Our friend Nicoli said this to us as a joke... He is so funny.
Thursday February 23rd, 2012
We had a day off today, so nice, I love it when we have days
off. We went to the souvenir market. It looks like a mini version of
Disneyland. It was a dead day today though; there were not a lot of people
selling that day. But it was still fun, we will definitely come back. I bought
a beautiful Russian Fairy Tale book in English. I was looking for something
like that and I found it! I was so happy. Then I bought 4 handmade Matrushka
doll key chains that are beautiful as well. A lot of stalls were selling fur
hats. A lot of the time I (and our group) were having hats shoved onto heads
and the sellers wanting us to buy them. They were trying so hard to sell them
to us. My friend Kris was attacked by this old man, he pulled her closer to his
hats that he was selling, put one on her, pulled her into a huge hug, picks her
up, twirls her around (definitely wooing her into buying one of his hats), and
then ends it all with a big wet kiss. Kris is laughing hysterically until he
kisses her, thank goodness our friend Jake, who speaks Russian, told us to move
on as quickly as possible as he talks to the man to distract him so we can run
away. It was so hilarious! I am sad I didn’t get a picture of him kissing her.
Glad we didn’t linger though, he was kind of creepy and really old. Ick.
Afterwards we went to Victory Park. There was a beautiful cathedral but it
wasn’t open today and so we couldn’t go in, but it was beautiful from the
outside. Sorry, but I am obsessed over cathedrals. Victory Park is so incredible.
I love how it is so big and in the middle there is a huge spire, which has the
name of cities in Russia running up and down the spire along with carvings of
people, and other things. At the top there are angels watching over a scene
below them. There is a man defeating a dragon with a spear as he is astride his
horse. It is so cool! I love it. Then we went into the museum. It was so
humbling to walk through the halls and rooms in this museum. We read about and
looked at paintings that showed how bloody and how devastating World War II was
for Russia. So many died, so much hate, so many terrible things happened. My own grandfather is a veteran of this war. It is amazing how much one can be
reminded about how devastating the affects of war are for anyone and everyone.
More people died in Russia then anywhere else even more than Jews were killed. I
teared up at the cruelty and devastation that surrounded the world at this dark
period. I wish it never happened, but we can’t change history. It was amazing
to be in there. I love that museum. I wouldn’t mind going in and just spending
a whole day in there. It is seriously so amazing. The feelings I felt in there
were of joy, sadness, despair, victory. I felt everything.
Saturday February 25th, 2012
Today we went to the Armory today! It was really cool and
there were amazing things to see. There was knight’s armor, armored horse,
guns, and swords. Dresses made of jewels and silk, lavish gowns, robes that had
long trains and made of fur, shoes, jeweled crowns, and amazingly beautiful
jewelry. Golden encased Bibles with precious stones, pearls, and all other
kinds of finery. It was amazing how big and thick they were. They must have
weighed at least a ton. There were portraits devoted to Mary mother of Jesus;
they were elaborately decorated and beautiful, made of gold, mother of pearls,
and jewels. It was amazing how much money that this placed had. The artifacts
are priceless; it is amazing how much was saved from becoming lost among the
many wars and changes in government. Apparently these things have been saved
for a long time in a very safe spot. One of the rooms was devoted to ornate
carriages. They were absolutely AMAZING! Beautifully carved with angels,
flowers, swirls, and anything you can think of. They were painted gold, or had
paintings of angels, woman, and flowers. They were huge and heavy. Some had to
be pulled by a team of 36 horses it was so big. There were also some carriages
for little children. So cute, to keep the procession small they had ponies pull
the carriages and have dwarfs be footman for the children. Isn’t that so great?
Haha. I thought that was so hilarious! They had winter carriages and then they
had summer carriages. They were so beautiful. I loved this part of the museum.
The dresses and clothes were also fantastic as well. The Russians followed the
French style with corsets, thin waists, and wigs. But I don’t think the wigs
survived because I didn’t see any. The women’s feet were sooo tiny! The shoes
were so small. But then for the men they were huge! The boots were just
gargantuan. I think it is so they can have warm thick socks in them but still.
