Я ЛЮБЛЮ РОССИЮ!!!!!!

new blog

2009-09-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog. This new one is for a class so it may be boring but really I'm just gonna say whatever I want...except I'll of course sensor for the honor code ;)

Nothing Lasts Forever...except amazing memories!

2009-07-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

So my time to leave Moscow is quickly approaching. It's bitter sweet. Of course I am excited to see all those that I love, but every night I walk home now, I walk attempting to breathe in every last detail of this city, the good and the bad, not knowing when, or I guess "if," I'll be back here. Moscow has truly made an impression on me and I've fallen in love (and you never forget your first love ;) ). Thank you, thank you, thank you mom and dad for this experience. I have learned a lot...including Russian which some days it feels like you take 1 step forward and ten steps back- but really I know that I do speak better and can definitely comprehend 1000 times better than I did when I arrived. I am truly blessed to have had such an amazing three months here...

I will go ahead an give a recap of the last couple of weeks, and that will probably be my last post in Russia (maybe I'll do one last one when I get home in a couple weeks).

So today I had one of my most memorable experiences: visiting Lenin in the mausoleum. THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES IN RUSSIA! Seriously. You have to get in a long line to see him in front of the Kremlin wall, as you enter the black marble tomb, your eyes meet the eyes of Russian guards posted on every wall and around every corner. In uniform, with their arms folded, along with the lights being completely dimmed and the air icy cold to help preserve the body, it was the perfect atmosphere to represent the communist era that Lenin helped along(yes, whether Lenin wanted to or not, he paved the way for Stalin). Wow. It was just a 2 minute walk (if that) past his body, but those two minutes were close to the strangest of my life! They really need to bury the man. After I got out of the tomb, I also saw Stalin's grave. Wow.

Other recent adventures. I saw my first ballet here...Gisselle. It was beautiful and the orchestra was amazing, but the main character dies before intermission. That kind of tells you that the ballet was leaning towards the downer side ;)

Lindsey and I at the theater

(Side note about the theatre and anything that involves clapping in Russia...they clap in unison. It is really strange especially for things like a ballet. I think you could pull it off in the states for a sporting event, but for a ballet, it would be really weird.)

We went to victory park and walked around (it's beautiful, I've been there many times). The war museum is incredible. We walked through replicas of different battles in their history. One of the replicas was of Hitler's failed attack on Moscow. I think our politics teacher cracked a joke about why Hitler had to retreat and it was because "there were no roads to Moscow." haha. anyway, there was also a huge room that had crystals hanging down for each person that died (I think in just WWII -including due to Stalin- but I have been through so many museums and heard so many thing that it's hard to keep things straight) and it was a very sobering experience to stand under that ceiling.

It was a beautiful day, and we ended up playing in the fountains afterward. The girl I am with (Rachel) is a Dartmouth student who also volunteers at the hospital.

We went to the famous cemetery (I forget the name but it's right next to a monastery), and we saw graves of Chekhov, Gogol, Stalin's wife, and many others. We're standing in front of Yeltsin's grave. Personally, I think the grave marker is a little ostentatious.

Last week I spent lots of time out in the sun watching the international beach volleyball tournament. Lots of different people from different countries, but definitely lots of Brasilians.

We got hot by the end and we ended up jumping into the fountains...this time completely getting soaked! Definitely a nice summer day!

So guess what I got to do on Saturday...I went to Yasnaya Polyana!!!! Tolstoy's estate is incredible. It was a day trip (About 3 hours to the south out of a city called Tula), and it was once again a wonderful time to explore true Russian nature.

Train Station that I arrived at.

Tolstoy's grave. He was an incredible man and wanted to stick to the simplicity of life, admiring the peasant way. He didn't want any type of grave stone...he just wanted to be buried in peace, away from all worldliness.

This video isn't much, but I liked it because I caught a man crossing himself in front of his grave. At first I thought that Tolstoy wouldn't have liked that (considering he didn't particularly like the Orthodox church) but he was a man of God and I liked that this Russian man payed his respects to Tolstoy with a symbol that he related to God.

Absolutely beautiful fields.

I also visited Tolstoy's house right here in Moscow!!! I just can't get enough of Tolstoy lately!

