Timeliness

My train got back to Petersburg today at 6:45 am. I was back in my room at 7:15 am. Petersburg felt so homely and familiar.

I sent my older sister Jessica a picture of me and she told me that I looked like I was related to a Bear. I haven't had a haircut or shaved in weeks... Love you too Jessica.

I get in bed quickly take a nap and prepare myself to get to class at 9:00 am. I get on the metro. Barely alive. And make it to the Institute. Turns out I don't have class until 12:00 pm. I am angry. I am going back to sleep.

I'll post about the end of Moscow and other things that occurred today later.

Stay Tuned.

Moscow: Billionaires' Playground

little Russian kid
French embassy in Moscow.
Cathederal of Christ The Savior
Me outside of the Cathderal
the monstrosity known as the Moscow metro

A Billionaires Playground is exactly what Moscow is. The city is massively immense and there are expensive stores everywhere you look. I saw more Vertu cell phones (stores and owners) than I thought even existed in the world. The mall right across from Lenin on Red Square ГУМ (GUM) that I described as being so amazing had every expensive store ever and several very exclusive European Jewelry stores. I felt like I was walking through a Neiman Marcus Catalogue.

The Metro was very impressive but because Moscow is larger there were some stations that were not as clean as others. But overall the Metro stations were very extravagant and just as fancy and sometimes fancier than the ones here. It was an amazing experience.

I went to go have dinner with Yaprak (the girl from Turkey) at the mall and I was kind of late. We had a really good conversation though. She's working for a Turkish Bank here and she knows all of the currency exchange rates for all countries to the Russian ruble. She's a brilliant mathematician. As are almost all people from Turkey. But the conversation was great and it was good to see a familiar face.

After that I came back to the hostel and just relaxed. Was about to go to sleep but then some of the girls came back from the Hilton. The girls that were staying at the Hilton invited everyone over. I wasn't interested. I knew if it was just the Brown students there it would be lame. I was correct. We watched Russian television on our huge TV including an old Soviet movie, the Russian version of "The Real World/Big Brother", and the vastly inferior Russian version of Chuck Norris. He is essentially a Moscow Businessman that helps victims of petty street crime using his martial arts skills. Lame.

The next day I got up and sadly I didn't get to go see Linen but I did walk around and I saw a lot of the city. I went to the Russian Modern History Museum (late 1800's until now) and I noticed that most of the exhibits were of weapons or war things... It was really good though and I learned a lot. This one lady was very interested in helping me look around explain about what specific things were in the museum. It was even better cause I used my student card and I got in for 70 rubles.

I was really hungry but had no cash. So I go to a bankomat (ATM) and it didn't work and then at this other one this guy was taking forever and after he finished the ATM was broken. So I go inside a currency exchange place and they said that it would be better to use one of the ATM's outside because they were cheaper and I explained that they didn't work and they start shifting around with their papers and whatnot then a lady comes out to help and says that oh you're right the bankomat doesn't work you have to find somewhere else to go. I wasted about 30 minutes doing that. I walk about 2 and a half kilometers before I finally found an ATM. I ate McDonalds and I was happy.

I bought some souvenirs outside Red Square. I still have a lot more to buy but I'm trying to make sure everyone is happy. I also went to an underground mall that was very impressive and met a Black guy there with a haircut but it turns out he didn't speak English but French. He was African and I stumbled over the few French phrases I know trying to make conversation but it was just awkward and after about 2 minutes I got discouraged and gave up trying to speak. In Moscow there are a lot more Black people so I wasn't such a rarity and fewer of them speak English. It's mostly Russian and/or their native African language.

I was laying in a park and this Russian comes up to me and calls me the Russian variant of "the n-word" well actually translated it's closer to Negro at any rate he wanted to share some juice-boxed wine with me. Yes. Wine in a liter sized juice box. He was surprised that I spoke Russian so well and he needed to put a shirt on. We talked about a lot (in Russian) and I explained to him the difference between racial slurs and why they're not okay. Russians seem to think that they can use any variant of the "N Word" because they don't have the same history of slavery and segregation as the United States does. I've had this conversation before with other Russians actually. Anyway, he was just curious as to my thoughts on American politics and if Obama was a Muslim... Which everyone here seems to think. Before we parted ways he warned me about the skinheads in Moscow which greatly outnumber those in Petersburg.

