I forget today's date and the computer's having one of its fits where things aren't working quite right.
This'll be a quick post because I have to go pick up my group in about 10 minutes--MY group! Taya went home for the day because, I think, her birthday was yesterday and she deserves a break, and that means with Olga working at the pool all day, the 3rd Group needed a counselor... soooo apparently I'm in charge. Does this strike anyone else as absurd? If the kids really wanted to, they could get me to do whatever they want, since I can't understand everything someone is saying to me. Thank god they're good--they're actually the mod group, the ones that crush us with hugs every time they see us. Things have been going fine so far in the morning--we went to the pool, then rested and now they have theater and choreography, and later I have to take them to "catwalk" and some other class, I can't remember what. Interesting curriculum, nyeh? Hopefully Olga will take over during quiet hour, I could really use a nap. Last night we played volleyball for roughly 3 hours straight--first we got invited by the kids to play Pioneerball, which morphed into volleyball--
Oh, time out. I've got a boyfriend here. We walked out of dinner and a bunch of boys ran up to us shouting "He love you! He is love you!" and they were pointing and then this boy took off chasing another one shouting "I'll kill you!" in Russian. Took me awhile to figure out Misha, who's probably 10 years old, apparently has a crush on me. A group of 5 kids dragged him over later when I asked if I could get a picture with him, and one little boy kept saying "Give him a kiss, give him a kiss, it'll make him very very happy." ...we'll see about that, don't want to be leading anyone on. =P And then a group of the counselors and staff played volleyball together. I was surprised at how seriously some of the older men took it, and how good they were! Zhena, our pool friend, also played, and man can he wail on the ball. He spiked it, Volodya caught a piece of it on his elbow, and then it ricocheted right into my face, so I can definitely speak from experience. Aside from the minor cuts all down my le from the hard court, it was definitely a good time.
Okay, I think tomorrow we have another disco annnnnd I can't think of anything else to say and I hear my group trickling out of theater so I'd better go pick them up.
Thanks to everyone who left comments!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23, 2008 || Fitting In.. Laundry, Games, Theater Class and Tea Ceremony
So all day yesterday Zhena was walking around in his Russia sweats get-up (there's a picture of his coat towards the end of the Carolina pictures for day 5, near where Desiree and I are singing our song on stage--THAT was fun) because Russia defeated Holland the night before. Next they play Spain, who defeated Italy (when I heard that I immediately started talking about Davide, and let me tell you, if it sounded funny when Nana said his name, the first few tries for these Russian kids was hysterical), but I'm not sure when. I'd really like to actually watch a whole match one of these days. Anyway, so when we asked Zhena if he'd gotten in trouble, he just kind of shook his head and said "Everything's cool." which doesn't really tell us whether or not he got busted, but he's still talking to us, so that's a good thing...
I did my first load of laundry yesterday. Kind of. I stuffed my sock in the bottom of one of the sinks in our bathroom and filled it up with my clothes and warm water, then dumped a ton of detergent in there. A stream of girls was coming in and out, since it was the time before svechka, and between Vika and Rita (campers) we covered a lot of ground... and they saw most of my underwear. Oh well. I'm pretty sure most of it didn't get all that clean, especially since (being a complete idiot) the socks that I played Pioneerball in were the first things to get thrown in, little pebbles, pieces of grass and all. I strung up my clothesline under Masha's bunk in our room, but there was no way my t-shirts and things were going to fit on there, so I just put my underwear and socks on the line (slava Boga, I was down to my last pair of "nickers," as Sam would say). I took my t-shirts and such to what I've started calling "the Hothouse." It has a boy's side and a girl's side, this low brick building whose doors are always unlocked. The room inside is super super hot, and I'd imagine it smells pretty bad. There are a bunch of metal racks on which everyone lays their clothes to dry. It works like magic--after morning exercises today I popped back in and my clothes were completely dry! Better than the Cavanaugh driers, half the time. My socks are still wet, but I've gotten used to wearing and rewearing some things. My Hot Hot Heat shirt feels like cardboard, though, and has some lingering white marks (probably from all the soap I used).
Our dorm room feels a bit like home, now, too. Masha let us hang extra pictures of hers over the bed, and she is great to talk to (something about Mashas--they must all be good people). She even picked some wildflowers and set them in a cup of water on our table. My clothes are all jumbled into my closet, with some of them hanging off of various things in our room. Worse than that, by far, are my notebooks and books and borrowed Russian fairy tales, all scattered everywhere. There's so much to write down! Songs from camp, my own thoughts, new words I should learn, the daily schedules, I just don't have room for it all! And just like at school, we keep our doors unlocked. I don't even know HOW to lock our doors, come to think of it; but you don't worry about that sort of thing here.
Today I went to Theater class and Tea Ceremony practice--I think Alyona might be my favorite instructor (tea ceremony, karate) even though I'm not entirely sure how she feels about me. I THINK she likes me, but I can't tell if it's Russian politeness or genuine interest. I feel that way about more than one of the instructors/staff, even the other counselors. One of the Olgas (okay, from now on there's blonde Olga, who teaches Theater and speaks English; Olya, whose apartment we lived at; Director Olga, who seems to be in charge of all Robin Hood camp; Our Olga, who helps us with our lessons and also works at the pool, and Pop Rocks Olga, who dresses like a fashion star and is about as sparky as you can get), blonde Olga, really knows her stuff for theater--getting the kids to warm up, act things out, be creative. I feel like I could just bring a notebook to her class and jot things down for my own benefit, to use with kids later. Today was the first day I've really seen her since the Camp Introduction meeting--she's another "Polite, but not sure how much we have in common" instructors/counselors.
Oh! I shouldn't make it sound like we're being ostracized, though. Last night, Nastya (our roommate), Masha, and Kristina were sitting around eating these delicious chocolates (zefira-filled, if I remember correctly) and they invited Desiree and I both to have a chocolate and to play in a game with the other Russian counselors. I forget what the game is called, but it's kind of like Secret Santa--you draw a secret name, and for a few days you leave them small gifts--maybe candy, an extra piece of fruit, or something small like a song or rhyme. At the end of the week or whatnot, you get together and have to guess who your person was.
Personally, I think this'll be a challenge for Desiree and I, since we're pretty obviously not Russian AT ALL, but Kristina suggested asking the kids for help, which was a great idea.
Anyway, for the rest of the day we've just got choreography--and I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be teaching the girls dances. This ought to be interesting.
