Getting out in the Snow

I woke up to the first snow of 2008, well since I've been back anyway. And I went out anyway. Another 2 teachers and I walked for an hour and a half to the Pushkin Art Museum, stopping by way of a lovely French bakery. And to be silly:

That's me on the left all bundled up...

Across from the Pushkin is Christ the Savior Cathedral, so we stopped in there first where they were having mass. It was amazing. The inside is incredibly painted, every wall is covered with saints and angles and such and then sine it was mass, there was singing as well, which just resonated so beautifully. Sigh.





We then went into the Pushkin side gallery and saw many great impressionist works up through a few modern pieces. Quite an impressive collection of French artists. We finished with a great, as always, lunch at Daikon, my favorite Asian restaurant here and took the metro home. Now I'm going to enjoy sitting on my couch watching the snow from inside the apartment!

Oh, and just for Mickey I also uploaded a bunch of my recent knitting photos. Actually, only the fingerless glove was made recently, the rest are old, I just finally got around to photographing them:

Ah, routine!

It's very nice to be back into a routine. After work yesterday, I headed over to another teacher's for yummy shared dinner (leftover spicy pork curry and dal from my freezer, basmati rice and mung beans from their kitchen) and then craft night. I sewed in all the ends on the fingerless gloves I made, picture coming as soon as I decided to sit down in front of my home computer again, and worked on another set. And then I came home and slept straight through the night from 9:30 until 5:45. Ah, sleep, I love you.

So now, I'm feeling less anxious about being in Moscow, in case you were worried. And I'm excited to hear where all the other teachers are headed after they went to the job fair in Thailand over the break, thus far: Johannesburg, South Africa; Tunisia; Kobe, Japan; Myanmar (former Burma) and Shanghai! Makes me excited for my opportunity to head off and explore other possibilities. However, professionally it's a really good idea for me to stay here 3 years, so as always, stay tuned as I change my mind another 50,000 times.

Moscow: Love and Hate

Last night was rough. I was up from 12:30 until 4:30 contemplating what I'm doing in this city. Listening to the construction/traffic noise, smelling the air because I was too hot to sleep and therefore had the window open. Feeling very unsettled, needlessly and foolishly, because I am very settled here.

And then I came back to work this morning. I worked out and headed to the locker room to shower. On the way I was stopped by two of my students, both wishing me happy new year. Post shower, three more. And then a student came by my room. She is from Kenya and didn't get to go home as anticipated over break due to the political unrest there. She stayed in Moscow with -20 temperatures and said that she only really went out on Sundays to go to church. And she had come to apologize for not being able to get me an ink stamp from Kenya. The students here are so amazing. I'm constantly blown away and reminded that I love my job.

Now to figure out what I'm teaching today...

In the twists of my mind

As always, my mind continues to flip flop. Never shutting up. I'm so torn between wanting to share my life with someone (is there such thing as a marriage clock that ticks away in people like the biological clock?) and wanting to continue to travel. And wondering if I'll be able to combine those two things or if at some point I'll have to give one up.

Post turning 18, I've never lived in the same city for more than 3 years, unless you count college, and well, even if you do count college, those 3 or 4 year spans have been dotted with long periods of travel.

And now being part of international schools, I can continue the life style, traveling at will, moving every 2 or 3 years and being well compensated for it. But I really want someone to share it with. I miss having an intimate connection to someone. And I see many single women at my school my age or older and I don't want that. I don't want to continue on this path solo. But is there any point even worrying about this right now? Of course not - I'll be in Moscow until June of 2009 at least. Why won't my head just turn off and let things happen rather than constantly trying to envision the future, visions which are always wrong anyway.

In Houston, I had the feeling that I could settle right back into life there. But how long could I happily stay there - especially when the heat and humidity returns? At times, I think of how nice it would be to finally have the vegetable/herb garden I long for, but would I really stick around in the summers to tend to it, or would I be off somewhere?

That's what's got me up at 4:30 in the morning since I've returned to Moscow. That and stupid jet lag.

Howdy, y'all Part 3

People either love or hate Houston. Personally, I love it, well, except for the weather. Although the weather in winter time is right near perfect. Yesterday, I went on a walk with my aunt. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. About halfway into our walk it started raining on us and it was still enjoyable to be walking in the rain. I had stayed over night at my aunt and uncles, was awaked at 8 by the patter of little feet in front of the door and the sound of whispers asking each other if I was awake yet.

I emerged and was immediately set upon by my cousins. I must admit, they're terrible cute. I spent the morning with them and the aforementioned walk with my aunt. I wish I could get my parents to start exercising. I sure would enjoy going on walks with them. According to my aunt my mom has never really been into fitness.

I once again got to hear about what a terror I was in my youth. I refused to sleep anywhere but my parents' bed until I was 3 - how my sister was ever conceived remains a mystery to this day. And apparently I loved those canisters of Cheeto Balls. In case you're curious I was finally bribed into my own bed by being told that if I didn't sleep there Santa wouldn't know where to find me. What?! No presents? Sign me up for my own bed.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with many of my college buddies yesterday afternoon/evening. They all own their own houses, all of the houses are beautiful. Well, I'm just assuming Phil's is because he lives in Dallas so I haven't yet seen it, but it must be great. It's always such a pleasure to see them. It's so easy to slip back into the rythym of being friends with them. Actually, I find this to be true with all my friends across the world. I was commenting with RebeccaT last night that I must bring this out in people since it always seems to happen with me. She agreed that it's because I know that even though I live somewhere else, I haven't changed and don't act like my friends must have changed even thoguh I've been gone.

Seeing all of them so nicely settled, makes me yearn a bit to be settled myself. I could easily slip back into life here, but would I end up going crazy? At some point I'll have to figure something out. My California teaching credential will expire in 4 more years and I'll have to get a permanent credential from some state. I also want to get my masters in math, something I don't want to do online. So there you go, a wrap up of the last few days and hint of the rattling in my brain.

Howdy, y'all Part 2

After leaving Biloxi it should have been a quick 6 hour trip to H-town. However, we didn't leave until almost 11. Check out took a while because my mom regailed the front desk girl with the horror story of our dinner in the casino's steak house the night before. "Let me s'plain, no, that will take to long, let me sum up:" We were one of 5 tables in the restaurant, yet we still had to wait 45 minutes for our salads. That was the highlight. However, due to mom's expert storytelling, for our return trip on Monday we were upgraded to suites and given a $50 casino credit.

