Ten years ago I was in Perm, Russia teaching English to children. TEN years ago!!! That makes me feel extremely old! This post is dedicated to the good old days in Mother Russia. Enjoy the pics and experts from my journal.
"...I can't believe how numbingly cold it is here! I wear 7 layers and still chatter and shiver my way about. Russia has defined cold!" Picture taken in the middle of May.
"...I ride the trolleybus to and from school. It is quite the experience. They load people on until you are sure you can hear the hinges and bolts squeaking in protest. Today I was at the back of the bus, and as more and more people made their way on, I was pressed up against the back window. Soon, I was pressed up against the foggy glass so tightly, that my feet actually came up off the floor! There I was, dangling away, my little feet kicking and swaying with the bus. I would have laughed out loud if it hadn't been for my face being smothered in the black, vodka scented, leather jacket of the man in front of me!"
"I love my class! We call ourselves the 'Knights'. All of the classes have Arthurian names. The kids in my class are Danil, Yulia, Sonya, Sasha, Olya and Nikita. Today Danil came up to me, put his arms around my head and asked, "Why is your head SO SMALL?" ...The school is quite a sight with corroding walls, little to no furniture, and no flushing toilets. I never realized how plush my life is until I came here."
"...My Russian little sister is such a doll! Her name is Ksusha. We have so much fun in my room at night playing games and taking silly pictures." "...Today Roma came up to me and whispered in my ear, "When I grow up can I marry you, because I love you!" Left to Right: Ksusha, Roma, Dasha
While visiting Yekaterinburg: "...After visiting the Romanov grave site, we went and ate at McPeak's, a McDonald's that was overtaken by the mafia! The food was exactly the same. After we went to an outdoor market. We hadn't been there for too long before we realized we were being followed by gypsies. It only started with a few, but soon grew to a mob! They wanted us to buy their goods, and when Karalee declined, they grabbed her hair, broke some off and began shouting at us. They were apparently cursing us. At their cries, a group of gypsie men began heading our direction. We began running out of the park and I peeked over my shoulder and was horrified to see them running after us! Fear spurred us on a little faster, and they gave up the chase after a block."
"...Today I was able to travel back in time and visit OLD Russia. We went to a place called Kongor. It was a small villiage made up of old wooden houses. They were beautiful! In the houses I felt as though if I was quiet enough I would be able to actually hear the voices of the people that had lived there hundreds of years ago." "... As I was walking out of the mill, Sergei wanted us to pose for a picture. He began the countdown. 3.. 2.. just as he snapped the picture, little Michael mooned the camara! I've never seen Sergei (his dad) so embarrassed!"
* "Today we visited the ice caves! They were amazing and a little bit eerie! They were as intricate and awe inspiring as any other cave I've been to, and they were completely made up of ice! There were quite a few areas that you could travel through by sliding on your bottom. It was so much fun!"
While in Moscow. "... Later we went to Red Square. It was great to be able to see St. Basil's Cathedral in real life. The man who designed it was put to death so that he would never be able to design another like it."
While in St. Petersburg. "I LOVE St. Petersburg. I have never been anywhere so beautiful. The buildings take your breath away! If I ever get a chance to come back to Russia, this is where I want to come!" "Today while visiting the Pooshkin Palace, Carrie and I saw a marble bridge that we wanted to take a picture on, unfortunately it was fenced in. Being the bright girls that we are, we decided not to let that stand in our way, and proceeded to jump the fence. We did not get our picture, however, because we were too busy running away after having set off an alarm!"
"...Today was our last day of teaching and our day for saying goodbye to the kids. We had a party, with food, games and lots of tears. I am SO SAD! I can't believe that I will probably never see these kids again! I've been crying all day! I will miss them so much!"
"...I can't believe how numbingly cold it is here! I wear 7 layers and still chatter and shiver my way about. Russia has defined cold!" Picture taken in the middle of May.
