You Say Goodbye

Today was the last day in Russia for Magda, who ended up being a wonderful friend to me in Russia. We went out for a little while last night to send her off and I will really miss her. Hopefully I will be able to go visit her in Albany this fall or maybe sometime in the future in Poland, where she wishes to live. So, it really itsn't goodbye, just so long!

Almost the entire rest of the group will be flying back to the states on Wednesday, so the trip is really winding down for them, it's sad. I will be here for another 2 weeks thankfully. Sasha, Steve, Adrian and Colin will be here as well, as we are all working our internships after classes end on Tuesday.

I'm actually kind of sad that our classes and excursions will be over once Liza and the rest of the students leave Novgorod. I've really enjoyed our language class in particular. Tamara, our instructor, is a wonderful and kind person and I really feel like I've learned a lot from her. Stas is also great for history, especially yesterday when we were listening to the popular Russian rock band Lyube. On Tuesday we had the excursion to the convent and holy hill, yesterday we did a boat ride on the river Volkov to the lake and back. That was pretty enjoyable.

Keeping with the theme of goodbye, Max and Toma left this evening to go on holiday for 2 weeks at the sea. They will be back only 2 days before I leave and I already miss them. The apartment is just too quiet without Max singing to himself and playing the accordian. Also, now that Toma is gone who will feed me at 1:30 in the morning when I come home exhausted and hungry from dancing all night? I know that Lena and I will have a good time together though (as long as she isn't spending too much time with Dima!! -just kidding, love you mamachka!) We are considering going to the lake, seeing a photo exhibition, lots of fun stuff could go down this weekend.

I'll keep you posted :-)

Francesca

A Little Bit of Life

Yesterday (Monday) was a pretty normal day. Got up, ate breakfast, went to school, got a 100 on a test in my Russian language class, ate lunch, listened to Stas tell about history, went home for tea and food, went to my internship and colored and played on the playground with the kids, went home, ate some supper, hung out with my AWESOME family who I love tons already, then hung out and listened to music with my friend Misha, did my homework and went to bed :-) It rained like cats and dogs all day and I borrowed a wonderful pair of rain boots from Toma that kept my feet dry all day. They were lifesavers in the GIANT puddles near our building.

Today was a little of the same. Did my normal school routine and then had an excursion with the group after school. We went to a cathedral and convent not too far outside of Novgorod. It was beautiful in the cathedral and outside, and we did a little walking around. We saw a holy hill that Saint Varlam built himself by carrying hat-fulls or dirt. It's said that if you walk around the hill 3 times praying for something it will come true. I had a very selfish prayer unfortunately and I'm not sure it will come true but I'll keep you posted. It had been rainging in the morning and cloudy all day but it was sunny when we left school. Then, even though it was sunny, while we were walking around the holy hill it started sprinkling cool water on our warm faces...it was sort of magical. We also walked to a well that had some tasty spring water. It was refreshing to rinse our faces with this cool water.

Tonight I plan on just chilling here at home. I have a semi-big homework assignment and just want to chill tonight. Tomorrow is Magda's last night here unfortunately. She wants to go out with a bit of a bang and I am going to send her out in still because I will miss her so much. Beforehand I am going to see a band call Cheap Halo at a bar with my host momma; should be a fun night. We are supposedly going on a boat ride tomorrow afternoon too so it'll be a busy day. Hence, rest.

Love,
Francesca

Whirlwind Weekend

This weekend went by unbelievably fast.

Friday night we went to check out the Irish pub called Greensleeves. It was pretty cool, but very expensive. They had chicken wings but we didn't order any...haha. Then we went to Night Ocean which is a dance club right around the corner from where I live. It was much better than Vertigo (the club on the boat) and the music was good. I met some more awesome Russians and also some French guys that bought us some champagne...pretty fun night.