"Oooh, Antique Village Exit 10!" Mom exclaims. Dad and I give each other a knowing look, this could be trouble. And indeed, it was a "town", term used very loosely, very similar to Waynesville, Ohio, where my parents antique store is located. It was a main street lined with antique stores, my mom's own little paradise. I managed to make it through 4 antique stores and actually managed to pick up 2 skirts and a funky denim jacket. However, really, I was looking for books. I learned in the many roadtrips of my youth that antique stores are the cheapest place for used books. And they tend to range from literature to cookbooks but mostly consist of pulp fiction, perfect for road trips. However, these stores seemed to be more high class, nary a book insight. It wasn't until the 4th store that I found a meager selection of books. However, books found I was able to pick up a few for $1.50 and head to the car to read it). Dad threw in the towel after the second store, he went to the car to nap. Mom made it through all 6 and 2.5 hours later we were on the road again for the 15 minutes it took us to stop for lunch of delicious Lousianna gumbo and raw oysters.

Finally, 9 hours later, at 8 pm we pull into my aunt's drive way. Where the cousins yell out "Aunt Margie, Aunt Margie" my dad walks in to a very cute "Hi, Uncle Joe!" and they sort of look at me. Maybe I need to visit more. However, by the end of our meal (my aunt cooked, it was delicious) my cousins had warmed up to me and vice versa.

Howdy, y'all Part 1

Two days ago I left for Houston via roadtrip from Atlanta with my parents. I bought them Roadfood a great book of road side diners when I was in SF. We tried one out along our way, Martin's Restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama.

Reasons I loved Martin's:
1. We had to wait for a table, but not long enough to be annoyed
2. Each day the menu has only 4 entrees for you to choose from and about 8 side dishes
3. The sides included all my southern favorites - blackeyed peas or lima beans (depending on the day), greens, dressing (stuffing), string beans, cole slaw, etc
4. The crowd was truly diverse, some in suits, some in jeans, some old (we're talking no teeth old), and I'd say it was equally split between black and white folks.
5. It's in a strip mall, but the second you step inside you feel as though you've stumbled into a deep south cafeteria.
6. The coconut cream pie slice was as big as my head.

Our journey for the day continued on to Biloxi, Mississippi. I'd never actually been to Biloxi; most of my five readers have probably never heard of it either. It is a casino town in the little tail of Mississippi that touches the gulf between Alabama and Lousianna.



On my many drives between Houston and Atlanta I never bothered to stop in Biloxi. When I would stop halfway, it would be in New Orleans. See, Biloxi is a casino town and I have absolutely no desire to gamble. However, my parents, well, odds are if you come to my parents house you'll find my dad watching poker tournaments on tv. He really enjoys playing. He rarely wins very much, but (to the best of my knowlege) he doesn't lose very much either. My mom claims to not like casinos or gambling. However, once at a casino, odds are you'll find her at a video poker machine. In fact my sister was able to give me the exact location of where I could find my mom in the Grand Casino based on previous trips with them. Mom tends to win, I'm not sure how she beats the casino odds, but she does.

Biloxi was destroyed, like most of the gulf cities in Hurricane Katrina. However, they seem to be staging quite a come back. To me hurricane damage was most notable in trees that have been obviously torn in half. A few roofs still have blue tarps on top, but mostly both homes and casinos have been rebuilt.

As I said before I don't like to gamble, and unlike my mom, I mean it. However, I'll admit that I enjoy staying in a hotel - the Grand was no exception. They have a great, albeit small, fitness center and a really nice sauna/steam room with hot tubs and a cold plunge. And the chair in my room that I sat and read in was quite nice as well.

Huevos Rancheros

I've made it to California. And it's so nice to see my friends. It has amplified the things I miss about living here: being able to buy local, organic produce. Being able to walk around small neighborhoods. Dark skies at night. However, I do not feel the need to move back, even though I miss my friends, it's not compelling enough a reason.

I've had a great two days. The first spent with Nate and Vero in my old neighborhood. We managed to go to my two favorite restaurants in one day - Sahn Maru, Korean and Pizziaola, Italian. Sigh. So good. Not cheap, but definitely not Moscow prices. The next morning I tagged along to SFO where Nate was dropping Vero off for a trip to Spain with her mom. Together we're planning a trip through Russia at the end of July. Hopefully I'll be able to convince Vero to come out earlier and travel Europe with me.

Now I'm at Max and Sha's. Max made us huevos rancheros yesterday, I agree with Vero's statement that "huevos rancheros are my favorite American breakfast." Although it's a close tie with a toasted buttered bagel. Which reminds me to go to Bagelicious when I get back to my parents. Anyway, yesterday I was exposed to the video game "Rock Band." I played the bass and it was a lot more fun then I thought it'd be. I also saw the Golden Compass which I thought was great! It wasn't quite as dark as the book, but they managed to get most of the book into a 2 hour movie.

Wow, yet another boring post. Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to find something exciting to write about next time.

'Tis the Season

Somebody told me I should update my blog more, so here goes. It might be boring and mundane, but I haven't updated since the acapella Christmas carols, so here you go. I"ll start off with my arrival into Atlanta which was on Dec. 21st. I don't know if I've ever flown internationally into Atlanta. It's hell. You arrive and go through immigration. Then you wait for your bag - the bags from my flight were arriving on two different belts, so I felt like I was watching a tennis match looking back and forth at the two belts. Finally, after about 45 minutes, my bag arrives. Then, I head towards the exit. At least I thought it was the exit. But no, you have to put your bag on another belt to be sent to domestic baggage claim, you have to go through security, TO EXIT, and then you have to get on the inter-terminal train to head 5 stops to domestic baggage claim. If you were to walk, it is 1.5 km! Finally I arrive to domestic baggage claim and then have to wait another 20 minutes for my bag. And all this after a 10 hour flight. However, I can't really complain about the flight because I got bumped up to business class where I had goose for dinner and a seat that reclined completely so that I was laying flat. This happened because the flight was over sold and I have status on the Star Alliance. Unfortunately, I haven't flown enough this year to qualify for status next year. Sigh, it's back to traveling like the "normal folk" (said very tongue in cheek.)

Anyways, so I finally get to Atlana and my mom has a bad cold. We had our annual dinner with the O's, our parents have been friends with this couple for almost 20 years. Their daughters are about the same age as my sister and I, so we all grew up together. It's a great tradition.

