Home Sweet Home: A Recap of Last Days

So everyone, I have made it home safe and sound. The whole journey home took 25 hours, and I was up for about 31 hours. Being home is very strange, and most things feel different. I now understand the whole idea behind every time you come home it's never the same because of the experiences you've had while absent. It's soo apparent.

I won't lie and say that I've been really sad and I miss Russia a lot, it's a feeling of emptiness.

My trip home from JFK was certainly an interesting one. After sitting in the airport about 3 hours we boarded the plane on time, 9:10pm. But then we ended up sitting in the plane for two and a half hours, didn't leave until 11:20-ish. NYC had really bad thunderstorms and all the planes were late getting off the runway, 561 lightning strikes in one hour! At one point we were number 36 for takeoff. I was soo exhausted that I just closed my eyes. There were two really fun flight attendants who made the wait entertaining. At some points we could look out the windows and see the crazy lightning all around us, kind of cool.

Oh another thing, when we arrived in Helsinki, the plane didn't come up to a terminal so we had to get off and walk to a bus and then get driven to the terminal. In that short amount of time I got to walk in Norway, and I got rained on too, I was quite excited!

Anyways, I finally arrived, it was nice to see my parents again, and my cat..

My last morning with Olga was really good too, as good as it could have been. I got up at 5:15am and got ready, took a shower. Olga was making breakfast, my favorite, Blini-ish stuff filled with the vegetables. I've had it before, she makes it for me a lot. I had my last cup of tea, and got my stuff and we walked out the door.

It was sad, we didn't really know what to say. The bus finally came to pick me up, Olga helped pack my stuff and gave me a hug. She waved to me through the window until I couldn't see her anymore and I could tell she was crying.

The bus pulled away and I started crying too. I hate goodbyes. I am going to miss so much. Since I've been home I see everything around me and compare it to Russia in my mind. I cried again when the plane left Russia, and right before I landed in NYC.

Oh well. I think that there will always be a feeling of emptiness and longing to go back. What I miss the most is just the culture in general, it fits my personality so well, I felt so at home there.

Oh well. So, from here I am getting ready for school, lots of small things to do here and there, organize my room, develop pictures, make projects, visit people and talk about my trip! So much stuff before school starts, i don't feel I have enough time.

The weather is muggy and hot, so I already miss Russia weather, the food, and the quiet. I certainly didn't miss the constant stimulus of Mass Media, or the television in general. I should buy some earplugs. I just miss Russia. I want it back. I plan on making a wall of photos in my room! Fun fun!

I drink lot's of tea, it's not the same, but it's an attempt to keep part of Russia with me!

I want to end by saying thank you to everyone who has followed this journey with me and spent time reading this! Furthermore, thanks to my parents for giving me this opportunity, Liza for all of her work, and my fellow freinds on the trip for great times.

Last but not least, thank you dearest Russia, you're beautiful.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

So long, Love,
~Sasha

PS - Picture Link: Russia ~ The Final Days

Coming back to America

Ah it's soo weird to hear everything in English. I am currently sitting in JKF, I have to wait 3 hours for my flight, good times. Just a quick update, everything with my flights went fine! As of right now I have been awake for 21 hours! I didn't sleep at all on my 8 hour flight, but all of the flights and connections so far have gone smoothly.

I was pretty happy when the first song I noticed in JFK was Viva La Vida, hooray for Coldplay on the radio!

Write more soon, expect to be home in 6 hours! Love, Sasha

Evening Stroll..

So, the last evening with Olga was great, it was a nice way to end such a great trip.
When I got home I wrote my card to Olga and got all of her gifts together. She came home and started cooking, of course. Last meal was mushrooms with vegetables and then a meat pie, oh and a porkchop. Too much food, but Olga said that I would eat bad the next day so I had to be filled.

For dessert we had tea and it was around here that Olga was like oh I am giving you all of these things to put in your suitcase to give to people. From there, I gave her my gifts and she started crying a little bit. Aww... but I was soo glad to give her the card I wrote.

Anyways after all of that she asked me if there was anything I wanted to do, I said a walk in the Kremlin one last time. By the time we got around to doing this is was 9pm. It was dark out because clouds were rolling in, and when we were walking around it was starting to rain. When we were leaving the lights were turned on, and it looked pretty.

I love cities at night, and walking, and rain, so it was just perfect. Beesha, Olga and I enjoyed it.

Once we got home we went to bed! Oh man, busy day tomorrow! Eeek, Love, Sasha!
PS - Pictures coming soon!

Champagne and Pizza

Hello! So I guess I am posting again today! Well, after I left the hotel the group met with Stas. He gave us some papers that I have to take back to Liza and then told us about your plans tomorrow for leaving. I am getting picked up between 7:00-7:30, after Steve and Adrian, then Francesca after me!

So, after we did our housekeeping Stas said let's go out. He had about 2,000 rubles (60 Dollars)that Liza left for the group to spend. We went for Pizza at our favorite local pizza shop. They had pizza's called, Obama Pizza. Crazy I know. Well, between Stas, Adrian, Steve and I we ordered 3 Obama Pizzas, another Pizza, three milkshakes and later three more), and bottle of champagne. It was a lot, and the milkshakes were definitely my favorite!

Stas and Steve had a nice conversation about politics and such. While on our way to the Pizza place Stas was pointing out some differences between Russian and American people and mannerisms. I too have noticed these myself. For instance: When Russian people smile they don't show their teeth and thing that smiling without reason means you're stupid. Haha, that means me and definitely a lot of Americans are stupid then. Serisouly, that's silly! Common, smiling is wonderful! Oh another thing, when Russians talk to you they get very close to you and this is not seen as aggressive. In our culture a lot of people have "bubbles" I guess you would call them and we are very reluctant to get close to other people unless we are very good freinds with them. So, just a few things. It was an interesting conversation.

The milkshakes were definitely more milky than thick and ice-creamy like they are at home. I guess that depends on where you get it from but over all it was a bit different in that regard. They had cinnamon and strawberry-ish flavored whip cream, it was great!

