tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43658579779850018572024-03-20T12:31:50.930-07:00To where He leads...MoscowSarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-32758786360150021512011-05-09T09:31:00.000-07:002011-05-09T10:52:40.344-07:00Happy Victory Day--С Днем Победы!May 9: today is Victory Day in Russia. The Soviet Union lost 8,806,453 combat troops and 13,684,692 civilians in WWII. Nobody lost more, and nobody won more in the battle against the Nazi's. So thank you Russia, Ukraine, and all other counties of the Soviet Union for stopping the Nazi Juggernaut with your blood. Celebrate. We celebrate with you! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BrF0sYC3RpbvszVXfb2Rs6W0zlDpdrhMuEbB9nKSi9oD7WBya5qXjw3mH7uFM-pg1xXTMmf-NfDyvfWiVBY7XCdnJAmc21gWxUs_-nKxJ4SjeGj7INDKDRqJSSzyRl-QcHTv-XA2k8MW/s1600/Soviet+flag.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BrF0sYC3RpbvszVXfb2Rs6W0zlDpdrhMuEbB9nKSi9oD7WBya5qXjw3mH7uFM-pg1xXTMmf-NfDyvfWiVBY7XCdnJAmc21gWxUs_-nKxJ4SjeGj7INDKDRqJSSzyRl-QcHTv-XA2k8MW/s320/Soviet+flag.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604770179704013506" /></a><br /><br />I have to admit that my friend Alex Newby wrote this quote above, but since I found it so profound and true, I felt the need to share it with you. In the United States we may learn in history classes that the Russians fought hard in WWII, but (at least for me) I was never truly impacted by just how much. I realize that this is a generalization I am about to make, but I feel that often Americans believe that we came into the war and "shortly" thereafter, the Allies won. It is true that American participation in the war was vitally crucial, but we sometimes forget that without the deep, sustained, and determined resistance of Russia, and the other Allied countries, the Germans would have won. The graveyards throughout Moscow and the rest of Russia are jam packed with WWII soldiers. Today--this beautiful May 9, we celebrate the victory over Germany in 1945. This is the largest and most important holiday in Russia and I'd like to show you a few photos I took around town today.<br /><br />For me, the celebration for this day actually started several days ago. In school on Thursday, my students took a short bus ride into the village of Zaitsevo where they gathered around a WWII memorial, placed flowers there, and honored some of the veterans from the village. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtmzVR3L0AwOEVh3oJpcDrjsUSWz6GZ9F2rMYDQkwgyG0rTtZN5xu6-mLW2AujspE0HZCGEAk5vB4IxCLR2Sc1SLBjS9qIeHQGM7eAoWQ39tu22JtUNY6HJ917tz2cvGvGkLjLKbrSt6e/s1600/Shashliki+058.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtmzVR3L0AwOEVh3oJpcDrjsUSWz6GZ9F2rMYDQkwgyG0rTtZN5xu6-mLW2AujspE0HZCGEAk5vB4IxCLR2Sc1SLBjS9qIeHQGM7eAoWQ39tu22JtUNY6HJ917tz2cvGvGkLjLKbrSt6e/s320/Shashliki+058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604768710778920274" /></a><br /><br />Later that afternoon, quite a number of veterans visited our school and came to each class to tell about their experiences in the war. These two gentlemen visited the 5th grade. I wish I could have understood everything they said. With my limited Russian, I did figure out that the gentleman on the right was a prisoner of war--which was later confirmed by one of my students.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOUteWM5HWdym7AKTz_Ueo28RLBQ_6yyYUQsf6VapKeUZ1xwH4ZF8nkP-WFGme3jrPsAsimTfNDVf9ROs30NEqXfCo5N6EU0cULmblpQhRFfZxWt8qZBxmhyphenhyphenFuUZoSVg7Bdrk4U49h8cP/s1600/Shashliki+069.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAOUteWM5HWdym7AKTz_Ueo28RLBQ_6yyYUQsf6VapKeUZ1xwH4ZF8nkP-WFGme3jrPsAsimTfNDVf9ROs30NEqXfCo5N6EU0cULmblpQhRFfZxWt8qZBxmhyphenhyphenFuUZoSVg7Bdrk4U49h8cP/s320/Shashliki+069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604769024824155922" /></a><br /><br />All over the city, the government has been preparing for this big day. Russian flags have been placed everywhere and the white, blue, and red is everywhere.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAsn3RiVlJdGVTRdwUPB36vckrJFTjEPRdZtsuEW7aLe35jol47saGgU2GiS_VuY6N99S7YnGczAbodyE_cTFOp7xKip6iFqNoj83ilYHFmp7JDAhnR_QicerFPEMn0UAmimefTBSyY1h/s1600/Russian+flag.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAsn3RiVlJdGVTRdwUPB36vckrJFTjEPRdZtsuEW7aLe35jol47saGgU2GiS_VuY6N99S7YnGczAbodyE_cTFOp7xKip6iFqNoj83ilYHFmp7JDAhnR_QicerFPEMn0UAmimefTBSyY1h/s320/Russian+flag.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604770371350830546" /></a><br /><br />This morning--May 9--a few friends and I went to Mayakovskaya--a shortish distance from Red Square to watch the military parade go by. We thought it would start at 10am, so we got there around 9 in order to get a good spot to see. The parade didn't start until 11:30:( It was actually a bit chilly, and amazingly enough--it was also cloudy. This was amazing because the government had spent 50 million rubles to seed the clouds with chemicals yesterday so it wouldn't rain. It didn't rain, but there were dark clouds. Anyway--the parade was okay. There was a helicopter fly over with flags that was neat and then lots of tanks drove by. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Of course there was a lot more to the parade, but it only took place in Red Square--which you could only get into as a VIP or a reporter.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lPNJr7jbqFZQlbZKi0Ocz4f3mBFsMmpP6IZna7j_yZRothE8bdWAa03IE5KmwpQhbjeHQVEKt8W2R4pMtAPzYwBW43Fg6Wkdw0iUzXLnczD_dP_TT_RhXIgzeEbJxWpZp72Clw04y9Zd/s1600/Victory+Day+007.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lPNJr7jbqFZQlbZKi0Ocz4f3mBFsMmpP6IZna7j_yZRothE8bdWAa03IE5KmwpQhbjeHQVEKt8W2R4pMtAPzYwBW43Fg6Wkdw0iUzXLnczD_dP_TT_RhXIgzeEbJxWpZp72Clw04y9Zd/s320/Victory+Day+007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604770656205629330" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlfDe_Z5yL62swUd7qhxKfbnsI9e1tiCbMhWIXUZUETBqvE9wU5AK4hwKb75EvhxaeVvBtBs74Z3iBBY7Xvq4smiHxVBKuM9hozWGPtYUEhc7MSqJm-lP3gscdLMdCxsB-YJVvknyKBrm/s1600/Victory+Day+010.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlfDe_Z5yL62swUd7qhxKfbnsI9e1tiCbMhWIXUZUETBqvE9wU5AK4hwKb75EvhxaeVvBtBs74Z3iBBY7Xvq4smiHxVBKuM9hozWGPtYUEhc7MSqJm-lP3gscdLMdCxsB-YJVvknyKBrm/s320/Victory+Day+010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604771064488736914" /></a><br /><br />Afterwards we went to a nice American diner called Starlight Diner, where you can get real American burgers and milkshakes. After eating Russian food everyday at school this is a nice change--even on Victory Day:)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi3uk3Kz9FxNhmtvgShH4HGSAEgNMcEvX9KBhR7DOqeThmvzoGe_Gwq3bxrMjWdk_4YxnSImg9wZvlsLPS2u5eT9EZO5WM25C-SqZWaeD48M00KIomFhL3eQxlpxxXOSfpaTNme-Fh7DW/s1600/Victory+Day+022.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi3uk3Kz9FxNhmtvgShH4HGSAEgNMcEvX9KBhR7DOqeThmvzoGe_Gwq3bxrMjWdk_4YxnSImg9wZvlsLPS2u5eT9EZO5WM25C-SqZWaeD48M00KIomFhL3eQxlpxxXOSfpaTNme-Fh7DW/s320/Victory+Day+022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604771447131435234" /></a><br /><br />Then we went to Park Pobyedi. "Pobyedi" means "Victory", so it is Victory Park. I drive past this park everyday on my way to work, but I had never been there before. It is normally very quiet with not many people there. Today however...there were many many thousands. You come up from the metro into the bright sunlight and your sight is filled with people, fountains, flowers and the towering monument in the distance. People are sporting their orange and black victory ribbons--they are tied to bags, pinned to lapels, and weaved in hair. Everyone is proud to be Russian today; and I am proud to live here among them. You go through security and then weave your way slowly through the crowds taking pictures of flowering monuments and veterans who are being honored by society. All around you see many veterans, their jackets pinned with decorations. And in their arms are many flowers. Someone goes up to them to shake their hands, give them flowers, take a picture, and say "Thank you for bringing us Victory." It is quite special to see.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qzELBXNSc1dkIjK-T25IqN2KfHBV940_6d5A4U8eXwv4roqRuWeEIFabs_8Mj-16hJGenlOkeN5DtKtrjegAtAz-M4Ly16G7EIdRt96hKnirCdkJ1YG6dRt8eeVh0p0Dbh8o1TiOvRQB/s1600/Victory+Day+038.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qzELBXNSc1dkIjK-T25IqN2KfHBV940_6d5A4U8eXwv4roqRuWeEIFabs_8Mj-16hJGenlOkeN5DtKtrjegAtAz-M4Ly16G7EIdRt96hKnirCdkJ1YG6dRt8eeVh0p0Dbh8o1TiOvRQB/s320/Victory+Day+038.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604771963431470018" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfphmZD3fXkEZmAI3MsIsh_YY0AGftjtLPCI-CARJhFe3Gz2jCRqPnS5W9k5H99JvFxeRD2FsKLydsBRY2Xs8CEdmLZPE6wn_ZSMwjzavVXoG7jjRseJeNIM8KimiU_Uobu25-Qbxct0-S/s1600/Victory+Day+035.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfphmZD3fXkEZmAI3MsIsh_YY0AGftjtLPCI-CARJhFe3Gz2jCRqPnS5W9k5H99JvFxeRD2FsKLydsBRY2Xs8CEdmLZPE6wn_ZSMwjzavVXoG7jjRseJeNIM8KimiU_Uobu25-Qbxct0-S/s320/Victory+Day+035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604772412265228066" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51iMY-nenPROvWoPfvVkRc8statr04BkKCH7Ul5kqjIgMTOQvLVJQJR-hb1NZsYCCVq8pNwAHjvZMN33XldYKrgkdrVGcAi7gdh-Ih8NhVark6WS1NV35467V6lwHtx5Q1-gWkdZzBigY/s1600/Victory+Day+045.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51iMY-nenPROvWoPfvVkRc8statr04BkKCH7Ul5kqjIgMTOQvLVJQJR-hb1NZsYCCVq8pNwAHjvZMN33XldYKrgkdrVGcAi7gdh-Ih8NhVark6WS1NV35467V6lwHtx5Q1-gWkdZzBigY/s320/Victory+Day+045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604772925163967810" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uuX2Fgo9fF2Vgpa3Q_512qdIfBZsGtJ10Gm58VmU7p1pVmuCzW1HKg5IC-9j112hrV-zSKlBD0bjH2rmFEHaLyfSbQ4uANZOgkQ6whI432CAT8IDOc7TGhBbmTngQPf5idV3u6C0vp5_/s1600/Victory+Day+064.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uuX2Fgo9fF2Vgpa3Q_512qdIfBZsGtJ10Gm58VmU7p1pVmuCzW1HKg5IC-9j112hrV-zSKlBD0bjH2rmFEHaLyfSbQ4uANZOgkQ6whI432CAT8IDOc7TGhBbmTngQPf5idV3u6C0vp5_/s320/Victory+Day+064.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604773196284773458" /></a><br /><br />We walked around to the back of the park by the museum and lay on the grass talking, laughing and eating ice cream. Hundreds of others had the same idea. Eventually we continued to walk and saw some holocaust statues and other memorials. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful park. This evening there will be a big fireworks show at Park Pobyedi, but I decided to come home--to relax, write in my blog, and prepare for school tomorrow.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsCOmDCZnBlshGpnG41vbKvf7BocRkfjh1fIn7r7eIbCrXKgNkEs1Y3PZhMKw_RnVbZq6xJ6GsI4DapMBzsaV3tVbgkuJmy6X69bqYX1GTXo3FGbDtDlpwWW67x6iJUhw7gHaEkO_LbCn/s1600/Victory+Day+068.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsCOmDCZnBlshGpnG41vbKvf7BocRkfjh1fIn7r7eIbCrXKgNkEs1Y3PZhMKw_RnVbZq6xJ6GsI4DapMBzsaV3tVbgkuJmy6X69bqYX1GTXo3FGbDtDlpwWW67x6iJUhw7gHaEkO_LbCn/s320/Victory+Day+068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604774040622997474" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXUT0h8tWyUAQpznTSUXnd0oK80mrb6Y6Ds5vYRjvv_q23IUwZehoFYlq8-lSnq3_gPzK56we_uQTJ2WJwr0Y7Hk7LpSSVdVfLO2YTrKA7P_Zn3J2krtsIQmxpcmDisgfbQJXiA4FqhzR/s1600/Victory+Day+071.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXUT0h8tWyUAQpznTSUXnd0oK80mrb6Y6Ds5vYRjvv_q23IUwZehoFYlq8-lSnq3_gPzK56we_uQTJ2WJwr0Y7Hk7LpSSVdVfLO2YTrKA7P_Zn3J2krtsIQmxpcmDisgfbQJXiA4FqhzR/s320/Victory+Day+071.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604774434934171554" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_YmjqARd227DhFjaRkB9a9wskV33MLoUp8avTTD4mnJ9AAMnllqqi6E_AjFMaUtVRLm-9Ivd7M4kIFGnCozyl_MSmmQF5-fexIG1DLjzUugdEyl6S207nkk0yBDPt42huwdxfrEGj0AR/s1600/Victory+Day+079.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_YmjqARd227DhFjaRkB9a9wskV33MLoUp8avTTD4mnJ9AAMnllqqi6E_AjFMaUtVRLm-9Ivd7M4kIFGnCozyl_MSmmQF5-fexIG1DLjzUugdEyl6S207nkk0yBDPt42huwdxfrEGj0AR/s320/Victory+Day+079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604774903410731042" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvSjcyDmiA8sVN8ECRuyWQaSy_fSZkkaBCMlCrwlHAK2KhcqEY9tkyvzLU9lm1Lz1XdrZ3T9WZY49FxfAhOuaaEgNUL3Rdixqyg8GITOyB_KGDhVCWlw4qcVpPHRnWxgIOx0WZAl-UMiG3/s1600/Victory+Day+084.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvSjcyDmiA8sVN8ECRuyWQaSy_fSZkkaBCMlCrwlHAK2KhcqEY9tkyvzLU9lm1Lz1XdrZ3T9WZY49FxfAhOuaaEgNUL3Rdixqyg8GITOyB_KGDhVCWlw4qcVpPHRnWxgIOx0WZAl-UMiG3/s320/Victory+Day+084.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604775195633479170" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBgfNSW0CszoqOuedy8rcGx-UhC5B0RIHDyPGMba2QZuZMecp8M3vSxjhrIFHRfHcqpZq94HPYZ2WOd1s5i5FLYjacgEdgTtvDkvWeKw0uEYpmcZnzRZ2gq72zS8KuAz1E_mqjnKpigeM/s1600/Victory+Day+087.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBgfNSW0CszoqOuedy8rcGx-UhC5B0RIHDyPGMba2QZuZMecp8M3vSxjhrIFHRfHcqpZq94HPYZ2WOd1s5i5FLYjacgEdgTtvDkvWeKw0uEYpmcZnzRZ2gq72zS8KuAz1E_mqjnKpigeM/s320/Victory+Day+087.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604775493534522066" /></a><br /><br />It is so difficult to think of going back to school after such a nice holiday, but I need to remind myself that this was not just a day off of school. We all need to remember the sacrifices that others have made and to be willing to make the same sacrifices if necessary. This world is not all about me and my desires. One of my favorite verses is John 18:37. "For this end I was born, and for this end came I into the world that I might bear witness to the truth." Let us all remember that true Victory is from the great Victor and through Him, we can bring truth and victory to our world.Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-82747452884313093572011-04-17T02:02:00.000-07:002011-04-17T02:28:27.141-07:00Ukranian Pysanki Eggs--I Made My Own!!A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by a friend to come and make some Ukranian Pysanki eggs. These are the famous painted eggs with incredible detail and design. They are made from real eggs and are not wooden. Let me take you through the process of making them.<br /><br />1. Take a white egg. Make sure that it is solid and has no cracks and is not weak.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWTgsNpDhHpM_pXPd37146820I5g7WszcVxlBBAy0wwZ4V5LO6JyCUjWCPENB-dgIr4Ldy79XL_9fUojdC-T-V75kE-LROm7Y9dTiOMsQJg9ko1Or3jg8vdo-1HX8wFccp7-0wSUP5BuJ/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+004.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWTgsNpDhHpM_pXPd37146820I5g7WszcVxlBBAy0wwZ4V5LO6JyCUjWCPENB-dgIr4Ldy79XL_9fUojdC-T-V75kE-LROm7Y9dTiOMsQJg9ko1Or3jg8vdo-1HX8wFccp7-0wSUP5BuJ/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596476185128768786" /></a><br /><br />2. Looking at a design or making your own design, draw litely on the egg with pencil. I used a design ready made--which is actually easier than making your own on your first try. I liked the traditional look. I picked something that wasn't too hard, but not too easy. I liked a bit of a challenge. Then you take bee's wax and scoop it into the wide end of this little tool. You get the tool hot in the fire and it melts the wax making it come out the tiny end of the tool. You apply this to part of your design, but not all of it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRY5oyWHjhTZprqgJJfxNjrfCPC9S9UdUN-JF4l1Ouub3mWy2dHDdgLQnaLwnsjapISprIX7LtXoALh3NlleM0H8qFsCJrJmlvVIdD0KI7ey1VwWt2rJlKl2D_18L_LEcugmKDOz12tBX0/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+007.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRY5oyWHjhTZprqgJJfxNjrfCPC9S9UdUN-JF4l1Ouub3mWy2dHDdgLQnaLwnsjapISprIX7LtXoALh3NlleM0H8qFsCJrJmlvVIdD0KI7ey1VwWt2rJlKl2D_18L_LEcugmKDOz12tBX0/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596477149663236706" /></a><br /><br />3. You put it in the first color of dye. I used Yellow. This means that everything under the wax would be white. It's white because under the wax is the color of the egg.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhox1FIr_NBECT9b_Z5iWsatSbswSFt1-U1JxDtpdzPC27qELdAkOEqjXs8DRcwOfeFkGjvmvbJRtWfeeoHH7PHNa7JujFWAZloKe0l1eaLfNeumAs1jzHjCdJ7PiTa6ImRs_jAT_wk4geE/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+010.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhox1FIr_NBECT9b_Z5iWsatSbswSFt1-U1JxDtpdzPC27qELdAkOEqjXs8DRcwOfeFkGjvmvbJRtWfeeoHH7PHNa7JujFWAZloKe0l1eaLfNeumAs1jzHjCdJ7PiTa6ImRs_jAT_wk4geE/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596477628644151666" /></a><br /><br />4. Then apply more wax to the design. This then means that whatever wax you put on at this stage will keep that part of the design yellow. Then set it in more dye. I used orange dye at this stage.