Musings from Moscow: march update lol

*my last post*
"wow it's march"
*this post*
"it's april"
So sorry it took me forever.
But this post was a PAIN I TELL YOU. I started typing it three weeks ago, and when I went to update it, it was gone. So after getting over that devastating loss, I started typing it again last week, only to finish it right before the WiFi shut down, so this is now my third draft and I'm not super excited about that. This post will cover the month of March, so it's kind of a lot so if you make it to the end you're a true friend. I only proofread half of this because I was tired just a heads up

-For Pancake Week/Women's Day weekend, our group went to three cities to celebrate. The first was Yoryev Polsky, which is a super small and old town. While we were there, I tried pelmeni (Russia's version of ravioli) for the first time, we saw a lot of cathedrals, and also slid down an ice hill lol. It was low key depressing, but I liked it. The second city was Suzdal, which was probably my favorite. There are no mountains there, so you can just see everything surrounding and it's so pretty. In Suzdal, we saw the Kremlin, ate blini aka pancakes, and shopped. There were a bunch of stands and stalls set up on the streets for the holiday. This is how Russia celebrates spring, and they have a ceremony where they burn a huge doll made out of hay, which I got to see. Afterwards, everyone was rubbing the soot on themselves and dancing. We danced but we didn't rub any soot on our faces lol. I bought a cashmere scarf for $8 and also a little giraffe because I'm obsessed with them. We also tasted some different flavors of a honey drink, and I don't remember them all, but there was honey with mint, honey with spices, and also honey with horseradish? Which surprisingly wasn't bad. We slept at a monastery that night, which was super cool, had blini for breakfast, and walked around a bit more before we headed to our last city. The last place we visited was Vladimir, where we went to the Golden Gate museum. The museum is located in the only preserved ancient city gate in Russia. They had a cool diorama that told the story of the Mongols invading Russia in the 13th century and they played the reading in English for us. We got some lunch at a mall, where I had some weird pizza and also ice cream with chocolate-covered pop rocks in it? I didn't hate it. We saw a few more churches and some fire dancers on our way out. We rode a train back to Moscow, and it was super packed and super hot inside. I was stuck in a middle seat and I didn't have enough room to take my coat off so I was dying for the first hour or so. It was a three hour ride, so I listened to music to distract myself from being so squished and uncomfortable. But it's all part of the fun and I've never been a train like that before so I didn't mind.

-After we got back from this trip, I felt way more comfortable with my whole situation here in Russia. Teaching actually went pretty well that week, and I felt like I knew what I was doing better than I had before. They told us the first month is the hardest, and they are definitely right. There's a learning curve that comes with teaching, and I feel like I have the hang of it somewhat. The thought of going home is exciting, but I try not to think about it. Also I know I already know I'm going to miss my kids and living in Russia, so I'm not ready for that.

-Also for Women's Day, my program director got us tulips and I was so happy. We're going to the tulip festival in Amsterdam in a few weeks and I am super excited.

-I went cross-country skiing with some girls from my group one Saturday morning, which was super fun even though it was super icy. When we were done, we walked straight into an Irish party for St. Patricks Day in the park, and everyone was DECKED out in green and had fake orange hair. Psh. Fake fans. We even danced with them for a hot sec.

-Abby and I went back to Izmailovsky market for some souvenirs. Most people there speak English which is nice, but also they're super pushy. The trick is walk in the middle and just take a quick look at everything because if you stop you're probably doomed. Honestly everything looks the same, and I have what I wanted already, so I'm kind of done with souvenirs, but I will get things on our two week trip probably.

-We went to the Armory Chamber Museum at the Kremlin in Moscow, and it was $15 to get in, but it was worth it. They have nine or so different rooms to walk through. Each room is huge and various displays of furniture, thrones, super fancy carriages, and church artifacts. They have dresses and shoes that belonged to Catherine the Great and other important people, Ivan the Terrible's crown, Romanov faberge eggs, and a ton more. Anyway super cool museum.

-We also went to Arbat Street, which is super touristy. We went to an upside down museum with three girls from our group. They left after that one, but Abby and I went to the giants house museum, and the museum of illusions as well. It was an adventure finding the museums, but we had walked past it multiple times and some nice girls who spoke some English helped us.

-A few of us went to a modern art museum on its free admission day, but it was a bit too modern for us so we went to Cathedral of Christ the Savior instead, which is incredibly gorgeous. It was torn down during the Soviet time, turned into a swimming pool, and then re-built, so it's a newer one and it's sooo pretty.

-I've lived here for two months and I went to the GUM for the first time on Saturday finally. It's huge. and expensive

-Abby and I went to the World War II museum, which isn't super English friendly so we got the audio guide, but we got lost so we just wandered and listened to the guide even though we definitely were not where we were supposed to be. Also the metro station that the museum is at is the deepest one in the world apparently, so the escalator ride is long but I like it.