Personally, I'm going to go wash some more things and maybe squeeze in a nap/shower during quiet time. After last night's performance (we sang a song with the kids, part of it in Russia, part of it in English, about friends across the sea and stuff) I'd like to just chill and play Pioneerball for the night. We'll see.
Oh, and if you have questions about anything, please ask! Slash, say anything at all. Being so far away, in terms of distance AND time (it's 12:30 here now, which means back home it's 4:30 in the morning), I feel completely disconnected from everyone back home. =)
I did my first load of laundry yesterday. Kind of. I stuffed my sock in the bottom of one of the sinks in our bathroom and filled it up with my clothes and warm water, then dumped a ton of detergent in there. A stream of girls was coming in and out, since it was the time before svechka, and between Vika and Rita (campers) we covered a lot of ground... and they saw most of my underwear. Oh well. I'm pretty sure most of it didn't get all that clean, especially since (being a complete idiot) the socks that I played Pioneerball in were the first things to get thrown in, little pebbles, pieces of grass and all. I strung up my clothesline under Masha's bunk in our room, but there was no way my t-shirts and things were going to fit on there, so I just put my underwear and socks on the line (slava Boga, I was down to my last pair of "nickers," as Sam would say). I took my t-shirts and such to what I've started calling "the Hothouse." It has a boy's side and a girl's side, this low brick building whose doors are always unlocked. The room inside is super super hot, and I'd imagine it smells pretty bad. There are a bunch of metal racks on which everyone lays their clothes to dry. It works like magic--after morning exercises today I popped back in and my clothes were completely dry! Better than the Cavanaugh driers, half the time. My socks are still wet, but I've gotten used to wearing and rewearing some things. My Hot Hot Heat shirt feels like cardboard, though, and has some lingering white marks (probably from all the soap I used).
Our dorm room feels a bit like home, now, too. Masha let us hang extra pictures of hers over the bed, and she is great to talk to (something about Mashas--they must all be good people). She even picked some wildflowers and set them in a cup of water on our table. My clothes are all jumbled into my closet, with some of them hanging off of various things in our room. Worse than that, by far, are my notebooks and books and borrowed Russian fairy tales, all scattered everywhere. There's so much to write down! Songs from camp, my own thoughts, new words I should learn, the daily schedules, I just don't have room for it all! And just like at school, we keep our doors unlocked. I don't even know HOW to lock our doors, come to think of it; but you don't worry about that sort of thing here.
Today I went to Theater class and Tea Ceremony practice--I think Alyona might be my favorite instructor (tea ceremony, karate) even though I'm not entirely sure how she feels about me. I THINK she likes me, but I can't tell if it's Russian politeness or genuine interest. I feel that way about more than one of the instructors/staff, even the other counselors. One of the Olgas (okay, from now on there's blonde Olga, who teaches Theater and speaks English; Olya, whose apartment we lived at; Director Olga, who seems to be in charge of all Robin Hood camp; Our Olga, who helps us with our lessons and also works at the pool, and Pop Rocks Olga, who dresses like a fashion star and is about as sparky as you can get), blonde Olga, really knows her stuff for theater--getting the kids to warm up, act things out, be creative. I feel like I could just bring a notebook to her class and jot things down for my own benefit, to use with kids later. Today was the first day I've really seen her since the Camp Introduction meeting--she's another "Polite, but not sure how much we have in common" instructors/counselors.
Oh! I shouldn't make it sound like we're being ostracized, though. Last night, Nastya (our roommate), Masha, and Kristina were sitting around eating these delicious chocolates (zefira-filled, if I remember correctly) and they invited Desiree and I both to have a chocolate and to play in a game with the other Russian counselors. I forget what the game is called, but it's kind of like Secret Santa--you draw a secret name, and for a few days you leave them small gifts--maybe candy, an extra piece of fruit, or something small like a song or rhyme. At the end of the week or whatnot, you get together and have to guess who your person was.
Personally, I think this'll be a challenge for Desiree and I, since we're pretty obviously not Russian AT ALL, but Kristina suggested asking the kids for help, which was a great idea.
Anyway, for the rest of the day we've just got choreography--and I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be teaching the girls dances. This ought to be interesting.
Personally, I'm going to go wash some more things and maybe squeeze in a nap/shower during quiet time. After last night's performance (we sang a song with the kids, part of it in Russia, part of it in English, about friends across the sea and stuff) I'd like to just chill and play Pioneerball for the night. We'll see.
Oh, and if you have questions about anything, please ask! Slash, say anything at all. Being so far away, in terms of distance AND time (it's 12:30 here now, which means back home it's 4:30 in the morning), I feel completely disconnected from everyone back home. =)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
June 22, 2008 || First Disco & Some Funny Stories
Soooo last night was the disco.
You have no idea.
I was soaked with sweat after. Literally soaked. I had sweat marks on my stomach and everything! It was pretty gross, but I figured out why the other counselors wore black. We crammed all those kids into the disco hall and then Adir played all sorts of music. Most of it was techno or house in style, which is pretty much all Russians listen to. Even during the day, music is normally played over loudspeakers so that students know when their lesson is over or when it's time to go to lunch, et cetera, and if it's not camp songs that everyone can speak together it's normally techno (occasionally there's an opera lady singing, but I never realize it's her until I'm swaying to the music). Howeeeeever Adir did play some American music--he really likes R&B and his favorite artists are Eminem, 50 Cent, those sorts of musicians. Imagine my surprise when the "Apple-Bottom Jeans" song came over the speakers. We could sing and dance along! But when the kids asked us to translate American songs, we were both like "Nooo way."
Anyway, after we were done we fond Zhena, master of the pool, and asked (mostly joking) if we could go swimming. He responded with "You want to? Now?" and of course we said yes, so we ended up going to the pool. It was kind of sort of not allowed, so we had to be really quiet and didn't stay too long, but he was really friendly and we talked a lot. We came back to change and watch Russia play Holland for EuroCup, but Desiree and I had to go planyorka instead. We thiiiiiiink Zhena might have gotten in trouble for letting us swim, since we walked back in with wet hair, clutching towels, and all the kids could clearly tell we'd been in the pool. But we haven't seen him since, so we can't really ask.
The weather today was not so nice, so we had our "Sport" class inside. We played Uno and Twister, Hand-Clap games and 7-Up, and I busted out my Blink! cards too (which was definitely a worthy buy in New York). Sometimes it's hard to play when you've got kids hanging off of you who just want to be on your team--then you have to figure out how to say "No teams! Everyone for themselves!" in Russian. I think I'm getting better--my ability to speak in Russian for longer periods of time is improving. After our lessons, a bunch of the girls swarmed us, asking for our e-mails and our "Avtographs," which I thought was pretty cool. We're basically stars. =P Not, but it was really cute. We traded e-mails with Taya (Tasya? Taya is maybe an even shorter name?) and Olga our helper, who asked if we could take Uno or Blink! to planyorka next time. Answer: Of course! It's really great knowing that something we showed them or brought is interesting enough for them to want to borrow it.