Then the next day, I spent the entire day catching up with the friend I mentioned a few posts ago, Mickey. Mickey and I were really good friends growing up, all through middle school, if I'm remembering correctly. But we lost touch after I left Atlanta. He found me through a Google search. Apparently the first hit is actually for me. It was great. We spent almost 12 hours together and I could have spent another 12 hours with him easily. We talked about our past and present and future. We went to Waffle House. We went and saw Walk Hard with my sister and her not boyfriend.

See this post, isn't really all that exciting at all. What can I write about that's exciting. Hmm, yep, nothing really. Oh, in a very impulsive decision (which follows along with all my decision making) I used the rest of my frequent flier miles to get myself a ticket to San Francisco for New Year's. I figured that if I'm not coming back to the states this summer, I might as well see as many friends as I can. And speaking of doing that I'm going out with 5 girls I went to high school tonight to play trivia.

Ok, guess that's it for now.

Acapella Christmas Carol Mashups!

So good. And so festive!

Choosing to Take Action

My science teacher friend Carole sent this to me. I think it's worth sharing. Another global warming action argument.

X-Mas Poll

Courtesy (that is a hard word to spell!) of zombiegrrrl:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Whatever is laying around as I think of it at the last minute. But I prefer wrapping gifts.
2. Real tree or artificial? N/A, however, Joy and I used to go cut our own tree when I lived with her at 418. However, it doesn't kill the tree - or at least that's what the tree farmer told us. You cut it roughly at waist level and then a new tree grows out another knot.
3. When do you put up the tree? Again, N/A, however, I put up decorations 1st week of December.
4. When do you take the tree down? This year it will be when I get back, the 2nd week of January.
5. Do you like eggnog? Only if heavily spiked with rum and cinnamon.
6.Favorite gift received as a child? In retrospect, the dog house my dad built for my pound puppy though at the time I was mad they hadn't bought me the plastic one. Damn, I was a spoiled brat.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Noooo. But my mom has one.
8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents!
9. Easiest person to buy for? My sister (she sends detailed lists)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ?? Artificially scented soaps.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, though I only do it every 5 or so years.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas ? Whenever the first "oh, they would love that" item catches my eye.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? Baby, It's Cold Outside (is that x-mas song??)
18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Travel
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Hrm, I don' t remember what we had at 418 house. Probably a star...
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? When I was growing up, it was one x-mas eve and then the rest x-mas morning. Now-a-days we've been doing them all x-mas eve and having a very relaxed x-mas day.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds.
23. What I love most about Christmas? The lights. (I didn't even bother to edit zombiegrrrl's response.
24. Favorite Christmas Cookie? Any of my mom's. I love the peppermint ones shaped like candy canes. She makes a great mini-pecan tassie or snowballs. I can't wait to go home for the cookies!

In which the sun reappears!

There is this startling brightness in the sky. I'd actually forgotten what it was like to have blue skies and sun. I went out a bit, walked the 20 minutes or so it takes, to get to the US Embassy for a cookie exchange. One of the parents, who's also a substitute at our school, hosted. There were about 8 or so women who showed up, all of us bearing 2 dozen cookies each. We snacked, chatted and all left with a variety of cookies. It was lovely.

But, damn, do those army/navy/marine families procreate! Dear lord, just what we need, more babies on this planet. The women hosting us has 6, the oldest 35, youngest 13. There was another mom who has 2 in the high school, 2 in middle, and 2 in elementary. The tuition at our school is four times what my former car was worth (a 2000 Toyota Echo, I miss that car!) and my guess is that Uncle Sam is footing the tuition cost for her 6 children...

Schmoo

I've gone and gotten myself a good strong head cold. It sucks. My sinuses are so full it makes me feel as if my skull is trying to crack open. I am so glad, that I can feel confident leaving my classroom not having to worry about whether it will be destroyed. I took 3 days off and returned today, though now that I'm here, staying home would have been a better option.

In talking with Russian's about being sick two language quirks have popped out of me. Russian's are far more likely to negate something than use the opposite. For example my masseuse said "Today, not hard massage." Rather than, "Today, easy massage." And "Nose is not working." Also, there are no articles in Russian, so when they speak English, "You got cold." And things like that. I love learning new things about the way people think and speak.

Anyhoo, I'm glad I'm sick now since I go back to the states in a week and quite honestly I'd rather be sick now then on vacation!

Also, a friend from high school just commented on my blog. I don't think I've spoken with him since I was in college. And it's great to see him, so, "Hi, Mickey!"

Dichotomy

There are times that I feel like my life here is hard, that I'm at times lonely and feel very isolated. I think a big part of it is that I'm struggling with being single. I feel like I'm ready to be sharing my life with someone, but I just haven't found that someone yet. And I'm not willing to settle. I don't know that I'll be able to meet that someone here. And then there's the air, which really, really bothers me. I feel like I can constantly smell the air, whether from pollution or cigarette smoke. When I go out, people are constantly pushing you or crowding you. They never hold the door and at all metro entrances the doors swing back like you would not believe.

But then I was on the metro last night with 3 friends, heading out to Daikon (my favorite restaurant here so far), and there was a homeless man on the metro. By the smell, it was fairly obvious that he had defecated recently. People would step into the car and either crowd to the opposite side or just get out and literally run to a new car. And I had the realization that, unless I suddenly develop a shattering mental illness, that will never be me. I have the ability to move from country to country, seeing new places, meeting new people. I will most likely, always have my own housing, sharing it only if I chose to. I won't be sleeping on the metro as it is the only warm place I can sit down. I complain that I can't get the wide range of Asian foods that I used to, poor me. At least I know that I will never spend a night hungry, nor have I ever.

Pho the love of pho!

I love pho. Really, I love all Asian food. I think I could eat it happily every day for all meals. In fact, I'm sitting here eating left over pad thai that I made earlier this week for breakfast. This is one thing I really loved about living in SF. William and I ate Korean food at least one a week and had pho probably once every two weeks. I keep trying in Moscow, but it's just not the same and it's significantly more expensive. I've yet to see pho, so I resolved to make it myself.

I took inspiration from Barbra at Tigers and Strawberries as well as this Washington Post article she refers too. And in the end, I've come to the conclusion that make pho is a big pain in the rear. But for the love of pho, here's what I did.

