I made it to Russia! There has been so much going on! Ok...I will start at the beginning!
Getting ready to go to the airport!I flew from SLC to Chicago where they had the coolest toilets! I know...kinda weird. But I had never seen anything like them before!
You wave your hand over the sensor and the plastic rotates until new plastic has replaced the old plastic. Then you are ready to sit!
Then we flew to Washington D.C. where we immediately got on the plane that was headed to Moscow!
The view out my window as we arrived in Moscow!
The view out my window as we arrived in Moscow!When we got through immigration and customs we had to wait for the other teachers to come through, so we took a picture of our group! Thankfully the luggage for everyone in our group was not lost. A lot of other girls had their luggage lost and still don't know where it is.
Briaunna, Lisa, Me, Jeff, and John
Briaunna, Lisa, Me, Jeff, and JohnAfter the airport we went to our host family's home. I live in Moscow in an apartment! My mother is Marina, my father is Vladimir, my sister is Katya, and my brother is Mitya. Katya is 11 and Mitya is 9. I am actually going to be teaching Mitya's class this semester! Katya LOVES dogs, plays the piano, and likes to read. Mitya likes war toys (like tanks), is interested in bugs and insects, and likes to play games. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them yet but hopefully I will soon! Marina made me rice and a hot dog the first day. They all speak English very well so it is pretty easy to talk to them. I still have to listen pretty hard, though, to make out what they are saying. They are nice and hopefully I will get more used to them and more comfortable with them as I stay there longer. I just don't want to do anything offensive. Haha!
We then exchanged our money for Rubles and got our visa pictures taken.
That was all on the first day.
The second day started out with me waking up and going into the kitchen to find Mitya watching Phineas and Ferb in Russian! The characters were speaking English but it was being dubbed in Russian! It was kinda cool. For breakfast Marina made me Blini (I think that is how you spell it). They are kinda like thin pancakes or thick crepes. She had me eat them with sour cream. At first I was a little scared to try it, but I have to admit it wasn't bad. Of course I still STRONGLY prefer cinnamon sugar and syrup, but sour cream on Blini wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
After that we went to the metro and then went to Red Square as a whole group of teachers. We didn't get to go inside the buildings but Gulya, our native coordinator, told us about the history of the buildings. We can go inside another day.
Resurrection Gate
Me in front of St. Basil's Cathedral
Lenin's Tomb. Stalin was actually buried here for 4 years but then he was taken out and buried somewhere else because they thought he was not honorable enough to be with Lenin.
A Cathedral we went in.
The Kremlin (the red wall) and the office where the President of Russia works.
My group in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. Going left to right: John's host brother, John, Sarah (the head teacher), Me, Lisa, Briaunna, and Jeff.
The Tomb of the Fallen Soldier. This is a grave/memorial for all the soldiers who died between 1941 and 1945. There are guards who stand there keeping watch over the tomb. They trade posts with other guards about every 15-30 minutes depending on how cold it is.
Me holding my water (Bon Aqua) in front of a McDonalds!
We then exchanged our money for Rubles and got our visa pictures taken.
That was all on the first day.
The second day started out with me waking up and going into the kitchen to find Mitya watching Phineas and Ferb in Russian! The characters were speaking English but it was being dubbed in Russian! It was kinda cool. For breakfast Marina made me Blini (I think that is how you spell it). They are kinda like thin pancakes or thick crepes. She had me eat them with sour cream. At first I was a little scared to try it, but I have to admit it wasn't bad. Of course I still STRONGLY prefer cinnamon sugar and syrup, but sour cream on Blini wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
After that we went to the metro and then went to Red Square as a whole group of teachers. We didn't get to go inside the buildings but Gulya, our native coordinator, told us about the history of the buildings. We can go inside another day.
Resurrection Gate
Me in front of St. Basil's Cathedral
Lenin's Tomb. Stalin was actually buried here for 4 years but then he was taken out and buried somewhere else because they thought he was not honorable enough to be with Lenin.
A Cathedral we went in.
The Kremlin (the red wall) and the office where the President of Russia works.
My group in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. Going left to right: John's host brother, John, Sarah (the head teacher), Me, Lisa, Briaunna, and Jeff.
The Tomb of the Fallen Soldier. This is a grave/memorial for all the soldiers who died between 1941 and 1945. There are guards who stand there keeping watch over the tomb. They trade posts with other guards about every 15-30 minutes depending on how cold it is.After visiting Red Square we went to the grocery store to get something to eat. I ended up just getting a water because I was so thirsty! It was huge but it hit the spot. At the grocery store, before you can shop, you have to put your purse in a clear plastic bag and seal it with a special sealer. If you don't do this the guards will get you. I guess this is to prevent shoplifting.
Me holding my water (Bon Aqua) in front of a McDonalds!Well, that's all for now! I am going to the school later today and then we are going to have training. I found out yesterday that I am going to be teaching 9-10 year olds instead of 5-6 year olds like I thought. But I am still so excited! I will post more as the time goes on! Until then...Paca! (Informal 'Goodbye' in Russian)
5 comments:
How exciting!! Keep writing on this blog because it is a good way to journal what you are doing. I am so excited for you and glad you are doing this--I would have been too afraid at your age, I believe. Keep up the good work.
HA HA AWESOME!! Great post! I love it! 8-9 year olds will be fun--maybe even more fun...it will be less like babysitting a bunch of little kids. Hopefully they will be more mature than the 5-6 year olds.
k that comment was from Casey---not Nick. Although I'm sure Nick would agree. ;)
This is so cool Hillary! I'm really proud of ya! Make sure you try everything they offer (except the vodka, of course) and experience everything you can! Can't wait to hear more! Oh, and if you do offend, just say "I'm American, that's what we do." LOL! Debbie
I'm so glad I found your blog! I've been wondering if you made it. Teaching will be such a great experience for you...something you'll never forget. Stay warm! Today, while coming home from work, my car thermometer read 15 degrees. Hope you are warmer than us tonight!
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