Interesting things about Tolstoy:
-He studied 13 languages in his life and was fluent in most of them. (Including him starting to study Chinese I think at 80?!)
-He had 13 children but 5 died young
-He lifted weights ;) I saw them in both houses!
-He cut the legs on his writing chair because he had poor eyesight and needed to be really close to the paper.
-He started a school that had more subjects than was ever heard of for that time.
-OK, and for those of you mormons who have heard rumors about this, he does have a Book of Mormon! I had to look for it real hard, but alas, I found it in the last room on a book shelf at Yasnaya Polyana!

Took a boat tour of Moscow which was pretty. Probably the most striking view was of one of Stalin's 7 sisters (which was the beginning of "his" city). They are the tallest buildings in Moscow and they definitely mark the city.

And this is Ashley and I being funny because we took a similar picture in Pete.

So what else...oh ya. Harry Potter in Russian! Ya! I enjoyed the movie (though I didn't understand everything ;) ). But you know, I laughed and got scared when I was supposed to, so I thought I did a pretty good job!! haha, but really, it was a great tool to increase my vocab about magic ;)

oh, and the weather. We have had quite the rainy summer that is wet and cold. One of the beautiful gifts about Moscow is that they shut your hot water off for two weeks (which apparently is a gift from 3 weeks during previous years). My water went off during a really cold week which helped me wake up in the mornings I guess. The second week weather was warmer (when we watched volleyball) and now my water's back. Except I don't really want to use it because now when I turn on the hot water it comes out brown. hmm...anyway ;) Well, here's a little vid of one of the many storms that we've had. I think I'm taking this vid at about 4:30/5 in the morning...you can't really capture the shaking feeling of the thunder on camera or the deluge outside.

Well, that's all for now. I love you all and I hope that everyone has been having a great summer! Oh, and one last thing...I don't know if this will sound as funny not being in Russia and talking about Russian politics with a professor with a thick Russian accent in English, but I had to write this quote down in my notes when we talked about regional elections under Putin. He was saying that they were much more controlled under Putin, but that control didn't really affect Moscow and Petersberg. But then he added this basically refuting the claim he had just made, "I will not say they were not democratic in Petersberg and Moscow though there are many questions about that."

Buns Butter Cookies With Bacon And Wigs

2009-07-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Inside the Kremlin...

St. Pete.

A creative ash tray.

storming the winter palace.

inside spilled blood...

the cathedral of spilled blood...the inside changed my life. Outside reminds me a lot of Basils.

I'm surrounded by tsars!!!

on our way to Peterhof.

I just think this photo ROCKS!

Winter Palace in the back...

Paul and Peter's fortress in Pete.

Knocking in protest for them to let us back into Basil's!!!!

Pelmeni!

WE GOT AN EMPTY WAGON ON THE METRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!????

the inspiration for the title of this post.

and this one...so sad but I can't rememeber!!! I took an hour train ride by myself to get here and caught up with some other friends...apparently it is the main cathedral in Russia.

Honestly, I couldn't tell you the name of this cathedral...one of the hundred that I've seen in a couple weeks???

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

2009-07-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

So. I’m sitting in the hotel right now trying to recall my past weeks. There’s been some good, bad, and ugly, but all in all, I would say that the last few weeks have been good ;)

Here is a completely scattered list of thoughts, events, things I’ve seen, and maybe even random facts:

*While I was sitting talking on skype this evening in the hotel, I was hacking up a storm because I am freaking sick with some type of sinus infection/sore throat. While I was coughing, these two nice women were sitting across my way frantically looking through their purses. Then one of them holds this long silver thing in front of me while I’m trying to cough and talk to mom and code at the same time. It took me a while to realize what it was, but she was handing me a pack of cough drops! What a simple thing to do for a stranger, but I don’t think she realized that she made my life!!!!! Just another proof to me that there is good in this world.

*While sitting at Kolomenskaya park (which is a beautiful LARGE park with a cathedral and a long place to walk along the river) two other girls and I watched a babushka squat down by a tree to relieve herself. We watched in amazement as if it were a tourist attraction. I’ve seen lots of guys going to the bathroom on the streets, but I’ve gotta admit: the grandma surprised me.