"...I ride the trolleybus to and from school. It is quite the experience. They load people on until you are sure you can hear the hinges and bolts squeaking in protest. Today I was at the back of the bus, and as more and more people made their way on, I was pressed up against the back window. Soon, I was pressed up against the foggy glass so tightly, that my feet actually came up off the floor! There I was, dangling away, my little feet kicking and swaying with the bus. I would have laughed out loud if it hadn't been for my face being smothered in the black, vodka scented, leather jacket of the man in front of me!"
"I love my class! We call ourselves the 'Knights'. All of the classes have Arthurian names. The kids in my class are Danil, Yulia, Sonya, Sasha, Olya and Nikita. Today Danil came up to me, put his arms around my head and asked, "Why is your head SO SMALL?" ...The school is quite a sight with corroding walls, little to no furniture, and no flushing toilets. I never realized how plush my life is until I came here."
"...My Russian little sister is such a doll! Her name is Ksusha. We have so much fun in my room at night playing games and taking silly pictures." "...Today Roma came up to me and whispered in my ear, "When I grow up can I marry you, because I love you!" Left to Right: Ksusha, Roma, Dasha
While visiting Yekaterinburg: "...After visiting the Romanov grave site, we went and ate at McPeak's, a McDonald's that was overtaken by the mafia! The food was exactly the same. After we went to an outdoor market. We hadn't been there for too long before we realized we were being followed by gypsies. It only started with a few, but soon grew to a mob! They wanted us to buy their goods, and when Karalee declined, they grabbed her hair, broke some off and began shouting at us. They were apparently cursing us. At their cries, a group of gypsie men began heading our direction. We began running out of the park and I peeked over my shoulder and was horrified to see them running after us! Fear spurred us on a little faster, and they gave up the chase after a block."
"...Today I was able to travel back in time and visit OLD Russia. We went to a place called Kongor. It was a small villiage made up of old wooden houses. They were beautiful! In the houses I felt as though if I was quiet enough I would be able to actually hear the voices of the people that had lived there hundreds of years ago." "... As I was walking out of the mill, Sergei wanted us to pose for a picture. He began the countdown. 3.. 2.. just as he snapped the picture, little Michael mooned the camara! I've never seen Sergei (his dad) so embarrassed!" 
* "Today we visited the ice caves! They were amazing and a little bit eerie! They were as intricate and awe inspiring as any other cave I've been to, and they were completely made up of ice! There were quite a few areas that you could travel through by sliding on your bottom. It was so much fun!"
While in Moscow. "... Later we went to Red Square. It was great to be able to see St. Basil's Cathedral in real life. The man who designed it was put to death so that he would never be able to design another like it."
While in St. Petersburg. "I LOVE St. Petersburg. I have never been anywhere so beautiful. The buildings take your breath away! If I ever get a chance to come back to Russia, this is where I want to come!" "Today while visiting the Pooshkin Palace, Carrie and I saw a marble bridge that we wanted to take a picture on, unfortunately it was fenced in. Being the bright girls that we are, we decided not to let that stand in our way, and proceeded to jump the fence. We did not get our picture, however, because we were too busy running away after having set off an alarm!"
"...Today was our last day of teaching and our day for saying goodbye to the kids. We had a party, with food, games and lots of tears. I am SO SAD! I can't believe that I will probably never see these kids again! I've been crying all day! I will miss them so much!"
3 comments:
Okay, this is so cool! I'm friends with Karen and Shanna and Wendy and Michelle and Paulette, and I noticed your name on Shanna's blog and thought, I'm missing someone! So I'm over here to get acquainted, and I see this post about Russia, and that was really awesome because I got to go there when I was fifteen and I want to go back there more than just about any place in the world.
I'm rambling. :)
Anyway, nice to meet you, and I'll be back!
Tristi, what part of Russia did you go to?
Tristi,
Tina almost made it to the conference this year--ALMOST!! You'll love her--she is in our writing group, maybe she'll make it this time when we meet with you??
Oh hi, Tina!!
Post a Comment