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHoQ8MiCbm92uUDEhvReVg8lKuONHkKffPGS1mc6AAzpmEPspVZnuRop7_qZaFQX9_u8HKQgJ2XBLlpuNJjhMxb4rzRXkgsF-t7l4LLoHbAM0aED_wtCJE_x7JKIhvVIghkbwYsMdKIPh/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+013.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHoQ8MiCbm92uUDEhvReVg8lKuONHkKffPGS1mc6AAzpmEPspVZnuRop7_qZaFQX9_u8HKQgJ2XBLlpuNJjhMxb4rzRXkgsF-t7l4LLoHbAM0aED_wtCJE_x7JKIhvVIghkbwYsMdKIPh/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+013.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596478238482500514" /></a><br /><br />5. Do the process one more time and then set it in the last color of dye--red.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmzXumHjOpxvzIj5YcV62lWPoacu_W3T1vrCGKJaJC5PmzcluEnr4_XAnExBR-Vi09ZI0HqpD8kgl02M9T9W7HM42zoZC7gx2QI75ksSc1Ep_pbTBqWxdTx6YwCgXnNapqavqqoLHi3ip/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+016.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmzXumHjOpxvzIj5YcV62lWPoacu_W3T1vrCGKJaJC5PmzcluEnr4_XAnExBR-Vi09ZI0HqpD8kgl02M9T9W7HM42zoZC7gx2QI75ksSc1Ep_pbTBqWxdTx6YwCgXnNapqavqqoLHi3ip/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596478599348602466" /></a><br /><br />Here are some of the other girls working on their eggs.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB3Cs_wURAyK-dFFK48CvZX70Q7fvztdaevqGWPLDOMgfmYhFkeZ04_2RFgh59Ck1fdp-2uav07M7kqWsPxPgTAUe1qudaTxgEVLVD34COz9-844GtQoodyjFbFOBBtueNP_kkUBBmt8W/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+011.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB3Cs_wURAyK-dFFK48CvZX70Q7fvztdaevqGWPLDOMgfmYhFkeZ04_2RFgh59Ck1fdp-2uav07M7kqWsPxPgTAUe1qudaTxgEVLVD34COz9-844GtQoodyjFbFOBBtueNP_kkUBBmt8W/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596478871555559346" /></a><br /><br />6. Now mine is still not finished. I need to remove the black wax. For a short period of time, hold the egg right next to the candle flame. Hold it only until you see the black wax starting to melt and get close to dripping. If you hold it too long, it will scorch the egg. When the wax starts to melt, take a paper towel and wipe the wax off. Continue until all the wax is off. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWoJWF7HEY5CeWx7J5sT3KTeA9LlUSLsuBnXScddGfOf5gBd3FENiQIFabVeTznNObacJ0nyLF4jfZI4uy8iYX4lThJdDEU8vG3VeLHhTAwLUyW3Fdmk-4zY2QmDYF0j6c9pfP6C5ykjT/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+017.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWoJWF7HEY5CeWx7J5sT3KTeA9LlUSLsuBnXScddGfOf5gBd3FENiQIFabVeTznNObacJ0nyLF4jfZI4uy8iYX4lThJdDEU8vG3VeLHhTAwLUyW3Fdmk-4zY2QmDYF0j6c9pfP6C5ykjT/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596479712941758706" /></a><br /><br />7. Now we have to get the yolk outside of the egg. Nadja has special tools for this so that you don't have to blow it out and get dye all over your lips. You poke a small hole in the top of the egg with the tool. Then you turn it over and squeeze the tool. It is a suction action and makes all the egg come out from inside. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGrYDtoSg9fVGL6XgmTVGAShzyFmaFPzoBCe0YUgEgn83Ps1B5-XPsJiZtXjMapVO7MDVLopBDIoGjPvgVAH9daEckeT2W5RxTFz-0nDm227MHzrQVEldW32n9K6tsdGN8de4YaUsHcyp/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+028.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbGrYDtoSg9fVGL6XgmTVGAShzyFmaFPzoBCe0YUgEgn83Ps1B5-XPsJiZtXjMapVO7MDVLopBDIoGjPvgVAH9daEckeT2W5RxTFz-0nDm227MHzrQVEldW32n9K6tsdGN8de4YaUsHcyp/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596480539434281154" /></a><br /><br />8. And wa-la! We are done! Final project! I think this looks pretty good for being my first egg ever.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadeP576IcEVKNB-bqv4zFwt6nO1F2h6aMvKvnVTi2Ls51OhTQ0oz6O9eGLnfG1meAZ61mlweh7j1JNrwRdpLCI80UpUN7PGCOyJh5gxfFGcrRY1jLCUJFuVtw8MA4K-qneqgZqt68cDI0/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+023.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadeP576IcEVKNB-bqv4zFwt6nO1F2h6aMvKvnVTi2Ls51OhTQ0oz6O9eGLnfG1meAZ61mlweh7j1JNrwRdpLCI80UpUN7PGCOyJh5gxfFGcrRY1jLCUJFuVtw8MA4K-qneqgZqt68cDI0/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596480977654826530" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7_F0q-pTicaLW8cymFSwxIFKiG7Ue0exbldsOx9u4HR6XEzExLfokms5215KPSQWxo9TXOmFItoF005KXR4DAOyZmNx_t5MTxOfKdVlEXS43uMnsHy44ygVaDjPnA1yAvrgTOGHDQ2j4/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+022.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7_F0q-pTicaLW8cymFSwxIFKiG7Ue0exbldsOx9u4HR6XEzExLfokms5215KPSQWxo9TXOmFItoF005KXR4DAOyZmNx_t5MTxOfKdVlEXS43uMnsHy44ygVaDjPnA1yAvrgTOGHDQ2j4/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596480973561160578" /></a><br /><br />Here is a final look at some of the other eggs done that day.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ppO4bdr6NEkAnjIxXP9aPoJgRuZUVpij9M7cpAjH4ekfIwufS33q1ooW_gGwgrbYjM9OrVQwdX8bEQSqfvkXusq0XMk84EAN4rr3eG9yTOUOAW5p9L62d1kXp_zxZwHq9ZkuyFS22D0-/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+025.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ppO4bdr6NEkAnjIxXP9aPoJgRuZUVpij9M7cpAjH4ekfIwufS33q1ooW_gGwgrbYjM9OrVQwdX8bEQSqfvkXusq0XMk84EAN4rr3eG9yTOUOAW5p9L62d1kXp_zxZwHq9ZkuyFS22D0-/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596481843724028562" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o6r0tru7Gvkwrp_VdgFmHsHir9y0-ej-E0I4En8sIXj9_H1sE2mnHCPeP-dOUFgCpzscshLyMR_Lu4hrdkCZ-crI0gjMEpGev0yF8kjiEAmpFQHE74fSrrrPK49JM1RB4diOBrD0k0GK/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o6r0tru7Gvkwrp_VdgFmHsHir9y0-ej-E0I4En8sIXj9_H1sE2mnHCPeP-dOUFgCpzscshLyMR_Lu4hrdkCZ-crI0gjMEpGev0yF8kjiEAmpFQHE74fSrrrPK49JM1RB4diOBrD0k0GK/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596481840304095602" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UL8a0HvOFrHuipDJuN5p3jTsSe_1j7VJ_rwK2J5_pH6q4Z4TfEf5Fyu7o_WPEVQUmHuGTc8p_AbHGcKfDxJQC5gBfTH9g1_eCH0GLiD_3n0_ex6FX7O2zLddtVW2ZRfm3VxKhlL8M_mr/s1600/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+029.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UL8a0HvOFrHuipDJuN5p3jTsSe_1j7VJ_rwK2J5_pH6q4Z4TfEf5Fyu7o_WPEVQUmHuGTc8p_AbHGcKfDxJQC5gBfTH9g1_eCH0GLiD_3n0_ex6FX7O2zLddtVW2ZRfm3VxKhlL8M_mr/s320/Izmailova+and+Pisanky+eggs+029.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596481837284638866" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-5434223251049755192011-04-17T00:52:00.000-07:002011-04-17T01:50:33.729-07:00København, Denmark--Spring Break 2011A few weeks ago in the middle of March, I went with Kristin and Amber to Copenhagen, Denmark to visit our good friend Oli Jakup Jakobsen. In the fall, Oli Jakup had studied as an exchange student in Moscow and we got to know him through the young adults Bible study we all went to on Tuesdays. In December he moved back to Denmark where he is studying. He will graduate in May and return to his home in the Faroe Islands. Most of you have probably never heard of these islands, but they are situated halfway between Scotland and Iceland. They are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is why Oli goes to school there, but the islands are very different from Denmark and he wants to return as soon as he graduates. Anyway, we decided to travel to Denmark to explore it on our spring break. It was great that Oli was still there so we could spend time with him. He was kind enough to let us stay at his flat. We slept on mattresses on the floor and on his couches. It was a very nice set up.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh495tzk_ZvYF94EeAYsTHQwApWJIJ2tcwi4TK37eSuLUGr4ehOuFtz0FN-vywzWBuE8GsfNAQGSNcEq85dk0u3QRejSh5805dIza3EuIJvm7ACuP6TwSLzN4o8ecDbVZ4_IhNdzZYMDNfu/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+012.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh495tzk_ZvYF94EeAYsTHQwApWJIJ2tcwi4TK37eSuLUGr4ehOuFtz0FN-vywzWBuE8GsfNAQGSNcEq85dk0u3QRejSh5805dIza3EuIJvm7ACuP6TwSLzN4o8ecDbVZ4_IhNdzZYMDNfu/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596459428489793314" /></a><br /><br />There is so much to tell, so I will just share some of the highlights. It was quite windy and cold while we were there, but we bundled up as best we could and went to see the sights. The first day we walked from his flat to the downtown area--a couple of kilometers away. It was a long but nice walk and we saw a lot. After that we got the Copenhagen Card so we could take the public transportation.<br /><br />On our walk we searched for the graves of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and the fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFH2Sgg_P6htambWetaozpzvKOIwU7kr10iZd5B-G5U-Es6DdjLJYQarhInmIFCrwgvFkfGayd1vDBP_5wFH96NJjVPxiFQytXZDFXacqlKYbDs8FsTOXAuIhjmKBPdrJcZa3k9HY_Dbs/s1600/Where+is+Kierkegaard.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFH2Sgg_P6htambWetaozpzvKOIwU7kr10iZd5B-G5U-Es6DdjLJYQarhInmIFCrwgvFkfGayd1vDBP_5wFH96NJjVPxiFQytXZDFXacqlKYbDs8FsTOXAuIhjmKBPdrJcZa3k9HY_Dbs/s320/Where+is+Kierkegaard.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596460335599362002" /></a><br /><br />And we found them!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UALkTzNWVOdfJVxaXa-urFxbZ2lYjGJxBFvtkRj83xtixJQS9qeTaQoCOZs4yM-nzfd0LD5QaBJkXO9NMyq4oUo4PtxVLdjD2lWV5SJVpdwvwDCf3pTQXlHRyAxKnd4FVEv_OOZSepwh/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+020.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UALkTzNWVOdfJVxaXa-urFxbZ2lYjGJxBFvtkRj83xtixJQS9qeTaQoCOZs4yM-nzfd0LD5QaBJkXO9NMyq4oUo4PtxVLdjD2lWV5SJVpdwvwDCf3pTQXlHRyAxKnd4FVEv_OOZSepwh/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596460903544032194" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36A_C7RYAu7quaruVktOE-M-c5BvMgdPzLzWYp1q3xhMjvSrAex9HPvpU1yUV3zNbDTzCnt6NSEUqQ0LD_w_420bENEirzZZRVDcVFWsjqWZgfL_16no_f2sAo8tKJfy38uSXDCzREXcS/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+022.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36A_C7RYAu7quaruVktOE-M-c5BvMgdPzLzWYp1q3xhMjvSrAex9HPvpU1yUV3zNbDTzCnt6NSEUqQ0LD_w_420bENEirzZZRVDcVFWsjqWZgfL_16no_f2sAo8tKJfy38uSXDCzREXcS/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596460908613364770" /></a><br /><br />We walked over the beautiful canals. It is pretty from a distance, but when you look closely at the water, it is unfortunately full of garbage. Sad.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4q2o87ZmvzsoNifNjG1PhcZznDyuQ-W9DiGFKykSnBwArl9pP5GR5tCgqO-UxKdI1nGwV63dXsyPOP-RTgG1XGECnpGXzSFrAcx0d1Jet_uQPe5CwSpEBZZxWC5IbWmix67-fvQza04R/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4q2o87ZmvzsoNifNjG1PhcZznDyuQ-W9DiGFKykSnBwArl9pP5GR5tCgqO-UxKdI1nGwV63dXsyPOP-RTgG1XGECnpGXzSFrAcx0d1Jet_uQPe5CwSpEBZZxWC5IbWmix67-fvQza04R/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596461638884746546" /></a><br /><br />We saw a protest by a bunch of farmers. They had driven their tractors into the city and parked them in the main square. We asked a farmer what it was about and he told us of how they had lots of extra taxes and restrictions and wanted these lessened. This picture is great and I like how it is a good representation of Denmark--an agricultural country in the midst of high culture and long history.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-6g_Rw-_YqYnkQB_g-o0cnBUqfnt3ykBqBEk0tXuS0eX60jVqKieaWPXx7ap3kJysxdHbjxF1N1z4pO5AymoxEvYtzZGJQc6u-I7AZkOj80aGSQTikfXn9YbTxN9GHQxnzhZ_jIGIxO4/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+030.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-6g_Rw-_YqYnkQB_g-o0cnBUqfnt3ykBqBEk0tXuS0eX60jVqKieaWPXx7ap3kJysxdHbjxF1N1z4pO5AymoxEvYtzZGJQc6u-I7AZkOj80aGSQTikfXn9YbTxN9GHQxnzhZ_jIGIxO4/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+030.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596462519032407874" /></a><br /><br />Copenhagen is a city of bikes. There are probably more bikes than cars. They even have their own bike lane that is as big as the car lanes, and watch out for them because they won't stop for you. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XLw6yKzdRzO83DJBz_lFrQJP29E65dCbLeeinFAcA1fmSykWroaiQZ8LM5GIArbi_cEsVtAU9qslQiN3kamrjDCJjhqjnEWVviq-so9DepIuifTi5q5-KkCfdEghAMjvFPvCZWcH7QzU/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+027.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XLw6yKzdRzO83DJBz_lFrQJP29E65dCbLeeinFAcA1fmSykWroaiQZ8LM5GIArbi_cEsVtAU9qslQiN3kamrjDCJjhqjnEWVviq-so9DepIuifTi5q5-KkCfdEghAMjvFPvCZWcH7QzU/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596463153345691234" /></a><br /><br />We saw Amalienborg Palace, where the royal family lives. And the guards were in amazing uniform.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoANf0s2wi9qQG0ePzIDPTI3rATr1PjENsqJFEr2-jyayMLPhaJInEH3WKSfZ0_1r7DciGNZK2UiDPjwVpZ054DZVfOWxGkGVLwfZWzElCRyfY_Np3OWVH21ScE5kbyyGUse1Rk4cpJ-Uo/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+038.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoANf0s2wi9qQG0ePzIDPTI3rATr1PjENsqJFEr2-jyayMLPhaJInEH3WKSfZ0_1r7DciGNZK2UiDPjwVpZ054DZVfOWxGkGVLwfZWzElCRyfY_Np3OWVH21ScE5kbyyGUse1Rk4cpJ-Uo/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+038.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596463797621386834" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUo2ce-n9Uict9IvE0KWeO5MhAitxqVxE51Kg-8yKiw6xeM-eaJDj_Mk4FJeDxag4EVr4mbBapZUj6yUGuqyLX9faiMg1f08G-l1M3EOr_UytGdmSbQOAL9IXYBXbTNrv9Y-ebgn0uj9K/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+037.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUo2ce-n9Uict9IvE0KWeO5MhAitxqVxE51Kg-8yKiw6xeM-eaJDj_Mk4FJeDxag4EVr4mbBapZUj6yUGuqyLX9faiMg1f08G-l1M3EOr_UytGdmSbQOAL9IXYBXbTNrv9Y-ebgn0uj9K/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+037.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596463793112204162" /></a><br /><br />We walked around the harbor and some of the most scenic areas of Copenhagen. It was beautiful and people were milling about and enjoying themselves.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47MQ0y6l_XZi4cAqqLiJcenzZJsKRC4fByPsoO2_77j2X4n00Qv3LUc6N0TFvwiQOv8LiBZWu3eAEyOjYNRlVlp1C_xDJ6hO9u3sylW2eGxwYm1NW-ygswyEf9EnAwgojdXOX1ooetSKF/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+048.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47MQ0y6l_XZi4cAqqLiJcenzZJsKRC4fByPsoO2_77j2X4n00Qv3LUc6N0TFvwiQOv8LiBZWu3eAEyOjYNRlVlp1C_xDJ6hO9u3sylW2eGxwYm1NW-ygswyEf9EnAwgojdXOX1ooetSKF/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+048.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596464525355595250" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fIRC8-YxF2XX4yBAKYP-XaUNuK-KQ8USqQrNcUe5TSfaI5ArhxPPaqOk0cyz1YDop-OQJo7SE8FXoypy5F_O8IKuzk6Zgwt8NhyACbpE2Qpzq5Yq8DtcfLT5EHvJWUDzdpt2BI_AGScx/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+046.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fIRC8-YxF2XX4yBAKYP-XaUNuK-KQ8USqQrNcUe5TSfaI5ArhxPPaqOk0cyz1YDop-OQJo7SE8FXoypy5F_O8IKuzk6Zgwt8NhyACbpE2Qpzq5Yq8DtcfLT5EHvJWUDzdpt2BI_AGScx/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596464518841366498" /></a><br /><br />We went to a zoo and some other nice museums. The zoo was okay--not the best I've been to, but not bad. My favorite day was the day we took the train out of the city to a little village about 40 minutes away. In this quaint, beautiful village is the Frederiksborg Slot. This is a huge castle and it took my breath away. Unfortunately it closed 10 minutes before we got there. Apparently they close early in the winter months because the castle does not have electricity and it gets dark early. So we had to walk around outside, but we had a marvelous time.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q1-GJiOjVfHYHkaYAUBQCgzZ4k2rX2QTN9oBzyI-txsdL6scnuqjgr3mS2DlomMXbE2QCQb5MDX3mFHjFcKn3n1bdDvHzIanwKqRhHWjHcs9KQSL3N0iiEAGApIrrIc0ZWWMNm2cJ-CZ/s1600/On+the+bridge+with+Amber.bmp"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q1-GJiOjVfHYHkaYAUBQCgzZ4k2rX2QTN9oBzyI-txsdL6scnuqjgr3mS2DlomMXbE2QCQb5MDX3mFHjFcKn3n1bdDvHzIanwKqRhHWjHcs9KQSL3N0iiEAGApIrrIc0ZWWMNm2cJ-CZ/s320/On+the+bridge+with+Amber.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596466596178691778" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHtFg3BCUhCf9lGq1mGbar32kGQ9owlyE1Elk-TShLZKIE9_2tqnpxfxZuanAyu4kgscBOMan1WcoAaPyfevjf026zUgxnNX7zNDv8fR16Sg2sDujlZiDbeBNOID8zLZqTSd3Qf1Zynly/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+114.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHtFg3BCUhCf9lGq1mGbar32kGQ9owlyE1Elk-TShLZKIE9_2tqnpxfxZuanAyu4kgscBOMan1WcoAaPyfevjf026zUgxnNX7zNDv8fR16Sg2sDujlZiDbeBNOID8zLZqTSd3Qf1Zynly/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+114.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596466589874408626" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLln7A7_8WJlsjn7T9qbnDe8aHkOCboFjZuoPkhdD52woqKBqw09-RWP_zdApUA0Z6xWsJe_T-Hll4_S8LmNqNRUVV6rxgWBnOUIVZdVBbBet4hSVavfbqRvZHGuBAlu5HXYA-tfVyqy7h/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+100.