Then on Saturday we got up and started getting ready for the little party we threw at the apartment. I learned to make the little Russian pies that are so delicious and all in all had a great time singing Beatles songs and dancing around the kitchen to Russian folk music and making the little pies. The party itself was very fun. I met Lena's brother and his girlfriend and they are very nice. We sang kareoke which was super fun because some of the songs were in English. I hammed it up a lot, and then Lena started recording it :-0! It's pretty embarrassing to watch but whatever...haha.

Today Lena and I spent the entire morning looking at purses all around the city. I wanted to buy a new one but I couldn't find one that I loved. Then we went to a party/picnic at this guy Sean's house. Sean is originally from America but has been living in Novgorod for about 10 years. He invited the group of students over for 'shashleek'...shishkabob :-) Almost the whole group was there and my family came too. We spent the day eating delicious food and playing like a backyard olympics tournament thing. We had to play badminton, darts, uno, boggle, and horseshoes. Then we had finals and all...it was so fun. I was partnered with Valya, a Russian student and we were surprisingly awesome at badminton and made it to the finals. I was terrible at horseshoes but creamed at darts so we made it to the finals there too. We ended up coming in third overall in the tournament :-) and won some delicious ice cream! Lena's mom Toma, and Jim Bobby ended up being partnered and came in first. They won a bottle of champange! It was so fun. I'm thinking of organizing a tournament like this with my friends when I get back to the states. Maybe croquet, bocce, 'Polish' horseshoes? What do you guys think? At the party Colin and I also danced and sang and generally made fools of ourselves to the great amusement of the Russians who were recording us with their cameras and telling us we could have our own show.

All in all it was a very fun day that I got to spend with my awesome Russian family and some great new friends. Too bad I have to go back to school/internship tomorrow. I even have a test! :-(

Scoffing at Псков

Super quick post today because I'm really hungry and want to eat before I leave for my internship in a few minutes.

The operetta was awesome. I couldn't understand any of the words, but it was really funny (according to the rest of the audience) and the singing and dancing were very lively and entertaining.

Yesterday we spent the ENTIRE day doing Псков (sounds like Pscof). It was about 4 and 1/2 hours one way by bus to get there! First we went to this amazing monastery that was the only one that stayed open during the Soviet era. We were SUPER lucky and got to go into 'the caves God created' and see where a all the monks were/still are laid to rest. We had to use tiny little candles and it was super cold in there. Very creepy but VERY cool. Then we went to the oldest stone fortress in Russia and also saw the Kremlin in Pscov. We went into the cathedral there and were again very lucky to see the archbishop and all the finery laid out for him. The bells were ringing and it was very beautiful and spiritual. Loved it.

Gotta run. Food, internship, shower, then spending the evening with some awesome people. Then up tomorrow to make pies for our party!

Love,
Francesca

Ballet and Back to Novgorod

The ballet Swan Lake was absolutely beautiful. The leading swan ballerina was incredible. It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and go to the theather. We had really nice box seats too. I think even the boys enjoyed the ballet because it is a story and meant to entertain rather than be overly technical dancing.

When we got back to the room we just hung out. Our new friend Max came over. He is visiting Europe with his mom but he goes to school in Penn. We met him the first morning we were there at the bliny place. He was super chill to hang out with and I hope my path crosses his again someday. (Plus he said he would read my blog...so "Hi Max!).

Getting home to Novgorod was awesome. I missed Lena, Tamara and Max (my little brother) SO much. I was also super hungry when I got home because food was expensive in the 'big city' so Tamara was super excited to feed me becauase I didn't refuse anything she put in front of me. She was thrilled...it was adorable.

Started up classes again yesterday morning. I feel like I am getting a better handle on Russian language. Learning a lot of grammar and phrases which is really helpful. We had a test this morning and I'm pretty sure I did ok. Yesterday we had a really interesting lecture in Russian history about Paganism and superstition in Russia. It was really very interesting. I also got to see Masha, one of my very good Russian friends who I hadn't seen in almost a week which was really nice. We were going to go see the new Harry Potter movie in russian last night, but I couldn't actually make it because of my internship and stuff. Oh well, I wouldn't understand most of it anyway.