Francesca and two of her freinds showed up and joined us too! We were there for a while and then Steve and I had to go to the Rus to buy some things. Well, I got some pictures developed for Olga and got her a card. All I have to do now is go home and write in it.

It's quite warm out today and very nice, so I am pretty thankful about that. Tonight I am just going to relax at home like I said earlier. I can't believe I am almost on my way! Ahh!

Well, you'll hear from me in about 36-48 Hours! Much Love!
Sasha

PS - I will have all pf my pictures updated when I get home, not that I have a lot of new ones, but still!

One More Day!

Day 47! Wow, so I will have spent 48 days in Russia when I leave tomorrow. Okay anyways. So last night after using internet Steve and I came back to my place and we watched Hidalgo. It was a pretty good movie I enjoyed it.

It was around 6 and so I decided to start packing. It took an hour to pack everything, all of my souvenirs are neatly and safely within the layers of clothing so they're all safe and shouldn't be damaged at all.

I really didn't know what to do for the rest of the night. I borrowed the movie Click from Steve and decided to watch that while eating dinner. I've seen it before, but not in a long time.

Halfway through that Babushka (Grandmother) came back! I was happy about that. She cooked herself some dinner and I sat with her and then we had tea. It was a nice evening. We talked about my school plans and my family and boyfriend. She said being Nurse is very good and was very happy about it.

She herself had been a doctor for 46 years, her patients being small children. Now she receives a small pension. She then said that in Russia it is hard to find jobs and the pay is very small, it's hard to make a living. She doesn't have her own car now that she doesn't have a job and takes the bus to Novgorod when she comes.

It was only recently that I realized that her husband had died a long time ago, (I thought that the man at the village was her husband, that was her brother in law).
I asked her how her Husband died and from what I understood he had a heart attack, or something heart related. I think she said he was in his 50s, but either way it's been at least 20 years.

Other than that we talked about how I am leaving soon, she wishes me a good trip and all. I asked to take a picture with her and she said, certainly! She was soo happy and put her arms around me and kind of hugged me while I took the picture! She's so sweet! She's such a nice lady and I wish I had more time to hang out with her. Oh well, I am glad I've gotten to meet her and Olga. Such nice people.

After I finished watching Click I started reading new book, My Sister's Keeper. Should be good for the plane ride and the rest of the summer.

Other than that, Today is my last official day in Novgorod. I woke up and said goodbye to Babushka and soon after Olga came home from the village with Beesha right behind. Shira didn't want to come home apparently so Olga left her at the village.

Olga had to go to work and I have to meet with Stas to give him some papers and such. Steve and I are going to school to meet up with Stas and then I plan on just walking around the city a bit for the last time and perhaps getting some pictures developed and buying a card to write in and give to Olga as a gift!

Tonight I am going to just hang out with Olga for one last time. I am not sure what time I have to get going tomorrow, but I bet that as early as 5 or 6 would not be out of the question.

Myself and the others will be taking a bus to St. Petersburg. Our flight leaves around 11 or so, to Finland. Then from Finland to NYC. I have a 5 hour wait in NYC and then my flight to rochester is at 9. I won't be home until late.

Look forward to another update once I get home, I'll let you know how everything went.

So, in the last post I made a list of things I will miss.. here are more things I thought of..

- the banya
- the dacha
- Conversations over tea
- Techno Music, haha, it's all over the place, I've gotten quite used to it. It's fun.



So much more that I know I won't realize until I get home. Russia is certainly a wonderful place and I certainly plan on coming back at least once if not more. I am a mix of emotions ranging from sadness to excitement to disbelief to just a whole bunch of things.

I will leave you with a picture I took with Babushak!




Love, Sasha

A Lazy Sunday

So today is Day 45. I am sitting at the Barista hotel borrowing internet. I have updated my blog so that is all current and so make sure you scroll down! Today has been quite a lazy Sunday!

I woke up around 9:30 and worked on some stuff on the computer and then decided that I should get ready. Then I left for the hotel and arrived at 12:30. I met Steve who was also hanging out. So, I've been posting blog updates and we decided to get something to eat!

I can't believe tomorrow is my last day here, Tuesday doesn't really count because I will be traveling. I can't say that right now I feel much of anytihng, it's indifferent. In some ways I really want to leave, in others I don't.

I am definitely sad to leave though. It's going to be so strange and I don't feel ready to say goodbye in the least. I've grown attached to Russia and just the routine.

All in all, I have to say that this trip has been way more than I expected it to be, and have met some really awesome people. I don't know what else to say, It's just going to be so wierd.

The rest of the day I am going to watch a movie, either Hidalgo or Casanova with Steve, then spend the night packing and getting things in order. Making lists and organizing everything and thinking of all of the things I need to get in order when I get home.

I can't wait to see some of my freinds before school starts again! I start my semester on August 31st. I have little bit of summer left after I return!

I may be on again tomorrow to post something quick, we'll see.

But for now let me leave you with my Top Ten Thing I will Miss in Russia.

1. Olga, and her cooking
2. Beesha and Shira
3. Being able to walk around the city endlessly.
4. Food - All the Russian cuisine that I've had has been really great, not just Olga's but in general.
5. The architecture of Russia especially of Novgorod
6. Clouds, they are massive and just really pretty to look at, I know that sounds silly.
7. Public Transportation - The bus systems are pretty helpful
8. The Orphanage and the children
9. The Cats! Haha, so many cats in Russia!
10. Russian people that I've met along my travels and the people I've become close to.

Talk to you soon!
Love,Sasha

PS - Happy Birthday Aunt Joyce!

Day 44 ~ Saturday the 15th

15. August ~ Saturday!

Today was quite a lazy day! I slept in really late, 11:30! I could hear babushka (grandmother) in the kitchen cooking so I figured I should get up. She was making pelmeni and noodles for later. We sat together while I ate. She asked me about my family, did I have any siblings. She asked me about mom and dad and then what I was doing later today. It was very nice!