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLln7A7_8WJlsjn7T9qbnDe8aHkOCboFjZuoPkhdD52woqKBqw09-RWP_zdApUA0Z6xWsJe_T-Hll4_S8LmNqNRUVV6rxgWBnOUIVZdVBbBet4hSVavfbqRvZHGuBAlu5HXYA-tfVyqy7h/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+100.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596466584817073298" /></a><br /><br />Of course we also stopped along the way at a cute cafe and bought another Chai Latte. I think this was maybe chai latte #5. I think we had one each day. We hadn't had them since we moved to Russia since we couldn't find a coffee shop that served them in Moscow. We were obsessed with them.<br /><br />On one of the last days, Oli drove us about 100km outside of Copenhagen. If you don't know, Denmark is made up of a series of islands and one main peninsula. Copenhagen is on a small island in the north east part of the country. We drove south and crossed a bridge to a different island. Denmark is very flat with very few hills. There is only one part of the country that has a bit of elevation and those are some cliffs called the cliffs of Mun. This is pronounced as "moon." They are a white chalky substance that look a bit like the cliffs of Dover in southern England. There was a very long staircase that took us to the base of the cliffs where we walked along the edge of the sea and enjoyed the scenery.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnIn2DjqBb0wn0zKgn0GaaN4-ZC6ovKEVShXl30S_yLjvXsuM2IL9EfU2uZAliivlA5EEDVdwxl9LLZ24cQLV8MUyPGkvDbPZY_Uuioe7wsyAk1VAbxpC-wFmTYy6BUwv_zNXMjgSe24Z/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+150.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnIn2DjqBb0wn0zKgn0GaaN4-ZC6ovKEVShXl30S_yLjvXsuM2IL9EfU2uZAliivlA5EEDVdwxl9LLZ24cQLV8MUyPGkvDbPZY_Uuioe7wsyAk1VAbxpC-wFmTYy6BUwv_zNXMjgSe24Z/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+150.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596469131572661138" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDfEz2rH9YUSViP0fs6yZJqCuAMYJGC_dpwgXkmQBJCtJTGcfyBDGm0_OBhMYK7uHdD6i1C0wwHdXSWEATCOQR2sXX1AghqUobHK_o6sUjz6d-hEb446CUXJY9ISQp0QQxHegyEh_BN0A/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+145.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDfEz2rH9YUSViP0fs6yZJqCuAMYJGC_dpwgXkmQBJCtJTGcfyBDGm0_OBhMYK7uHdD6i1C0wwHdXSWEATCOQR2sXX1AghqUobHK_o6sUjz6d-hEb446CUXJY9ISQp0QQxHegyEh_BN0A/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+145.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596469528232158466" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeNE7_c2jT3KoG_Udj81F8gfEer3orMbOUOe8P2E55kNeveOIJOTOq29xtp_TfdBgyUYBx3knuTJ6OCZwIBBwGifGBHJ7iK3xddtsBEWllkHlu7-dl0bHrvcrQYdkG6uS86lnlNXwiIRz/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+136.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeNE7_c2jT3KoG_Udj81F8gfEer3orMbOUOe8P2E55kNeveOIJOTOq29xtp_TfdBgyUYBx3knuTJ6OCZwIBBwGifGBHJ7iK3xddtsBEWllkHlu7-dl0bHrvcrQYdkG6uS86lnlNXwiIRz/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+136.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596469131403717106" /></a><br /><br />Of course we also saw The Little Mermaid. This is the iconic statue for Copenhagen, as their most famous author, Hans Christian Andersen, wrote the story of The Little Mermaid. Overall, this was a lovely trip.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2u_Xmya1nXerobWJcrf5R-8EGOPpJrUP4chHY_6bV_NezI0qWIpNlLhviuxQoxT8orU2j1xmdClK4-2IhUHT9V4khmylFDGXiHvZVhId7VW8eSGKRKtu53nc8k7pX_79FsW31zNfys_B/s1600/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+058.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2u_Xmya1nXerobWJcrf5R-8EGOPpJrUP4chHY_6bV_NezI0qWIpNlLhviuxQoxT8orU2j1xmdClK4-2IhUHT9V4khmylFDGXiHvZVhId7VW8eSGKRKtu53nc8k7pX_79FsW31zNfys_B/s320/Copenhagen--Spring+Break+2011+058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596470929456271842" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3o0tYvxu4hnmIUU4TxFM2pR6ogtx8Yz8F2-K-N0IcwFaWnufSWh89MnqvVem6hoCCo_ZUmXqbJaM7HnpyExcmUlbVDy6d8_eXHYbKm7Orm5xfa6RApnQvhZSftC54nK9SYJx7uXJdKm4/s1600/Little+Mermaid+with+Oli.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3o0tYvxu4hnmIUU4TxFM2pR6ogtx8Yz8F2-K-N0IcwFaWnufSWh89MnqvVem6hoCCo_ZUmXqbJaM7HnpyExcmUlbVDy6d8_eXHYbKm7Orm5xfa6RApnQvhZSftC54nK9SYJx7uXJdKm4/s320/Little+Mermaid+with+Oli.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596470921066899426" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-62522135463980440092011-04-06T07:46:00.000-07:002011-04-06T08:04:23.179-07:00Women's DayShortly after Maslanitsa is one of the biggest celebrations in Russia--Women's Day on March 8. This holiday is not just for mothers--it's for all women! Like I've said earlier, Russians know how to celebrate. A few days before the actual holiday I began getting boquets of flowers from my students. Then the gifts started pouring in from each class. I left for home two days in a row toting huge and heavy bags of gifts and flowers. <br /><br />The boys in the classes also give gifts to the girls-not just the teachers. The kids (parents) go in on a gift that is all given to each girl. The boys lined up on Friday morning each carrying a gift bag. Then each boy said something nice about the girls that he appreciated. Then they gave them the gifts. It was some nice lotions, bath wash, etc.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHjpNvCFVzHbzeZkz6i5ohyphenhyphenv86M_OUkNBw4donF2vitvorAWsjo3Omuae95Yw8QAT6kEgnfH6ECVM43tWU2Szgl6w58dI_aiaiIRcKZCY_KWAHdKJR4BXGIDIHfsSuXk9CGidNzKu2zdF/s1600/Everything+Moscow+554.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHjpNvCFVzHbzeZkz6i5ohyphenhyphenv86M_OUkNBw4donF2vitvorAWsjo3Omuae95Yw8QAT6kEgnfH6ECVM43tWU2Szgl6w58dI_aiaiIRcKZCY_KWAHdKJR4BXGIDIHfsSuXk9CGidNzKu2zdF/s320/Everything+Moscow+554.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592485820435836482" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBDT6SUx3fmjZfI0EX9tIXkEIhZsnrtT68_ok2V8nPImcMRvBCD7pCO7wYr-fNsmXCFxCn2W7pIXG20MuGLcwAqIFv_i-uuQ1xvnRPpC1fZhQoqP32-eI9Bz2IyHLCeMOQ1753VRhmPPp/s1600/Everything+Moscow+555.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBDT6SUx3fmjZfI0EX9tIXkEIhZsnrtT68_ok2V8nPImcMRvBCD7pCO7wYr-fNsmXCFxCn2W7pIXG20MuGLcwAqIFv_i-uuQ1xvnRPpC1fZhQoqP32-eI9Bz2IyHLCeMOQ1753VRhmPPp/s320/Everything+Moscow+555.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592486080129972914" /></a><br /><br />All over the city that weekend, men and women were carrying around big bags of flowers and gifts. I've just never seen anything like it. <br /><br />I ended up putting all my gifts on the fireplace mantle just to see the amount of it. As you can see by the picture here it is quite overwhelming. Let's see: there are 5 bouquets of flowers, 1 boquet of chocolate, and a basket with coffee, sweets, chocolate, and biscuits; a bottle of wine, a bottle of champaigne, perfume, and makeup; another box of chocolate, a wall hanging, and a couple of gift certificates to grocery stores and makeup stores. All in all, it's almost ridiculous what you get for just being born a girl. Kinda fun too though! I certainly will enjoy it while I am in Russia, because I know that when I leave I will never get this kind of thing again.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVJ1LWDxG6gojsdGTiz8q_2X7VS4-bTchyphenhyphen1c9dsa1OomFYmMJrgoX1EcFO_a025D8jE1gxzHqrJWzEPM0kZ-r1O7QYHWeJQZyB9zZAqttALRCqhoYUahH7lc0KaSIR4aTtwHSYEl07Ilh/s1600/Everything+Moscow+596.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVJ1LWDxG6gojsdGTiz8q_2X7VS4-bTchyphenhyphen1c9dsa1OomFYmMJrgoX1EcFO_a025D8jE1gxzHqrJWzEPM0kZ-r1O7QYHWeJQZyB9zZAqttALRCqhoYUahH7lc0KaSIR4aTtwHSYEl07Ilh/s320/Everything+Moscow+596.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592486537647503202" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-4783515082117526512011-04-06T07:13:00.000-07:002011-04-06T07:41:49.912-07:00Maslanitsa--The Coming of SpringSeeing as it's been almost a month and a half since I've last been on my blog, I figure it is probably time to update once more. <br /><br />Spring is bursting upon us with full force. The Russians actually celebrate the first day of spring on March 1st even though the spring equinox isn't until the 21st. They call this holiday Maslanitsa. The day was cold, windy, and a light snow was falling. Nonetheless, the Russians celebrate their spring in full force with mulled wine, lots of food, dancing, drinking, and the burning of an all important scarecrow. Let me go back and explain it in a little more detail.<br /><br />The children left school at noon. The teachers from the city campus were bussed out to the country campus at Zaitsevo so we could have our spring celebration in the fresh country air. They arrived and everyone went outside to play games. Can you see it? A bunch of adults playing jump rope, musical hoola hoops, and techno dancing? Well I guess the adult part was that the winners of the games got champaigne. And guess who won two games...my roommates. Let's just say we had some nice dinner refreshment!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrv4reNUAv4587nSY2oaVOuU5-4VXnoE2fuY0LDWYmdp6lx-6y1q9TiCIgwAYTBwStwN0IXWX7xsW2szNxX9EUbvfNyl-zFMKc-Nh-x_astxHsN5z_adMF-kNPgpea3NAfgGkzAUiviUz/s1600/Everything+Moscow+566.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrv4reNUAv4587nSY2oaVOuU5-4VXnoE2fuY0LDWYmdp6lx-6y1q9TiCIgwAYTBwStwN0IXWX7xsW2szNxX9EUbvfNyl-zFMKc-Nh-x_astxHsN5z_adMF-kNPgpea3NAfgGkzAUiviUz/s320/Everything+Moscow+566.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592478424858598098" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXNiGkVGy2GY8hAeAxABASzAI0qgx-nnZzzLuFihEPRniNBF-imF6xsvtdjAeBgqoAQwiSon1NVdTUbxDP7HiDvdc6E78rqhOgRbC2LlqCOZMuxxTxAegJeaF6920rNYN4SNViHWYPoHi/s1600/Everything+Moscow+570.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXNiGkVGy2GY8hAeAxABASzAI0qgx-nnZzzLuFihEPRniNBF-imF6xsvtdjAeBgqoAQwiSon1NVdTUbxDP7HiDvdc6E78rqhOgRbC2LlqCOZMuxxTxAegJeaF6920rNYN4SNViHWYPoHi/s320/Everything+Moscow+570.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592478763735657570" /></a><br /><br />Then came the best part. There was this huge wooden scarecrow they had set up. They call her Mother Winter. Then everyone got a small piece of paper. On it we had to write things that we desired to give up, habits we wanted to change, etc. Then you placed the papers under the scarecrow and they lit it on fire. Winter went up in smoke pretty quick:) <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHnV2xtVRd7EDkMq4yMpTjFqk2jblgBjZyj_mFjs1XB_r7I9Mih3q3n-efMtnZ1u38mnmOEo6emmAwTyAiwO_pUixIfMELjcAoUYoo2e5SdlR2ijvLDkCSI43yC9a6MBfC0BqExxj4SdY/s1600/Everything+Moscow+576.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHnV2xtVRd7EDkMq4yMpTjFqk2jblgBjZyj_mFjs1XB_r7I9Mih3q3n-efMtnZ1u38mnmOEo6emmAwTyAiwO_pUixIfMELjcAoUYoo2e5SdlR2ijvLDkCSI43yC9a6MBfC0BqExxj4SdY/s320/Everything+Moscow+576.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592479188584545682" /></a><br /><br />Then we went inside to enjoy the food they always eat on Maslanitsa--Blini. These are big pancakes that are very thin--like large crepes. Then you eat them with salmon, jam, or sweetened condensed milk. I like it with salmon best. There were songs and performances prepared by a lot of different teachers. And we had some dancing. No one was dancing for a while, but they had music going on in the White Hall, so a few friends and I went to take advantage of the Disco. All in all, Maslanitsa is a great holiday. Russians celebrate in style.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCzobaiUtIuGsBuFEG5QtxjYYRy5HowPVzhyOkjZa4inPnYatM8FJON_ulyIjeaet-18leRxFRWkhj9kR_iOcJeL3NoCmI0UlpTtiL0yjyWGGbPYg-On7lIfdmVVQSUggBLP_wE6zAEPP/s1600/Everything+Moscow+582.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCzobaiUtIuGsBuFEG5QtxjYYRy5HowPVzhyOkjZa4inPnYatM8FJON_ulyIjeaet-18leRxFRWkhj9kR_iOcJeL3NoCmI0UlpTtiL0yjyWGGbPYg-On7lIfdmVVQSUggBLP_wE6zAEPP/s320/Everything+Moscow+582.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592479740039059858" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih97GQOBwVnKjdnLqwO6VnsWwyhPXQwD1vvrlMcQ0bGzZXRW_UtSYuEuhvfZkfWMe7iFXDXTrKfdc_6kr564-AgDS-GOzmuKIsCaoCOEHbCWMlht8rgQmbTSXjRekq0Qp8NgV4UIpXU0cx/s1600/Everything+Moscow+583.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih97GQOBwVnKjdnLqwO6VnsWwyhPXQwD1vvrlMcQ0bGzZXRW_UtSYuEuhvfZkfWMe7iFXDXTrKfdc_6kr564-AgDS-GOzmuKIsCaoCOEHbCWMlht8rgQmbTSXjRekq0Qp8NgV4UIpXU0cx/s320/Everything+Moscow+583.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592480006363418002" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUaEoyIwmqamjMwiqTnOYt3QSLs54P79Uqhz6odb5-EiRqsoEFopWsJGacdgT3oOJ5Z28sAaAVcft5eH-iFufaBDHyd6BsJJ9N4Ak4xD4vgoFPzCtTyBk5xxAhS1cAEvv3lt3BZ1MJptG/s1600/Everything+Moscow+584.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUaEoyIwmqamjMwiqTnOYt3QSLs54P79Uqhz6odb5-EiRqsoEFopWsJGacdgT3oOJ5Z28sAaAVcft5eH-iFufaBDHyd6BsJJ9N4Ak4xD4vgoFPzCtTyBk5xxAhS1cAEvv3lt3BZ1MJptG/s320/Everything+Moscow+584.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592480225552982722" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhev33Q0iZDKGCya1d28lMYmpL81LKpRzR-bWp0uKvNHquLi4swkvcM3PG6pvaXEfo0uO2pN2LOKInqYvW1wbVkljg0LG_D0hyS-b-KDitE7YbWBBYG8-lxsIdNR5J9kieaJPFhoZMIIcLa/s1600/Everything+Moscow+591.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhev33Q0iZDKGCya1d28lMYmpL81LKpRzR-bWp0uKvNHquLi4swkvcM3PG6pvaXEfo0uO2pN2LOKInqYvW1wbVkljg0LG_D0hyS-b-KDitE7YbWBBYG8-lxsIdNR5J9kieaJPFhoZMIIcLa/s320/Everything+Moscow+591.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592480535040407538" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-26343820333455540392011-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:002011-02-26T22:20:25.937-08:00You Know You're in Russia If...Two of my friends, Megan and Kristin, came up with part of this enlightening list about living in Russia. It is quite entertaining, so even though I am stealing their list and adding about 30 of my own, I thought you might be interested in some of the things I see and go through by living here. Beware: it’s a long list.<br /><br /> The majority of the calories you consume daily are from chocolate.<br /> When you are walking outside your eye literally freezes shut.<br /> You begin thinking that –15 degrees is warm.<br /> For a week of school you may have 6 out of 32 students.<br /> Your students may stay home from school if they coughed one time on Saturday. This means they will be ill for a week or more.<br /> You ice skate everywhere. You’re not actually wearing ice skates but since the sidewalks are one big sheet of ice you just glide along everywhere. (Because we all know if you try to lift your feet the chances of falling have greatly increased).<br /> If a law changes and you are upset, wait a week and it will change again…or ask someone else and they will give you a different answer.<br /> On the metro you smile and someone looks at you like you are mentally ill. And if you are reading a book and begin to laugh…you will get lots of weird looks.<br /> You get body slammed by a 70-year-old woman who was walking on the other side of the street but decided that she wanted to walk exactly where you were.<br /> You have almost been knocked out by the swinging doors at the entrance and exit of the metro.<br /> You have been afraid of riding the metro because suicide bombers are in fact real and very prevalent in Moscow.<br /> One errand a day is an accomplishment. Two is a maybe and a huge feeling of success.<br /> You have had to put some groceries back because you realized that carrying 6 bags on the metro is quite a challenge.<br /> Your students correct your spelling of “mom” in class because it is spelled “mum.”<br /> You drink so much tea that now you think teeth are actually yellow—When we made paper self-portraits I made my teeth white and my students told me “no, teeth are yellow”. I was quick to tell them mine were in fact white. But most of them still cut theirs out of yellow paper.<br /> You realize that kids really don’t need to drink water if they have tea…right??<br /> You hear English and get confused, sometimes it still sounds like Russian.<br /> It takes everything in you not to pet the lady’s coat next to you on the metro.<br /><br /> You hear the other teachers tell the children that putting tons of butter on a small piece of bread is, in fact, healthy.<br /> You have to walk in a zig zag pattern on the sidewalks to avoid all the spit.<br /> Now, sweetened condensed milk is not just an ingredient in a recipe but actually a sauce to be poured on desserts and breakfast items.<br /> You have become immune to the flavor of dill because it's in almost everything. <br /> Your kids will eat 2-3 cloves of garlic on their bread at breakfast, and sometimes even make necklaces of garlic, because they believe it will keep them from getting sick. <br /> You know that in June you will be either taking showers at a friend's flat or taking freezing cold showers, because your hot water WILL be shut off for 2 weeks.