My internship is going Ok. Sasha and I go to the orphanage for 2 hours after class and basically just play with the kids and color and stuff. It's really fun. They try to teach us a little Russian but I am still struggling a little bit to understand them. Oh well, it is good practice.

Tonight Colin, Magda, Misha and I are going to see a little opera type show at the drama theater here in Novgorod. The company of performers is actually from St. Petersburg though which is cool. I'm off to have some tea and food, then go to the orphanage, then to the theater :-)

Francesca

Palace Overload

This morning we got on a mini bus and went to the amazingly beautiful Peterhof, palace of Peter the Great modeled after the legendary palace at Versailles. The fountains and gardens are just unbelievably gorgeous. It's impossible to describe. The big palace is lovely, and the little palace and the Gulf of Finland is so exquisite. Sorry that I'm not putting pictures up until I get back to the states...you'll have to wait to see it all. Then we went to Pushkin, a summer palace for Tsarina Elizabeth. Also quite beautiful. We got to go inside this one and see some of the rooms that were restored to the original after WWII based on photographs. This place was total gold overload. The ballroom-type hall was lovely though. So gold and sumptuous...right out of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. Colin and I did a little dance to commemorate the dancibilty of being in this room.

We're all just chilling out now, resting up before we go to the ballet to see Swan Lake tonight.

Tomorrow we have a free day in St. Petersburg. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet. I want to do some souvenir shopping and definitly see the HUGE bookstore called книги дом. Then we are meeting up around 5 to head back to Novgorod. I really like St. Petersburg...it's beautfil with the palaces and canals and rivers, but I miss Novgorod. It's not so big and congested. I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow because Novgorod already feels like home.

Gotta go start getting ready for the Russian Ballet!

Love,
Francesca

Hermitage = Name Dropping

So we are in St. Petersburg. Pretty awesome place. The hostel/hotel we are staying in is really nice. We did a walking tour yesterday after we got here. Everything is so beautiful. The city is on a bunch on islands on the Neva River and it's very European as far as style goes, in my opinion. All I could think of was that Belle from Beauty and the Beast was going to come walking around the corner at any minute. We saw the Winter Palace from the outside and it is gorgeous! I wish I was a tsarina :-)

Today we started out by going to St. Isaac's Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous inside, I was literally tearing up because of the shear height of the dome and the intricacy of the mosaics. Then we did the 3 hour hermitage tour to see all the great masterpieces as fast as possible because there is just SO MUCH to look at. It would legitimately take years to see it all. The beauty of the interior of the palace as well as the magnificent artwork. It's just unbelievable. I wish I could've seen the interior of the palace when it was in use as a palace. As far as artwork goes it was all about name dropping, seriously. Da Vinci, Michelanglo, Renoir, de Goya, Monet, Van Gogh...it was incredible.

We're chilling in the room for a little while because we're pretty much exhausted from the day but in a little bit we're going to go get some groceries and such. Then we might go do something tonight or hang out in the room...not sure yet. Tomorrow is Peterhof and also the ballet (Swan Lake of course :-) ) tomorrow night.

Love&Miss Ya'll :-)

Francesca

Items of Interest

First of all, I have another awesome superstition to tell you. Lena's nose was itchy and she told me that in Russia that means you either will have an alcoholic drink soon or be punched in the nose soon. Haha. Tell me that isn't an interesting insight into Russian culture.

Second, I went to a little party last night with my friend Misha (not to be confused with my friend Masha; I have a lot of English speaking Russian friends in Novgorod). Anyway, he is in the militia and one of his fellow members was like promoted and given new stars for the shoulders of his uniform so he had a little get together. The tradition is that the stars have to be put into a glass of vodka and like cleaned before they can be accepted onto the uniform and the guy has to drink the vodka to get the stars. It was such a fun party. I tried to speak Russian, they tried to speak English by translating things online; it was awesome. Also, they kept begging me to sing Fergie but I was SO embarassed and couldn't remember all the words so I sang part of a classical Italian song instead, it was SO funny.