Tonight we have our song, and the other performances to watch, but we're pretty much done for the day, which is nice.
I feel like there's more that needs to be said, but I don't know what. I think about the other groups a lot, wondering how they're doing further out in Siberia, wondering if anyone is down to building houses out of mud and sticks. We've got an auditorium, and a ropes course, and a photography class--we're pretty freaking well off here. I would love to know how they've been: if Zack is just wowing kids with his Russian, if Sam is still arguing (by the order of Her Majesty the Queen) that potato chips are really called crisps, if Jacob let his kids shave his head. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.
[Aside: Misha (hard-ass Misha) is playing Mortal Kombat 3 right now and I'm sure he's losing, which is hysterical]
Finished The Poisonwood Bible. Highly recommended for any Book Club (or general self-improvement). Read Heart of Darkness first, and then watch Apocalypse Now after.
For the most part, I'm okay with being misunderstood. Every day there's a new story. Such as:
1: Nelli was handing out scarves to all the girls at the meeting, giving them pink ones. We'd been told we'd wear blue, since we're not quite counselors and we'd be working with both camps. I tried to tell her that we were getting blue scarves, but it just came out as "Blue for us" or "To us, blue" which, considering that "blue" is slang for homosexual, came out as "Her and I are gay."
2: Wandered into the wrong dorm and spent 10 minutes wondering how they had moved all our stuff out of room 4 and moved in another group so fast, and why we didn't recognize anyone, until a group leader told us to go up to the 4th floor and then we realized we had an entirely wrong building.
3: Instead of saying "Those boys I saw writing last night," I put the accent on the wrong part of the verb and said "Those boys I saw pissing last night."
4: When Egor offered us a candy with iron to make children strong, like bulls, and all I caught were the words "blood" and "bull" and thought this little candy bar would start bleeding bull blood as soon as I cracked it in half.
5: Accidentally implying Misha (Robin Hood) is a girl every time I talk to him.
You have no idea.
I was soaked with sweat after. Literally soaked. I had sweat marks on my stomach and everything! It was pretty gross, but I figured out why the other counselors wore black. We crammed all those kids into the disco hall and then Adir played all sorts of music. Most of it was techno or house in style, which is pretty much all Russians listen to. Even during the day, music is normally played over loudspeakers so that students know when their lesson is over or when it's time to go to lunch, et cetera, and if it's not camp songs that everyone can speak together it's normally techno (occasionally there's an opera lady singing, but I never realize it's her until I'm swaying to the music). Howeeeeever Adir did play some American music--he really likes R&B and his favorite artists are Eminem, 50 Cent, those sorts of musicians. Imagine my surprise when the "Apple-Bottom Jeans" song came over the speakers. We could sing and dance along! But when the kids asked us to translate American songs, we were both like "Nooo way."
Anyway, after we were done we fond Zhena, master of the pool, and asked (mostly joking) if we could go swimming. He responded with "You want to? Now?" and of course we said yes, so we ended up going to the pool. It was kind of sort of not allowed, so we had to be really quiet and didn't stay too long, but he was really friendly and we talked a lot. We came back to change and watch Russia play Holland for EuroCup, but Desiree and I had to go planyorka instead. We thiiiiiiink Zhena might have gotten in trouble for letting us swim, since we walked back in with wet hair, clutching towels, and all the kids could clearly tell we'd been in the pool. But we haven't seen him since, so we can't really ask.
The weather today was not so nice, so we had our "Sport" class inside. We played Uno and Twister, Hand-Clap games and 7-Up, and I busted out my Blink! cards too (which was definitely a worthy buy in New York). Sometimes it's hard to play when you've got kids hanging off of you who just want to be on your team--then you have to figure out how to say "No teams! Everyone for themselves!" in Russian. I think I'm getting better--my ability to speak in Russian for longer periods of time is improving. After our lessons, a bunch of the girls swarmed us, asking for our e-mails and our "Avtographs," which I thought was pretty cool. We're basically stars. =P Not, but it was really cute. We traded e-mails with Taya (Tasya? Taya is maybe an even shorter name?) and Olga our helper, who asked if we could take Uno or Blink! to planyorka next time. Answer: Of course! It's really great knowing that something we showed them or brought is interesting enough for them to want to borrow it.
Tonight we have our song, and the other performances to watch, but we're pretty much done for the day, which is nice.
I feel like there's more that needs to be said, but I don't know what. I think about the other groups a lot, wondering how they're doing further out in Siberia, wondering if anyone is down to building houses out of mud and sticks. We've got an auditorium, and a ropes course, and a photography class--we're pretty freaking well off here. I would love to know how they've been: if Zack is just wowing kids with his Russian, if Sam is still arguing (by the order of Her Majesty the Queen) that potato chips are really called crisps, if Jacob let his kids shave his head. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.
[Aside: Misha (hard-ass Misha) is playing Mortal Kombat 3 right now and I'm sure he's losing, which is hysterical]
Finished The Poisonwood Bible. Highly recommended for any Book Club (or general self-improvement). Read Heart of Darkness first, and then watch Apocalypse Now after.
For the most part, I'm okay with being misunderstood. Every day there's a new story. Such as:
1: Nelli was handing out scarves to all the girls at the meeting, giving them pink ones. We'd been told we'd wear blue, since we're not quite counselors and we'd be working with both camps. I tried to tell her that we were getting blue scarves, but it just came out as "Blue for us" or "To us, blue" which, considering that "blue" is slang for homosexual, came out as "Her and I are gay."
2: Wandered into the wrong dorm and spent 10 minutes wondering how they had moved all our stuff out of room 4 and moved in another group so fast, and why we didn't recognize anyone, until a group leader told us to go up to the 4th floor and then we realized we had an entirely wrong building.
3: Instead of saying "Those boys I saw writing last night," I put the accent on the wrong part of the verb and said "Those boys I saw pissing last night."
4: When Egor offered us a candy with iron to make children strong, like bulls, and all I caught were the words "blood" and "bull" and thought this little candy bar would start bleeding bull blood as soon as I cracked it in half.