She also gave me a small wooden plaque thing with an icon of a Saint on it, Alexandra. I thought it was a very nice and thoughtful gift! After we ate she finished preparing food to leave for me and then she left.

I decided to work on some homework, my final reflection about the internship. That didn’t take me long and then I figured I better see what’s going on the rest of the day. Plan was to go to the circus at 5.

I was supposed to go the circus today with the group so I called Francesca, and then Stas to figure out where we were meeting. Stas told me to take bus 19 to the stop right before the Kremlin. When I got outside it was all gray and dark and it was raining. It had been pretty dreary all day. I waited for bus 19 across the street, never came, I thought maybe it doesn’t come here. I saw a 19 come at the stop directly in front of my building, so I went to that bus, got on 19. Well, it certainly took me to the outskirts of the city, I had to get off, and then it took it’s 10 minute break. It was still raining and quite cold. I wasn’t too thrilled. I got back on 19 when it came around and then eventually ended up back in the center of the city by the Kremlin.

I didn’t really know what to do so I went and checked my email just for something to do. I called Francesca to see what was up and she was at home. I don’t know where Steve and Adrian went, and I wonder if they made it to the circus at all either. I don’t really mind that I didn’t go to the circus, oh well.

When I got done checking my email the sky was clearing up and the sun was coming out. I walked around a little bit before deciding to just come back home. So, that’s where I’ve been. It’s really quiet being here all by myself. The weather today really made me not want to do much but lay around. It’s weird that in three days now I will be on my way home!
I decided to finish the book I was reading, it had a nice ending, I really liked it! From there I decided to just watch some movies that I had with me. I like knowing that I used everything I brought with me at least once, so I don’t feel like I bought it for nothing. I decided to watch some of my favorite movies, Elizabethtown and Little Miss Sunshine! I realized that these two movies have a lot of parallels, and overall they were some good movies to have brought along!
In between watching my movies I heard some fireworks, I quick got my camera and went the balcony but once I got out there they were ending.

What I did get to catch was cool, and then I decided to just stand on the balcony for a few minutes, look down at the street below and take in the fresh air and surroundings! To think, I’ve spent 6 weeks here, it’s crazy.

Tomorrow I think I am going to just spend the day hanging around and start packing my things and maybe start working on my project about food that I have to hand into Liza when I get back home! I will probably go to the hotel near the school one last time to use their internet, and have some tea! We’ll see!

Oh.. One thing, while I was waiting for the bus I saw a really old lady with purple hair! It was quite amusing. Last night on my way home I noticed a car that had a plate that said I <3 my American Car. I chuckled, the car didn’t look American, but we drove by it fast so I don’t know what kind of car it was. Another thing, under a lot of the signals there is a timer that counts down how many seconds until it turns green or red. I think that’s a pretty neat idea! I don’t know if they have that in America or not.

It’s been a good night, now it’s 1 am and I should go to bed, yay for going to sleep to the sounds the traffic below and the breeze coming into my window!
Love, Sasha!

Day 43 ~ Last Day of Work

14. August ~ Finally Friday, Last day of Work

Today was a pretty good day. I got up early and decided to take a different bus than usual and then walk to work. It was a nice morning, and I want to walk as much as I can before I leave. I love walking around the city while listening to my headphones taking in the views.

When I got to work I was overjoyed by the fact that Lion King II was on the television. What a great way to start of my last day. As a child the Lion King was my favorite movie, I had as much lion king stuff as my parents would allow, and to this day I still have my Lion King Alarm clock which yes, made its way to Russia with me. As I look at it now, it’s almost 2:30 am.

It was strange, when I arrived all of the kids were so happy and all proclaimed “hi” in unison it seemed. They came over quickly and wanted to be all over me! I seemed as if they could sense it was the last day. The staff wanted me to bring pictures of my family and boyfriend, so I had brought all the pictures that I had with me. Francesca and I spent the first half an hour or showing off and explaining our pictures.

I also took time to take pictures of the children, it was nice. They love it when you take their picture and show it to them. They laugh and laugh and laugh. After that everyone got ready to go outside for a walk. I was excited to go for a walk again. We ended up going to walk to the Church I actually walked to earlier in the week to take pictures. When we arrived I had to get something to cover my head (women have to wear something over their head to go in a Church). Soon after we arrived some bells went off and were playing for quite a little while. We all sat on benches outside the church and listened. Eventually we went into the church and the kids walked around, the staff (Alla and Olga, my favorites!) bought some candles to light.

At one point, when I was walking over to the group to see what was going on, I noticed that water started spraying all over the place. A bunch of the kids were in the corner, and I figured out that Sameer had turned a small spicket that was running along the edge of the floor. I tried not to laugh, and I felt bad because that’s certainly not good and I could tell that Alla seemed a bit embarrassed.
The church itself was very pretty and had its own icons and frescos from the 15th century. I’ve seen so many churches by now that you can gather a similar feel to most of them. However, it was still a gorgeous Church, with scaffolding around it because of course it seems that so many things these days are getting a remodel or facelift.

When we returned we played outside for the last time! The staff was eager to talk to Francesca and I. We actually sang them the national anthem and couple more patriotic songs that we knew. Then they wanted us to translate the national anthem. Francesca was able to do a few of the lines, but it got difficult. Alla, Olga, and the two of us got into a discussion about how American view Russians and vice versa. They told us that they think that Americans are good, have a good mind about us. We said that Americans don’t really have any opinions either way and most of the media coverage is negative. Alla and Olga said that we were wonderful girls, and we all hoped that each of us has a newfound appreciation for each others’ cultures and have learned something from each other.

I know that being in Russia has certainly changed my opinions of the country as a whole. I hope that when I get home that my stories also do the same. As Stas said, foreign exchange programs certainly area good diplomatic tool!

We said our goodbyes to the ladies, exchanged emails and addresses. They wished a good trip home. Alla told me to have a happy marriage and many kids, to remember her with piano and think of her when I listen to Rachmaninov. She hoped we would come back to Russia again and told me “I will await you”. She likes to say that a lot when we’re leaving work. I am soo glad that these were the ladies that were on our last day!

