Day 36 ~ Working and then off to the Village

7. August ~ Finally Friday, on my way to the Village!

Today the kids did not want to behave. It is in these times that I really need to build up my patience because it’s so difficult when the children act up and I can’t really do too much about it but I would like too. Linguistically I can really just say Stop, No, That’s bad or something around those lines.

Lilo and Stitch was on again when I arrived. I must say, it’s a pretty strange movie, even if I can still hear some English over the dubbed Russian. The kids really seem to like it this week, it’s been on a lot. Outside on the playground there is an older couple that has been working on putting up a new fence. There are a few rooms inside the orphanage too that look like they’re getting a remodel. Most of Russia seems to be getting a facelift from what it looks like. New paint job here, windows there, new buildings too!

There were different workers today, they usually switch days and work every other. One of them happened to be Masha’s host mother, Lena. It was nice to be working with her because I know her outside of this. Today Lena decided that we should walk to the Kremlin! Lena says she doesn’t like sitting around the playgroup and thinks the kids should get out and walk around more. I like her thinking.

So we walked to the Kremlin, over the walking bridge and to the shopping center Duez. I had been there in the first week or so that I arrived. Lena was looking for bananas and so I had to wait outside with 5 kids today, not 8. We were all sat on some benches. They did not want to listen and when we were walking they didn’t want to hold my hand or were fighting with each other. It made me a little annoyed and I was trying to not get to stressed out but its hard to tell kids to behave while watching out for cars too! When Lena was in the store Daniel tried to run across the street only because he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Ugh, yeah. Even Alla was acting up which surprised me. She usually is pretty good.

The children are a lot more comfortable with me and Daniel, 5, loves to hang out with me. I showed him my cell phone and iPod yesterday and he was my new best friend after that. It was interesting, the children may have never seen an iPod before but they knew it played music.

After the morning I met up with Steve and Adrian at the Kremlin and got to see where they work! It was neat. From there Steve showed me this cafeteria style restaurant where he gets coffee everyday and has lunch. I joined him for lunch and we hung out for about an hour. It was nice, we decided that I will meet him and we will have lunch for the rest of next week too!

After lunch I went to Francesca’s to hang out until going back again at 4. In the afternoon I had my camera and the kids wanted me to take their pictures. Alla is certainly isn’t camera shy and wanted me to take pictures of only her. I got some nice pictures of the children so be sure to check those out!

Along with that I read a book with Alla about a princess, played blocks with Daniel, the other Daniel and Andrei, and also accompanied the children as they discovered some ant farms. It’s always fun and exciting at work. I am getting very comfortable around the kids and realize that overall kids aren’t as bad as they seem. They may misbehave but it’s in their nature. Work is more enjoyable too now that I spend more time with everyone and a level of trust is established.

Around 5:30 usually parents come and pick up their children. It is for this reason that I question why the establishment is called an orphanage and not a daycare. I still am not sure. Well anyways, Alla’s mother showed up and she was sitting on a swing talking to Alla.

Lena told me that she’s a bad woman because she drinks a lot, has no job but a lot of different boyfriends. I said that it’s pretty sad and Lena told me that most of the children’s’ parents are in the same category. They drink, do drugs, and usually don’t have a steady job. It’s a sad but very popular situation here in Russia. I am not surprised to hear this, but it’s still sad. Makes me think of how many children are in the same situation in America. The orphanage must be one of the only shelters for the children because I can’t imagine what home life is like.

On my way home the bus is always packed, so much so that I didn’t even notice that Steve was on it until he was near his stop. Yeah, 6 o’clock rush hour makes for a quite long and sweaty commute home on lovely Russian public transportation!
When I got home I sat down and ate leftovers from breakfast to which Olga responded saying that she was going to the village and if I was coming we were going soon. So I quick packed my bookbag and we headed out the door with Beesha and Shira too!
Olga and her aunt (mother’s sister) and I and the two pets were headed to the village. Shira was not very amused with riding in the car and sat herself between Olga and her headrest the whole trip. Beesha was content in the front.

The village was a nice almost 2 hour car ride. At some points we were on those back roads with pot holes the size of Texas. Some roads were so bad that you have to drive on the shoulder. In other spots it wasn’t as bad and Olga really stepped on it going a nice 100 km an hour down the narrow country roads. I don’t know how many miles that is, but I remember looking at the speedometer and chuckling. It reminds me of my driving at home, although I rarely go that fast.

I really enjoyed the ride as always and I love the country! Never was into the big city scene. So we arrive in the village and this is where Olga’s mom lives and where she grew up! The house was a greenish shade. I notice that a lot of the houses in the villages are painted nice bright colors, from blue to green, yellow and even pink!

Also inhabiting the house are two dogs, cats, chickens, and bees. I got a quick tour of the inside and outside and was pretty hungry; it was around 9 when we arrived. Olga said I couldn’t eat until after I went in the Banya.

Now banyas are another story in themselves which I will get to in a moment. I found out that the farmhouse was built by Olga’s grandfather, the father of her mother. In front of the house there is a huge fenced in area where there are quite a few rows or vegetables growing, a little covered house for tomatoes, four beehives and lots of apple trees! Connected to it on the side of the house is an enclosure for chickens.

It is common for villagers to have these fenced in areas where they grow produce and have flower patches or whatnot. I was a bit surprised that there was as much as there was here. Check out the pictures!