The feet were at least more then 24 inches long, I am not kidding. The height
of the boots would reach higher then my hips. It was amazing. I wish I could of
taken a picture but we were not allowed to take pictures. It was amazing how
much money the Czars would use just to decorate their horses when they went
outside. The horses would have beautiful saddles, and silk surrounding them,
headdresses with precious jewels and stones, their hoofs would be decorated as
well, and then their chests would have something fun in the front as well. They
were decorated beautifully. The Czars and leaders of Russia lived a very rich
and luxurious life. It was astounding to see the richness and money devoted to
such things as simple as the horse they would ride, down to their shoes.
Afterwards we went to a honey exhibit but Kris and I got
locked right in the last second because we were trying to contact our friends
Myron and Nicoli. So the other girls went in and realized that we were not
there. So, we just hung outside and Sarah came and joined us because she had
already been inside and decided to hang out with us. I didn’t know that there
could be so many different kinds of honey. The girls said that it was fun and
nice to try different kinds of honey.
We finally got a hold of our friends and we met up with
them. The girls in my group stayed and the group of girls that were with us
decided to leave. We went to Cathedral of Christ or Christ the Savior’s
Cathedral. Oh my goodness, I know I have said this about every single cathedral
that I have been to but I love this cathedral!! It is absolutely stunning and
beautiful. It was so amazing to go inside as well. It was massive and had the
most amazing art painted on the walls, the picture frames that framed paintings
of the saints, and even the coffins were just so beautiful and amazing!! I
loved it. I could have sat there all day watching the devoted people and look
at the beautiful details of the cathedral. Then a service started and so we
heard the beautiful singing of the worshippers and priests. I love cathedral
music. It is so beautiful and peaceful.
Afterwards we went to the lock bridges. When I first heard
about lock bridges I instantly pictured in my mind the Panama Canal. Never been
but I have seen a bridge like this in New York. But the name is related to the
actual lock that you can hook onto your bike or on a locker. On this bridge
they have fake metal trees. It is tradition for newlyweds to bring a lock,
write their names on it, write the date, and then lock the lock on the tree.
These trees are filled with them. I think it is such a fun tradition! Then off
of the bridge on the sidewalks they have the older trees, these trees are chock
full of locks. They are so old and rusty. I love it! The locks vary in sizes,
shapes, color, and style. Some are really cute and adorable while others are
just ordinary. I love the idea. Call me a hopeless romantic but I think it is
way cute and a fun tradition. We even witnessed a couple that locked their lock
on the bridge. It was so cute!! They had a big celebration on the bridge; they
had confetti, and some other things. It was really fun. They were so cute,
loved them.
Sunday February 26th, 2012
We went to church today and the kids sang in Sacrament
meeting today and they were so adorable. I love it when the kids sing in
church.
After church we went to a hockey game! It was Russia against
Poland. All of the ILP groups went and then Myron and Nicoli joined us. It was
so much fun because I had never gone to a hockey game before in real life so it
was fun to witness. Of course being in Russia everything is so much more
exciting! Well, Russia won so that was really nice. They did very well. Many of
us wanted to see them fight, but they didn’t! But there was blood, a guy got
hit in the nose and it was bleeding all over the place. Sarah got hit on by a
Russian man who was wanting to “practice his English” with her, well he really
wanted to just flirt with her and get her number. He asked Nicoli to give him
her number but, thank goodness these boys are so great, Nicoli gave him his
number instead of Sarah’s. True friends right there, they are always watching
out for us. It is really nice.
Tuesday February 28th, 2012
Learned more Russian today!! I love the Russian language.
Sometimes it is really hard to say but once you get it you feel so good! It is
a beautiful language. It is so much fun!
Wednesday February 29th, 2012
Went to culture class today. I love culture class. Sadly, we
didn’t make anything but we learned some history! Here it what I learned:
- Ivan
the Terrible’s real name is actually Ivan the Storm. Terrible and Storm
have the same root and can sound the same sometimes. He was very
hot-tempered. He grew up learning to be two-faced because he learned that
from his courtiers. They would be kind to him when they were in public and
then they would be ruthless to him in private. So he grew up that way only
having that as his example.
