Not a lot to report, but seeing as how I'm the only that seems to be posting here, here's another blurb from Moscow.

Josh has been for his second root canal appointment. Things are good for him and he looks like he's feeling a lot better. I'm just coming down from a fantastic overnight stomach bug. If you're ever in a foreign country, I highly recomend the random stomach virus and I'm sure that Josh would recomend the same for tooth problems.

Prof. Markle has just arrived and he's in the process of beating the jet-lag; this is just in time to wave fairwell to Prof. Baumgartner, who leaves tomorrow morning around 9 AM.

Classes are rockin, everyone's splits are coming along nicely (although we're still looking for Jessica's unidentified butt muscle), our script analysis skills are stronger than ever, but I feel that a lot of us are almost ready to come home. I certainly have taken for granted living in a country where you can speak with everyone--but my charade abilities are amazing! Don't get me wrong, the trip has been awesome and the things we have seen/done/partaken in have been amazing. But after four weeks of being away and two more to go...

BTW ("by the way" for non-internet-speaking readers), we may have found a way to start posting at least some pictures! Don't get your hopes up, but a couple of computers have surfaced and now the opportunities have begun to present themselves.

That's all for now. Email your loved ones that are on this trip and ask them to update to let you know what they've been up to, and at the same time let everyone else know what they're doing and their personal take on it.

Well, Joel gave the brief rundown, but since I've nothing to do at the moment, I shall detail it out.

First off, I won't say that it's better than Moscow, but it is undeniably different. Things seem cleaner, the people seem different...there is simply a different air in the city (and bacteria in the water). It's something difficult for me to describe right now because I just don't have the energy to really pin it down, but maybe someone will help me out later.

Alice. This was one of our more solid shows if not our most solid to date. I know what people say about it, everyone enjoyed it, it felt good. It certainly helps that we had a run under our belts with an audience; that simple fact changes the entire dynamic of the show. There was also a different energy from the audience as a whole: they were more ready to enjoy the show as opposed to study it, maybe. Maybe it is something completely different than that, but it was undeniably different.

This turned out to be a good thing because a man belonging to a rather reputable Russian Theatre beginning with an 'M' (reputable in my perception because I recognized the name which if have forgotten, nothing more) was in the audience. **In review of this paragraph, Jason thinks it is a new theatre company, so once again I could be spreading information of which I have no solid evidence or backing.** In fact, he liked it so much, he asked if we would perform again Friday at his theatre. Having to leave St. Petersburg Friday evening didn't leave room to do the show, but he was definitely interested in establishing 'relations' with NIU in the future. Lisa can fill everyone in in more detail, as she was the one that actually had the conversation through Sasha.

The big stop of the day was the Hermitage. For those of you that don't know, it is one of the largest Art Museums in the world. Some claim that it's the largest in Europe, but so does the Louvre and the Smithsonian claims to be the largest in the world, so I guess it all depends on how you define the term, 'largest.' The Hermitage has over 3,000,000 works of art through 6 buildings, one of which is the famous Winter Palace of St. Petersburg. A hallway in this place is bigger than my apartment by many times.

We had a lot of fun, everyone enjoyed the white nights (the sun sets about 1 AM and is up at 2 AM), Richie was attacked by a gargoyle, Lisa "accidentally" ripped her clothes in the Hermitage, I saw a boy wash his hands in the Hermitage urinals, and I'm sure there are many, many more stories to go around.

Until next time,
Love, peace, and mongeese,
B

Well, we're off. We're at the dorm to do some packing, and leave for our train to St. Petersburg at 11 PM tonight. I think Jessica said it the best; "I've never been looking so forward to sleeping on a train." Tomorrow, there is the next show of Alice in Wonderland, a day in St. Petersburg, and then a return to the Russian grind.

I've updated all of the email addresses on the blog, so if you want to write an email to anyone, just click the name and your computer SHOULD take care of the rest.

I guess that's it for me for now.
B

Wow, sorry we haven't written here in a while, but here is a quick update. Show 1 of Alice-finished. Week 1 of classes-finished. Rehearsal of $30k-in progress. Show 2 of Alice-Wednesday. Show 1 of $30k-end of month.

We all just got back from celebrating Russia's Independence Day in Red Square, which was awesome. This was at the conclusion of our first day of rest since we arrived here.

Please excuse the lack of changes to the blog. I can't put up pictures because I can't upload them here (no one has a laptop or the like, and this computer is a bit older than USB). Pictures will be available when we return, late July. Nothing else has changed because I just haven't stopped, but as soon as I get a free hour, I'll change everything that I can. For right now, we'll just make posts as we get the opportunity.

Mongeese and cheese fries,
B

Life is good. We're all in Moscow, and having finished our first week of class (excluding one of acting) we are all able to cut loose a little bit with the Russian Vodka, the Russian beer, and a good night's rest. Tomorrow morning we have a tour of Moscow, then another acting class, then a show, and then we're home free until Monday as far as I can remember.

I hope everything is well in the States. Take care of it until we return.

B

Bryan here! I have seen Lisa, Mary, Jessica, and am with Jason, Richie, and Josh. As far as I know off the top of my head, that's the London crew accounted for, counting Clarisse and Matt.

London is fabulously gorgeous. We've wandered through Hyde Park, a castle, and the row of international embassies, as well as numerous shops, etc. I've never seen more LP's in a concentrated location in my life. Everything is astronomically expensive, so we wait with baited breath for the remainder of our money to find its way into our bank accounts today. Reprogramming for the six hour time difference is not easy.

Anyway, that's all for now. Tootles.

Bryan