Another day in Russia! Once again we were led by our highly organized tourguide Ludmila. Today she took us to the center of the Old Believers of the Orthodox Church and we had the opportunity to talk with a few students at the small college there. It was interesting to talk to them because they're lifestyle is so different from both ours and the lifestyle of most people living in Moscow. They shared with us their reasons for subscribing to the Old Believers' faith and adopting the corresponding lifestyle. What I think was most suprising to many of us girls was that the young women there were very quiet, and even when we asked them what their role was in the community, they allowed the men to answer for them for the most part. Many of them expressed that they believe it is their duty to help their husbands and to raise their children in the Old Believer's faith.
Later in the day we visited the Cold War "museum," which was actually an old Soviet "hideout" designed to protect against a potential nuclear attack. When we got there, we climbed down 18 flights of cement stairs and were led by a younger man in a soviet military uniform. The tour at the base was really interesting and also pretty creepy (I think we all can agree).
Last evening a few of us went out with a few fine Russian guys to a club called "B2." We were all pretty nervous at first, but once we got there we all loosened up and attempted to speak some Russian (although I was personally told that I don't have very good pronunciation-I guess I'll have to work on that).
Hope to blog again soon! (my time's running at out at the internet cafe!)...