update from last week
an attack of news. this is from last week. i'll try to remember to post these as i write them.
************
Hello Hello Hello!
At long last, I make contact with those at home!
Sorry for the silence. We can chalk it up to a number of factors: I’m emailing with a dial-up connection (which was a feat, in and of itself, to finally establish,); after almost a week of Moscow life, I’m still rather jetlagged and invariably exhausted by the end of the day, which is coincidentally the same time I think to sit down and write notes home. Anyway, I apologize for the impersonalness of this mass email; I just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely and that, despite the record-setting low temperatures here in Moscow, I am not, as some of you may have assumed by now, a frozen corpse stuck to the side of some building somewhere.
So, yeah, here I am. Life here’s been good so far. I haven’t yet started my new job (I’m thinking this will happen on Tuesday of this week, perhaps,) so the last week has been really nice and restful. Charles, the Moscow Virgin, is adapting well to this new, strange land. He’s reading signs on the street in Cyrillic (he picked that up quicker than I did, I think, when I first started coming here,) and his lack of inhibition, trying to communicate with Russians on the street, etc., is commendable-I’m so proud! He went out for a pack of smokes last night, and returned victorious. It’s been a lot of fun introducing him to the city; we’ve spent the majority of our time thus far exploring, stopping regularly to warm up in coffee shops and subway vestibules. Last night we (Charles and I, and my two American flatmates Lorin and Miriam,) had Georgian food at my favorite Moscow restaurant and, of course, everyone had far too much to drink. Aside to Mom: don’t worry, I’ve been watching the vodka intake!
As you may have read in the news, Moscow’s enjoying some of the coldest weather it’s seen in 25 years. The night we arrived, upon exiting the airport, I experienced frozen nose hair for the first time-a surprising and, well, uncomfortable sensation if you’ve never had the pleasure. It dipped down to a painful -35 degrees Celsius a few nights ago. Today was a balmy -19. Strange, when you find yourself looking forward to the thermometer hitting 0. Anyway, we’ve been trying to stay cheerful despite numb feet, icicles on our eyelashes, and our breath crystallizing in the air when we exhale. My flat, though quite nicely furnished, is struggling to keep us warm. I live in a wonderful old building, and the flat has great big high ceilings; I guess there’s more air to warm in here than in standard-sized rooms. We went out the other day and bought a great big blanket for the bed, as sleeping with our coats on over our pajamas was getting sorta old. My hope is that, once this cold snap is over, the radiators will be able to keep up a little bit better.
But I don’t mean to complain. The frozen Moscow River is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. And, I’m actually having a really nice time. My Russian is coming back rapidly; I’ve negotiated all necessary transactions, business and otherwise, with little trouble. There’s this feeling you get after a successful day here in Moscow, when everything’s gone smoothly and you’ve accomplished all that you set out to do-I call it the Moscow Buzz-and I’m happy to report that, most nights, I’ve felt generally content with myself. As Charles said the other day as we hiked up the stairs to the apartment, “Life’s HARD here!” But we’ve all been smiling most of the time, and that’s the most important thing I can think of.
I am a little homesick, of course. The trick, I think, is to keep as busy as I can so I don’t have time to think about how much I miss my family and friends. I’m so glad that Charles was able to come with me for a little while, and that I’m living with two good friends from the states; obviously, this has buffered the shock of transition a bit. It’ll be hard when Charlie goes home next month, but I’m not quite ready to think about that just yet. Needless to say, you’re all on my mind. Please email me or, if you’d rather, call. To reach me from the states on my mobile phone, dial 011 7 915 081-8431. Calling cards will get you a good rate (I don’t sound too desperate here, do I?) Remember, it’s 11 hours later here than in California.
So I think that’s it for now. Sorry again for the delay in my first communications. We’re hoping to have high speed Internet installed in the flat sometime soon, at which point I’ll be online more frequently. Still, keep in touch. And I’ll write again soon, after I’ve started working, to let you all know how my first days go as a Copy Editor for Russia Today TV (think: cog in the Russian Propaganda Machine.)
My love to you all.
Kisses,
Amanda.
PS - In spite of the ice that covers the sidewalks, no one’s taken any serious outdoor spills yet. Ironically, I fell the other day, but not because of the ice. The marble stairs in the subway, warn smooth and slightly sloping downwards, get treacherously slippery when wet, it turns out. Rushing to catch a train the other day, my legs flew out from under me and my ass hit the steps, hard. I have a giant bruise the color of a grape Otterpop. We all had a great laugh.
