Culture Shock

My trip to Moscow

My university has a committee from the IAESTE student organisation that offer internships abroad. I decided to apply and chose Moscow because it was the only offer that fit my educational background. The other option would have been Japan, but that was right next to Fukushima. So I thought Moscow would be interesting. The internship would be at the MAI (Moscow Aviation Institute) for 4 weeks.

After lots of confusing emails back and forth about the application procedure and the visa etc. I finally made it here on November 1st.

I decided to write this blog, partially as a kind of tripadvisor and for all my friends and family who want to know details before I forget them.

A note beforehand: the underlying tone of my blog may seem very negative. Of course there are lots of nice things in Moscow too and I did enjoy my time sightseeing.

Day 1

Arrived at Vnukovo Airport and took forever to go through passport control. First observation: Russians can’t queue, just like Germans. Changed some money, bought a ticket for the Aeroexpress and went to the train. Arrived at Kievsky Station and was picked up by 2 girls from the MAI, both called Alena from Kazachstan. Then we looked for our taxi. Even though there were lots of taxis there, we were looking for a specific one and that took forever. Saw a drunk man with bloody nose and one Alena was gone for a few minutes to look for the taxi and came back saying that someone wanted to sell her drugs. Finally found the taxi and went to the MAI dormitory at Planernaya, which they call “hostel”. This took forever because of rush hour traffic. The city at night looked very nice though. We dropped off one of the Alenas on the way.

When we arrived we went inside and I thought oh boy, this needs some fixing up. Which would think time and time again.

I had to sign some form stating the house rules and got a slip of paper that would be my ID to get into the dorm. Then we took the elevator to the top floor (16) which was a teenytiny elevator that rattled and jolted everywhere. Only the 1^st, 2^nd, 8^th, 14^th and 16^th floor could be reached with this elevator. Apparently the ones on the other side of the hall went to some uneven numbers. I guess the 4^th , 6^th and 12^th floor can only be reached with stairs. The smell in the hallway was very odd. A mix between dumpster trash and Asian odeur and the weird Russian smell that would be present in a lot of places throughout my stay.

We went into one of the units, number 1607, and into “my” room. When I saw the unoccupied bed I almost started to cry. That mattress lying there was so filthy dirty and even looked worn out without touching. I immediately asked about sheets. Because I asked via email before if I should bring any. And Alena said that the woman who did the paperwork “take” the sheets. So of course I asked “how do I get them back?”. She meant “bring”, so that problem was soon solved. The room was a 3-bed room. One of the two Vietnamese girls, Ling, was there and did not speak a word of English. The other room was a 2-bed room with a girl from South Africa and one from Columbia, both very nice. The bathroom was one small cubicle with a toilet and another small cubicle with a sink and a bathtub. No shower curtain or mirror. The faucet for the sink and for the shower was a 2 in one. You had to adjust a lever so that the water either came out of the pivot faucet or the shower thing.

Then Alena took me to the 12^th floor to show me where I would have to pick up the payment slip for my rent. But I told her that IAESTE or MAI pays for my rent. Apparently things are not well organized here. Then we met one of Alena’s friends, because she felt bad that her English wasn’t good enough to explain what I must do. It was very confusing. He was from Cameroon and spoke French with me. He was nice and gave me a LAN cable to use, otherwise I would have had to stay in the room the next day to wait for someone to bring me one. Then we three went through the dark maze of high apartment buildings (all very ugly and run down) to a Russian mall next to the metro station. I bought a SIM card and a metro pass, then we took the bus back and went to a strange little café right next to the dorm where I had a cucumber tomato salad with dill. Most things here are with dill. I hadn’t had anything to drink all day, because German wings makes you pay even for water. So I was glad to finally get some hydration.

After an eventful day I went to my room and wanted to make my bed and unpack some things to put in a raggedy closet. But first I used me disinfecting cleaning wipes I luckily brought with me to clean the shelves etc. I unfolded the sheets and realized that the drape for the mattress was too short. So I had to use the day cover thing for one end. I took a shower, thankful for my practice I had in Hungary of showering without a shower curtain. I went to bed and put in my ear plugs and put on my eye mask and tried to sleep. The mattress was so uncomfortable I could not find a position that didn’t make me tense after a few minutes. Also my room mate did not care that I tried to sleep at 1 in the morning and just went on bustling around her desk etc. 