Inspired by the Pioneer Woman Cooks, I began taking photos about 15 hours into the process, yes, 15 hours in. Here's what you missed in the first 15 hours. I took 2 kg of beef bones, that's roughly 5 pounds, and I put half in my large stock pot and half in my large crock pot. I covered both with cold water and let it sit. Then I walked away. In fact I went out, but now I don't remember where, probably for Asian food at Daikon. Oh, wait, no, I remember, that's the day I went to the Lotte Plaza (the link is to a post below). Anyway, back to the pho, When I got home, I
rinsed the bones. This time I forced them all into the stock pot, covered again with water and brought to a boil. I let it boil for 10 minutes and you would not believe the gross grey scum that rises to the top. If only I'd begun taking photos!! Anyway, all that went down the drain. The pot was cleaned, the bones were rinsed and then shoved back inside. Only to be covered with water again. I put them on the stove, got it back to a simmer and left again - this time to the holiday party. Seven hours later I returned and turned the heat off.

In all honesty, it was midnight, the pot was hot, so I just left it sitting on the stove. The next morning, I removed all the bones, saved the meat that was falling off, and put the pot outside in the snow. Then I went out for dim sum - yes! Yummy Chinese dumplings do exist in Moscow! I returned and scraped off the thick layer of golden yellow fat. And here's your first picture. The fat was already in the trash by the time I remembered, but still:

(aren't my socks great!)

Here's the pan post fat removal - doesn't it look gross!


Next you take two onions and a big ol' piece of ginger and char them in a pan, then add them to the stock (note I've wiped the pan):



Simmer for another hour or two, then strain the liquid:

Be sure to press on the solids with a spoon, liquid likes to hide in the onion layers. And be sure to strain into a pan, not down the drain. My large crock pot insert is actually blending in with the sink...

Now it's time to get spicy. Toast peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon sticks in a dry skillet. You should also include whole cardamom pods, but I didn't have any. So I just used about a tsp of ground in my tea bag:


Another 10 minutes of simmering (note the plan has actually been cleaned now) with 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. I actually prefer the squid brand to the cock, but haven't been able to find it here:


Oh, you're so close to being ready to finally eat this stuff. Just soak some rice noodles and prepare a plate of garnish - bean sprouts, purple basil, mint, lime. What's missing is hot pepper rings and cilantro, which I rarely see. However, I had the siriacha to make up for the lack of hot pepper.

You may notice some mushrooms floating in there. Well, I had them and I like mushrooms. It was very traditional up until that point, I promise!

And the verdict. Well, let's just say it wasn't really worth the 30 hours that went into it. However, since I can't just run out and get a $6 bowl of pho, it sufficed. But the broth wasn't as rich and complex as it is when I get it at a pho restaurant. However, when I'm again over whelmed with the craving, I've got 6 cups (3 servings) of stock left in the freezer.

Here's one

Me and Kate, the intern, at the holiday party. Thanks to Lynn for the photo!

Party Girl

I was out past midnight two nights in a row. That's both weekend nights. This is a huge rarity for me. Friday night found me at the Australian Embassy. The last Friday of every month they have a happy hour. I started off with a glass of wine and then a glass of champagne at Carole's before heading to the embassy; oh, we had some pringles too. Once at the embassy I proceeded to have another 4 glasses of wine (though I didn't finish the last one). No dinner. Yeah, I was a bit tipsy. But managed to make it without slipping on the ice to another bar. Yes, that's right, rather than heading home (as we all know I'm prone to do), I followed the crowd to a bar. Here I had 2 bottles of water. I know myself well enough to know that any more booze would have ended badly. It was fun. It was nice to hang out with other ex-pats who don't work at our school. It was nice that it was easy. Being here, having to translate in your head all the time gets difficult. At the embassy when someone bumped into you, which would happen as the small little room turned bar was packed, they would say "excuse me." It's the little things.

Then last night was our holiday party. I don't actually have any pictures of me, though many were taken, so I hope to return here with some. However, in the meantime, here's a shot of the festivities.



There was a lot of food, a lot of booze - wine, champagne and at the end of the evening vodka and whiskey. I danced all night, drank in moderation and looked fine, if I do say so myself, in my favorite red corset and ball gown type skirt.

Little Korea

Tyler and ventured out into the cold today in search of Korean yumminess at the Lotte Plaza. Lotte is a Korean department store. I went to a few when I was there, they are very big - usually 5+ stories. This one was 7. We headed first to the food court. On this cold (-6) day, I was really hoping for some chi-gae, spicy bean soup, but no. I did get to have some chop chae (sweet potato noodles) and kim chi (spicy, but not quite right) and bean sprouts. Tyler got an ok ramen and a pretty good stir fried beef thing. Then we wandered the floors of the mall looking at the crazy expensive goods - Dolce and Gabana, Juicy, JLo. I looked at a pair of 13,500 ruble ($550) boots. The grocery store part was just fancy grocery store not a Korean market like I'd been hoping for. Oh, well, the quest continues.

group.jpg

group.jpg
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

More turkey day photos are up!

Thanksgiving - Russian American Style

I had to work on Thanksgiving and the day after. Boo. Almost all the new hires, plus several other school veterans will be gathering today (Saturday) to have a large Thanksgiving potluck. There will be turkey, ham, pork roast, stuffing, all the "usual" suspects.

However, Bryn (a fellow American, also the HS college councilor) and I still wanted to celebrate on the day. So I volunteered my apartment and she and I put together a menu and invited 6 others to share with us - her boy Dima, their friend Kran, my friend Nat, Tyler, and a Russian/American couple, Dan and Arina. So all together 4 American's and 4 Russians. It was so wonderful to be able to share this holiday. I made 4.5 kilograms of Roast Pork Loin with Apple Cider Gravy (this was delicious and super easy! Well, super easy once I was able to convey to the lady behind the meat counter that I didn't want the pork sliced into pork chops and once Kran was able to find hard apple cider for me, much more difficult that I imagined). I also made corn muffins and mashed potatoes the night before and reheated (the potatoes) in the crock pot. What a time saver! Bryn went way beyond the call of duty making green beans with pine nuts, roasted sweet potatoes, an amazing pumpkin burbon cheesecake as well as an apple pie.

During dinner we all went around the table discussing what we were thankful for. And since I'm still feeling thankful I'll repeat mine here:

This year last time I was in Ohio with my family and grandparents for Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful that I had 28 years with them. I'm also thankful to myself for finally having the courage to go off and live abroad. That I'm came to a country where I knew no one and didn't speak the language. And now I'm meeting these wonderful people, making new friends and learning a new language.

