The field-trip to Moscow for the 10-12th grade history and literature students has come and gone. And oh what a trip it was. It started off with an 11:00 p.m. train from St. Petersburg Tuesday night and another train heading back to St. Petersburg at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday. Needless to say, it was a long trip, but also a very good one. We were able to visit several amazing places as well as watch our students compete in a basketball tournament. A four day field-trip that involved over 20 students for the last part is a tiring experience, but our students did an outstanding job of behaving themselves and being with them was a true pleasure!
Our trip started off with literature/Russian sites on Wednesday. Amanda's English class is reading Russian literature this semester and Dasha, our friend and one of IA's Russian teachers (as well as my Russian teacher), is reading Dostoevsky with the advanced Russian class. We started the day off by touring the apartment museum of Mikhail Bulgakov. Bulgakov wrote The Master and Margarita, arguably one of the best novels of the 20th century, in a communal flat over many years during the 1920s and 1930s. The novel is a mixture of biting social commentary, satire of the Soviet system, magic, and religious reflections. We had an excellent tour which should provide a solid foundation for Amanda's students as they prepare to read The Master and Margarita later on this semester.
After the Bulgakov museum, we went in the afternoon to the childhood home of Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky lived in Moscow until he was 16. After returning from Siberia, he spent most of the rest of his life in St. Petersburg, but Moscow has still managed to filch quite a few pieces of Dostoevsky memorabilia even though none of his writing was done there. It was interesting to see the conditions in which he grew up and to hear the story of some of his childhood experiences as well as to see first editions and handwritten notes for his novels.
Wednesday was history day. Two years ago I had the chance to help lead a field-trip to Moscow in connection with the Russian history class I was teaching, and I am glad that I was able to do so again. We went to the Novodevichy Cemetery in the morning, which is the final resting place of a number of famous Russians. Great writers like Nikolai Gogol, Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Vladimir Mayakovsky can be found there, along with historical figures like the anarchist Peter Kropotkin, Russian president Boris Yeltsin, and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. It was a cold day and there was quite a bit of snow which made finding some of the graves a bit difficult, but it was still a fascinating experience.
In the afternoon we went to the State Historical Museum on Red Square for a tour. This was my third time in the museum and I still keep finding new things that I don't recall having noticed before. We had a short tour that provided an overview of some of the most remarkable objects in the Museum and then spent some time letting the students explore other parts of the museum on their own. Seeing a number of ancient manuscripts that we have read parts of for class was a personal highlight for me.
That night our 9th grade students and a few middle school boys who are on the basketball team came down on the train, along with a few more teachers and parents, to join us for the basketball tournament at the Anglo American School on Friday and Saturday. Having a group of 33 (adults included) created a certain number of logistical issues, but we managed to handle them with about as much patience and flexibility as could be reasonably expected.
Our basketball team, the Cossacks, is in the midst of a rebuilding year after having a great season last year. Our best players from last season have either graduated or not at IA this year, which means that we have a very young team without much basketball experience. Even though we were easily the smallest school and youngest team at the tournament and could only enter the junior varsity division of the tournament, our students played extremely hard against larger schools with much bigger players. Although we went 1-4 over the course of two days, we had several close games and our students and parents cheered hard for our players.
After four days of field-trip and two days of sore backsides from sitting on bleachers, we caught our 1 a.m. train back to St. Petersburg and arrived back in the city a little before 10 this morning. It was a very good trip, and something that I know the students will look back on with many fond memories.
We (mostly Amanda!) took many pictures from the trip, so you can see a bit of what we did this past week:
A statute of Koroviev and Behemoth, two characters from The Master and Margarita, outside of the Bulgakov Museum.
Inside the kitchen of the apartment. Bulgakov lived in a communal flat with 18 people. The tension of this experience provides an important backdrop to the events of The Master and Margarita.
The apartment was decorated with silhouettes of characters and scenes from the novel.
In the stairwell leading up to the apartment is all sorts of graffiti left by readers of Bulgakov. The graffiti began back in the 1970s, well before the apartment was a museum, as a way to pay homage to Bulgakov and his work.
Behemoth, a cat, is a key character in The Master and Margarita and was a popular subject for the graffiti drawings on the wall.
Dostoevsky's desk, taken (in my opinion stolen:-P) from St. Petersburg and on display inside of the Dostoevsky's childhood home.
A photograph of Dostoevsky from the museum.
Dostoevsky's signature and pen.
A wooden statue of Dostoevsky alongside me (with a wicked case of hat-hair!)
The entrance to the Novodevichy Convent, a 16th century convent that is adjacent to the cemetery that we visited.
Anton Chekhov's grave.
Mikhail Bulgakov's grave.
The large and rather gaudy grave of Boris Yeltsin. I got to play the tour guide in the cemetery. The students all stood in rapt attention as I rattled off unprepared comments on the people whose graves we were seeing.
The grave of Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev is the only Soviet leader buried in the cemetery. All of the others are buried next to the Kremlin.
The ceiling of the main entrance in the State Historical Museum. This depicts all of the rulers of Russia as a family tree going from the 900s all the way up until Alexander III (ruled 1881-1894), who was the tsar when the museum opened.
Another angle of the ceiling with part of the wall.
Our students look at some specimens of birch-bark writing. Some of the earliest written artifacts from Russia were written on pieces of bark from birch trees.
This was the special prayer space for Ivan IV ("Ivan the Terrible").
This enormous globe was purchased by Peter the Great during his travels in Europe.
A beautifully illustrated manuscript.
Many of the rooms in the museum had examples of clothing and furniture from different eras of Russian history.
One of our seniors does battle with a lion in the museum.
We met up with the second wave of IA students at Starlight Diner, an American-style diner chain with several locations in Moscow. A good time was had by all:-)
The teacher table at Starlight. From left to right are Jeff (head basketball coach and computer/ESL teacher), Jarod (assistant basketball coach and 6th grade teacher), Lena (the world's greatest secretary), Amanda, myself, Dasha (Russian language teacher), and Jim (Bible teacher).
The fans and the team waiting in the stands before a game.
Our Cossacks prepare for the upcoming challenge.
Playing defense against a team from Kiev.
Amanda brought the game You've Been Sentenced, easily the most fun game ever made that deals with grammar, to help pass some of the downtime at the tournament. To our delight, the students really loved it.
Number 24 is probably our best player this year and put in some serious playing time this tournament.
These four girls were the best cheering section any team could ask for. Their enthusiastic yelling, made-up cheers and songs, and high energy level made every game fun.
The main gym at Anglo American Moscow.
The tip off in the game against Anglo American.
One of our 9th graders pulls down a rebound.
Saturday night it was Dasha's turn to entertain the students with a fun game. This one involved moving cups in a specific rhythm.
The hostel that we stayed in was behind this Catholic Church. The Church operates a hostel for visitors and pilgrims.
A group shot of the team, students, teachers, and parents who made the trip to Moscow to cheer on our team!
It was a great trip, and we are glad to be back in St. Petersburg to settle into a more normal routine for the rest of the quarter!
Thanks for reading,
Matt
