6monthsinmoscow

6monthsinmoscow @ 2007-07-31T11:38:00

2007-07-31T15:39:26Z

I just came on to say "I miss Russia" and then found out I got a $2 certificate from LJ for being a Cyrillic user. Neat, huh?

6monthsinmoscow @ 2007-05-29T14:35:00

2007-05-29T11:00:46Z

I'm downloading songs for Kim to remind her of me. Lucky thing, she is. I'm also burning my Dima Bilan cds to her computer before we part ways. Today is our last day at school. We're bringing ice cream and chocolates and The Incredibles for a party. It's going to be fun. Kim also wants to to make cards to ourselves with the kids and have them write their names.

We're cleaning tomorrow, tomorrow night. I still have to pain matrushkas for Kim and Katy. I has painted them and didn't like them so I washed them off, only that, you know, expanded the wood so I am now waiting for them to dry and hoping that Kim's will fix itself because it looks quite stupid right now.

It's DAMN HOT here in our computer alcove. Whew. I was on last night til 430 because I couldn't sleep and when I went to bed, my pj pants were sticking to me and damp with sweat. It was gross.

I was thinking a thought to write but I've forgotten it now with all my playing around with music. I need to shower sometime... Maybe...now. But maybe not.

Caviar Stomach and Futbol Feet!

2007-05-25T16:30:43Z

Today was our "Russian pancake party" at Andrei and Ivanna's house. They were cute, if a little annoying. We played Sorry for a little bit, took pictures and videos. Then we went to the patio in the backyard to eat blini with blueberry jam, honey, caviar... The blini with honey and blueberry jam was really good. Kim and I got brave and tried red caviar. And it was...well, gross. Mylinki Andreushka was eating it by the spoonful though. I think he got sick from it because later he was holding his little stomach and whimpering. After stuffing ourselves, Andrei and I went to play futbol. It took forever to convince Kim and Megan to come and play too but finally, they did and we split into Team Russia (me and Andrei) and Team Germany (Kim and Megan). I think we broke even, for all Andrei is a cheaterpants who runs around holding the ball. Then we took some pictures and Ivanna and Andrei gave us a treats as a present. They've got walnuts in them, judging from the picture on the bottom of the box, but I don't want to open mine yet.

It was a really good day.

It's So Hoooooooot.

2007-05-23T14:28:47Z

Last day of school is on Tuesday. We have Friday off. They wanted us to teach until Wednesday but that's not going to happen, no way, no how. We were invited to consume blini at the house of one of our children Friday afternoon. I think that will be fun, but unfortuantely, it's with the two kids I'm actually not fond of. Oh well. It will be an experience.

I really want to see the Dolgov children before I leave. I will miss Max and Sergei and Vova. They're so cute. Especially Max. I adore him. If it was possible, I would bring him home with me as my baby.

I don't want to get off the computer because then I will have to go back into the room where everybody is starting to pack their stuff and being super loud and making me want to throw them all out the window. I'll be so glad to come home and have it be a little quieter. Just a little. And fortunately, I don't live with any know-it-alls so I will be spared that in future.

It poured last night. Just like Florida in hurricane season. For about ten or twenty minutes. Then it was gone. Kim and I had crawled out the window to sit on the balcony where it was cool and shady and smelled of rain. Then the drizzle and the wind picked up and after getting a little wet, we went back into the room. Right after that is when the hurricane-force action started. So we were glad we hadn't gotten soaked. But it was nice.

I'm not looking forward to summer school. I hate taking classes in the summer because it's just too hot! I always want to skip and sleep in my cool room or go swimming or even just go to the beach. But I'll be honest - I want to do that most days anyway, no matter what semester it is.

Have I mentioned there are lilacs everywhere? I can't remember. But there are. I like them.

Amazing Things About This Weekend.

2007-05-19T20:51:33Z

Saturday:
1. This morning on the train, we saw Professor Lupin. He had shaved off his moustache and covered up his scars, but it was him. For sure.

2. Boats are interesing.

3. I bought a shirt I really wanted today and also the one I wanted to get Armand.

4. I think I am done shopping, except for postcards and chocolates.

5. I have Mars bars in abundance.

6. There are only ELEVEN days til I am HOME.

7. Kim and I are awesome.

Sunday:
8. I can hear the church bells from our house! I never heard them before!!!

9. I will have a baby cousin (second cousin?) on Thursday!

10. Kim and I are extrememly awesome.

11. I ate good pasta for lunch that I made myself.

12. I still have an abundance of Mars bars.

13. There are only TEN days til I am HOME.

14. I haven't showered yet!

It's Hot As Halls Outside Today

2007-05-16T16:43:11Z

Which doesn't make a lot of sense unless you realize there's a typo in there...

It's lovely spring still and things are green but the temperature has finally gone up up up this week. I was just admiring Russia last week for its ability to stay amazingly cool all the way into May and then today happened. It's definitely over 70 and Kim swears she feels humidity but my hair got blow-dried this morning and still looks tame, so there is very very little, if any, humidity in the air.

HOWEVER, the pollen, which for years my mother and sister have bemoaned and I have thought was very silly to get yellow all over everything, is out in full force. And...it would appear that the family genes have caught up to me at last. This sort of thing has been happening gradually. I've already gotten the memory thing, glasses, asthma (only a very little bit), and now I've finally got the allergies. Poo and fiddlesticks is all I have to say to that.

I've got a sore throat too. A sore throat and allergies is *not* the way I imagined spending my last two weeks in Russia.

