Wrapping up in Moscow

I've spent the last few days here in Moscow, reconnecting with Russia and its culture before heading off to Tuva. No mouth-music related activities here, although I realized too late that I could have tracked down one of Russia's few beatboxers if I'd thought of it sooner.

What I did do was fun nevertheless. I've been staying at the apartment of Geoff, Swarthmore '00, who's posted at the embassy. Amara, Swarthmore '06, has been staying at his place too, so we had a little Swarthmore reunion the first night I was here. However, Amara took off for a visit back to the states, so I've been more or less on my own to explore.

Since I've been here before, my strategy for seeing things this time around was a little different. I wasn't as interested in Red Square, Izmailovsky, or the museums. Instead, I've taken walks, directed minimally by a guide book, trying to find interesting parks, stores and the like. On Wednesday, I walked past Gorky Park and stumbled upon the Sculpture Park near the new Tretyakov gallery. It's a fascinating mix of Soviet sculptures that got taken down after the fall of the USSR and modern work. It's also a very relaxing place to walk around or read a book. I bought a bowl of solyanka in the cafe and sat outdoors for a while, eating, reading, and watching people.

Thursday, I gave a talk on War News Radio at the American Center (in the Library of Foreign Literature). A good group of 20 or so people of all ages came. I talked about the history and philosophy of the show, played some clips, and opened the floor to discussion. What followed was over an hour of questions on Iraq, US policy, my views on Russia and Russians, and many other things. It was a lot of fun to hear what a Russian audience thought about the project, and also to talk about Iraq with people with such a different background.

I'm supposed to be heading out to a dacha on the outskirts of Moscow to meet up with some of the people I worked with in the embassy press section two summers ago. Unfortunately, I've got a bunch of damp clothes in the dryer and still need to pack them away. So... I'll be a bit late.

My next update won't be for a few days. Tonight, my train leaves for Abakan-- it will arrive early Wednesday morning, and I'll catch a shared taxi to Kyzyl, Tuva.