One Week Left

I can't believe I only have one week left here in Russia. I'm so devastated to be leaving, I can't even think about it. I haven't even started souvenir shopping or mailed my postcards yet. (Sorry guys! I'll mail them tomorrow I promise!)

Anyway. Yesterday was good. Went to the beach with Colin and sunbathed for a few hours and really got some tan back. Then I worked at the orphanage for a few hours. I can't believe I only have 3 more days with the kids! We've really done some fun stuff with them. Played catched, hopscotch, tag, colored with colored pencils, markers, sidewalk chalk, played on their playground, done crafts, jump roped. It's really been so much fun.

Today was similar. Couple hours and the orphanage and then Colin and I went to see a photo exhibit of local photographers. It was in the same old monastery where we went to do birchbark weaving with Matt's host dad (Vladimir?) in his workshop. That seems to be an artist community type place; it's cool. The exhibit was awesome. There were tons of beautiful pictures and a lot of them were of Novgorod, the Kremlin, St. Sophia, Jaroslav's Court, other monasteries. The pictures were so awesome. One really cool thing was to see pictures of Novgorod in the winter. It's summer here now, so it was nice to see what it looks like with snow covering everything. Still beautiful.

We also ducked into a couple stores on our way back. One of which was a jean's store named Colin's. We couldn't resist. I couldn't even resist taking Colin's picture out front by the sign. Cute. We also went into Diez which is a big media store and looked at some books. Then we came back to my apartment and chilled with Lena. She made these amazing zuccini pancakes that were delicious. I guess the zuccinis at the dacha are really thriving so she was trying to think of different ways to cook them. Anyways, when I get back to the states I will make you guys some zuccini pancakes. They are delicious with smetana by the way, of course.

Oh, and I have a culture tid bit for you. Itchy palms...you know the feeling? Anyway, if your left palm itches it means money is on it's way to you! Whoo! If your right palm itches you will be shaking hands with someone soon. Cool.

Some good news: Toma and Max should be back from the sea on Saturday! Also, my good friend Masha is coming back to Novgorod on Thursday! So I will get to see here again before I leave :-)

Our Camping Adventure

So we just got home from our little camping trip, and it was an adventure to say the least. After eating and packing yesterday we hoped on a trolley to the bus station. From there we bought tickets and got on a bus out of the city to Ilmen, the huge lake that the river that runs through Novgorod starts from. It really is a big lake, you can't see the other side, but it is very shallow. The deepest parts of the lake are only about 4 meters deep. When we got off the bus we had to walk for about half of an hour or 45 minutes. It was really hot and we were carrying heavy backpacks, a bag of food, mats, our tent...it felt like forever. Then we got to the lake and it was worth it. We met up with Kostya, who organized the trip. I saw organized because it wasn't just a camping trip at the lake. He actually set up that a bunch of people would bike to the lake to camp, but also spend the day picking up some of the TONS of garbage that trippers leave there in the summer. So even though we didn't bike, we did pick up some garbage to help out the environment. Then we spent some quality time at the beach, mostly wading and sunbathing. Lena made an awesome sandcastle too ;-) Then we headed back to camp and had some food. We spent most of the afternoon just lying in the sun and hanging out. We spent some time by the fire and I was so tired that I headed to bed a little after 10. I know it was really early but we didn't really know anyone there and I was legitmately tired. I had fallen asleep but around 11:30 maybe, I was awoken by a rousing rendition of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" from the crowd still sitting by the fire. That wouldn't have been that wierd except I'm in Russia. Anyway, I started laughing which woke Lena up and we were talking, I guess sort of loudly, in English of course, and someone outside was like "English! An American! We want you come and share our fire and speak us Engligh". Since I was awake I obliged. There were about 6 people who wanted to hear my English, only 3 of whom really were confident enough to speak English to me. One of whom, Sergei, I must mention because had absolutely gentlemanly manners and was very nice to talk with (and he had a great smile!) Anyway, it was nice to meet yet more Novgorodians who speak English! I will have so many Russian friends by the end of the trip!

Anyway, I went to bed around 1:30 am but I did not sleep well at all. I was really cold all night and couldn't get comfortable. I did not feel good when I woke up this morning. My body was achy, my throat was VERY sore (still is) and I was freezing even though Lena was frolicking around outside in her bathing suit. I spent more of the morning just resting and dozing. Around 1 I started feeling a little better and forced myself to eat something. Then we broke camp, packed up and heading to the beach, since it was on the way to the bus stop. We waded and little and put the finishing touches on our suntans :-) The beach was really nice. The sand was smooth and clean and the water warm. After a tiny nap we headed to the bus stop and only had to wait for about 15 minutes for the bus. When we got back to Novgorod we hoped onto a trolley and headed home. It was a fun little adventure but Lena and I are pretty tired. We need some showers to get all the sand off. We are thinking about eating some pilmeni for dinner (I missed smetana while we were away...lol) and the broth will feel good on my throat which is still very sore. Then I just feel like vegging on the couch and watching a movie (probably Harry Potter in Russian) or maybe reading while Lena works on her belt. A quiet evening :-) Plans for something fun with Colin for tomorrow and then back to the internship of course. Another very fun weekend!

