I have an unique link to this city. Not only because I live here now, but because I dreamed about it in a way that I would certainly regret if I had gone somewhere else to live. Russia in general seems to me an authentic motherland, vast and old. I always sensed something big here, something powerful, and the little information I was taught about this country when I was in school couldn't get me closer to understand what really emanates from it.
My appreciation and interest in Russia sounded senseless for most of my people. It has never been a popular alternative for brazilians willing to live abroad. Confident about my decision, I took my flight and arrived in this monster capital. Since my first visit almost four years have passed and not once the idea that I was wrong about my beliefs went through my mind.
My life changed completely, I have better life standards and a better financial condition, so far these should be already major reasons to say I did a nice choice in coming to Russia. But that is not all. Out of the many wonderful experiences I had, one in special affected me profoundly, giving me a glorious insight into my own life. Moscow has many hostels around the center and they are all quite cheap compared to what you would probably pay for a similar accomodation in Europe. This advantage allowed me to live minutes by walk from Red Square and thus I became almost a local going just about everyday to that world famous attraction to see the sunset, watch the crowd and sit and chill. More recently in 2019 I spent a couple of months living in Tretyakovskaya, a district full of bars and restaurants where you see foreigners and russians hanging out every night. To get from there to Red Square you just need to reach the bridge over the Moskva River and within less than 10 minutes, if you walk on a normal pace, you will be in front of the walls of the Kremlim. To say the least, I walked on Red Square under all kinds of weather, accompanied by different people or many times alone. I photographed the buildings, the people, the stages mounted for celebrations and events, I ate traditional pancakes at the food tents during winter, I saw Red Square almost empty in early morning when the first sun rays came out. I made friends on Red Square, I flirted on Red Square. I said prayers in the chapel, I sat by the exit of the Spasskaya Bashnya while I was listening to music in my earphones. And so, Red Square has become a very familiar place where I wrote an important part of my life story. The proximity to a place which for eighteen years I could only see through screens provoked irony in me. It was a moment of gratefulness and amusement every time I stood on it and did nothing but just looked around, absorbing the atmosphere, staring for couple of seconds at each building. The opportunity to see vividly the realization of a dream is nearly the same as doing an astral trip.