The children were busy playing so I didn’t go around and give them all hugs and say goodbye, it was just a goodbye and they all looked at said goodbye. Alla, the 8 year old, understood that we wouldn’t be returning so we gave her a hug and said goodbye. As for the other children, I don’t think that they realize that we won’t be coming back, so it was better to just say goodbye and leave quietly.

Overall the orphanage experience was really great and I am so glad that I was able to work here. I feel that I have learned a lot from the experience and the children are just soo cute! The only thing that I don’t like is that I may never find out what will happen to these kids. I only hope that they will be able to have successful lives, a good job and education. Only time will tell.

I went and had lunch with Steve, Adrian, and Colin. It was cool, we talked about all the music we’ve heard here, and how apparently Porsche is now owned by Volkswagen. Colin exclaimed that it was sad day. After lunch Colin and I walked around the Kremlin. It was his last day here in Novgorod and so he needed to get some pictures.
We both eventually found ourselves at Francesca’s house. He wanted to say bye and I was going to go over and use the computer. So, we all did that. Eventually I went home and Olga soon came home. She quickly cooked me some dinner, vacuumed, and got ready to go the village. I am kind of sad that she will be gone until Monday morning because that means I will only have a day with her, and most of it she’s working.
Shira did not want to go and she kept running away from Olga. She even scratched her a little, I guess the car rides make Shira not want to leave! Eventually Olga and the animals were on their way! I will miss them, although it will be nice to have my bedroom door open without having to worry about the cat coming in and playing with my stuff!

Steve came over at 7, and Adrian came over about 8 or so. I offered Steve some of the abundant food that was left for me and we had a nice conversation about morality. We decided to have a movie night tonight so Steve brought over some movies. Missed you Masha!

We ended up watching a somewhat new Angelina Jolie movie, Watchmen! It’s actually really good, I liked it. It’s an action movie about assassins. There was a Russian guy in the movie and we were excited when we understood what he said, even thought it was only one word!

After our movie we wanted to buy some ice cream and water. It was around midnight and we head out to the grocery store across the street. It was closed but the gas station at the end of the street was a lit up. Our adventure was a success and we returned with ice cream, water, and bacon flavored lays. The chips weren’t bad. Of course I got the wrong water, sparkling instead of still. Oh well, good thing I love sparkling water anyways!

You know, I often wonder, does sparkling water have any health benefits over non sparkling water?

When we returned me watched Slumdog Millionaire. This is probably my 5th time watching it, I love it! I fell asleep towards the end, but it’s okay. The guys left after it was over and then I went to bed.

Overall it turned out to be a very pleasant day. 4 more days here .
Love, Sasha!

Picture Link: Russia ~ Day 42, 43 ~ Galavanting around Novgorod

Day 42 ~ Rachmaninov and Kremlin Talks

13. August ~ A Lovely day!

Today was the best day I’ve had all week, and at work so far! Recently I’ve been getting sad realizing that I am going to be leaving soon, I hate leaving places and changes, and I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to Olga and the children. It’s even more bothersome when I think that I may never see these people again. It’s not my intention to never see Olga again, but you never know what will happen.
Despite my sadness, when I arrived the children were already outside and getting ready to go for a walk with Alla, my favorite staff member! They greeted me with hellos and waves, and I soon felt a whole lot better. I thought wow, these kids really are great! I quickly put my bookbag away and joined them. Alla said she wanted to go for a walk to the Rachmaninov statue in the Kremlin. I was up for anything, and it looked like a nice morning, wasn’t too hot.

Alla was eager to talk to me, and while we were walking she asked me what kind of music I liked to listen to, asked if I liked classical music. I told her I did, and she was soo happy, said very good and was just happy. She talked to me about Rachmaninov and how he died in New York and I should go and see the place where he died. She said, he was born in my city and died in yours, that we’re connected. She said she was very proud that she lived in Rachmaninov’s hometown. I thought that it was very neat how proud of this she was.

Our walk took us along the river where I actually hadn’t been before so I was very happy. We went by the great big theater that had very soviet looking architecture, down along the boat docks and up again by the Kremlin walls. We walked through the Kremlin and to the statue and sat down for a while.

Our conversations continued, she asked me if I had any siblings, if I was an Aunt. I asked her if she had any children, she said yes, a daughter who was in her late 20s. She also asked me if I had a boyfriend, where I lived and about college. She told me that in Russia it is very hard to buy a house, very expensive; I told her it’s the same in America too.

While in the Kremlin Alla was telling me that in September when the city has it’s 1,150 anniversary it will be presented with new bells in it’s bell tower. Alla told me that there hasn’t been a new bell for 400 years. If you look up in the bell tower a few are missing. I thought that was an interesting fact. The Kremlin area is like a beehive, all these people hurriedly working, with a deadline fast approaching. Over the 6 and a half weeks that I have been here I can see the improvements they are slowly making on the Kremlin and the changes around the city. I am sad I won’t be here to actually see the celebrations.

We then walked to the area where I have lunch ironically, there is a huge play are outside so we sat there for quite a while as the children played. Alla and I continued talking about food we like and the differences in American and Russian foods, and what the Religion of the US was. I told her that America doesn’t have an official state religion like Russia does, but many. That certainly was a more difficult thing to explain.

Overall Alla kept saying how it was such a perfect day, one that she wanted to keep in her memory and never forget. It was sunny and the clouds for the most part were big and white. The children loved the play area and didn’t want to leave but we had too. Overall this was the best day of conversation at the Orphanage! Alla thanked me for being able to practice some English with me, and I said the same with Russian. She’s such a wonderful lady! After I left work I decided to walk the same way that we just had, this time with my camera and take pictures.

The clouds looked really neat. There was a huge band of dark ominous rain clouds coming, yet the other half of the sky was pretty clear with a small band of white clouds, it looked pretty awesome. I got all of my pictures, and as I walked into the cafeteria place for lunch it started to rain!

