Maslenitsa > Valentine's Day

Okay, so while I can the attraction that Valentine's Day holds for many, particularly for those who happen to be in a relationship, let's compare it to one of the merriest (and yummiest) of Russian holidays. So Valentine's Day: sure, you might some nice flowers, some chocolate, a trip to London and Paris (best gift EVER btw :)))) , your guy might wait on you hand and foot (men who happen to be in Russia, do not despair, Feb 23 is YOUR day), but really, that lasts only a day (unless you happen to have a quality guy who is nice enough to love you each and every day, and give you flowers just because. And yes, I do believe (naively, perhaps) that the spirit of Valentine's Day should last not just one day, but the whole day long, but that's just the hopeless romantic optimist in me, lol.

Let's look at Maslenitsa. I'm not here to give a history of how it started, I'm just saying it's infiinitely better than Valentine's Day. Why, you may ask?

1. It lasts a week, leading up to and culminating in Shrove Tuesday.

2. Pancakes pancakes pancakes! Among other traditions, you basically are free to consume as many pancakes as humanly possible for an entire week. And really, what could top that?

That's about all I got, actually, haha. Like I said, this wasn't meant to in any way be an information introduction to all aspects of this great week-long tradition, I just wanted to state an opinion. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I've got to say about that."

In other news, I have successfully gotten over jet lag now, and thus am getting up at much more convenient hours. For the moment I'm only in class one day a week (just started this past Friday), but surely that will change soon, and my schedule will be completely insane. I've got to write around 50 pages or so before I come home in June, so I really do need to start making some major headway with my thesis, because I was just assigned a major paper for my class on a survey of Russian music from ancient times to the 17th cent. Very interesting course, but don't really need the extra work, lol .And then, because I'm completely insane, I decided to take an introductory course on linguistics, or yazikoznaniye. Three words, or rather, 3 letters, because Russians just love abbreviations: SMR, translated in grad-school speak as SO MUCH READING! But I do love languages, and I do think this course will be both beneficial towards future studies as a Slavic scholar and interesting in and of itself, so I'm willing to make the commitment. I may need to be committED when all is said in done, but I'll do my best, lol.

In choir news, we are singing John Rutter's Gloria, which in my opinion is ACCIDENTALTASTIC (music scholars will hopefully laugh, but I know Jennifer will, because as we all know, she adores accidentals, especially in John Rutter's music! :)) We are also singing some folk songs from Russia (and it seems England as well), and, if I heard correctly, selections from Mamma Mia. I kid you not. ABBA will be sung by the Moscow International Choir, so I fervently encourage all ABBA fans who are in Moscow in May to come and check out our concert! :D Take a chance on us, and then thank us for the music, LOL! :)

That's all I really have to say for the moment. I'll try to keep up with the blog this semester, it will be particularly gratifying to take some time to do some writing in English and stay in touch and hopefully hear from people that I haven't spoken to in like 5000 eons but are still my close friends. :) You stay classy, wherever you are, hee hee. ;) Talk soon, and enjoy the Olympics!!! And a happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate it! Or a happy Singles' Appreciation Day to those who strive come hell or high water NOT to! Meanwhile, I"m going to go have some blini while it is still very much socially acceptable to do so. Actually, it is ALWAYS socially acceptable to eat blini, but this week, it's pretty much my duty as a student of Russian culture to do so. :)