5: Accidentally implying Misha (Robin Hood) is a girl every time I talk to him.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
June 21, 2008 || First Day of Our Class: Sport
Took too long of a nap yesterday--didn't fall asleep nearly early enough. Yesterday we performed out fan dance in front of Robin Hood and Carolina again, and saw Robin Hood's plays as well--it was pretty funny to see half the staff dressed up like knights, Robin Hood, foreigners from Palestine, and sorceresses; I'll have to see if I can find pictures [http://www.robincamp.ru/summer2008.htm?id=79 we're in 12].
The kids are really eager to talk to us, which is awesome--we sit at the staff table for lunch and every time a group walks past, there's someone who shouts hello (either in English, Russian, or Japanese, since that's the focus of Carolina camp) or wishing us Bon Appetit in Russian. Even cuter is when children who haven't eaten any of their meal bring it over for us (nothing goes to waste in Russia). Normally they give it to their camp counselors or the other staff, but it's really cute when they give it to us. Desi gets it more than I, probably 'cause they're worried about her wasting away. Olga (different from Olya) caught me snacking on peanut butter today when the maid was washing our floor (there's still a lot of purple marks from earlier scraped elbows and the like). We talked a long time, making it quite impossible to read (I am THIS close to finishing the Poisonwood Bible, then on to fairy tales by Tolstoy), but it was really quite nice--I love talking to pretty much anyone here. It came up later when at lunch Taras stopped by to ask Desi and I if there was anything we'd like to eat that was American food--hamburgers, cheesburgers, anything from McDonald's he could bring for us (awesome, innit, that they all think we eat at McDonald's even though I can't even remember the last time I was there). I talked with Desiree, and we decided the only thing we might need is more peanut butter, if he could find it when we finished ours--which, Olga jumped in, would be very soon at the speed I was eating it out of my jar with my finger!
Today we led our first classes, too. We taught the kids "Animal Farm" (where you make animal noises to find your group with your eyes closed) and "Steal the Bacon;" with one of the groups we also did the human knot activity, and gave out stickers to the winners of each. Invariably, they ended up wanting to play Pioneerball (as in old Soviet Pioneer camp Pioneerball), which is played on a volleyball court. You throw the ball back and forth and the other team scores a point when you drop it. The only catch--after you catch the ball you can only take 3 steps before throwing.
It's interesting--with the younger groups, the more players you have the worse you do, since they're all jump at the same time and the ball STILL hits the ground.
It's going to be hard to remember everyone's name, so I think I'll make a quick post for those I can remember. It'll help me keep in line counselors and staff and all the rest.
As for today, we have one more lesson, and then I hope mom'll call tonight, even though we have a discotheque (for all you old French speakers out there) and we're going to planyorka too. Oh! And tomorrow Desi and I have to have a song memorized (in Russian AND in English) to sing for Den' Mira. (Day of Peace)
[PS. Carolina--day 3, picture 59 (sitting at Karate) and 15 (origami--ps do they pick the worst pictures on purpose? =P I'm just thankful to get in a shot here and there so mom knows I'm alive)
Also--Olya went to Moscow today, and all I asked her to buy me was a roll of toilet paper and some detergent for washing clothes. Living the simple life. =) ]
The kids are really eager to talk to us, which is awesome--we sit at the staff table for lunch and every time a group walks past, there's someone who shouts hello (either in English, Russian, or Japanese, since that's the focus of Carolina camp) or wishing us Bon Appetit in Russian. Even cuter is when children who haven't eaten any of their meal bring it over for us (nothing goes to waste in Russia). Normally they give it to their camp counselors or the other staff, but it's really cute when they give it to us. Desi gets it more than I, probably 'cause they're worried about her wasting away. Olga (different from Olya) caught me snacking on peanut butter today when the maid was washing our floor (there's still a lot of purple marks from earlier scraped elbows and the like). We talked a long time, making it quite impossible to read (I am THIS close to finishing the Poisonwood Bible, then on to fairy tales by Tolstoy), but it was really quite nice--I love talking to pretty much anyone here. It came up later when at lunch Taras stopped by to ask Desi and I if there was anything we'd like to eat that was American food--hamburgers, cheesburgers, anything from McDonald's he could bring for us (awesome, innit, that they all think we eat at McDonald's even though I can't even remember the last time I was there). I talked with Desiree, and we decided the only thing we might need is more peanut butter, if he could find it when we finished ours--which, Olga jumped in, would be very soon at the speed I was eating it out of my jar with my finger!
Today we led our first classes, too. We taught the kids "Animal Farm" (where you make animal noises to find your group with your eyes closed) and "Steal the Bacon;" with one of the groups we also did the human knot activity, and gave out stickers to the winners of each. Invariably, they ended up wanting to play Pioneerball (as in old Soviet Pioneer camp Pioneerball), which is played on a volleyball court. You throw the ball back and forth and the other team scores a point when you drop it. The only catch--after you catch the ball you can only take 3 steps before throwing.
It's interesting--with the younger groups, the more players you have the worse you do, since they're all jump at the same time and the ball STILL hits the ground.
It's going to be hard to remember everyone's name, so I think I'll make a quick post for those I can remember. It'll help me keep in line counselors and staff and all the rest.
As for today, we have one more lesson, and then I hope mom'll call tonight, even though we have a discotheque (for all you old French speakers out there) and we're going to planyorka too. Oh! And tomorrow Desi and I have to have a song memorized (in Russian AND in English) to sing for Den' Mira. (Day of Peace)
[PS. Carolina--day 3, picture 59 (sitting at Karate) and 15 (origami--ps do they pick the worst pictures on purpose? =P I'm just thankful to get in a shot here and there so mom knows I'm alive)
Also--Olya went to Moscow today, and all I asked her to buy me was a roll of toilet paper and some detergent for washing clothes. Living the simple life. =) ]
Friday, June 20, 2008
June 20, 2008 || Origami, Full Day
So we skipped out on morning exercises today to sleep in (you only have to go if you're leading the exercises, like Desiree and I are tomorrow). It's a good thing, too, because after planyorka yesterday we needed the extra rest.
Planyorka? After all the campers go to bed, the counselors get together and plan out the next day. This is planyorka. Yesterday our meeting started around 11, but I didn't crawl into bed until almost 1. We planned out the day, then sat around having tea and syshki while playing a game of Jenga that lasted, no joke, at least an entire hour. I've never met people so good at Jenga, either! Then again, we were playing for who would "rover" the kids during quiet time, making sure they were taking naps.