Here I am with the table in the awesome apron that Sharon sent me:


And a close up of the table:

I love my napkin rings!

I'll have more photos in a while, but I let Bryn have my camera battery as hers was dead and she seemed more gungho to take the photos. So once I get her memory card, I'll add more photos :)

Arch Angel Park

I got out of Moscow yesterday. A quick 30 minute bus ride brought Nat, Danielle and I to Arch Angel Park. It's a large open park with a small church,
,
many trees
and fields which are host to many concerts in the summer time .

It over looks the (now frozen) Moscow River where people were ice fishing .

And of course, being a Saturday and a park with nice architecture, there were brides!

Stinky Cheese

One of the things I like about where I live is that it is very communal. People host parties pretty often. On Wednesday I was able to have an impromptu dinner party by sending out an email at 2 in the afternoon:

I'm making stuffed cabbages (includes meaty bits) this evening (wednesday, nov 7). It makes a ton and I'm out of space in my freezer. So I'd love to have people come eat it with me. It'll be done around 7:30. The first 5 people to RSVP will earn a seat. If you want to bring a guest, no problem, just include them in your RSVP.

So, sure enough I got 4 RSVPs and a friend who just randomly popped by (lucky them!). It was delicious and I think I may make it a weekly event.

Then on Saturday night a couple who spent their October break in France hosted a "Stinky Cheese" party. They brought back at least 15 cheeses, everyone brought wine, it was great.

Sunday I came into school to finish my report cards - here we have to write narratives for each student, so they take quite a while. Then on Thursday we sit in the gym for 4 hours while parents line up to meet with us. Scary!

Snow, Germany and Sweden Pictures

... have been added to flickr. Click on the photos to be taken to their sets.


It doesn't actually look like that now. It's colder, but not snowing. That was October 13th!


Aachen, Germany


Goteborg, Sweden


Me and Linus


Ohio


The start of my latest sweater. It's mostly finished now, I just need to sew the seams, tonight's goal.

Baby, it's cold outside

Sorry I haven't posted much. After grandma's funeral, I worked for a week and then immediately headed off for October break :-) This was a real vacation with lots of lounging, eating, drinking, reading and knitting. I got to meet two new children both less than a year old and adorable.

I spent 3 days with Alfred, Julia and their son Philipp in Aachen, Germany. Alfred was the professor I did my senior research with at Rice. He has me reinspired to go out and get my masters in math, possibly a PhD. He took me to 3 countries in 30 minutes, as Aachen borders the Netherlands and Belgium.

Then in Sweden, I was again visiting Linus, Magnus and Petter. I cooked a lot of Mexican food, ironically. Mexican is becoming very popular in Sweden, so ingredients are fairly easy to find. For Linus and I, I made citrus fish tacos with a chipotle cream and then the next night we had a mini-dinner party with Petter, his fiance, Magnus and Hans joining us. Together Linus and I made a feast that included more fish, spicy ground beef, grilled chicken, sauteed peppers and onions, beans and rice, mango salsa, sour cream and cheese. I introduced them to quesadilla making and it was a great night.


But now I'm back in Mosco and I know this is just the beginning of winter, but it was -5 C for my walk to school today and the high today, and for the rest of the week, will be -1 C. That's cold.

I'm back

And as the plane was landing in Moscow, it felt like I was returning home, which was really nice. I seem to be having a much better time with my jet lag on this side of the pond, which has always been the case for me. However, each time I return to the states it takes me 2-3 days to recover.

My classroom was in the same state I left it in, however, my teach timer which Ram (former department head) gave me as a going away gift has gone missing :( I'm hoping it'll show up. But as William reminded me, "The room wasn't destroyed, you weren't left a jar of pussy juice on your desk - you should be throwing pizza parties!" Once again, I'm reminded of how different it is teaching here. My expectations are so high that I'm giving all my classes pop quizzes on what was covered with the sub and they're doing quite well on them.

Alright, time for Russian lessons.

Love You More

I'm not quite sure what to title this post or how it will go. On Sunday afternoon while Tyler and I were baking cookies I got a phone call from my mom telling me my paternal grandmother had passed away. I knew this was coming, as I've mentioned she was old and very ill for the last several years.

I come from a very big family, we're all spread out over the US, well world now with me living in Moscow, but we're close. I knew right away that I wanted, needed, to be at the funeral. So two hours later (in which Tyler finished the cookies all on his own!), I had a ticket on BMI to London Heathrow and then a United flight (I knew all those miles would come in handy) to Cleveland via Chicago. It took me 26 hours of travel, but I made it to Ohio at midnight the night before the funeral.

I slept 6 hours and spent the morning chatting with my mom and maternal grandma. We all left for the funeral home at 9. It's so interesting how they can make the dead still look so alive. My grandmother looked really nice and peaceful.

I don't know how long my grandfather will last without her. They were married 61 years and together for 8 before that. He was comforted by having all 5 of his children with their spouses, all 15 of his grandchildren there, 4 with their spouses and 2 of those couples with their children. Then there was all the other family members. The church was packed. All the grandchildren played a part in the funeral, 4 of us doing readings (I had all the requests for prayers), 3 bringing the offerings (body and blood of chr!st), and then all of the older male cousins acted as pall bearers. I can't believe how tall my cousins are - all well above 6 feet. We're all growing up. And have gotten really good at being adults, comforting each other showing our love, just as grandma raised us to. My cousin Donavan gave a great eulogy talking about how much our grandmother encouraged us to go out see the world, get an education, raise a family, communicate, be in love. Without fail, conversations would end with us saying, "I love you grandma," and her saying "love you more." I'll miss her, but I'm so glad I got to have her for 28 years.

Snow!

It's snowing. Full on, big fluffy white flakes. I've discovered it's very hard to take pictures of snow in the air. It's not sticking to the ground yet, but it sure is beautiful from inside the warmth of my apartment.

Better yet, with the cold windy air, I was able to sleep with my window open without the air being stinky!

You say ball, I say gala

Well, I've now been to my second ball in as many months. I love getting dressed up and going to these events, thus far, for free! Last night's ball was a fundraiser for ARC (Action for Russia's Children) which is a foundation that supports 7 organizations which in turn support disadvantaged and disabled children in Russia.