Day 2

I guess I did sleep somehow when I was woken again by the clatter my room mate made.  I got up and packed me guide book and camera and went outside to retrace my way to the metro from last night. But amidst all the ugly buildings I wasn’t quite sure which way was correct, so I asked to students who left the dorm after me, if this was the way to the metro. They didn’t really speak English, apparently almost nobody here does, not even the international students. So I just followed them and tried to memorize the way. Towards the pandas, pass on the right, go straight, pass the whales on the left, straight and past the sports field up the steps. The pandas and whales refer to painted garages or similar buildings. I took the metro from the end station Planernaya, our line was the pink one, and rode into the city center. I decided to do the Kreml first, so I looked at my map and figured out where I had to get off. That worked well, but then I took the wrong exit from the station, all signs being in Kyrill writing. So I ended up on a different side street than where I thought. I hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast and was still somewhat dehydrated, so I went into the nearest café and had some hot chocolate and Russian pancakes, called Blini. Still thirsty, I looked for a grocery store and amazingly did find one. It was odd. With a security scanner at the entrance and everything was very neatly arranged, like in those well to do grocery stores in German department stores. I bought an apple and a big bottle of water and continued my way towards the Kreml. I got there and saw that you had to buy tickets to get in. But when I saw the insanely long line I decided to postpone my visit to the Kreml and went through the Alexanderpark next to the Kreml wall, past the tomb of the Unknown Soldier through the resurrection gate to the red square. In front of the gate there were some brass designs on the floor and judging from what I saw it would bring good luck to stand there throwing coins over your shoulder. A lot of people took turns throwing coins, and as soon as the coins touched the ground some poor old people collected them in plastic bags.

I took some pictures and decided on plan B, which was walking tour number 1 in my book. I did that and continued with tour number 3 which took me along some nice streets back towards the red square. 

I saw the prettiest grocery store, Jellisejew, along the way which used to deliver to the court. 

I looked into the GUM, the oldest mall, and found that they even have historic toilets there. I didn’t want to pay for that though. 

Back on the red square I passed the Lenin Mausoluem, a hideously ugly building, and the colorful St. Basil Cathedral. From there I walked towards the Kitai Gorod district, past the St. Barbara Church, Old English Court and the Romanov Residence. I ended up at Lubljanka square next to the polytechnical museum and walked back towards the Bolshoi theater. Then I didn’t know what else to do, and it was getting cold. So I went back to the dorm. At the mall at Planernaya I found a weird little market hall on the top floor with fruit, meat and cheese stands. Even here you had that weird undefinable smell.

Back at the dorm I met the other two German guys from IAESTE and we decided to go to the Kreml again early next morning, to beat the crowds and go to the Armory.

Day 3

At 8:30 we left the dorm and headed to the Kreml ticket office. Even at that time there was a line. Getting the ticket didn’t take that long though, but then we had to stand in line again to get in. That took almost an hour. Again there was a security scanner and people apparently can’t take things out of their pocket beforehand while standing in line. Additionally, lots of people argued with the security guard because they didn’t buy tickets at the ticket office but wanted to buy them there.  But finally we got in and went to the armory. It was very interesting, not only weapons but lots of jewelry and other treasures. Even fancy robes and dresses. I especially liked the red velvet boots with pearls!

Then we bought an additional ticket to go see the actual inside of the Kreml. We saw the different churches, the giant canon, the tsar’s bell and the congress building.

After we saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, the boys went back to the dorm and I continued my tour. I went to an exhibition of the 1812 war between France and Russia at the historical museum. When I sat down to watch the video they were showing, an elderly lady who sat next to me started talking to me. I told her I don’t speak Russian (“ja ni gawarju pa ruski”) but still she went on babbling to me in Russian, asked me something and I answered “girmany” and then she went “ooh, Berlin, Leipzigstraße, blabla…” I shook my head when she said Berlin a couple of times more and then said “Hamburg” and after a bit more babble the video was over and I took my leave saying good bye. It was funny.

Then I went to the St. Basil Cathedral and while standing in line there another person started talking to me. Again, I said I don’t speak Russian and then he surprisingly kept on talking in English. He was a philosophy professor and was going to Holland soon etc. etc.  Talking to strangers in Moscow…

Then I took the metro south to a street where supposedly there was a historic café. I found it but it was renovated and very modern. So I went to Taganskaya station to meet the other IAESTE people. Then we walked to a bunker. There we had to wait in line forever too. Inside though we had to walk down 17 floors and then through some bunker tubes built during the cold war. Very interesting. They had some old computers, phones etc. set up and in the other part they had a karaoke bar, which was closed though. The tour was in Russian but the IAESTE girl translated most things for us. The climb back UP the stairs was exhausting.