Since those two really hot days the weather has been interesting. I will wake up and it will be cool and a bit cloudy, the sun may not be out and it looks like it will rain, but then soon enough the clouds clear and the sun comes out and the nice big puffy white clouds make their appearance.

Usually when it rains it never lasts all day, and it always clears up. It’s actually quite nice. So, I had lunch with the guys, including Colin. It was a nice lunch, we sat and talked. After Steve and Adrian left Colin and I sad and talked for the remainder of the time until I had to go back to work. It was a very nice conversation about our work, he too worked in an orphanage, but his kids were older than mine. So we talked about Orphanages and what are plans are for the next couple years in school and such. While we were sitting inside it started to downpour really bad outside, but by the time I had to leave it was nice and sunny again.

I decided to walk to work and on my way I ran into Yuriy, from that barbecue that I went to a couple of weeks ago. We talked for a few minutes; it was nice to see him!
When I arrived at work in the afternoon everyone was kind of just chill and relaxed. It was a short afternoon; I was only there an hour. Everyone just seemed tired. Masha, the new girl, came over and wanted to sit on my lap as we all watched cartoons on TV. Alla, the staff member, was asking me some vocabulary from the television show. Francesca has been sick for a couple of days, and today she wasn’t feeling that great so the staff practically made us both go home to rest. They told us we should go and get some rest.

When I got home I read a lot of my book as I was waiting for Olga to come home. Unlike Olga, she got home really late, 8 o’clock and started rushing around to cook because I told her that I was going out at 9, although I had decided against it. So, anyways, she sticks a whole chicken in the oven to bake. It was lying in flour I think and had some spices on top of it. We then took Beesha for a walk. We saw his girlfriend Carrie today, and they walked around together, they didn’t really play like they did last time. I took some pictures while on the walk, including my very first picture with Olga, so check it out!

We came home and Olga finished preparing dinner. When the chicken came out of the oven it looked so good. It was cooked to a perfect golden brown and you could tell it was crispy. It was the best looking chicken ever. I don’t know how she does it! Well, I was pretty excited for the chicken, it was delicious! We had potatoes and salad with it, yummy!

After dinner we had tea and during tea I brought out my computer so Olga and I could look through my pictures because I plan on giving her some. It took two hours, and she choose a lot of my flower pictures, all the ones with the animals, and a bunch from the village. She also wanted pictures of my mom and Kevin that I had on my computer. So, I am glad that I can be giving that to her before I leave. It was getting really late so I just went to bed

It was such a nice day, one of the best the whole trip! Tomorrow will be my last day at work, very sad!
Love, Sasha!

Day 41 ~ Arts and Crafts and Galavants at the Dacha

12. August ~ Dacha!

Today was considerably cooler than the past two days. It went from 25 Celsius and hotter the past two days, to 19 Celsius today. The past two days seemed the hottest in all the time I’ve been here. Apparently in Fahrenheit that’s quite a drop.

Today at work a new girl named Masha arrived. She’s so sweet and mellow! I spent the morning doing arts and crafts. Today a bunch of the children made crowns. I helped Masha and some of the others by cutting out hearts and other shapes to put on the crowns. It was a lot of fun! I can never really think of creative things to do, so the kids’ crowns looked a lot better than mine.

My nose wasn’t as runny today, but my throat was scratchy today! After work I decided to walk around to some of the places I went last week during work and take pictures. That included two churches that are right down the street from the orphanage, and then this big church near the folk center, that area is also where the army has some buildings too. I really have enjoyed walking around with my camera and my iPod just taking in the beautiful sights of the city. I am going to miss being able to walk around Novgorod as much as I do. I spend a lot of time walking to and from lunch to work just because I can.

I arrived at lunch and Steve and Adrian were there. We played some question games and spent time making commentary of some of the music and videos that were on TV. It was fun. Some of the videos are just ridiculous.

In the afternoon I played kickball, spent time in the sandbox, colored and pushed Allosha, Anna and of course Daniel on the swings. I would go back and forth between the three of them pushing. They would constantly be like push me, push me! It was cute. Daniel begged to see my phone so he sat on my lap for a while and had fun pushing the buttons.

I came home and Olga was getting dinner ready quickly because she said she wanted to go for a walk with Beesha. I told her I wanted to go too, and she was like no, eat! Haha, I asked why and she said she was going to the Dacha! I told her I wanted to go, she was like no it’s dirty you wouldn’t like it. I had to beg her and I was like please and finally she agreed.

We went on our way, it’s only like 10 minutes away, but the street we turned onto that had all the dachas was about as bad as the country roads. It’s on the outskirts of the city. It took more time getting to her Dacha from here than to drive to where they all were. There was this long road with roads coming off of it with Dacha’s everywhere. I didn’t realize that Dacha’s are all together like this, I wasn’t expecting it. Well, Dacha’s are basically a small hut, or house that is on a piece of land, fenced in. I took many pictures so be sure to check it out.

We got to Olga’s dacha eventually. She had to pick some onions. There were rows and rows of different plants, a small covered area for tomatoes. It reminded me of her mother’s land in the village with all of her plants and vegetables. Olga’s little house was big enough to have two rooms. The one room was bigger and had a small bed, a small couch and a table. The other room was her banya! Yay, Olga has a banya at her Dacha!

So, Olga was picking onions and told me to go for a walk, haha. So, that’s what I did, I walked down the road in a few different directions and took pictures. It was really neat to see the different types of set up and layouts, but overall the idea of all of them is the same.

I was just really glad that Olga allowed me to come. When I got done walking I spent time sitting around, I did get a little bored, I wish I brought my book, but overall it was a nice night. It was cool, although the mosquitoes were coming out. We were there for about 2 and a half hours. On the way home we noticed a lady who was waiting at a bus stop. Olga picked her up and drove her into the city a little ways a bit more and dropped her off in front of a bunch of housing buildings. Olga said she didn’t know the woman, but it was late and knew that the buses don’t come out here very often, it was getting colder and she didn’t want her to be waiting, I thought it was so sweet of her to do that! Olga had to get gas as well so we did that.

