9 мая -- день Победы

Ninth of May -- Victory Day, that is to us who only speak 'Murrican ;)


This is Russia's Celebration of V-E Day, and it's pretty cool. People always tell me May is the prime month of the year in Russia, and part of Victory Day's charm is that it's always warm and sunny for the parade. Not so, my friends. The one year that Katie gets to spend at the Victory Day parade: CLOUDY AND COLD. "No matter," said we, as my family and I got up early to get a good spot along Тверская Yлица (Tverskaya Street) so that we could see the infamous parade. 

So these bad boys were parked right in front of us for about 20 minutes while the other half of the parade merged onto the street ahead. They say it's the only day that police officers and military guys smile and wave at people. And wave they did! They tried to ignore us for a while, but the Burt girls in my ward and I wouldn't give up. We got a smile and a wave. 

Mоя семья. My family. I don't think you're ready for this jelly. Oh check out my mom's flag. People wave these and tie orange&black striped ribbon to cars and bags and everything. The orange represents the fire from the war and the black represents smoke. I'm pretty sure...

Alright, HOW COOL is that? It's huge, and just driving through the square. Mark's quote was "Why doesn't America have this stuff?!" To which my dad explained that they do, they just don't flaunt it. Then of course we had an active definition of the word "flaunt" for Mark. I swear, living with these people is something else. I also like this picture because you can see one of Moscow's many statues that mark historical events. Right below this spot is a very important Metro stop, I just learned. Stalin addressed a crowd in the central hall of the station, which is the first to sport a new colonnade style when built in 1938 (for my fellow lovers of architecture).

The whole group. Now how does it feel, friends, to not be in this picture? Pretty bad right? Lucky for you, there are tons of things like this in Moscow, so if you visit me, we can take pictures and talk about our wicked experiences at historical sites. Sounds awesome, right? I know. More to come soon! Until next time, до свидания!

When Depression Hits.

On the way home from a vacation full of sun and happiness, just imagine how I felt looking out the airplane window to THIS:

Snow. In mid-April. I wanted to cry. It's been a long winter, friends. I'm a Texan, I get two days of snow and call it a successful year. I've have loved all the snow, but enough is enough. 

At least when I landed it wasn't too bad. In the city, the snow is mostly gone, and it's well above freezing. This means, friends, that Spring really is upon us! 'What's the prettiest month in Moscow?' I ask my native buds, and guess what they say! MAY. 

SO. You better get your plane tickets booked. I am not kidding when I say we want visitors! We have plenty of beds, and we have nice weather. And come on, you know you want to be able to tell everyone you've seen the Moscow Kremlin. And not just in Mission Impossible. DAVAI, get your booties over here! Until then, до свидания!

Happy Spring!

Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. -Lewis Grizzard

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" -Robin Williams

Well, friends, there ya have it! March marks the beginning of Spring in Moscow. The "party" to which Williams is referring is called Maslenitsa. At this celebration, loud music is played and a doll representing Winter is burned. They also eat pancakes.

SO, just thought I'd attach a picture of the beautiful spring weather! It's pretty hard to tell, but it's snowing and quite windy. But, Grizzard, if you wanna wake up and go party in the March wind, all the Russians are doing it!

That's pretty much a perfect depiction of what Moscow looks like for most of Winter. Cold, dark, snowy, and overcast. At least it's warmed up though! It's right about freezing currently. The other day, we hit -33C. Yes, I'll be able to tell my grandchildren that I walked to school in that. So come to Moscow so you, too, can tell your kids stories about your nose hairs freezing when you walk outside! Until next time, до свидания!

The Metro

Every great city has one: an underground train system. The universal burning rubber smell...♥ In London it's The Tube, in NYC it's the Subway, but here in Moscow, it's just the Metro. It's one of the best in the world. I personally like it because whenever I'm going somewhere, I'm usually in a hurry, and I wouldn't like waiting for ten minutes for a ride. I've never had to wait more than two minutes for the next metro car. It's incredibly efficient and in the center of the city, the stops are pretty close together. Here's a map:

Pretty straightforward, right? UH, NO. If you'll notice, there is a dark blue line and a light blue line on the map. Underground, the colors are switched. And there is an "Arbatskaya" on both of them. Try to meet someone at Arbatskaya on the blue line, I dare you. It's actually not that bad once you get used to it. I'm on the dark green line at Sokol. It's fourth from the top. There are some really beautiful metro stops. 

