9/24 Day 2

After fighting jet lag and a late morning some of us went to the American super market to get some groceries- especially for me, I had a hard time eating Russia food but I have found some nummy options. Communal cooking is a lot easier and a lot more fun so into the kitchen for a quick bite to eat and then of to MXT.
The walk to MXT is long and after the first 10 minutes you feet begin to throb because the streets switch between cement and a cobble stone like material. Walking in Moscow in very different because of the traffic. For the largest streets they have tunnels that go under ground and come out on the other side of the street. As you walk through the tunnels there are vendors on both sides selling an assortment of things.
Classes have still not begun yet but we had two meetings today one was a general meeting to see if we were all alright and the second was our first meeting with our Acting teachers. Both of the acting teachers are male- we are being split off into 2 groups- neither spoke any English and both had very Russian names which none of us remember. One teaches is the dean of acting and the other is a working professional at the MXT. The translators are interesting they take turns in somewhat short phrases, first the dean would speak something in Russian then the interpreter would translate. It was surprisingly easy to follow. The dean is wonderful very fun and has asked us not to loose our “American smiles.” We then had monologue performances my least favorite thing in the world, the dean could tell we were nervous so he said. “Don’t worry you don’t have to kill us with your acting.” He is very funny even after translation.
We got done early so they decided to take us on a boat ride along the Moscow River- that isn’t its real name but it runs through Moscow. All of the pictures are from this adventure- they aren’t actually taken by me but by my friend who is in the picture with me. The first step in our journey was to take the subway or tubs as they call them here. The tubs are set up similarly to DC but as my friends told me are busy like NYC. They are built like palaces with chandeliers, mosaics and marble everywhere. I was it bit nervous and Russian walk very fast but we got to the boat in one piece. The boat was amazing the first thing we saw was one of the glass bridges which was built originally a very long time ago but then was covered in glass fifteen year ago. Also we saw churches, the park (much like central park), the huge “dome” where all their sports are played, the new futuristic business center, a carnival, a gaudy monument to Peter the Great, One of the great cathedrals and A view from the bridge of Kremlin- which we will visit at a later date.
Tomorrow we have our first classes: Russian Cinema and History of Russian Theater with Smeliansky. We were told today that there are two magic worlds if we ever want anything in Moscow MXT and Smeliansky.