Other than that, we've been fending off bird dropping attacks. Yesterday we were walking to the market parking lot to meet our driver for grocery shopping. We passed a trio of men standing around and suddenly, Kim turned back suddenly and said, "Did those men just throw something at me?!" I had seen a bird's shadow on the ground and assumed she'd caught the shadow and mistaken it for a missle launched at us. "No," I replied, "but a bird just flew over." She looked at me and immediately said, "A bird just crapped on me." I started and then looked at her and realized she was absolutely right. It was mostly on her jacket sleeve and jeans but there was a small bit of it in her hair. We found a piece of paper and scraped the poo off of her. Later, I noticed a small bit on my shoe and got it off by scraping it with the heel of my other shoe. As we were sitting outside the market, post-grocery shopping, waiting for our driver, Kim asked, "What's that on your sweater?" "What?" I said. "Oh, man. You got pooped on too!" she announced, immediately breaking into laughter. Low and behold, I had. There was a nice streak of white down the back of my hoodie. Dang messy birds.

Today, we were out suntanning - because what else do you do in sunny weather, even when your nose is wretchedly stuffed? - and...it happened again. But only to me. I changed out of my jeans and put on my pajama pants, as they are easier to roll up and much thinner than denim. I was laying facedown, reading Matilda, which I stole from Jadyn's, and then a cloud cover came over. A little while later, I felt a big wet plop on my leg. "It's starting to rain," was my first immediate thought. An instant later, I groaned to myself and looked back over my shoulder. Sure enough, a big bird turd was on my leg. "Guys," I said, "you're not even going to believe what just happened." "What?" they asked, 'they' being Megan and Kim. "A bird just pooped on me." As you can imagine, laughter ensued and we decided to go inside. I was quite put out. I hate pigeons. They can go to the devil. Especially Russian pigeons, the big stupid oversized things.

That's about all I have for you today. Jadyn's yesterday was pleasant. We were all unfortunately a bit out of sorts, however. Her apartment has a bit of a library stockpiled there over the years, mostly children's books. I ransacked it and read a few last night and brought the rest home with me. One of the ones I read last night was one I read as a young'n! It was fun.

Now I'm talking to Kim's little sister on MSN because Kim doesn't want to come upstairs to talk to her. I'm so good.

F-O-T-O-S???

2007-05-14T09:02:15Z

I was going to post a bunch of old pictures, since I haven't been able to put my new ones on my computer but uh...they're all on my computer. I realized that the ones that are on my photobucket are ones that I've already put up. So...can't. Oh well.

I made tortillas yesterday and I'm going to make them again today. Hurrah.

The tensions in the house are elevating. It's...going to be pretty funny, I think. We will all be at the Frankfurt airport being like "HAHAHAHA NEVER GOING TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!!" But maybe not.

I...need to put together my lesson for today. Tomorrow we're going to spend the night at Jadyn's, so I need to put my lesson together for then, too. I don't know when we're going to get back home, you see, because on Wednesday morning, we're going toooooo Arbat Street! We're going to spend more money on souvenirs and maybe I can convince people to go to Hard Rock with me for dessert. Dessert is good, but expensive. So we shall see.

Mum, has my check come from ilp yet? When it does, please deposit it straight away into my account. Thanks ever so.

I'm going to look at pictures of Megan's Communist Ralley. I will tell you all about it later.

22 days!

2007-05-08T15:59:12Z

Not much to report here, lately. It's a shame. We didn't get picked up until really late today and then the 1st graders didn't want to come to class because they were "doing sums". How cute is that? Then we only had four of the younger kids but they were playing, really. The two boys played with Kim for the majority of the time and Megan, Tyler and I and the two girls made paper cranes and decorated them. Then we just colored. It was really nice and relaxing and just goes to show how little we care about ilp standards sometimes. Hahaha. But we did make them speak English and we talked to them so I think that counts. And then...we went home. The End.

Tomorrow is Victory Day. There is no school. There's a parade in Moscow. It would be too much to hope that it will be televised. You see, common people are able to go outside of Red Square and watch the parade go in, but in order to actually see the parade, you must have a special invitation. We found this out today and it seems so strange to us. I wonder why this is so. Perhaps so dissidents won't mess things up. But I don't know if that happens. 9 May is the most important holiday in Russia, you understand. I am sure there will be flowers placed at every single WW2 monument in Russia. And there are a lot. Including one at the end of our street. I have many pictures of it covered with snow; maybe I need some spring time pictures of it. A few days before Labor Day, there were soldiers out repainting the names and cleaning the marble. It was nice to see. There are always flowers there but maybe there are going to be more. We saw some kids putting flowers on a monument today while we were at the grocery store. There was a monument outside their apartment building.

By the way, when I first saw Bourne Supremacy and he went to Russia in the end to apologize to that girl, I thought it was amazing that there could be so many apartment buildings to close together. In France, there are, but they are old and pretty for the most part. The ones in the film were so...ugly and...Soviet. And it turns out that's really what apartment buildings here look like.

You know, as the day for our departure gets closer, something is happening that I knew would happen all along - I am missing Russia. I haven't even left yet, but I am starting to notice things I will miss and think about things I won't get to do anymore. The change of schools probably has something to do with it - were we still at World of Knowledge, I doubt I would be feeling as forlorn as I am feeling. But Sosny school is so amazing and fills me with joy and good feelings. It was really hard being here in the beginning, but lately things have been so great. Springtime in Russia is awesome. I haven't witnessed a real spring in years (springs in Florida do not count) and I don't know if I've ever actually been interested in it, but I'm noticing buds and blossoms and I feel like a major lame-ass but it's true. And I know that Russia has crept into my secret heart. I'm already trying to figure out when I can come back.

The majority of the rest of my entries will probably contain lines like "I'm going to miss Russia" and "When can I come back?" so be prepared. This is your only warning.

Is it 27 or 26 days today?

2007-05-04T17:51:17Z

I can no longer go to Placebo as the ticket prices have just gone up by 20 dollars.

MATHERF*CKER!

(That's how we saw it spelled on a wall in St Petersburg - minus the *. Hahaha.)