<br /> Piracy doesn't exist. You can get almost anything for free on the internet. Software, movies, music...<br /> You hear the strangest medical advice: "Don't read and eat at the same time. Your body can't focus on digestion." "Don't eat milk with fish because you will get sick." (And I told them my dad soaks his fish in milk after filleting them and they were shocked.) "Don't put milk in your tea. The chemical reaction will cause you to be sick." (Even though the whole of England drinks tea this way.)<br /> You get an eye-roll and an exasperated sigh if you come up to a cashier and give her anything but exact change.<br /> You are tempted to wink at a complete stranger on the extremely long escalator because you know you will never see them again.<br /><br /> To buy groceries and other items, you are frequently forced to shop at 3 or 4 places until you can find all you need, and even then you tend to never find certain items.<br /> Celery, Dr. Pepper, Nutmeg, Oreos, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, and Peanut butter are nearly if not absolutely impossible to find.<br /> You’ve eaten borscht 2 times this week and you are still craving it.<br /> The things you love most are the variety of soup, juice and wafers. There is just nothing like them anywhere else.<br /> You think that paying $8 (250 rubles) is normal for a cup of coffee. <br /> In restaurants you often buy coke, tea, and sometimes even wine, because it is cheaper than buying a glass of water.<br /> You hear or experience horror stories surrounding the Russian medical services here. I know a girl who was hit by a car and had a severe concussion. The hospital refused to take her because she was an American, so the ambulance drove around trying to find a place that would take her. They got lost so they pulled over and had a smoking break while she was still in the ambulance.<br /> You get used to carrying your passport with you EVERYWHERE.<br /> Contracts don’t really mean anything. They can write something in a contract, but they are not really bound by it, and often pull the “It’s written, but it’s not really in the SPIRIT of the contract” ploy.<br /> You get used to speaking really quietly and your personal bubble gets significantly smaller as you speak to people very close to their faces.<br /> You get so used to not understanding anyone and find it easy to zone out. But when you hear some strangers speaking English you want to go up to them and just listen…or to ask them if they are tourists and need help.<br /> You think that taking an hour to get to church is a good commuting distance…no big deal.<br /> You realize that to get things done, or have something your way, you must first establish a good relationship with someone. Relationship comes before everything else. And you find you kind of love this and kind of hate this fact.<br /><br /> And working at Moscow Economic School:<br /> You are no longer surprised by your 2nd grader who wears a different Armani suit to school every day.<br /> Crazy vacation stories cease to surprise you…like the 3rd grader who took their private 767 to their private Caribbean island and had a big Christmas party where they invited the Black Eyed Peas to play for them.<br /> You get used to seeing some nannies, drivers, and bodyguards sit in the atrium ALL DAY as they wait for their little charges to finish school and go home.<br /> There is practically a birthday party every day. The person with the birthday provides lots of fruit, candy, cakes, and tea for the rest of the school.<br /> Every time you turn around someone has put chocolate on your desk again.<br /> Everyone says “Prietneva appetita,” which means, “enjoy your meal” even when you are eating just a piece of chocolate or drinking a cup of tea. <br /> Your kids speak British English so you have become accustomed to calling erasers “rubbers,” trash “rubbish,” and trash cans “bins.”<br /><br /> You meet some incredible people from all different backgrounds, races, countries, and experiences. But for a time their lives flow with yours and you are incredibly grateful…even though you know a goodbye is in store at some point.<br /> You find that even though this list is long and filled with difficult, challenging, and crazy life experiences, that you have somehow, in some way, fallen in love with this country, this city, the people, the food, the culture and the language. And all you can do is say, “Thank you Lord, for bringing me here.”Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-77542940354486227792011-02-11T12:53:00.000-08:002011-02-11T13:20:00.885-08:00Thoughts to PonderFor Christmas my friend Amber was given a book titled: "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy" by Eric Metaxes. I had heard of it recently, so when she was reading it, I asked her if I could read it when she was finished. She gave me the book last week, and I have been pouring through it. It has been rather difficult to put down actually. This is not a dry biography by any means. A number of years ago, my family got a copy of the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's version of the life of Bonhoeffer. I have listened to it several times and each time it has moved me deeply. Reading his biography now is giving me an even deeper understanding of this amazing man used by God in extraordinary ways. I read a quote by Bonhoeffer that comes from a letter he wrote to his brother-in-law, Rudiger Schleicher. I shall quote it directly as it is very powerful and so true.<br /><br />"First of all I will confess quite simply--I believe that the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions, and that we need only to ask repeatedly and a little humbly, in order to receive this answer. One cannot simply "read" the Bible, like other books. One must be prepared really to enquire of it. Only thus will it reveal itself. Only if we expect from it the ultimate answer, shall we receive it. That is because in the Bible God speaks to us. And one cannot simply think about God in one's own strength, one has to enquire of him. Only if we seek him, will he answer us. <br /><br />Of course, it is also possible to read the Bible like any other book, that is to say from the point of view of textual criticism, etc.; there is mothing to be said against that. Only that that is not the method which will reveal to us the heart of the Bible, but only the surface, just as we do not grasp the words of someone we love by taking them to bits, but by simply receiving them, so that for days they go on lingering in our minds, simply because they are the words of a person we love; and just as these words reveal more and more of the person who said them as we go on, like Mary, "pondering them in our heart," so it will be with the words of the Bible. Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us along with our questions, only so shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible...<br /><br />If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me. This place is the Cross of Christ. And whoever will find him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands. This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it. But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New but also in the Old Testament." --Deitrich Bonhoeffer (1936)<br /><br />I could commentate on what this means to me, but I think I would rather you think about it yourself and what it means to you. <br /><br />Here is another thing to ponder that Bonhoeffer wrote. "He pointed out that nowadays we often ask ourselves whether we still need the Church, whether we still need God. But this question, he said, is wrong. We are the ones who are questioned. The Church exists and God exists, and we are asked whether we are willing to be of service, for God needs us" (Bonhoeffer, 125).Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-6123747973001031562011-01-23T10:04:00.000-08:002011-01-23T10:57:02.307-08:00My Impromptu LifeToday I went to a concert. I had received two free tickets from my roommate Ella, who didn't want to go, so Kristin and I went instead. However, we did not know what the concert was, who was going to be in the concert, where it was, how to get there, or anything else about it. We only knew that it was somewhere near a certain metro station and that it started at 2pm.<br /><br />So we trekked out to that metro station and thankfully were familiar enough with the area that we were able to find the concert hall without too much trouble. There were hundreds of people there and lots of kids so we knew it had to be something with kids, but we didn't know whether it was a play or musical performances, etc.<br /><br />And suddenly we were greeted with one of the most amazing concerts I have ever been to. The first two groups were dances. First a bunch of girls did an amazing dance routine dressed as snegurochkas and then a group of boys did a traditional Russian dance. If you have ever watched "The Fiddler on the Roof," think of the scene at the wedding where the men do that cool dance with the wine bottles on their hats. This was a bit like this, except 10 times better and without the wine bottles. Amazing. I just am kicking myself that I didn't get pictures of those first two acts.<br /><br />Then there was an amazing girl, probably about 10 years old who did an incredible classical piece on a harp. And then a 15 year old boy who did two pieces on the piano--one by Chopin and one by Rachmaninoff. All of these kids were astounding and each performance was so much better than most performances by kids these ages. These were the best of the best and most of them had probably been at these musical instruments most of their childhoods. Other acts included violins, clarinets, an accordian, singing, xylophone, and a tap dancing routine. <br /><br />This was the young classical harpist and the boy sang a beautiful Russian opera song.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmd7oG0D19IEDHmNdywf0fvKFEqhDC3ktBJHp2nc2pAoL_ABo1N3aWZhnwdHZ1ETX2GvGu8dArDyVdrEGo5P3GJDoSMfyKkBUnl42O6J9k5RKiK1RMBbst9x1BisQTTnK3CSKdZTzxlqJ/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+011.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmd7oG0D19IEDHmNdywf0fvKFEqhDC3ktBJHp2nc2pAoL_ABo1N3aWZhnwdHZ1ETX2GvGu8dArDyVdrEGo5P3GJDoSMfyKkBUnl42O6J9k5RKiK1RMBbst9x1BisQTTnK3CSKdZTzxlqJ/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565454530301303730" /></a><br /><br />This was the two boys who played Debussy's Clair de Lune on the piano and xylophone. Absolutely breathtaking. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXtO0VMUifN-OU6rO7klifSFnbV2_Q0Vbs9PopJ4sgg9t0sLZGHzX5EbGAqaZjo3vn8lZ0ftYGruRsPnJFo81gkEHo3Ui6QktdX2teI5_UF2PFnz7XPlGNGHmwDrNAWRTiwfLxiqSXze2/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+016.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXtO0VMUifN-OU6rO7klifSFnbV2_Q0Vbs9PopJ4sgg9t0sLZGHzX5EbGAqaZjo3vn8lZ0ftYGruRsPnJFo81gkEHo3Ui6QktdX2teI5_UF2PFnz7XPlGNGHmwDrNAWRTiwfLxiqSXze2/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565454868468378098" /></a><br /><br />This was the tap dancing routine done to American country music by Shania Twain:) <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGI-KQhDTKJWKdi9K-YQ46wT3z-dvZ4SH6Y6w5As0pIQrFZJctQszYrHltqh5sXxErKcZCMEgHV_lQa-lfuZe1k1csodD57_JQu-lSMDH4pKBezZEDYW6zu4b9W3OpBZoa5e4KWocxhrB/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+018.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGI-KQhDTKJWKdi9K-YQ46wT3z-dvZ4SH6Y6w5As0pIQrFZJctQszYrHltqh5sXxErKcZCMEgHV_lQa-lfuZe1k1csodD57_JQu-lSMDH4pKBezZEDYW6zu4b9W3OpBZoa5e4KWocxhrB/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+018.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565455166952040258" /></a><br /><br />And finally this was an incredible cellist.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4yEZ3yOaMFincv64wmBxhhjdab8Q07f1mZjl8atGNG9OyRBZGbWdZ7Q49TZ66wfDhhcyj1JWm6b9BUfs9KR3RtewRxaQ0s9_RUgnpwD-4w3mBIXY1DORxmiyORwJ2XHgOptkKdynttnj/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4yEZ3yOaMFincv64wmBxhhjdab8Q07f1mZjl8atGNG9OyRBZGbWdZ7Q49TZ66wfDhhcyj1JWm6b9BUfs9KR3RtewRxaQ0s9_RUgnpwD-4w3mBIXY1DORxmiyORwJ2XHgOptkKdynttnj/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565455448367373506" /></a><br /><br />This was an amazing concert and I am so glad we went even though I still don't know what the concert was or what it was for. On the way back we crossed the river and the scene was so breathtaking with the ice and ducks that I just had to take a picture.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_1hjqFxTWgC6FXojob28M4hLMnIe5qEnJe3gDEQ7LenqrF4rZQOxpaRwy7CagqfwQUMNr_uqce4hYQM0ocHpTeu2T5XJ6AXAE4cbXYLC_CYDV9pnUdL2SqsR3N1JgxHq0EQlgNtPe7O6/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+025.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_1hjqFxTWgC6FXojob28M4hLMnIe5qEnJe3gDEQ7LenqrF4rZQOxpaRwy7CagqfwQUMNr_uqce4hYQM0ocHpTeu2T5XJ6AXAE4cbXYLC_CYDV9pnUdL2SqsR3N1JgxHq0EQlgNtPe7O6/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565455728756246578" /></a><br /><br />After the concert we met friends at a Mexican restaurant. I haven't had Mexican in such a long time and was so glad to find some. It was certainly not the best Mexican I've had, but it was still quite good. On the way home we took an impromptu sidetrack to get to the metro. We passed a "Dom Knigi" House of Books where most of the books were in English. Of course, we HAD to stop in, and of course I HAD to buy something. And what I find I found. Bill Bryson's "Neither Here Nor There." Bill Bryson has been one of my favorite authors since college and is Britain's favorite American author, who writes "hugely funny (not snigger-snigger funny, but great-big-belly-laugh-till-you-cry funny)" travel stories. This one is about his travels in Europe. My other favorites by him have been "Notes from a Small Island" about Britain and "Mother Tongue" about the English language.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaugzMWe8yJe7Bgw_N6F8d3UdyO7j3s7wnoSo1pz67LcIeBLaJw1okJ0B2KMxc92SRgP-RdoOqU5GYE-rzPXBkC6z0L6QjUacMQNO8IrjGTNWZ1iFlwbTnbIeyG5lTcE8u0LEKkG5y9AO/s1600/Bill+Bryson+book.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaugzMWe8yJe7Bgw_N6F8d3UdyO7j3s7wnoSo1pz67LcIeBLaJw1okJ0B2KMxc92SRgP-RdoOqU5GYE-rzPXBkC6z0L6QjUacMQNO8IrjGTNWZ1iFlwbTnbIeyG5lTcE8u0LEKkG5y9AO/s320/Bill+Bryson+book.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565457208340896946" /></a><br /><br />After leaving Dom Knigi, Alister suggested we all walk to find a statue of the man who invented Russian printing. It was not far from the metro, so after a couple of wrong turns we finally found it. It was directly in front of a Ferrari and Masserati store with billionaires shopping inside while we tourists stood outside taking pictures of some statue. As we were leaving I notice in the corner of the Ferrari store, a kid's toy Ferrari go-cart. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if some of my kids from school have this and go scooting about followed closely by their nannies and bodyguards. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPMoZZdwe5DhsTyy7czHlRuSYrltW6krq6jWzfQYctGsrxdRiw2O7BMAyOmljwLY72JcSdIeE2rOwefb8vXVP7SydAXRe7u17qPkibGcHYiUr188Kq8JK4N7mCxRqxY78Winj_aBORtW4/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+028.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsPMoZZdwe5DhsTyy7czHlRuSYrltW6krq6jWzfQYctGsrxdRiw2O7BMAyOmljwLY72JcSdIeE2rOwefb8vXVP7SydAXRe7u17qPkibGcHYiUr188Kq8JK4N7mCxRqxY78Winj_aBORtW4/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565456421476729730" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-lx1eHn0jqMBoyAiv_YGeuLMC9-4JbeZ7pIaXjipepIaYwCvlb39hE99brh5J3jvfFtL6pviusVryLzDq3RlNUI1rvTok2V5tdqwEvLQew1HwuBXlVYBof62tECtL2QFvH6Fit6G-PRX/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+029.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-lx1eHn0jqMBoyAiv_YGeuLMC9-4JbeZ7pIaXjipepIaYwCvlb39hE99brh5J3jvfFtL6pviusVryLzDq3RlNUI1rvTok2V5tdqwEvLQew1HwuBXlVYBof62tECtL2QFvH6Fit6G-PRX/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+029.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565456720428668882" /></a><br /><br />And this is the FSB building. The FSB is now what they used to call the KGB. Maybe I shouldn't have been taking pictures, but oh well.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIov7YBvZaXmDSGfaPYT5kFl_cRgXtYg2-iOgenUi0sbRk8F0Ti2tc7DqgzXxC86PsOGaXBv2nyU8T0ynioO8faTXERwzhZ8YGBFQqBRp3NQ5I8X-mgW7nEbjAZvHewN4_L1BiZQQ1zoAc/s1600/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+030.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIov7YBvZaXmDSGfaPYT5kFl_cRgXtYg2-iOgenUi0sbRk8F0Ti2tc7DqgzXxC86PsOGaXBv2nyU8T0ynioO8faTXERwzhZ8YGBFQqBRp3NQ5I8X-mgW7nEbjAZvHewN4_L1BiZQQ1zoAc/s320/Christmas+Miracle+Concert+030.