This is just a tiny bit about my trip to SP....

First off I would say that EVERYONE should try at some point in their life to go to Saint-Petersberg, if you need a tour guide I would be happy to take you. I love Moscow and I think as a place to live I would move here in a heart beat but for beauty and tourism Petersberg is the place to be. I wish I had more time now to describe everything but i dont so i wont... just a brief overview of our trip. We left Moscow around 11 in a overnight train. It had beds but they weren't that comfortable. it was just great because it was my first overnight passenger car ride and i felt like i was in the movies. plus it was my friend SJ's bday so we popped bottles and partied all night... lol. we arrived at our hostel around 8am (blah!) it was gross, but with character... breakfast was really really really stupid and i was pissed and then the bus for a tour.

Our first stop was a Catherdral (a Russian Orthodox Church) it was the first of three we saw. We were allowed to enter while the mass was going on. aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! It was so beautiful, the priests singing, the decor, it took my breath away. honestly, thats the of most connected ive felt with God in a couple weekd... the people were so devout and i didnt want to leave. Our next stop was another catherdal at the Fortress of Peter and Paul... i loved the fortress... i wanted it to be my own. Our bus tour continued to the bridge where ships come. The next stop was a fortress and inside the fortress was Saint. Peters Cathedral where the Tsars starting with Peter are buried. This was one of my favorite places but more later. Next was the Winter Palace and the Hermatage, again more on that later I need a day to put in to words the beauty and emotion these places stirred. After that we had free time, took a nap with the girls... then some of got really dressed up and went to an exclusive dinner with Saint Sara Jane for her birthday. (the needs its own post as well) We stayed there for a while, they hade great music, ok food, and great Cosmos and wine... We thought then we were going to go dancing but the club wasn't very good so instead we went for a walk and it was beautiful. Sunday we had breakfast and got on the bus to go to the Summer palace. Which isn't as grand as the Winter palace but was still beautiful with amazing gardens, it was a winter wonderland. After that we had a lot of free time so I went with a few friends to a great cafe and had an amazing lunch, then went shopping. It was so much fun. That night we saw Hamlet done by the forth years of the acting school in Petersberg and then I got two burgers before getting back on the train and waking up in Moscow at 8. That is all I can do for now I will try to write more and put up some pictures in the next couple days.this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

the date for this post is really november 6, 2009.


So today was the most WONDERFUL day so far!

I got my right and left splits, did a perfect cartwheel for the first time in my life, jumped over a table, and did a bridge from standing!!!!! woop woop!
IT SNOWED!!!! It was beautiful but i was tired of it after i took the first couple of pictures... (which by the way i have to post)
We leave for Saint Petersberg in an hour I'm all packed I'm worried I'm going to freeze but hopefully not.
speak to ya on the flipside cuz im not taking my computer with me

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

November!!!!
I can't belive the month has gone by so fast. Halloween was alot of fun I think some friends have pictures so I will try to get them posted corpse bride/ Ludmila (a character from out russian language text book) went very well... i shall get pics on here soon.

Yesterday before the party I saw probably my second favorite piece of theater, Richard III (Shakespeare). I was directed by the same man who direct Hamlet- my favorite. The show was stunnning the visual imput was emotionally enthrawling. They used Shadows as part of the scenery which added so much. Also each of the deaths was unique. The hit man would come on stage and they would be holding wine or a news paper and their victim would be in white and they took such ardinary objects a killed people in the most gruesome ways- it was horrifying yet beautiful. My favorite scene was the ghost scene right before the last battle. the Ghosts actually did an etude with Richard and when it was over He said the "This is the hour..." speech which is usually at the beginning. It had so much more meaning just changing the placement. It was great because some roles in Richard that would typcally be cast aside, were now so developed even with out lines. You could tell that the actors took even the smallest part so seriously, it is so wonderful to see. That is something that I really respect Russians for they care about even the smallest characters. The show was a work of art.

This week is more relaxing we have no class on wednesday for some obscure holiday that was added just recently because they no longer wanted to celbrate the October Revolution but they still wanted the day off. I personally am going shopping. On friday we leave very late at night for Saint-Petersberg I'm really excited it is supposed to be beautiful.
I hope you are all doing well and this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

“Our childhood is our greatest tool for our creativity.”