I fell down the stairs about twenty minutes ago. On my butt and my back. I skinned my hand and scraped my wrist and hurt my arms and I ache and my butt hurts when I sit down.

I think I have decided to go home instead of staying for summer camp. So...yeah...

I'm in a BIND!

2007-05-03T08:26:15Z

Somebody unbind me!

Here's the thing:
As of today, there are 28 days til I fly home. Yulia has been bugging us about this summer camp thing, and honestly, I felt I would do it but for two reasons - 1, I *must* go to summer school and 2, I don't want to see Yulia anymore.

However...Yulia has been okay lately and apparently I wouldn't have to deal with her *too* much, I don't think. In addition, I found out yesterday that though I thought the summer camp would be me doing exactly what I'm doing now, it would in reality be something completely different. In other words, I would be getting paid $500 for four weeks of going on outings with the kids - to the zoo, the cinema, the park, museums, etc., and the school would feed me. So that's...actually really fun stuff. And it sounds fun. And I love my new kids. I can even leave early to get home in time for my family vacation/reunion. So somebody needs to tell me what to do.

Option A:
Tell Yulia to shove it, I'm going home May 31st as planned.

Option B:
Stay in Moscow til June 18th.

Option C:
Get run over by a speeding truck and not have to make choices!!!

(For further consideration, I would have to find out how much I would get for going home early, would I get less if I ate at the school, do I have to pay for any of the outings, where would I live, and would I have to pay for my new plane ticket. If they tell me I have to pay for my own plane ticket, I can't do it because I can't afford it so then it doesn't matter. I guess I will ask Yulia these things next time I see her.)

And we're back!

2007-05-02T05:43:59Z

Hello, again, Devoted Readers. (I'm not sure where that came from.) We just got back from Санкт-Петербург and what a trip it was! We got there very early on Sunday morning, having taken a night train from Москва, which usually I like but this time, there was a large man who looked as though he should be in the mafia and he snored quite a lot. I think I got two or three hours of sleep before he woke me up and then I couldn't get back to sleep. Ah well.

What did we do Sunday, you ask. Well, we went to a big estate, the name of which I forget but it's the one with that Amber Room that apparently contains 95% of the world's amber. Unfortunately, I am very poor and I didn't feel like paying 220p to get into the house, plus wait an undetermined amount of time to go inside. As a result, Dale (from Moscow 1) and I wandered the [really quite immense] grounds and froze to death. It was great fun. As we had to pay 80p to get onto the grounds in the first place, as well as 26p roundtrip for the bus, I didn't mind. The grounds were beautiful!! And there was so much! There was a bathhouse, a chapel, a lovely tree pathway that reminded me of Versailles and all kinds of fun things to look at.

Monday...
When we woke up around 9, the trees were covered in a lovely white fluffy blanket of spring snow. It was beautiful. People left around 10 or 11. I decided to be a bum and stay in for a little bit. Then I ventured out on my own to find the cinema that might have some French films. I read about it in a free English paper Gulya gave us. So I went out and got to the street and then went in search of No. 100 Nesky Prospect. I saw 69 right down from me, so I headed the other way and came to a big roundabout. There were five offshoots and I didn't know which was was Nevsky P, so I went down every single one of them until I either found a street sign that let me know it wasn't the right street or until I found No. 100 on them. Of course, my luck in Russia being what it is and Russia being what it is, I couldn't find it, so I went back to the Metro. As I walked down, I thought to myself, "Well, maybe I somehow missed it on the opposite side of the street." Mind you, when I came up from the metro, the wind was stinging and snow was blowing into my eyes and all around so it was actually hard to see. Additionally, it wasn't the sticking kind, so there were puddles of melted snow all about. Which meant that I walked through all of them and by the time I got back to NP, I was soaked almost to my knees and my feet were all soggy and cold. You'll all be glad to know, however, that when I was waiting at the corner to cross the street to the corner Metro stop, I finally found the theater. RIGHT. ACROSS. THE. STREET. FROM. THE. METRO. I almost killed myself by jumping in front of a car but instead I laughed at myself - a little bit out loud but I don't think anybody heard - and turned to cross the other way. There were, as you can already guess, no French movies playing. So I went back to the school where we were staying and took off my wet clothes to dry and sewed and read a book.

On a side note - cross-stitching in front of people who are not my nearest and dearest makes me self-concsious and I don't think I'll do it anymore.

Tuesday was yesterday and we went...okay, well, *I* went to bookstores. Katy, Kathleen, Kim and I all went together with a couple Moscow 1 girls to put our bags in lockers at the train station and then we broke off. We went to lunch and then down the street (it was very sunny but windy and cold still) to find the Placebo signs that Kathleen had seen. I took a picture and then they showed me where the bookstores were, we made a meeting time, and I was left to frolick among the lovely English language books. I read a book but now I don't remember who it was by and then I went to the other bookstore, which is in the Singer Building. (Singer as in the sewing machines! But now it's a bookstore, so that's nice, too.) I read two and a half books there by the time they came to get me and then I wanted to go outside because my eyes were starting to hurt and my vision was going a little blurry. I walked around a small market with Katy that we'd both been to before while Kim and Kathleen went into the Cathedral of Spilled Blood. Then we went to Baskin Robbins so Kim could get ice cream and then back to the bookstore to burn another hour or so. I finished the last book I'd started; it was really good and I enjoyed it very, very much. It was about an American who had gone to Russia in the early 90s to be an English teacher. *He* ended up staying six and a half years, and most of it sounded like my not-six-and-a-half months here. It was the greatest feeling to read a book about what I was feeling about Russia. And his favorite phrase was "Goddamn, I hate this country, but I love it too." Which is exactly how I feel. I will buy this book. Soon. The other two books I read at the Singer bookstore were two Dexter books!!! I didn't know they were books! I don't know if anybody has seen the Showtime show Dexter about the serial killer who is also a policeman, but I watched half an episode with Gabby once. Anyway, I read them and they are set in South Florida and it was so great! A body was found at the Office Depot Center! In a goalie net! Home team side! I forgot I was in Russia! But then I remembered because somebody started talking on his cell phone next to me. Oh well. Those books were good too.