Third, believe it or not we are going to St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) this weekend, Thursday through Sunday. I'm excited to go on a mini-break and see the sights. We also only have 3 days of school this week :-)

Fourth, we started our history lessons today. Pretty cool. Very interesting stuff. Some of it I already knew from some classes at Brockport but some I didn't. Here's an interesting fun fact: Russia (size wise) is 1/6 of the world; 2 USAs put together. Crazy big.

Fifth, because of Misha and the party, and Masha and her friends, I have like mad Russian friends now. Alina, Natasha, Yahna, Marina, Ramazon, Ludmila...they all rock so here's a shout out to them! (Don't be sad Brockport/Dansville friends....I love and miss you all too!)

Finally, I am off to go to Masha's flat to watch Harry Potter. We are preparing for when the new movie comes out on Thursday...although I won't see it until after I get back from St. Petersburg.

Love,
Francesca

PS...leave me comments! What do you want to hear about?

Я люблю Россию

Couple fun things to mention...

1. Other things I love about Russia...instead of salt and pepper shakers they have little tiny bowls that they put on the table with salt and pepper in them. They are adorable. Also, bottled water is often carbonated and some people don't like it but I do, it's good.

2. We went out to a dance club last night...it was so fun! It was on a boat on the Volkov River. The music was really dance-techno and there were lights ands a fog machine and the whole 9 yards. I had one drink when I was there (yes mom, just one), but it was a doozy. I can't remember what it was called but the bartender used a martini glass and it had 3 layers that he kept seperated by pouring it on a spoon and they must have had different densities or something. Anyway, he hands me a straw and with a lighter in his hand starts trying to explain something to me in Russian. Luckily my new friend Masha is Russian (she lives here in Novgorod) and she translated. Basically, he lights the drink on fire and you have to drink it fast before your straw melts. Crazy Russians. I was sort of scared of drinking fire but then I was like "When will I ever be young and foolish enough to do this again in my life?" So I did it. I was ridiculous. It burned my throught and it was sort of syrupy and minty and altogether pretty yucky. And, after lighting it he turned on a siren so everyone was watching, awesome. So I guess I can cross that off my list. Everything else about the club was fun though, we danced for hours, it was so fun.

3. Today we went to Staraya Russa which is where Dostoevsky lived for the last 8 years of his life and wrote his seminal masterpiece, Братья Карамазовы (The Brothers Karamazov). It is really a beautiful town and the weather was so nice today, about 25 celcius. We walked around the town and there is a nice river there, it's very picturesque.


Everything else is going well. I finished my first week of class and everything was fine. I am trying to improve my language skills as quickly as I can. Unfortunately we finished our week of art, but we start Russian history on Monday, so that will be interesting. I'm really having a great time here in Novgorod. I love the city already. It's so beautiful and quaint. The mix of new and old is so unique comparted with the United States where things are new or newer. Novgorod is celebrating it's 1150th anniversary this fall, it's the oldest city in Russia. The Kremlin and Jaroslav's Court are like time machines. Then there are interesting features such as old factories that have been turned into brand new shopping malls...love it.

That's all for now, hope everyone is well stateside.

Miss&Love You,
Francesca

Things I Love About Russia (con't) And MORE :-)

Ok, here are a few things I forgot last time:

1. I went to the grocery store with Lena, my host mom and there was an entire aisle of vodka...no joke...an entire aisle. It was crazy. Plus the aisle of beer, the aisle of wine and the aisle of other liquors. It's crazy.

2. I love Novgorod. The city is amazing! It's not too big but still fairly cosmopolitan. There are losts of place to get tea or coffee or beer. It seems you can walk anywhere but the bus system is also very nice.

3. White nights. It gets dark here is Novgorod at about 11:30pm. Until then it's lighter than twilight. I love it. You can have such a long day full of wonderful things. We do a lot of walking around the city; it's such an old city and there is so much to look at. All the churches and parks are so beautiful.