(as a side note mostly for the entertainment of Cody, I had to go to the bathroom on the street for the first time…I was running in the morning and there was no way I was going to make it back. The funny thing was I was about 10 steps from my building door. Anyway, I ran behind one of the car garage huts, and ya…hopefully that is the last time that happens)

*I got kicked out of St. Basil’s cathedral while singing in one of the domes, “Be Still My Soul.” Thankfully, it wasn’t because I was singing that I got kicked out with two other friends, but they randomly decided to close early. It would have been nice to know that they were closing early when they sold us the tickets 10 minutes earlier…oh well :) The 50 rubles that we spent was well worth getting yelled at and kicked out of the cathedral.

*I was asked to bear my testimony in Russian in church…I was shaking from fear but got through it ;)

*I had dinner with a friend Marcus Hudson who happens to be from Sandy but I met him at BYU. He married a Russian girl here and he and his wife had me over for dinner, which was a wonderful break from Lidiya’s cooking ;)

*I visited the monastery here in Moscow…a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I feel like if someone were to ask me here, “What do you do in your spare time?” I would probably say something like, “I walk around churches.” You should try it sometime ;)

*Speaking of churches, my favorite church in Russia has been the Cathedral of spilled blood in St. Pete. The name (I hope I’m not getting this mixed up) comes from the fact the Alexander the second was assassinated on the spot that they constructed the cathedral. John Mayor’s lyrics sum up not only my feeling about this church, but about the rest of Russia in general:

I'm writing you to catch you up on places I've been
you held this letter, probably get excited
but there's nothing else inside it

don't have a camera by my side this time
hope that I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I would tell you all about it
when I'm in the mood
to lose my way
with words

today clouds are painting colors of the cowboy cliche
it's strange how clouds all look like mountains
in the sky next to the mountains anyway

don't have a camera by my side this time
hope that I would see the world through both my eyes
maybe I would tell you all about it
when I'm in the mood
to lose my way but let me say

you should have seen that sunrise (or cathedral ;) )
with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
you'll be with me next time I go outside
just no more 3 by 5's

So don’t worry…I’ll post pictures of the cathedral, but honestly, they are sad attempts at making something so majestic and sacred into a small 3 x 5 photo.

So side summary of other beautiful things that I saw in St. Pete:

*First sleeping train experience. Hmm. We were packed in like sardines and barely slept a wink. I think the fact that it was an overnight ride and it never got pitch black outside made sleeping a challenge, but also made for some beautiful Russian vistas along the way.

*We stormed the winter palace.

*Tried to see the hermitage when really they say if you looked at everything in the hermitage for something like a minute, you would need 30 years to get through it. Largest Rembrandt collection in the world. Works of others artists like da Vinci and Renoir. Just the hermitage buildings themselves were enough to impress me let alone the beautiful paintings, sculptures, and even mummies in the basement.

*A trip out to Peterhof grounds was INCREDIBLE!!!!! The grounds are gigantic and there are beautiful fountains and gold statues it seemed around every corner. There are trick stones there that spray you if you step on them which I thought was pretty cool. My favorite part was looking out on the gulf of Finland. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to live there.

*Walking down Nevsky prospekt was gorgeous. The architecture in Petersburg is so European.

*Peter and Paul fortress was so fun to listen to the history of the tsars from our guide. And yes. Anastasia is there…I hate to break it to you, but she was shot with the rest of them. We were truly walking among Russian royalty in the cathedral which is essentially the burial site for the tsars.

*St. Isaac’s cathedral is an architectural miracle. The 112 columns are solid granite. That means they were cut from one piece and put up as one piece. Incredible.

*We celebrated 4th of July by going inside the Kremlin!!!! How appropriate, huh?! It is pretty much a city in there. Different roads, buildings, parks..and I think 7 cathedrals (wikipedia it to verify if I’m wrong ;) ). Obama’s coming on Monday and I think he’ll be bunking up there.

*Walked through Pushkin Museum.

*There’s a MJ memorial next to the U.S. embassy here. RIP Micheal- I listened to the “best of Michael” in memory of his musical genius.

*Quick back note about Cathedral of Spilt blood…I got in for the Russian price. I know that means nothing to you, but it was probably my proudest moment in Russia…I think the cashier was impressed that I was developing the Russian way of deception when it comes to money ;) Haha, she totally knew I wasn’t Russian but I think she was impressed that I was trying!