- Ivan
married a women by the name of Roman; which later was the same name of the
Romonav Dynasty (Anastasia’s family)
- After
Ivan’s wife and son died he was very suspicious and more ruthless then
ever. He became very cruel.
- He was
religious and superstitious at the same time
- He
made himself a Czar of Russia
- He is
the Grandson of Ivan and Sophia III (she was a Byzantine Princess)
- The
symbol of the two-headed eagle came from the Byzantine Empire; one head
looks to Europe and the other looks to Asia. You will see this symbol all
over Russia and throughout Russian history. This symbol is still used
today because Russia is a part of Europe and Asia (Eurasia).
- The
Intercession Cathedral (which is St. Basil’s Cathedral) was created for
Ivan the Terrible.
- Ivan
had the architects of the cathedral blinded so they wouldn’t be able to
create it again because he thought it was so beautiful.
- Ivan
had the country split in two; one for landowners and the other half for
his army.
- There
were two symbols of his army: 1. Broom = which meant that they were going
to sweep the nation of it’s evil. 2. A Dog’s Head = soldiers would have
the cut off head of a dog on their saddles which was a reminder that they
were dogs obeying their master.
- The
smaller cathedral at the Entrance of Red Square (LOVE THIS ONE!) is called
Kazine Cathedral. It was built to celebrate the liberation from the Poles.
- Significance
of names:
- Vladimir---vlad means peaceful/warful, Mir
means world. (My friend Miron said his name means World and can mean Peace
as well)
- Slava means fame
- Luba means love
- Sophia means wise/wisdom---Sonya is a
nickname but it means sleepy
- Gulya means flower
- Ludmilla means kind, pretty, nice
- Svetta means light
- Bagdon means given from God
- Dasha/Daria means gift
- The
names Oleg and Olga are from Greece. I thought they were from Germany.
That was a big mind explosion.
- The
name Alexander has 46 nicknames!! Isn’t that crazy?? I can’t believe, I
think it is so crazy.
- Vladimir
the Great (came after Ivan the Terrible) brought Christianity to the
Russians
Thursday March 1st, 2012
Went to University today to meet our new group! They were
really fun and nice. We had a big group and apparently there is supposed to be
more but so far we haven’t had all of them yet.
Saturday March 3rd, 2012
All of us girls took it slow this morning. Slept in and just
spent time at the apartment. Then we went to go ice skating with our friends
from ILP, Nicoli, and Miron at 2pm. Sadly, right when we got there it was
closed until 5 pm. So we couldn’t ice skate. But one thing that was interesting
at Gorky park is that I used a squatter toilet for the first time ever! It was
very interesting. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. One moment in my
life, that I can recall, that I wish I was a guy. Well, we decided that we were
hungry and that Italian food sounded really good. The only people that showed
up on time was my group, Nicoli, and Miron. We called all of the other girls to
tell them it was closed so they went on to do their own thing. But our group
and the boys walked around looking for an Italian restaurant. We went into a
café call Moo Moo. It was so fun! The building was painted black and white like
a cow. Then inside the whole place was cow themed. Loved it! It was so great
but we were craving Italian food and it was really crowded. We found the
Italian restaurant. Oh my goodness it was so good. I love Italian food!! We had
pizza, bread, olive oil, and vinaigrette to dip the bread in. It was so
delicious. The olive oil was super spicy but amazing. Then Miron went to the
bathroom but when he came back he had 6 balloons in his hands for all of us. We
all thought it was hilarious and so we held on to them or tied them on our
backpacks.
Afterwards, Kris, Rauni, and I had to go to a ballet. So, we
departed from the other girls and the boys. Then we left for the ballet and met
up with some other ILP members. The ballet was Cinderella. It was soooo
amazing!! I loved it a lot. The music and dancers were beautiful. The costumes
were beautiful and creative. I still can’t get over how amazing it was. I love
the Russian ballet!
Sunday March 4th, 2012
Today we went to church as usual. I love church! Then Morgan
and I met up with the boys to go to Robin’s apartment for dinner. She is
another head teacher but for another group. That was a lot of fun! We made
delicious Alfredo pasta. The boys went out to go buy cake because it is
tradition to bring something when you are invited over to someone’s place. So
they come back and bring back this massive blini cake and ice cream. All of the
food was delightful. It was so good. The blini cake was strawberry flavored and
then we had caramel flavored ice cream, and a vanilla that had some nuts in it.