Then we looked for the “krushka” a traditional bar. It was ok. Russians don’t have lots of non-smoking places, so I wasn’t thrilled. Also there was a soccer match going on and lots of soccer fans were constantly shouting some cheers for their team. But the food was good. I had some potato wedges with garlic sour cream and tried some of Russian fried rye bread with garlic, which was really good. They serve beer in cooled dispenser things.

Day 4

This Monday was the Russian holiday to celebrate the revolution. So almost everything was closed, also it was raining. So we decided to take the metro to Ismaelowo Kreml. It was a strange setting. Behind some huge ugly hotels there was a big lot with lots of colorful wooden towers, sort of like a run down Russian version of a Disney castle. Inside there was a market with lots of different souvenirs and in the main part there were some shops and little museums, like the vodka museum.  We went in and got a free shot, I took the low alcohol content honey wine which was actually very good. Then we had lunch at a food court in a mall and headed back to the city to do the metro tour (walking tour number 2 from my book) and got off at each specified station and took pictures. Then we headed to Pushkinskaya to meet an IAESTE girl, because she wanted to go to the Pushkin museum. We thought it was closed. But the Pushkin museum is not located at Pushkinskaya, so we arranged to meet at the GUM to eat because the museum was indeed closed. We ate at a self serve place on the top floor of the GUM which was fairly cheap and had some good food with English signs describing what it was. I did not eat the pork tongue but had some yellow chicken rice dish instead and later some very good honey cream cake. The bathroom facility on the 3rd floor in the GUM is very clean. A note about toilets: it is advisable to bring disinfecting wipes and your own toilet paper when going to the toilet in Moscow. Even in the University building. Museums usually have clean facilities. The ones we would regard as "normal" are referred to as "european toilets" which means there actually is a toilet and not just a hole in the ground.

Day 5

Adrian took me to MAI and after some difficulty getting past the security guy without campus ID I met Artem who was responsible for the exchange students. I got my ID and handed over my passport for registration and then I could leave again. So I went back to town, across the red square and to the Old English Court, the lady there did a private tour for me, telling me lots about the location and explained why the area behind the museum looked like a dump. Previously there had been a sowjet hotel, which they had torn down and were currently still in the process of clearing the place. She was very nice and told me lots about the way they stored the goods in the cellar etc. and that it was the only stone building in Moscow and hence survived all the fires.

The Romanov Residence was closed. Then I went to the old wall and then up the Kitai Gorod hill to look for a café with wifi. I then spent the rest of the day with my laptop. When I came home I met some other international students in the kitchen and the girl in my room came up to me and offered me a pink “cake” when I came in. I asked if it was sweet and she nodded so I thought, ok, pink looks good.  It was hot and when I took a bite it was a really strange taste. It was not sweet at all. It was some kind of yeast dough ball colored with red beet filled with egg and green stuff, probably cabbage or something similar. It was awful, but because my mom raised me well and taught me manners I ate most of the pink part and tossed the inside when she left the room. I spent the evening chatting with the girls next door and some of her friends, when the Vietnamese girl came in again offering them a bag of Vietnamese candy. It said Durian Coconut candy, so again, I thought it doesn’t sound too bad. It was not very good.

Day 6

Artem wanted me to come to MAI at 5 o’clock to meet my supervisor and since it didn’t rain today, I decided to go to Gorki Park. I saw the statue of Peter the Great and the Buran shuttle, fed the birds and took the metro to the Christ the savior cathedral. The statue actually depicted Columbus celebrating the discovery of America. But the exchanged heads, so there's a Russian tsar on a spanish boat.

Then I walked towards the Kreml, looked at the Pashkow house and walked down Uliza Arbat. I think I even saw Putin drive by in a police escorted black Mercedes stretch limo.  And then I saw a man walking through one of the pedestrian underground crossings with a monkey in a pajama sitting on his shoulders. Then I went to MAI and met my supervisor. She told me about what I had to do for my internship. I would write a report about the competitiveness of Russian aircraft, with my part being about research in economic and technical specifics of an A320 and A380. I did not have to come to Campus every day but could work when and where I wanted. We scheduled a meeting for next week and then she told me where I could watch some Russian Ballet, because I looked up the schedule of the Bolshoi theater and almost everything was sold out.