I went to my favorite cathedral. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Which was blown up by Soviets so they could build a huge building/monument but then they never really got started on it so they turned it into the worlds largest outdoor open air swimming pool but in the 90's they rebuilt it. Anyway, when I was there I took a lot of pictures and it was so cool being close. I felt like everything I know about Russia was right before me. No matter what happens... Ancient Russia, Imperial Russia, Soviets, the Federation... The Russian Orthodox Church will always be there.

As I was leaving this lady gets really excited and wants me to take a picture with her son. I did. You can see the picture above. He walks up to me like I was Santa. Kind of half scared and half excited. He holds up his hand and says "пожалуйста" and so I just hold it... I didn't know if I was supposed to pick him up or put him on my shoulders or what... Someone later told me that I should have autographed his hat.

I kept walking just wondering around the city exploring and I found the French embassy. Which was having a baller reception for French Independence Day for everyone in Moscow with a French/European Union passport. I would have very much so liked to have been able to attend that. All this time I'm continually passing by very expensive lavish stores.

I go back to the hostel round up the troops and we head out to the train station. The train back was a throwback to Soviet times. Not the newer version I rode on en route to Moscow. But it had a very nice antique smell and I felt like I was back in the 1950's. I put my iPod on shuffle on my relax/chill playlist and fell asleep and then woke up in Petersburg.

I appreciate this city a lot more now. It is much more homely. Moscow is a huge city like New York and full of tourists and hustle and bustle. This is like a nice quaint community/village compared to Moscow. Both have plus and minuses (mostly pluses) but I have gained a much greater appreciation for this city now. Home Sweet Petersburg.

Ain't No Party Like a Communist Party

my favorite building ever. my favorite color is red and this is just the epitome of architecture for me.
My wonderful bed!
my wonderful baller living room
red square
Me and Lenin and... Why can't I think of his name?

I ran because I had to meet up with a girl that goes to Brown that is interning at a Turkish bank here. She's from Turkey. Get to this in just a second.

So the meal yesterday. So good! Now I'm sitting here with some instant meat flavored mashed potatoes... hmm... Anyway, after the best dinner ever we walked around for sometime and then ended up at the red square at night which was even more amazing. I suggest everyone travel there at some point in your life. Something on the square will embrace and grab your heart and emotions.

We walked back and I went to sleep. On the way back though I split up with the Brown students and these girls came up to me and asked where I was from. There were two white girls and the other was Black but clearly biracial. They only spoke Russian. And I think they were slightly older than me 24-26 maybe. At any rate. We had a good conversation. The half Black girl was born and raised here and according to her her family has been here for many years... Which side. I don't know. But I found it strange that she didn't speak French or English or German.

The potatoes aren't that bad.

I woke up today and went to the Kremlin. It was sooo cool! Of course I went to all the places Obama went to ect. ect. blah blah blah... for the Obama maniacs out there and then I went to my most favorite museum exhibit ever. The Russian Armory (and later the Russian history museum). I saw sooo much there! It wasn't like anything you've never seen before. I won't bore you with the details of exhibits. But my favorite one was everything. If I had to pick I couldn't. Although I did particularly enjoy the evolution of the Russian horse drawn carriage exhibit. The ORIGINAL full sized carriages from all centuries of Russia were there. I like the Islamic rifles, swords, and other military equipment that Russian military bought from the Ottoman empire in the 14th/15th centuries. So detailed and masterfully decorated. Superb craftsmanship.

I should be doing work right now.

Anyway. So I was walking towards the Kremlin and who do I see? Vladimir Lenin looking at me. And another Russian politician that I can't remember his name. But the one who's name I can't remember calls me Obamaichk... (little Obama)

pause

I have been told ever since I was at Brown that to enter the Kremlin you have to be dressed very well. No sloppy outfits or you will be turned away. I get up early this morning so I can prepare my suit and tie and slacks so I can be in appropriate attire for the Kremlin. It was like 85 degrees today (almost Texas weather) and when I got there I saw people in shorts and casual type clothing. Wow.

