The Armenian Temple Complex is a collection of buildings in the north side of Moscow. The large 500-meter-long square property contains an Armenian restaurant, a community center, a collection of various monuments, a museum, and the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral – the largest Armenian Apostolic Church outside of Armenia. The complex was designed to be a […]

Maslenitsa is ancient holiday that still takes many Slavic nations by storm every spring. Celebrations are held to mark the imminent end of winter with mountains of hot, delicious blini and revelry. Originally a pagan holiday celebrated as early as the 2nd century A.D., Maslenitsa has been somewhat folded into Orthodox Christian traditions and is […]

Staying religious abroad can be hard for many; I know it has been for me, especially in an environment where there is a language barrier and it takes a bit of effort to seek out the resources needed. Luckily, after visiting a few different churches, I found The Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral (Собор Непорочного […]

On most weekends, I’m guilty of sleeping in late and lounging around my host family’s apartment until the afternoon. My host mom, who serves me mouthwatering meals every day, typically lets me sleep in until 11am before she calls me into the kitchen for breakfast. However, there was one Saturday morning in particular when she […]

Corpus Christi is a Catholic holiday celebrating the Blood and Body of Christ. Since Poland is majority Catholic, most stores and eateries in the country are closed for this very popular day. As a participant in SRAS’ study abroad programs in Warsaw, I was given the opportunity to spend the day with my peers to […]

While on SRAS’ Security and Society study abroad program in Warsaw, Rebekah Switala, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, sat down with two Polish friends for a discussion on growing up in Poland, living in Polish culture, and what advice they may have for foreigners coming to Poland. Asia Matusik, born and […]

The following is lesson 8 of the Моя Россия advanced Russian lesson series. Note that all bold words and phrases have annotation below. Any red words and phrases indicate the subject of this blog entry’s grammar lesson. Asterisks indicate slang. Москва – столица России, самый большой и густонаселенный город в стране (и в Европе). Москва – это […]

The international department at VGUES has, throughout the semester, taken us on various excursions around Vladivostok. This week, we ventured back into time to explore some of the old Russian traditions. At a rather nondescript apartment building near the city center, a kind babushka beckoned for our group to come inside. We were then ushered […]

The following is lesson 1 of the Моя Россия advanced Russian lesson series. Note that all bold words and phrases have annotation below. Red words and phrases indicate the subject of this blog entry’s grammar lesson. Asterisks indicate slang. Меня зовут Роксана. Мне 23 года, и уже много лет я живу в Москве. Большую часть […]