Then we took the night train and I slept better except I woke up at one point because it was incredibly hot. And then we got to our station, took the metro to our stop, took the bus, and are home. Kim's napping and then we're going to the post office. After that, we're going to forge progress reports for our W.O.K. kids because there's supposed to be some event this week where we meet the parents and pass out progress reports and distribute some certificates we made up and let the kids do store for the last time. So that will suck.

29 more days.

6monthsinmoscow @ 2007-04-28T17:53:00

2007-04-28T13:54:36Z

I'm off to St Petersburg! See you on Wednesday!!!

Hurray for chocolate yogurt!

2007-04-24T16:35:00Z

It's delicious! It is cheaper than candy bars and feels healthier (even though it is not). I love it.

I wrote a letter to an Elder today. It is so retarded. Hahahaha.

On Friday, nobody ever came to pick us up for class and Yulia was unavaliable by phone and so...we stayed home and watched a movie. It was annoying though.

I LOVE Sosny school!!! It's so great! Everybody is so friendly - the staff, the parents, the kids! I really wish we were going to be there longer or that we had started the year there. I would have been much much happier this whole time. Our kids are really cute. Yesterday, a kid on the bus started talking politics to Kim. Well, he asked what she thought "about George Bush and his politics in Iraq." It turned out he was thirteen. His name was...something. I forget. His friend's name was Roma and he was twelve. And today a girl on the bus asked us if we were going to teach her English. We told her that we were only teaching the little kids and she said oh. So Megan asked her if she wanted us to teach her and she said that she did and she talked about the Americans who came last semester and taught everybody. Her English was really really good. The kids there are awesome. And they ALL say hello to us, even if we don't know them. At W.O.K. not even the kids in our class would say hi to us if they saw us and we weren't in class with them. It was dumb. I kind of miss those kids but these kids are so cute and so fun and they actually like English class. Sosny wants to do a summer camp and I'm actually really tempted to stay but I know that I can't because I have to get back to school. Plus, I don't have any money and I would have to deal with Yulia again. And that's not going to happen without some fisticuffs. Or at least some verbal assault on my part.

The day before yesterday, the guards from Kaptain's Kindergarten came into our house. Drunk. And uninvited. They wanted to take Kelly, Kathleen and Katy out. But we were like no, goodbye. Today another random semi-drunk guy came in but he was looking for the neighbors (who are the landlords) so that was more okay than the guards coming. But we're still locking the door all the time now.

I don't really have much else to say. We go to St Petersburg this weekend and get back early wednesday. I will have to transfer money from my savings account to my checking account so I can pay for whatever amusements we have to do. I think we're going to the ship from which the shots were fired to begin the revolution in 1917. Did that sentence actually make sense, gramatically? I'm not sure anymore...

45 Days!

2007-04-17T13:40:24Z

So yesterday morning I was sitting on the couch, writing a letter to my mother and watching Scarecrow and Mrs King and fantasizing about getting a phone call from Yulia telling us we didn't have class. At around 11 something, Yulia gave us her daily call - an hour late - and I brought the phone up to Megan, then returned to my spot on the couch. About ten minutes later, Megan brought the phone back down and said, "Guess what? We don't teach today." After a few moments of being shocked and laughing and saying "Are you kidding me?" she told me we didn't have to teach all week because the school kept giving our rooms away. I don't mind at all, but I guess our joke about getting fired might be becoming closer to the truth than not. I still don't mind, though.

Just a sec.

Okay, I never gave an account of why we didn't have class last week. Here it is now:
Monday - the cosmonaut
Tuesday - excursion
Wednesday - school inspection
Thursday - space party
Friday - our rooms became makeup rooms for a play

And I don't know what's happening this week but at any rate, yesterday we were prepared and she called us much later in the day than she should have. And everybody keeps snapping at us - I totally understand why they are annoyed that we keep having to not teach but it's not our fault, they shouldn't be taking it out on us. But they are. Oh well. Yesterday Yulia told us she would arrange for us to do open classes at Sosny school. (It's the school that there were pictures of posted on the website, the one that I posted here at the beginning. There is no ILP there this semester because last semester they kept having scheduling problems. They're going to have ILP next semester.) Today she called us and said that we were going in at 1 pm to meet the kids (and that we'd be doing open class there not only Wednesday but Thursday and Friday as well). Which was fine because we had to go grocery shopping at 11 and would arrive back at the house at 1220ish. We would have time to put away our groceries and change - I still had to shower. Except that Yulia being Yulia and Russian, she called us while we were at the grocery store waiting to be picked up to say that she was waiting at our house. Then she called right back to say she was coming to get us. So we had to leave the other girls with our groceries and go straight to the school in our grungy clothes.

The kids were really really cute and nice. They all had toy guns though, and kept shooting us. It was so great. They were much cuter and nicer than the kids at World of Knowledge. Plus, they're younger, too - less attitude. We talked to them and played with them and then they were rounded up to go inside. Yulia has disappeared so we sat on a bench for a little while. There was a woodpecker somewhere and we thought about going to find it but that was really just Kim's idea. It felt like I was back in Pollock Pines at my Nana's house. It was woody and peaceful and quiet, except for the birds. I like it there. The school is surrounded by summer homes of Russian VIP. It's a nice area. And gated. Anyway, so we were sitting on the bench and she didn't come out so we moved around the back of the school and sat in the sun (we were partly motivated by the kids who kept hanging out the window to look at us...). We were there for a while so we finally went around to the front and went in to look for Yulia. Who was tucked into a side office drinking champagne and eating treats. Stupid woman. She made us stay for lunch so she could drink and chat some more and although the lunch was actually really good, it is still the principle of the thing; I had groceries to put away and things to do. Like sleep. Or read a book. Or finish knitting my scarf.