Tolya

Green is a tall pine forest, light yellow is a tiny chick at Easter and black is the never-ending sky. Today was my first acting class and one of the activities was to think and be a color and then connect with others who were the same color... without knowing what color others were... For our first acting class it as all about creating a rhythm with our group i.e. it was though clapping in order with task of walking and figuring out who was “it” without any external cues. Our professor Sasha speaks broken English but you can understand what he is saying simply through his body language. He is a great actor on the Moscow stage, even while he sits and talks to us, every muscle is engaged in his words. We have a second teacher who is also an actor but we haven’t met him yet.

In history Tolya introduced us to the personality of Stanislavski. He told us that when he tried to write a book the only thing that appeared in his manuscript was stories from his childhood. His books were never a bout his greatness but his failures and how each failure brought him closer to his goals as an artists.

Tonight we went out to a Russian bar, and because of our huge group and loudness the Russians were giving us dirty looks which is actually not that uncommon. Whenever we go to Russian stores the clerks yell at us in Russian until they realize we have no idea what they are saying, so then their best form of communication is to glare. Not all Russians are like this the other students, our guides, and our teachers and once in a while a sympathetic stranger will help us get through the language barrier. I find that the Language barrier is the one thing that I wish I could change and one thing that I know i will soon be able to handle.

Paka (see ya!)

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

I have not updated in so very long... but here goes...

“To understand an artist, you must look at the way she lives and loves.”
-Toliya Smeliansky

I have never met a more passionate man about the theater than my history professor, and artistic director of MXAT Smeliansky. He stressed to us the importance of telling MXAT history as it was. As time has passed in the Russian theater, each revolution has changed the face of MXAT or as we learned MXAT has shaped the face of Russia. In our “lecture” hall there is a exhibit with all the picture of great artists of the MXAT looking down on us. They felt like our own personal guides, despite the cliché. It is a living exhibit it changes with the political landscape, “Behind every picture is a problem.” We also had Russian Cinema, to be honest I was exhausted so I didn’t absorb all of it but Galina (my professor) was beautiful and wonderful.
Our evening to night has been abosorbed in sadness. One of our members lost their college room mate tonight. Her pain transferred to all of us with reality of how far we are from home and the love ones we left behind. I love you all very much and I pray you are in good health. Please send prayers and energy my way for my grieving friend.
It is time for bed I will write more tomorrow but this is what on my heart tonight. This program is a blessing and so are all of you.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

Something for YOU.

<<<< class="MsoNormal">Day 4 So the stares that I've been expecting finally started to kick in around 5pm. Was it my green leggings, ruffled blouse, blue sequined hat and cowboy boots? Or was it the color of my skin? I can't tell and I still don’t know. As we walked the streets of Moscow … which, by the way, takes FOREVER no matter where you go. Not really. I was just tired and my feet hurt. Russians walk extremely fast, even the short one with little legs like me… I don’t see how they do it, but now I know why the they're all thin and in shape, even the ones. I KNOW I've lost ten lbs today, I'm sure of it. By the time we finally got to the metro station, I was weary but the subway here is awesome. Instead of the awful smells and dirt and grime, they have marble floors and walls, escalators, chandeliers, paintings, and golden crown molding… it like a PALACE. This is how the subways should be… its one thing that Stalin got right… it’s the transportation of the people so it should be immaculate and reliable… it certainly is! We took a boat tour of the Moscow river… it was beautiful. Obscenely cold but gorgeous nonetheless.

Studying acting is something that is sort of frowned upon in the US … two major culture shocks since I've been here: being stared at because the way I look and the fact that when I walked into MXAT and people stop and respect me because I am an ARTIST is the most amazing feeling in the world. That respect of my craft doesn’t happen where I'm from. People usually think less of you when you say, "I'm studying acting in school." I have people tell me all the time, and I use to say it to myself too, "I'm paying 50 thou a year to been unemployed when I graduate from college." THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN HERE! I literally walk around with my chin up so high, so proud what I do and how hard I work. I wear the badge of an artist and it means something!