Anyway. Obamaichk! Obamaichk! They call. They wanted ME to take pictures with them! So I did. They're funny. See for yourself.

It's late (not really only 12:56am) but still I got a lot of moving around to do tomorrow. Going to really miss this place!

More about Moscow in my next post and some really awkward moments that you don't want to miss reading about.

Stay Tuned.

Moscow Is Great

sick, perverse, Russian way of spelling my name
Moscow
red square
the mall which is
right across from where Lenin's Tomb is

From the moment I stepped into our ridiculously nice hostel I knew that this Moscow trip would be something Special. I will start where I left off. With the arrival...

As soon as we got off at the train station here in Moscow these two African girls started waving at me. And I think were trying to get me to come over where they were. I couldn't though. I had to stick with the group. The two girls that are staying in the Hilton went to the Hilton and we hopped on the Metro to go to where we were staying.

This city is HUGE. It's immense and I feel like St. Petersburg is so much more cozy and homely now. The Metro system here is a monster! It's huge and 4 or 5 times the size of the metro in Petersburg. HOWEVER! It is even more exquisite and there are all kinds of marble statues and fancy palace features to the Metro here than in Moscow.

We get of the metro and get to the hostel. I'm discouraged and really sleepy. Cause when we get there at first glance it doesn't look like anything too spectacular. I was sad. We had to leave our bags cause we couldn't check in until 12. Bummer. It's about 8am at this point in time and I'm pretty exhausted. I slept really well on the train. But I didn't get much sleep last week. Between writing a paper for my class and random nights (most no fault of my own) out I got maybe 8 hours of sleep during the week...

We walk down what I consider to be the 5th Ave. of Moscow because there were so many expensive, high class stores. But apparently there are about 4 or 5 more streets like that in this city. We stop at the Russian version of Starbucks Кафе Хауз and I have a delicious chicken sandwich and bleenie (Russian pancakes) with apples and cinnamon (also very scrumptious). We continue to walk and we finally make it to The Red Square! Infinitely much more impressive when you see it live and in person.

Standing in the middle you can see Lenin's tomb the Russian History Museum, the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral and the most incredible shopping mall ever. Better than LA, New York, London, Paris, EVER ANYWHERE directly across from Lenin's tomb..<--Irony. The entire Square is worth the trip. So we walked around a little bit. It was hot and I was really getting tired. Luckily it was almost noontime! So we hop on the metro and head back to where we were staying.

The host lady asked if we wanted to stay in that building or the one across the street. I was really tired and wanted to just pass out there but had I stayed there I would have been alone with only 2 other guys from Brown and random foreigners. I take my chances on the place I am currently at now which is nicer than anything I've seen since I've been in this country.

Imagine a ski lodge, country house, or flat in New York that people rent out to really rich people to say in for holiday. That's what this place is like. It is so comfortable and it has all the amenities of a Westernized, Capitalized living space. I love it here. This place in itself makes the trip worth it. And for only $30 a night? Pics are posted.

I slept here when we got in. Other students went out and about but I needed sleep seriously. Then came some great Southern Hospitality from nowhere! Well Dallas actually. One of the kids on our trip goes to Stanford. He was born and raised in Dallas and he's tall like me but he's really liberal. He's cool though. His parents offer to take everyone out to dinner! Yezzir!

The place we were eating was called the Academy Cafe (very baller, lavish Russian/European fancy restaurant). It was right outside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (personally my favorite Cathedral in Russia). And when we got there (early) everyone wanted to just take pictures and relax right outside of it. Funniest thing. There was this Black British guy with these white British people and he was really funny. Not like purposefully funny but funny in the sense that he's Black and British and speaks with that accent. This little Russian kid (4 or 5) was running around and the little Russian kid kept coming up to play with him and then running away. Then the mom picks him up and puts him on the Black guys lap and asks to have a picture taken! It was funny and kind of cute at the same time.

