My apologies for the complete slacking on the blog entries. Last couple weeks have been devoid of excitement except for a few blips on the radar. Topology has gotten really intense, many of us are having a hard time processing all this info that’s getting thrown at us about the fundamental group, covering spaces, etc. We even covered some category theory today! This was actually pretty cool, since I’ve heard the word “functor” thrown around a lot but have never known what it meant. And its a pretty fun word to say. Anyway, the final countdown before finals is here. I have 2 finals next week and 2 finals the week after that. Pretty scary that the semester is almost over. It feels I’ve barely been here in Russia, buts its already the 4th month. On a related note, my last English conversation meeting was this past Monday. Three of the students showed up and we had a lot of fun, exchanging contact info and taking pictures before we all parted ways. I’ve so glad I got to meet them and work with them.
Grad school apps are moving along. I’ve submitted Toronto, Michigan State, and Ohio State. I really need to hustle with the other ones. Most of them are due December 15th, and I do not want to be working on these during finals. That would really suck.
Now on to the more pleasant side of life! I used to work at Papa John’s pizza quite a few years ago, so I was very surprised to discover that there is a Papa John’s here in Moscow. I had to try the pizza to see how it compared. Strangley enough, it tastes the EXACT same. I could’ve bought this from the place right by my house in Omaha and it would be no different.
More on the topic of food (I love good food). Yuki and Jacob, two friends from the Math in Moscow program, discovered this amazing little Moldovan restaurant in the Moldovan embassy. So you literally travel to Moldova, handing over your passports and everything, to eat at this place. To get there, you take the metro, walk along this pedestrian only road, go in this shady looking gate, down a flight of stairs, into this little door that has no sign or anything (not that I could see). Then you come in to a great little place, with this cool old guy that takes your coats. Food was great, they had live entertainment, and a little video showing pictures of Moldova. Probably some of the best food I’ve eaten since coming to Moscow.
In the coming week, we’ll be meeting at the Russian language teacher’s house to cook some Russian recipes. Also, tons of studying, sleepless nights, and grad school apps being submitted. Hopefully, the last week I’m here I’ll get to see The Nutcracker at the Bolshoi!