<<<<<>

The control that theRussian students have of their bodies is incredible. Nothing I have seen in america can compare. Our bodies are so important for communication. In the show we saw tonight consisted of some of the etudes that the seniors had worked on in their freshman year which were so successful to the public that they had continued. Our acting teachers told us to watch their examples of objects and animals, since that is what we are working on; and they were exact. The most impressive object was strings on a guitar. Each string had a distinct personality basedon the tambor; they made their bodies roll and vibrate like a string but they were people. For the animals their was a a skit of a wolf and hiena. I couldn't describe to you how they did it but it was unbelievable to see humans tranform into an animal so compelely. My favorite etude was tittled "Attraction." It was a entwining of two bodies. The choreoagraphy was so beautiful yet if anyone else tried to do it it would have been jerky becuase of the stain on the muscles. Every movement was slow and controlled yet the technicality it took was more than I could imagine. there were so many beautiful peices and I was blown completely away by their abilities. I think though our classes here will take us toward what these students are able to do but I think it will take alot of self dicipline to contiue the training.
Part of our training here includes ballet. My teacher... an 80 year ex-Prima Ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre/// smh. We had ballet for the first time and I haven't sweat so much in my life. I was supprised how much was still in me. The only thing that wasn't very good was leg lifts but when she pushedmy legs I was more flexible then I have ever been. I will I think be better as time goes on and willget more strength.
Today I also had stage combat and voice but I will go into that later, as well as acting yesterday and today.

I am now eating a huge bowl of honey nut corn flakes (not cheerios) and 2.5% moloko (milk)… thank you Russia . And hopefully as I'm writing this blog, my 200 free rubles of internet wifi (PER MONTH!!!) doesn’t run out.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

The Festival that is My Life Now

this is a really bad pic of me and my favorite girl here, Hannah... you shall see better ones of us soon.

these are all of what u haven't seen so far.





























To be a tourist you see the sites of Moscow but not Moscow itself and while they are beautiful, breathtaking and unlike anything you have ever seen in your life, Moscow can be beautiful without them. Today I think was the first day I felt connected to Moscow as a city. I ordered my own meal and despite the fact that I didn’t speak Russian very well I didn’t hold up the line, like I typically do. The language and their intentions behind their words is becoming easier to understand. Instead of gibberish I can hear unique sounds. Moscow is becoming comfortable and I think that is one of the beauties of the city. While the city and even the people can be harsh and even aggressive there is an understanding of the opposite that they can show you just as much kindness. It finally hit me today that I am in Russia and living amongst people who are nothing and everything like me.
The physical beauty of Moscow is also amazing which we saw on our 3 ½ hour bus tour. It was long and we stopped and got out places but it was worth it. The first thing we saw was St. Basil’s cathedral and the Kremlin which I have never seen and equal to. The cathedral, our tour guide explained, is a culmination of churches which creates a compass of the city. The red dome points north while the green points south. The east looks like traditional Russian hat and the west look like grenades because invasions all come from the west. This is one of the amazing things about Moscow in even the architecture tells the history of the city. Next we went to the overlook of the city by the cathedral Christ’s Savior which I had been to two days before. In Moscow they have a tradition that when a couple get married they write their names on a pad lock and put it on trees on a bridge- Only the picture can truly describe it. At this same bridge they have a bench that is curved and it is said if a couple who is fighting sits on either side and slides to the middle they will resolve their argument. Our next stop was a sculpture created by a French artist as a memorial to all the abused children, “for the children who are victims of adult’s vices.” The memorial is a ring of sculptured vices with two golden children in the middle, their hands reaching out to each other. We continued on to a park next to an old monastery where Stanislavsky and many other great Russians are buried. It was nice to just walk around. The last stop was Sparrow Hill where there is a beautiful panoramic of the city and the Moscow State University, Moscow’s Harvard. It was an incredible building but got the remark, “well that’s not intimidating (sarcasm).”
We are done sight seeing for the week. I start class tomorrow on a normal schedule. We are performing our first etude tomorrow, a short silent scene created by the group, which we rehearsed for an hour this evening. We are ready to have it ripped apart tomorrow but that is good. We were warned that we should expect criticism because Stanislavsky believed it was the way to get better to leave the good and work on the bed.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

DAY 3 and a Half: Im in MOSCOW!!!

