Starlite, starbrite, I want a hamburger.

So on monday we went to a folk dancing concert full of small children, and it was fabulous. There were lots of little girls AND boys dancing, and they were precious.

BUT what brings me to this blog today, is love. True love. That precious arrangement of meat, bun and cheese that comes together to form a cheeseburger. We went to the Starlite Diner, and partook of the wonderful American food that was a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Delicious. Nothing could have satisfied me more.

While I was there I used the restroom *(hey it was free...take that while you can), and in the hallway they had pictures up of all the celebrities that have eaten at their diner. And there I saw Kirilenko. Just hanging on the wall, chunkin the deuces (sideways peace sign for those of you unfamiliar with that phrase). So of course I HAD to get a picture with him. I mean how often do you eat in the same American diner in moscow that Kirilenko has eaten at? I tried to act cool for the full effect...

*Most places here you have to pay money to pee. And it makes me think of that movie Bridge to Teribithia...there is a line in there where the girl starts chanting "free to pee, free to pee" and one time we were at the store, and my little sister Cat starting chanting that. And it was really funny. I too believe that everybody, everywhere should be 'free to pee'.

You wish you were me...oh wait...

Once upon a time...I was in Russia. We get bored a lot...
We went on a walk and made snow angels. There is a lot of snow here. We made food at our native coordinators apartment. Yum. And the other two pictures are just...strange. Go with it.

I hope you all still love me.

Wow I'm a Slacker

Why Hello!

To the few people who actually follow my blog, I want to apologize for the EXTREME amount of time it has taken for me to get another post on here. Lots of things have happened...and I forgot to share with you wonderful people. So relax, get comfortable, and get ready to hear about all that has happened since Red Square. (It's not really that much...but there are a few pictures to sit through...so just bear with me). (ALSO: how do you put videos on here?)

First off is the russian ballet. DISCLAIMER: I have NEVER enjoyed ballet. I sat through it for the sake of my sisters (and because my mom used to make me). That said, I want everyone to know that I absolutely fell in love with ballet! I have never been to see a proffessional ballet before, and I can now fully appreciate how amazing it is. I mean...it was truly beautiful. The saddest part about all of it is that the Bolshoi Theater is going through construction and updates, so it's closed. We were at an alternate theater...but it was still amazing. We couldn't take pictures during the performance (obviously) so I just have a few of the inside of the theater. Also, in the picture of me I look horrible. Just go with it. I had just run through a bunch of metros...up and down plenty of escalators, and through snow, ice, and puddles of slush to get to this ballet before it started; all in high heeled brown boots. Yeah. It was rough, but I managed to perservere (spell check?). Overall, it was a wonderful evening. Until we had to find a way home. Oh yes, this is quite the story. All of the other schools who went had a bus from their school come to pick them up at the closest metro stop. Us? Not so much. We went to Molodoshnya (our normal metro stop where we catch the bus home) and it was too late for the bus to be running. Gulya (our native coordinator) just told us to get a cab. Um yeah... NO! They are so sketchy, and we don't speak Russian, and we are not ok with being sex slaves. So that was out. We ended up having to call a cab from Gorky 2 (near where we leave) and he had to drive all the way there, and then back. It cost us about 1200 rubles (not too bad) but then when we got there the GATE WAS LOCKED and THE GUARD DOG WAS OUT. Awesome. We ended up having to call a bunch of people, and interupt either sleep or valentine's day activites. Dima (some younger guy from the school) showed up with his girlfriend and she was SUPER ticked, and did not hesitate to let it all out in her wonderfully perfect english. What a good night, eh? It really was quite fun. Oh I forgot to mention that two people had so stay in the city for the night at a different school's apartment because there wasn't room in the cab for five of us. They slept on pool toys. What troopers!

Mollie and Brooke at the ballet.

Nasty picture that proves I was at the ballet.

Alrighty. Another thing occured on the same day that deserves mentioning: Brooke's boyfriend send her a huge boquet of roses, and they were beautiful and we were all jealous. So, the next day being Valentine's Day, we awoke to find a single rose for each of us, and a chocolate heart! It was a beautiful thing. (Thanks Brooke and Janelle!)