Birthday Celebration

Ok, I have to be kind of quick about this because Lena and I are leaving in a little while to go camping and we still have to eat and pack and stuff.

My birthday was interesting. Very fun, but very interesting. First, thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes on vkontatke and facebook, and texts, even people who haven't spoken to me since May (you know who you are sir). I miss you all very much and would have loved for you to be with me last night and enjoy the experience I had. Second, thank you to Lena for throwing me a wonderful party and caring so much about me and making sure I had a good and memorable time. Я тебя люблю! Third, thank you to Misha and Dima and Lena for actually getting me gifts! How cute and sweet! (Especially to Lena for telling the guys what to get me because she has a wonderful memory!)

So, the party. Colin showed up first and helped us finish getting ready. We chilled and listened to Magical Mystery Tour of course because I need it when I'm getting ready these days. Then Misha showed up and we decided to start eating. The egg salad was a bit hit. We made a bug batch of it with 20 eggs and there was only a spoonful left at the end of the night! No one really liked my iced tea as much as I did but I made Colin drink some. Everybody made toasts in my honor and it was very sweet! Dima finally came over and he brought me a beautiful plant of pink flowers that smell SO good and also 2 DVDs of movies that I love in Russian. Then we ate the pilmeni and smetana and it was DELICIOUS. Totally my favorite Russian food. We did drink some vodka (it was my 21st!) but I knew it would be ok because my mamochka was there watching me :-) One of the shots we did (Dima and I were the only ones drinking the vod) we had to balance the shot glass on our elbow and then lean in and drink the shot without touching it. It was kind of hard but fun!

After that Lena disappeared into the other room and came back with a cake! I was so surprised! It was so delicious and rich because it had smetana in it! It was also really pretty because there was chocolate shavings on the top. It was so nice! And delicious. They were even candles and they sang "Happy Birthday". It was wonderful. We had tea with our cake and it was delicious. They we all just sort of hung out and talked. My birthday was came true pretty quickly, which was nice.

It was a wonderful party. This is the third year in a row that I've celebrated my birthday away from home, away from my friends and family. It can be a little sad, but my Russian friends and family outdid themselves to make my birthday wonderful. I can't thank them enough!

Little Friday

Yesterday was Wednesday, but it was also a "little Friday" as Toma and Lena say. It was the first day without class so I got to sleep in and basically just hang around all morning. I went to my internship and played with the children. They seemed kind of cranky and in bad moods but we still had fun. When I came home Lena and I went to the huge grocery store Lenta to buy some food for the party tomorrow. We ran into one of Lena's friends (Lena...teehee) and her Peruvian husband Carlos. Carlos speaks some Russian and has found a job here in Novgorod. He also (obviously) speaks Spanish so we chatted in Spanish a bit. Although my Spanish is quite rusty after all the Russian so I was really speaking some wierd mixture of English, Russian and Spanish...Spengssian maybe? While we were at the store Lena got a phone call from Alexander, whom she tutored in English and who was also Don's host while he was here. Alexander invited us over for a little shashlik party because he has a nice veranda in the back yard of his building and he felt like doing some grilling. We decided to go even though it was Wednesday night and we brought Colin and my Russian friend Masha with us. While we were getting ready to head out I got an interesting text message. When we went to Vertigo, the club on the boat, about a month ago, we met a few people from Finland. I gave them my number here because they want to meet up at the beach the next day. I never heard from them until yesterday when I got a message from Ilari. He wanted to go for coffee but I invited him to the party instead. He has been living and working in Novgorod since January and he is a very nice and interesting new friend. Anyway, the party was very fun. We ate some delicious shashlik and this Georgian bread that is kind of flat and very tasty. Alexander is very hospitable and generous and of course we had to drink some vodka with him but not too much. His wife is also a very charming woman and we just had such a nice evening.

