I love being able to say that I live in Moscow. Guess what ya'll? I live in MOSCOW!!! Actually, it's kind of a suburb of Moscow, and I don't actually know what city I live in, but it's just easier to say I live in Moscow.
It's been about three weeks since I've arrived, and it still doesn't quite feel like I live in a foreign country. I mean, it does, but I'm not freaking out over it like I thought I would be. Honestly, my little dorm feels like home to me. I have great friends here with me who I can hang out with all the time, I have internet access for whenever the heck I want to Facebook stalk my friends at home or Pin my little heart out, and I have enough books to read throughout the semester (just as a side note, I started the unabridged Les Miserables... I'm feeling quite ambitious!).
I love the Russian culture. Gulia, our awesome native coordinator who helps us out with everything, teaches us culture classes weekly and has taught us how to make blini and borsch. I'm in love with it! There is so much history surrounding me, there are countless cathedrals everywhere. There's never a dull moment in Russia! Call me crazy, but I LOVED borsch. Borsch is a Russian soup that's made from meat (we used chicken), sauteed onions, carrots, beets, tomato sauce, and boiled cabbage. Then, you top it with a dollop of sour cream. I love it. LOVE! And blini... it's the Russian version of a crepe. Basically it's the same things, only blini is usually served with cheese and meat or mushrooms. I seriously crave it like no one's business.
The people here are wonderful. My teaching team is fabulous, I love these girls I live with so much! We're all like best friends. But it's not only the Americans who I'm in love with, we have awesome people always watching our backs. Our security guards are amazing. We've become best friends with Peter, he's always at the front doors of the school and will always say "Hello!" and try and wink at us and smile. Whenever we need something from him, or any other guard, we have to use google translate or just a lot of charades. I'm very much used to being laughed at, it's really interesting being the foreigner. I love our cooks, they are so nice and their food is delicious. Although the majority of people here will ignore us or give us dirty looks, there are so many wonderful and kind people we've met. Like Lucia, the babushka (grandma) on the bus who started talking to Reagan and I (in Russian) to our head teacher, Sarah (she speaks a little bit of Russian), about how great and wonderful of girls we are and told us to learn Russian. Then there was Miran, the man we met on the metro who helped us walk to the grocery store safely. When a sketchy man approached us, Miran told Reagan, "Go, I will protect you." These people are great. I love them! And their accents are so great.
This past weekend, we (except Kris) all went to a YSA activity in Moscow. It was kind of a big deal, they only have the activity once a year and people from all over western Russia and Ukraine come to this activity, so it's an all day event. We signed up to go, thinking it would be a cool activity to go to and would be fun to meet Russians our age who can show us around the city from an insider's perspective. I really didn't take into consideration the fact that I was in RUSSIA, meaning that the activity would be spoken in Russian. Holy cow. I got the biggest headache of my life, there were so many Russian singles speaking their language so loud and fast. Yes, we did have a translator, but it was kind of hard to understand her and it was so confusing listening to her but hearing noise in the background. Really though, it was an awesome activity and I really enjoyed it! The activity was all centered around marriage, I guess single's wards are the same all over the world. :) The best part of the activity was the dance at the end, and meeting people who speak little English trying to communicate with us. I had a blast!
Oh, did I mention that it takes two hours to get to church? So it's an adventure, and an all day activity. Well, the YSA activity lasted until 11, but we had to catch our bus by 10:00 at the latest, which meant we had to leave the church by 8:30 at the very VERY latest. We left on time, and were making good time, but we forgot to put into account our much needed visit to the grocery store. We met Miran on the bus, and he was being so nice and helpful, but we stayed and talked with him too long. Turns out, we missed our bus. It was pretty dang cold, and we were stranded in Moscow. We called Gulia, and she told us there was another bus we could go to that stopped at 12:00. So we traveled an hour to the next bus stop, to find that the bus stop actually closed at 10:30. We got right back onto the metro to travel another hour to the head teacher of one of the other Moscow school's apartment. On the metro, everyone was drunk. Vodka was everywhere, and some teenage boys reeked of marijuana. Finally, at about 12:15 AM, we got to Robin's apartment and crashed for the night. I know, the story probably doesn't sound as awesome right now, but when it was happening it seemed pretty darn crazy.
