his collection. We spent the afternoon
milling through the rooms of the gallery, admiring the paintings and
sculptures. I overheard the different
languages of the tour guides and watched the elderly volunteers falling asleep
at their posts. We found portraits of
Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky.
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| Me with Tretyakov outside Tretyakov Gallery |
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| Kyle with a portrait of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin |
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| A portrait of Dostoevsky |
One of my students asked if I’d be willing to give her extra
English lessons on weekends. She’s in
her mid-twenties and at an intermediate speaking level. Rather than charge her for these lessons, I
asked if she’d show me around the city and buy me a cup of coffee. We’ve visited the famous Arbat Street, walked
by a few of Stalin’s Seven Sisters, and had coffee in Moscow’s old telegraph
building.
I think it’s now time to show you around our apartment. As I mentioned before, it’s quite dated, but
feeling more and more like home as the weeks fly by.
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| Our kitchen with the 60 year old oven |
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| Kyle hard at work in the kitchen |
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| Kyle's room - he cleaned up for the photo |
As a final update, we had our first snow flurry on Friday
afternoon. It’s going to be a loooooong winter!
