And she fell in love in Moscow...
Over the summer I was looking forward to the 9-day Russia trip more than I was looking forward to coming to Lithuania in general. And it finally came…
All 30-something American students went, broken up into what the European interns called “comrade groups”…to remind us of Communist times, I guess? Kinda weird…
Five-hour bus ride to Riga, the capital of Latvia, and then an overnight train to Moscow, with four of us crammed into a sleeping cabin. We hit the Russian border after nightfall, and the border guards hopped on to check us all. After asking us where we were hiding our boyfriends, one of them pronounced my name just like my Russian grandmother does, which made me miss her, but reminded me how much fun it was going to be to find my roots in this huge country. It was amazing to wake up in Moscow.
I wish I could say that I have the Russian language mastered because of my mom’s side of the family, but I am so far from it. The interns (our group leaders who all spoke Russian—thank goodness) taught us how to memorize the first few Russian letters in each of the metro stops that we would need to know. But the metro stations are crrrraaaaaazzzy in Russia—to the point where we’d all hold hands in hopes of all making it into the same car. Besides it being the most insane metro system in the world, it’s also the most beautiful. Some of the stations even had chandeliers and marble statues in them!
The first night we went to a Russian circus, where my previous thoughts were confirmed: Russians are insane. But I can say that because I am Russian…so I guess there’s a little of that in me too :) Turns out the Russian version of Britney Spears was headlining the whole circus performance, so that was pretty neat except that none of us knew who she was prior to the show. Trick dogs, horse gymnastics, acrobats, dancing bears, elephants, monkies, etc. They know how to do it all. But they didn’t use safety harnesses for anything…even when they were hundreds of feet in the air. Crazy. Maybe I’ll join some day.
When we left the circus it started to snow! Our first snow in Europe…there is something energizing about falling snow. I loved it. And I actually forgot how cold I was for a few minutes.
The following days were filled with Russian Orthodox churches and museums. Usually you have to pay to take pictures in each building, but everyone loved my camera, so they would pay for me to take it inside, which was nice. One of my favorite new scents is the way the incense, oil and candles mix together in the cathedrals.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
That night we went to вднх (pronounced VDNKh), which is basically a huge territory with different exhibitions from each of the former Soviet republics, showcasing what they’re proud of from their countries.
There we rode the biggest ferris wheel I’ve ever seen, where you could see all of Moscow from up high. 
Meanwhile, I had family trying to find me. :) Probably the most exciting thing about being in Russia was having relatives to meet up with. Except for the fact that they don’t speak English. Apparently on their quest to find me, they ran into another group of study abroads and said something along the lines of, “Glkhsdlhiojlsadgkljlsoasfdfwekjiwe…Madeline Jacks?” So they knew to call me, and I grabbed my friend Robyn and we piled into the back of their car. This was the start of the best night I had in Russia. We had dinner with my grandma’s cousin, her kids, their kids, and their kids…four generations living in one flat.
And they just kept speaking Russian, even though we understood none of it. The oldest woman started pulling out pictures and more pictures of me when I was five years old. They gave us gifts…I have the most beautiful ring from Moscow now. We drank real chai, ate amazing food, and had the best time. The weirdest thing was that two of the women spoke Spanish, so I could understand them, and Robyn could speak with them. Go figure.
Before taking us back to our hostel, Sergei drove us around Moscow for an hour so that we could see what it looks like at night. During this time, the other study abroad students were having a tour of the metro stops…so we definitely lucked out. Moscow is gorgeous by night. It is huge…like 15 million people huge.
At one point we were in some alley trying to find the hostel when a black Bentley pulled out of nowhere and sped off down the street. Robyn and I both turned to each other and mouthed, “Maffia?” You never know…
They shut down all of Red Square the next day just to open up Lenin’s mausoleum. FYI, he’s dead but not buried. And I saw him with my own eyes. Creeeeeeeepy.
It’s worth noting here that the entire time we were in Russia it was below freezing and I couldn’t feel my fingers until we were back in Lithuania.