Anyway, back to today. I got my first gift at breakfast! From a little girl with whose group we sang yesterday. As far as I can tell it's a bundle of grass tied with another piece of grass, but I am actually really thankful for it--it was one of those "I don't really know what I'm eating for breakfast and I'm still tired and there was no toilet paper in the bathroom" days that instantly turned into "Ah! I'm making friends! They like me!" kind of ecstatic days. Hopefully I have more of the latter and less of the former.
After breakfast Desiree and I sat in on 3 origami lessons--I've gotten pretty good at the paper crane, if I do say so myself, but the cobra was beyond me. Furthermore, one pocket of my coat is stuffed with paper hearts and cranes and such that some of the other girls gave me--again, making me feel like this going to be a great experience. After that Sergei showed us how they make chain mail--they roll metal into coils, then clip the coils and somehow join them all--17,000, he said. He took us to a room in the back of the Club building, where we foud Masha, our new roommate (she's really cool and has done a lot of things--she hung pictures she'd taken over her bed and let us do the same with her extras, and cuts her tape on a hiking knife), a few other people, and all the climbing gear--and of course, the chain mail. On one wall hung at least 20 gas masks--I can't ever get over how eerie gas masks are. And in a setting like this, it reminded me of "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" and Omon Ra all at the same time. I don't know. Between the gas masks and Sadako I wish there was no such thing as war.
After this we'll have karate, and then we'll perform our fan dance again (you can see a picture of us in costume at that link I gave for Carolina/Girl Camp on day 2, page 4 I think--we're all in kimonos, that should make us easier to spot). I'm not sure where the rest of the night will take us, but tomorrow Desiree and I are leading a class, titled simply "Sport." It's so weird to think that I've only been 8 days gone.. it feels like a lifetime, if only because I'm so removed from everything back home (hint, hint... comments/e-mails would make me super happy).
Alright, I'm going to go grab a nap before night activities/karate, and let Desiree get online. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze out a little bit of time online every day. =) But then again, it's Russia, so the Internet is prone to stop working for no reason all the time.
Planyorka? After all the campers go to bed, the counselors get together and plan out the next day. This is planyorka. Yesterday our meeting started around 11, but I didn't crawl into bed until almost 1. We planned out the day, then sat around having tea and syshki while playing a game of Jenga that lasted, no joke, at least an entire hour. I've never met people so good at Jenga, either! Then again, we were playing for who would "rover" the kids during quiet time, making sure they were taking naps.
Anyway, back to today. I got my first gift at breakfast! From a little girl with whose group we sang yesterday. As far as I can tell it's a bundle of grass tied with another piece of grass, but I am actually really thankful for it--it was one of those "I don't really know what I'm eating for breakfast and I'm still tired and there was no toilet paper in the bathroom" days that instantly turned into "Ah! I'm making friends! They like me!" kind of ecstatic days. Hopefully I have more of the latter and less of the former.
After breakfast Desiree and I sat in on 3 origami lessons--I've gotten pretty good at the paper crane, if I do say so myself, but the cobra was beyond me. Furthermore, one pocket of my coat is stuffed with paper hearts and cranes and such that some of the other girls gave me--again, making me feel like this going to be a great experience. After that Sergei showed us how they make chain mail--they roll metal into coils, then clip the coils and somehow join them all--17,000, he said. He took us to a room in the back of the Club building, where we foud Masha, our new roommate (she's really cool and has done a lot of things--she hung pictures she'd taken over her bed and let us do the same with her extras, and cuts her tape on a hiking knife), a few other people, and all the climbing gear--and of course, the chain mail. On one wall hung at least 20 gas masks--I can't ever get over how eerie gas masks are. And in a setting like this, it reminded me of "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" and Omon Ra all at the same time. I don't know. Between the gas masks and Sadako I wish there was no such thing as war.
After this we'll have karate, and then we'll perform our fan dance again (you can see a picture of us in costume at that link I gave for Carolina/Girl Camp on day 2, page 4 I think--we're all in kimonos, that should make us easier to spot). I'm not sure where the rest of the night will take us, but tomorrow Desiree and I are leading a class, titled simply "Sport." It's so weird to think that I've only been 8 days gone.. it feels like a lifetime, if only because I'm so removed from everything back home (hint, hint... comments/e-mails would make me super happy).
Alright, I'm going to go grab a nap before night activities/karate, and let Desiree get online. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze out a little bit of time online every day. =) But then again, it's Russia, so the Internet is prone to stop working for no reason all the time.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Robin Hood/Carolina Camp
Well, I'm back in Russia. It's a year later, but everything is quite as I remember it: the weather surprises me on a daily basis (I'm glad I brought an umbrella, jeans, and t-shirts), the candy is wonderful, and the people are as nice as can be.
I think it hit me sometime last night, how different I still feel here. Now, keep in mind, I was up on stage with a pair of Japanese fans covering my face, while Japanese music played in the background. Over the music, children were crying out "Ross-i-ya, Ross-i-ya!" which is how they say Russia in Russian. Like any non-Americans, they were going crazy for their soccer team--Russia was just about to play Sweden in the EuroCup finals (they won, by the way).
Darn! I've got to run. I had a friend looking over my shoulder and trying to explain other things to me--he's one of the photographers, and totally cool, I can't help but lose time writing here to talk to him. =) Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to add more to this later--or at least my own journal!
Alright, back for a bit. So last night we were practicing our Japanese fan dance while they were projecting the Russian football match on our faces. Why? Because even Russian children get to stay up late to watch their favorite team play football. Today we performed the fan dance in front of all of Carolina camp, and also we performed a traditional tea ceremony. I don't know how I ended up there, but I was the leader of the tea ceremony. Does anyone else feel the irony in this? An American girl serving as a Japanese tea ceremon-ist in a Russia children camp? Love it.
Anyway, today was our first full/real day of camp. We woke up around 7:45 so we could make morning exercises at 8:10--surprise, we got to lead them! Basically there was a lot of jumping around and waving of arms just to get the kids' blood flowing for the day. Then they had to go back and clean their rooms for inspection while we took a shower. Only about an hour ago, when I went to the cafeteria for dinner, did I notice that near the door there's a list for each group's room, and next to it a neutral, sad, or happy face, and the nearest little girl explained that that was for their room inspections. Desiree wants to get on the computer too, so quickly: we also played Pioneer Ball with a group of kids, sat with the youngest Carolina group (our first week here is all with Carolina, the second all with Robin Hood) [girlcamp.ru and robincamp.ru] during a music lesson, where we sang a bunch of different songs--and we're preparing one to sing at the closing ceremony, with English and Russian, and one about Sadako (you remember, Sadako and her paper cranes... although it was a touch awkward listening to a lecture about Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a bunch of 8 and 9-year-olds). This was also the first place we made some friends--for me, Dasha, Nina, Sveta, Dasha again... and I can't remember all their names. A little girl crawled into Desiree's lap, very tired, and told her "I love you" in English, which made us all who understood laugh. What else, wha--oh! We did the opening ceremony for the camp, where all the groups got together in a sort of parade and showed off poems they wrote, signs they made, and the names they gave their groups, and we danced a bit again (had our first discotheque last night), and raised the Russian flag. Later tonight we will judge drawings of "Russian rooms" and announce a winner... and go to our first counselor planning meeting. I think I'm going to get very used to little sleep and eating peanut butter out of my jar.
