Last night after a very long and physically exhausting day, which included running up walls and flipping over chairs (the human body was not meant to do these things!) I got the very best treat. I had SEVERAL hours (so crazy!) to just sit in a café by myself and chat on-line with three of my best girl-friends in the entire world. They are the type of people who always go above and beyond, who show up - when you are too distraught to ask, who know just when you need their love and never expect anything in return. When you doubt whether you matter, they are the ones who show you why you do. I love these girls so much and forgot how easy their friendship is – no drama, no expectations, just pure love. I am having an amazing time in Moscow but sharing it with them just made it so much better. I should mention that the reason I had free time was that I am sick – well, I don’t think I am sick - but my Russian teachers are completely freaked-out. I got ill last week and although I feel perfectly fine now I have no voice, none. It was raspy but it just kept getting worse and worse until yesterday it just kind of went away. My acting teacher sent the program coordinator to talk to me because he is very concerned and wants me to be completely silent for the next few days and do this disgusting milk therapy thing (so not happening) until it gets better. They take this type of thing very seriously, in a weird Russian-y kind of way, but I am not quite sure what to do. This is an Acting Conservatory for goodness sake – I sort of need to talk. Rehearsal is a little difficult without it. So instead of going to a show or working in the movement lab I had to take it easy and got to sit in the internet café, drinking jasmine tea and hoping for the best. Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning my voice somehow got worse. It is sometimes painful to speak but I refuse to admit I am sick-sick. Plus it has made class even more interesting. I somehow managed to make it through my entire acting class without speaking and was actually able to do the animal Atude I prepared without making a sound (giraffe – no sound needed), which received a resounding “Success!” (This is a big deal with the Russians. They almost never say something is really good and even rarer is the coveted term ‘Success.’ There is also this weird male vs. female dichotomy, in the way professors respond to the work but I am trying not to let it affect me since it is completely out of my control. - I was the first girl in the class to have a piece classified as a Success, and the one of the few who hear it on a regular basis but I was also the first person to crash and burn in such a magnificent fashion so I figure it all works out.) Also, losing my voice has apparently made me a little crazy. I had one of those completely idiotic moments today, the kind that only hits you hours later when there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It involved me shushing the most important Actor in all of Russian Theatre, and it wouldn’t be that exciting of a story except that I had no clue of who he was at the time. He guess he thought it was hilarious but when I put two and two together several hours later I was absolutely mortified. 
Luckily I had plenty of time to ponder my stupidity while we sat in the Bolshoi’s small stage (The ‘small’ stage is still bigger and more beautiful than most of the theaters I have ever visited) watching a new production of “The Queen of Spades,” a Russian opera that is almost four hours long. The production was very impressive with many brilliant moments even though I wasn’t madly in love the show as a whole. Oddly, what I disliked the most from a personal taste perspective: the general design of the piece, with period costumes in a neutral palette on an entirely black and white set, blow-out lighting, and the choice to play with parallel levels covering the entire length of the space, I found most interesting as an artist. The director of this piece made very strong choices and took serious risks and while I didn’t particularly care for the choices he made I commend him for not playing it safe. It was so different from every other opera I have seen and I highly doubt I will soon forget it. Plus, due to a ladies room snafu at intermission (a very long story) I got to go backstage to the women’s dressing room and saw most of the chorus buck naked. Wow, now that was a way to end an evening.
