I have been in such a good mood lately because the sun is out and it's getting warmer. I have been wearing my short coat, and sometimes not even a coat or jacket at all and it makes me so happy. There are flowers popping up and AHHHH. I love spring.
Okay, anyway.
UPDATES:
Abby and I went inside St. Basils Cathedral, which is the really famous one on Red Square. It has nine or ten different cathedrals inside. I have seen so many cathedrals, but I love looking at them because all of them are so different. Some are active, so we have to wear scarves on our heads. St Basils is more of a museum though. We met some Americans there! I saw a guy wearing a Park City Utah hoodie, and I didn't think there was any way a Russian would get their hands on something like that, so I asked him where he was from. He was from Utah, and goes skiing in Park City. Him and his wife were here visiting their friends who work at the U.S. Embassy here. They were very nice. It's always fun to find other English speakers. Sometimes I hear it, but it doesn't sound real because I hear Russian everywhere I go lol.
For conference weekend, those of us in my group who wanted to all got together to watch it together. The first session was at 7 pm for us, so we all brought some snacks and squished onto two twin beds. After the first session, some of us walked to a nearby market to stock up again, and as we were headed to check out, one of my favorite moments in Russia occurred. A guy came up to us and was talking to us in Russian, something to the extent of "Girls, my friend here thinks you are pretty, and he wants your number" or something along those lines. We told him the Russian word for English, which usually people understand that we speak only English and they either walk away, or continue to speak in Russian. But this guy says, "No, Russian!" In Russian of course. And we all died, because he thought we were asking if he was English, but we were telling him we only speak English lol. Hilarious. The next morning, we all got up and we headed to a cool old cathedral at a metro stop nearby. There was a huge tour group there, so we just sneaked in with all the cute old people lol. We also got some food at a Georgian restaurant at another metro stop. We almost didn't find it, but I'm glad we did, because it was so good. I got khachapuri, which bread filled with cheese pretty much. On the English menu, it said "tsar-style," and I like trying new foods, so I ordered that. It was just normal khachapuri, with a slice of thick, melted cheese on top lol. No regrets. After that, we walked to a place that Gulya had told us about. It's called Art Play, and it's just this complex with restaurants, hang outs, museums, and schools for the arts. Super cool place. We just walked around for a bit and explored, and then headed home.
We went inside the Kremlin on Saturday. Kremlin means fortress, and the entire city of Moscow used to be inside the Kremlin, which is crazy.This is where Putin's office is. He flies there by helicopter. There are a few churches inside of course, and some other official buildings. The Tsar Bell, the huge bell that is broken, is there, as well as some old cannons that are super cool. We got there in time to get front row seats for the military parade, which was fun. It was super squished, but it was fun. Anyway we explored the churches, and then a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant, which I had been CRAVING. We went separate ways after that. I went to the mall with J and Abagail, cause I wasn't ready to go home lol. We got Burger King, which is ten thousand times better here than it is in America. And then shopped for a bit. I got a dress and a necklace.
Mara's parents came to visit her, and they had an open invite for dinner on Thursday night. I wanted to go, because 1) they were paying 2) mom hugs
But we went and it was so fun! Her parents are super nice. By the time we were done with dinner, our bus had stopped running, so we planned on getting a taxi. I was determined to figure it out by myself, so I tried one but he said he was busy. There was one by our bus stop, so I talked to him, and it was a little pricey, and I didn't care, so we went for it. Not gonna lie, it was a little sketchy. It was this nice old Russian man, and he spoke a little English so he talked to us a little bit. I followed us on the map, just to make sure we were really going home just to be safe. But we made it home okay! So it's okay! Don't worry Mom.
We had our spectacle today for our kindergartners. They did so good! We worked super hard with them, and I was so excited for it! We also learned part of a Russian song to sing after their performance, because it is tradition. Their school has an English Day, and each class presents a song or a story in English. So we did our little show, and then they did their things with their classes. IT WAS SO CUTE IM SO PROUD OF THEM. It was a very rewarding day. Also nailed the Russian song. We also had an Easter party with our other school today, and that was super fun. All the kids decorated an egg, and we had everyone vote for their favorite. Abby and I decorated eggs too. We decorated bunny cookies with them, played games, and had them color paper eggs. The winner of the egg competition was this cutie named Anna, and she had made her egg into a unicorn. Some of the other kids were sad they didn't win, but I loved all the eggs. And it was fun to have a break from our normal lessons, and just be with the kids.
