Работа и так далее

Hey all,

Sunday was my first full day in Moscow, and I spent a lot of it sleeping and getting over jetlag. My room doesn’t get very dark, so I woke up at 6:30am. Seeing that it was much too much of an ungodly hour to be awake, I shifted positions and fell asleep. I didn’t wake up again until 1:30pm. Oops.

I was very thirsty and hungry, so I drank a gallon of water and ate my yogurts while watching Greys and waking up. Around 3pm, I decided to venture out. I walked around my neighborhood and got a feel for the area. There are some Produktys (mini-markets), and some larger grocery stores… nothing major, but I was able to get some dinner and breakfast supplies. There are also a few banks, office buildings, and some haunted buildings (you’ll see what I mean when I post pictures).

Other than exploring the immediate area, first on my list was getting rubles. Luckily I knew from St. Petersburg what banks to use and how to work them so that was a non-issue. Next, I decided to take the long-way to the larger grocery store… I ended up walking in a huge square, but I found the place eventually – it’s in a huge mall/cinema/etc area/complex. Across the way was the old KGB building sooooo apparently I’m living next to the KGB? Lawlz. I got food for the night and the next day, but decided to wait to make a huge run until I could find a Лента or Ашан (bigger stores kind of like a Costco). The grocery store was mostly fine, though I forgot that Russians call everything “meat,” and not by its individual name, so I had to ask someone if what I was holding was indeed chicken. (It was). There was also a weird machine/computer device to deal with fruits and veggies, which I figured out with the help from a few random people.

Making dinner was my next challenge, but overall went well. I made пелмины (pelmini ie dumplings..kinda) and chicken and cut up some cucumbers and tomatoes, and tah-dah! First dinner: success.

I keep telling myself I should get started on watching movies, but unfortunately I started watching Grey's Anatomy before I left for break, and ever since, I've been hooked. I even got Alec and Kristin to start watching (hehe). I will, however, make a shameless plug for the movie "Beginners," which I watched recently -- it completely rocked my world AND it's on Netflix so there is no excuse for not watching it.

In other news, guess who's going to St. Petersburg this weekend...... ME! Dr. Balaban is defending his dissertation at a huge conference on Monday, so we (the family and I) are going Friday night (on the overnight train) to spend the weekend. I'm so excited to return. I don't know how much free time I'll have, and of course I don't want to excuse myself from whatever the family invites me to do, but it would be nice to see Smolny people and to visit Roza (host mother from last semster)... we shall see. 

Anyways, about my first day at work. Dr. Balaban told me to come in around 10am (how leisurely), which I did, albeit with some effort since I couldn't find the right "side stree" (ie allyway) to turn onto, but eventually I made it. I met Dr. Balaban and after giving me my pass to get into the institute, he showed me his office (also mine-ish). The office is quite historical, since it once belonged to Pavlov. (You know, Pavlov's dog). Isn't that insane? I was sitting at the desk of one of the greatest and innovative psychologists of all time! After such an introduction, we sat for a few minutes and then went off to tour the place and meet people.

The lab is not at all what I was picturing. First of all, it is much more applicable to say "institute," since it is set up as one large building with six floors all in individual small rooms/door in halls. It kind of reminds me of a dorm...but a science/Moscow version. Of course, the ceilings are tall and the floors are hardwood in a typical beautiful Russian way. We went around and met many people, but it was hard to keep everyone straight because the labs are not divided so obviously. The lab I'm technically working in (cellular neurobiology of learning) works alongside all other labs, and they all share hallways and rooms. It's difficult to distinguish one lab from the other, though Dr. Balaban told me that I can find our lab rooms by the presence of a picture of a snail outside the door (teehee). Everyone seems really nice and welcoming, and most of the people in our lab are in their late 20s or early 30s.... They seem so old but they're really not. To hear they have PhDs or that they are married shouldn't be surprising because that will probably be me in 10 years. Woah.

