I’m 21! Here’s a recap of my week.
*It's crucial for you to all know that I wrote this blog entry almost exactly 2 weeks ago but then forgot to actually post it. So let's all sit back and relax and reflect upon our lives from 2 weeks ago. What were you doing 2 weeks ago? I don't really care but it might be important for you to really reach back into yourself when you were 2 weeks younger than you are today. Important thought: You will never be younger than you are right now in this very moment. And, on that note, please continue reading my blog!
On Sunday, April 3rd, the happy official anniversary of the day I was born, my dear friend, Alyssa, took me out for some seriously wonderful cake. Then, we went to the ZOO! I’m not usually a big zoo fan because I’ve always found the small enclosure sizes and just the general system to be ethically dubious. However, I let that all go to take delight in the true majesty of sloths. I secretly think that sloths could move faster if they wanted to, but they simply enjoy pissing off the rest of the rainforest creatures by moving at an agonizingly slow pace. The monkeys are probably like, "hey can you move any slower?" and the sloths would respond by saying, "yeah I actually can." Then, the monkey would be mad because he tried to make fun of the sloth but it totally backfired because sloths are so chill and they're just doing what they want and they won't be rushed for anybody. I think I could learn something or two from sloths. We all could.
There were also lots of children with snot running down their faces.
Everything I could possibly want in a birthday.
^^ Here are some of the members of my dance class! The mascot of Ivara is a rabbit. Tanya, our teacher, is in front of us. She's also the 2016 champion of Russia in the hustle!!! She's amazing!
In the evening, I attended a disco at my dance studio, Ivara. (So, when I say "disco", just imagine a big dance hall and there's pop music playing, almost always including Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, and you ask different people to dance and different people ask you to dance and so on. So, it's like a middle school dance, in that it can feel kind of awkward and also there's an obvious "popular kids" group and an obvious beginners group, but everyone actually knows how to dance and the only dance style is the hustle. There's a disco almost every Saturday night in the Geology Museum. It's so much fun, but it can also be terrifying and uncomfortable. It depends on the night and my state of mind. feel like when I say "disco", people get the wrong idea. So, I wanted to clear everything up.) There weren’t many people there, which was kind of a bummer, but I chatted with some of the ladies in my dance class and we all toasted ourselves with overly sweet, room temperature champagne in flimsy plastic cups. It was oddly special. I also met a funny guy, who I think is named Dmitri and is also one of, what I like to call, the “hustle-elite” of Moscow (it’s true; they’re real; it’s a fascinating story for another time..), but I’m really not sure now if it was him or someone else entirely. I left the disco early and now I’m regretting it because I’m beginning to think this strange, attractive man was a ghost and doesn’t actually exist in real life. Is this all a dream? Did I make this encounter up? Do I have any real-life friends at all? Perhaps these are the questions that I will finally be able to answer in my 22nd year of life.
After an indescribably stressful couple of days (seriously I was so stressed. I felt like my back was hunched over and my posture was sinking because of all the stress. I felt like I was slowly morphing into the hunchback of Notre Dame. What a beautiful Disney film that was, by the way!), I finally pinned down a dance partner for the inner-club competition in 2 1/2 weeks. It should be fun and an interesting, valuable experience! We met yesterday to train during open studio time and it went okay. Working together can be a little tough because he only speaks Russian and I often feel frustrated as I struggle to search through my vocabulary to say things like “you’re holding this position too long”, “your hand is in the wrong place”, “I can’t tell if you’re leading me into a 90 degree turn or a 180 degree turn”. You know, things like that. But, whatever! At least I’m trying.
I’ve been struggling to focus on my schoolwork. That’s all. I don’t really feel like elaborating. Ugh.
Spring is here!! The air is warm! I see more people happily milling about outside in the evenings. Everything feels lighter. This past weekend, it was supposed to be sunny and get up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Naturally, Alyssa and I planned a picnic. Naturally, it was cloudy all day. We still enjoyed a nice afternoon on our picnic blanket in the park, and were immensely cheered up by the arrival of Chase and two thermoses of hot coffee.
Also, I almost forgot to share my two beautiful birthday gifts! One is my new pink cactus, Junebug. The other gifts are two little cat sculptures from my host mom, to remind me of her and the cats and the apartment after I leave Moscow. Tissues, please.
I took Junebug on a photo shoot around the city. He and this statue had great chemistry.
Big cat with tiny cat.
Tonight, I saw Leonid Sarafanov and Natalia Somova dance in Coppelia at the Stanislavsky Theater. Once again, just as it was with Polunin (dreamy sigh), there will never be enough words to describe watching Sarafanov dance. He is so expressive and athletic, easily landing 6 tours en l’air seemingly without expending any energy whatsoever. It’s honestly unreal and, lucky for me, Coppelia was chock-full with a number of male solos, so it was the perfect opportunity to admire him! I literally laughed in disbelief at one point and the lady next to me would shake her head in amazement whenever he came onstage. AND I could see the sweat on his face from my seat! I COULD SEE THE SWEAT, PEOPLE. Also, I could hear the noise of characters blowing kisses to each other and there’s one point when all the girls are crowding around Sarafanov and he shoos them away and, to add emphasis (which was appropriate because much of this ballet is miming) he mouthed/whispered “все!” (“that’s all!”) and I heard it. I HEARD HIM WHISPER FROM MY SEAT! I still can’t believe I’m getting the opportunity to see so many of my ballet idols dance in-person. I feel tremendously fortunate. It’s just so coooooooool.
Anyways, a lot has been going on lately, what with dance class, the upcoming competition, my procrastination on my research project, going to the theater, social interactions, the anxiety before social interactions, the anxiety post social interactions, dealing with intimidating Russian security guards, numerous awkward encounters, doing/saying dumb things, meeting with professors, just being a general idiot, etc, etc. My nerves are a little frayed and I feel on-edge right now. It’s also 12:30AM and I’m currently writing this in the kitchen, while putting off laundry and other chores and also stress-eating everything in sight. Oh, Aubrey. When will you learn? Probably never.
I’m off to devour yet another Tupperware container of some unidentified vegetable in the fridge. Bye for now!
*Update from 2 weeks later. Real time: I'm not as stressed! But it is still 12:30AM. And I am also still in the kitchen.