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I actually started this post starting my 15h journey on the train from Moscow to Tallinn. I needed my emotions to sink in and reality to strike me hard and it wasn't til i read a post of a fellow AIESECer that i remembered my unfinished tale. Here is my finalized story.
A week in the great city of Moscow was more than great. Every day taking the metro to MGIMO, midnight walks with people you don’t know, sleepless nights and pretending you don’t know the language.
Moscow for sure has a feeling to it and not to mention a lot of different feelings. For example Новый Арбат is the kind of place where you want to feel young with trendy names all around written in cyrillica, music playing, lights shinning and western brands all around. You see girls in mini-mini skirts and high-high heels and guys with expensive cars rolling around
When you can feel calmness of Чистые Пруды. I so wanted to visit that place because of one of my favorite books "Master and Margaret" by Dostojevski ("Мастер и Маргарита"). There is this part when respected editor and member of the board in a literary association Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz gets beheaded by a streetcar is exactly that place. I know it sounds morbid but before that happend in the book the author described that place and while reading that description i got a clear picture in my head of the place and i wanted to know if that would match with the reality. Actually being there the book came to my mind and when the tram was around the corner i got chills. Believe me or not by reading the book i had a feeling i have been here before. That is the first time that has happend to me.
One thing never change be it Helsinki, Berlin, Lisbon, NY or what ever - train station is the place where all the immigrants come together even though they have been apart of the society for sometime now. In a way it reminds them of the day they fled their homes being it a matter of choice or a matter of safety. Though at the same time it’s the place they started their “new” life if you can call it that way.
People who know me, know that i love my cigaretts and Russia is a place for me good ciggies for just 0.87€. If talking about my best snatch from Russia are the 100rub (~3€) GREEN headphones. Oh yes, please!
Enough about the city and the Moscow life, i would love to tell you about the IC2012 and Global Youth Voice Conference and unforgettable Global Youth 2 Business. You can only imagen being in the same room with people from 110 different countries and knowing that each and one of them is doing something significant in their communities at the same time contributing to the globaldevelopment. Well i can tell you from know on that the feeling you get from being with those people in the same room is just AWESOME in every meaning of that word. I was actually apart of Global Youth Voice Conference and you will never guess who was the chair of the conference ... it's the guys that i have wanted to listen taling for 4 monts now ... it's the guy who loves green a lot more than me ... it's the guy who loves and actually in the city of lovely Lisbon ... it's the guys who can and will inspire the shit out of you ... his name is Dey Dos. He is not your typical trainer or facilitator and you can never be prepared for his sessions and he is one of those people who believes what he is telling out there. It's really hard to describe the feeling you get after talking with him. Plus the thing that i have learned with time people either love him or hate him, there is no grey area.
The best thing that i would like to share about the GYVC are the people. You get to feel the power of AIESEC when being abroad and sharing the same feeling with hundreds of other people. You meet them randomly while walking in the streets of a big city and you immediately have something to talk about and you will talk to them for hours and hours. You have stories to compare and share. Best of all you can make plans of meeting later in the future and there is a high chance that you will meet in the future. Most of them are willing to share their most intimate stories and listen to yours. Best of all they are willing to party with you no matter how long and no matter of the fact that you need to wake up at 6am next morning just because they know you will suffer with them the whole next day.
There are so many stories and so little words. I drew you a picture of the most important stories of my experience in Moscow.