All of it was really good. We just talked with each other and it was fun. After that we had to leave because Nicoli needed to go
somewhere. When
we got onto our little Metshrutka bus there were three men and they were
definitely talking about us. It was really scary because they were huge guys
and it was dark outside. But I do know that our guards will watch out for us as
long as we can survive to reach them. But they were so creepy and thank
goodness they left before our stop otherwise I am pretty sure they would of
followed us. And it was late so it was the last bus leaving so they couldn’t of
followed us even if they tried/wanted to. We were both so relieved when they
left. These guys were old. I don’t get it sometimes. These Russians can
sometimes be really creepy and gross.
Tuesday March 6th, 2012
Our kids were in this concert for women’s day. It was the
cutest thing ever and it was dedicated to all women. They sang two very pretty
songs: one was for mothers and the other was for grandmothers. It was so
pretty. We had to teach the kids a song about cowboys and we had been teaching
them for a long time. We taught a song that goes like this:
Buffalo girls won’t you come out tonight come out tonight
come out tonight.
Buffalo girls won’t you come out tonight aaaand dance by the
light of the moon.
Buffalo girls won’t you come out tonight come out tonight
come out tonight.
Buffalo girls won’t you come out tonight aaaand bring my
darling home.
Yes, that was our song. So great. They loved it and sang it
very well. There is a lady who plays the accordion and they really wanted us to
play music but we didn’t have any. Well the lady with the accordion had us sing
the song and bam it two tries she whips how the whole song on the accordion.
Genius. It was amazing that she did that. This song reminds me of the movie
“It’s a Wonderful Life” because George and his future wife (I can’t remember
her character name) were singing this song as they came home from the dance.
The kids sang songs from several regions around the world;
China or Japan (not sure which one), USA, Greece and, of course, Russia. They
were all dressed up in costumes for these different places. They danced, sang,
and did some skits. They were so cute and I loved every minute of their
performance. They kept waving at us but we weren’t allowed to wave back because
it was a performance. We would just smile at them if they did.
Wednesday March 7th, 2012
Today we only taught for one hour!!! It was so wonderful and
so nice. What was even better that day was that we only had to teach 4 kids.
Best day ever! We taught them all together. Morgan taught first, and then I
taught. My lesson went too long so Mindy didn’t teach. It was the nicest day of
teaching I have ever had so far. The reason that there were only 4 kids and it
was only for an hour was because it is Women’s Day tomorrow. The Russians like
to make their holidays as long as possible. Then the kids were so sweet and
they gave all four of us (Morgan, Mindy, Sarah, and I) chocolate. The chocolate
was amazing! The other school gave Kris and Rauni flowers and perfume. They looked
up the perfume and it was very expensive perfume, the prices were close to $100
on some of them. None of them were cheaper then $80! And they bought three! One
for Kris, one for Ruani, and one for Sarah. Wow! What a gift. I swear we teach
the kids of Mafia members. Well, we are not really sure. They are so rich that
they have to be doing something illegal. So far the parents that we have met
have been very kind and wonderful so I don’t know what they do for a
profession.
Thursday March 8th, 2012
Today is Women’s day! So I was expecting a lot. No one said
a word about congratulating us for being a woman. We girls of course said that
to each other. But I was kind of expecting people to do it when we walked
outside. So I was taken aback a little. I just had imagined women’s day to be
this whole big thing because of all of the things that had been going on at our
schools. Nope, it seemed like a normal day. It was still a great day though! We went to a folk dance concert
today. It was really cool, funny, weird, and amazing. It was a children’s folk
dance concert. The kid’s ages ranged from 5 to 18. There were a ton of kids.
They just kept coming and dancing. There were some really
interesting dances/costumes and then there would be traditional dancing as
well. The costumes for the traditional dances were beautiful. I kept thinking
about my cousins because many of them did folk dance in college and I wish they
were there to see it. It would have been a lot of fun for them. I loved the
folk concert. It was very lively and the kids were solo good. I was amazed by
what they could do.