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565457017459437698" /></a><br /><br />Well, I had better wrap this up so I can get ready to go see my insanely wealthy but sweet kids tomorrow at school. It is Sunday night and I have had a good day and a good weekend. I shall wrap it up by drinking a cup of English Breakfast tea, while listening to Mumford and Sons, and reading a little Bill Bryson:) Goodnight world. Catch you in the morning.<br /><br />SarichkaSarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-61255303065684577572011-01-21T10:03:00.000-08:002011-01-21T10:36:24.120-08:00Books and OperaAt school today I decided I would come home and blog about some things that have happened lately. But as so frequently happens, I come home, sit on the couch in front of my computer, and suddenly find more interesting things to do than blog. So before we got home, Kristin and I determined to quickly grab our computers and walk to a coffee shop to blog instead. I got excited as blogging is always so much more fun with a cup of coffee in your hand.<br /><br />There is a coffee chain here called Costa Coffee and is very much like a Starbucks in some ways except that the logo is red, not green. I ordered my vanilla latte, and asked u vas internet? To which the waiter shook his head. I could hardly believe it. So excited to blog and now I can’t. It is crazy since the coffee shop is on the ground floor of a large business complex called the World Trade Center about two blocks from my flat. You would think they would have internet. So instead, I took it in stride and I am writing this in a Word document that I will copy paste into my blog when I get home. They can’t ruin my blogging mood:)<br /><br />So things have been going really well lately. I have been back at school now for two weeks since Christmas break. I really love my students. My native speakers are so much fun and my other kids are great too. I have had a change in my schedule at work this week though. Each grade has two main classroom teachers and a homeroom teacher who walks them to their other classes such as art, music, computers, PE, etc and takes them to their meals and recess. Our homeroom teacher, Yelena Yurievna, was just transferred to the third grade class because their homeroom teacher is now on maternity leave. So I am now the full-time homeroom teacher who also teaches as well. Let’s just say that my schedule has gotten significantly more hectic. I think it will make this semester go by extremely fast though. And there are benefits as it allows me to be with the kids more and get to know them a lot better outside of class time. <br /><br />This past Wednesday I took the day off from school. The reason is that I had bought tickets to see an opera at the Bolshoi Theatre. The opera was to start right at 7pm, and I knew that if there was bad traffic, I would never make it to the theatre on time. So I took the day off and what I great day it was! <br /><br />The opera I was going to see is Tchaikovsky’s Evgeny Onegin based off the book, Evgeny Onegin by Russia’s favorite author, Alexander Pushkin. I had been introduced to this book in Russian literature class at Whitworth. Unfortunately, our syllabus was so packed with other reading that we didn’t read the book, but Leonard had us see the movie instead. The movie was great and it inspired me to read the book later outside of class. I am picky about my translators, so I waited till I found a copy with a good translation. I found a collector’s edition on Amazon.com that gave the book in English, the book in Russian, and two commentaries by the translator, Vladimir Nabokov. I fell in love with the story, and would say that it is still my favorite book of all time. I have read it multiple times, I own the movie, I own the Russian book on CD, and I have some of the music from the opera. So as you can imagine, I was stoked when I saw decently priced tickets to see it at the Bolshoi.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAju5piGIl7gANBt3U4zfbZwW7OcGdyYEuwRpOV4lk-Ux5sxOKFTe2AH8QBc46ob9_dYftvUWEuBNNktowpffUNmiV3bUJ2Mu4LkKEdqqTbhBHC1Zia9OqynqhwAquFtEc5le8bP3PLYZY/s1600/Evgeny+Onegin.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 195px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAju5piGIl7gANBt3U4zfbZwW7OcGdyYEuwRpOV4lk-Ux5sxOKFTe2AH8QBc46ob9_dYftvUWEuBNNktowpffUNmiV3bUJ2Mu4LkKEdqqTbhBHC1Zia9OqynqhwAquFtEc5le8bP3PLYZY/s320/Evgeny+Onegin.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564705174760817090" /></a><br /> <br />I went with Daniel, one of the teachers I work with, and he is in love with opera. We went to dinner first and then walked to the Bolshoi. It was an incredibly cold night and as we walked, all I could think about was how my legs were burning with the cold. But finally we arrived. It is beautiful inside. The theater it was playing in was the small theatre. There are two stages in the Bolshoi, but the large one is undergoing reconstruction. It was built in 1776 and had not been renovated in well over 100 years. They found that the foundational structure was dilapidated and so it has been undergoing construction for quite some time. As a result, all performances are in the small theatre.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBAqKJ6FGLhhZ2x6D5lqtQwP9Fcuc2Y-2T33orV2uLtvG1Dza1egC9IrChVB6lgzLS1tIFC_qaqruALRdbwBpUiyjn2XVNEJFFCvuCkgS8WNCAHVdvytktIhTgnLLVKmM1oFqaszzrXRvn/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+023.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBAqKJ6FGLhhZ2x6D5lqtQwP9Fcuc2Y-2T33orV2uLtvG1Dza1egC9IrChVB6lgzLS1tIFC_qaqruALRdbwBpUiyjn2XVNEJFFCvuCkgS8WNCAHVdvytktIhTgnLLVKmM1oFqaszzrXRvn/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564706134848796466" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mrD8GHeYmlqS44ZNHgJp_8S0zqyyNqN5iBIJH7ahol0d7N3I0x-cZBCqJu45xW0ChJhdpc3WJcF97KPNUpYCn4WGEiJwiqCOP5AywZzAbeeo6bwIQ7_WhsiyFqf4MnZu-3_huKTMXK9g/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+028.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mrD8GHeYmlqS44ZNHgJp_8S0zqyyNqN5iBIJH7ahol0d7N3I0x-cZBCqJu45xW0ChJhdpc3WJcF97KPNUpYCn4WGEiJwiqCOP5AywZzAbeeo6bwIQ7_WhsiyFqf4MnZu-3_huKTMXK9g/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564706446553018034" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAQJx4VIvaRRe79dsUrky9Pltmh7NnykNIBbh-5JjlUTiuqwdt3EbxnFTpXo5C9I9X_aXtDCXbCkp2ItsKm_36AUaa4CE8oLAUJ3OsEEyI33Pl9doqL4WU6II2zaiiGr8MOS0Scf1qBjJ/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+032.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAQJx4VIvaRRe79dsUrky9Pltmh7NnykNIBbh-5JjlUTiuqwdt3EbxnFTpXo5C9I9X_aXtDCXbCkp2ItsKm_36AUaa4CE8oLAUJ3OsEEyI33Pl9doqL4WU6II2zaiiGr8MOS0Scf1qBjJ/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564706727508488242" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXE8dtpf__elZbNtpYrXk0jizTFA92SuHRZpTQG9qWoJP7zB7nXGhq5PQ2GjUu8H4WYYk0BW1_6o5pVd2zbTOtB-ZFpmfCS1Uo10ao6u6a_6TRwI2DOPZ-KOLdh3de1LjnI2Usr70o7vK/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+036.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXE8dtpf__elZbNtpYrXk0jizTFA92SuHRZpTQG9qWoJP7zB7nXGhq5PQ2GjUu8H4WYYk0BW1_6o5pVd2zbTOtB-ZFpmfCS1Uo10ao6u6a_6TRwI2DOPZ-KOLdh3de1LjnI2Usr70o7vK/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564707031999582370" /></a><br /><br />Our seats were in a perfect spot. There are two balconies and our seats were on the first balcony, in the first row at center stage. We could see and hear everything great. The book is written in 8 parts. The opera combines the first two parts, so there are 7 parts to the opera, each one being about 7-15 minutes long.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCV6MHWgxdMwHn9VPd5Jlg06kRtTtnDs14gUIpXia8vZTUvnsOP_qzJHvFaHThHeKXOfwFYoHB9Or_Si-MRBZrDyV004-rNWcKnSIcvPGBZdKt3mFmsGUDYX-lP5dFhPUirxcFHesAJAfU/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+035.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCV6MHWgxdMwHn9VPd5Jlg06kRtTtnDs14gUIpXia8vZTUvnsOP_qzJHvFaHThHeKXOfwFYoHB9Or_Si-MRBZrDyV004-rNWcKnSIcvPGBZdKt3mFmsGUDYX-lP5dFhPUirxcFHesAJAfU/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564707936323698354" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6rJnkCj4x55F9GBWS3pmZTb1IuOpZmcjSnSe5HxKCgyvzQ_g162B0I0y5mW_xdQxNkZDA4Jfv1SwikniFJbA-f5wDqY-N1JhpBrClH1T_RHmIlE-0XLPf7bsKs-ZWAA8nC-pkkfWIEdya/s1600/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+041.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6rJnkCj4x55F9GBWS3pmZTb1IuOpZmcjSnSe5HxKCgyvzQ_g162B0I0y5mW_xdQxNkZDA4Jfv1SwikniFJbA-f5wDqY-N1JhpBrClH1T_RHmIlE-0XLPf7bsKs-ZWAA8nC-pkkfWIEdya/s320/Opera+Evgeny+Onegin+041.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564708231022553554" /></a><br /><br />The music was beautiful and the singing was great. I will admit however, that I was a bit disappointed in some of the acting and in the script. The script was significantly different from the book at certain parts and really changed the mood, character development, and meaning of some events. When the opera came out, it was greeted with raving reviews by foreigners, but a lot of mixed reviews by Russians. I certainly understand why. The chance to be at the Bolshoi was a great thing though, and even if I had known beforehand that I’d be a bit disappointed, I still would have gone to see it. Yesterday though, I spent the evening reading through parts of the book again and watching the movie to reaffirm my love of the story. I highly recommend that you read the book. But read a good translation though…Barnes and Noble Classics do not count as good translations. Vladimir Nabokov is the best. <br /> <br />Well, that is about all I have to say on that subject. But continuing on the subject of books, I am reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. Can you believe that I’ve never read this before?! How is this possible? Every child in elementary school reads this and loves it. I found it in the library at school and decided to read it to my native speakers in 3rd grade. I am reading it through ahead of time and it is fantastic. I could hardly put it down today.<br />I love reading. Thank you so much Daddy for passing on your love of books to me and for pushing me to read good literature and not just “fluff” books all the time:) <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqv6aqEpPXP46aq4gMj8SjIyrw8mYfdKanZC8SfKOROtxsIq3baosTPotPtgOGLQmx3o53-KNXLZ5DgmHbRwfUEo6DWAkgu8aAM3w-kQnYCR0dqeVq_hE663ku_X_sCBF-Rj5wVw3JYyN5/s1600/JAMES-AND-THE-GIANT-PEACH.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqv6aqEpPXP46aq4gMj8SjIyrw8mYfdKanZC8SfKOROtxsIq3baosTPotPtgOGLQmx3o53-KNXLZ5DgmHbRwfUEo6DWAkgu8aAM3w-kQnYCR0dqeVq_hE663ku_X_sCBF-Rj5wVw3JYyN5/s320/JAMES-AND-THE-GIANT-PEACH.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564709708423588770" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-18732588478304820102011-01-02T07:05:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:08:06.186-08:00С Новым годом!Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! It has been a while since I've written...sorry. Time has flown by in the Motherland and so many things have happened. <br /><br />I finished my second term at school. I don't know where it went because it seemed to have just started when it finished. The holiday season is always a busy time at school. At my school, each class puts on a performance for the parents. They all pick different themes and they include singing, dancing, acting, jokes, etc. I went to as many of the performances I could and they were fascinating--I've never seen anything like them before. The costumes were incredible and usually tailored specifically for each kid. Many of the costumes were very elaborate. I would have to say the the 1st graders and the 4th graders had my favorite performances. The first graders showed New Years traditions from around the world. They showed Russian, Spanish, Scotish, and Japanese traditions. The 4th graders did the play of Peter Pan AND they acted entirely in English!!! Some of my 4th graders are a bit hesitant when speaking English, but they must have practiced for many many hours since they all did fantastic. Here are some pictures of these two performances as well as a picture of three of my great coworkers Vitaly, Amber, and Boris. Vitaly and Beka are dressed up because they played small parts in the 2nd grade perfomance.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmj_y0-JRnD2nPlba3qSS3SULFK_tYK9AQFw2XLwJB78FJvMAEi3Gp9k_bj10Tt0KK4aU5wmE4vNW61u-Hy5oW34uWZ3jGy9RdtHGIlCeF_fYVdPm1XvFwGiuGo9r69GTrKPDOLubhQjHs/s1600/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+153.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmj_y0-JRnD2nPlba3qSS3SULFK_tYK9AQFw2XLwJB78FJvMAEi3Gp9k_bj10Tt0KK4aU5wmE4vNW61u-Hy5oW34uWZ3jGy9RdtHGIlCeF_fYVdPm1XvFwGiuGo9r69GTrKPDOLubhQjHs/s320/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+153.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557614576463297330" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFkD673UARwi3jgJPzeEfogSqm1GKjQ2HlDwJwB_QjVnpnNsaTNZRboBvkbDdDXHR4wFZFGSEsemrlYJmFr46RG7PAnqzU9yb_l_OcUchI_LX6aToSbnhHDe9FeqVwjKc0NMAJu74Vkx1/s1600/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+139.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFkD673UARwi3jgJPzeEfogSqm1GKjQ2HlDwJwB_QjVnpnNsaTNZRboBvkbDdDXHR4wFZFGSEsemrlYJmFr46RG7PAnqzU9yb_l_OcUchI_LX6aToSbnhHDe9FeqVwjKc0NMAJu74Vkx1/s320/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+139.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557614572904456322" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66mu-6Ly_5cvOrAKBGKQN8ipNRptAdsKSzyHAEZPPad122bj3gdyeRvGQQrzjqilHFsAR8_UHSNry9XbgZX6qi-VOMCs7yMdhvirBIe9UKsZqSxP3iuxBCrM_C3iN_K1jJqhp9Rl4JSmM/s1600/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+097.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh66mu-6Ly_5cvOrAKBGKQN8ipNRptAdsKSzyHAEZPPad122bj3gdyeRvGQQrzjqilHFsAR8_UHSNry9XbgZX6qi-VOMCs7yMdhvirBIe9UKsZqSxP3iuxBCrM_C3iN_K1jJqhp9Rl4JSmM/s320/Christmas+time+in+Moscow+and+school+097.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557615406991424738" /></a><br /><br />Christmas time was also wonderful. I had Christmas dinner at Daniel and Emily Fisher's home. The Fishers are British friends from church who host a Bible study for young professionals on Tuesday and they invited a few of us over for Christmas. They have three kids: Jude, Amy, and Angus. They are lovely kids. It was very neat because those of us there were from the UK, America, the Faroe Islands, and Russia. For the British food we had bread pudding (my new favorite), and THE Christmas pudding. It doesn't have a more descriptive name, but all Brits eat it at Christmas and before eating they douse it in Brandy and light it on fire. Very cool. For the Americans, we had homemade Eggnog and, thanks to my mom, Ranch dressing! To represent the Faroese, Oli made rice pudding with a hidden almond (with which we played a game! This is another new favorite and I plan to continue the rice pudding almond game as a tradition. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcORlpc3VXlnr_ObSv8VXD6L_3DJouMGhShnrZewc1gwROPXRXY73yy7chiLXWjqVmZtddnldsqLfOELM6tVHNxXRw9vcgWqlovrkCgC9urRMc-106B41636CTxy3O5iasGQd-hq7PF_-/s1600/New+Year+2011+066.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcORlpc3VXlnr_ObSv8VXD6L_3DJouMGhShnrZewc1gwROPXRXY73yy7chiLXWjqVmZtddnldsqLfOELM6tVHNxXRw9vcgWqlovrkCgC9urRMc-106B41636CTxy3O5iasGQd-hq7PF_-/s320/New+Year+2011+066.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617809966478146" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKo_Id9qMz0X86wyaKTAFcW2xeiS1rA7pEZQtlnFajL1hBXCX46yUsfalbg_pq_aLSDqasBZC7m6U0eD5NyBaolTD_lO5OUwyMGLznuk-HFXkLKRAobQ-ReL90yiXmTCOoPUXFtZs_nwex/s1600/New+Year+2011+061.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKo_Id9qMz0X86wyaKTAFcW2xeiS1rA7pEZQtlnFajL1hBXCX46yUsfalbg_pq_aLSDqasBZC7m6U0eD5NyBaolTD_lO5OUwyMGLznuk-HFXkLKRAobQ-ReL90yiXmTCOoPUXFtZs_nwex/s320/New+Year+2011+061.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617802712651298" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3shyphenhyphenIrtB5d6jPzQnUAU80m1QX1TXpfx4ll4oAPx_dDsCPyy5fGSWfsnp5qWDtbDI9VnddELQrTX4l86C54bVLV3qH1GDa2xdMH9BImhTEjTSEnRuuMjAqafohZC0BljP8M3EnpHOgqifJ/s1600/New+Year+2011+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3shyphenhyphenIrtB5d6jPzQnUAU80m1QX1TXpfx4ll4oAPx_dDsCPyy5fGSWfsnp5qWDtbDI9VnddELQrTX4l86C54bVLV3qH1GDa2xdMH9BImhTEjTSEnRuuMjAqafohZC0BljP8M3EnpHOgqifJ/s320/New+Year+2011+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617800039087010" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bK3KJGUzlBu6CyIKnTd8nma7feLbtb6S-KWpws8w8LAMjI_1rR9HvhQ9QK9wKOIwKxb1eLYc8jQ7sKuN3IY0sROfYvR3gjLstYJwMHltjlQ5fBluMQVweAKESTq5pvY9g3PsayOTGBMk/s1600/New+Year+2011+035.