*A story with less success: I went to the kosmonat museum with a bunch of friends and it was written on the sign that students were free. We go up and show our id’s but the lady starts freaking out that we have to pay because we’re not Russian. One of the kids in our group started arguing with her that it’s not written on the sign, so she told us to get out of line if we weren’t going to pay, and she immediately printed a sign that had Russians only printed in bold. Haha, we still love you anyway Russia.

*We had a wonderful time exploring Ikea in Russia. fun adventure.

*One of the times that I was at the hospital, one of the little girls had an interesting conversation about why I was not married. She politely informed me that I was too old and I was “late.” I then asked her if she had a bf…she said that she did but he was a “durak” (essentially, an idiot or fool). I just nodded my head and said it happens! Haha, that little girl was cracking me up the whole time…

*We had a wonderful Russian cooking party where we learned to make pelmeni and borsh…YUM! I’ll have to make it for you guys when I get back…SO GOOD! Anyway, you know what I realized about myself?? I LOVE doing dishes. I enjoyed doing the dishes and cleaning up for a large group more than I enjoyed the meal. I must have got mom’s cleaning genes, but it was kind of therapeutic. Maybe it’s because I miss feeling useful or helpful for other people.

OK guys, I’m going to rap up because my head feels like it’s going to explode from sinus pressure, but I’ll post some pics real quick before I go home…know that I love you all and God loves you too! Take care!

so that video was not on purpose

2009-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

a coupl of vids

2009-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Randoms

2009-06-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

We are freaking awesome...in the back eighties...Russia ROCKS!!!!!

Russian Flag in our camp

Russian Colors are out for Russia Day

Mr. Lenin and the CCCR

OK, I can't believe I forgot to write about the CIRCUS!!!!! It was so fun and super cheap...lions, tigers and no bears unfortunately, but there was a cheetah!!!! There were so many cool acts...one of the guys that was like running on a rat wheel thing that was swinging around was seriously tripping up and I thought I was going to watch him die. A lot of the acts were geared towards men...enough said.

One of the statues in the park of fallen political statues...Lots of lenins there and soviet union

So this is in front of the red square...all proletariats of the world unite!
This is when we met that random kid Alexander who took us to the palace because we were laughing at the ridiculous photo that we got of me unfortunately because of the wind.

Wisdom from the Beatles: All you need is love

2009-06-14T10:29:00.001-07:00

Ok guys, I know. I’m a slacker and haven’t kept anyone updated for 3 weeks…so I’ll try and get the highlights. And also before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!

