Sunset

Test post using a pic from my phone.

Sunset from the park.

Too hot

The reason I spent nearly all day inside again today - taken at 7:00pm.

Making a tiny bit of progress sorting through my photos from my year and half abroad. 45,000 pics of Russia, and 6,000 of Kiev and Vienna! Certainly enough to keep me busy for a while.

Summer

 The temperature hit 105 F today, so today was spent in front of the computer, going through files and doing some research on various things. Here's what my desk looks like right now. Highlighted is my lovely 2TB hard drive which houses the thousands of photos of Moscow and Europe that are waiting to be sorted through...

Flowers

I went for a walk this morning and spotted these bright purple flowers. It was unfortunately rather humid, and the mosquitoes were enjoying feasting on my legs, so I just snapped a few pictures and returned to my car. This isn't exactly what I hoped to capture, but I like the image nonetheless.

Dascha

Dascha helping me work, and thoroughly enjoying the pile of clothes and down comforter!

Where do I begin?

Life here in Moscow has been full of interesting things - things I've done, seen, and experienced - and I always plan to write about them here, but for whatever reason I don't... and because of that, I think I've forgotten what it's like to live in a foreign country, because part of that is getting to experience so many new things! Moscow isn't foreign to me now, and it really hasn't been that way for quite a long time. I know that's part of the reason I haven't blogged much at all, so starting from today I'm challenging myself to see Moscow from a tourist's point of view, and to write about it here.

I've been living in Moscow for nearly 16 months, and I just can't believe it's been that long! Time has more than flown, and I'd prefer if it would slow down a bit. I don't know for sure when I'm leaving Russia, but I do know that I need to make the most of all the time I'm here, and hopefully by attempting to do that time will stop feeling like it's just fleeting away, slipping through the tight grasp I keep trying to capture it in...

I want to go back and relive all the 'firsts' I had here, and capture the joy and wonderment I felt when I was experiencing them. Reading through my first posts from Moscow makes me remember what it felt like back then - more than one year ago. I almost feel like I take things for granted now, since everything is just so, well, ordinary! Moscow is Moscow, it's the place I currently call home. There's so much I want to see and do here, and I need to start seeing and doing those things, rather than just postponing them, saying I'll do them another day...

So, time to go to bed, as it's almost 1:00am here. Today is supposed to be bitterly cold but sunny, so my goal for today is to figure out how to enjoy the sun without turning into an icicle!

Day Two/366

2009

November 19 2009 - this was my second day in Moscow. I had my orientation with the school I was teaching at then, which much to my dismay began with a 9:30am pick up. It was a pretty long journey from where I was living into the center where the school was located. The metro exit was directly opposite the Kremlin - which was such a surprise, since I hadn't ventured to that particular metro station back in 2007. I can see why the school brings new teachers there - it's certainly an impressive first view of Moscow! 

I was told that orientation would only last a few hours, then I'd be free. That was not the case, and I was stuck there all day. Finally free around 8:30pm, I escaped and went directly to Red Square to see Saint Basil's Cathedral, Alexander's Garden, GUM, and the Kremlin - exactly what I'd been dreaming of since I stepped off the plane! It was just as magnificent as I remembered, maybe even more so since it was all lit up at night... I remembered all of it, of course, but one thing was funny - St. Basil's seemed huge! I guess after spending two years only seeing it in pictures, I forgot just how big it was! I wandered around a bit more, then got myself a blini (like a crepe) for dinner. Blini were definitely one of the things I was looking forward to eating when I got here, and I figured that it would be an appropriate first official meal in Moscow! It was just as good as I remembered, and it was even from the same chain - Teremok. 

After that it was time to make the journey home... and what a journey it was! Going by metro was no problem - I had a map and figured out where to go, that was easy. I'm pretty sure I even took the right exit out of the metro. The problem was remembering which paths to take to get to my building, because from the metro to the apartment you basically needed to navigate through parking areas and other buildings. Jet lag and an unplanned very long day are not a good combination, and due to that it took me a good 30 minutes to find my building! Once home, I contemplated unpacking a little, but decided in favor of going to bed :)

2010

Today was a nice and relaxing day. My 8:00am lesson was cancelled, which meant that I got to sleep in! It was a grey and cold day, just like last November, so I decided to just stay in and relax. I cleaned my apartment a bit, baked some peach and cherry muffins, and taught my only lesson for the day. It was nice to just do nothing and unwind at the end of what's been a rather stressful week. To celebrate my anniversary of surviving one whole year in Moscow, I did exactly what I did one year ago - walked around Red Square and Alexander's Garden! Yes, I'm familiar with everything there now, but I still love seeing it just as much as I did last year. Now I'm off to enjoy a little piece of America, Grey's Anatomy... stay tuned for more on my adventures!