I Have Survived!

Walking along the Moskva River today

It might just be me, but it seems like the Gloria Gaynor karoake classic "I Will Survive" is played everywhere here! I hear it all the time, on buses, in stores, in restaurants, even in class (it is one of the songs featured in New English File textbooks).

Anyways, this post is inspired by the song, but instead of the future simple I'm using the present perfect here in my version - I HAVE survived...the infamous Russian winter.

Yes, folks, today was a balmy, gorgeous 14 degrees and I think its finally safe to say that winter is over and spring is here.

Upon reflection, I find myself glossing over the worst of the past five months. Like, "Oh, it wasn't THAT bad." But then...I remember wanting to curse but not being able to open my frozen lips while I waited approximately 45 minutes to an excruciating hour for the #314 to come pick me up from the side of a desolate highway two times a week. I remember those two and a half weeks in December when I was forced to pay 2oo roubles to shower at the pool because our water heater was broken. I remember trying to go for a run and having to turn back because my eyelashes were freezing to my face and I couldn't see.

So, maybe I'm looking back on the past with rose-tinted glasses.

But then again, although the winter was long and brutal at times, I have to be grateful for the frozen body parts because it makes you appreciate spring all the more when it finally DOES arrive.

Like today. It was perfect. I went for a long walk from Pushkin Square down Tverskaya Ulitsa (the main street in Moscow) all the way to Red Square, then along the banks of the Moskva River until I got to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. I turned around there, then walked to Lubyanka where I popped in at Biblio Globus and picked up a couple more English books. The sidewalks were just packed with other people out and about enjoying the day and the glorious sunshine. I had a blast exploring more of this beautiful city!

Afterwards, I met up with some friends for dinner at a delicious vegetarian restaurant, Jagganath, and then headed back home.

Now I'm basking in the glow of a great day, and in the realization that I'm a survivor...I have survived a Russian winter and lived to tell about it!

Tverskaya Ulitsa (in the background you can see
the spires of the Kremlin)

Tverskaya Ulitsa

Russians and their love of ice cream!

Cleaning the streets - almost got soaked!