So starting from this weekend. It was my first time out of the city. I went camping the church which turned out to be quite the experience. I think I felt true culture shock in Russia for the first time. It was quite the adventure walking through a small town and then poison ivy along the river to get to our camp site ;) I finally learned the word for “poison” in Russian because everyone kept explaining that I would regret walking through the bushes with shorts on because they were poisonous and then I would try and explain that I didn’t have pants to change into. Well, besides my super itchy legs and the billion gazillion bug bites that I got this weekend, this was probably my favorite experience. The land was absolutely beautiful. I loved looking at something besides the tall buildings. The forests here are a lot like Oregon. So I had my first soccer experience playing barefoot in a field of super tall grass and it was a blast. While I was flying to Russia, I read a travel article about how we should let our feet “experience our travels” and, well, my feet definitely had their own experience during the game :) We just played around and sang songs. Their music is incredible and it is so rich with history. One of the songs they sang was the CCCR anthem. It was kind of eerie hearing that song while sitting in Russia and thinking about how recent that history is. We slept under the stars last night, and all I could think about was how much life has to offer. I never could have imagined seeing the sights that I saw this weekend. So this morning, after waking up and realizing I slept on an ant hill (half of which I pretty much took home with me in my backpack) we ate and I left early with three other students from our group. One of them had hurt their ankle during Frisbee, so we took a different way that was on like this back road way instead of walking in the marshy land. I am so glad that I got to see that way. The whole time I kept thinking about Everything’s Illuminated- I know, it’s the Ukraine, but it was really similar. I feel like I finally saw “Russia.” We passed this huge open field with the wind blowing and walked along a narrow muddy road next to the river and crossed a pretty sketch bridge that was long and swung a couple feet back and forth when you walked on it…it was just a way fun walk. We then caught a bus to the train station, took the 1.5 hour train back to Moscow and now I am back in the city.
So my favorite part of this week was going to the hospital. OH MY GOSH I WANT TO KIDNAP THIS LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I fell in love with this little girl Nastiya and her little squeaky angel voice. All the little kids were so fun to play with because they had a blast making fun of our Russian and talking with us…I now know what my favorite part of the week will be. These kids were from all over the country and some were even from out of the country so I am not really sure what makes the hospital so different from others because as far as I could tell, the inside was super depressing and like a sanatorium. But wow…little kids are the perfect reminder of what life’s all about :) I can’t wait to get to play with them again!
So what else…it’s kind of hard to recap about 3 weeks…So we had a delicious authentic Georgian meal this week which was delicious (p.s. I am hesitant to post pics because I’ve definitely gained weight but I will because Mykle might kill me if I don’t). Also, Chandler and I went to this newspaper to be interviewed this week which was slightly stressful because, well, it really doesn’t need to be explained-being interviewed in a foreign language ;) Anyway, one of the questions that was posed to me was “do you have a love like Anna Karenina” I kinda thought that was a question that I misinterpreted and so I looked over at the director that brought us and I was laughing. I said I don’t think I understood her, and he just laughed and said that I did. Then she asked me again if they had to worry about me jumping in front of a train while I’m here…I just laughed and reassured her that there was no such love like that in my life ;) Well, after we had a bunch of really confusing questions like the previous one, the lady finally explained the newspaper was solely devoted to reporting about good things that are going on in peoples’ lives like love and service…she was especially interested in mykle’s friend who adopted two Russian kids. The newspaper sort of supports a HUGE orphanage outside of the city and I think that I am going to try and go visit it.
On Monday we had FHE and I had to just read a scripture and pretty much read a sentence that I had written about the scripture and I just about DIED of fear!!!!!!
OK, so the rest…highlights
*Went to the zoo- fun, zoo-like, all the animals looked like they were about to die
*Met a random guy on red square who took us (don’t worry, a big group) on the metro…people started dropping off because they were afraid he was taking us somewhere sketch so the group ended up being four people in the end…but we found ourselves at Catherine the Great’s Moscow Castle and in a field that was just absolutely jaw-dropping. I could not believe how pretty it was there.
*I went to the “Banya” where they pretty much bake you until you cannot breathe any longer, then you get several cold buckets of water poured on you then you jump in ice cold water then you go back into the oven and get beat with branches…FUN!!!! We also rubbed melted chocolate all over our bodies. Mind you, all of this was done naked. The prep process for the room involved airing out the room by whipping towels around the room and waving them up and down. Let me just say, that was the first time I did squats naked (sorry for the image) and I wanted to laugh so hard because it was the strangest thing.
*I went to my first “diskoteka” and stayed up all night on red square waiting for the metro to open in the morning at 6.
*I sat in on a recording of Russian dancing with the stars which was hilarious to watch…we were in there for a ridiculously long time and it was BOILING!!!!!! Anyway, I felt pretty privileged to see Russian celebs ;) Our Russian friends had an in.
*I watched a crazy documentary about the gas chambers at Auschwitz –“Mr. Death.” –I recommend watching it.
*Finally went to park pobedy (victory park) but unfortunately there was some crazy young kids all dressed in the same sailor outfits drinking around the fountains so we were kind of wary the whole time
*Went into Christ the Savior’s cathedral----Wow. Behind the iconostasis there was a beautiful picture of the last supper that was hung around a curve so it looked like it was 3D and Christ and his apostles were truly behind there.
*Speaking of Apostles, Elder uchdorf and Anderson came to Moscow. They gave incredible talks, especially Elder Uchdorf. It was crazy hearing him talking about the history of Russia and Germany and hearing him talk about getting choked up coming into Moscow while he was a pilot and passing the landmark where the Germans entered. What a crazy history. We had a lecture this week on the economic reasons that led to the fall of the soviet union, and a really interesting point was made about the richness of the personal lives that the people had in the Soviet because there was really nothing to work for when there were absolutely no luxuries to spend any excess money on.
*Also, I was telling mom about this-The death rate is super high above the birth rate here which means that there are tons of incentives for having kids here like getting a better apartment or free transportation or lots of stuff…there are creepy happy family pictures all over the metro. I just heard this week that last year there was a national day off to procreate because it’s that bad.
Anyway, that was just super interesting to me, and very sad.
OK, so I will NOT do that again…it was hard to think back and try and remember everything that has been going on because I have just LOVED it here!!!! Moscow seriously rocks. I am loving it here.
Life is incredible…this world is incredible!!! God is real and he loves us!!!!
p.s. I found tennis courts this morning (clay courts) so expect to hear about my freaking rockin tennis experience next week ;)
I LOVE YOU ALL…I posted a bunch of random pics…

pics

2009-05-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

first week kinda

2009-05-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ok guys. I’ve fallen in love with Russia already.