When we got home we were really tired, quickly had tea and here I am now in bed! I really liked the Dacha. Just the fact that people are being sustainable and growing their own crops is really cool to me. I really want to have something like a Dacha and a banya!

Another fun day tomorrow hopefully!
Love, Sasha

Picture Links:

Russia ~ Day 39, 40, 41 ~ Galavanting!

Russia ~ Day 41 ~ A night at the Dacha!

Day 40 ~ Working and Walking

11. August

When I woke up Olga and I were really tired still, my alarm wasn’t going off because I later figured out that the Daniel at work had changed the time so at night it said AM and PM in the morning. Haha, well Olga finished her cake and it looked totally different, but delicious!

When I got to work there were two ladies giving a presentation on Alexander Pushkin, a famous Russian poet. Apparently before I arrived they had costumes on and also played some games and asked questions that had to do with some of the characters in Pushkin’s writings. When I got there they were getting ready to show a small DVD with some small cartoon stories. The kids were asked questions about it and then it was all over.

Kids were as active as usual on the playground today! Daniel was very demanding of my attention, he wanted me to push him a lot on the swings and we even sat and colored together. Haha, he asks me to pick him up and carry him around, and when I do so he tries to kiss me. He’s sweet. I guess when you have a telephone you really can make an impression to a five year old.

I played kickball and catch with Veka and Allosha. I love when they bring out the ball, it’s my favorite! Oh another activity I haven’t done in forever and it shows, jump rope! Alla and Lera and one of the staff, also Alla, and Francesca was jump roping so I joined them. Haha, it was fun, and apparently I’ve lost the technique for properly jump roping, oh well, it was enjoyable. It was all great fun!

During lunch with Steve he talked to me about all the games they play at his work to pass the time, he explained some of them to me. We listened to some music and also bought some ice cream! It was good and had a mint sauce over it! Oh, I had a piece of Olga’s cake, she had a small container she made for the two of us, it didn’t have all the frosting on it like the bigger one, but it was great. It was lemon and honey cake from what I could gather. It was amazing.

I spent the remaining time before work reading my book. I haven’t casual read for fun in a while, I am glad I’ve found some time to do so

Work in the afternoon was interesting. I did a puzzle with Anna and then basically arts and crafts the rest of the time. Eventually some people showed up and I figured out it was Allsoha’s family, his mother, uncle, grandmother and father.
His mother looked fairly young, the grandmother looked like she spends most of her time drinking, you could tell by the look of her eyes. The uncle looked like he was in a daze and the father came in separately from the rest of the others, was drunk with a beer bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He mumbled something and then turned back and went to sit on the streetcurb.

From what I could see Allosha’s mother was squatted in front of him and talking to him, she was crying, and Allosha was just looking around, not really interested in any of them being there. It was a really interesting situation, and it was a little awkward they all just showed up, and stood around. I am surprised with all of the other children they didn’t go inside, although at one time they did go under one of the verandas. The grandmother acted like she was seeing him for the first time in a long time, trying to act all affectionate, Allosha still didn’t seem like he was interested. From what I could see he wasn’t upset or anything, but didn’t respond. I don’t know, the whole situation was interesting, but it made me think of the families that these children are coming from.

Reminded me of what Lena told me the other day, that most of the families are drunks that have no jobs. I started thinking that this explains a lot of why the children act the ways they do. Veka wants attention, the others kick, and hit each other a lot, some don’t listen well at all, and overall thinking of what background they come from, it’s easy to understand.

It makes me feel as if it’s unfair for me to say I like one child more than the other based on their actions because I honestly don’t know where they’re coming from, and don’t know what exactly makes them act the way they are. My job is to just accept them for who they are and show them that I care, don’t be judgmental and too upset when they misbehave, or whine.

It certainly was interesting to see the interaction between Allosha and his family. It made me feel sad for these situations. I remember Lena telling me last week that Allosha is a very good little boy. For the most part he’s very laid back, doesn’t cry or cause too much trouble.

When I got home from work I went over the store to buy some more yogurt and a card, and then Olga got home we had to take Beesha for a walk. Beesha and Shira are becoming a lot more affectionate with me, come up to me more and sit on my lap or by my feet. They’re both adorable, I wonder if they can sense I am leaving soon. Whenever Olga comes home from work Beesha is ecstatic and jumps all over her and barks like crazy. When she leaves in the morning he usually just goes and lies down on her bedroom floor. A couple times he’s actually gotten really sad and howls.
It was funny, when we were walking, Olga was getting tired and wanted to go back inside. Beesha clearly didn’t want to, he wouldn’t come to her, and just sat in the grass looking at her with a no I don’t want to look on his face. Haha, so she looked at me and was like Beesha doesn’t want to go home, let’s keep walking. It’s funny how much control Beesha has. I asked Olga how long she stayed up last night making her cake, she said she went to bed at two and got six hours of sleep!

I noticed tonight more than ever how many babies there were around. It seemed every couple was out walking with their babies, but my goodness they’re all adorable!
When we got home we relaxed and went to bed early! We lead quite exciting lives I know!
Love, Sasha

Day 39 ~ Last Full Week!

10. August ~ Last full week begins!

I woke up today with quite a runny nose and all day I’ve spent the day blowing my nose. I think it’s just my sinuses acting up, I wonder if the banya caused them to want to clear themselves out! My nose was like a faucet. I was quickly running out of tissues, and tissues in Russia aren’t really a big thing.

When I arrived at work today the children were all watching Snow White, we finally watched it to the end! All the kids said hello and Daniel came right over and gave me a hug, then asked me if I had my telephone so he could play with it. I hadn’t so he was a little sad, but soon got over it. We went right outside and most of the day was filled with arts and crafts. We made these cone figures and put faces on them. It was fun. I pushed Daniel on the swings since he loves doing that, and helped the other boys build castles in the sandbox. I noticed that Veka wasn’t there although when I wsa leaving her mother showed up and dropped her off. My first impression was that her mother looked extremely young, perhaps even my age, but I don’t know. Veka didn’t want to go inside to eat, she wanted to swing and started to cry.