Or take a nap. Like I might do right now.

I counted 87 guards in green camo, starting halfway through and only on the right!

2007-04-15T07:08:59Z

Yesterday we went to a soccer game! It was great! We saw the Московa Локомотив (Moscow Locomotives) play...some other team. We don't know where they were from. Anyway, the game started at six and we went there from Izmailovsky Park. Yes, we went there again. Some people hadn't been shopping yet and Sarob wanted to take their friends. So we went there in separate groups and then met at the platform for the game. There were a ton of people on the metro in Lokomotiv scarves and hats and with flags wrapped around them and dyed hair. It was amazing. We bought scarves outside the game from a lady with a table. The Lokomotiv colors are red and green and when Megan and I went to pick up the two extra tickets, we saw huge green and red soccer balls outside the stadium. Well, when we got there, it turned out that the balls opened and they were booths where you could buy Lokomotiv stuff! It was pretty sweet looking. We went to sit down and we ended up being in a student section or something because we were surrounded by young students. Our tickets were the cheapest and they seemed to be the best so I don't really know why the other seats were more expensive. We were on the home side, to the left of the goal. They opened the game singing a modified version of "We Will Rock You", only "Rock" was replaced by the eff word and lots of hand gestures. Megan and I started cracking up as soon as we heard it. And now I know why Vova sings it like that... There was only one goal during the game and fortunately, it was for Lokomotiv. Technically, there were two others - also by Lokomotiv - but they were offsides. So we won 1 - 0. The Russians have and interesting way of doing crowd control. There are tons of guards lining the walkway out and mingled in the stadium. At a certain time, maybe five minutes before the game is over, a guy came with a megaphone and said something in Russian. Some people left and I was like "Hmm, should we leave and avoid dying while we try to get out of here?" But we stayed and then there were end of the game celebrations. There was music and some fireworks and colored smoke, which was cool. So I turned to leave and found out there were guards blocking our way out and they weren't letting anybody leave. It turns out they release spectators in sections. We were one of the last to be let out. We left and people were still shouting and cheering on the street, though not very much because I think perhaps the guards made them nervous. There were SO MANY GUARDS. There were guards in black, in blue camo, and in green camo, as well as the Russian police in their blueishweirdcolored uniforms. We passed a group of guys in black, standing in formation, ready to attack if needed. Then we got to the line of guards to the metro station - which is my favorite part. We went through one on the way back from the failed hockey game when a soccer game let out at the same time we were leaving. Anyway, so we went through the line and I started counting the guards I was passing, only I started halfway through and I didn't get the left side. Next time I will have somebody help me count. So yeah, a lot lot lot of guards are present at soccer games...

That was badly written and could have been thought out more before I wrote it but it's okay.

Oh wait, I forgot to write about the ride home. Okay, so we got into the Metro and there were, of course, a lot of people there. A train pulled up and it was practically empty so everybody started clapping and then the doors opened. We all had to shove our way inside. It was the most amazing crowd press I've ever been in. Everybody around me was laughing as we all tried to get inside at once. Then on the train, people starting cheering and chanting and singing and banging on things. It was a lot of fun. We sang the "ole" part of the song but we didn't know the Russian part. Robbie helped bang on stuff and I stomped my feet on occasion when there were nobody's toes to crush. That was really only until we got to the first stop though. Then we stopped and a guard came and yelled, but I don't know what he said because he was obviously speaking Russian. We made stuff up, like we do, and decided he was telling us to shut the heck up or we'd all be arrested. And then a lady guard yelled something and we thought she was probably telling us she'd call our mothers if we didn't behave. So we behaved and talked and laughed and then before we got off, somebody started singing again so we joined. It was kind of like a sardine can in the cars for about five stops until one of the big transfer stations. It was really fun. I'm so glad we went.

I read about the anti-Putin rally today. That is interesting to me. I'm glad we weren't in that part of the city, really.

Edited to say that I didn't teach today and I don't teach tomorrow. WOOHOO!!!

2007-04-12T06:27:55Z

Somehow we also got out of teaching yesterday too. There was some sort of inspection at the school and all the classes were cancelled. I wish that could happen again today too.

I woke up freakin' early to go to Moscow with Megan to pick up soccer tickets for Sarah and Robby. When Megan told Gulya to buy them, she only told her 8 because she forgot that Sarob's friends were coming. Sarob decided it was Megan's fault that their friends didn't have tickets and declared that she had to go into Moscow to buy two more tickets to make up for it. I went with her so she wouldn't be alone. We left at like 730 and missed the first bus so we had to wait a little longer for the next one. And then...I fainted on the bus. Hahaha. I don't know why but I did. I've always wondered what it was like to faint and now I know.

We made it to the ticket office at quarter to ten but they weren't open so we called Gulya to find out what time they would open. She called us back and said 11. We wandered, sat on a bench, called Kim to bring stuff for us for school since we wouldn't make it back in time to go home first, watched a dog play soccer (the coolest thing ever! The man would kick the ball and the dog would run after it and run it back to him, moving it with his paws. So cute.), and shivered. It was windy and a bit cold. Kim called us back at one point and informed us of our cancelled classes. We decided to go to the movies and after we finally purchased our tickets, we had Kim come meet us at the metro station by our house.