More when I have time... but I don't feel like I'll ever have enough time to tell you all about it!
OH! And before I forget.... check these website often, you can see pictures of Desiree and I on there:
www.robincamp.ru >> (the photo site:http://www.robincamp.ru/summer2008.htm?id=10)www.girlcamp.ru >> (the photo site:http://www.girlcamp.ru/photos/summer2008.htm)
Look under "CMEHA 2" and then each day: DEHb 1, 2, 3.." etc.
(for day one on Robin Hood, we're aroud pictures 3, 39-42ish, and 46... this is also a great way to see what our camp looks like)
I think it hit me sometime last night, how different I still feel here. Now, keep in mind, I was up on stage with a pair of Japanese fans covering my face, while Japanese music played in the background. Over the music, children were crying out "Ross-i-ya, Ross-i-ya!" which is how they say Russia in Russian. Like any non-Americans, they were going crazy for their soccer team--Russia was just about to play Sweden in the EuroCup finals (they won, by the way).
Darn! I've got to run. I had a friend looking over my shoulder and trying to explain other things to me--he's one of the photographers, and totally cool, I can't help but lose time writing here to talk to him. =) Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to add more to this later--or at least my own journal!
Alright, back for a bit. So last night we were practicing our Japanese fan dance while they were projecting the Russian football match on our faces. Why? Because even Russian children get to stay up late to watch their favorite team play football. Today we performed the fan dance in front of all of Carolina camp, and also we performed a traditional tea ceremony. I don't know how I ended up there, but I was the leader of the tea ceremony. Does anyone else feel the irony in this? An American girl serving as a Japanese tea ceremon-ist in a Russia children camp? Love it.
Anyway, today was our first full/real day of camp. We woke up around 7:45 so we could make morning exercises at 8:10--surprise, we got to lead them! Basically there was a lot of jumping around and waving of arms just to get the kids' blood flowing for the day. Then they had to go back and clean their rooms for inspection while we took a shower. Only about an hour ago, when I went to the cafeteria for dinner, did I notice that near the door there's a list for each group's room, and next to it a neutral, sad, or happy face, and the nearest little girl explained that that was for their room inspections. Desiree wants to get on the computer too, so quickly: we also played Pioneer Ball with a group of kids, sat with the youngest Carolina group (our first week here is all with Carolina, the second all with Robin Hood) [girlcamp.ru and robincamp.ru] during a music lesson, where we sang a bunch of different songs--and we're preparing one to sing at the closing ceremony, with English and Russian, and one about Sadako (you remember, Sadako and her paper cranes... although it was a touch awkward listening to a lecture about Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a bunch of 8 and 9-year-olds). This was also the first place we made some friends--for me, Dasha, Nina, Sveta, Dasha again... and I can't remember all their names. A little girl crawled into Desiree's lap, very tired, and told her "I love you" in English, which made us all who understood laugh. What else, wha--oh! We did the opening ceremony for the camp, where all the groups got together in a sort of parade and showed off poems they wrote, signs they made, and the names they gave their groups, and we danced a bit again (had our first discotheque last night), and raised the Russian flag. Later tonight we will judge drawings of "Russian rooms" and announce a winner... and go to our first counselor planning meeting. I think I'm going to get very used to little sleep and eating peanut butter out of my jar.
More when I have time... but I don't feel like I'll ever have enough time to tell you all about it!
OH! And before I forget.... check these website often, you can see pictures of Desiree and I on there:
www.robincamp.ru >> (the photo site:http://www.robincamp.ru/summer2008.htm?id=10)www.girlcamp.ru >> (the photo site:http://www.girlcamp.ru/photos/summer2008.htm)
Look under "CMEHA 2" and then each day: DEHb 1, 2, 3.." etc.
(for day one on Robin Hood, we're aroud pictures 3, 39-42ish, and 46... this is also a great way to see what our camp looks like)
Friday, August 3, 2007
August 3, 2003 || Vladimir, Suzdal, Moscow
So KK and I accidentally bought an hour of internet time instead of 30 minutes--oops. However, it's been about the only reasonably-priced thing I've bought since leaving Saint Petersburg. There's a reason they call Moscow the most expensive city in the world (to live in).
Well, let's start from... July 25th? That was a while ago. On the 27th we had our final exams and a banquet with the teachers. And, yes, it was also my 20th birthday. I really expected that fact to kind of depress me throughout the day, since this is the first birthday I've really spent apart from friends and family, but the day was great. On Thursday, I met with Masha for our final "tutor-time" and she handed me a small bag along with the other "I may never see you again" gifts that she'd bought (I've officially decided; when I get home she's getting something gorgeous from Ahee's, this woman has been ten times better to me than I ever could have hoped for). But she told me that I wasn't allowed to open the present until my birthday. And you know? I listened to her. That night I stayed up late preparing a Powerpoint for my final exam (long story), and everyone had gone to bed a long time ago, and I was stressing out and falling asleep, and I realized that it was 5 past midnight... I was technically 20 (or was I? I've been trying to puzzle that out--since I was technically born in America, and at night, then I'd have to wait until like the 28th in Russia because of the time difference...). So I put my homework away, took Masha's gift into the kitchen (along with a dictionary, for decoding her card) and just sat down. The radio was playing low, it was quiet out on the barely-light streets, and everything was just... right. I don't know, I was very content. I read her card, and it was beautiful (Russians really know how to do well-wishing well), and I opened her gift--a leather-bound day-planner with time zones, conversions, a map of the world, address book, all this stuff, in Russian and English, and--well, if you know me, you know how much I just plain like journals and paper, so this was a perfect present. Also, stuffed in the page were print-outs of the pictures we'd taken at the sketchy club--which just made me so happy. After that, I felt like I could go to bed without stressing anymore--so I did.
