This weekend we had a small party for a Canadian girl named Stephanie who lives on our hall since she had just returned from a trip to France. It was interesting to watch all of the Russians there since half of us were native speakers and they learned a good bit of slang. Most of them didn't realize that a lot of everyday words in English have other meanings in slang, but they had a good laugh when they realized what some of what they say sounds like to us. I think it made me appreciate their ability to speak English on the level they do more because I could not imagine casually taking English classes and being thrown into a situation where everything you know is constantly being put to the test by people who speak and think in the language constantly.

School

This past week was relatively slow because of projects and tests so none of us had time to really go anywhere so I don't have pictures of something new. One thing we have started to do though is bump up the speed that we speak English with the Russians. Since we only have 7 weeks left here we figured that these last few weeks should be more intensive language wise, especially since so many of the Russians said they joined this to improve their English. I think it will be interesting to see how many of them will be able to understand us speaking much more quickly than they are used to, or if it will still just be a matter of them trying to formulate their thoughts in another language. So far they've been coping with it so I think that they are used to our accents enough that speed won't be the challenge that it was when we first arrived.

Crimea Issue

        Because of the amount of protests happening in Moscow this weekend we did not go far off from the university, but I did talk with some Russians about what they think about the situation in Ukraine. Many of them have a neutral view towards Crimea becoming a part of Russia again and do not really care whether or not it is annexed because it is so far away. It also seems very likely that Crimea will choose to rejoin Russia rather than stay as a part of Ukraine with more autonomy, according to the Russians.
        This entire issue seems to have been divided into two major problems by the media, one of which not getting as much coverage as the other by Western media. The West is focusing much more on the legal act of Crimea choosing to hold a referendum while the main issue here centers around the lack of voice being given to those opposing the annexation of Crimea. I feel that this is as equally if not more important in this entire ordeal as any group should be able to choose their own fate and the way this situation is being handled by both the governments of Ukraine and Russia is stifling the voices of both those who do and do not want to join Russia. I think that if there is any lesson to be learned from all of this by the international community it is to not take something by force as protestors are in Ukraine, and not to push for Crimean-Ukrainian dependence simply because the West did not like the previous president so anything else is a step-up.

This past weekend we went back to Sparrow Hills to watch Crashed Ice, a red bull event in which four people ice skate downhill on a track while running into each other and going off ramps. It was a lot of fun to watch and we met some other foreigners while we were there, some of which were from the United States. We also went to a small carnival at Vdnh park where we rode an open-cabin on a Ferris wheel along with bumper cars. I don't think it would have been as much fun as it was if none of us had not done anything like that in years. We were definitely on the same maturity level with all of the kids that were there. 

This week we did a good bit of running around to cemeteries, convents, festivals, and some monuments. It was by far the most active week we've had so far and it was interesting to see various aspects of Moscow we had not seen yet. The Maslenitsa festival was a lot fun, but it was also the least Russian Russian event we have been to in my opinion. It seems to have borrowed a lot internationally, or at least does not fit what I consider to be the stereotypical view of Russia. But in this way I was also reminded that Russia has served as a bridge between the East and West for quite some time and it would only be natural for many traditions to be a blend of practices from all over Eurasia.