Also today-
my host family at 5 pm: do you want lunch
me: yes
my host family at 7 pm: do you want dinner
me: yes
also yesterday i ate four ice creams in like twenty minutes. no regrets. half of one fell on the ground, so technically it was three and a half okay back off.
SAINT PETE'S
I was singing Anastasia in my head the minute I got to Saint Petersburg. Our group all travelled there in groups, and kind of just did our own thing. But we were able to find a hostel with enough rooms for all eleven of us, so we all met up at night. Anyway, I travelled there by bus with Abby, Lauren, and Sarah. There was a mix up with our tickets, so we had to leave a little bit earlier than we were originally planning, but it all worked out. We all met at the metro station, and then tried to find where the bus stop was. We had a map, but we were super confused and tried to ask people but they were not helpful. Eventually we just walked over to what looked right, and this nice man helped us. We had to wait a little bit, because we got there so early in case there was any issues, and it was cold. But the bus stop was literally right next to the metro, so that was funny. The same man showed us when our bus would come and where to go, it was so nice. Our bus departed from Moscow at about 6:30 pm, and we were scheduled to get to Saint Pete's at 6 am ish. The bus was super nice actually. There was a teeny bathroom, outlets to charge our phones, and also complimentary hot chocolate, tea, and coffee. We stopped a few times on the way, which was good because my legs were super sore for some reason so it was nice to stretch my legs. Because my legs hurt, I didn't actually get much sleep on the bus. I tried, but I mostly just sat there with my eyes closed. I finally got some sleep after I listened to some music, and I slept for about an hour and a half, if that lol. We rolled into Saint Petersburg at 5 am. It was hilarious because I woke up and I asked Sarah if we were stopping again, and she said, "No I think we're here.." It was still dark and cold lol, and we were both so out of it. The bus driver must have been speeding or something. It was funny though because what do you do in a city you've never been to before, at 5 am, when the rest of your group doesn't arrive for another two hours?
We found a restaurant close that was open. We got some breakfast and changed our clothes. We hung out in the restaurant until we got a hold of our group and headed towards where they were at. But then plans changed a little bit, so we just headed straight to the city. We got metro tokens, and went to the main part of St. Pete's. We walked around and went inside bakeries because they looked amazing, and smelled amazing. We walked around St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is a stunning cathedral inside and out. When we went inside, there was a ceremony going on. There was a choir singing, and we could see the priest too. So cool. And so gorgeous. I bought a ring there, that says, "God save and keep me" in Russian. It looks like something straight out of Lord of the Rings. You can climb up to the top of St. Isaac's but I didn't have time, so I was sad about that, but it's okay. We met up with some girls from our group at the Hermitage Museum, which is inside the Winter Palace. It's that blue one, but not the one with the fountains, that is Peterhof Palace. We spent a few hours in the Hermitage, which we got into for free with our international student cards, btw. If you spent one minute looking at everything in that museum, it would take eight years apparently. Which is insane. It's a huge museum, and I loved walking through it. We got some lunch at this pizza and pasta place. I shared a pizza with Mara, that had gorgonzola cheese on it and mushrooms. It was 10/10. We walked around the city, and later got some snacks at a 24 hour market nearby our hostel. We had to wait for the key, so we ate outside. We hung out with our group at our hostel, and went to bed.
The next morning, we got up and found a boat tour that would give us a discount. We were a little iffy with a tour at first cause it was a bit pricey, but a nice man took 200 rubles or so off for us. We told him we would come back in a few hours. We went to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood next, which looks similar to St. Basils in Moscow. But the entire interior is decorated with mosaics, which is not like anything I have ever seen. It took my literal breath away. Absolutely one of my favorite things I've seen in Russia. We spent probably an hour in there, walking around with our jaws hanging wide open. Unfortunately, the top of it was under construction when we were there, but it's still so pretty outside too. We headed back to the canal for our boat trip. It was cold, but it was nice. It took us around the main sights of St. Petersburg. The tour was in Russian though, so we just sat and looked around not knowing what was being said lol. Love that. My travel group had booked a flight back to Moscow, so we rode the metro to the bus stop that would take us to the airport. But we couldn't find it so we just got a taxi lol. We got some dinner at the airport, and then waited until it was time to board. They had all of us sit in a waiting room, and then called us group by group to get on a bus. But since none of us speak Russian, we were some of the last to get on the bus cause we didn't know what was happening. We squished into a bus, which drove us to the plane. I've never boarded a plane that way so that was fun. The flight was only an hour or so, and I was so tired so I closed my eyes the whole time. We had a few options of getting home. We planned on taking the Aero Express train that would take us straight to Kievskaya metro stop, about twenty minutes away from our home metro stop. But when we got to the airport, we had just missed the ten o' clock train, and the next one didn't go until 11. We looked into taxis, and that was way cheaper so we went with that. He took us to Kievskaya, and then we rode to Molodozyna. Our host brother got Abby and I a taxi, and we went home. It was late, so I felt bad because they had to open the gate and the garage for us and put Rex away. But it's okay.