I think it's pretty safe to say that despite the cold, I'm in love with Russia. The food, the culture, my adventures, and most importantly, my students. I feel so grateful to be able to be here, this truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am trying to live every moment to the fullest! Thanks for your support my dear friends! :)
By the way, the mail here is completely unreliable. I have a new address, if you would like to send me something you can! Just so you're aware, it takes two weeks at least for a letter to be sent, and AT LEAST one month for a package to be sent. But if you want to send me something, go for it! :)
It's been about three weeks since I've arrived, and it still doesn't quite feel like I live in a foreign country. I mean, it does, but I'm not freaking out over it like I thought I would be. Honestly, my little dorm feels like home to me. I have great friends here with me who I can hang out with all the time, I have internet access for whenever the heck I want to Facebook stalk my friends at home or Pin my little heart out, and I have enough books to read throughout the semester (just as a side note, I started the unabridged Les Miserables... I'm feeling quite ambitious!).
I love the Russian culture. Gulia, our awesome native coordinator who helps us out with everything, teaches us culture classes weekly and has taught us how to make blini and borsch. I'm in love with it! There is so much history surrounding me, there are countless cathedrals everywhere. There's never a dull moment in Russia! Call me crazy, but I LOVED borsch. Borsch is a Russian soup that's made from meat (we used chicken), sauteed onions, carrots, beets, tomato sauce, and boiled cabbage. Then, you top it with a dollop of sour cream. I love it. LOVE! And blini... it's the Russian version of a crepe. Basically it's the same things, only blini is usually served with cheese and meat or mushrooms. I seriously crave it like no one's business.
The people here are wonderful. My teaching team is fabulous, I love these girls I live with so much! We're all like best friends. But it's not only the Americans who I'm in love with, we have awesome people always watching our backs. Our security guards are amazing. We've become best friends with Peter, he's always at the front doors of the school and will always say "Hello!" and try and wink at us and smile. Whenever we need something from him, or any other guard, we have to use google translate or just a lot of charades. I'm very much used to being laughed at, it's really interesting being the foreigner. I love our cooks, they are so nice and their food is delicious. Although the majority of people here will ignore us or give us dirty looks, there are so many wonderful and kind people we've met. Like Lucia, the babushka (grandma) on the bus who started talking to Reagan and I (in Russian) to our head teacher, Sarah (she speaks a little bit of Russian), about how great and wonderful of girls we are and told us to learn Russian. Then there was Miran, the man we met on the metro who helped us walk to the grocery store safely. When a sketchy man approached us, Miran told Reagan, "Go, I will protect you." These people are great. I love them! And their accents are so great.
This past weekend, we (except Kris) all went to a YSA activity in Moscow. It was kind of a big deal, they only have the activity once a year and people from all over western Russia and Ukraine come to this activity, so it's an all day event. We signed up to go, thinking it would be a cool activity to go to and would be fun to meet Russians our age who can show us around the city from an insider's perspective. I really didn't take into consideration the fact that I was in RUSSIA, meaning that the activity would be spoken in Russian. Holy cow. I got the biggest headache of my life, there were so many Russian singles speaking their language so loud and fast. Yes, we did have a translator, but it was kind of hard to understand her and it was so confusing listening to her but hearing noise in the background. Really though, it was an awesome activity and I really enjoyed it! The activity was all centered around marriage, I guess single's wards are the same all over the world. :) The best part of the activity was the dance at the end, and meeting people who speak little English trying to communicate with us. I had a blast!
Oh, did I mention that it takes two hours to get to church? So it's an adventure, and an all day activity. Well, the YSA activity lasted until 11, but we had to catch our bus by 10:00 at the latest, which meant we had to leave the church by 8:30 at the very VERY latest. We left on time, and were making good time, but we forgot to put into account our much needed visit to the grocery store. We met Miran on the bus, and he was being so nice and helpful, but we stayed and talked with him too long. Turns out, we missed our bus. It was pretty dang cold, and we were stranded in Moscow. We called Gulia, and she told us there was another bus we could go to that stopped at 12:00. So we traveled an hour to the next bus stop, to find that the bus stop actually closed at 10:30. We got right back onto the metro to travel another hour to the head teacher of one of the other Moscow school's apartment. On the metro, everyone was drunk. Vodka was everywhere, and some teenage boys reeked of marijuana. Finally, at about 12:15 AM, we got to Robin's apartment and crashed for the night. I know, the story probably doesn't sound as awesome right now, but when it was happening it seemed pretty darn crazy.
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| On the metro at midnight. This is Reagan! Love her. |
By the way, the mail here is completely unreliable. I have a new address, if you would like to send me something you can! Just so you're aware, it takes two weeks at least for a letter to be sent, and AT LEAST one month for a package to be sent. But if you want to send me something, go for it! :)
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| Can you see how freakin' cute the envelopes are?? I love them! And I LOVE that there are 5 stamps <3 |
Ohhh Ronald... you're such a cutie!! Miss your face :)Keep blogging!
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