A day without class

This morning I woke up at around 10:00am since I didn't have any class today. It was nice to get to sleep in and take my time getting ready. My friend Alice who I am in Russian Language class with also doesn't have class on Wednesdays. After visiting via facebook this morning we decided to go explore the city instead of staying home. At around 1:00pm I met Alice at her Metro stop and we took off for Red Square. 

Last night the temperature dropped to around 30 degrees and so today the high was only about 43 with partly cloudy skies. The wind only made the cold that much more piercing but to be honest it really didn't bother me that much. On our way to Red Square we stubbled upon this huge bronze horse fountain with three rearing horses. Of course since I am on the equestrian team and Alice is on the Polo team at Stanford we had to stop and take a picture in front of it. 

Once we got to Red Square we decided to go into the Gum, this giant upscale mall that makes up one side of Red Square. The building used to be old Soviet offices and then was later turned into this mall so it is a very pretty building for just a mall. After we were sufficiently warmed up we ventured back out into the cold to visit St. Basil's Cathedral. The Cathedral is not only breathtakingly beautiful and intricately adorned from the outside but it is also, if not more so, quite extravagant on the inside. It was a very neat experience to be able to literally step back into history. However this church was not as quite as beautiful as the church of Christ the Savior was, (visited on Saturday) but probably more historically significant/accurate since the original Church of Christ the Savior was blown up by Stalin. If I get a chance I will try and post some pictures of these places, at least from the outside, because they do not allow photography inside since they are both still functioning places of worship. 

After a stop at St. Basil's Cathedral we stopped for a quick bite of pizza and then headed off to this art museum a metro stop away. Once we got to the art museum we made it through one exhibit and then Alice started to feel ill. She figured it was something she had eaten for breakfast, so we left so that she could go lay down. 

It was probably best that we left though because it was already 5 and I had a 45 min metro ride home. 

Those were all the adventures today so far... Tonight Heidi, Ellen, Nastia, and I are going to the movies and then out for drinks somewhere but now it's off to dinner with the host mom. 

                                                           Ciao, Jean Margaret         

INTERNET!!!

Hello all, I finally have internet! Isn't this good news?!? I can't believe how addicted to technology I've become. After going over 2 weeks without a "smart" phone or internet I've got a pretty bad case of the shakes. <- Just kidding. Anyway I hope all is well back in the states. I'm sorry in advance to everyone I made nervous by not responding to emails. And so now that that's out of the way let the games begin....
       Well obviously I made it to Russia in one piece, but just barely. The day after my flight landed and as I was just getting settled into my new home stay I started to feel sick. I couldn't quite tell if it was just jet lag or an actual sickness coming on so I just took some sudefed and prayed it would cure itself, as you well know, it did not. Hmmm, yes that's right, during my first week in Moscow I became very ill. On Tuesday night (after arriving on a Sunday) I was running a high fever and had a throat so swollen even water was almost too much to swallow. My host mother thankfully is an expert in home health remedies and have you ever tried to say no to a Russian Babushka? Not happening... So after copious amounts of tea, lots of sleep, and gargling this baking soda, warm water, salt, and glycerin mixture every two hours I began to feel a lot better. On Wednesday night though my host mother went out and bought me some penicillin. I guess in Russia you don't need a prescription. After this intense regimen I was ALL better and back on my feet by Friday. You would have been proud of me I didn't even go out "out" this weekend with the group, I came home and got some much needed rest! 
        On Friday afternoon my "Walking Tour of Moscow" class took a tour around this beautiful park in Moscow. The river was absolutely breathtaking from this particular park because we were slightly up above part of the city. Russia has a very interesting and complex history...much like the language. The more I learn about Russia though the more I want to know. It's a very nice feeling knowing that I have the best job in the world... learning.
        My host mother's name is Lyubov which in Russian means Love. She is a very nice lady and has very entertaining expressions. I knew from the moment I stepped in her door and found out that she doesn't speak a word of english that this trip was going to be an adventure. (P.S. In the future if you ever find yourself in a game of charades and need a partner, pick me, I'm the master now.) I guess that's one of the reasons why it took so long to get internet at the house because we had a tough time communicating.
        This particular blog post is tough to write because so much has already taken place and I'm finding it difficult to decide what of it is exactly relevant. If I would have had internet I wouldn't have to be doing this recap and things would make a lot more sense but hopefully from this post forward I will post more regularly. Please post questions on here and if you cannot or want to ask a private question please email me and I will get back to you.
                                                                                        Paka for now!
                                                                                                        -Jean Margaret