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.