We get to the Restaurant and fanciness of it immediately strikes me. We were told to order whatever we want and to not hold back. Word? Okay. I started off with basic flat water... But at the urging of Mr. Payne (the guy from Texas) I as well as everyone else got other drinks... He then ordered us all sushi as an appetizer. I really wanted the steak but I wanted to be modest so I just ordered a pasta with shrimp and chicken and fries on the side. When the order gets there I'm like what is this portion for babies?! But it turns out it was actually really filling! It was so good. It was more than what it looked like. I also tried and immediately fell in love with Napoleon cake! It was kind of like my first experience with creme brulee except infinitely better. It is officially my new favorite dessert! I thanked him for buying us all dinner and encouraged everyone at the table to give him a round of applause which they did. He was a really nice guy and his wife was really nice too. Very interested in me and whereabouts I was from in Texas. It was so great to hear that southern accent again. Last night was the best meal I've ever had since I've been here though..

dinner date I forgot about! oops!

gotta jet!

finish this later

Six-Week Celebrity

Not a day goes by in which a little kid points at me and stares in fascination, a group of girls giggle and/or blow kisses, someone wants a picture, or someone asks me about rap/hip-hop.

This struck me more than ever yesterday when I was crossing the bridge over the canal outside my house. One of the many boat excursion tours was coming through and all off the sudden they started clapping and taking pictures of me. When I waved they got even more excited. Immediately after that a lady in a smaller boat on I guess a private tour saw me and when I waved she started to get really excited and wanted her boat tour person to pull over I think... I had to keep moving in the direction I was going though.

I would have never thought that because of my skin color and height and being an American that I would get so much attention here in Russia.

I'm writing this from Moscow by the way. The last few days have been really busy. I'll have to repost about them on here later. But yesterday I-

Went to another palace in Petersburg. It was really nice. The weather was beautiful and the park was so relaxing. I got to sit by the lake and dip my feet in the water. The Germans during WWII blew it up but it was restored and it was really impressive.

I came back and then that's when the boat celebrity thing happened.

Race in America is weird. It is almost impossible for me to explain to Russians that I'm not from Africa and I don't know where I am from in Africa. The first questions most cab drivers ask me is "из африканец"and I respond no. And then they ask where my parents are from in Africa and I say that they're not from there either. My guess is Most Black people in European countries are African and so a lot of people just assume that it works the same way in the United States... Not so much. Americans are of all colors and come from all over the world. So not just me but a person here with any skin color that's not white would be really annoyed with explaining their nationality/heritage.

I had a really good dinner with my host family. who I think is going to be leaving for quite some time. I'm not sure if they'll be there when I get back. My babushka was there and I told her in Russian that, "I have not seen you in a hundred years" and she thought it was really cute that I knew that phrase. I took a shower and got packed really quickly and headed towards the train station to go to Moscow!

The train ride was so incredible! Ever since I was a little and I watched Thomas and Friends I've always wanted to ride on a train for a really long time. I got my wish yesterday. It was better than I imagined. We (the students) had a good time. A lot of people brought drinks and we stayed up and just talked and had a great time conversing amongst ourselves. I think I was sexually assaulted cause one girl copped a more than casual or accidental feel on my knee/thigh. I don't know if I felt okay about it. Anyway I went to sleep at like 2am. I fell asleep listening to Mos Def's New Danger album and it was so appropriate. I suggest after reading this if you own that album listen to it. If you don't own it buy it.

We got to Moscow at 7am. And there was a lot that happened. I'll write about it later. I have a friend from Brown here that's working this summer. I'm sleepy. I did a lot in this enormous city today.

oh! wait! This hostel is sooooo incredible! It's so baller! It's way nicer than any hotel I could have stayed in! there's a huge TV everything is Westernized and the bed is so comfortable. For only 1000 rubles a night?! I'm so happy! this hostel makes the trip to Moscow completely worth it! I even have my own closet! and it doesn't smell like smoke here. I'll take pictures.

ok. bed time for Jimmy. Got meet up with Putin tomorrow at the Kremlin.

Stay Tuned.

Eesho

I was also Will Smith and Michael Jordan today. If I charged for pictures I'd be a millionaire.