4. Mayo/ketchup. This sounds funny I know, but the mayonaisse and ketchup are sold in these bag that sort of seem like the bags craisins come in, but there is a little nozzle on the top that you take the cap off and you squeeze the mayo/ketchup out. It's wierd but totally cool.


In other new, my lessons are going pretty well. I am keeping up fairly well in my language class. I feel like I am learning more Russian and some of my Russian friends are helping me with my language, espcially my бабушка, Toma, who is awesome. She makes me speak Russian and I am learning a lot of conversational stuff.

Art class has been really fun. We are learning a technique of painting that includes decoration after the painting that almost makes the work look like patch-work. Then it is laquered over to make it shiny. We start Russian history next week. It is actually kind of hard to spell in English right now as I've been operating in Russian for a week.

As far as food goes...the food here is pretty awesome. I really like all the food I've been served by my family. Eggs, oatmeal, bread, bananas, apples, strawberries, yogurt, tea, vegetables...it's all been delicious. Also, I think I've eaten a ton of pizza since being here. I've been in Russia for 6 days and I've gone out for pizza thrVee times. Twice with my classmates and once with my Russian friend Misha (Миша). I've had some other Russian food but I can't remember the names. It's all been delicious though!

We got to Staraya Russya on Saturday so that will be fun. I've already been all over the Kremlin and Jaroslav's Court. Even the river is so beautiful.

It's getting too hard to type/spell in English. More later :-)

Love&Miss Everyone!

Things I Love About Russia

Hey all! I've been so busy I haven't really had time to be on the computer. Apparently this blog will count for a reflective journal that we are supposed to be keeping while we are here so...this one is for you Liza :-)

Ok. TAK. Things I Love About Russia.

1. Superstitions. My host mom Elena tells me about all these awesome Russian superstitions. My favorite so far is about flowers. Flowers in a vase and as a gift must be in odd numbers. Bouquets of even numbered flowers are for the dead...lol.

2. Tea. Tea is awesome. We drink tea all the time and it's awesome. It's delicious abnd it's a nice social time to sit and talk.

3. Time/date format. Military time makes more sense...duh. If your meeting someone at 8...you may be twelve hours early/late in the US...not so in Russia. Also, for the date Russians do day/month/year...smallest to largest...makes sense!

4. My host family. I absolutely LOVE my host family. Especially my mom Elena. She is SO sweet and smart and her English is very good. She is wonderful about helping my friends and I figure things out.

I think that's all for now. I'm having a great time here and miss everyone dearly. More later!

Love,
Francesca

First Morning

I am in Russia. Right now. Doesn't that blow your mind?!

After driving to the airport, 3 plane rides, and a very bumpy bus ride, I have arrived in Novgorod and am currently at my host family's apartmet. The flights were very long but OK. I didn't sleep at all.

All I've done since arriving is shower and sleep. I have to go eat breakfast though.

More soon!

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

In about 24 hours I will be on a plane flying to JFK so that I can fly to Russia. I can't believe the trip is already here and I am out of time to do all the things I needed/wanted to do before I left. I'm very stressed out right now, but not really because I'm nervous about being in a foreign country where I know almost none of the language and culture. It's just all the other stuff stressing me out. I still have a mondo list of stuff I need to do before I leave. My friends are commandeering me later to hang out one last time before I leave so it feels like everything has to be done now, which I guess it kind of does....

I'm trying to finish up my organizing and packing right now. Last load of clothes is in the wash, camera/kindle/ipod are charging, watch set to Novgorod time, extended absence message left on the voice mail for my cell, shoes are shined.....OK, not really that last one.

I decided against bringing my hair dryer for those of you curious about the outcome of that debate that I've been struggling with for weeks. I'm going au naturale as far as my hair is concerned.

So that's it. Please follow my blog this summer and pretty please leave me some comments to make me smile :-)

Miss&Love you all.....next post from RUSSIA!