Here is how the two ball's I've been to thus far work:

You show up at 7 for champagne and passed appetizers (though at the PTO ball, it was Kir Royal's, wine or any mixed drink you may have wanted). At 8 everyone heads into the ball room and finds your assigned table. Both times, I've been at the freebie teacher table, which works just fine for me. Then dinner - 3 courses where the meal starts with the salad already on the table at your seat.

PTO Gala: Burrata (delicious, fresh mozerella but even fancier type cheese) with dried tomatoes and tapanade, fillet mignon with risotto and asparagus, trio of chocolate desserts.

ARC Ball: Smoked Sturgeon with caeser (yumm-o!), duck breast with roasted potatoes and red wine poached pear (eh) and a dessert that resembled disassembled Twix.

Obviously, I favored the PTO food.

Then there's an auction. PTO was raising money for the PTO, ARC for the children. Overall people were far more generous at the PTO event which was disappointing. At the PTO event the cheapest thing to go was a custom made dress for $8,000. Last night there was a chair massage for the company that went for $300. A painting that barely got sold for $200. A large house in Tuscany that can sleep up to 16 (but comfortably would sleep more like 6-8) that I even bid on because the price was so low. In fact another teacher ended up taking the bid for $3,200. Even if you put 6 people in there that's only $500 for a weeks lodging in a house in Tuscany! And the fact that teachers felt like they could bid and afford it was a bit embarrassing, IMO.

After the auction comes the live band and dancing. Last night's band was a British cover band, complete with David Bowie impersonator who's main fortee seemed to be clearing the dance floor every time he came on. I stayed until 11:45 - late for me - and ended the night dancing to Beattles covers. It was a lovely evening.

I brought my camera, but then never actually took any pictures. Others did though, so I'll be back with them eventually :)

Hot, hot, hot!

They finally turned the heat on in our apartments. Good thing too as it snowed for the first time yesterday! Just a very little bit while I was out playing frisbee - made for very cold frisbee playing.

And it's already getting very dark. Sun is down by about 6:30, doesn't rise until almost 8. But today's sunrise was beautiful, the one thing the air pollution is good for.

Tonight I get to go another (free) ball! Woo hoo! Apparently a teacher knows a parent organizer who had a table back out, so we get to reap the rewards. Hopefully I'll be able to get more photos this time!

I want a normal life

One where I stop questioning every decision I've made, stop trying to plan my future which always ends up different from what I envision anyway.

I accidently went on a date Friday night with one of the security guards from school. I thought we'd be getting together to chat (see my earlier post about making friends and language exchange), but then he brought me flowers. Then William and I talked for almost 2 hours today catching up. We both still miss each other like crazy and both still love each other. It's so hard to determine if breaking up is really the right thing for us. I don't know if we should just stop talking, we only talk once a week as is. I haven't made travel plans for winter break yet. I think my heart still thinks I'll be spending those 3 weeks in Japan. But I need to just make it final, make plans to go somewhere else and get it over with. Part of this is really ironic. I've never had any trouble planning trips before!

Then of course, there is the issue of how do i communicate everything that's going on to Andrei (the accidental date) that I'm sooo not ready to date anyone at all between his limited English and my limited Russian.

Blah. I just want a normal life, whatever the hell that is.

Friends outside the Bubble

So, I'm starting to make Russian friends which I'm really excited about. I knew in coming here that there would be a tendency to only hang out with the other expats and I also knew that wasn't for me. But how do you make friends with people who speak another language? Well, thus far I'd say I have 1.5 non-teacher Russian friends.

The full friend I met at the ball. She is a special friend of one the male teachers. I ended up sitting next to her at the Gala and she is awesome. She's my age and a lawyer here. We went out Tuesday night for hot chocolate that was so thick you have to eat it with a spoon. Her parents live in Sergiev Posad which is a well known town to visit with a monestary. Nat will be visiting her parents this weekend and has offered to show me around. So I'll be heading there Saturday morning.

Then there are the half friends who may be come friends. Right now it's just sort of a start of language exchanges. As I've mentioned, I take the earliest shuttle into school and it's just me and the security guards. So one of the guards speaks some English and after 6 weeks of riding the shuttle together we have begun to have a bit of conversation. We've decided that we'll try doing a language exchange.

Also, there is another guy who runs our copy room. Since I seem to always need my copies at the last minute I see him a lot. Last week we ended up riding the metro together as he was on his way to English classes. So I think eventually he and I will have language exchanges also.

Hopefully, my Russian experience will be even fuller by knowing actual Russians and getting to go out with them. I haven't even had an vodka since I've been here, certainly that will change!

Busy, busy, busy

I don't have time to post. It's Sunday at 7 and I still need to finish grading papers. However, I had an awesome weekend which included going to the director's apartment for a TGIF, great company and an awesome view of our school and looking out over Moscow from a 23rd floor (he only lives on 10, geez!)



Saturday morning I was up early to go mushroom foraging! I came home with 3 pounds of mushrooms. Stroganoff here I come!!!



There are some especially great photos in that set. Please go look at them all! And then come tell me that you love them ;)

Finally, last night was the big Gala that I won those tickets for.



I really need to come back and write details so that I don't forget. But at the auction, the lowest item to go was a custom designed cocktail or evening gown for $8500 (yes, dollars, not rubles!) and the highest bid was an all expense paid trip for two to Beijing for the Olympics next summer for $28,500!

Dreaming

I'm in a vicious cycle of not sleeping well for a few nights and then sleeping for a long time the next. I think last night's sleep was aided by the g&t at Cyp. But last night's sleep was full of dreams. I don't remember much about the first one, other than I was in Atlanta running away from something. And then in a car, trying to get drive away from all these houses that were on fire. Then suddenly I was in the desert outside of Las Vegas with my family. There were huge cranes everywhere as they were removing tons of natural resources for construction. As we're running along, there were pieces of rock and big clumps of dirt falling on us. Then we turn a corner where people have parked and their cars have sunk into the ground, including my sister's jetta. Then she fell into a sink hole, but I was able to pull her out (must be all that swimming I've been doing).

Yes, the symbolism is not lost on me, but at least I slept.

Суп!

That's "Soup" to all you non-Cyrillic readers ;) Tonight two other teachers and I went to this restaurant, Cyп. You guessed it they specialize in soup. For around $6, though that could be off due to the rapidly plummeting dollar you can get a trio of 3 different soups from an offering of around 20 choices and that's just the hot soups. They have around another 10 cold soups. M and I each tried 3 types while B just got 1 plus the quesadilla. M and I both preferred the Russian soups over the attempts at others. The quesadilla was actually quite good! And even with a gin and tonic - the first mixed drink I've had since being here, I walked out only $20 lighter.

