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! :-(