TIME IS FLYING

Another week has flown by us. How does this happen? I don't know, but I do know that I am thoroughly enjoying my life right now.

In the mornings, I awake at 7:00 a.m., stretch, read or review Russian before getting ready to go to RusLanguage, where I take Russian language classes Monday through Thursday.

I like my teacher, Dimitri. He is a philology professor at Moscow State University and a cool guy. He is also an effective teacher, as we have covered a lot of territory in the four weeks I have attended class. In addition to the Russian language, I have learned some interesting things about Russia and its culture from him.

While it seems to be an ever-changing cast of characters, I have also liked my classmates.

For the first two weeks, it was primarily me, Phillip (a German student from Koln studying political science in Moscow this semester), and Debbie Reynolds and her step daughter, Charlotte.

Deb and Charlotte are from the UK. They dropped out of class after three weeks, but I stay in touch with Deb and hope to meet her for lunch Monday. Her husband is the human resources manager for Eastern Europe for Rosinter, a restaurant holding company that manages Il Patio, TGIF, Planet Sushi and some other brands.

Phillip's last class was this week. However, Sana has been a pleasant replacement for Deb and Charlotte. She is a very interesting person. She is two years older than I am; born to Syrian diplomats who were stationed in Germany until she was 10. When the Baath Party took power, her father was recalled to Damascus. When she asked her mother when the family would go "home," her mother told her she was HOME. Sana didn't like Syria much.. She is married to a Chilean diplomat. They have already been here in Moscow two years and will be for another two. Sana has a 16-year-old daughter who lives with the family here in Moscow; an oldest son who is about 26 and works for the video game maker, Ubisoft in Paris; and a 22-year-old daughter who goes to university in Santiago. Sana reminds me of Susan Sarandon.

To make things interesting, August (Oz, as I call him) is from Turkey. He just graduated business college in Turkey. His family is in the import/export business, and Oz is here to learn Russian (he took Russian in Turkey for four years) so that he can use it in the family business.

Andreas, a 40-something unemployed Swiss, joined the class this week, but he returned to Geneva today after a 6-week stay in Moscow.

Also new to the class this week is Mahmoud. Mahmoud works in the Sudanese Embassy and has been living in Moscow for six years. He can speak relatively good Russian, but he's taking classes because he now needs to know correct grammar...for his job. His Moscow experience is handy, and he has provided us a Russian-English CD dictionary.

Last to the class this week is Lauren, a Frenchman. He has two young children, and he and his wife work for charitable organizations. They had been living in China until recently. Laurent will be gone next week, because he must go back to China for some business.

The weather was crummy this week, so after class and lunch, I pretty much stayed at home; doing Russian homework and reviewing, watching Masha and the Medved cartoons in Russian, and tending to my business affairs.

Thursday, I accompanied Andrea to the Tropinin Museum. Tropinin is one of Andrea's favorite Russian artists. He did portraits, primarily, and the small museum was quite lovely with elegant period furniture in addition to his portraits and works of his contemporaries.

ENTRANCE TO THE SMALL AND CHARMING V.A. TROPININ MUSEUM  AT 10 SCHETINSKY STREET.

ANDREA AND HER FAVORITE PAINTING BY TROPININ, THE LACEMAKER.

WE MISS YOU CRICKET!

I WAS FASCINATED BY THIS PIANO WHICH FEATURED A VERY MODERN INNOVATION FOR THE TIME: KEYBOARD ILLUMINATION FOR NIGHTTIME PLAYING BY BUILT-IN CANDLE HOLDERS. 

Friday we went to the State Historical Museum on Red Square. More to come on this weekend's activities!