************
Hello Hello Hello!
At long last, I make contact with those at home!
Sorry for the silence. We can chalk it up to a number of factors: I’m emailing with a dial-up connection (which was a feat, in and of itself, to finally establish,); after almost a week of Moscow life, I’m still rather jetlagged and invariably exhausted by the end of the day, which is coincidentally the same time I think to sit down and write notes home. Anyway, I apologize for the impersonalness of this mass email; I just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely and that, despite the record-setting low temperatures here in Moscow, I am not, as some of you may have assumed by now, a frozen corpse stuck to the side of some building somewhere.
So, yeah, here I am. Life here’s been good so far. I haven’t yet started my new job (I’m thinking this will happen on Tuesday of this week, perhaps,) so the last week has been really nice and restful. Charles, the Moscow Virgin, is adapting well to this new, strange land. He’s reading signs on the street in Cyrillic (he picked that up quicker than I did, I think, when I first started coming here,) and his lack of inhibition, trying to communicate with Russians on the street, etc., is commendable-I’m so proud! He went out for a pack of smokes last night, and returned victorious. It’s been a lot of fun introducing him to the city; we’ve spent the majority of our time thus far exploring, stopping regularly to warm up in coffee shops and subway vestibules. Last night we (Charles and I, and my two American flatmates Lorin and Miriam,) had Georgian food at my favorite Moscow restaurant and, of course, everyone had far too much to drink. Aside to Mom: don’t worry, I’ve been watching the vodka intake!
As you may have read in the news, Moscow’s enjoying some of the coldest weather it’s seen in 25 years. The night we arrived, upon exiting the airport, I experienced frozen nose hair for the first time-a surprising and, well, uncomfortable sensation if you’ve never had the pleasure. It dipped down to a painful -35 degrees Celsius a few nights ago. Today was a balmy -19. Strange, when you find yourself looking forward to the thermometer hitting 0. Anyway, we’ve been trying to stay cheerful despite numb feet, icicles on our eyelashes, and our breath crystallizing in the air when we exhale. My flat, though quite nicely furnished, is struggling to keep us warm. I live in a wonderful old building, and the flat has great big high ceilings; I guess there’s more air to warm in here than in standard-sized rooms. We went out the other day and bought a great big blanket for the bed, as sleeping with our coats on over our pajamas was getting sorta old. My hope is that, once this cold snap is over, the radiators will be able to keep up a little bit better.
But I don’t mean to complain. The frozen Moscow River is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. And, I’m actually having a really nice time. My Russian is coming back rapidly; I’ve negotiated all necessary transactions, business and otherwise, with little trouble. There’s this feeling you get after a successful day here in Moscow, when everything’s gone smoothly and you’ve accomplished all that you set out to do-I call it the Moscow Buzz-and I’m happy to report that, most nights, I’ve felt generally content with myself. As Charles said the other day as we hiked up the stairs to the apartment, “Life’s HARD here!” But we’ve all been smiling most of the time, and that’s the most important thing I can think of.
I am a little homesick, of course. The trick, I think, is to keep as busy as I can so I don’t have time to think about how much I miss my family and friends. I’m so glad that Charles was able to come with me for a little while, and that I’m living with two good friends from the states; obviously, this has buffered the shock of transition a bit. It’ll be hard when Charlie goes home next month, but I’m not quite ready to think about that just yet. Needless to say, you’re all on my mind. Please email me or, if you’d rather, call. To reach me from the states on my mobile phone, dial 011 7 915 081-8431. Calling cards will get you a good rate (I don’t sound too desperate here, do I?) Remember, it’s 11 hours later here than in California.
So I think that’s it for now. Sorry again for the delay in my first communications. We’re hoping to have high speed Internet installed in the flat sometime soon, at which point I’ll be online more frequently. Still, keep in touch. And I’ll write again soon, after I’ve started working, to let you all know how my first days go as a Copy Editor for Russia Today TV (think: cog in the Russian Propaganda Machine.)
My love to you all.
Kisses,
Amanda.
PS - In spite of the ice that covers the sidewalks, no one’s taken any serious outdoor spills yet. Ironically, I fell the other day, but not because of the ice. The marble stairs in the subway, warn smooth and slightly sloping downwards, get treacherously slippery when wet, it turns out. Rushing to catch a train the other day, my legs flew out from under me and my ass hit the steps, hard. I have a giant bruise the color of a grape Otterpop. We all had a great laugh.