Moscow State University

Moscow State University has to be the largest university I have ever seen! It is absolutely gorgeous, with lilacs lining the path up to it. As you exit the university and continue forward, there is a beautiful overlook of the city.

On our way to find the metro, Jaqueline, Eli, and I stopped to ask a man for directions. Just then a bus was coming up, and he was telling us we could hop on for a block and then get there.

"Oh, that's okay. We can walk, just wondering which direction." "Okay, if you want to walk, let's go." And he turned from the bus he was about to hop on and started escorting us up the sidewalk. I tried to protest, saying he didn't have to walk there, but he would have none of it.

Nikolai Ivanovich turned out to be a completely charming man. He works with graduate students on campus doing research. He is a physicist and a gentleman.

After hearing we were from America, he told us he had gone to a conference in St. Louis and also told us a little about Moscow State University. Jaqueline doesn't speak any Russian, so she and Eli ended up walking behind us as Nikolai and I chatted. I asked about his work and he said it was in the vein of relativity. "Oh, like Einstein's theory, " I said, to ensure I understood what he had said. "Well, yes, you could say that. It has all descended from him." He then started talking about physics and matter, and then said a word I didn't understand, followed by "black hole" in English. Oh,I thought, glad he knew that in English so I could get back on the same page!

He started talking about something that vaguely reminded me of string theory. I had gone to a lecture Brain Greene gave at BYU in 2008 on string theory and have been fascinated by it ever since. It was fun to be able to contribute at least a little to the converstaion.

Eventually we arrived at the metro, and I handed him one of the business cards USC so kindly provides to grad students. I said, "It's in English, but that's my information." At the same time, he said that if we ever needed anything that we could find him at the faculty of astronomy and to ask for Nikolai Ivanovich and we would be able to find him. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye as he headed off to the metro. Definitely one of my favorite new friends in Moscow!