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bK3KJGUzlBu6CyIKnTd8nma7feLbtb6S-KWpws8w8LAMjI_1rR9HvhQ9QK9wKOIwKxb1eLYc8jQ7sKuN3IY0sROfYvR3gjLstYJwMHltjlQ5fBluMQVweAKESTq5pvY9g3PsayOTGBMk/s320/New+Year+2011+035.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617789844460322" /></a><br /><br />P.S. The Christmas pudding is on fire, even though my picture doesn't really show it.<br /><br />Emily also made each of us stockings and put a bunch of little things in them. Everyone who came also got everyone something small to put in the stockings, and it was like a bit of home. <br /><br />While over break, my housemate, Kristin, and I wandered all over the city seeing things we had not yet seen. We went to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, a statue park, and a museum of Michael Bulgakov, Russia's favorite satirist, just to name a few. We also had quite the ice storm, with sidewalks and branches covered in ice. One of the best parts of break, however, was the day Vitaly asked to meet us. He said he wanted to give us something that would remind us of home. We met him in the metro and he gave us Dr. Pepper!!!! It is very hard to find here and very expensive when you do find it. What a treat indeed! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdD-TOxm-bqgomA86lXUe2TYKwL6_i59h3Dyn-DiIC6QaP2w4uW3dxqBcJ_Xx9N7dCaVUf1Yg9ovHQnghsj2Oxa4xjIc_0jhNbVPpoDPbCBsTmRY6IABaSE2mF783YkHrEcTN8zBnXXkx/s1600/New+Year+2011+115.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdD-TOxm-bqgomA86lXUe2TYKwL6_i59h3Dyn-DiIC6QaP2w4uW3dxqBcJ_Xx9N7dCaVUf1Yg9ovHQnghsj2Oxa4xjIc_0jhNbVPpoDPbCBsTmRY6IABaSE2mF783YkHrEcTN8zBnXXkx/s320/New+Year+2011+115.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557619468760328082" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZ0HWccI9O1WJs5YQdNO1TkgrMLVqUCe_tAGVCZSea279vf7im74JGc6F0GJLuo2LzAG0fw0cKPu039U5BWsmGqY4a9Xr0xAhaqr6IUyqnxzyRkgJbZEyJnlrPysDRHhYR4jTsthsSOmB/s1600/New+Year+2011+095.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZ0HWccI9O1WJs5YQdNO1TkgrMLVqUCe_tAGVCZSea279vf7im74JGc6F0GJLuo2LzAG0fw0cKPu039U5BWsmGqY4a9Xr0xAhaqr6IUyqnxzyRkgJbZEyJnlrPysDRHhYR4jTsthsSOmB/s320/New+Year+2011+095.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557619465166268450" /></a><br /><br />For New Year's Eve, Kristin and I decided to go to Red Square. Most Russians we talked to warned us about going there. They said it would be packed with people and you would stand like sardines. They said everyone would be drunk and there would be Nationalist riots. They said we might not even be allowed in because there are so many people. They said we'd be so cold we'd freeze our toes off. They said the fireworks would be lame and we'd never get back to the metro in time to make it home. Well, Kristin and I decided to try it anyway. The only thing the Russians were right about was the freezing toes. It was a good experience and I'm glad we went. I won't do it again, but I can at least say I rung in the new year in front of the Kremlin and St. Basil's.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44AXhLWuF_yhlBsi-ER-5N6iQOGu6ULo2p-YqpxbDCczpmqMaFzl74k_hTqxmDHpr5voo69pu4AIChi5Vdv8RqrFQ0ItGiMXhL5SONpxib-GiSz5DARausrb3ZoawnBTN3nbw02VQs30L/s1600/New+Year+2011+136.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44AXhLWuF_yhlBsi-ER-5N6iQOGu6ULo2p-YqpxbDCczpmqMaFzl74k_hTqxmDHpr5voo69pu4AIChi5Vdv8RqrFQ0ItGiMXhL5SONpxib-GiSz5DARausrb3ZoawnBTN3nbw02VQs30L/s320/New+Year+2011+136.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557620369424625650" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xKt5HQbD-TInhPmwq-iNybhdbIr79L8U8RlAhALLHIR34vC3ElAosyAV_-yaJh4MIJb692p9Io8agi9gtQ-AhNgtrGiHDyebJNA46LKXMqB1NloeXC3jf5wzq0h23TasfsPnukLKjlk4/s1600/New+Year+2011+135.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xKt5HQbD-TInhPmwq-iNybhdbIr79L8U8RlAhALLHIR34vC3ElAosyAV_-yaJh4MIJb692p9Io8agi9gtQ-AhNgtrGiHDyebJNA46LKXMqB1NloeXC3jf5wzq0h23TasfsPnukLKjlk4/s320/New+Year+2011+135.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557620364292196578" /></a><br /><br />All in all, this has been a great time of year. I miss my family and it would have been wonderful to make it home for Christmas and New Year, but overall I am glad I stayed. For a couple years now I have wanted to see a real Russian New Year. They don't really celebrate Christmas much, and what they do celebrate is on January 7. New Year's is the big holiday here. In fact, as I write this, Christmas is still 5 days away. Kinda crazy!<br /><br />So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Merry (Orthodox) Christmas! God bless us, Everyone!Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-69325004571161852422010-11-28T10:54:00.000-08:002010-11-28T11:19:43.166-08:00Hey-Diddle-DiddleNow here is one of my favorites--brought to you specially from the pen of Professor Tolkien. This is the little tune Frodo danced and sang to in The Prancing Pony in Bree--and when he made such a fool of himself. To get the full effect of this great song read the masterpiece "The Lord of the Rings!"<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqGtno69lskJ53K5lymOmKaafvhk-4TI6Pb1uXYGgTjA5X_8E049sT0jKymgnyd5Nu0jUVd7PfIrw67sBOen48acONyWXAffEpUoz_gqls68X3EZv8PbIIZ_CtJN4clm2gMCMR-tHNXyr/s1600/Frodo+dancing+in+Bree.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqGtno69lskJ53K5lymOmKaafvhk-4TI6Pb1uXYGgTjA5X_8E049sT0jKymgnyd5Nu0jUVd7PfIrw67sBOen48acONyWXAffEpUoz_gqls68X3EZv8PbIIZ_CtJN4clm2gMCMR-tHNXyr/s320/Frodo+dancing+in+Bree.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544682006991325810" /></a><br /><br />There is an inn, a merry old inn<br /> beneath an old grey hill,<br />And there they brew a beer so brown<br /> That the Man in the Moon himself came down<br /> one night to drink his fill.<br /><br />The ostler has a tipsy cat<br /> that plays a five-stringed fiddle;<br />And up and down he runs his bow,<br /> Now sqeaking high, now purring low,<br /> now sawing in the middle.<br /><br />The landlord keeps a little dog<br /> that is mighty fond of jokes;<br />When there’s good cheer among the guests,<br /> He cocks an ear at all the jests<br /> and laughs until he chokes.<br /><br />They also keep a horned cow<br /> as proud as any queen;<br />But music turns her head like ale,<br /> And makes her wave her tufted tail<br /> and dance upon the green.<br /><br />And O! the rows of silver dishes<br /> and the store of silver spoons!<br />For Sunday there’s a special pair<br /> And these they polish up with care<br /> on Saturday afternoons.<br /><br />The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,<br /> and the cat began to wail; <br />A dish and a spoon on the table danced,<br /> The cow in the garden madly pranced,<br /> and the little dog chased his tail.<br /><br />The Man in the Moon took another mug,<br /> and then rolled beneath his chair;<br />And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,<br /> Till in the sky the stars were pale,<br /> and dawn was in the air.<br /><br />Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:<br /> “The white horses of the Moon,<br />They neigh and champ their silver bits;<br /> But their master’s been and drowned his wits,<br /> and the Sun'll be rising soon!”<br /><br />So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,<br /> a jig that would wake the dead:<br />He sqeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,<br /> While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:<br /> “It’s after three!” he said.<br /><br />They rolled the Man slowly up the hill<br /> and bundled him into the Moon,<br />While his horses galloped up in rear,<br /> And the cow came capering like a deer,<br /> and a dish ran up with a spoon.<br /><br />Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;<br /> the dog began to roar,<br />The cow and the horses stood on their heads;<br /> The guests all bounded from their beds<br /> and danced upon the floor.<br /><br />With a ping and pong the fiddle-strings broke!<br /> the cow jumped over the Moon,<br />And the little dog laughed to see such fun,<br /> And the Saturday dish went off at a run<br /> with the silver Sunday spoon.<br /><br />The round Moon rolled behind the hill,<br /> as the Sun raised up her head.<br />She hardly believed her fiery eyes;<br /> For though it was day, to her surprise<br /> They all went back to bed!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTo2ek7n8nvIcc3KAgDscVCzARqjW4Re2zIZ5e0As3Ba_RjuTzon0qjdwXX9Y-STc3upqCGZqqFYZ8rvdxMoXDVf5-voJYhSnhFMRmwrfXf5xReDkg-ljTX6zqm1qzGgtAmVfvn_6OjVAW/s1600/Professor+Tolkien.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTo2ek7n8nvIcc3KAgDscVCzARqjW4Re2zIZ5e0As3Ba_RjuTzon0qjdwXX9Y-STc3upqCGZqqFYZ8rvdxMoXDVf5-voJYhSnhFMRmwrfXf5xReDkg-ljTX6zqm1qzGgtAmVfvn_6OjVAW/s320/Professor+Tolkien.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544682227152669090" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-18312518436913143432010-11-13T03:40:00.000-08:002010-11-13T08:35:58.757-08:00Random ThoughtsSaturday afternoon. Bored. Why? Never be bored. Find something to do. Blog; go buy an umbrella; finish your laundry. Do some work for school next week...wait, work on the weekend? What? Well, I guess I'll blog. Sounds more fun than anything else. I don't really know what to say; nothing but random thoughts run through my head.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjx2qq7koNI0j5wk6RaS3O1fWb7zrJgHVbmy5uKlH7qAqdaVJKXcCoQxztHbvB1NMxXovISb1aqreSw7PRZWOnWWYh39w8MSOmCJSLdgooiik7H6V-L2_DephZF3JOtVFqe6W1Hz4be_E7/s1600/Onegin+picture.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjx2qq7koNI0j5wk6RaS3O1fWb7zrJgHVbmy5uKlH7qAqdaVJKXcCoQxztHbvB1NMxXovISb1aqreSw7PRZWOnWWYh39w8MSOmCJSLdgooiik7H6V-L2_DephZF3JOtVFqe6W1Hz4be_E7/s320/Onegin+picture.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539070039727246866" /></a><br /><br />I bought "Evgeny Onegin" on an audio CD last night at a Russian bookstore. It's in Russian of course and I am so excited. I broke the plastic wrapping on it this morning and listened along as I read my English translation. Oh, how I wish I had brought my other copy of it in Russian. Why oh why didn't I?<br /><br />I was really upset with Mark Zuckerberg yesterday as I was watching "Social Network" at the theatres. What he did to his co-founder...mean. But by the end of the film I guess I didn't dislike him so much. I guess I'll keep my facebook page up. <br /><br />My housemate, Ella, made delicious borscht the other night. Best I've yet had in Russia.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb4IwK5qbHIxrpIBbffK0BUKelUrrKtTW_HE5jFgj0FWNzcbH9qs99A5rwN3MjgcrA6gPSVBMr0hfmCVB-S1AKBdnKSHjLGnjLuY2OQVsXVEfXLkt6zb8XNtKnLoT_UApbqmtK5OVMDqS/s1600/School+Nov+2010+004.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb4IwK5qbHIxrpIBbffK0BUKelUrrKtTW_HE5jFgj0FWNzcbH9qs99A5rwN3MjgcrA6gPSVBMr0hfmCVB-S1AKBdnKSHjLGnjLuY2OQVsXVEfXLkt6zb8XNtKnLoT_UApbqmtK5OVMDqS/s320/School+Nov+2010+004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539072743268345746" /></a><br /><br />I just agreed to tutor a 5th grade Ukranian boy in writing and a little in math. He is attending the Anglo-American school and I guess is really struggling. I heard about the job through a friend of mine who works at that school. So I will be working with this kid at least twice a week. Crazy what you can charge for tutoring in this city. Here I come Sallie Mae--I'll kick you to the curb so fast...<br /><br />One of the classes I teach is 5th grade conversation. My school is on the IB program and so I teach conversation within a theme of inquiry. These next two months they are inquiring into the universe/space. So I get to teach all about the planets, NASA, and everything that is so cool about space. Teaching friends--are you jealous? You should be. I am having so much fun with it. I've spent so much time lately researching cool topics that interest me, then I boil them down to the basic ESL 5th grade level, and have some fun!!<br /><br />Vacuum is very cool in particular. Who knew that vacuum theory/technology was so difficult to get your brain around? And black holes? And brown dwarfs? And binary stars? And plasma propulsion? And there is some really cool stuff you can see in infrared! I love it! For being so bad at science when I was in high school, I am surprised at how interesting it all is. It makes me wish I'd taken a physics class (even from Kamesh Sankaran...as killer hard as that would have been).<br /><br />The weather in Moscow is very strangely warm lately. And by warm I just mean that I'm not bundled up to my nose in down and fur, but can wear a normal wool coat and shoes instead. This is probably the calm before the storm--Moscovites say it will get bitter cold very fast.<br /><br />I eat too much chocolate in this country. Back in America, eating one piece of chocolate in a month was normal. Now I probably eat a piece (or more) every day...eek! But they are always bringing it to you at school. Every time I turn around someone has put more chocolate on my desk. And someone seems to always have a birthday. In Russia, when it is your birthday, you provide a party and bring all the cakes, chocolate, and fruit to your co-workers. There is just always too much chocolate and sweets available. The best chocolate in all of Russia, in my opinion, is the little Alyonka bar. So simple, and yet simply the best you'll ever eat!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielJrrn0vcEv_r0PtPG4nPgyzlj7GRVFj9nfiyYd_qMbNzLqXyys89Dw1aOeZkZ1l1pybLBKjPhMIM86qZntc86jJ40EiOOZ8oZGiOCtnZDkPAD8-MMO0OSe2xDyYH6nhkXLcJ6h2dWLuF/s1600/Alyonka+chocolate+bar.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielJrrn0vcEv_r0PtPG4nPgyzlj7GRVFj9nfiyYd_qMbNzLqXyys89Dw1aOeZkZ1l1pybLBKjPhMIM86qZntc86jJ40EiOOZ8oZGiOCtnZDkPAD8-MMO0OSe2xDyYH6nhkXLcJ6h2dWLuF/s320/Alyonka+chocolate+bar.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539073244892787986" /></a><br /><br />I finished the book I have been reading since I arrived, "The Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James. It was interesting, but the ending was strange and not my favorite. I think I had higher expectations of it, but alas, it is what it is. Being as I am so similar to Isabel Archer in some ways, I hope I won't make some of the stupid choices she did. By reading about her life though, maybe I learned some things about myself, which is one of the best things you can hope for from a book.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtDbl7CHVYrmTYoVUbq-v9-YlLoT3oGUQ-qqqlwAROZcWz3hQZw2GVDvrWXzGKjUHAXc1VJ72Ae64CGCBMiHuvahaa11YXLUFfiLtFfpkBccS1X3KXdEmFvnEpHEmcx9QVfCtuBgiQfPe/s1600/The+Portrait+of+a+Lady.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtDbl7CHVYrmTYoVUbq-v9-YlLoT3oGUQ-qqqlwAROZcWz3hQZw2GVDvrWXzGKjUHAXc1VJ72Ae64CGCBMiHuvahaa11YXLUFfiLtFfpkBccS1X3KXdEmFvnEpHEmcx9QVfCtuBgiQfPe/s320/The+Portrait+of+a+Lady.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539073829815046386" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, as you can tell I had a ton of random thoughts today. I do have a lot of stuff to tell about Helsinki still. I will get around to it one of these days. But for now, I am going to do some errands and hopefully go buy that umbrella.<br /><br />Paka!Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-54631822796821615032010-11-06T07:17:00.000-07:002010-11-06T07:58:15.754-07:00Estonian AdventuresI just spent a wonderful week vacationing in Estonia and Finland. There are so many things that I could post about that I don’t even know where to begin. Well I will start off by using this post to talk about Tallinn, and then set aside the next post to talk about Helsinki. Rather than tell you everything that happened, I will just talk about a few of my most memorable events.<br /><br />1. On the 14 hour, middle of the night train ride from Moscow to Tallinn, we stopped early Sunday morning to cross the border from Russia into Estonia. This alone took almost two hours. First we stopped for over an hour in Russia and the police came in with guard dogs, checked all our paperwork, and went through our bags. Finally we started moving again. We crossed into Estonia, and five minutes later stopped again. Now the Estonian guard dogs and police came in to do it all over again. What a hassle!<br /><br />2. Soon after arriving, finding our hostel, and settling in we went exploring. We had decided to buy a “Tallinn Card” for about $50. This was the best thing we ever did. With this card our entire trip was practically free except for our meals in the evening. This card gave us free entrance into museums, attractions, and paid for all our transportation in the city. We also got free ice cream, coffee, marzipan, shots, bowling, truffles, etc in businesses all over the city. The best of these was free time at a spa, which I will talk about next.