Everyone was really sweet about my being ill yesterday/ today. They brought me medicine and tea and lots of water. Eliana held my hair as I vomited (which I thought was ultra sweet) and Kirsten gave me some medicine stuff that really settled my stomach. Several fits of vertigo took over me, but once I ate a good breakfast and drank about a gallon of water, paired with about 10 hrs of sleep, I was fine. We ate lunch at the cafeteria of the Moscow Art Theater… which means at any given moment, we are sitting next to/ sharing tables and food with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise (I mean these people are LE-GIT). This was a very humbling experience because I don’t EVEN want to know what I ate for lunch today. Pointing and saying pa-jol-sta was a task at hand… the servers looked at us in disgust. Who knows what I ate… it cost 5 bucks for lotta lotta food. After lunch, we still had two hours to spare, so we walked down Tverskaya (basically Times Square ). We walked into McDonalds and if I d say so myself, it was the swankiest Mickey D's I have ever seen in my life! High class and GREAT… I fit right in! It was absolutely clean and perfect and everyone there was in their Sunday's best... even the employees.lol… exactly how a McDonalds should be… it was also a bit cheaper! So by three, we were back at MXAT (the most accredited/respected theatre and school in the world, also, this is where I am studying) around noon and met our teachers (Sergei and Sasha) for the first time. This was very interesting because they do not speak English and we must communicate through a translator (which is fine, it actually great) because it makes us have to rely on things other than language. We have to read expression and body language and really be connected and ready to become your very own translator at any moment. He gave us awesome words of encouragement (via Tatyana, the translator): "Keep smiling, even though the Russians don't! It's your American flag, keep waving it and don’t let them make you depressed!" After introductions, we did MONOLOGUES! How fun and nerve wrecking at the same time. Of course, Kenya Alexander was first. Great. While I was prepared, I was not expecting to go first and was immediately nervous when my name was called… SMH. Started awesome. Had to stop and take it back. Embarrassing to say the least. But my classmates smiled at me and made me feel ok. I still hate myself though… since I got tongue tied and lost when our professors of acting don’t even speak the same language… WHAT WAS THERE TO BE NERVOUS ABOUT??? The Sergei stops and says, "We are not here to judge, just to get to know one another. Don’t kill us with your talent, Kenya !" Everyone laughs, including me and that breaks the ice for all of us. I am nervous no more, and in a way I was the sacrificial lamb for my class, because when I start over, it's amazing and everyone else was too! I cannot wait until acting class begins on Saturday though! Russian women (for the most part) are unusually tall and thin and pretty. Wonderful hair and awesome fashion. I never see any that look like they are wearing less than 2000 dollars worth of clothing at that given moment. The men are in Armani suits and look strong and angry… but again, unusually handsome. It's strange.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

DAY 3: Leaving the Nation

At the airport check in was a lot better than we expected it to be. We still have 3 hours to spare. I guess we'll walk around and talked about who would hook up with who. Time to board. We're on the flight for nine hours. They fed us several times. It's good and bad at the same time. There is no turning back now. We arrive in Moscow nine hours later and we finally see the outside world at 11 a.m. We get to our dorms. I have a single!!! Then again, it's kinda sad, because now I want a roommate. So we get ready to go buy calling cards and exchange our currency. All of a sudden, I'm doubled over vomiting bile. So I think I am fine after 5 minutes or so and walk another mile and then it happens again. I try to tough it out, but after my third stop I have to give in to the fates and go back to the dorm to rest, otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the next three months. I slept for several hours and didn't really feel better until the next day. /// Buying groceries was another feat I've had to overcome. AHHHHHHHHH! Is all I could say to myself. Some things were familiar, actually a lot of things were… I just had to make sure by looking hard enough and then depending on David, Austin and Katie (they all know a small amount of Russian). Who knows if they're hiking up the prices on the stupid Americans or not… we're just so flustered and overwhelmed by everything that we pay whatever they ask because we want to avoid feeling anymore inadequate and foreign.
/// By the way, I have NEVER had so much gas in my LIFE!!! It smells exactly like the food I eat. No difference. Whatsoever.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