We found the theater and went in. They were playing Dreamgirls and Hot Fuzz, the latter of which I want to see very badly because it looks hilarious. However, because our luck is only good for one miraculous event daily and we'd already used it on getting out of class, there were of course no showings on Wednesdays. So we went to lunch at Il Patio and then rode the metro on the brown line (it's a circle) for...a long time. Then we went to Red Square where we sat on a bench outside the Kremlin people watching until we couldn't stand the cold for one second longer and then went to sit at the food court in the mall. At 615, we went to give Yulia her tickets for the ballet and then we went into the Kremlin theater where we watched the Bolshoi Theatre Company dance Swan Lake. It was beautiful. I liked it so much. (I just wish I hadn't been so tired and that my eyes hadn't been so dry and achy.) I do love the ballet. I'd never seen Swan Lake before either and now I have. I'm pretty sure it was on my list of things to do before I die, too.

And that's all, aside from we are going to a soccer game on Saturday at 6pm. I hope we won't die but I'm anxious to see the incredibly long line of guards lining the walkway to the metro station afterwards. They are there to keep the peace, you know. Plus, it is so cool to see them all. I'm still working on getting tickets to the World Championships and the girls need to decide who is coming with me to see Placebo. And then...life will be worth living until I go home.

Divine Intervention!

2007-04-10T18:46:17Z

Due to some heavenly delicious miracle, we didn't have class again today. It was great. Sadly, we will have at least one class tomorrow before the ballet. Although...we were sneaky and because the other girls kept whining that it wasn't fair that we didn't have to teach either yesterday or today, we made them believe we didn't have to teach all week long. They deserved it.

Today our hot water got fixed so our hands can stop going numb when we try to do dishes and everybody else aside from me can have a hot/warm showers. Somehow, for the past week, I've been the only one getting warm showers apparently. Dunno how that worked, but I don't care.

I really wish my laptop would work so I can listen to music. I keep having to steal Kim's computer to visit YouTube or MySpace for music. Gaaaaaaaah. On the plus side, I've fallen in love with a couple new musicians. Now I need to buy more cds...

I have to plan lessons still for my older kids. It gets harder and harder. I want May 31st to get here noooooow.

We have the ballet tomorrow!!! I have to find something nice to wear... But...uh...I don't have anything clean. I have to do laundry. But I'm going to put it in at 630am and I will get home at 1130 (I hope!) and have to leave again by 1230. I guess I could bring the shirt with me and hang it to dry in my classroom... I'll sort it out somehow but I don't yet know how.

In case you were wondering, this is how I spent my day: I went grocery shopping for good good food, knit, and watched episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs King with Kimmie. I love that show now, despite only hearing about it today. It only took half an episode to get me majorly hooked. Fortunately, Kim has the entire series. Except one disk. But that's okay. Aaaand now I have to go 'cause Kim wants her comp back. Bye everybody!!!

Music is keeping me alive.

2007-04-09T07:41:36Z

Well, today is the day we get to meet the cosmonaut! I'm so excited about that. Also about the fact that we may not have to teach today due to said cosmonaut's visit.

My laptop still doesn't work and that depresses me but Kim is an angel and she lets me use her laptop to listen to music videos on YouTube. Yesterday when they were at church, I went browsing and have found two new artists whom I love. Good times. Now I'm trying to get my fill so I have good music in my head to lift my spirits throughout the day.

I've got to shower soon, however, and make apple cutouts. We're doing wormy apple finger puppets. It will be interesting. Finding an outfit for today will be even more interesting since I forgot to do my laundry last week! Hurrah!

EDIT: Not only do we not have to teach today, we don't even have to go to school. Yulia called us and said she told the driver not to pick us up because the cosmonaut is coming earlier than she said last week and she didn't think we wanted to go, even though we told her on Friday that we did. I'm both really annoyed at her and at the fact that I don't get to meet a Russian cosmonaut now and also glad that I can stay home another day. Three day weekend, what! So that's fun.

Bi-polar Weather!

2007-04-08T05:57:59Z

I guess it's not uncommon because I heard it happened in Chicago too, but yesterday and the day before, the temperature suddenly dropped - it's been quite warm here as of late - and it snowed. Of course, after the crazy flurries we had yesterday morning, the sun came out and melted all the snow. So it didn't last very long but it was still nice. My opinion is that you can never have enough snow to cover all the dirt and trash in Russia. However, it does tend to make the roads muddy again and none of us appreciate that much.

I'm home alone today while everybody else is at church. I had wanted to sleep later but I wasn't able to and have been up for almost two hours now! Wooo... Today I fully intend to do lesson plans, practice my french, and...write letters. Maybe watch a movie or two. Nobody will be home til 1 or 2, I don't think. It's my first Sunday alone since...the first Sunday in this house! Now that Stephanie is gone, I have nobody to hang out with. But I have to say I don't mind a bit. I do enjoy being alone. Especially when every day is full of people.

We don't have class tomorrow at my school because a famous Russian cosmonaut is coming to the school. I was psyched about having a day off, but I think I want to go meet him. I mean, come on! An astronaut! I've never met one before!!

In fabulously wonderful news, I have discovered that Placebo is playing two nights in Moscow the week I leave. Additionally, I found out where to get tickets for the hockey World Championships being held here in Moscow. And some of the tickets are only $25. I know where the seats are and while they aren't great, I don't think they are horrible. I'd rather get the $40 tickets because those seats are pretty great, but I don't think anybody else will want to pay that much and I'm not allowed to go alone. I'm also not allowed to go alone to Placebo but that is $60 for the cheapest tickets so I told the house I would be willing to pay half of somebody's ticket as long as they go with me. It will suck but I think...I will live. I do love Placebo. And who knows how long it will be before I can see them again? So those are some things I am thinking about right now. Hockey and Placebo. Two of my favorite things.

I have been trying to make progress on school related things and I am actually feeling a little excited to go home and go back to school. I don't know why, because as soon as the first day ends, I won't want to go back to class. But at any rate, I have picked out some good classes that I like and I am hoping to get my registration problems cleared up so I can sign up for those classes before they are filled. Why would fall registration start in April? That's just dumb. So yeah, I'm hoping to register soon and then I don't have to worry about that anymore.