When I woke up, I walked back into the kitchen to kind Marina Nikolaevna sitting at the table with another small present, a card, and a bar of chocolate. And then again, after my Conversation exam, my teacher gave me a card and (it was her birthday too) we all sat around and had tea and a small cake. At the banquet the RDs and the teachers all gave me a joint card and a small gift, too--I say this to emphasize how close Russians get to you, once you break into their inner circle of friendship. After our exams, my group ended up at Lenin's Mating Call (extremely tame, and down-sized, from what I've heard before, but crazy-cheap--about a buck-fifty for a half liter of beer), and then headed to the banquet, which was held at trendy Tinkoff's. There we received a wonderful free dinner, our diplomas, and toasted the teachers (toasting in Russia is a time-honored tradition in and of itself; and something I fully intend to bring back to the States). We all had a great time... and then performed our skits. Group 4 did a funny gender-bending skit to the popular "Milii Tui Moy," Group 3 impersonated 2 of our most memorable teachers to gut-busting laughter, our group tweaked a Whinny Pooh (I don't even know if that's spelled right... in Russian, it's Vinni-Poo'x) story, and Group 1 did a Russian folk story, Kolybok. And then the coolest thing--the ACTR kids surprised me and Valentina Viktorovna with cakes for both of us, and cards that they had all signed. I was sooooooo happy and grateful and just--well, it made me feel like I was surrounded by friends and people who cared about me, you know? Like I really WASN'T spending my birthday with my friends and family halfway around the globe. =)
Saturday, walking to the bus stop to do my post-program testing, a familiar face popped out from behind a sidewalk-talker: Curtis! Some of the Moscow kids had come in town, so of course Curtis and I spent the weekend together. We went to this really cool club called Ostrov, which had a revolving dance floor, floor shows, and a chill-out room strewn with bean bags, black lights, and chairs suspended from the ceiling (you'll have to see one or two of the pictures) and just basically hung out, relaxing with each other for a few days. From the texts that I've gotten from him--his group took a small cruise around some islands north, northwest of Saint Petersburg--he's seen moose and horses, and beautiful, beautiful views of the water and trees. I can't wait to talk to him and ask him about it!
Our train pulled out of the station Sunday night, and we slept in the cheapies--that is, basically one long compartment with no doors or privacy, where 50+ people bunk together. There are some wall partitions, but you're fooling yourself if you think you've got any privacy. Our train rolled into Vladimir about 7 in the morning, and after dumping our bags at the hotel we got on a bus and had a full day of exploring Suzdal, which included looking at a replicated old Russian village with windmills, scarecrows, swings, old houses and churches (a la Greenfield Village) and beautiful old onion-topped cathedrals. It was hot, we were tired, there was lots of walking and Neil would only get us guides who spoke in Russian... but eventually we had beds, and a lunch and breakfast paid for by ACTR, so we slogged through it. The next day we trekked through Vladimir, touring some of the more famous and still-working cathedrals, which were gorgeous (littered with ancient icons, still-working sisters, kittens, and oh-so-much-history) but by the end of the day I'd had it. The most beautiful tiny church was under construction, but the pictures of it were fabulous--it's built on a small bluff, and every spring (except for the past 2--global warming!) the snows melt and fill the surrounding lowland with water... just gorgeous. That said, we had to walk across a huge field to get there.
After that, we piled in the bus for the 4-hour trek to Moscow... and played the celebrity name game (Carly knows what I'm talking about... I say Brad Pitt, you say Penelope Cruz, the next person says Clark Gable, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Walker, Walt Disney...) for at leeeast an hour and a half... and then once in Moscow, at 9 o'clock at night, we're given our metro cards and taken down to Red Square for "orientation." Dinner? Sbarro's, cost $13, after 11 at night. This place is mad expensive... so expensive that, after Sbarro's, I've only eaten 2 other meals at restaurants (one the super-cheap Moo Moo on the Starry Arbat--and by super cheap I mean it was only $8 for a full meal--and one a slightly bigger splurge), while buying the rest of my food from a local supermarket. One of Curtis's birthday presents--a jar of Skippy!--has almost been completely eaten (and thank God for it, otherwise I'd have gotten no protein here, not to mention remembered how delicious peanut butter is).
I'm fast running out of time, so I'm just going to throw the highlights of Moscow (that I've seen, this trip; keep in mind I've been here twice before, so I skipped out on the Kremlin and Lenin--who Russians jokingly say "works" from 10am-5pm on every day except Friday); I've been to the Nevodevyshkiy Convent and Cemetery, where I saw the most beautiful churches, sisters, and tombs of old, old famous Russians, as well as the most ridiculous graveyard ever (I also befriended a grave-carver there); I saw Yeltsin (almost forgot that he was dead, when I saw the grave--it happened so recently), Tretyakov, Shostakovich, Tolstoy, Gorbachev's wife, Kruschev (got a story about that one), Stalin's wife, Molotov, Bulgakov, Gogol, and more; I saw Patriarch's Pond, where the devil first enters Moscow in The Master and Margarita [][]AGAIN: READ THAT BOOK[][]; I've seen Red Square again, St. Basil's, been out to the massive souvenir market, and hit up the Tryetyakov Gallery (the Muscovite version of the Russian Museum--which I've also been to, in St. Pete's, but forgot to talk about).
There might be more, but I can't think of it right now--and of course there's always tons I want to share but just can't find the words for or the time to express it--just got warned by the computer... So, the train leaves for Petersburg (can't wait to get there!) tonight, and then on Tuesday I come home! Hurray! Can't wait to see people, sleep in my own bed, and have--wait for it--mac 'n' cheese.
Thanks for all the b-day messages. =) I'm going to have to set aside a half an hour to return them on facebook, but Nancy, I read your poem, and it was superb. ;o) See you soon!
Well, let's start from... July 25th? That was a while ago. On the 27th we had our final exams and a banquet with the teachers. And, yes, it was also my 20th birthday. I really expected that fact to kind of depress me throughout the day, since this is the first birthday I've really spent apart from friends and family, but the day was great. On Thursday, I met with Masha for our final "tutor-time" and she handed me a small bag along with the other "I may never see you again" gifts that she'd bought (I've officially decided; when I get home she's getting something gorgeous from Ahee's, this woman has been ten times better to me than I ever could have hoped for). But she told me that I wasn't allowed to open the present until my birthday. And you know? I listened to her. That night I stayed up late preparing a Powerpoint for my final exam (long story), and everyone had gone to bed a long time ago, and I was stressing out and falling asleep, and I realized that it was 5 past midnight... I was technically 20 (or was I? I've been trying to puzzle that out--since I was technically born in America, and at night, then I'd have to wait until like the 28th in Russia because of the time difference...). So I put my homework away, took Masha's gift into the kitchen (along with a dictionary, for decoding her card) and just sat down. The radio was playing low, it was quiet out on the barely-light streets, and everything was just... right. I don't know, I was very content. I read her card, and it was beautiful (Russians really know how to do well-wishing well), and I opened her gift--a leather-bound day-planner with time zones, conversions, a map of the world, address book, all this stuff, in Russian and English, and--well, if you know me, you know how much I just plain like journals and paper, so this was a perfect present. Also, stuffed in the page were print-outs of the pictures we'd taken at the sketchy club--which just made me so happy. After that, I felt like I could go to bed without stressing anymore--so I did.