EASTER SUNDAY
Easter was by far, one of my favorite days I've had here. I woke up, went to church, and then we planned on going to Kusovo Palace. It belonged to the rich Sheremetev family, and Catherine the Great came to see performances there. We got some snacks at a market (a common occurrence), and headed on our way. We had some fun adventures figuring out the bus that would take us in the right direction lol, but we eventually made it to the estate, and it was FREE. Always a win. We walked around, and despite most things being brown and dead, it was still pretty. I would love to see it in the summer when it's all green. There was a museum in one building that we walked through. And then there was the actual palace, where we had to wear giant slippers over our shoes to walk through. So pretty. We walked through bedrooms, a ballroom, sitting rooms, etc. It was very interesting. Afterwards, we laid by the lake for two hours, soaking in the sun, eating snacks, and just chatting. Some guys came to us and asked if we were speaking German, which we definitely were not lol. But they were nice, and we talked to them for a little bit. One was from Kazakstan I think? And I don't remember where the other one was from. And that one spoke very good English, the one from Kazakstan not so much. But that was fun. Kinda awkward, but fun I guess lol. They wanted our contact info, but we told them we were leaving in a few weeks, which is kind of true. After that, we headed home. It was one of my most favorite days.
Also my host sister, Malika got a parakeet, and named it Leo. He's a cutie, and she is very protective of him. I rode bikes with her a few weeks ago, and it was so fun. The weather is so nice, and she likes to show us around. One time it was after it had rained, and I was so content. I just am thriving over here.
We go on our two week trip starting this Saturday! Super stoked to explore Europe! I will write a blog post about it when I get back. It's so crazy, but when I get back to Moscow, I will have three more weeks of teaching, and then I'm done. (except i might stay for another two weeks. tbd. updates to come)
Also my family GOT A DOG. HIS NAME IS BENTLEY AND I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HIM.
CUTE KID THINGS:
-every time class ends, Polina says, "Nooooooooo!" and gives me a hug. she's a cutie
-Natalya is in the kindergarten class, and she is the loudest singer. It's hilarious.
-Platon is low key one of my favorite children, he is so freaking cute. He holds my hand sometimes and helps me carry things.
-I saw one of my basic reading kids at Red Square on Saturday, AND on Sunday at the park when I was walking home lol.
-Another one of basic reading kids, Roma, has started saying "spinky" whenever we sing a song, or when I ask him what the next word is on our reading list. He said it's English, so the other kids ask me what it is but I do not know so we just shrug
-George is the troublemaker is my catch up class at Barvikha, but he was actually pretty good last week. This week.. not so much.. but I survived. He's grown on me a little bit though
-After the spectacle today, Masha's mom told us that she loves our classes and thanked us for our hard work. My heart exploded I think
-I had the kids sign my paper egg today at our Easter party, and my heart also exploded then too
OKAY PICTURE OVERLOAD I'M SORRY BUT I'M ALSO NOT
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| Platon <3 |
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| tsar style lol |
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| more of Platon sorry |
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| Dasha and Amalia with their cupcake liner fish |
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| Sveta with her cutie fish |
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| UM OKAY BUT HE'S SO CUTE |
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| Saint Isaac's |
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| The Hermitage |
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| Catherine the Great |
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| Inside Saint Isaac's |
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| Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood |
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| Inside the bloody church (way easier to say than the full name lol) |
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| The Hermitage again |
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| our group with some asians who wanted pics with us outside the bloody church |
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| saint pete's. i love those pastel colors |
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| at the kremlin, this is putin's office |
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| in front of the tsar bell |
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| the square where we saw the military parade |
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| one of the cathedrals in the kremlin |
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| easter sunday at kusovo palace |
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| a cutie old lady with purple hair |
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| this is the back of the palace. I didn't really get a good picture of the front |
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| The other Platon. He is hilarious. He's the one who changes his name like every day and it's always super long but I try to remember it for him. He's super creative as you can see with his empty tape roll on his face |
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| some of my catch up kids. that is george on the ground |
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| the hermitage again |
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| inside saint isaacs again |
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