I love it here!!!! I’ve kind of got a schedule now which is helpful. I wake up and go running (Yesterday I ran to red square, then along the river, then picked a random metro stop to go home on!!!! SOOOO FUN!!!!) then I come home, get ready, zaftrokat with Lidiya, and head to the metro. School and then hmwk, and then EXPLORING!!!!!!

OK, so I will probably only get online once a week because it takes up a lot of time and I find that once I sit down, it takes at least an hour and that is just not cool to be spending all that time on the computer…anyway, it seems like after classes all the students spend hours on the computer and I just peace out and have fun!

Anyway, highlights of the last couple of days.

Tuesday was our first day of real class. The teachers are cool (I have two-one for practice and one for grammar). Anyway, we were divided into two groups and I was in the more “advanced” one and well, the discussion we had about the division of the classes was a good demonstration og Russian teachers. Our practice teacher Vladmir asked us, “are you’re other classmates lazy? Why don’t they understand Russian.” We thought it was a rhetorical question but he wanted us to answer it. We kind of all looked around awkwardly and didn’t know how to respond. Anyway, we heard he completely chewed out the other class and we all felt bad for them, but whatev. We also learned some new Russian vocab when listening to his theory of the CIA blowing up the twin towers ;) haha, that class is pretty entertaining to tell you the truth…Vlad Vlad and I get along great…haha…it’s funny because I think he’s a really nice guy, it’s just that if he were to say the things he says in the states, kids would be going home crying.

So later that day we checked out the grocery store-why does food (especially sweets) look so good in foreign countries???? Holy crap they have amazing breads and sweets.

New favorite pop: Fanta asian apple. Seriously. Вкусно!

OK, so later that day Chandler and I wanted to do a walk from his house to downtown. We walked for an hour and a half until we ended up on the northwest by the zoo which is probably in the most opposite direction of downtown we could have gone ;) It was fun though and we almost got a two hour walk in there!!!! I think I’m going to go to the zoo on Friday or something cause it’s way cheap and looks fun.

Wednesday I did more exploring with chandler…it was fun but I forgot my scarf to go inside some churches which was kind of frustrating, but whatev, there will be time. And we stumbled across this building which was well, when you look at it it is the “great and spacious.” We tried to go in but couldn’t and it was pouring outside so we were going to try and find the metro. So I went and asked this man where the metro was, and once he heard my accent he started asking us where we were from and stuff and invited us to go in the building with him. (he was obviously a man of connections) anyway, we went to the highest floor which was a restaurant that looked like it was probably a million dollars to order anything. Men in business suits were just lounging around these beautiful tables in the ground and couches as benches smoking hooka…it was crazy. Anway, the view from that building was seriously the best view in the city. You could see everything. When I walked out, I said that it was so cool, and Chandler said he was sad that existed. It got me thinking…it is crazy to me that Moscow can have the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor.

OH ya, and we had our first politics lecture which was pretty cool. Russia is just one big revolution…the history is so rich…sometimes I forget how young of a country America is.

Thursday, well, after class I did my hmwk and jst about collapsed when I was walking to the metro…I needed some serious sleep. When I got home I felt like I could sleep for hours but I knew that would be bad aso I got up and went to this free English play later that night about the life of a Russian poet. All I can say is that there were some amazing lines like, “You Russians are just a bunch of vampire poets” and “your lonliness makes me hot.” Anyway, I was trying to contain my laughter the whole time-the heavy Russian accents didn’t help either, neither did Chandler writing distracting notes the whole time. Anyway, she hangs herself in the end, and I walked out of the theatre laughing. I may have missed the point of the play.

Later we went to red square. I will probably say this a thousand times, but it is heavenly.

Friday I got up and ran then met up with those Russian girls at 1 to go to (umm I actually forgot the name) but it was another kremlin or fortress in the northeast. There was a huge “flea market” and there were some pretty cheap things…my highlight of this was definitely the vodka museum. Seriously, I didn’t realize what a huge part of their history vodka played. And still plays. When I come out of my apartment in the moringn to run, there’s always someone there drinking still from the night before.