Day 7

I think I’m getting a little used to the mattress because when I woke the girls had already left. So I got up and tried to find an unsecured internet connection which occasionally worked and had some breakfast. Then I went to the “Producty”, a tiny little grocery store /convenience store across the street and bought something for lunch and called the internet guy. He was a little angry that I wasn’t there on Saturday. But I told him that Alena had already given me a cable and that she said I didn’t have to be there on Saturday, but that I had to get my login on Wednesday because the office was closed on Tuesdays and Monday way a holiday. But apparently if I had been there he would also have given me my login. This would have been very helpful, but the situation couldn’t be helped now. So he told me to come get my login at 6 pm that day on the 3^rd floor of my building. I asked the lady in the office to give me a bed sheet because the one I had was too short. She doesn't speak English, so we communicated using google translate on her computer. She told me to go to the building next door for my login. So it was very confusing where I was supposed to go. As I said things are not well organized. I spent the next hour cleaning, using the mop from the girls next door and the cleaning spray I had bought. You wouldn’t believe how dirty the floor was. I’ll take a picture. It was really disgusting how much dirt there was. In the picture you can see the difference between clean and dirty floor. My bed is partially visible on the right.

At 6 I went to the next door building with the girls next door who also had to get their monthly internet, which costs 500 ruble (11 euro). On the way back I stopped at the Produkty to buy some more water and there was an old man in the queue behind me talking to me in Russian. I told him I don't speak Russian but he kept on talking anway, and when I was done paying he grabbed my arm and wanted to give me a Snickers. It was so weird I just left really quickly. And no, I did not take candy from strangers!
Then I tried to install the vpn settings, with instructions only in Russian it was somewhat difficult. Fortunately the Columbian girl's brother helped me and I finally got it to work. So that's when I was able to post this blog!

Day 8

I spent the morning researching stuff and looking up articles I could cite for my paper. I also filed a complaint about my mattress to Artem, who said Marc, the guy from Cameroon, would help me. At 4:30 pm I took the metro and for the first time got off at the wrong stop. Also the thing is that there are always several exits from the metro station, so you never really know where you will end up. But I finally did end up near the Bolshoi theater and went to the post office across from the GUM to buy stamps. Normally when you’re looking for a post office you can never find one, so I was really happy to find the post office in the immediate city center which is easy to find. I then met the IAESTE people at the Zero Kilometer. That refers to the brass plate on the floor infront of the resurrection gate I told about previously. It is the spot from which all distances within the city are measured. Then we stood in a very long line for almost an hour to get into the Romanov exposition at the Manege. Apart from the exhibition there was also one of the many orthodox “icons” usually found in churches. This particular icon must have been extra special, because people were standing in line forever so that everybody could kneel before the icon for a few seconds, say a prayer and kiss the shrine or whatever.   

The exhibition was very nicely made, but unfortunately everything was in Russian except for a few English summaries in each section.   
After that we went to a bar/restaurant which was full and then went to another place called “metro” which was a subway themed diner. When we left we saw lots of people on horses and I remembered the documentary I’ve watched about Moscow once. These girls take their horses into the city at night to take tourists for a short city tour to be able to pay for food and lodging for their horses. So I think I will go there again if only to bring them some carrots and apples.
When I came back I met Alena and Marc who told me that they had organised a thing to put on my mattress which they brought to my room. But when I got into my room, the two girls were already asleep and so I tried my best not to disturb them. When I was about to fall asleep I heard someone move around and saw a guy standing there. Creepy.

Complaints:

