Moscow Reality

At first, I was blown away by the glitz and history of Moscow. I've never been in a more historical place and I've never seen so much wealth. However, I've also never been surrounded by so much poverty. The last week has been pretty much consumed with interactions with more of the darker side of the city. This all started with my adventures in Izmailova. We wanted to find a market to buy souvenirs, and we knew that there was an excellent one at Izmailova, so we consulted our guidebooks and took the Metro to Izmailova. First, Izmailova is an old, industrial section of Moscow. The concrete blocks, abandoned factories, and lots that make up American portrayals of Moscow in film are all located here. Second, the market was not where the map marked it. So, we walked through the slums of Moscow for an hour, asking for directions, before we finally found the market. I didn't get any pics of the scarier parts, but we stumbled across a church randomly and I got a picture of it.
Once we found the market, I bought a fur hat with a Soviet emblem, a flask, and a Zippo lighter. Our next experience of poverty occurred when we went to a cemetery. Yes. One of our group excursions was to a cemetery in a part of town that was originally occupied by Old Believers. The Russian Orthodox church also went through a split, in 1666, and the Old Believers were the side that lost. They were persecuted and sent to exile in Siberia. The ones that managed to stay in Moscow lived in a very poor region. I'm gonna go ahead and say that being poor in America beats the hell out of being poor in Russia.
The day before going to the cemetery, we went to the Tsar Museum in the Kremlin. There, I saw the most extravagant things I've ever seen. There was a throne with 800 diamonds, the crown of Ivan the Terrible, the dress of Catherine the Great with diamonds sewn into it, and many other extravagances. While going through the museum, instead of awe I had this feeling of disgust, knowing that while the tsars were living like this, millions of serf were dying of starvation. It made me very thankful that I grew up in America and gave me a newfound appreciation for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Because while America might have dark moments in its past, nothing comes close to the evils of monarchy and aristocracy.
On a lighter, more awesome not, I went to the Conservatory last night and saw a concert in memoriam of Rostropovich, a famous conductor and cellist. The conductor of the concert was Yuri Bashmet, the most famous violist and conductor in Russia. They played a Mozart concerto and a Tchaikovsky symphony. Yes, I got to hear a Tchaikovsky symphony at the Moscow Conservatory.
So the trip has been a series of up and downs, but that is defining of Russia's history itself. In the end, I doubt that I'll be able to summarize the experience at all. Russia is too full of contradictions and dual realities. All I can say is that everyday I'm excited to go out and see the new experiences that await me.