In a moment of abundant enthusiasm but potentially not a lot of sense, I've changed the language of almost all of my technological devices to Russian. Which means that I often fail at the use of my own telephone. However, I can still manage to read the date, and therefore note that Wednesday marked my one month anniversary of living here in Moscow- a revelation that came upon me as I was watching the sun set from a bridge over near-completely-frozen water, laughing so hysterically my beanie almost became a sacrifice to the river gods and the Kremlin domes glittered in the last rays of the winter sun. Not a bad place to be having revelations. (Please note I was not laughing by myself like a crazy person (though that does frequently happen) but with a new friend who is as excited about finding raw cacao and/or the Northern Lights as me).

Team, I am getting there on the language front. I've made a serious effort to only listen to Russian music and watch films dubbed into Russian, which was initially about as much fun as trying to save a number in a phone you no longer understand. After some serious digging though I've found some Russian musicians who fit my eclectic tastes (ok not that eclectic, just no more over-produced dance music with no coherent structure PLEASE) and I've started understanding at least a quarter of what I'm watching. I did treat the potatoes in the supermarket to a happy dance last weekend, as an older lady had asked me for help and not only had I understood but been able to coherently answer her question (admittedly it was simply, 'Young lady, does this bottle say December (re. expiry date)?' and I was certainly out-of-proportionately proud of myself but one must take all the victories one can here). And then when I was out dancing last weekend the DJ played a Russian song that I knew and I think my fellow club-ees thought I had certainly had too much of the 'little water' (ie. vodka) when I started singing the lyrics just to prove I could. (Probably didn't need to be quite so loud… also almost certainly mispronounced every word).

Class continues to race by, and I continue to confound my teacher by failing to conform to the gender roles that are still so heavily entrenched here ('Lucy, when do you want to get married? Lucy, what do you think you will allow your children to do that you weren't allowed to do? Lucy, will you have a big wedding?' … yeah you can probably guess my answers to those gems). We generally have a great time in class though, with today featuring song and dance as well as some amazing examples of Russian disco-style (think big, big hair), though in the back of my mind I am hyper aware of the fact that fun and games is all well and good, but I'll have to study in this language next year and being 'Australia' will no longer count for much. To alleviate my future academic uselessness I've started an online typing course for the Russian keyboard- currently typing at about 18 words per minute and having a great time playing the car racing games that accompany it! Admittedly my car keeps bursting into flames before the end of the race due to all my errors but hey. I also visited my future university yesterday (when I say visit I mean creepily loiter around the premises) and by golly it is beautiful. Smack bang in the middle of the artsy district of the city, about a 15 minute walk from the Kremlin and right by the river. Suddenly my future academic woes seemed pretty dang insignificant and I celebrated with a coffee in the sun, picturing myself flouncing around my neighbourhood-to-be.

Yes, sunshine! We've had three days of blue skies this week, the first I've seen since I arrived and looking at the weather forecast the last I'll see until probably March (joke. I hope). I made the typical coming-from-warmer-climes mistake of, 'oh, it is sunny outside! Therefore it must be warm! I won't need my heavy gloves or hat today!' and then setting off for four hour hikes… in -4 degrees. Looks to be some scary numbers like -15 coming up next week, and I've been assured by every Russian I've spoken to about it that the weather will only get much, much colder. Huzzah!

I've got a job interview this coming week, so fingers crossed I will emerge triumphant and employed and able to begin lush activities like eating out and yoga. I'm also going rock climbing this weekend (for the first time in an embarrassingly long time), planning an infiltration into the hipster heart of this city (an island dominated by an old confectionery factory that is now a warren of clubs and coffee shops), eyeing off my first banya of the season (the Russian version of the sauna)(but the version in which you get beaten with branches)(yup) and also planning to get my words-per-minute up to at least 20… or at least completing an entire car race without my car bursting into flames.

One month down. So many to come.  

P.S The lemon-coloured European looking building in the photos is my uni-to-be. I've put captions on a few of the photos to explain what they are! 

And in complete contrast to my previous post this blog entry shall be more photos and less talking (writing?) because my brain is broken and no longer wishes to function in any language other than sleep. Which is totally my own fault, for deciding to forsake my native language for one totally different and also mind-bogglingly hard. I'm pretty sure if my brain was an autonomous being it would remove itself from my head and punch me in the face.

Anyway.

Friday just gone was Unity Day, one of the main holidays in Russia which celebrates, well, unity. All the museums are free for the day, and open until late, so my friends from the dorm and I went museum hopping at about 7pm. Yes, a truly wild Friday night. But before we went and immersed ourselves in all things history we took advantage (well us and the entire city) of a beautifully lit Red Square and snapped some night photos featuring us, very important Russian landmarks, and the ever-present snow. I also had a complete excitement meltdown and scared the beejesus out of a Russian lad who was sporting a Lush bag over his arm- Lush. Is. In. Moscow. (For those that aren’t familiar with Lush, you should probably sort that out right now. All natural, all cruelty free, all amazing products for bath and body. My shower gel literally smells like a hug.)

Unity day gave us a four day weekend, so today I went on an adventure to Sergiev Posad, a town about 80km north of Moscow. Sergiev Posad is about as holy as you can get in Russia, founded in 1340 by St Sergei of Radonezh, and him being the most revered saint around. The Monastery is the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy, and full of pilgrims and monks. And in typical Russian Orthodox style, it is absolutely stunning. Gold abounds, and of course some star-spangled onion domes, crazy tiling and salmon pink walls.  The dusting (/foot) of snow covering everything made it just that much more beautiful, though my hands would certainly have begged to differ… if they had had any feeling left in them. I did feel slightly better about my inability to deal with how cold it was when I saw 'White Pond', which was pretty much entirely iced over (leaving all the ducks corralled for children to throw bread at so quite convenient for all I suppose). If the pond is iced over, then it is actually cold right? Right!? (Is this the time to mention I'm planning a trip to Murmansk (located above the artic circle) in January? Brrr but also Northern Lights yes please).

This week will feature Lucy-tries-to-find-a-job-despite-potentially-not-being-allowed-to (thank you obscure visa policy) as my much anticipated 'allowance' is actually only about $50 a month. To be fair, that is about two weeks of groceries but still not quite going to cut the mustard especially with forementioned arctic trips planned (TUNDRA YEEHAA). But that probably does mean I won’t be leaving mother Russia for Europe adventures… y'all just have to come have adventures here. Trust me, we've got plenty. (Unless I find exceptionally well-paid and somehow legal work. Stay tuned.)  

I'm going to put this brain of mine to bed before it stages a coup. Stay warm troops! 

P.S First photo is of my 16th floor Lucy nest, then Moscow centre until you hit the gold domes. From there, Sergiev Posad until the final photo, which is one of the many elaborate metro stations... all marble, all the way.