My freestyle. (ability to narrate n a skillful and rhythmic manner with little or no preparation) is unmatched. I'm feeling my inner Pushkin.

Stay tuned
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Too Friendly/Collective Occurrences

more russians wanting to take their picture with me. the guy wearing my yankees cap is the Russian sniper that insisted I hang out with him.
An Armenian. and huge fan of snoop dog and he wanted to throw up the west side like snoop. I obliged.**
brand new BMW convertible. one both sides of the car it said "MICHAEL JACKSON IS KING. GOD BLES MICHAEL JACKSON."

I just finished a night that I did not want to be this long. So this post will just be a summary of things that I must catch up on. I'll expound on them later. It's good though cause I've experienced more in the past 72 hours than I have in the last 21 years of my life.

Eurotechno music is great. There's a part where the DJ just holds the beat and lets it ride and build for a really long time and when you vibe with it and ride it all the way out until the end when the beat drops again you literally lose yourself.

I call my host moms father the Old Russian Master. His house does not smell like smoke (a first) and it's kind of nicer. He is a certified medical doctor but he's also one of those great people you meet in life. That know and do many things and have a genuine admiration for the life of the mind. He told me out of all the houses in Russia that I was in the least racist house. He explained to me that he was also a writer and he gave me the Russian version of Mother Goose rhymes to learn. He's a very smart and kind person. You don't meet people like him much anymore.

I played basketball with him and his sons and then we played soccer. The looks on the kids faces...

More amputees.

I leave for Moscow tonight.

In class I thought the word for a "short person" was midget lollipop.

I talked to my mom about Russian politics in Russian. She's not a fan.

I got ripped off by another cab. 200 rubles for a barely 100 ruble ride.

Ana's sister is a party promotions manager for one of the most posh, expensive lavish clubs in Petersburg. There weren't many people there tonight but I don't think there are many clubs in the world that top this. If there are you can't get into them.

She also invited me to this all white (attire) party. A variant of the P. Diddy version. It's held on one of the islands and goes up until early the next day... The invitation that you needed to enter was so sick.

I met a bunch of Africans yesterday. Sif took me to this club Revolution. Which is actually only a few blocks away from here. He explained to me that they were trying to start up having "Black people" night again. Once again Sif has proven himself to be cooler than ice cold. We walk in and go through the metal detector. And when we get to the ticket booth the guy is like you can't come. And Sif tells him in Russian that he wants to talk to the owner. The guy let's him go back. 3 minutes later the phone in the ticket booth rings and I'm allowed entry FREE without delay.

The guy is Cameroonian and he's just as tall as me and he works under white club owners o promote parties. He had a really fancy office inside the club. The club itself was sick and of course I had VIP. And I got to pop champagne.

I have a Michael Jackson tribute that will leave you dumbfounded. I'll upload the picture tomorrow.

I will send out the post cards tomorrow. That's my plan.

I met these central asians dudes yesterday that loved me. They considered themselves to be Black. They loved 2Pac.

And I just got in from hanging out with this Russian war vet. He was very drunk and in a nutshell we sang songs, talked politics, US-Russia relations, he thinks Russia is the only country that won WWII, very proud that his grandfather is a high ranked Russian war hero, he was a sniper in the Chechean war, bought me and Sif big and tasty from McDonalds (literally actually big and tasty), and we arm wrestled before I left. I got beat. 3 times. He's not the biggest fan of the United States and their politics and is delusional about Russia's strength as a world power. but he likes me for God knows what reason. I honestly just wanted to go home tonight. cuddle up in my bed and sleep tight. Instead. I'm here. Blogging. Just getting in at 4:30. He's not the kind of guy you want to turn down. He was slightly tipsy and had I disagreed with anything he said it would have caused more problems. I held my ground and beliefs when we talked but I just ended up hanging out with him and his friend with Sif. And we met these Ukrainian women who were out at 3 in the morning so their drunk husbands didn't beat them when they got back in.

Russians like me too much. (knock on wood) Just say hi. Take a picture. And let me move on. Thanks.

**I in no way shape or form endorse, represent, or claim the West coast. The above photographed photo is for entertainment purposes only.

Stay Tuned.