DAY 2: At the O'neill

the O'Neill was really great. They are really helping us out a lot by making us form an ensemble. Shawna, our guide (she did the MXT program and lived in Russia for 4 years) played this awesome game with us. It really made me very aware of the people around me and my level of concentration and how I can be too focused on one thing and not to open to one thing. That is very very detrimental for an actor. That was great.
We are getting along great so far, no cliques, we are all getting to know one another. Now, let's learn some basic Russian to get us by at first.
No=Nyet
Not allowed=Nilsya
Isvenitsia = I'm sorry
Pajalsta=Please
Ya Ne Govoroo po Russki= I don't speak Russian
Ya ne pani mayou = I don't know
Dasvidanya= Goodbye
Priviet=hey
Pa-kah=bye
Gdiye=where
miasa=mine
koonitsa=chicken
spinina=pork
reba=fish
Kar-toh-phel=potato
Voosdarovia=bless you
Minya Zavoot = My name is
Skolka=How much?
Pomogitsia=Help Me!
Shauna also told us about the racist and anti-Semitic attitudes of the Russians, which kinda freaked me out bc I don’t want to me spit on or ran over or stalked…we shall see. We also learned that nothing is allowed, but everything is expected. Russia is a double headed eagle, two sides of the same coin… a paradise and hell all at the same time. We'll see what happens when we get there tomorrow!

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

DAY 1: On the way to CT

So after a 15 hour travel day to Connecticut …I want to call it quits! From Houston to Cincinnati , Cincinnati to Detroit , Detroit to Providence , and Providence to New Haven . Two delayed flights, I finally get to my first destination, Providence . I have to wait an hour and then take a shuttle to Amtrak--get to Amtrak and try to buy a ticket but I cannot find my wallet. I'm freaking out and looking through all of my suitcases and my carry on. STILL. NO. WALLET!!! I'm freaking out, my heart is pounding. I say a quick prayer to myself. I ask the attendant, "Do you by any chance have the number to the limousine/shuttle service that brought me here?" He smiles, and he reads the numbers out to me. I talk to the dispatch lady on the other line and ask her, "Did I happen to leave my wallet with you?" She tells me, "One of her guys has called and is returning to the Amtrak station because he found something, so maybe that's you." I take another deep breath and step outside. The man returns with my hot pink wallet in his hand. I thank him thank him thank him then run back inside before my luggage is stolen. After a few jeers from the clerk, I pay for my ticket and take the elevator down to the track. As I sit and wait for the train to arrive in 20 or so minutes and guess who I see? April from Season 2 of Top Model. She looks solemn and sad so I just turned around and don't even bother speaking to her. When the train arrives, I'm so happy that I'm finally getting closer and closer to my final destination and I hop on as quickly as possible. I take the first empty seat, sitting next to this cute little lady that's knitting. After about 20 minutes into the train ride, the conductor walks down the aisle to take our tickets. He grabs mine and looks at me and says, "We have a huge problem." I laugh it off, I think it's fine. He says, "NO really. You're on the wrong train." I'm smiling but he's not. He says, "This is an express train so you're going to have to wait until we get to our destination which is an hour and a half away and then we'll just transfer you over." I'm freaking out. I go to call Jean Routt, the Executive Administator of NTI, to let her know that I'll be late. Then the conductor comes up to me and lets me know that we're going to get in at 7:20pm but the next train out doesn't leave until 9:00 so you'll be arriving in New London at 10:00pm. I burst into tears of frustration, all the while keeping the faith, because I knew I would get there eventually. I call Jean back to let her know when I was arriving and she says, "Oh no! We'll send someone to your rescue." I was instantly relieved. In finally arrived in New Haven , Connecticut and Trevor pick up. Too bad we were stuck in traffic for an hour. I finally go to where I was supposed to be at 10:00 pm. That makes my travel day from 5 am to 10 pm with no food. I was a mess and I just wanted to shower and get my life together, but the good news is everyone smiled and welcomed me with open arms which was very very nice.

this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.

The Beginning

So this is an introduction to my life as an actor… I'm constantly moving around and sometimes I don’t even know where home is anymore. Houston or Pittsburgh ? I feel like it's both, but then again, not since I am literally living out of a suitcase and boxes for months at a time! And now, to make things even a little more complicated, I am moving to MOSCOW !!!! Very exciting and very scary at the same time, and I know it will be so worth it! I will be away from everything I know and love, with complete strangers for 3 months and I don’t even know how to prepare myself.
I will be at the O'neill Theatre Center in Waterford , CT for a couple days before leaving this country of ours.
So this is Kenya , I'll be a Stranger in Moscow and probably the only Black Russian. We shall see.

Thanks to God for making this absolutely amazing opportunity possible for me. Thanks to Carnegie Mellon University for sponsoring this trip. Thanks to The O'neill Theatre Center for having this program. And thanks to the Gilman Scholarship Fund for giving me money to eat in Russia !


this is what u get when u order A BLACK RUSSIAN.