From Pennsylvania to Moscow

Saturday, April 23rd My morning started at 6:30am, but I was wide awake and ready to go. Today we were going to visit Vladimir. For those of you who do not know much about this place here is a brief history.  It was founded in 1108 by Владимир Мономах (Vladimir Monomach). It is located Northeast from Moscow, about 180km, on the shores of the river Клязьма (Klyazma).  The golden age for Vladimir was in the 12th century when Князья Андрей Боголюбский (Prince Andrei Bogolobskii) and Всеволод Большое Гнездо (literally translates as Vsyevolod of the big nest) built churches, monasteries, and restored and decorated the city. Vladimir is really well-known for the Golden Gate, (the picture is shown to the right) which was built by Prince Bogolobskee.  It was through this gate that Princes Александр Невский (Aleksandr Hevskii) и Дмитри Донской (Dmitri Donskoi) made their entrance into Vladimir.  In the 15th century Kievan Rus separated into two different regions of power. ...

Sunday April 10th Going clothes shopping in Moscow could perhaps be one of the most hazardous activities to your wallet.  My dear friend Rachel has a very sweet Russian boyfriend with a car, and she convinced him to take us girls out shopping to a place where things are actually affordable and won't leave a gaping hole where money should be.  I have been living off of the same 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts since I got here in February, and me being the girly girl I am, was going to die or go crazy enough to spend way too much money on new clothes pretty soon if I had to wear the same thing...again.  Oleg took us to Mega Mall, it is just south of Moscow past Юго-запада metro station, and came to pick me up at 11:30am.  It certainly was a mega mall with 280 stores, and one of the biggest Ashans I had ever seen (Not that I've seen many Ashans...but it was much bigger than the one near the university). Before we were able to commence shopping activities, Oleg was in d...