"Women's Day. It is a black day for men" -Nicoli

 Our friend Nicoli said this to us as a joke... He is so funny.

Thursday February 23^rd, 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 25^th, 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 26^th, 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 28^th, 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 29^th, 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 1^st, 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 3^rd, 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 4^th, 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 6^th, 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 7^th, 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 8^th, 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.