Chandeliers and gold leafing. Very Russian. I love going to the pretty stops. I get to appreciate Russian art without going out of my way. It's incredible that they make the metro so beautiful. It's crazy to think that this is just the underground transportation. And they're pretty clean too!

This one always reminds me of the Ministry of Magic building. Every time I come here I ready myself for a raging duel that is sure to break out one of these days.


So come to Russia and ride the Metro with me! Seriously, my mom hardly ever lets me ride it alone, so I need a buddy. There is a lot more where these pictures came from, and you should definitely come check it out. And preferably before I forget all my English. ;) Until next time, До свидания!

Soviets Train 'Em Young

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.
-Diogenes Laertius



Everybody knows how Russian gymnasts are always incredible in the Olympics. Well the other day, I went on a bike ride with Mark so he could go fishing in a little pond. On the other side of the pond was a pretty old and decrepit playground. It was actually pretty gross, and I would hope nobody would ever let their child play there. I went straight for a bench so I could do my homework while Mark fished, and this is what I found:

Beer can and cigs. Nice. So here I was at an abandoned playground, now the hang out place for immature teens. The sad part is, that might not be true. I bet a lot of kids still play here, but it was eerily empty while I was there, so being the easily distracted person that I am, after I did some homework, I explored a little bit. 

Once I took a closer look I noticed these beauties. The ring things from the Olympics! How interesting that among all of the other pieces of entertainment, this was just casually there. I can see some completely jacked little six-year-old hanging upside-down on these, laughing along with his other friends. Makes it easy to envision our twenty-six year old buddy in the Olympics. 

This was just around the corner. Now I know its brainwashing. "Hey little Vlad, let's compete with Alexi and see who has the coolest tricks!" That's exactly how they wanted them to think. THAT, ladies and gents is how you build an army. Well, an army of Olympiads. 

So friends, come to Russia. I miss you, and together we will discover lots of Stalin's grand ideas. It'll be fun, promise. Until next time, до свидания!

Russian Hockey Team

I'm sure you all heard about the hockey team Lokomotiv that died in a plane crash about a month ago. Russia loves its hockey, so it was not uncommon to see this in the streets:

This is on New Arbott--a very busy street in the center of Moscow. It's a pile of flowers outside a sports store with jerseys of the players that died. For weeks after the accident piles of flowers such as this could be found in a lot of places. 

It's extremely sad, but if you come to Moscow and join a team and die, people that love you will put flowers all over the city for you. Now since that's highly improbable, and you'll live through a visit to Moscow easily, think of what your fans will do for you when you're alive! Come visit and see! Until next time, до свидания!

Mullets&Braids

"Business in the front; party in the back"
-Billy Ray Cyrus


Just a short blurb about Moscow: Hairstyles. 


 So first: People here can get really creative with braids. I always try to take pictures, but I guess my people watching skills are not THAT good, because I end up following people for two whole departments of IKEA only to get a blurry or cropped picture. I'll work on that. 

So yes, this is the girl I followed for a long time. And its not even that good of a picture. She has a braid that starts at the bottom of her head and fountains at the top with a pink flower. I thought it was too interesting to let it pass. Man, I'm creepy. Maybe I'll work on that too.

Well, believe it or not, the woman in the black also has a braid that sort of wraps itself around the base of her head. It was cool.

Alex Self, I just had to throw this in there for you. <3 MaHH loHHve. 

This woman's hair is just AWESOME. So fluffy. I almost went up and pet her hair like a dog's. 

Ah, our next hairstyle is demonstrated here. The mullet. кефаль. der Meeräsche. Business in the front; party in the back. ;) For some reason beyond me, they're socially acceptable here. 

I'm seriously considering people watching as a career. You probably think (or hope) I'm kidding.

Aaaaand the grand finale, the mullet ponytail. For anyone out there who gets this, it reminds me of Zarahemla. But this would be a little harder to scalp. 


So, for those of you who enjoy people watching and need a new market, looks like Moscow is the place for you! Come visit! Until next time, до свидания!