When I woke up, I walked back into the kitchen to kind Marina Nikolaevna sitting at the table with another small present, a card, and a bar of chocolate. And then again, after my Conversation exam, my teacher gave me a card and (it was her birthday too) we all sat around and had tea and a small cake. At the banquet the RDs and the teachers all gave me a joint card and a small gift, too--I say this to emphasize how close Russians get to you, once you break into their inner circle of friendship. After our exams, my group ended up at Lenin's Mating Call (extremely tame, and down-sized, from what I've heard before, but crazy-cheap--about a buck-fifty for a half liter of beer), and then headed to the banquet, which was held at trendy Tinkoff's. There we received a wonderful free dinner, our diplomas, and toasted the teachers (toasting in Russia is a time-honored tradition in and of itself; and something I fully intend to bring back to the States). We all had a great time... and then performed our skits. Group 4 did a funny gender-bending skit to the popular "Milii Tui Moy," Group 3 impersonated 2 of our most memorable teachers to gut-busting laughter, our group tweaked a Whinny Pooh (I don't even know if that's spelled right... in Russian, it's Vinni-Poo'x) story, and Group 1 did a Russian folk story, Kolybok. And then the coolest thing--the ACTR kids surprised me and Valentina Viktorovna with cakes for both of us, and cards that they had all signed. I was sooooooo happy and grateful and just--well, it made me feel like I was surrounded by friends and people who cared about me, you know? Like I really WASN'T spending my birthday with my friends and family halfway around the globe. =)
Saturday, walking to the bus stop to do my post-program testing, a familiar face popped out from behind a sidewalk-talker: Curtis! Some of the Moscow kids had come in town, so of course Curtis and I spent the weekend together. We went to this really cool club called Ostrov, which had a revolving dance floor, floor shows, and a chill-out room strewn with bean bags, black lights, and chairs suspended from the ceiling (you'll have to see one or two of the pictures) and just basically hung out, relaxing with each other for a few days. From the texts that I've gotten from him--his group took a small cruise around some islands north, northwest of Saint Petersburg--he's seen moose and horses, and beautiful, beautiful views of the water and trees. I can't wait to talk to him and ask him about it!
Our train pulled out of the station Sunday night, and we slept in the cheapies--that is, basically one long compartment with no doors or privacy, where 50+ people bunk together. There are some wall partitions, but you're fooling yourself if you think you've got any privacy. Our train rolled into Vladimir about 7 in the morning, and after dumping our bags at the hotel we got on a bus and had a full day of exploring Suzdal, which included looking at a replicated old Russian village with windmills, scarecrows, swings, old houses and churches (a la Greenfield Village) and beautiful old onion-topped cathedrals. It was hot, we were tired, there was lots of walking and Neil would only get us guides who spoke in Russian... but eventually we had beds, and a lunch and breakfast paid for by ACTR, so we slogged through it. The next day we trekked through Vladimir, touring some of the more famous and still-working cathedrals, which were gorgeous (littered with ancient icons, still-working sisters, kittens, and oh-so-much-history) but by the end of the day I'd had it. The most beautiful tiny church was under construction, but the pictures of it were fabulous--it's built on a small bluff, and every spring (except for the past 2--global warming!) the snows melt and fill the surrounding lowland with water... just gorgeous. That said, we had to walk across a huge field to get there.
After that, we piled in the bus for the 4-hour trek to Moscow... and played the celebrity name game (Carly knows what I'm talking about... I say Brad Pitt, you say Penelope Cruz, the next person says Clark Gable, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Walker, Walt Disney...) for at leeeast an hour and a half... and then once in Moscow, at 9 o'clock at night, we're given our metro cards and taken down to Red Square for "orientation." Dinner? Sbarro's, cost $13, after 11 at night. This place is mad expensive... so expensive that, after Sbarro's, I've only eaten 2 other meals at restaurants (one the super-cheap Moo Moo on the Starry Arbat--and by super cheap I mean it was only $8 for a full meal--and one a slightly bigger splurge), while buying the rest of my food from a local supermarket. One of Curtis's birthday presents--a jar of Skippy!--has almost been completely eaten (and thank God for it, otherwise I'd have gotten no protein here, not to mention remembered how delicious peanut butter is).
I'm fast running out of time, so I'm just going to throw the highlights of Moscow (that I've seen, this trip; keep in mind I've been here twice before, so I skipped out on the Kremlin and Lenin--who Russians jokingly say "works" from 10am-5pm on every day except Friday); I've been to the Nevodevyshkiy Convent and Cemetery, where I saw the most beautiful churches, sisters, and tombs of old, old famous Russians, as well as the most ridiculous graveyard ever (I also befriended a grave-carver there); I saw Yeltsin (almost forgot that he was dead, when I saw the grave--it happened so recently), Tretyakov, Shostakovich, Tolstoy, Gorbachev's wife, Kruschev (got a story about that one), Stalin's wife, Molotov, Bulgakov, Gogol, and more; I saw Patriarch's Pond, where the devil first enters Moscow in The Master and Margarita [][]AGAIN: READ THAT BOOK[][]; I've seen Red Square again, St. Basil's, been out to the massive souvenir market, and hit up the Tryetyakov Gallery (the Muscovite version of the Russian Museum--which I've also been to, in St. Pete's, but forgot to talk about).
There might be more, but I can't think of it right now--and of course there's always tons I want to share but just can't find the words for or the time to express it--just got warned by the computer... So, the train leaves for Petersburg (can't wait to get there!) tonight, and then on Tuesday I come home! Hurray! Can't wait to see people, sleep in my own bed, and have--wait for it--mac 'n' cheese.
Thanks for all the b-day messages. =) I'm going to have to set aside a half an hour to return them on facebook, but Nancy, I read your poem, and it was superb. ;o) See you soon!
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