Tuesday, June 14, 2005 6:09 pm

...we also saw the president's palace. We did, however, see the insides of the three cathedrals (Archangel Michael, Assumption [of Mary], and a small one whose name I can't remember). They were very... gilded. They were also very crowded. I tried to take pictures of the ceilings, but it was dark and they were too far away. I fell in love with an 11th-century icon of Saint Georgii--it was really beautifully made, with a realism that went out of fashion in the Dark Ages--which had been burnt black in two fires and went unnoticed until it was cleaned up in the 1930s. I'm not sure I got a good picture, as this was before Joe showed me how to turn off the flash of my camera, so I buoght a book with the picture in it. It's very small, but it was the only one. We also visited the Palace of Patriarch Nikon; it is now a museum displaying ancient sacred items like robes for the service, the vessels to hold old, and a very silly pair of jeweleed shoes. It was very funny to imagine the Patriarch wearing them.

Some people left early. I think all of the boys (except Joe, for whom I have a growing respect), were quite hung over.

Abby and I ate chicken at Rustic's (must be American?) in the food court before going home on the subway.

I had plenty of time to change clothes and do a bit of homework. On TV there was a dance troupe performing folk dances from aruond the world. They even did a choreographed soccer match and a scene from Prince Igor ("Polovetsian Dances", of course). Nina and I watched it together. I wish such things were on TV more often.

In the evening, we went to a concert at the Conservatory Small Hall. Natalia Gutman played the 'cello; there were also a violinist and a pianist. They performed Brahms (two pieces), Schumann, and Prokofiev. Of course I loved the Schumann ("Five Pieces in a Folk Style"), but I must admit that the Brahms was exquisite (Trio No. 3 in C Minor). It was rather interesting in that the second movement was "Presto" and the third "Andante".

All of the boys except Joe left at intermission to go get drunk at what was rumored to be a strip club. Marisa went with them. Marshelle introduced me to a boy she had met during intermission. His name is Alex; he's a pianist from Boston, working for WHO this summer as an intern dealing with the TB crisis in Russia. He says it's not interesting, as his job is only to copy papers. His parents are Muscovites. We were the first Americans he had met in a month in Moscow. I invited him to T.G.I. Friday's with us, and he accepted. He and Joe conversed a lot--they both seem quite kind and cheeful.

Friday's was wonderful because they have frozen drinks. (You have no idea what a city of 11 million is like in the summer with no air conditioning. It's pretty sweaty and gross.)

We managed to leave early enough to get home before the metro changes closed. Although there was an episode with a drunkard on the Vykhino train, prompting Joe to walk all of the girls home before going back to his aparment, I made it home to Novogireevo without incident and went to bed.

The next day, Sunday, I had to get up early because I was going to an English-speaking Baptist church with Joe and Mary. I liked it very much, even though we were froced to stand up and introduce ourselves. It is located in a small theater off Arbat Street, across the street from a gentlemen's club called the Spearmint Rhino (???). I think I will go back.

We were very early, so we wandered Arbat Street for a while--I'd like to go back in the evening sometime. I like Joe and Mary very much, too.

After the service, we were invited to someone's home for dinner. The host worked for NASA and was leaving the country soon, so practically the whole church gathered in his apartment. Well, they had two connected apartments. I met many people, including a girl whose name I can't remember with whom I practiced Russian, and Masha, who rode most of the way home with me. We also met Johannes, a German theology student who was amazed to find Americans who cared about theology. (We expounded for long hours--Mary is quite passionately Calvinist, so I was very interested in what she had to say. After reflection, however, I think Calvinism is frustratingly impotent, and remain a devout Arminian. Well, except for that fifth point.) I'm sure that we quite overwhelmed Johannes. He was very attentive, however, and brought us plenty of fruit and chocolates.

I had intended to go to the internet cafe in Okhotny Ryad, but was exhausted and returned home to almost immediate sleep. I slept for over twelve hours.

In the morning, of course, I still felt tired, but I had to get up and go to class. I recited a story horribly and found that I had made several thoughtless mistakes on the test we took last week.

After class, McKenna and I went downtown to the internet cafe. I spent an hour and a half online, doing business and writing a long letter to Mom.

Afterwards, I wandered about Red Square and Revolution Square. There were ever so many police officers, as Sunday was Russia Day and everyone had a holiday (except us). I tried to follow the signs to McDonald's,but failed, and ended up having to pay 10 roubles for a bathroom at the mall.

We met at the metro stop for the circus. I am so glad we went! I had fun, anyway. I was tempted to have my picture taken with the ocelot or the dalmation dogs, but resisted. I ended up only paying 30 roubles for a program and 15 roubles for an ice cream cone, which is pretty good, I think, for a circus.

It was not in a tent, but a sort of stadium, and even the most terrible seats (ours) commanded a good view of the arena floor. Between acts there was a light show; there was loud, rhythmic music constantly. Nearly every act was accompanied by dancers, and most of the performers danced energetically between their feats. There were clowns between each act, as well--two of them were uncommonly good.

There were tumblers on the trampoline, parrots that rode bicycles and such (which I enjoyed), and then an act I particularly liked--a husband-and-wife team of crossbow artists. I was terribly certaqin that one of them would be killed, but of course they were note. Next was another amazing act--"Classical Balance"--in which a man in 18th-century costume juggled wine goblets with a knife he held in his teeth. I was on edge the whole time, but of course, nothing was broken, not even when he started juggling the lighted candelabra! Then there were more acrobats, then intermission.

After intermission, there was a wonderful acrobat troup on the trapeeze. One man fell a great distance, but landed in the net, and was fine. There went up such a gasp, though, from the crowd!

After that, there were some rather bothersome acts. There was a female juggler/dancer who kept dropping her rings, but got loud cheers when she started stripping off her clothes. Then there were dancing monkeys. The trainer had leashed them, and kept prodding at them with a stick. They did not look very happy. I was also made uneasy by the chimpanzee in a yarmulka who danced to kletzmer, although there was also a gorilla in traditional Russian dress. Every one of us, however, was offended by an act involving dancing puppets, which were quite clever but very cruel portrayals of African savages. We were all rather shocked, although the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

The final act was some acrobats who were very good. They flipped men on stilts up in the air using see-saws (or levers, if you like), and they came down, landing perfectly on their stilts! They also stacked on each other's shoulders.

When I got home it was too late to do anything but go to bed, so I put off my homework until the next day and went to bed with only a few pages of my book.

The next day, today of course, is Tuesday. In class we watched the film American Daughter and talked about it, which made class extremely pleasant. We also got out at 11:30, which was wonderful. I came home, napped, finished The War of the Worlds (Kelly's book), and did all of my homework. Nina made very delicious chicken and rice for supper, and afterwards I sat down to catch up on this journal (which is beginning to defy the "jour" in its name). I think I will now take a shower and maybe go for a walk.