That night we hopped on another train to St. Petersburg…
All 30-something American students went, broken up into what the European interns called “comrade groups”…to remind us of Communist times, I guess? Kinda weird…
Five-hour bus ride to Riga, the capital of Latvia, and then an overnight train to Moscow, with four of us crammed into a sleeping cabin. We hit the Russian border after nightfall, and the border guards hopped on to check us all. After asking us where we were hiding our boyfriends, one of them pronounced my name just like my Russian grandmother does, which made me miss her, but reminded me how much fun it was going to be to find my roots in this huge country. It was amazing to wake up in Moscow.
I wish I could say that I have the Russian language mastered because of my mom’s side of the family, but I am so far from it. The interns (our group leaders who all spoke Russian—thank goodness) taught us how to memorize the first few Russian letters in each of the metro stops that we would need to know. But the metro stations are crrrraaaaaazzzy in Russia—to the point where we’d all hold hands in hopes of all making it into the same car. Besides it being the most insane metro system in the world, it’s also the most beautiful. Some of the stations even had chandeliers and marble statues in them!
The first night we went to a Russian circus, where my previous thoughts were confirmed: Russians are insane. But I can say that because I am Russian…so I guess there’s a little of that in me too :) Turns out the Russian version of Britney Spears was headlining the whole circus performance, so that was pretty neat except that none of us knew who she was prior to the show. Trick dogs, horse gymnastics, acrobats, dancing bears, elephants, monkies, etc. They know how to do it all. But they didn’t use safety harnesses for anything…even when they were hundreds of feet in the air. Crazy. Maybe I’ll join some day.
When we left the circus it started to snow! Our first snow in Europe…there is something energizing about falling snow. I loved it. And I actually forgot how cold I was for a few minutes.
The following days were filled with Russian Orthodox churches and museums. Usually you have to pay to take pictures in each building, but everyone loved my camera, so they would pay for me to take it inside, which was nice. One of my favorite new scents is the way the incense, oil and candles mix together in the cathedrals.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
That night we went to вднх (pronounced VDNKh), which is basically a huge territory with different exhibitions from each of the former Soviet republics, showcasing what they’re proud of from their countries.
There we rode the biggest ferris wheel I’ve ever seen, where you could see all of Moscow from up high. 
Meanwhile, I had family trying to find me. :) Probably the most exciting thing about being in Russia was having relatives to meet up with. Except for the fact that they don’t speak English. Apparently on their quest to find me, they ran into another group of study abroads and said something along the lines of, “Glkhsdlhiojlsadgkljlsoasfdfwekjiwe…Madeline Jacks?” So they knew to call me, and I grabbed my friend Robyn and we piled into the back of their car. This was the start of the best night I had in Russia. We had dinner with my grandma’s cousin, her kids, their kids, and their kids…four generations living in one flat.
And they just kept speaking Russian, even though we understood none of it. The oldest woman started pulling out pictures and more pictures of me when I was five years old. They gave us gifts…I have the most beautiful ring from Moscow now. We drank real chai, ate amazing food, and had the best time. The weirdest thing was that two of the women spoke Spanish, so I could understand them, and Robyn could speak with them. Go figure.Before taking us back to our hostel, Sergei drove us around Moscow for an hour so that we could see what it looks like at night. During this time, the other study abroad students were having a tour of the metro stops…so we definitely lucked out. Moscow is gorgeous by night. It is huge…like 15 million people huge.
At one point we were in some alley trying to find the hostel when a black Bentley pulled out of nowhere and sped off down the street. Robyn and I both turned to each other and mouthed, “Maffia?” You never know…
They shut down all of Red Square the next day just to open up Lenin’s mausoleum. FYI, he’s dead but not buried. And I saw him with my own eyes. Creeeeeeeepy.
It’s worth noting here that the entire time we were in Russia it was below freezing and I couldn’t feel my fingers until we were back in Lithuania.
That night we hopped on another train to St. Petersburg…
posted by Madeline at 1:18 AM
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