• Moscow is dirty. Even though they have people who sweep the streets and pick up trash and a whole fleet of trucks that spray water, it’s just always dirty.
• Traffic: Zebra crossings are deemed more like a suggestion than an actual rule to stop if you see a pedestrian. It's really scary sometimes. I usually only cross if somebody else goes in front of me. They also don't like to keep in their designated lanes. And like any big city, there are lots of big streets with lots and lots of cars. So when going to campus I have to walk from the metro station towards the entrance hut right next to this 4 lanes in both direction highway and the air is so polluted it really makes you hyperventilate.
• The heat: I don't mind it being cold as long as I have warm stuff to wear, which I do. But having a seemingly endless supply of gas, I guess Russians don't care about saving energy on heating. So anywhere you go whether it's the metro, a store etc. it's sooo warm. I'm constantly taking off my jacket and putting it back on.
• The Metro: Although the Metro is great to get around and is fairly easy to use some things are just strange. For example the signs telling you which station you're currently at are on the outside facing walls. If you're inside the train you can usually not see where you are if you haven't familiarized the design of the stations. Only the new cars have digital signs inside telling you where you're at. The announcements are only in Russian and only if you listen really carefully can you make out whether they're saying "this stop so and so" or "next stop blabla". And also the metro is really loud! Sometimes it really hurts your ears. So the ones who've already been here a while said, you can tell tourists apart because they're the one putting their fingers in their ears.
• Metro doors: Going down to the metro you have to pass heavy swinging doors that are very hard to push open and swing back with a lot of force. Also it means you have to touch something that millions of people have touched. I try to use my wrist or arm instead of my hand. But I really like my hand sanitizer I brought with me!
• People smoke. I thought Germany was bad with all the people who smoke, especially walking infront of you. But here, cigarettes are really cheap (50 rubles  = 1,14 €) so people smoke even more. And non-smoking restaurants are rare.
• People don’t speak English. It’s really odd that even young people don’t speak English. In Germany you have to learn English starting 5^th grade, so you can at least say simple basic things. Even in the museums where you would think being around tourists all day, you would maybe pick up some phrases in English.
• The last metro leaves at 1 am. I thought Hamburg was medieval in its operating hours for public transport. But there at least you have night buses and on the weekends the subway goes every 30-45 minutes. Also the dormitory closes at 1 am. Which is fine, but thinking that I’m more or less a tourist, having the option of going out and coming home late should be available. Although they told me that being a girl, they would most likely let me in anyway, but I’d rather not push my luck.
• Moscow is expensive. Even in the grocery store a normal 1,5 liter bottle of water costs at least 30 ruble (= 0.68 €) whereas in Germany you pay 0,19 € plus deposit (they don’t recycle here).  So I don’t really know how people manage here, because you see lots of beggars and obviously poor people.
• My Vietnamese room mates are so weird. The room always smells funny, so I try to keep the window open whenever I’m there. I think I might have located the source of the smell. There is a big plastic container filled with what looks like white cabbage in vinegar or something, just loosely covered by a plate, right at the foot of my bed. Also I don’t think they ever opened the window before, because apparently they don’t understand the concept of the handle to open, close and tilt the window. Basic hygiene also seems unknown to them. They never wash their hands after using the restroom, so I constantly spray disinfectant at all the handles. After I had cleaned the bathroom on Thursday, one of them took a shower and the bathroom floor looked like hell again. So I really don’t know what they are doing in there. They obviously don't understand that a shower curtain should be inside the tub to avoid splash. And then they have a really strange wake-sleep habit. Sometimes going to bed really late (3 am) and getting up early (7 am) and sometimes being in bed at 10 but then getting back up at midnight or so. And one of them always has her alarm on but does not react to it at all. So this morning again I woke at 4:30 because her alarm kept beeping. Then one of their boyfriends spent the night here last night and slept in while she made breakfast for him. I just think it’s really weird – having a boy over in a room you share with 2 other girls.
• People take their time. Whether you’re in the checkout line or just want something done it always takes forever.

A note about the sights:

The Lenin Mausoleum is a complete waste of time. If you really don’t have anything to do then you can go there, just to check it from your to do list. But I went there. First you have to stand in line, then go into this closed off area and have to stand in line again to check your bag/camera which costs 70 rubles per bag. Then you stand in line again to go through security. Then you walk along this pathway where a lot of Russian politicians etc. are buried, then go around the corner and down the steps into the Mausoleum where it’s really dark and there’s a security guy at every turn. Inside there’s really just the glass coffin on a podium where you walk around in a U-turn and then go back up a different flight of stairs. That’s it. Also, my guide book says that it’s rumored that the supposedly mummified body has been exchanged by wax. Which sounds plausible to me, as the body really looks waxy. If you go there with a group you can just take turns to avoid checking your bags because you’re in and out in 5 minutes once you’re past the security check. Also, don’t put your hands in your pockets of your jacket – they’ll beckon you to leave them in sight.

The inside of the Kreml is ok but apart from the canon and bell not really worth it if you have to wait long to get in. There are just a bunch of white gold churches and the governmental buildings are closed off to the public.

Depending on the lady at the ticket office and her mood you’ll get the student discount even with your German student ID. To avoid the stress, I would advise students to apply for the ISIC student IDs before they leave for Moscow as the student discounts are often very good (200 instead of 700 ruble at the Kreml Armory for example).

