You know things are bad when you confront the blurry image of Robert De Niro on the front page of Revolution Newspaper, that proud electronic banner of the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S.A. It gets worse when you read the accompanying blurb – “Robert De Niro came on stage at the Tonys on Sunday night and said: “I’m going to say[Read More...]
Without my glasses the trees outside the window are misconceived mosaics. No young breezes have come to play among them, nor has the west wind come to make them dance. It is only the residual droplets of water that create motion and a semblance of sound. The birds are quiet. It is a distinctly cold morning in Moscow. It is[Read More...]
I am from New York City, and what that means is that I know a good pastrami sandwich when I see, or more properly, taste one. For those of you who do not know what pastrami is, let me give you a quick course in Jewish cuisine.According to David Sax, author of “Save the Deli,” pastrami is not actually a[Read More...]
It is late spring in Moscow, and the day is exquisite. I sit on my balcony and drink my coffee and watch a mischievous breeze run through the trees. It brushes against them, makes them bob and sway like off balance dancers. When it scuttles away, the branches slide back into the sun, hold still, and the space we share[Read More...]
There is something in the white trunked birches of Russia that dumbs my mind and irritates my flesh. Every May, their leaves, still small and weak from just being born into the world, provoke me to exhaustion and the coughing and sneezing begins. This 11th spring of my Moscow years, is the worst, and the congestion becomes a bronchitis which[Read More...]
An American Babushka in Moscow: A Miracle in the State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. – four socialists backed by the Democratic Socialists of America win primary seats. I am exhilarated today, not because it is a beautiful day in Moscow, nor because of anything Putin has done, but because of what has happened in the State of Pennsylvania. Not one, not[Read More...]
When I first came to Russia I was thrilled by any artifact of the Soviet Union, by every Red Star I saw atop a building, by every hammer and sickle bas relief. The statues of Marx across from the Bolshoi, of Engles standing tall in the small park across from Kropotkinskaya Metro sent shivers up my spine. But I will[Read More...]
Back in the day, ten years ago when I first set foot in Moscow, when the Moscow Metro was the home of the Minotaur from which I felt myself lucky to escape each day; when the Russian language was tumultuous; when I could not ask for what I wanted and needed, when the sophisticated splendor of the city sent me[Read More...]
I don’t know how or why I ever got an invitation to come and teach in Moscow. I was hesitant to come: after all I was teaching at two small colleges near my home, I had a large family who lived close to me, and a lot of friends. I was comfortable right where I was. But as one of[Read More...]
It is a warm, almost hot day; a perfect day to wander through the center of the city. I never go to the center without feeling the tug of the city on my heart; it is so charming, so beautiful, so other worldly. I have been to over 50 countries and so seen many of the greatcities, and let me[Read More...]