One thing about Veka, she cries anytime she doesn’t get her way, you try to take something from her or basically when you aren’t giving her the attention she wants. Initially I was like I am not going to like this, but when she isn’t crying she’s very sweet. I figure at home she may not get a lot of attention, but she’s going to have an interesting time at life if she continues to cry about not getting her way.
There were two new kids that showed up too, a small girl named Christina, and a boy named Sameer. Sameer looks a lot bigger than the older children; I am not sure how old he is. Christina has really short hair, as short as a boy and the workers were checking her hair for lice. I wonder if she has been in other orphanages.

After the morning work I met Steve at the Kremlin for lunch. We talked about our jobs and listened to some of the music on the big screen TV. Europe and Russia sure loves its techno music. Only here in Russia can you still hear the Backstreet Boys, “Quit playing games with my heart”, it’s only like 10 years old. I was amused and happy at the same time.

When I went back to work at night I basically spent the afternoon doing more arts and crafts and pushing Daniel and some others on the swings. It was a calm afternoon. Overall I am enjoying this internship, the children may be difficult at times, but I really like them.

For dinner Olga made what looked and tasted a lot like a hamburger with noodles and vegetables. I really enjoyed it. We spent some time talking about what kinds of food, books, and music Olga and I like to listen to.

Olga said some of her favorites include fruits, meats, vegetables and salted fish pie (similar to what we had at the village I assume). As for music, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and ballet music such as Tchaikovsky . Classical music is her favorite, but she doesn’t like Rachmaninov because as she said, she likes “nice music”. I was surprised, only because Rachmaninov was born in Novgorod.

Olga loves to read, which is obvious if you see all of her bookshelves. One of her favorite writers is Chehov. She loves history and classical books. Surprisingly she doesn’t like Tolstoy.

We also talked about what I like, and more about what my family is up to. It was a really nice conversation overall. After dinner we went to the store because Olga has to bake a cake the next day for a friend at work. The store is right across the street. Its small compared to American stores. The cashiers sit, which is not fair! I noticed that cards to not have envelopes to accompany them and there is a whole isle for flavors of tea, and different type of chocolate. Furthermore, the coffee section is very small and there is a whole isle for beer, vodka and alcohol. There are little stores and markets on every street I assume because it’s hard to take your groceries on the buses and that is how a majority of people get around. When we retuned Beesha was eager to go for a walk so we took him for a walk around the big building complexes. Another thing I’ve come to notice, there are little playgrounds in the center of each building complex. It’s a little kid’s paradise! It looks like Russia is very family friendly in this regard

When we came back Olga spent the evening making her cake and I sat and watched her, and read a bit from a new book I am reading. I have now started to read, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I was surprised that Olga knew of the Author, although he is from Prague. It’s a good novel so far.

The batter that Olga used to make the 6 layers of the cake looked like cookie dough and had a honey flavor. She took a lot of lemons and shredded them whole, added sugar, cooked it, and spread them on top of the layers. She also had another saucer with milk and a whole block of butter that was cooking. When I went to bed at 12 she was still waiting for the milk stuff to be the correct consistency and was adding other things to it.

I was so tired I just had to go to bed, I wonder how long Olga will be up!? Oh well, watching her cook is fun!
Love,
Sasha.

Day 38 ~ Village and Home Again

9. August ~ Last Day at the Village

Today was a fun day! I slept in again and for breakfast we had these really good muffin things. They reminded me a lot of the equivalent of English muffins at home, but they were filled in the center. There were three kinds, berries, potatoes, and cheese. Before eating them Olga insisted on putting loads of melted butter on them. It was very good, and potato was my favorite.

I spent most of the day outside watching what Olga was doing. Last night she had started cutting grass and today she was finishing. I offered to help my raking up the cut grass but of course she never wants me to help. While I was out thought Olga found this really neat looking caterpillar so I was entertained for quite a while watching it. You’ll have to see the pictures I took; it had really cool looking markings on it.

I came in a little bit and did some reading and jut relaxed. Over the weekend I finally finished My Stroke of Insight, great book, I recommend it! Anyways, once Olga was finished with grass cutting we got ready and went back home.

The ride home didn’t seem as long or as bumpy but Shira was not amused. She was really unhappy and jumpy the whole time, even hissed at the car a few times. Beesha was fine, sitting in the back seat. On the way back Olga’s Aunt and Uncle came with us, they’re the ones that live a few buildings over from Olga. I had walked to their place last week when her brother was helping them remodel their flooring. At the time I didn’t realize the relation. On the ride home I was thinking about how much time I have left here. I am really going to miss Russia, I wish I could come back again to the village, I wish I could do many more things again!

I really enjoyed the village. Just being able to sit and relax and hear the birds, chickens, dogs, cats and everything was great. Having the nice sunshine and warm breeze, the smell of freshly cut grass or the overriding smell of smoke from a wood burning stove was really nice. I enjoyed it all and knew I would miss it the minute we all left.

I remember noticing how many people were riding their bikes, families outside, children playing and just how many people were outside and just doing whatever in the village. There were lots of random dogs here and there running around and I don’t know if they were strays or not. Overall the environment was just very different from anything I would expect to see at home, and it was nice to know that people still ride their bikes to get around, and walk everywhere and spend so much time outside doing daily activities.

Another thing that impressed me is that every house in the village seemed to have its own fenced in area where the people would be growing their own crops, be it vegetables or fruits. I understand being in the village you have to be able to sustain some of your own goods, but again it was just neat to see. It seems that the people are very capable of making it on their own, know how to cook and take care of preparing and preserving and growing food. I wish I knew how, it makes me want to have a large garden. I understand even more so now when Stas said that the Russian people have survived for years, and would be very able to get themselves through a crisis.

