Mission to Moscow: The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Did I run off with a jazz band, or perhaps the circus? Maybe I decided to take the Trans-Siberian railway out to Lake Baikal? Maybe I'm lost somewhere in the Moscow Metro? Where have I been for 2 days and why haven't I posted anything? It has simply been a couple of very busy days. I made it to the archives and actually got to look at documents, which I now realize is an absolute miracle. Thanks to the archivist that has been so helpful all along I had documents waiting on me. However, it appears that any documents that I request myself will take some time. The first set of documents that I requested on Monday will be available on Thursday, at the earliest. It takes even longer to make copies. To make things worse, they are going to close for a week for cleaning purposes! The archivist told me today that the documents I requested today that are not on microfilm will be available on July 20th. Should be interesting to try and read all of them before I leave on August 1st! It is simply not enough time for them to make copies.

My biggest fear approaching the archives was the microfilm reader. The microfilm readers that we have at UF often confound me and I sometimes find myself asking (gasp!) an undergrad to help me. Therefore I was particularly concerned at having to operate a machine in Russia with an attendant explaining to me how to operate it in Russian. I have difficulty with this in English, and in theory I am fluent in that language. But much to my relief these were very old, and therefore, very simple machines.

Alright, no more archival talk for those of you that are not interested in that part of the trip. What have I seen here in the last two days? I think I should include a section in every blog entry entitled "strange and unexpected things I saw today." So, let this be the inauguration of that section. Although it probably isn't so strange, I saw a green and white Ford Bronco, early 1980s, with a Montana plate on the front and an American diplomatic plate on the back. It was parked in front of the U.S. Embassy, so it is not really that surprising. You can always tell that you are near an area where there are lots of Americans because the cars are all Fords, Jeeps, and Hondas.

The next strange thing were advertisements for a Russian bank Trast (trust) with Bruce Willis, smiling smugly at you as you ride the Metro. Below his picture are the words "когда мне нужны деньги, я просто веру их" (kogda mne nuzhni dengi, ia prosto veru ix - when I need money, I simply turn to them). Really Bruce, when did you learn Russian? Apparently there are television commercials too, but they are dubbed so its not actually Bruce speaking Russian. Personally, I'd like to hear him say the "yippy kai-yay" line from Diehard in Russian.

In other random news, a complete stranger struck up a conversation with me on the Metro after I told her that her skirt was fine and not wrinkled. She was very striking and energetic - bright yellow dress with black polka-dots that looked like it could have come from the 1950s. Her dark hair was cut in a very nice bob and I think she was in her early 50s. She seemed very nice and like she just wanted someone to talk to. Unfortunately for her she chose the one person on the Metro that couldn't really keep up with her. She asked me if I lived near the ocean because she thought I had that look about me. Truly an odd encounter.

I've also discovered, rather miserably, that Russia has something akin to Jasmine. It might just be the Russian variant of it, I'm not sure. But I am sure of the smell and the way that it affects my allergies! It also smells just like the Jasmine at home and much to my chagrin I have to walk past what seems to be a jungle of it on my way to the archives.

I suppose that is all for now. I finally made it to Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral, so here are the obligatory pictures of probably the most widely recognized symbol of Russia. And also, the Bruce Willis advertisement :)