On a related note, I keep thinking about transfering to BYU. Following the honor code they have would be difficult for me (no tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking, facial piercings, etc...) but they have such a wide selection of languages (because of the missionaries. It makes so much sense.) that...I can't help but wonder if I should transfer. If I did, I know that I would take massive amounts of language classes (and I'd end up like Van Wilder, about to be kicked out of school because I've been there for seven years...). But just think! I could be fluent in so many languages I've always wanted to know!!! And I think that is worth any price. Plus, the school is kinda cheap. It's less than Flagler was.

AH! I think somebody else *is* home!!!

Goooooood Morning!

2007-04-02T07:03:18Z

I know I've been bad about updating here. My apologies.

I just wanted you all to know that I tripped up the stairs, spilled my drink, hurt my toe, and slammed my knee into a step - all at the same time. Just now, in fact. It was really funny.

So let's see, I guess I should write more about my long vacation. It was pretty marvelous. We got with the two other Moscow groups - some of whom had family members with them; One girl's entire family came, another girl's mom came, and a girl's dad came. It made me jealous and I wanted my family because it would have been SO cool to go to Sweden and Finland with them. If only I had known, I could have tried to convince somebody to come. Oh well. Anyway, so we met up with them at a train station and boarded a night train to St Petersburg. We traveled 3rd class this time so the entire car was open and we couldn't really play Harry Potter like we did on the trip to Kiev. (Because we totally did. And the customs guard who tried to bribe us was definitely a dementor...) I ended up having to bunk with some girls from Moscow 2 that I didn't really know but that was okay because we all slept the whole time. St Petersburg was nice. We got there at...8 or 9 am and had the whole day to spend there while waiting for our midnight bus. (There may have been a few jokes about riding a night bus...) We walked for hours and hours and hours. We went to some churches and to the Hermitage. It was pretty interesting but I had semi-accidently worn shoes that were too small and though they felt okay at the beginning of the day, after about four hours, I was ready to cut my feet off. We were all exhausted anyway. I think we went back to our meeting spot about two hours early because we all just wanted to sit down. I bought some bandaids and switched shoes. And the biggest blister I've ever had in my LIFE was on my pinky toe. It was gross. And plagued me the whole trip. As did the other three I grew...

Anyway! We rode the bus for, I think, five or six hours into Finland. Going through passport control and customs was easy and short. We were all asleep the whole time and our tour guide kept waking us up to tell us we were stopping or something. She was actually really annoying. Her English wasn't that great and when she was trying to think of a word, instead of saying "uh" or "um" like we do, she made these noises that made her sound constipated. Plus, she kept waking us up. That's just not on. So we got into Helsinki around 8 am Sunday and it was so quiet and pretty. Everything was closed so we did a bus tour, occasionally getting out for photos, and then we had a couple hours free time to wander around. It was really great. I enjoyed myself a lot. Then we got back on the bus to drive to Turku, which was also really pretty, to board a "ferry" to Sweden. Only this "ferry" turned out to be an 8 story cruise ship. It was so awesome. We - being Moscow 3 - dubbed that part of the trip "The Booze Cruise", after The Office episode. It was interesting, since I haven't really been on a boat since I was 2 and went to South America with my mom. Most of us ended up at the disco and there was some karaoke and also a lot of dancing. A group of us stayed all the way til it closed at 4.

And woke up at 7 to get ready for Sweden. Sweden was really nice. I liked it, only not as munch as I liked Finland, for some reason. The first day was Monday and none of the museums were open. We went on a tour of the city, mostly. We saw City Hall, Museum Island, some other cool buildings, and...that's about it. On Museum Island, there was this beautiful cemetary that I enjoyed a lot. I would have liked to take pictures but my camera was dead and I lost Kathleen so I couldn't use her camera. Then we went to lunch and the tour guide told us she was taking us to this place where they took all the groups and that it was going to cost us 120 kronor for a glass of beer or juice, a piece of meat or fish, a salad, bread, and a cup of tea or coffee. Needless to say, not very many of us were happy with this arrangement and went off to seek our own food. Moscow 3 found a killer kebob shop (Kebob Kitchen, it was called) and stuffed our faces for under 70 kronor each. It was amazingly good. The guys who worked there were really nice and one of the guys said it was his dream to go one time in his life to Las Vegas. And also, they were surprised that I was American. That was nice. Then we went to the hotel and hung out there for a while. We were right across from an IKEA so that was really cool. I was going to go but I had a major headache so I stayed in and pretended to sleep.

Our hotel rooms in Sweden were almost the best rooms I've ever stayed in. Maybe the second best. I loved them. Plus, the beds were really comfortable. And also, the tv was in English with Swedish subtitles. That's the most amazing thing that's happened since I got to Russia. (Have I mentioned what Russian tv is like? I'll do that later.) I totally watched CSI and NCIS. It was great. And I learned three Swedish words! I'm so multilingual...

The second day we started at the breakfast buffet, which was even more amazing than our rooms and I wish I could have lived in that hotel, really. There was bread, cheese, yogurt, cereal, eggs, meatballs, fruit, meats, oatmeal. And it was all delicious. Some of us decided to go to Uppsala and so, we did. It was really fun and pretty. It's a college town, and the royal family is actually required to go to that university, which I thought was cool. We ate more kebobs for lunch and went shopping and took pictures and had a really good time. Then we went back to Stockholm. The next day was spent in Stockholm - except for the early morning detour to the LDS temple. That was interesting. I didn't go inside. They took us to this museum and Kathleen and I opted to take a walk instead, so we walked around the water and over the bridge and into the city and did a little window shopping and got back to the bus in amazingly perfect timing. Then we were taken to the square by the royal palace, given a meeting time, and left to our own devices. Katy and I ended up spending the day together, which didn't turn out as bad as I was afraid it was going to. Mostly because she didn't whine. We walked around a lot, got lunch and took it to a park, walked around some more, then met up with the rest of our group. Then...we went shopping. And after that, we got back on the bus for Booze Cruise Part 2.