Anyway, after that we went to the look out point of the city on the south…I keep forgetting the names of these places, but I’ll get them down when I visit again.

Saturday, running and then we all went to Grant Lundbergs to have dessert and discuss and problems we may be having. It was fun, but we spent like 4 hours there, and then when we walked out to have dinner together, we had to switch back to Russian which messed with my mind. Later we went to “diskotyeka” for the young adults and it was SO fun. It was funny because it was like way worse than any church dance in the states because there are like no members, but the elektronika music is so fun to dance to. The Russian girls I met this week are going to show me where to go dancing on the weekends and I’m stoked…it reminds me of that scene from Good Will Hunting (if you remember) when he’s describing to the psychologist the way he feels when he goes dancing…

So today we did a tour of the city so we didn’t go to church. It was the only time to do it because Sunday is the only semi-reasonable day to drive around. It was also necessary to do it as soon as possible because they basically helped us give direction to our exploring.

I’ll take pictures of the red square mall later, but it’s freaking high class. I got to go inside Armani and look at 2000 $$$$$ shoes. Haha. Ya freaking right.

Tonight we went to a fireside of a new area authority (who used to be atheist) and it was about marriage. Hmmm…everywhere I go.

And here I am…I’ve been on this computer for two hours. So I’m just going to do this once a week and use it as a journal and kill two birds with one stone…

And here are some pics.

Oh ya, of course I love you all!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

По реке...

2009-05-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

2009-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

OK. So I'm going to try and post something that is somewhat comprehensible, but hey, I haven't really slept in a couple of days so we'll see what comes out!

So yesterday...
I went to exchange money to pay my months rent and I could tell that Lidya was on edge being out of the house, but the real story was in my first Russian "argument" that I had in leaving the house!
The weather was cool but by cool I mean it was fifties and I put on my dress and high heels because I was planning on getting straight on the metro once I bought my pass. I put on my coat and then the fun began. Lidya looked me up and down with strong disapproval and asked if I was going to be cold. I said I wouldn't. She then said that I was going to get sick. I said I wouldn't, then she said "posmotrim" which is "we'll see" but really what she meant is "I hope you get sick so that I can show you that I am right." Anyway, we stood at the door for about 10 minutes with her asking me if I wanted to change and me saying no because I needed to wear the dress for church...When I met up with everyone at the metro station every other girl had the same story with their babushkas!!! They are so protective! Anyway, I was just fine and walking home I actually felt like I needed to even take my coat off...The second I walked in the door she asked me if I was cold. I could see the tangible disapointment when I said that I was fine.

so the metro. I have never experienced anything like it. The stations are actually quite beautiful but it is crazy how many people are underground in Moscow!!!! The metro will be my second home-i've already spent hours down there

church:
unfortunately I didn't get to interact with a lot of Russians at church because our whole group went together so we kind of just sat by each other. Sacrament was great as far as understanding (I learned some new vocab from context-church is great for this because a lot of what people would be saying in English is predictable( in a good way ;) ),so what they are saying in Russian is also predictiable and is so much easier to pick up on unknown words). Sunday school was a little harder to focus and RS was just a disaster because there was a woman who got sick and they had to call an ambulance to come get her...I didn't really understand what happened with that, but I could tell that it was serious.

after church we went to red square. can I just say that pictures do not do it justice!!! The buildings are incredible....we passed lenin just chilling in his tomb, but we are going to explore the kremlin more later. I'm excited that I can just hop on the metro and go to red square whenever I want...it is really breathtaking!

so on the way back from red square I got lost on the metro (but just a little ;) ) and I was able to put my Russian to use and get help from this woman that I approached-she was super nice and gave me her number and ended up inviting me to go to her church on saturday...i don't know if i'll go yet but she was super nice