Photos!

I've added lots of new photos from the past few days. Today several of us went to Moscow's honey festival. I never knew there were ~so~ many kinds of honey. Russians are very much into there honey and this festival goes on all month - every day! There were at least 100 stalls most with around 8 honeys to sample. I bought 2 varieties as well as some honey wine.



I've also finally begun to sneak photos of women's shoes:



Also, it's full on fall here! We took a beautiful walk through Tsaryina Park on our way to the honey festival. It's tradition to get married on a Saturday early in the day and then spend most of the afternoon roaming the city with your wedding party having photos taken at all the land marks. The brides range from skanky to traditional to poufy. And I've got a few photos to share!

Cool!

create your own visited country map

I've visited only 8% of the world's countries. So many more to see! I wonder what percent of the area that is though, seeing as the USA, Russia and Canada take up so much of the map... And of course, I've only visited small parts of Russia and Canada.

Written Therapy

I think writing last night's post helped. I finally slept through the night for the first time in two weeks. I even woke up 1 minute before the alarm. I was a bit sweaty as the weather has really warmed up, so under my down, even with the window open I was roasting. Yesterday it was 70! weather.com says it's currently 55 and the high will be 55??? However, it still feels nice and warm-ish.

Ok, off to Russian class. And then after school ultimate frisbee :)

Help me turn off my brain

Alternate Title: "Stupid head shut up and let me sleep, enjoy massages, watch Die Hard, teach my students without yelling at them and other every day tasks."

I'm feeling very much at a loss. I can't stop thinking about our break up; I still can't believe it really happened. He says he doesn't want to talk as it "just confuses us," which to me means it's confusing him because even though it took me two years, I finally made my mind up that he is the one I want. It just took breaking up for me to realize that. Clearly I'm not one who commits to things easily and the commitment I'm thinking about with him is the "death do us part" one.

And now I don't know quite what to do I: wait him out (in which case depending on how long it takes for him to decide to start talking to me I really might change my mind, ahem, again), continue to email and/or call him to try to change his mind (stalker). Clearly patience is not one of my virtues. I just wish I knew what was going on in his head, besides the fact that he still loves me but doesn't trust me not to change my mind again. Is he even thinking about me? It's these questions that keep me from concentrating on anything else.

This morning at 2 a.m. it was how would I get from Tokyo to the little village he's in. And when I got there, would he be happy to see me? Would he have another girlfriend?

STUPID HEAD - SHUT UP!!!

And I don't know how to stop thinking about it. Any ideas? Maybe I should start producing Russian porn in my apartment.

Dance Class (and of course, a bit of food)

Alright, I've gone from no posts to 3 in one day

Our school has a kick ass wellness program. It seems like every day of the week there is some sort of activity. The swimming I've been doing (MWF mornings) is part of it as was last week's meditation. Today I took the dance class. The teacher was a Bolshoi ballerina. He's really good (looking) and a great dancer, in that very cocky way that only straight male ballerina's can be. I was hoping for ballet class, but instead we started with a belly dancing warm up and then did salsa, meringue, swing, the charleston, oh I forget the name, the one where you move your toes pointing in and out like in the 50s. We ended with a waltz. So peaceful and a bit of a work out. Yay!

Tonight I'm headed out to try an Ethiopian restaurant. And I got my order from the Mexican delivery. Unfortunately my cheese dip looks like a Velveta dip, but my corn tortillas look great!

I won?!

The PTO is hosting a Gala black-tie event on the 29th of September. We got an email indicating they would be raffling off a pair of tickets, so I entered, knowing I would never win. But then today in my inbox is this message:

Congratulation you won two tickets for the Gala the 29th of september!!!
I'll deliver the tickets during this week.
Please inform me of your guests full name asap!!
Thank you xxx xxxxx

Guest's full name? You mean like a date? I just broke up with my boyfriend, although even if we were still together, he wouldn't have been able to be my guest. But I don't know who I should ask...

Editting to Add: Ok, got it figured out. One of the lovely 3rd grade teachers, a British girl who spent the last 2 years in China and was just asking about whether she could wear a white ball gown to our x-mas party, will be joining me. I know I asked the perfect person, just read her response:

You won!!! OMG....you are lucky. I would love to go! Fun!!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... you have made my morning!

The Girl who Cried Wolf

It's been a while since I posted as I haven't really been in the mood. I've been very in my own head. As I mentioned previously, I forced the boy into a corner. Throughout our whole relationship, I always had doubts as to whether he was "the one." And I always wondered how he could be so sure I was "the one" since I was his first love. I'd make comments out of my own insecurity about him needing to date other people, each comment hurting him :( But I still feel like you need to try everything before you decide.

However, this seems to long be my problem, that I love trying everything and even when I settle on an entree, I still think, "oh, yours looks better." Even when mine is better. (You knew it'd come to a food analogy, come on!)

However, in us actually breaking up, I have come to the realization that he is the one that I wanted. Of course, it's too late for that. All my indecision has led him to be unable to trust me. I don't blame him, I do change my mind ~a lot~. I mean this is my third career in 6 years and the, well, I've lost count, of city that I've lived in. However, I consider myself to be a trustworthy person. I've never cheated on him or any other boyfriend, never had an inclination too. However, I did emotionally cheat on him by never fully trusting "us" and never really getting to know the real him. And now he doesn't believe that I can committ. And I'm not sure if he wants me to prove that I can (I've got a plane ticket to Tokyo on hold right now) or if he wants me to just leave him alone with his own head and own life for a while.

Who knows, maybe he's right. Or maybe all the nagging in the back of my head telling me that he wasn't "the one" was right.

All I know is that it's really painful right now. And I can't spend the day crying (again). I'm going to the pool to swim off some nervous/anxious/mad at myself energy.

Skype Rant

Skype has enabled me to talk with my mother for $0.02/minute and to the Boy, who's in Japan, for free. I like that, I like it a lot. Plus, the call quality is really good.

However, today, Skype is really pissing me off. Are my friends calling me off the hook? Noooo, it's berk353530 and ousous.said. They ask me to be their contact, they call me. I feel like I’m back on my parents AOL. Oh great! Andrew Sexy Man (for girls only) just asked me to be his contact.

