live music on arbat and in space

Hi guys – so sorry it's been so long. Wow – life in Russia. What a shtuka! That means “what a thing,” but in a kinda slang-ish way. Ups and downs of the past couple weeks... well October 3-7 was a really busy week work-wise. I got observed on the 5^th and man, was I stressing about it for a couple days. If it were toddlers, I'd love being observed so I could show off my skills. I really have fun with that class. Today, for instance, we did the rhyme “five little pumpkins.” It was a big hit! I had the assistant turn off the light at just the right moment and they were all not scared but intrigued and fascinated and amused. But it was not toddlers or even the baby group, it was EFL (English as a Foreign language.) And she didn't even come at the beginning of the class, when I have routines and rituals, but at the end, after the break. I had three activities: two of them flopped. On top of that, we had a section meeting, got ready to think about halloween and Thanksgiving. This week's busy too: we have a photo exhibit coming up this Friday (which required a lot of planning and preparation) after that is the “week of taste,” a week featuring special lesson plans involving red and green foods, guests, special menus, decorations in the school, etc. After that, vacation! So I'm glad to have gotten all the deadlines figured out and made sure I won't forget anything. Plans were due earlier than usual, and I've been trying to get my hands on a buttload of little pumpkins for a while now – not so easy in Moscow without a car. But I finally got them – some were not actually pumpkins but a strange disc-shaped vegetable called patission, but who cares – and this week we painted them. They loved it!! I even had my older, EFL kids paint the big pumpkin because it was starting to go bad, lol.

I was walking on Arbat from work to the metro and I came across of group of two young people playing music, a guy with a guitar and a girl with a drum. I stood and listened for a while. I think they were playing Kino. I had just sold my old phone for 500 roubles, so I had some “extra” cash. I gave them the 500 and headed for the metro, but just behind me I heard the exclamation – of course they weren't used to getting that much. I was really delighted. Reminds me of the time mom and I made a cake and put it in my friend's refrigerator when she wasn't there.

I sat at home and played my music for Lena and Pasha (roommates) and sang along loudly and unabashedly. Then I went to do the dishes, and Pasha had managed to find the one song out of hundreds where I'm the one singing. It was the russian alphabet, made last year for my middle schoolers. Actually, no, it was made in grad school as a podcast assignment, but I used it with my middle schoolers. They could not hear that. I quickly slammed the computer shut.

Another concert coming up this weekend – the “VocaPeople.” They're all dressed in white like the blue man group, but not blue. And they have red mouths. They are aliens who travel the galaxy in a ship powered by music. They beatbox and cover popular songs a capella. Seems a little corny, but I like corny things. I'm going to wear a dress, yay! First time in Moscow. But it's going to be 38 degrees. Darnit! And we're going to have snow this week. :(

Here are some of the most recommended Russian musicians:

Чиж и Co

Nautilus Pompilius

Мельница

Кино

Смысловые галлюцинации

Чичерина

Би-2

Игорь Тальков