hmmm...so I went to bed at 9 last night and got about 3 hours of sleep between 9 and 4 am this morning. I ended up playing games at 4 on my laptop in bed and then by 5 it was light outside so I decided enough was enough and I got up and got dressed to go running and by 5:30 I was on the streets for my first run in Russia. It was so fun!!! moscow is just starting to wake up at about that time-people are sweeping the streets, shopkeepers are bringing in new produce from their trucks, and gradually there were more and more cars popping up on the street. Running was a great way to see moscow...I ran for about an hour and was entertained the whole time looking at all that was around me-I even saw another runner on the way back. I felt pretty safe because it was completely light outside and most little produkty stores were getting ready for the day, and there weren't a bunch of people on the sidewalks which actually made it possible for me to run. The only scare that I had was coming back into the building I just about crapped my pants when I turned the corner in the stairwell and there was a homeless man gathering his things...I almost screamed, but I just turned around and went straight down the stairs to use the elevator. ahhh, that run was so nice...I'm planning my run for tomorrow by the river in the afternoon...I saw tons of people walking on the trails there when I went to school today so I think it will be a great place to go and run and explore.

so school. hmmmm...our russian teacher is definitely soviet style ;) I will wait to say anything more until I really get to know him...

when I got home today I was exhausted but I needed to stay up because I need to get on the right schedule so that I don't have repeated nights like last night...anyway, it was really nice because Lidya and I ended up talking for about an hour and a half...we talked about russian literature, medvedev, and even abortion (we covered a wide range of topics)...mostly I listened because my vocab as you can imagine is pretty limired on said subjects but I was happy to talk to her and i think it was nice because when talking about Russian television and her favorite programs it was the first time I saw her true smile and laugh and it put me at ease.

anyway, i don't even know if this makes sense and i'm not even going to read over it because i just don't have the energy! Hopefull i'll be able to be a little more put together on the mext post.

and a very funny note: all the girls in the group have already had crying sessions except for.....ME!!!! Haha, I think I'm adjusting quite well-at least my eyes have been absolutley tear free and I've had no big problems with lidya even though there will be some things to get used to-there are already two girls who have to be moved from their homes because they've had awful experiences. But man, my body needs some rest!!

ok...enough rambling

I made it!

2009-05-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

hey guys-
I just finally figured out that I can get a wireless connection in the room of my apartment (I hope I'm not using some poor family's wireless...hmmm...) anyway, I'm here.

my flight was pretty uneventful except I sat next to a really nice Russian guy who I was able to talk to when I was staring at the back of the seat in front of me wanting to go to sleep...haha. It was cool though being able to see NY from the plane, and even cooler was flying up over iceland because it was barely light outside the entire flight and the ocean was so beautiful with the sun just barely on the horizon making the ocean look red.

Interesting note: The flight was mostly Russians (there were only a few Americans) and I was able to immediately see the difference in people at the gate in NY. Russians are very stylish and seriously all the women were in high heels.

wow! I was the first to get here and I had to wait about an hour for other students to show up (but there were people there to meet me-so no worries mom, I wasn't alone ;) )

driving to Lidya's was about another hour and a half because we had to drop another kid off before me and the taxi driver couldn't find the place. Moscow is HUUUGGGEEE. It will be about an hour commute for me each way to school on the metro (and that is a straight line with only one transfer)...that's how big it is. It was cool just reading the bilboards and stuff and seeing everything while driving but I haven't gone exploring yet because Lidya didn't want to go do anything which was fine, but I didn't get to go to red square with everyone else because I just had no idea where to start on the metro and how to get my pass but I'll probably go there tonight Lidya is definitely a Russian babushka and I can tell that she doesn't leave the house much...she's a collector of things like plastic bags ;) haha, she seems like she'll be fun and she will help me with whatever she can,. It's cool too because she just talks at full speed and I've been able to understand the jist of what she says...I'm understanding pretty well, but I need to get the groove of speaking-I've already started the charades game ;)

food-well, Lidya asked me if I liked chicken..haha, i should have said no! I had a pretty bad stomach ache yesterday after eating it...I watched her pour about a cup of oil (I'm not exaggerating) over some chicken nugget things and some noodles and she let it simmer for about 5 minutes and then placed in front of me and well, I ate about half of it but knew right away that it was a mistake...she was watching me while I ate it too which put the pressure on...

well, we're going to go together to the atm so i can pay her, then she's going to help me get a metro pass, then at 1 I'm going to make my first adventure by myself to go meet up with other students to go to church...so we'll see if I make it-haha :)

well I love you guys!
Mom and Dad, thanks so much for all your help last week helping me get ready, and thank you for this opportunity! I love it already and I'm just getting started!!!

ok, gotta run!
kensie