Day 9

I woke up this morning at 4:30 because my room mates alarm was ringing, and again she didn't care. After calling over to turn it off I guess she got the message. When I woke up, the guy that spent the night in Ling's bed was still asleep while she was cooking for him. Also I saw that the thing to put on my mattress was lying folded up on the other girl's bed. So I asked if that was the things they brought for me last night? And she thought it was hers, but after I explained that I had complained about my mattress she gave it up to me. It did not really improve the situation, but because I put it folded in half on the upper part of my bed, you could now not feel the springs as easily.
 I spent the morning researching some stuff and at 2 I met the IAESTE people at the Kosmonaut museum. It was very nice and interesting with lots of models, but unfortunately most things were in Russian. The thing in the picture is the Lunakhod, the Russian moon mobile.

Then I had some Russian hot chocolate and Blini (pancakes) and after that we all went home. No evening program planned this time, because we were all tired. Instead I watched a movie with the German IAESTE guys from my dorm and went back to my room. To my surprise the room situation worsened even more. Instead of sharing the room with two Vietnamese girls and the occasional boyfriend, I now had to share it with a cat as well, including food trays and litter box.

Day 10

I stayed in the dorm and tried to work a bit on my paper. Then we decided to go to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. So I wanted to drop by the other Romanov photo exhibition beforehand, but when I got there I saw this big line and decided against it. I also saw the line going to the Manege where we went on Friday night. It was more than twice as long now! I think Sundays is when all the local people go to the museum. So I walked towards the Pushkin museum and stood in line waiting for the others. I fed the sparrows that were sitting along the fence and they came and sat on my hand! The museum was very nice. Upstairs they displayed a series of haute couture evening gowns among the artwork. Most of them were actually very pretty.

Then Adrian and I went to the shopping mall underneath the square infront of the Alexanderpark next to the Kreml. It was a huge mall with a food court, so we went to eat at Kroshka Kartoshka (see picture below). It’s actually a very neat idea. It’s like subway, but instead of a sandwich you get a potato with toppings. The basic Kartoshka is in aluminum foil, cut open and mashed around a bit with cheese and some butter. Then you can choose toppings such as crab salad, sausage salad, mushrooms and pickles, sour cream with dill and some other undefined things. Another interesting place is Teremok where you can buy the Russian version of Burritos. They are flat pancakes like crêpes called blini with sweet or savory filling, from mushroom cheese to salmon and caviar to chocolate or vanilla cream.

Then we met the others at a café where they had interesting bathrooms. Each stall had a small button next to the door and when you pushed it a sound went on. I pushed all of them and one was traffic, one was a metro sound and the other was inside a plane I think, or airport. One girl had previously told us that a tripadvisor sort of website said that the bathrooms were ideal to use when you were late to work or late coming home, so you could push the metro button and say “I’m in the metro and on my way!” It was sort of funny.

When I got home and about to go to bed one of the Vietnamese girls actually talked to me! Her English is really limited so it took a while for her to communicate what she meant. But apparently she doesn’t like cats and told me to tell the other girl to get rid of it. The girls next door told me that the two Vietnamese girls don’t get along well. So this was no surprise. She seems to be the shy and passive kind, while the one with the cat is just plain inconsiderate. Then she said that she misses her home but that she can’t go because her country (her government I guess) makes her study here. Etc etc.

Day 11

This morning the cat had made a mess of the white cat litter stuff. So the girl took the other girls’ mop to use as a broom to get it out from under her bed. I told her that she shouldn’t do that, to use a broom. But I guess she didn’t understand or didn’t care. Then I looked up some more stuff for my paper and went to the History museum at 2. This time they accepted my student ID. It’s a very nice museum from ancient history up to about the 1800’s. When I was about to leave two men started making music in the main hall. One was playing piano and the other was singing opera-like. Very cool and great acoustics! Then I headed back along the Nikolsky street and looked into the pink church next the red square where they were having some kind of evening mass, with incence, candles, singing and a guy preaching some gospel or something. Then I went to Kroshka Kartoshka again and went to Crisje Prudy station and walked along the little pond/lake and around the little cafés.

 There I had a piece of cake on the go. It was some kind of honey cake with a marshmellowishy cream filling. Not too sweet though. Then I headed back so Smolenska station to meet the others at the Hard Rock Café. They actually spoke English there! And some other good news: since one iaeste guy left – I get to have his mattress which is a new one!  So tomorrow morning I’ll go get it and exchange it with mine!