So, friends, should you want to Skype me, make sure you notify me of what your user name is if it's something obscure, unlike my original firstname.lastname, otherwise I'm going to Deny&Block you. Oh, and if it appears that I'm "Unavailable" really I'm just avoiding the shparadises of the world.

"Skype - Take a Deep Breath" yeah, with which I will complain loudly to the whole world about you with.

My long term impact

A few days ago I wrote about the student who called me with homework questions and minnie commented:

its sort of sad and horrible to think about the reasons why your other school had such problems and the long term impact of that on everyone...

In addition to that the boy and I have been having long talks about our future. I can see myself doing this for a long time, traveling the globe going from international school to international school. However, the students at these schools are either rich and/or from parents with an education. They could (and do) have daily tutors to help them succeed. And if all else fails, their parents will just buy them a business - I have a student who already has her own line of clothing and another who is already a millionaire due to the unfortunate passing of his father.

The boy wants to go back to the states and public school, help the to fix the system. Contribute in a meaningful way. I've had nightmares the past few nights about being back in the system. Last night I was trying to protect my students from a gang shooting. My stress level was so high there, the teaching wasn't really teaching. But I definitely have the feeling of having sold out here. I'm certainly not experiencing the "real" Russia either.

Be the change you want to see in the world right...

Meditation

I've never been much into meditating. But a woman at school who has spent 17 years in India and will retire there is leading this meditation class on Monday's. I think I'm going to do it:

Kundalini Meditation Instructions

Stage 1: 15 minutes with music
Be loose and let you whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet . Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed.
|"Allow the shaking; don't do it. Stand silently, feel it coming and when you body starts trembling, help it but don't do it. Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don't will it. If you force it will become an exercise, a bodily, physical exercise. Then the shaking will be there but just on the surface; it will not penetrate you. You will remain solid, stone-like, rock-like within. You will remain the manipulator, the doer, and the body will just be following. The body is not the question - you are the question."
"When I say shake, I mean your solidity, your rock-like being should shake to the very foundations so that it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows. And when the rock-like being becomes liquid, your body will follow. Then there is no shake, only shaking. Then nobody is doing it; it is simply happening. The the doer is not." Osho

Stage 2: 15 minutes with music
Dance...any way you feel, and the let the whole body move as it wishes.

Stage 3: 15 minutes with music
Close your eyes and be still, sitting or standing...witnessing whatever is happening inside and out.

Stage 4: 15 minutes in silence
Lay down, close your eyes and be still....watch whatsoever is happening, inside and out and beyond.

A Search for Asian Ingredients

Two teachers had told me about 2 Asian markets, so a group of 5 of us set out this morning to check them out. It was cold and rainy, ~ 8 C (46 F), but we still went on with it. I was wearing my rain coat, coupled with a sweater, scarf and hat and was fine, if a bit damp by my return. We found a fair number of Japanese ingredients, but these stores were nothing like the Asian markets of SF I'm used to. Where's my chili garlic sauce??? And why the hell does rice wine vinegar cost $12?!? And sesame oil was $8. Rice noodles, incredibly cheap back home and cheap to make I might add, $4 here. Holy shit! What am I going to do???

Looks like the cold and rain will be with us for tomorrow too. I might actually wear my snow pants for the walk to the shuttle since they're mostly water resistant and then I can change into dry clothes at school after my morning swim.

Ring, ring

"Hello."

"Hi, Ms. S, it's me Margo. I just had a few question about the natural logarithm problems... I was doing fine until I got to those."

"Ok, I'm on the phone with my mom, let me cal you back."

Ten minutes later.

Ring, ring.

"Hello."

"Hi Margo, it's me Emily. Err, I mean Ms. S"

"Oh, hi. Ok, so on number 10..."

And we proceed to discuss her math homework for 10 minutes. Yes, I gave out my phone number to students, but only to my higher level class with strict instructions not to call past 9. But I love it, I'm so happy to have students who care enough to ask about problems that they don't understand. It's such a joy. And actually Margo and Ichi are both heading off on visa runs and have asked me for the assingments they'll be missing so maybe I should figure that out...

Pirates did not work!

Grumble. The other fake DVD I bought a few weeks ago is terrible. The quality is incredibly grainy and looks like it was made by a person holding a video camera in a theater. I guess that's what you get for $4. But I'm going to go through some serious movie watching withdraw if that's the best I get. I've seen other people's dvd's that have come out great. I guess I have to just keep trying.

Sigh. It'll be better once Wil is here with his laptop. Then we can just try before we buy. Then we won't know if it skips at the end, but at least we'll know quality.

You want a chicken?

On the walk from the metro station to my apartment building there are roughly 10 stalls that sell rotisserie chicken. Mind you, this is a walk that takes 5 minutes. Yes, that's right, I pass 2 a minute. So knowing I had left over taboulli to eat and wanting a fast dinner, I finally bought one. I went to the stand that had people at it and in my broken Russian said "I want that" while pointing. The guy says back to me in great English, "You want a chicken?" Ha. Yeah. So, I get a chicken and a piece of bread with cheese inside it. The chicken was moist and delicious and will feed me at least 4 times (same dinner tomorrow night, tortilla soup Wednesday night, hrm, but without tortillas...) The bread itself was good, but the cheese inside quite salty, so I think next time I'll just get the plain bread he offered me. All that for 160 r ~ $6.

My First Borscht

I cooked a big pot of borscht tonight. So far, it's ok. I forgot to add yogurt (in place of sour cream) at the end. But it's healthy, full of veggies and made enough for lunch for the next two days, plus four more servings for the freezer, as well as a serving for my office mate.


I also made some tabouli. I shipped bulgar with me and there are loads of tomatoes at the rynoks (farmer's markets, of a sort, but they're there everyday and some are actually in buildings). I got 6 roma tomatoes for 9 rubles - roughly 40 cents - Friday! However, no mint to be seen. It was still delicous.

Yesterday, was "City Day." Basically the anniversary of the city. We were taken on a boat ride by the school and at the turn around point, near Red Square, some of us got off and walked home rather than enduring the traffic to be bussed back. Traffic was so horrendous because many streets were closed to auto traffic. We walked down the middle of Tveraskaya - a huge 9 lane street that leads to Red Square - on the way home. Tragically, I forgot my camera. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few from one of the guys with us who was playing with his new camera. Here's a shot I took two weekends ago though: