So, prepare yourselves, because here comes another huge blog entry!
Being in Russia is still such an experience, every day! I've come to love my group. The 7 other Americans I get to spend time with are so great! We all consider ourselves so lucky to be able to be working together in Russia. The past couple of weeks have been so hectic, but as always, so fun. More than a couple of times, we've gotten a little lost, and gotten to know Voronezh a little better! The bus system is crazy here. All the busses are privately owned and operated, so there's no actual system of routes that can be mapped out. So, we've spent some considerable time mapping them out on our own, and getting lost in the mean time!
Little known to most Americans, the coolest things in the world, are actually in Russia! For example, one word: БАНЯ! (Pronounced Banya, or Baña for all you Spanish speakers out there.) On February 23rd, it was International Man's Day, so we took the chance to go to the Banya. We were instructed to bring a swimsuit and towel and we all had no idea what to expect. We got to the Banya and we saw a little wooden room, a big pool, and a hot tub. We had a table full of snack foods, and three hours to get as relaxed as ever possible! This is how it goes: we all sit in a little wooden sauna room and pour water on a rock stove and roast! It was 120°-140° and 100% humidity in there. Our throats were burning and it hurt to breath and blink and lick our lips. We would sit there until we could hardly stand it and we were covered in sweat, and then we would run out of the banya room and jump into this cold little pool and swim around until we cooled down, and then sit in a hot tub and eat snacks until we felt ready to go in again. Ok, my description isn't doing it justice, but it honestly was the most amazing and relaxing thing I've ever done. When I build a house some day, a banya is included in the plans.
Another great thing about Russia is, ALL the media here is extremely cheap! There's a movie store about a bus stop away from our house, that sells movies (that come with English audio and subtitles) for about 40 rubles. Ladies and gentlemen, that translates to about $1.10. We love Russia! They have movies here that aren't even out in America. All the movies that were in theaters when I left America, my host family already owns. (Twilight, Australia, Bolt, etc.) At least once a week, our host family comes home with like 5 five new DVD's. (Some DVD's come with about 9 or 10 movies on each disc.) And we have a SWEET set up for watching movies. I think we have about a 56"+ screen, and rockin' surround sound. It's kindof funny because we have this modest apartment with a killer movie watching arena. Also, out host family collects movies, so pretty much at any time of the day I can watch any movie I like. It's fully awesome. Ok. Also, music. The CD's they have here, trump America, 100%. Janeya, my host sister, always brings home new music, and they can buy mp3 CD's with 200 songs on them for 100 rubles. Which is less than $3. I told her that we can buy CD's with a maximum of 20ish songs for about $12, and she laughed. We're doing it wrong! But the cool thing is, is that alternative is her favorite, so she buys my kind of music, and she's into sharing. :)
On Friday nights, the LDS Branches here have Sports Night, which we got invited to a couple weeks ago, and have been attending since. It's so fun! The missionaries bring all their investigators, and the ILP's come, and we have a good time playing volleyball, basketball, and ping pong, in a couple different languages. The other night, we went and our Elders had brought some new investigators they met, who were from Kenya! Robert and Victor are our new friends, and every Friday, we all commence in a game of Russian-English-Kenyan volleyball! We sometimes go to McD's afterwards to catch a bite, but it's really fun. It surprised me that African's would come to Russia to come to college, and I asked my Native Coordinators about it and they said "Russia is like the promised land to African's." Crazy right? So now I have some friends in Kenya, should I ever feel inclined to visit. I love traveling!
A man in our Branch came up to us the other day and told us he had a proposition for us: He wanted to teach us art classes every Wednesday for a little while. So, every Wednesday for the past couple of Wednesday's we've been heading down to the church to take Russian Art classes! He's a very talented artist and a good teacher and it's been really fun.