Anyways, continuing on. After touring around, it was time for the election. I think I mentioned that the institute was having elections for the new Director (?), and Monday was a day of speeches and voting. I use these words lightly since what proceeded could hardly be counted as a "vote" other than in the most formal/technical sense. At noon, everyone in the institute gathered into the auditorium. A lady said a few words about what was going to happen, and then a young man (the opposition to Dr. Balaban) went to the podium to make a speech. Of course, all the proceedings occurred in Russian, so keep in mind that I don't have 100% of the story. The young man talked a lot about wanting to bring in new young people and that they were important for generating new ideas and for getting grants. He talked about money somewhat, but his main focus seemed to be innovation. This much was obvious even before hearing the speeches since the vote was between a new young inexperienced man, and an older man (Dr. B) who had already been Director for some time and who was backed by Putin himself. Dr. Balaban was also dressed in a suit, while the younger gentleman was in casual dress. In other words, there was an obvious underdog and it seemed apparent that everyone would vote not for someone new, but for the popular choice.

After both candidates spoke, there was an open forum in which anyone in the room was able to speak their opinion about the two gentlemen. In this phase, no one said anything revolutionary, and I was surprised that opinions were allowed to be spoken.... Doesn't that completely sway the audience??? Let the candidates speak, and then let the voters choose for themselves.... why open the floor up to public opinion? Do Americans do that in their voting systems? I have no idea - the whole thing was very weird. Blah politics. 

After the speeches, people left so that votes could be counted. When we returned to the auditorium, it was announced that Balaban had won with 215 votes, while the other guy had only 24. The results were not surprising, but it was interesting to see how Russians deal with elections and this sort of "democracy." It's obvious (and co-workers said this to me), that the vote was simply a formality in order to "keep order." Everyone knew Balaban would win -- there was no competition! Why are people trying to implement democracy when no one believes in it or wants to actually attempt it? I believe these ideas and questions are applicable to much more than just this institute; I see it as a metonymy of Russian government.... trying to conduct elections, but not actually letting voters have a choice...we saw all these same symptoms in the votes regarding Crimea as well! 

People have a choice. But DO they have a choice?

End rant. Afterwards, some people invited me to go to lunch with them. We went to a Stolvaya not far from the Institute, and I had grechka, which is a buckwheat grain kind of like brown rice but so much yummier and healthier. We spoke both in English and in Russian... at that point my brain was getting pretty tired of constant Russian so I was happy for the English interlude. The three others were so appalled that grechka can't easily be found in America. I told them I had never even heard of it before I went abroad to St. Petersburg. Какой кашмар!! People in the lab also invited me to dinner and drinks sometime, which was so nice and made me feel welcome. The people in Crocker's lab never did that... And we were all speaking the same language! (Dr. Crocker was the person I interned with last summer). 

The last hour or so back at the Institute, I wasn't really doing anything, so I decided to start on a to-do/to-see list in Moscow. There is so much here! I'm glad I've already seen some of the more touristy/obvious sights, since there will be no shortage in my 8 weeks here. Around 4pm, I left and decided to go to Red Square. Of course I've been before, but for some reason, I felt I needed its baseline. It took about 30 minutes to get to the center, and unfortunately it cost 50 rubles one way. In Petersburg, the rate was 28 rubles (I think it rose as of Jan 2015), but still. What a difference. I think I need to buy a pass with a lot of rides on it because there is a considerable discount if you do this. 

Anyways, when I finally got to Red Square, I had a smile on my face and immediately was reminded of the past times I've been there. I remember going with Smolny people last year with Alec and Susan and taking pictures as a group..... I was also there as an 11th grader with 2 teachers and 8 other students from my high school. Who would have thought that I would return to this place so many times? Who would have thought that this place -- or rather, what it stands for -- would become so important in my life? I never imagined at 16 that I'd be able to return not once, but twice, merely five years later. So, feeling all that, I walked around, watched people, basked in my tourist-ness, took selfies with the cathedral, and walked through ГУМ (famous shopping center). 

I wanted to go to an Ашан, but at that point, I was very tired from walking and tourist-ing and having my first day at work, so I decided my trip to the grocery store could wait. With that, I headed home, took a bath, made pelmini, and relaxed. Day 1 at work: complete.