-After church one Sunday, we went to a metro museum which was cool. It's inside a metro station so it's right there when you exit. I liked all the old black and white photos they had of the metros when they first opened. After that, we went to some of the prettiest metro stations and took pictures. There is one that looks like a ballroom. So pretty. I love how all the stations are different.

-Also we started to plan our two week trip. We are going to Amsterdam, Prague, Krakow, Vienna, Budapest, and Athens. EXTRA STOKED FOR THAT. I'm packing for 16 days in a backpack and I'm excited? Idk but it brings me joy.

-Next weekend we are going to Saint Petersburg. Abby, myself, and two other girls are taking an overnight bus to get there so that will be fun. We are only spending about a day and a half there, so it will be a quick trip, but I'm excited. I will have the Anastasia soundtrack on repeat. We found a hostel that could fit all eleven of us all in one place, which will be a party.

-I ran out of toothpaste so I got some at Russian Wal-mart aka Auchan (I learned how to spell it) and it tastes terrible but that's okay

-There's a pastry that they sell at Auchan, and I get it literally every time I go there. Which is like once a week. But it has LEMON in the middle and powdered sugar on top AND IT IS AMAZING

-We went to the Gulag museum, which is Russia's version of concentration camps. They had English signs thankfully, some readings of first-hand accounts, footage, and also a lot of artifacts from that time. There was one room with a walkway that was completely surrounded by bullet shells. A lot of Russian Orthodox churches were turned into these camps, and there was one girl who kept a diary and hid it behind a loose tile in the wall and it was never found. They have the tile and her diary on display. The first thing you see when you walk in is a lot of different doors. They talk ed about the significance of doors and what they can mean. Like beginnings, endings, but also what can be hidden behind them. They had doors to apartments that were raided, jails, and things like that. Those are the things that stood out to me.

- I made a Russian friend! While I was waiting for the bus, she came up and asked me something, but I told her I didn't speak Russian. Turns out, she speaks English really well! She's a few years younger than me and she works as an English tutor for about ten students aged 5-46. We got to talking and sat on the bus together, We found out that we had the same bus stop, and on top of that, we live about a block away from each other. Her name is Victoria, and I had a fun time talking to her. Yay

-We are putting on an end of semester spectacle at our schools. The theme is cats and mice, so our little cuties are singing "Hickory Dickory Dock," and reciting a poem about cats sleeping and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. We are also learning a song in Russian to perform that night as well. We started to learn the words and the dance today, and it was fun because I don't know what I'm saying lol.

-Sometimes my host mom's mom hangs out at our house, and she doesn't speak any English. But she tries to talk to us and it's fun because we can sometimes kind of figure out what she's saying but a lot of the details are not there lol. She's funny though. She always tells us how certain foods are good, or certain family members are good or bad lol. Anyway

-I currently have a cold. that's all

Food Things:
-I ate rabbit off the bone. It just tastes like chicken. Also there's like no meat on those animals.
-My host family makes something called samosa, which is like a pastry stuffed with meat and onions with cute little seeds on top. Today they made samosa with mint inside.. which wasn't great but I pushed through.
-I've learned how to make a ton of Russian foods like pelmeni and beet salad so hit me up when I come home when I attempt to recreate them. I didn't like beets at home, but now I do.
-I am POUNDING chocolate, specifically Milka bars. When I run out, I buy more and they don't usually last very long. I'm not mad about it. I like the hazelnut one. But also I like all of them. My suitcase will most likely be filled when I come home and I'm not sorry about it.
-Speaking of chocolate, I found this Russian chocolate with popcorn in it? Naturally I bought it. And my official review is that it was weird and the popcorn crackled in my mouth which was a fun surprise. Not my favorite though.

Teaching Things:
-Things literally never go as planned when I teach, and sometimes I just have to wing it lol. But ugh I love these kids even though they're crazy. Here's some fun stories:

-During opening, I looked over to see one girl plug one nostril and blow out whatever was stuck in her other one.. yeah not a great sight but she is still a cutie
-We made mice out of spoons, and while one of the kids was drawing a nose on her mouse, she also drew on her own nose with permanent markER
-We played monkey in the middle the other day. Two girls went after the ball, and in the process, knocked over an open water bottle that was hiding behind the curtains, spilling water everywhere. The game promptly ended lol
-One day we go into the cafeteria at Captains, and the kids were making SUSHI and it was the cutest thing
-One of my kids loves to be called anything BUT his name. Every day I say hello to him, he tells me what he wants to be called, and it's different every day. But it usually involves the Russian word for God and Vampire and Venom and Cheater (Abby called him a cheater one day because he was cheating in a game and he insists we call him that now). Anyway he's hilarious.
-At Captains, after the kids are done eating they line up at the door and say thank you in Russian (spasiba) to the cafeteria workers and I keep trying to get a cute video because it kills me every time
-I love all the kiddos

Alright I hope you enjoy these pics.