So anyways. I had my first experience in a banya. It is interesting, let me say that. Banya’s are strictly a Russian thing and Olga’s mom said I had to experience a “Russian Banya”, as well as a “Russian Village”. Anyways, as you know toilets and showers are not in the same area and in the village most people don’t have a typical shower but a banya.

The banya is just this small building. It has a small room in it and then the larger room. You enter the small room first, this is where you take off your clothes and whatnot to get ready to go in. In the bigger room you have a stove, a large basin of water in front of it, and some smaller basins that you fill up with water. There are also a small platform to lay on and tiny benches.

The banya is like a sauna, but most likely a lot hotter. I’ve never been in a sauna so I cant really say. Anyways, Olga and I went in it together. It is a little bit awkward at first because both of you have no clothes on. There’s only one light so it’s can be pretty dark in there. I wouldn’t have wanted to go by myself with the huge stove. The stove took up a lot of space in an already pretty small area.
We get in the banya and it’s noticeably hot when you first get in. Olga put more water in the stove and that causes the area to steam up a lot. You start sweating a lot and that’s how you initially get all wet, form your own sweat. I remember trying to breath in, and it seems so difficult with the amount of heat. Olga told me what the temperature was at the hottest in Celsius so I really have no idea. Well over 100 though.

SO then Olga had me lay down and took a bunch of these branches with leaves on them and started I guess you would say hitting me with them, but it’s done in a gentle and massaging fashion. You do this laying on your back and stomach, and it actually feels really nice. The second set of branches I felt came from a pine tree because they were more scratchy but it felt great anyways, especially on mosquito bites!
After that you move over to some benches and fill the smaller basins with water. Two basins, two benches, two people you get the idea. Olga asked me if I wanted my hair washed and I said yes, so she put shampoo and conditioner in it and then poured the water from the basins on me. Haha, it feels really nice, and it’s still really hot in there so you never feel chilled when there isn’t constant water flowing on you like in a shower.

After washing hair you take these big scrubbing things and basically scrub yourself down with soap. Olga poured more water on me and then it’s all finished!
The idea of a banya has been around for a very long time and is a very traditional thing. It may be similar to the idea of public baths in japan, but I am not sure. Liza tells us that people can spend a whole day in a banya just talking and relaxing with friends. Overall some people might not really like the idea of it, but I think it’s not that bad.

Personally I really like hot showers and once you get used to the heat of the banya it’s not that bad. If feels sooo relaxing and if I was laying down long enough I bet I could fall asleep. You feel very clean and refreshed. I think it’s better than a shower, just have to be careful with the stove close by. So, that was my banya experience. I enjoyed it and I kind of wish I could have my own personal banya at home! Oh well, I can just steam up my bathroom at home instead.

Oh another thing, the banya is like 50 feet from the house down a few stairs in a area of trees. I wonder how fun it is in the winter going to and from the banya. As for the toilet, it looked ike it used to be an outhouse, but now it has a toilet seat covering the hole. That was interesting too. On top of that there was a huge spider that was just hanging around, literally, to the right of me. I hate spiders and good thing it wasn’t moving around too much or I wouldn’t have been able to go to the bathroom all weekend!

Any ways, after the banya I had dinner with everyone. Olga’s uncle (her Aunts husband) found it amusing that I take so many pictures, especially of food and he would be like where is your camera, here take a picture of this, or take a picture of me. I don’t know if he was making fun of me or not, but it was kind of funny.
I noticed that when everyone talked to each other they seemed to be yelling. I don’t know if it’s because they couldn’t hear very well or that in general they speak louder normally. It was a little bit uncomfortable, at first I thought at times they would be yelling at me, but it’s just their norm.

Another thing, I had a hard time understanding Olga’s uncle , she calls him Dada so I was confused at first and thought he was her father, speaking, he mumbled a lot, and when he realized I couldn’t understand he would just repeat the same thing but louder .That doesn’t help anything. Eventually he would just give up.

For dinner we had fish and cabbage pie, cabbage, fish, another meat that looked like a pork chop but I don’t know what it was, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers. It was a nice little bit of this and that. I ate a lot of tomato wedges with just salt and I really enjoyed it. The fish was better than I thought it was and at first I was reluctant to eat it. Overall Russian cuisine fails to disappoint. I am really wondering if there is any culture who’s food I wouldn’t like.

After eating I was really tired but of course I had to have tea. I tried a new brand of green tea and it was really strange. When I was ddrinking it I thought I was drinking tea with soap suds in it. I didn’t want to finish it, but that would have been rude. Olga and the rest of the family were taking shots of congac and grandfather tried to get me to have some, but I didn’t feel like it. Haha, I went to bed soundly and Beesha even jumped up and curled up next to me surprisingly. Beesha is so sweet!

First impressions, I love the village. It’s so quiet, I can hear the birds singing, the bees buzzing, the mosquitoes, the flowers swaying in the wind. I could feel the sun upon my skin as well as the breeze. It’s my type of scene and I love it here. Every once and a while you hear an alarm in the distance signaling that a train is coming and then soon you hear the train pass through. It’s lovely, reminds me of summer days at my own grandmothers house, and growing up in a big farmhouse out in the country.

Tomorrow I am not sure what we’re doing, but I am sure that whatever it is, I will enjoy it for sure
Love, Sasha

Photo Link (Past three days) : Russia ~ Day 34, 35, 36 ~ Food, Kids, and Village!