UHC Mongolia

But if we were, dinner would look like this, the night market on Wanfujing, a block away from our hotel. We arrived in UB on Sunday and the students started their coursework yesterday with a three hour long Mongolian language class. They'll continue the fun with three hours of langauge for the next three weeks, then begin their internships.

When I took Russian Fairy Tales my sophomore year, I took it under theimpression that no matter how fun or interesting it would be, it wouldnever be of any use in my life, in any way at all (except for thebrownie recipe the professor shared with us). However, during ourstay in Moscow, I was proved wrong. During our trip to the Kremlin,we toured a few of the cathedrals - the insides walls of which werecovered with Russian icons, something we had learned about in RussianFairy Tales. As if the Kremlin itself wasn't cool enough, I was ableto appreciate the artwork on a slightly higher level.Several days later we were taken to the tail end of a Russian Orthodox service/mass. These are quite different from Western Christian andCatholic services in a few ways. First, mass is three and a halfhours long (hence we only went to the last hour) and second, there areno pews - everyone stands. I'm normally not enthralled by churchservices, and it didn't help that the service was all in Russian(surprise!) and we were unable to even follow along. So between thegorgeous yet sporadic choir music to hold my interest, I spent therest of the time trying to pick out things that Dr. Di had taught usabout Russian iconography, which was way more fun than staring at thefloorboards :P


~Jamie

Two weeks into the trip and still there is no word about beautiful (but cold) Moscow on our blog. With great anticipation we arrived in Moscow promptly meeting with a group of kids form Wittenberg, an obscure college in Ohio. That night we had an Б─°authenticБ─² Russian meal with Russian students studying English. The Russian students proved to be very helpful throughout the entire week. They were endlessly patient and cheerful while dealing with students who essentially spoke no Russian; although I should mention ZoloБ─≥s mad Russian skills which we often forced him to use when none of the Russian students were around.

The highlight of the trip to Moscow was the tour of the Kremlin and seeing the often photographed St. Basils with my very own eyes. At first I will admit I was not fond of Russia, but by the end of the trip I was sad to leave. Despite the expense of the city, the numerous tours and variety of lectures in addition to the nightlife made Moscow a memorable experience. As Evan said best, Б─°You stay classy MoscowБ─². Final purple hair count: 11.


laura erion