OK... The stuff you've all been waiting for: MOSCOW!!! We had our first vacation! The other teachers and I got onto a night train on a Thursday night, and on Friday morning, the eight of us woke up in Moscow! Wow! We dropped our stuff off at the head teacher's apartment and headed into Moscow! Ok, I love Voronezh, but I LOVE Moscow! It's such an amazing city! There are 11 million people living in Moscow right now, and it was incredible to be in the middle of all of that. Everything we did was amazing. We took the Metro into the middle of town, and made our first stop Red Square! RED SQUARE! Ah! It was so incredible. We saw the Kremlin, and the G.U.M. (pronounced like goom), and St. Basil's Cathedral! Eek! A vacation kindof doesn't get any better than that. I can't describe what made it so great, but it really was spectacular. We hung out in St. Basil's Cathedral for about two hours, and then wandered around Red Square for another little bit (saw Lenin's tomb, and some great Russian Orthodox Churches... Wow!) and then headed over to Arbott Street for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Moscow! Arbott Street is a touristy venue, and we got to see all the typical Russian souvenirs, and then eat at the HRC. The food was... 'aight (and VERY overpriced) but we had a good time. Then we headed back to the Head Teachers apartment to call it a night. (Who loves free lodging?? We love free lodging!) Saturday in Moscow was also great! The weather was nice fore us, and we just had a great time wandering around the huge city! We spent time at an market place-ish place (lol), and then we went to this really great World War 2 Museum. It was one of my favorite parts of Moscow. We got to see all the Moscow point of view on WW2. It was great. They have a memorial hall for all the soldiers who died in the war. It's called the Crystal Hall, and there are 2.6 million crystals in honor of the soldiers. The museum also had these panoramic displays of different Russian fronts, and, I can't describe them, but they were these spectacular art displays. I loved it. We spent time at an out-door fair that was set up to celebrate Bliny week! (Bliny means awesome and delicious pancake things that are available to eat all over the place.) And then we went back to see Red Square at night. Saturday was also great! Sunday was by far my favorite day in Moscow. We were able to go to church with the ILP volunteers living in Moscow. We went to the International Branch, which was in English! Yay! It was actually really cool. We met people who's whole families had moved to Moscow because their Dad's were employees of Walmart, who's trying to get a foot into the door of Russia. We got to meet the families of the Moscow Mission President. And we understood the whole thing! It was a nice piece of home. After church, we went to the Christ the Savior Cathedral and basked in the glory of one of the most beautiful Russian Orthodox Churches. It was spectacular. We wandered around there for a bit, and then headed back to the train station to catch our over night train back to Voronezh. We all LOVED Moscow! It was so super amazing. We arrived back into Voronezh at around 6 in the morning on Monday, which gave us about 3 hours to get home, shower and get back to the school to teach. It was a long weekend, but we had a great time.
We've been moving to a new school so this week has been a little hectic, but the new school is so much better than the old one! It used to be a medical office, and isn't far from the old one, and we all love it. Last week, we had the chance to go see the Russian Ballet! ("Do you like the Russian Ballet?!? We never miss it!" ... Who can name that movie?) It was really cool! We didn't have to worry about not understanding anything, which was nice. They were really... expressive. But it was fun to see the Russian form of a traditional dance. Very neat.
On Monday my host family got a new puppy! So much fun! His name is Rich, and he's a doll. We love him!
What happens to Russia when it warms up is what Americans would traditionally call "the formation of lakes." It's been warming up a bit here and the ice and snow have been melting... and there are puddles EVERYWHERE! the storm drains, that are on the sides of roads, are still frozen over, so the dirty, mucky, garbage-y water fills the roads and paths up. It's so gross. Waterproof boots are so necessary. It's incredible what these people walk and drive through. They are so... talented. For sure.
Yesterday, we found out that our new school is next door to a hair salon, so we all walked over there and got hair cuts! the style here is what we call "dorky bangs." You know those straight cut bangs that cover your forehead? Everyone who's anyone here, has them. So. Being the eager, and culturally aware Americans that we are... 3 out of 4 of us girls got the dorky bangs. I am proud to say that I only got the most amazing haircut ever... dorky bangs not included. ;) I must confess, I'm a pansy when it comes to new hair styles. It's 'aight with me.
Umm... What else? Our branch got a new pair of Senior Missionaries! Brother and Sister Lowry are amazing! They come from Midway, Utah, and we just love them. On Sunday, it was International Women's Day, and we had a little get together at their house. They gave us treats and it was amazing, like having a pair of grandparents here in Russia! They're great... we love 'em. We're still working on our Russian. The Elders here gave us all copies of Strength of Youth packets, True to the Faith books, and Articles of Faith in Russian, so the language is coming along. I'm getting better at reading. It's still a challenge.
Alright, again, this concludes this oversized blog. Hope everything is going great, where ever you all are! We miss the good ol' USofA, and all of you guys! I can't believe I've been here for a month and a half. AH! Time's flying! Love and miss you all!