Today I slept in again because we didn't get home last night until 2am! I hung out with Lena and Sasha came over for a bit. We ate and drank tea and watched Harry Potter and it was very pleasant. Then we headed over to the internship. The children seemed to be in much better spirits today. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard and we had to stay inside today. We ended up watching Lilo and Stitch (in Russian of course). Since we were watching the movie it was a little harder to interact with the children although they did want to sit near us on the couch or on our laps. Hopefully it will be nice out tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it will be my birthday already! I can't believe it will be August 7 ALREADY. My trip is almost over :-( I will definitly post details about the party tomorrow or Saturday and I'm sure Lena will take pictures :-) She is the best Russian mamochka I could ever have gotten or even wished for. I so sad that I only have 11 more days here! But I am pumped to commemorate this momumental birthday with my Dansville and Brockport friends when I get home! Love and miss you all!

Francesca

More Goodbyes

Yesterday was our last day of real class. We took our final test which consisted of both an oral and written component. We got our grades back today when we went into for a goodbye tea party. I got a 99% on the oral and a 100% on the written. Too bad that doesn't mean I can actually speak Russian :-) We didn't have history so I headed home after class. It was raining pretty hard so I ended up spending the afternoon watching Harry Potter in Russian and chilling out on the couch. Then in the evening more Harry Potter and I helped Lena work on her skirt she is making. We also ate some blini and just enjoyed chilling with each other. We have such a great time together; our senses of humor mesh really well. We also had a pretty interesting conversation about what she remembers about Soviet/Perestroika times. Very illuminating.

Today we went into school for a a goodbye tea party. It was really fun. I am really going to miss my teacher Tamara. She was so wonderful and sweet and patient. I learned so much from her. She told me today that she knows I will be able to speak Russian quickly and with a good accent if I keep working at it. After that I headed home for a few hours. Lena was working on her project listening to some awesome tunes so I just chilled on the couch reading. It was nice. Then I headed down to the Kremlin to one of the nicest restaurants in Novgorod which is actually in one of the guard towers. We had a farewell dinner with our instructors Tamara, Sasha and Stas. Liza was there and all the students except my dear Magda who left on Thursday. The food was delicious. I had pilmeni which is already one of my favorite Russian foods and will be served at my little birthday gathering on Friday :-) It was really sad to say goodbye to almost everyone in the group. Even Liza's eyes looked a little wet.

If Toma, Max, Madga and the rest of the students weren't enough to say goodbye to, my very good Russian friend Masha is going on holiday Thursday and won't be back until after I leave, so I must say goodbye to her tomorrow :-( I want her to come visit me in the US though, so I will hopefully see her sometime soon stateside.

Speaking of birthdays, Lena and I are hosting a small party at the apartment. It might have been a bigger party but hardly anyone is left in Novgorod! It is going to be a very non-traditional menu: pilmeni, chocolate, egg salad and iced tea. An interesting mix of Russian and American cuisine. We are also having some berries and champagne...and a little vodka ;-) The vodka is really necessary though (Mom) because we have a karaoke machine and will be singing after we eat :-) It should be fun.

Also speaking of birthdays, I have some great superstitions/customs for you. The first is that you cannot celebrate/congratulate birthdays before they arrive. It's bad luck to even say "Happy Birthday" before it actually happens. Another, when someone leaves for a long journey everyone must sit down together before they depart. Another, if you leave the house and you forgot something, you don't go back for it. If it's crucial, you must look at yourself in the mirror before you leave again after retrieving it. Another, when someone comes to visit, you step out of the house or bring the person inside before shaking hands, you never do it over the threshold. Another, if you drop a knife while cooking or eating you will have a male visitor; a spoon means female. Interesting eh?

Love,
Francesca

Weekends

Another super fast weekend. Ended up just hanging out on Friday night. Had a bit of a sore throat this week so I was laying low. Yesterday Lena and I had a little beach trip with some of our friends. It was fun to be in the sun and see some of the beautiful countyside and a bit of the lake. Today Lena and I went to the beach again, the one close by on the river near the Kremlin. It was on and off rainy and sunny, but we really had a lot of fun. Colin, Alina, and Masha met up with us and we had some really fun frisbee going on. Then it started raining so we played in the rain and then Lena and I ended up going swimming. It was really fun. When we got home we ate pilmeni which are SO delicious and quickly becoming one of my favorite Russian foods. Then I watched a pirated copy of the newest Harry Potter movie in Russian...I understood a bit of it...lol. Now Lena is at it again the the kitchen making some delicious blini...another of my favorites. Tomorrow is our final exam in my Russian language class so it's blini and studying for the rest of the night.

Oh, here's an anecdote from the internship. On Friday one of the little boys, who I've never really even spoken to, was like attached to my waist and wouldn't stop hugging me the entire time was there. He actually tugged on my arm and I leaned down to hear what he wanted to tell me. It ended up being "Я вас люблю" which means "I love you". It was cute...in a wierd way. Lol.

More later.

Francesca

PS...21 in 5 days :-)

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