So much has happened in less than a week! For those of you who don’t know, I’m spending the semester studying at the Moscow Art Theatre, aka MXAT, here in Mother Russia. My journey began last Sunday, at the Eugene O’Neill National Theatre Institute campus in Waterford, Connecticut. There I spent less than 48 hours “orienting” myself with my fellow 29 actors who come from colleges around the nation. But this was no time for rest before a long trip – there we spent our days rising early for tai chi, yoga, or theatrical movement, watching Russian films, and most of all, talking about our trip in preparation. The topics of these talking sessions ranged from cultural superstitions we would be expected to observe – for example, as a woman, I should never sit on the floor or on a cold bench as it will inevitably “freeze” my womb and prevent me from bearing children, or whistle indoors as I will soon become bankrupt – to how to discuss politics with Russian acquaintances who may not view Americans in the best light, especially these days. It wasn’t long before all 30 of us, plus a former NTI Alum who now lives in Moscow and who escorted us here, piled onto a bus and headed to the airport in Hartford.
The trip itself was really a blur; on our first flight we made friends with some of the stewards, who invited some of our group to the back of the plane for champagne – there’s no drinking age in the sky! Then we spent 3 hours in Amsterdam, mainly admiring wooden Dutch shoes in the Duty Free and eating Sbarro pizza. Boarding the final flight to Moscow, it finally hit me that I was really doing this…you know, studying abroad! As we landed in Russia, I expected to see city, city, and more city that is the most expensive city in the world (according to the Economist), but instead was greeted by dark Slavic forestry, which later disappeared as we took yet another bus, which delivered us into the heart of Moscow at our new dormitory.
After exchanging my dollars for rubles and kopecks (I know what you’re thinking -- just like in Fiddler on the Roof, right?), all of us headed to the market to stock our kitchens, which by the way, are much nicer than the one I had in New York last year. This was really our second challenge as “an ensemble;” the first of which was to pick our own rooming arrangements at the dorm. With 10 singles and 10 doubles, this task seemed daunting at first, but actually worked itself out quite smoothly. I am rooming with a friend of mine from Barnard in a lovely, enormous double with lots and lots of closet space! As one of the few students who had taken Russian Language prior to the program, I thought I might be at an advantage at the supermarket. Yet though I can read Cyrillic very well, I don’t know what 99% of it means! This makes grocery shopping a little bit difficult, especially when you have just stepped off an international flight and have not slept for two days. Luckily we had two of our “Angels” to guide us, Olga and Polina. They are first year students at MXAT who speak excellent English, and who help us immensely! Tomorrow they are taking us out dancing and yesterday they helped us buy cell phones. There are many more Angels who are assigned to assist us helpless Americans…not only are there 30 of us here from NTI, but there is also a group of 10 students from Northern Illinois University. Along with the Angels we have our wonderful Marianna, who lives with us and cares for us like our mother. She wears a leopard print robe every night (must add to my tally every single evening) and makes us feel very safe. For those of you who went to Pali – think Ms. Gunn except so adorable and way nicer.
Anyhow, I haven’t even touched on the most interesting parts – actually being here! But I must go to sleep so that I can be ready to give my all in class tomorrow (I have to portray an object….). More to come later!
Dus Vidanya,
Gilli
Here are some pics of the NTI Campus, and of course my hardworking "team" that helped me pick out a winter coat!
