Musings from Moscow: One Month Down Folks

So I've been here for a little over a month. And now it's March? What? It doesn't feel like I have been here for that long. But the weeks go by fast because of teaching. Which I am loving by the way. I love my kids. They are so cute.

Last Friday was Men's Day in Russia. Or Defender of the Fatherland Day. It's the American equivalent of Veteran's Day and Father's Day wrapped up in one day pretty much. I had my kids make these cute cards. I tried to help my kindergartners, but they weren't having it. Igor crossed out my words as you can see. I tried to snap a picture but he knocked my arm right at that moment.

I've been taking pictures of cute old Russian people like a creep. So I will include some of those at the bottom.

Last weekend Abby and I went to a thrift store in Moscow. It was an adventure. It's at the same metro stop as the circus, so there's some fun pictures of clowns down below for you. But as we were trying to find it, my phone, which had the directions on it, died at like 50% because it was so cold. So we wandered the street and tried asking some people, but no luck. Finally, Abby got her maps to work, and we found it. It was a door leading to a basement so it was a little sketchy. But the owner spoke a little English so that was nice. It was really small, but I got some magnets, postcards, two rings, and then a few other things too. By the time we found it and were done, it was a little late to go to Red Square and Lenin's mausoleum like we were planning, so we didn't.

I have liked pretty much all of the food that I have tried. And if I don't, I usually still try it and will eat most of it because where else am I going to get food lol. I got through the fish with the bones still inside, and the skin still attached okay. Fun fact America is the only country where boneless meat is a thing. And I don't really like beets, but I do like borscht (Russian soup with beets). The one thing that I've eaten that I can't handle is cow liver.. my host family had it the other night so I tried it because they kept telling me it was delicious lol. Should have known but even with the gravy and onions that they put it with.. NOPE. Other than that, Russian food is bomb. Especially the PANCAKES. THIS WEEK IS PANCAKE WEEK AND RUSSIAN PANCAKES AKA BLINI ARE BOMB. We are going to Suzdal and Vladimir this weekend for pancake week and I am very excited. It looks awesome.

On Thursday we went to Moscow for our weekly meeting and culture class with Gulya. This week she taught us how to make syrniki, which are Russian cheese pancakes. We put sour cream and jam on them.. ugh they were so good.. IM TELLING YOU AMERICAN PANCAKES CAN GET THE HECK OUT BC RUSSIA KNOWS. Anyway I can't wait to make all these dishes when I get back.

Here's some cute stories from the kids:

We made popsicle stick rainbows, and we were counting how many colors the rainbow had. Ignat is one of the youngest at the kindergarten, and he said, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5.. 7!!" He was so excited and I didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong
For my catch up class at Barvikha we made these handprint birds, and this cutie Anna put hers by mine and said, "Baby bird, Mommy bird!" I about died.

Today after Captains, we were putting our coats on and one of our students Evelina came out with her little snowsuit on and gave me a hug. She's one of my favorites. But of course I love all of them
Also I just die when they call me "Miss Maddie." It kills me. Evelina calls us Josie and Molly all the time because those are the girls from last semester. So maybe by the end she'll get our names right
Here's a not so cute story. In my basic reading class, we all sat down at the very beginning and Alisa started screaming, so I ran over and her chair was broken where the chair and the legs come together, and her finger had gotten smashed underneath her seat. She was sobbing and also bleeding. So I told the other kids to be good (lol), and I walked her to her Russian teacher, and then went back to my class. That was exciting. It put a damper on the first few lessons, but we got through it and Alisa came back and was okay.

This weekend was the directors visit. They arrived on Friday night, and we all met with them for dinner. On Friday we were supposed to have a taxi take us to Moscow, but all of our Captain's kids are sick so class was cancelled. Abby and I took the bus to Moscow instead and hung out at the mall until it was time to meet with them. Our host sister Malika is turning 12 on Wednesday, so we needed to find her a present. We have not heard the end of it, let me tell ya. For the past two weeks probably, she's been talking about her birthday. We went to her favorite store and got her a few things. I won't tell you what they are just in case she reads this. Ha ha Malika. We also went to French Kiss, a cute little chocolate shop in the mall, and got a few to try. Ugh again. America has got nothing on Europe, sorry. Not only were they gorgeous, they were unrealistically YUMMY I TELL YOU.

But anyway, we went to dinner with our group, the directors Steve, Cheryl, our program director Rachel, and Guyla. Rachel was head teacher in Russia in Fall 2016, so she was super excited to be back. They paid for dinner which was a blessing. And they brought us Reese's which was also a blessing, because Abby and I finished the ones we brought with us pretty fast, because we shared them with our host family, plus we didn't bring a ton. Cheryl hugged us and said it was from our moms </3 Miss you mom. Abby and I had to order first and eat fast, because our bus stops going at 9:30, or earlier if there aren't any people and we didn't want to miss that. But it was nice to be with everyone, and talk to the directors for a little while as well.

Also my best friend Tori got home from her mission and I am missing her homecoming so I am sad about that. But it's okay. Love ya Tori

On Saturday, we planned on going to Red Square since we didn't get to go the week before. But our host family was going to the mall, so they invited us to come with them. We all squished in the car.. I was sitting on Abby.. and we went to the mall! At first we followed them, but then Abby, Malika, and I went off on our own. We got some donuts from Krispy Kreme (better than America), and wandered through the mall. We bought some stuff from one store that had some touristy things, but for the most part just looked around. We got some slime for Malika that she wanted for her birthday, but on the condition that she had to wait until Wednesday to have it. Of course we haven't the end of that either lol. She's a funny one. Last night she kept trying to find where we had hid it. We keep telling her to be patient. One more day pretty much. After we were done at the first mall, our other host sister Shakhnoza had to go to another mall. The second mall we went to is called Vegas, and it's a lot of higher end stores. But they have ice skating there, and they bought us some chocolate dipped Creamies which is always good. We came home and we were pretty tired. The rest of our weekend was spent relaxing and lesson planning. Church is so hard to get to, and I got about three hours of sleep on Saturday night, so we didn't make it this week.

Also Rex bit a hole through my coat. Abby sewed it for me lol. Don't worry I am okay, and we have figured out a system with our host family so he doesn't bite us. He might be playing sometimes, but how am I supposed to not be fearful when I can feel his teeth ripping my coat lol. Also I don't like big dogs.

Anyway I think that is it! Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy my creepy pictures of Russians and foods that America doesn't have

metro stations </3

super fun clown statues at the circus metro stop

okay but look how cute she is

She is doing sodoku on the metro. How precious is that

Best friends. I'm OBSESSED AND CREEPY IM SORRY

I'm just practicing standing on ice. I did fall shortly after this

PANCAKE WEEK FESTIVITIES

They're so pretty. Why. I don't think I could eat them.

These are the ones I tried. I liked the little white square, and the one with the yellow frosting in it. It was pear flavored. The other two were good too though. Also featuring artwork by a child