Another thought, some of the houses in the village look so worn and I realize they are probably very old and it makes me wonder, how well do these houses fair in the wintertime. I noticed in our house there was a woodstove in the middle of the house, but other than that, I really wonder how people survive. Obviously, they manage but some of the places look like they could use fixing up. I know that as an outsider it’s easy for me to say that, and maybe I shouldn’t think that way but it’s a thought. Overall, the look and feel of the country is something very wonderful in itself, perhaps I shouldn’t be thinking of how it needs fixing, but that it’s quite perfect as it is.

When we got home Olga and I spent the night relaxing. We were both really tired. For dinner Olga made mushrooms and potatoes! I was excited; she had never prepared me wild mushrooms before. Apparently she picked them in the village. Anyways, they were sautéed with lots of butter in the frying pan and it tasted soo good.

I don’t know what type of mushrooms they were but they tasted very different from any other mushroom I’ve ever had before. I can’t really describe how they tasted, but they were great!

After dinner we relaxed more and the news happened to come on. Olga brought my attention to a story based out of NYC. Apparently they mentioned a crash with a helicopter and a small plane in NYC where 9 people died. This is the only time I’ve heard anything about America or the US on the news since I’ve been here so that was interesting. Olga doesn’t watch the television or news to much, and I haven’t really missed it.

Olga and I were headed to bed early, back to work tomorrow for both of us!

Love, Sasha.

Picture Link: Russia ~ Day 37, 38 ~ Village and the Banya!

Day 37 ~ Russian Cemetaries

8. August ~ Russian Cemeteries and continued village fun!

I slept in until 9:30 today, it was great! For breakfast we had leftovers from last night, cabbage, fish and tomatoes and of course more soapy tea! I am slowly getting used to it and drinking it really fast.

Soon enough we were all piled into the car and on the way to the cemetery. Olga explained we were going to see where her grandparents lay, and I asked the beach?? It was funny, and then I realized where we really were going.

On our way we stopped at the store, I didn’t go in. We got to the cemetery. In the middle of a bunch of tall grass and open space is a wooded area where the cemetery is located. While there we visited the burial places of Olga’s grandparents, great grandparents, and her father.

Olga’s aunt and mother were cleaning up the graves by brushing away dirt and leaves and cleaning the headstones. They were also leaving cookies, chocolate, candies, and bread on the graves or near them on these stands that were located here and there throughout the cemetery. I am pretty sure it’s most likely a customary thing to leave something for the Spirits, but I am not sure.

Overall I felt very privileged that they would bring me here and show me the cemetery. I felt that it’s such a private thing to come and visit and clean and such so I was very thankful to come. The setting was very intimate and the trees of the wooded area were very pretty and the whole scene was just very nice. It felt a little awkward walking among all of these stones at first.

I can see that most likely people are buried in cemeteries like this because I’ve never noticed a cemetery in the city, maybe a few graves here or there right next to a church but nothing more than that.

I’ve always enjoyed going to a cemetery because usually it’s very quiet, there are nice places to walk and you’re usually in the woods. It’s so peaceful and I really enjoyed it. The decorations and the older graves were very neat to see and some were very intricate and very pretty.

We came across a section for soldiers that served in World War Two and the grave of a famous general from Novgorod, who has a street named after him in the city. The cemetery was a really neat experience and I thought it was neat how the whole family came together to clean up the grave and leave things for their loved ones.

When we returned we were all outside for awhile. I took pictures of the banya and the chicken coop and the stream that I came across behind the banya.

Olga comes to the village and does a lot of work around the house doing odd jobs. I relaxed and watched for quite a while, helped when I could, but mostly just watched and enjoyed the scenery and I could hear the chickens in the distance.

For lunch I had borsch, wasn’t as flavorful as Olga’s, but still good and pasta with meat that I didn’t know what I was eating. I figured I would try it and if I liked it keep eating it, if not, eat it anyways, haha. Well, whatever it was it tasted okay so I ate it along with some tomatoes and salt. I found out later on that the meat was chicken necks. I was surprised but chuckled somewhat when I would think of the people that buy it at where I would work and me looking disgusted thinking I would never eat that!

Later on I went inside and war reading for a while. I wondered what Olga was up to now and when I looked out the front windows I saw her and her mother dressed up in bee outfits extracting the honeycombs from the hives. I found great enjoyment in watching because it reminds me of when as a child I would watch my own father do the same with his bees. I decided to go outside and watch a little bit closer. I wasn’t close to the hives or anything but the bees were flying around a great deal. I don’t know how long I was watching but eventually I was headed back inside when a bee came out of nowhere and ran into me and stung me in the neck. He then got stuck in my necklace and Olga had to come over and pick him off me! She also spit on her fingers and then would dab the sting sting and then said a line of something, she repeated herself three times. I have no idea what was said, but it was interesting, maybe a prayer or something of the sort. I was thinking, haha, just great, I had a feeling I might get stung. A few minutes later grandmother came over and gave me some mint leaves to put on the sting. It made it sting but the area never swelled up really bad or anything so I am sure the leaves helped.

After that I decided to go lay down and surprisingly I slept for quite a long time, until 8! Grandmother said I was tired because I got stung. I watched some television when I woke up, about a church and its icons and the story behind it. It was neat. It was in English and dubbed in Russian but you could still hear the English. A lot of the programs were like this surprisingly so I could figure out what was going on.
Eventually we all ate dinner together again, chicken and pasta from lunch with more salted vegetables. With tea I had vanilla ice cream with chocolate shavings in it. It was really sweet tasting, and half melted so it was different than what I was expecting. It wasn’t something I loved, but it was good with soapy tea!

After dinner I spent the evening watching Zoo TV, again in English with Russian voice over. They have features on red pandas and hedgehogs so I enjoyed it. I though, wow I haven’t sat down and watched an animal program in a long time!
After watching television it was time to go to the Banya so Olga and I did. It wasn’t as hot as the night before and we weren’t in there as long but it still felt very relaxing and I enjoyed it!

Of course when everyone had went to the banya we all sat down for tea. I sat and listened to the conversations most of the time, it was enjoyable. The day seemed very long and I was still very tired so I went to bed.

Tomorrow is the last day, most likely just hanging out more.

Love, Sasha

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!