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lhcHxCoMIXgZCge3dDd3Yl29CjZTzf371hyphenhyphenMuax8e0jruVtqnirfXV2arKvbWGsSE6S1itXyXz94vBx_dU177WZ7EdAw2fvSK6RFE6izyF_kkt8THPMNnaZLCMd0qzdwbI8fVyAnI6-X/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+025.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lhcHxCoMIXgZCge3dDd3Yl29CjZTzf371hyphenhyphenMuax8e0jruVtqnirfXV2arKvbWGsSE6S1itXyXz94vBx_dU177WZ7EdAw2fvSK6RFE6izyF_kkt8THPMNnaZLCMd0qzdwbI8fVyAnI6-X/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536443902310474642" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Xl6ivL4GocbO1_vg-5nEkHp3nmsBcwz514IWbMjRrhl1ebvrsHMTqYzcg_vTNZEZfatswVWDxGGxm3PA9HVRGgWcEM3AG4CiDv5MqJ7FK85-xBi1hB0fg_eEfMVVg9sJueRntky1K5n1/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+033.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Xl6ivL4GocbO1_vg-5nEkHp3nmsBcwz514IWbMjRrhl1ebvrsHMTqYzcg_vTNZEZfatswVWDxGGxm3PA9HVRGgWcEM3AG4CiDv5MqJ7FK85-xBi1hB0fg_eEfMVVg9sJueRntky1K5n1/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536444175162495762" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kLpsf8WTnDi33xr927KsvqokjP3va5fVHHhyhD8Rmz_RyvSY0EyUExnNC1jhjJ8KtNoYJpaUIAAEourtB-JFZEJa6wICWq-VJscIDSuj6_Zch_h5Ti5nAVfdqg0K764nEfl1VcR_fXg0/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+067.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kLpsf8WTnDi33xr927KsvqokjP3va5fVHHhyhD8Rmz_RyvSY0EyUExnNC1jhjJ8KtNoYJpaUIAAEourtB-JFZEJa6wICWq-VJscIDSuj6_Zch_h5Ti5nAVfdqg0K764nEfl1VcR_fXg0/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+067.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536444513209188338" /></a><br /><br />3. Aqua Spa—with the Tallinn Card we got 1 ½ hours free spa time. And we could go as many times as we wanted. So we went twice and essentially had 3 amazing hours of incredible saunas. There were 6 different types of saunas, and multiple swimming pools and some a couple “warm” tubs. I say “warm” because I could not classify them as hot tubs.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmAp0fea8tfFGQMPK_5EKBW4HlV122urnqgU-GIRssyzSvnycCFSd6QVQp7L21wtjZKBu5L-SoMyLIu6uCvRrB_I6-xCoAQ2YvpJwPkGE7uit5Ybwm2ArwJ52P67zhyphenhyphenKdBxKNsgSImn87/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+132.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmAp0fea8tfFGQMPK_5EKBW4HlV122urnqgU-GIRssyzSvnycCFSd6QVQp7L21wtjZKBu5L-SoMyLIu6uCvRrB_I6-xCoAQ2YvpJwPkGE7uit5Ybwm2ArwJ52P67zhyphenhyphenKdBxKNsgSImn87/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+132.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536443011149722018" /></a><br /> <br />4. Ice cream—another of the free things we got with the Tallinn Card was ice cream at a bookstore. I chose wheat flavored ice cream. It was delicious and it tasted exactly like wheaties breakfast cereal. <br /><br />5. One day as we were walking to our hostel a girl on the sidewalk suddenly yelled at us to stop. She was maybe in her late teens or early twenties and there were a few other people her age with her. We stopped and she drunkenly asked us in English, “are you from Estonia?” “No,” we replied. “Oh, darn. I don’t know where I am or what I’m doing here. I just know that last night I was partying and this morning I woke up in Estonia!” “Well, where are you from?” I asked. “Finland.” Hahahahaha. By far one of the funniest things I ever encountered. <br /><br />6. Boat tour. So we decided to go to the “Maritime Museum” and take a tour around some boats. We get there, and it is in a very sketch part of town. I was glad Rick was with us. We were the only ones there, and the “tour” had no guide. There were about 10 boats at the docks and they pointed to 3 of them and said, “go explore!” So we ran around and had a blast by ourselves climbing through engine rooms and down dark iron holes. There were two large boats and a submarine. Very cool.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7YTWoVe8zo0PVT-gtPkYRuXu4WITZmuue4nUSUiSjq8e_hdtPVwBCjQDOMn2mpzAOjb7hvNKyMMAs4W-tMyaYd69PKo23SBdeRdGbZcALd_cNifkuulVhegxn_hQ_-oaJO4cGKVVV2Hv/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+089.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7YTWoVe8zo0PVT-gtPkYRuXu4WITZmuue4nUSUiSjq8e_hdtPVwBCjQDOMn2mpzAOjb7hvNKyMMAs4W-tMyaYd69PKo23SBdeRdGbZcALd_cNifkuulVhegxn_hQ_-oaJO4cGKVVV2Hv/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536445229522727074" /></a><br /><br />7. Wall tour—the city was once surrounded by high stone walls and we got to walk around and climb on a few of them. Very fun and there were lots great views and pictures to be taken.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYbSEf4jPzNQ1_moJN4z9DSTThzMUafpCvSHHLSzTZ5yxsapac9FSFnEwtcaWjpWHn5Y0Cgfk7-s9p1cV7rvxCusrr-opiK2Idb-_ABr5dF7HrLJUCN0sCWg-JyuLAfq3XiSd-W1311Ma/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+178.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYbSEf4jPzNQ1_moJN4z9DSTThzMUafpCvSHHLSzTZ5yxsapac9FSFnEwtcaWjpWHn5Y0Cgfk7-s9p1cV7rvxCusrr-opiK2Idb-_ABr5dF7HrLJUCN0sCWg-JyuLAfq3XiSd-W1311Ma/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+178.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536448140486355810" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZB-sKyhXgwSMbCbL-IdYRaxybNQc4j5UQSWEVeYm5LvEq6ToF8uih66GRXbXH9XuF4BhfzXRoT16o6qkD2Nrr6YKHUTEWTw5erWzTMamPOlxaeg9RPlNwyrlxhS-lAcdMvDO7a3q5Ab7/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+170.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZB-sKyhXgwSMbCbL-IdYRaxybNQc4j5UQSWEVeYm5LvEq6ToF8uih66GRXbXH9XuF4BhfzXRoT16o6qkD2Nrr6YKHUTEWTw5erWzTMamPOlxaeg9RPlNwyrlxhS-lAcdMvDO7a3q5Ab7/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+170.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536448619206766722" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvjQQSsvq8kp-WPx-l-wbINWSvEKRz7WYvFuLKdBGXEQpAYlwaBzqgpH8kG3tSg3Pg3OMxrKromObdMnEGV6GufmtOrFqe-vfb3LmqvA5TEZ9ctSwY47Rc_TNEQFhF7vdfb9tTTfQYaR7/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+177.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvjQQSsvq8kp-WPx-l-wbINWSvEKRz7WYvFuLKdBGXEQpAYlwaBzqgpH8kG3tSg3Pg3OMxrKromObdMnEGV6GufmtOrFqe-vfb3LmqvA5TEZ9ctSwY47Rc_TNEQFhF7vdfb9tTTfQYaR7/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+177.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536448923765505714" /></a><br /><br />8. Hidden Tunnels—over the centuries as Estonia was expanding the people built huge bulwarks to surround the walls. A bulwark is a tunnel that is built above ground and then covered with lots of earth. They are huge hills that are now covered by parks and nice lawns. But once they were a main defensive tactic for the city. Until 2005 many of them had filled up with water, but the city is cleaning them out and taking people on tours. Only a small section is tourable—about ½ km. There are many kilometers of bulwarks. They have been used for different purposes over the years. During WWII the dry parts were used as shelters during the bombings. It was a very neat tour.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYrXKldNyhNRsevD2gvhjxu8oaKLSkb41vOqbyXx6ErXolaKpiMu4o2LgDHEf4Sx-_EAa6xZfwxm9_zYGZmSaGcaE2hp8Eh0TEW-55Venwsd1mqAwCrFsrJbJ_Mt4Bb3hSSZ3ZLHttJ0Y/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+143.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYrXKldNyhNRsevD2gvhjxu8oaKLSkb41vOqbyXx6ErXolaKpiMu4o2LgDHEf4Sx-_EAa6xZfwxm9_zYGZmSaGcaE2hp8Eh0TEW-55Venwsd1mqAwCrFsrJbJ_Mt4Bb3hSSZ3ZLHttJ0Y/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+143.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536446389325946450" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcgrdFu_z54oxFMP1EpMrjJat5vChZU-wIN6PU8Wzdw5qIQrwtCMoUzpyZd-m-ZnuqGra8lYzzneWujo2BVAuOKRJoYeAvK_syWH6X4eNVE0jzCMzoMeVzDbbtV7F2c3nhtbhz8YP8JRD/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+148.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcgrdFu_z54oxFMP1EpMrjJat5vChZU-wIN6PU8Wzdw5qIQrwtCMoUzpyZd-m-ZnuqGra8lYzzneWujo2BVAuOKRJoYeAvK_syWH6X4eNVE0jzCMzoMeVzDbbtV7F2c3nhtbhz8YP8JRD/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+148.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536450324118154066" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NktgyuK3BoWmIGG69JPAv_gsUDjrOVg7SubIpTlBZO1Jb8tJZn0m63TRZwrPTYpJNaku9ArYClcQ7_l1z4DAFqdAdYXrk7GmF2Ra3KIlBBh47KtvNjWuvKHObgdvH40N_zczwQm3WpHF/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+149.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NktgyuK3BoWmIGG69JPAv_gsUDjrOVg7SubIpTlBZO1Jb8tJZn0m63TRZwrPTYpJNaku9ArYClcQ7_l1z4DAFqdAdYXrk7GmF2Ra3KIlBBh47KtvNjWuvKHObgdvH40N_zczwQm3WpHF/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+149.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536446820311068706" /></a><br /><br />Summary—Tallinn is an incredible city. I could live here with ease. The people are very friendly, the food is delicious, the history is interesting, the city is much smaller than Moscow and is easy to get around in. There are a ton of restaurants and neat alley ways to discover. It would be hard for me to get bored here. But there is one thing I didn’t care for. It was much too easy to communicate. Everyone speaks English and the few that don’t can usually understand some Russian. I became very lazy with language and am sad to say that I didn’t learn one work in Estonian. Shame on me. But overall, I would recommend this place to anyone, anytime. I sure hope to return at some point.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmnoo4TD-e6Mb-HtPvzd_3jxKF-V0PuxKU-fY3RBj6EpEBmrOUX0lBoVGTa05OQ8lClxoTUeS_s0reJi4uQUt_M5S-s4xKarqJAn6d1EVaDV270rfEDeDqMJY9kivZ2rxu7zL5X0ozk78/s1600/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+462.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmnoo4TD-e6Mb-HtPvzd_3jxKF-V0PuxKU-fY3RBj6EpEBmrOUX0lBoVGTa05OQ8lClxoTUeS_s0reJi4uQUt_M5S-s4xKarqJAn6d1EVaDV270rfEDeDqMJY9kivZ2rxu7zL5X0ozk78/s320/Estonia+and+Finland+2010+462.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536447445960693666" /></a>Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-77727859197185760102010-10-27T07:22:00.000-07:002010-10-27T07:59:08.854-07:00Hot tea and wafflesIt is a chilly day in Moscow...no surprise lately. This morning it rained, but coming home from work tonight the clear, crisp, fall air was refreshing. I am sitting at home drinking a cup of tea and eating a delicious waffle. It is not a normal waffle that you eat in the morning with eggs and bacon, but a small, round European waffle filled with syrup. You make a hot cup of coffee or tea and set the waffle on top. In a couple minutes the syrup has warmed and you can eat a delightful pastry with your cup of Earl Grey. I'm obsessed!<br /><br />I can hardly believe that I have been here for a full term of school already. I am giving my students their 1st term assessments this week and it has been challenging to say the least. My school runs differently than most schools--even other Russian schools. There is not a required number of days that students must attend, so I have had students go away for two weeks on vacation and there is no need for them to do make up work. And here, when students or teachers get sick, they must stay out of school until the doctor signs off saying that their illness is completely gone. So they'll be out for a couple weeks often--and again, no make-up work. This seems ridiculous to me as a teacher. With break coming up, I have planned for assessments and been preparing my students for it--giving them the schedule well in advance. The day before the test, a couple kids say, "Well I am leaving for Dubai/Maldives tomorrow, so I won't be here." Thanks, kids. Teaching here is an adventure for sure--and a real look into the lives of the zolotoya molodezh, or "the golden youth." <br /><br />I am just as anxious for break as the kids, however. I have decided to do a little traveling for my fall break. I will be going to Estonia and Finland with a few friends this coming Saturday and we will be gone a week. We are taking an overnight train to Tallinn, Estonia and the Russians all tell me to have no happy expectations. We are going 3rd class and it might be kinda rough, but it will be a story to tell regardless:) We will be in Tallinn for 3 days and then take the ferry to Helsinki and stay there for a couple of nights, then take the train back again on Friday night. As bad as I am about blogging, I promise to put up a few pictures and tell a few stories about my time there.<br /><br />But before my lovely break I have some work to do. I am technically supposed to turn in all my lesson plans for next term by Friday. So I best get working! I have turned on my Jethro Tull Christmas album, which is brilliant by the way, have re-heated water for more tea, and now need to force myself to do lovely planning. <br /><br />Shisliva y paka!<br />SarichkaSarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-13484040741577980072010-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:002010-10-02T06:29:33.155-07:00High heels, mullets, flowers and chocolate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPfjp-NSy84mYoNxr-Sb3XlWHxZQTRvThyXGlausGDWu6j6hh9pvIYfeO70e49w07K9XIb5oJPklCcaNTOER-nXtAIR0W0aULl65h8eP-xFzghYjib1qGVKFrrNBT77oDZYpBJ4rrZOQ9/s1600/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+004.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPfjp-NSy84mYoNxr-Sb3XlWHxZQTRvThyXGlausGDWu6j6hh9pvIYfeO70e49w07K9XIb5oJPklCcaNTOER-nXtAIR0W0aULl65h8eP-xFzghYjib1qGVKFrrNBT77oDZYpBJ4rrZOQ9/s320/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523440206151676866" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK90WO_G3oyIncQdPkjeygvyW1DOhsah1ZS67kgzTymDJgr2stlUea-v1QhviHKzHPLRto7EwSqtZb1EvVvVeMjFofdwsq32ca3j2jBu3J2kjmC1FEIHR15nLOXLBhZI3g-HC4Y92dc_C/s1600/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+011.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK90WO_G3oyIncQdPkjeygvyW1DOhsah1ZS67kgzTymDJgr2stlUea-v1QhviHKzHPLRto7EwSqtZb1EvVvVeMjFofdwsq32ca3j2jBu3J2kjmC1FEIHR15nLOXLBhZI3g-HC4Y92dc_C/s320/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523440201727540482" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VbZvSeFItGj8rQY7TWvEWxiqI82q7nd_Wisl-vAdzo_sWrhrIs52-BFGTaBn44sNSIUtCw_An4I_oxMvNqGov8yoSYKBSjD5-nzy3h4dYduLSZ0cebbsb_R0L5JYQ4RAURqBd6a690yJ/s1600/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+050.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VbZvSeFItGj8rQY7TWvEWxiqI82q7nd_Wisl-vAdzo_sWrhrIs52-BFGTaBn44sNSIUtCw_An4I_oxMvNqGov8yoSYKBSjD5-nzy3h4dYduLSZ0cebbsb_R0L5JYQ4RAURqBd6a690yJ/s320/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+050.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523440201101576514" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_GIZRajAPG63kfF2yhl7vroRFZK9e-q9o3APeb7wFE_-7wLKjjlFd7wD5ST6mnqq2quFmgZqklcTYZpgmHiIeE7vrLeLhKOoXxtCllqNY8nn1QPk0SOC-I5S3_m0XrDNn4eXYCdyCmXr/s1600/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+059.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_GIZRajAPG63kfF2yhl7vroRFZK9e-q9o3APeb7wFE_-7wLKjjlFd7wD5ST6mnqq2quFmgZqklcTYZpgmHiIeE7vrLeLhKOoXxtCllqNY8nn1QPk0SOC-I5S3_m0XrDNn4eXYCdyCmXr/s320/Cosmonaut+museum+around+Moscow+059.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523440197487197394" /></a><br />How is it possible to love life so much? There are so many things in this country that could cause discouragement, homesickness, frustration, exasperation, and headaches, yet despite it all I am in love with this place and with my life. I have been very sick for the last three weeks with a sinus infection, but somehow it has not deterred me from enjoying school, hanging out with people, and seeing sites. <br /><br />The culture here is so fascinating. There are so many things that make me smile—on the inside of course. People don’t smile here very much, but I will admit that it is one of my favorite things about this place. They appear very serious on the outside, but they are very friendly enjoyable people. I also love the fact that they are quiet. You can have a very big crowd in a public place but it won’t be very loud because everyone speaks quietly and they don’t draw attention to themselves. This is excluding futbol matches, of course.<br /><br />All the women wear high heels—all the time. They are amazing with their balance as they will stand with no support on the metro and remain standing up. I am not quite that talented. I can stand alone in the metro, but not with high heels. I find that I too though wear high heels much more. I have not yet worn anything but high heels at work and my feet are becoming accustomed to it.<br /><br />Mullets are the other thing that are very popular here—don’t ask me why. They are not usually very long mullets, but are short (what my friends call Euro mullets). Nonetheless they weird me out.