Second: One day we decided to try and find Gorky Park...only we didn't get off at the correct metro stop, so awesome. We were lost. It was fun. We found a random mall thing...and we walked into a book store so I could look for a journal, and there were porn books in there. Whoops, wrong store. Anyway...this is a picture of the escalators. Exciting, I know.

So the mall madness was on a saturday, then there was sunday and church and many spiritual happenings (Brooke and Janelle both got called to the primary), and then on Monday we went and found the REAL Gorky park. There is an ice skating rink, and roller coasters, and all sorts of other fun things, and we are going back when it gets warm so we can do the amusement park. We had to cross a bridge to get from the metro station to the park, and the river was so beautiful! We didn't end up going into Gorky park, but we went across the street to this cool statue park, and had a lot of fun there. And then we went looking for a Starlite Diner that is in Moscow, and we couldn't find it, so we ate at this place called My-My (pronounced Moo-Moo) and YES it does have the theme you are thinking of. It was great! We had to get our food by pointing and grunting, and people were laughing at us. Ahhh...what a wonderful experience. Even the chairs were cow themed.
Anyway, here are some pictures of that adventure.

Some of them are a bit strange...but just go with it.

Last, but certainly not least, is PANCAKE DAY! Most wonderful celebration ever. We all had a blast...and there are better pictures on someone elses camera, but this is what I have that works. So enjoy. We had pancakes, and there was music and dancing, and clowns(?), and the burning of the scarecrow. All in all it was quite exciting. We had a lot of fun.

Just remember: It's not over till the fat lady sings. And it doesn't look like she's in a very singing mood, so I think it will be a while before it's over; (Whatever "IT" is). This is a picture of a teacher at the school that we love. She is always smiling at us, and waving, and saying things we can't understand. Lovely picture of her though. Everyone else is dancing and eating pancakes, and she was just chillin on the porch.

Red Square...for real this time!

We actually made it to Red Square! And it was quite an amazing sight. Saint Basils was everything I dreamed it would be, Lenin was at his creepiest, and we saw a large group of Communist supporters! All in all it was a very good trip. Not too freezing at all, which was nice. It's always a good day when you can go outside for more than five minutes without fingers or face freezing.

This is the building that runs most of the length of Red Square, and it is just giant shopping mall.

Lenin's tomb. Dark, creepy, and around every corner is young baby guard with a fur hat and a beating stick. They freak me out. But Lenin was so cool/creepy/weird. Really...I'm so glad we went and saw it/him. Weird fact about his body...his left hand was laid out flat, but his right hand was partially curled almost into a fist. Weird.

Alley between the shopping mall and the building being remodeled. There were so many people getting married all over Red Square! Apparently Saturday is "marriage" day, and that is when most everyone gets married. All the poor brides looked so cold and miserable.

Ice Skating rink on Red Square. We might go there sometime.

St. Basil's Cathedral. Most beautiful place I have ever seen. When I walked up the hill towards Lenin's tomb, this building slowly came into view, and I was speechless! It is such and amazing place. I fell in love.

Us being funny. Kinda...

This picture is of the Communist supporters that were leaving Red Square right when we were. (This picture is for you Marc).

The Childrens

We started teaching this week. And it has been great! The kids are just so adorable, and so sweet. Well...for the most part. They have their days...and certain kids are just brats/punks. There is no getting around that, haha but really I am quite enjoying myself.
One of the funniest things about the kids, is that when they go outside for recess, they have to completely change their clothes, and put on an entire new outfit; every time they want to go outside! It's so funny!
There are some picture posted of what the kids end up looking like. And trust me, there is a very intense, very specific process to getting them dressed. We are technically supposed to be helping the teachers dress the kids for outside, but after the first day we weren't doing it to their exact specifications, so they asked us to stop. So we just play with them outside when they are done.

The girl on the right has my favorite outfit of all the kids. CUTE! She looks like a little snowboarder.

This is Kolya. He is one of my kids, and he can be quite a handful, but he tries to stay on my good graces by just giving me a hug. He's funny.

