I have found the Love Train. It rides between the Lenin Library in the center of the city to Yugo Zapadnaya at the end of the red line. As I boarded the train tonight on my way home from a lovely dinner with new acquaintances, I could feel the my muscles relax as I took a seat and rested my tired feet. I looked around, and realized this train was different. Everyone was smiling. People do not smile in Moscow. I looked around and at the back of the car there were a couple of young men having a great time playing their guitars on the train. Passengers slightly bobbed their heads, a slight smile on each of their faces. How I didn't hear the music first, before I noticed everyone smiling, I don't know - somethings stand out more than others in Moscow. As if in a movie, a young student boarded the train, saw the small group and sat with them. After bobbing his head a while and figuring out the right chords, he pulled a harmonica from his bag and started to play with him. The smile on each passenger's face grew. Two stops later, a policeman got on the train. The band kept playing, though everyone stopped smiling for a second, waiting to see what the policeman would do next. He walked over to the band, who were anxiously continuing their song, and then stood between two of the guitarists and started bobbing his head to the music as well. The smiles returned to everyone's face, and the policeman wore the widest of them all.
On this small, dingy traincar - one of hundreds riding tonight in Moscow - passengers got a treat on their way home. I was very thankful to be one of them.
The view from my window. Clear days are few, now that the weather is getting colder. Visible is the Moscow Institute of Radio Technology and Yugo Zapadnaya - the southern-most stop on the city's red Metro line.
My desk on any given school night. Or, now that I think of it, any night of the week.
Moscow State University, which as of the end of this year, will be the largest university in the world, hosting over 100,000 students.
Me! Standing in front of Moscow State University, just on the edge of Sparrow Hills.
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