<br /><br />Muscovites are really into appearances. Most people don’t believe me when I say they are very fashionable people, but they are (at least in Moscow). I feel that little by little I am feeling more like a city girl. I am feeling much more comfortable on the Metro. I’ve not yet taken any pictures in the metro, but it is an incredible place. The marble, the chandeliers, the stained glass, the statues, the paintings are amazing. Taking the metro is like going into a museum. <br /> <br />School is still going well. I am feeling a little more settled in with what I am supposed to be doing. The students are really fun and I am glad I teach 5th grade because I can actually speak with them. By 5th grade most of them know a lot of English. One of my roommates teaches preschool and kindergarten and she frequently mentions how hard it is to never really talk with the kids because they hardly know any English at that point.<br /><br />Teacher’s Day is also coming up. It is October 5th and is a big day all over Russia. Students bring gifts to their teachers, and it normally consists of flowers and chocolate—two of the most popular things in the country. Teacher’s Day isn’t until next week, yet I have already received a couple big bouquets of flowers and several cards. The students at my school are also extremely wealthy so they tend to bring very expensive gifts. One of my roommates has already received Dior makeup and Prada perfume. Theater tickets, gift certificates, alcohol, electronic gadgets and tea are also very common gifts. In America these things would be considered bribes, but here it is the normal way of life. How interesting this place really is.<br /><br />I am sitting in a Starbucks drinking my $8 latte, updating my blog, visiting with my roommate, and watching the fascinating people out the window. This Starbucks is on the first floor of a business complex at a very busy intersection somewhere not too far from my home. There is a girl in a black and purple coat and very high heels standing out my window. She has been standing there for about 45 minutes waiting for something or someone. People and cars are rushing here and there, heels clacking, horns honking. My roommate is sitting across from me, surreptitiously working on her amazing photography skills. She bought a very old soviet era camera and has been taking a lot of pictures of me, the coffee shop and the people around us. She has been pretty sneaky about it too. I look forward to seeing them when the film is developed.<br /><br />For about half an hour the sun had been shining brightly, but now it has finally clouded over again. Someone finally came for the girl outside my window. I sip the complementary hot chocolate from the tiny cup I was just handed. I think I will finish this and open up the book I am reading, The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James. <br /> <br />Until later, <br />shasliva y paka.<br /><br />SarichkaSarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-49210407116688555152010-09-09T10:48:00.000-07:002010-09-09T11:53:36.399-07:00I'm Finally Here!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6F1vVL0re2q2HRXHXJz2FQXLYKn78V2-LhdN1JgFbaIwY2M-dakLqDTn3gDD5b90bxqkiYO0zYipl1uqdPuJ1a5HeJFW85ye_lyYwKXak9diLquB2Z11qBw0ge_YB9XV9Cu2gDKYT7W81/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+043.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6F1vVL0re2q2HRXHXJz2FQXLYKn78V2-LhdN1JgFbaIwY2M-dakLqDTn3gDD5b90bxqkiYO0zYipl1uqdPuJ1a5HeJFW85ye_lyYwKXak9diLquB2Z11qBw0ge_YB9XV9Cu2gDKYT7W81/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514988754333722594" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YTy-VM11dTGLBdTM6xoCkQqob4u7yUscbI0tonLHxXmtnwQJyY8pKH3snJ16yLGO8r_UGl3XNPhQU_muf_NyIoiRQmWlfOkaH2nPxYlmS1tqfv9kuh5YGdtSj1aF7QIoeFBHbrSfeePj/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+026.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YTy-VM11dTGLBdTM6xoCkQqob4u7yUscbI0tonLHxXmtnwQJyY8pKH3snJ16yLGO8r_UGl3XNPhQU_muf_NyIoiRQmWlfOkaH2nPxYlmS1tqfv9kuh5YGdtSj1aF7QIoeFBHbrSfeePj/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+026.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514988745284704418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1KfFYOd48faVDoqsZZlOUfnuDtn6o8nlnxFq-3wPlasidWCNv177MWB0dsjyZycWrYxCsqaw_jvSPjpqSS0HQR95ZYJozXXa0NjlGQkfARXoneMkTR64zhsJPoB5fKcbKjmr6z4t5yWD/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1KfFYOd48faVDoqsZZlOUfnuDtn6o8nlnxFq-3wPlasidWCNv177MWB0dsjyZycWrYxCsqaw_jvSPjpqSS0HQR95ZYJozXXa0NjlGQkfARXoneMkTR64zhsJPoB5fKcbKjmr6z4t5yWD/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514988740992647506" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTaH-69QeZgHr5yiUiWqn_ZYShYdAfW3v_O7fQomDSkfZpg6tk5Kh63VPAes8BYev0cFUy0b5jrooFwVgS_aGgTJcvEkiv3W28iX0xabBlztKu8mmRoOxEnidI8RjSYbqrDZpTl8_0XcD/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+054.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTaH-69QeZgHr5yiUiWqn_ZYShYdAfW3v_O7fQomDSkfZpg6tk5Kh63VPAes8BYev0cFUy0b5jrooFwVgS_aGgTJcvEkiv3W28iX0xabBlztKu8mmRoOxEnidI8RjSYbqrDZpTl8_0XcD/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514988732806006354" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOjTWoV3iyWHAGGCGybkJMQYnBNNLXWfd5mb86N0Lq6QPFOZA8er2Q0OfZj9KEk4Ur-ET3vEyc3Lkko3sEGDFKOGuiNMHg36Fbo7DnoRBvhI8tAwuGBLzNgwEGIMBU9MDWd27aWWEcH80P/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+026.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOjTWoV3iyWHAGGCGybkJMQYnBNNLXWfd5mb86N0Lq6QPFOZA8er2Q0OfZj9KEk4Ur-ET3vEyc3Lkko3sEGDFKOGuiNMHg36Fbo7DnoRBvhI8tAwuGBLzNgwEGIMBU9MDWd27aWWEcH80P/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+026.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514986249207185634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9hI3H3tdua7IvtIB1XhF36z-Z1IEHrfEiYU2Gb4M7SXd-bm19uslxCsGU242Hra4gq9fMZPbd0L_LO27zraV9lvxziCIsCGa3L14OqnkfXmRuhvfWphNaB2xWrKjsqyOzFZIinryEECD/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+024.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9hI3H3tdua7IvtIB1XhF36z-Z1IEHrfEiYU2Gb4M7SXd-bm19uslxCsGU242Hra4gq9fMZPbd0L_LO27zraV9lvxziCIsCGa3L14OqnkfXmRuhvfWphNaB2xWrKjsqyOzFZIinryEECD/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+024.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514986236830695154" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WxHuXNvDKjGtX52UKtjgHoMXICYycunFxr2E37i4eXuKxS7zX0Hnz9rks__YAFn_XU-yPcS8i0UwSLpsrUZBH6myjLobvEWbDsJxmWtttw9nY1in9TkJII3astze3o2MdoAf49Md3Hik/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+043.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WxHuXNvDKjGtX52UKtjgHoMXICYycunFxr2E37i4eXuKxS7zX0Hnz9rks__YAFn_XU-yPcS8i0UwSLpsrUZBH6myjLobvEWbDsJxmWtttw9nY1in9TkJII3astze3o2MdoAf49Md3Hik/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514986226535978546" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrS4QLpE7j-XsRzNQQPcZ6d3ygs3K5a67Y9HBThL8b6L2qQzfwO8RvNbF1Z3ZDCCw1GNH5QFRir9BRm4OKSkGP31nUcNfwPyDR3FtYKapPm2qVNPNgg3BeDeGEFwjiTI2DczUz_GpUq5n2/s1600/Arrive+in+Moscow+054.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrS4QLpE7j-XsRzNQQPcZ6d3ygs3K5a67Y9HBThL8b6L2qQzfwO8RvNbF1Z3ZDCCw1GNH5QFRir9BRm4OKSkGP31nUcNfwPyDR3FtYKapPm2qVNPNgg3BeDeGEFwjiTI2DczUz_GpUq5n2/s320/Arrive+in+Moscow+054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514986219301184402" /></a><br />I have now been in Moscow for one week. My trip over went very smoothly and well. I arrived in Houston, Texas and met up with the other American teachers in the airport. We all traveled over together. We were picked up by a big tour bus owned by the school and taken to our apartments. I am living with Kristin and Ella and they are great roommates. Our apartment is about a fifteen minute walk from the city campus of the school. The neighborhood is very nice and feels quite safe. I live near two small grocery stores, a few restaraunts, coffee shops etc. Things are quite expensive here. Even at the street markets and vendors you will spend quite a bit if you eat at them often. There is a larger grocery story near the school, but we don't get a lot because we have to carry everything back with us. Also, in Europe refrigerators are quite small and ours is not very cold. So stocking up on food is impossible. You have to shop every couple days and just buy what you will eat immediately. Shopping is an adventure for sure!<br /><br />This city is incredible. I feel good being here. There are people I am with that are going through a significant amount of culture shock and struggling with the immense differences between here and the states. Overall, I haven't gone through this too badly yet. Of course I have some culture shock, but I do not miss the states at all right now and am very glad I am here. I know this honeymoon phase will pass quickly, but even as it does I think I will always find this a great place to be. I am determined to be positive about everything and that attitude is kind of helping me cope with the multiple challenges I have already had to face here. I am having to trust the Lord with so many things and that has been wonderful for our relationship.<br /><br />I started school on Wednesday. I arrived Friday, so this gave me a few days to recuiperate from jet lag, get settled into my apartment, see a few sites, and visit my school for the first time. I am actually teaching at the country campus, which is called Zaitsevo for the region it is in. My roommate Kristin also works there with me as well as two other American teachers, Amber and Jeff. We walk to the city campus every morning, which is called Presnya for the region it is in. We catch at big tour bus at 7:45 which picks up and takes all the country teachers to the school. Most of us that teach out there live in the city so it is about a 45 minute drive on average. It depends on traffic though of course. Yesterday we arrived back in the city in 35 minutes and coming home today it took 1 hour and 45 minutes. Books and my MP3 player are my best friends. <br /><br />School here is very different in some ways from the states. For instance, school starts at 9 and ends at 5 and students can eat 3 meals a day there. The country campus is very beautiful with lots of windows, atriums, and woods behind it. It is a very wealthy school so it has classes and activities most other Russian schools do not. For instance, we have some sports, dance classes, swimming, karate, etc. In Russia, sports and activities outside of academics are just not in school. My school was the first private school in Russia and it was just started in 1993. The teachers are truly good that I see so far. <br /><br />I teach several different types of classes. I am one of the 5th grade homeroom teachers. I work with two other Russian teachers who are the main teachers. They teach in Russian and I supplement in English. It is challenging because they do not speak hardly any English. Communication has been a challenge. I teach a history class on my own in English that has an emphasis on conversation. I only teach that once a week. The two teachers teach the main lessons and then I teach supplementary material in English to what they've already taught. By 5th grade most of my students speak English to some degree. Most of them have English-speaking nannies, bodyguards or tutors as well. <br /><br />But my two favorite classes are teaching English to 2nd and 3rd grade native English speakers. These kids are the few kids in our school who are not Russian. Some of them are fully British and a couple are half British, half Russian. In these two classes which I teach every day, I only have a couple students. I have 4 students in 2nd grade and 3 students in 3rd grade. I also teach conversation classes to Russian students in 4th grade, as well as a few sections of what they call Handicrafts. It is basically a crafts class. That will be my most challenging. I struggle with crafts and class tends to be a bit chaotic during that time.<br /><br />But I feel very accepted at the school. People seem to want to help when they can. The Russian English teachers are particularly helpful as they do some translating for me. Little by little I am picking up words, but the Russians in Moscow speak so quickly that sometimes it is challenging to distinguish. But I am determined to be forthright in learning the language. Some will come to you by just being around it, but that is not enough for me. I need to find a tutor or take some classes.<br /><br />Anyway, I had better wrap this post up and show a few pictures I have taken around the school and with my students. Dosvedanya!Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4365857977985001857.post-1927484776429902102010-08-21T13:22:00.000-07:002010-08-21T14:06:40.964-07:00My journey to Russia!I sit in front of the computer, the blank screen before me begging to be filled with something. A story. Thoughts. Ideas. Prayers. Something. Just how do I start this blog? Maybe a little story about my journey to Russia.<br /><br />Last year I lived in Saipan, a beautiful tropical island in the western Pacific. There happens to be a large Russian population on Saipan, and my dance teacher was Russian. When I first started taking lessons from her I mentioned I would be moving to Russia later in the year and she stared at me skeptically and then said, "Why?"<br /><br />Well, yes...why do I want to move to Russia? I could give the cursory answer I normally give--to teach. But really it is so much more than that. My desire and obsession with Russia begins about 4 years ago. But first, lets look back even further--to when I was in junior high.<br /><br />A young college graduate who was the son of an acquaintance came to dinner at our home one night. He was moving to Siberia with Campus Crusades for Christ and was visiting with us about his upcoming adventure. I remember thinking at the time--"Why would anyone want to move to Russia, let alone Siberia?" It positively sounded like torture at the time. Ironic how life is, right?<br /><br />Then freshman year of college, the winter Olympics was occuring in Torino. I remember watching figure skating--my favorite winter sport--and being amazed by the Russians (of course). I started watching it on YouTube and wondering why the Russians were so good for so many years. Why was that? So I started to do some research and found out that so much of it is cultural, based on the training, and a remnant of the Soviet Union. It got me fascinated with why Russian and American cultures were so different. But I thought that some of the differences were amazing and just because they were different didn't mean either were bad.<br /><br />I took a class in Russian literature and fell in love with Russian writers. So many of the stories and novels I read have changed my life and perspective. Many of my ideas come from the "pockets of Gogol's 'Overcoat'" as Dostoevsky so aptly put it. I have been changed by Crime and Punishment, astonished by Anna Karenina, uplifted by Evgeny Onegin, enlightened by works of Solzhenitsen. And so much more. My emotions, my ideas, my ideologies, seem to, for whatever reason, mesh with and understand Russian literature. I love it!<br /><br />Through literature I began to understand some of the Russian mindset. However, I knew I could never fully understand unless I lived in the culture, interacted with it, was changed by it, and in some way also changed it. I desired this so much. I dreamed of living there and hoped that my career choice of international teaching would someday lead me there.<br /><br />At first, the door seemed closed to Russia. So I looked at other options. I really was willing to go anywhere, so when the job in Saipan opened up I jumped at the chance. Saipan was amazing--the tropics, the beaches, the people, the food, the teaching--were unforgettable in a great way. But while there I was contacted by a recruiter at a Moscow school that I had kept in contact with. She sent me the application and encouraged me to apply. I enjoyed Saipan enough to stay there another year, but thought that if I got the job to Russia it would be even more amazing. I got the job!<br /><br />I was finally being taken to the place I had always dreamed to be! God had opened the doors at each step for this. I will be leaving in just a little less than 2 weeks. There has been a ton of paperwork and there have certainly been setbacks and challenges with it, but it is all coming along as it should.<br /><br />Some people ask me how long I will be there and my first instinct is to say, "forever." But in reality I have no idea. If the Lord leads me to stay in Russia beyond this first year I will be more than happy to. But if he instead leads me elsewhere, whether to another country or back to the U.S., I will follow. And with joy.<br /><br />So with that said, I will finish up this first and very long blog. I appreciate your prayers, your thoughts, your comments. God bless.Sarah Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563235778372575724noreply@blogger.com2