this is my life.

I chose to go to Dickinson because I read about their program in Moscow and how great it is. It has turned out to be true! We get a lunch stipend, anything cultural is paid for i.e. tickets to the theater, ballet, museums, movies in Russian, etc etc. Transportation is covered too.
It's really really good.

Really quick, a run down of what I did in October, through the Dickinson program (p.s. I can't believe it's already November. Time is going by way way WAY too fast here):

One Saturday we walked around an area of Moscow called Чистые Пруды, or Clean Ponds. This is one of my favorite places in Moscow; the buildings are more of the old, pre-Stalin style, aka my favorite. Our program director, Irina, took us to a little museum about the history of lighting in Moscow. It was cute, little, comfortable, and interesting. Also, who knew they made museums about lighting?

Another day we went to a theater to see Chekov's "Seagull". I had only read a very brief synopsis so sadly most of it went over my head. The acting was fantastic, though, and there were three very famous Soviet actors. People started clapping for them right when they came on stage. By the way, here actors act in both the cinema and theater. It's interesting.

In my text/literature class we read a book called Azazel by a popular modern writer, Boris Akunin. Azazel is the first book in a series about the adventures of Erast Fandorin, a dashing young detective in 19th century Russia. Fandorin is like Bond, James Bond.
These are very popular books and have been made into movies as well as a play, which we went to the other day.

We also took another train trip to Yasnya Polyana in the Tula province, where Leo Tolstoy was born, eventually returned to and built his estate, and is buried. It was a beautifully gloomy, misty, fall day. I've also decided that someday I will have an estate like Tolstoy's.

The bus we took from the train station in Yasnya Polyana to Tolstoy's estate. The bus might have been my favorite part of the day.
...just kidding.
No but really. Look at the bus. This is why I came to Russia: this bus.

Tolstoy's estate through the birch trees, the national tree of Russia.

An izbushka!!! Where the coachman lived.

At the train station.

We also went to the Bolshoi Theater! The main hall of the Bolshoi is under renovation and won't be opened for a few years, but still, the new hall was beautiful too. We saw another ballet, Giselle. It. Was. So. Good.


I feel like such a snob. "Hmm, why yes, just the other day I was at the Bolshoi Theater for the ballet, twas quite wonderful you see. Oh, would you care for another cup of tea? With sugar? One lump or two, love?"

Such is my life.