This is Sasha! She is in my prelanguage class, and she has so much personality! Sometimes it's a little hard to control, but overall I just love this little girl.

This is Fidan. Her older sister is in the program too, and they look EXACTLY alike. Also, I think she might be my favorite prelanguage kid. She is so fun! And smart.

THIS is Egor. He is one of the smartest kids. But whenever he gets mad he will stand on a chair and scream at you, and it makes me wonder what his father is like...scary...but I love this kid. I hope that you can all kind of see his mullet going on. It's great.

This is Donya. I have a very huge fear that this kid will break my heart when I come back to the U.S. He is super smart, and has the cutest little voice and accent, and he has the most heart-breaking half smile i have ever seen. I want to take him home with me SO bad. He is the biggest punk when he is with Egor, but away from him he is the smoothest little charmer. This kid my FAVORITE here. Also Donya has a small round little mullet going on...you can't see it in this picture very well though.

Red Square...or not

Yesterday at dinner we were told that today was supposed to be a lot colder than it has been. All of us were just thinking "okay...awesome" and that was all. But when they say it's going to be colder, they mean its GOING TO BE COLDER. I mean seriously, it was so freaking cold today! The second you walk out of any building anything that isn't completely covered in multiple layers, freezes instantly. It was interesting. This morning we had to walk to our bus stop (about ten minutes from our house) and then it was about a half an hour ride to the Metro where we were meeting Gulya and the other Moscow groups. When we got on the bus we could tell it was a lot warmer because our breath only lingered for about two seconds instead of ten or twenty (I'm really not exaggerating about this).
Then we spent the day figuring out the Moscow Metro system! It really is quite simply. I mean, I can't read any of the signs, or any of the instructions, but luckily every line has a color and a number, and THOSE I can totally read. Another strange thing about the Metro is that every station is totally decked out, and kinda classy looking. One had chandeliers all over the ceiling, and ionic benches next to the pillars. Another had cool wrought iron benches and decorations that looked like plants. I wish I had taken pictures of these, but really...my hands were way to cold to take out of the gloves and use a camera.
We finally got to Red square, only to find out that we weren't going to be let in because there was some governmental ceremony going on and it was closed off. But I guess seeing the back of the Kremlin is almost as cool :) haha so we took pictures of that, and after taking a few I literally could not feel any of my fingers anymore. I really hope all of the pictures convey how truely freezing it was there.

This is us waiting at the bus station. It was SO COLD.

Russian McDonalds :)

Russian guard outside the Kremlin. This is how most of the guards and policemen dress. The hat is very Russian All the men seem to wearing them...although civilians don't have a badge on theirs. Of course. That is the Kremlin in the background, and that is as close as we got.

This is me outside some building in the courtyard outside of back of the Kremlin. Don't really know what is is...but it looks cool.

Freezing anyone? Yes, it was that cold.

Me OUTSIDE the Kremlin, not being able to feel my fingers.

This is the one of the cool stations! Isn't it fancy looking? Not what you would expect from the entrance...pigeons and skeezy looking stalls everywhere. One little booth had on wall full of condoms, and the same booth had a wall of cigarettes, and another of alcohol. Awesome.

The guards not letting us pass...and some sort of ceremony of flags and vodka going on in the background. Too bad really...I was really looking forward to Red Square. It was a still good though, albeit a little freezing.

On our way home from Moscow, we were sitting on the bus and this old man in front of me and Mollie kept turning around and looking at us. He seemed nice enough, and his whole row of top teeth was gold (I have already seen three or four people with gold teeth...weird). Anyway, eventually he started to talk to us in Russian, and kept gesturing, and he just kept on going, like eventually we would catch on or something. Haha we felt so stupid. Turns out some random guy on the bus could speak english, but he only stayed on the bus long enough for us to figure out that he was telling us that he spent a year in Cuba as a guard to Fidel Castro. What? I don't know. Haha my vote is that he was just a crazy Russian man. I tried to get a picture of him, but he got off the bus too fast.
And that was our exciting day. Red Square...almost. Grocery shopping. And then a fun ride home with a crazy Russian guy. Lovely!