I'm pretty sure we took the boat back to Turku and then drove into Helsinki but I fell asleep almost immediately after getting on the bus so I can't really remember... Anyway, we went into Helsinki and got dropped off at the train station and then the bus took those people who were going to Estonia to the train station. The rest of us wandered around the city. Everything was open this time so we went into shops and had lunch and goofed off. Kathleen and Emily (from Moscow 2) and I went into the bookstore so I could look for my Finnish version of Pride and Prejudice (which was sadly out of print) and I almost peed my pants with excitement. An entire half of the bookstore was stocked with English books. It was the largest amount of English I've seen at one time since leaving the states. Plus, there was a sale on guide books to Florida and I picked one up and started showing them all the places I knew.

Sadly, it was soon time to get back on the bus and drive back to the Motherland. Which we did, with heavy hearts. Although when we got back to St Petersburg, it was nighttime and it looked really pretty outside, with the lights on and the reflections in the water. Also, I noticed I could read the signs again and that actually made me pretty happy. (I kept trying to read signs in Russian on the trip...) And then we took another night bus to Moscow and then the metro to our bus stop and then the bus to our stop (I fell asleep on the bus ride, which I've never done before) and then went into our house and passed out for about five hours.

And so ends the vacation of me. What did *you* do for spring break?

6monthsinmoscow @ 2007-03-30T13:23:00

2007-03-30T09:23:52Z

Finland and Sweden were so great!!! SO GREAT! I'm a little bummed out to be back in Russia but at least I can read the signs here, whereas I couldn't there. So that's a good thing I guess.

I got my package from my mom today. I hope Dad's package will come soon. I thought his would be here first but I guess not.

I just checked my bank account and I'm totally screwed. Hahaha. That's so awesome.

The Point of No Return!

2007-03-23T07:54:14Z

We leave tonight at 10 pm for the train station to board a 1am train to St Petersburg. Then we go to Sweden and Finland - though I am not sure of the order - for our much deserved vacation! Yay!

Today Stephanie and Kim and I are off school and we're going to go back to Izmailovsky Park. Maybe today I will take pictures.

The reason we are going is this: Stephanie didn't buy anything last time because she had just spent all her money on going to the doctor. On Monday or Tuesday this week, the doctor told her she needed to go home and have more tests and possibly surgery to correct and fix her overactive thyroid. And SO! Stephanie is leaving us shortly after we return from our vacation. I hope she will get much much better and be healthy for the rest of her life.
However, I am also a self-centered being and on the other hand, I am really upset. Kim and I cannot possibly have classes that big. When Steph was out to go to the doctor's, Kim and I had two or three nightmare-inducing days. And now we have to have two months of them? I deserve a HUGE party when I get home and everybody better be there.

At any rate, that is why we go shopping *again*. Maybe I can finally get the last few things I need! Except that it would involve taking more money out of the ATM. I can dig it. People need presents from me, fo sho. Although most of you really are just getting postcards... I'm not *that* rich.

I Survived!

2007-03-22T07:45:14Z

Casey is doing our personal interview things today. I think it went fairly well. I told him what I needed to tell him and now I'm done. The time he was in my class yesterday was fine. All heck broke loose afterwards and kids were climbing on the table and out the window.

And Kim finished rather faster than I thought so she wants her computer back. More later, dear ones!!!

6monthsinmoscow @ 2007-03-21T12:40:00

2007-03-21T09:40:54Z

wish me luck! we're off to class and today is Head Honcho Day! aaaah!

I GOT MY PACKAGE FROM GABBY TODAY YAY!

Not Actually Going to Church Today!

2007-03-18T05:11:50Z

I woke up at 4 am this morning due to a bad dream and I usually wake up in the middle of the night at random times anyway. I've never slept so badly in my life as I have in Russia. Have I mentioned that yet? I had supposed I would go to church with the others but after I showered and such, it turned out that there were two others not going and so I am still home. I probably will not be going to the Kremlin either. I mean, I know it's really important in Russia and all but I don't really care.

I hate AIM on Kim's computer. Everytime the person I'm talking to responds, it jumps to the front of the screen and makes the cursor go there so half my sentences end up in a conversation box with Molly until I erase it all to actually reply.

Kelly got a package from her friend the other day. It was an Easter basket with all this cool stuff. And some kid's books for us. Which means that I spent 20 minutes reading Little Bear and the Frog and Toad books. Kelly's friend works at Borders, so she also sent a pamphlet called "Russia: Friend or Foe?" that was on display for some talk/convention thing. As well as some...HARRY POTTER STICKERS! Yaaaaaaaaay! They are purple and gold and one says "Trust Snape" and the other one says something to the effect of "Snape Is A Very Evil Man." Thus, the house is divided.

Yesterday, we went to Izmailovsky Park, which is an outdoor market that we've been to before, and I bought SO MUCH STUFF. I spent a little over a hundred dollars but I'm not done yet. I still need a few more things for family members and then I have a couple more friends to buy for and then, of course, I always need more stuff for myself. Hahaha!!

Mid-semester visit from the ILP honchos is Wednesday (which is also Head Teacher #1's birthday; we're going to Hard Rock) and I dread it. They say they're not here to evaluate but that's such a lie. Anyway, we're supposed to do really good lessons to show how good our classes have been going and I have no earthly idea what I'm going to do. Oh! Have I mentioned that we got our classrooms moved "temporarily"? I can't remember. I'll read my entries later and if I haven't, I will talk about it later. It's really awful.

I can't think of anything else to say. I will post pictures again one day but not now. So sorry. I think I might go to sleep again. Sleeping is brilliant.