Stardate: 12/14/2007 Moscow Circus and Misc.

December 9, 2007:The Moscow Circus

After a long day with Maddy, long and trying, I took Maddy and Vasilisa to the Moscow Circus that was touring through Kharkiv. Patrick couldn’t go, so Vasilisa stepped in to use his ticket, thankfully. Vladimir drove us to the expo center (I don’t know the name of the center), and we arrived with about 20 minutes to spare.

When we arrived, I was surprised about how few people there were there. There expo center is small in comparison to American ones (I wish I could give a good size approximation, but I’m bad at that). This one probably held, at most, 500-600 people; whereas most American ones hold thousands. The intimate size actually made attending this circus an experience of old time circuses and entertainments without the crush of a huge crowd and too many materialistic distractions. There were still not many people in attendance though.

We entered and turned in our coats at the coat check (there’s one at every public venue and they are always free).

I immediately went to the snack stand, and purchased some drinks and a circus trinket or two for Maddy, because I was still expecting a crowd. I realized later that there weren't going to be any crowds, so I needn't worry about lines. We got our stuff and Maddy started playing with a glow in the dark, rubbery-plastic toy that bounced, and we headed to our seats.
At the entry door, there were 2 adult males in full “circus” ring leader attire. You know, the red uniforms with black trousers and gold band leader spangles on the epaulets and chest. They were pulling and releasing a long wire. I initially thought that they were bringing in an elephant or something, but I was really wrong. The circus had 2 rides set up in the performance hall. One was a “parachute” ride in which the men would pull kids up about 30 feet into the air and then gently lower them. The other was a 3-seater swing that went up about 30 feet as well. People were lined up for these rides, but I knew Maddy would freak out, so I didn’t even suggest it.

We took our seats about 6 rows up and waited only enough time to check out our surroundings. The hall was circular with about 20 rows of seats (on our side). On one wall, there was an old time band stand. Underneath it was the entrance for the performers. Directly across from which was another equally sized door for exits/entrances. The lighting was really dim and bad. The seats were shabby and the concrete floors uneven, but the feel of this venue was unlike anything I have ever experienced in the US or elsewhere. I felt as though I went back into the 1930’s or 1940’s circus life. There were only 3 or so sales people circulating with cotton candy. I bought some. Maddy refused it at first! She did try it and hated it. It tasted like straight sugar, is it supposed to have a flavor? I cannot remember. I thought it was good in my childhood, but now it sucked! Vasilisa and I ate some of it, just because it was there. :-)

The performance started with a lone, male clown who was dressed as a cleaning lady. He did some slightly funny physical jokes with cleaning supplies.

Then we saw another skit with 3 clowns; They pulled a rather large man from the audience to catch hats that they were throwing. Then, the next performance started with trained, domestic cats. The handler was dressed as a chimney sweep and the cats were jumping in and out of faux chimneys and balancing on faux TV aerials and wires about 10 feet off the ground. I detested the way that the handler picked up the cats with the scruff of their necks. He would hold handfuls of fur and skin to pick them up. I anticipated some mistreatment of the animals at the circus, but that was the worst of it—thank God.

Maddy was super into the show! She sat on the edge of her seat or stood up and danced during the show. She even called out to the performers with the other kids in the audience! She sang and laughed! It was cool.

The next performance was another clown routine with a person dressed as a giant mouth with lips and teeth. The clown was trying to brush the teeth without being bitten/eaten. He had a young boy of about 8 come up and try to brush the teeth, but the mouth opened up completely and startled him a ton. I thought he would jump out of his skin.

The next performance was a contortionist whose first act was on a metal ring about 30 feet above the ground. She didn’t use a net. Her second act (later) was about 8 feet above the ground on a pedestal. Her acts had loud techno music to it. She was really incredible-super flexible, so I'm sure all the men had illicit thoughts about her.

At the intermission, there were a couple of activities for kids. There was a small “fun house” as well as an inflatable kids’ jumping area. Maddy loved it a lot and I could barely get her out of there prior to the next acts.

I lost track of the order of the rest of the acts, but they included a hoola hoop artist who could “juggle” many of them simultaneously, a clown juggler, trained dogs, a slightly high (10-12 feet over the ground) tight rope walker, trained chimps/baboon, and many more clown acts. All in all, this was a fun circus. There were great acts that required a lot of skill and practice in order to perfect. I was impressed by the human acts like the tight rope walker and the contortionist. I just wish I were more flexible. ;-) Anyway, you can see many of the videos.

There were no large animals in this performance, but perhaps that is for the best. I hate when animals are mistreated.

One of the cool things about this circus was that everything cost H10 ($2.00). So, I bought Maddy some cotton candy, a “fairy” wand that lit up several colors and a pulsating, glow in the dark necklace. All during the show, whenever it was dark, the audience was alive with neon lights. You could see them everywhere. Kids were waving them to the music, etc. It was cool. There was a lot of audience participation and people seemed happier here than outside of the hall. Afterward, there were little pony rides for kids and of course, they cost H10! Maddy was too small for them, and was a bit afraid, so she didn’t go on them. We just danced and spun around in circles until Antonina and Vladmir arrived to drive us home.

December 12, 2007:Work Day

I taught 2 classes today: one ESL and one teacher training class on teaching listening skills. I realized that many of the people in my Dept really like me and most come to me for conversation either personal or professional. I realized that I fit in here and that comforted me.

At one point today, they were speaking in Russian during their Dept meeting. Although I was working on something else and only listening with half a brain, suddenly, I understood what they were saying in Russian. And without thinking, I said, “Yeah, I think it is really important to have access to the Internet here at this computer (and I pointed to the shared faculty computer at the table next to me).” Everyone erupted in surprised laughter, because that was exactly what they were talking about. It was funny.

I discovered, too, that I can make jokes and things and they like it. I’m kind of a mascot in the Dept. I think it is because I have tried to stay very diplomatic and not get involved in Dept. politics. The funny thing is that I can only stay out of politics when it doesn’t impact me personally. For me, it is impossible to do at home and yet that would be the best thing for me and my happiness. If I would just shut up and not get involved, my professional life would be so much easier. I know this, and yet I cannot do it, because I cannot stand injustice or ignorance. Because I feel that it is essential to put yourself on the line do to the right thing. Although I am sick of paying the price for that. It is steep. Ironic, huh?

December 14, 2007:Found

Yes, thanks to a lot of complaining and bitching on the blog someone finally alerted us to the existence of a Laundromat! Yes, you read that right! There are only about 3 in the entire country (according to the Fulbright Director, Myron Stachiw), and one of Pat’s students alerted us to it! A tip of the hat to Roman, Pat’s helpful student. We took about 12 loads of laundry to the Laundromat (by cab) today. It will be ready tomorrow. They wash and dry it for you. Yes-dry! There are dryers there. The cost- H65.00 ($12.20). Worth it!

December 14, 2007:Potty Training Breakthrough!

Well, Maddy finally went pooh-pooh on the potty. We have literally been working on this for 8 months. She has been peeing on the pot for ages, but only if we remind her. We let her go without pants of any kind yesterday for about 8 hours and finally, finally, she did it! I was reading from a Nursery Rhymes book that Peggy gave her, which we read about 6 times when she finally went. Thank God. It is a huge breakthrough. We celebrated last night and today. Last night, Pat bought her a new hat to replace her lost green one. Today, we went and bought special girly panties, a little blue car, and a slice of chocolate cake which we brought to Café Zebra where we had a hot chocolate together! She was pretty charged.

December 14-20, 2007
Visited a great Georgian (the country) restaurant called Alva here in Kharkiv. It has awesome food and a cool miniature of the town Alva in Georgia in the center of the room.

Went to a Russian play at a cool theater with Antonina and Vasilisa. The play was called "The Faithful Wife." It was well performed, but in Russian, so A had to translate for us.

Found a cheap Ukrainian fast food place called Zopata Hata that is close by and easy.

Busy prepping for Turkish trip.