today is my last full day with my family
this time tomorrow i'll be on the train to moscow
my host family is truly awesome in every way
i'll miss them a bit when i'm back in the states
especially lyuda's cooking
friday the group went on a party boat cruise thing
it only lasted an hour [which was a drag]
but it was still really fun
pretty much everyone had vodka, too
[the kind i got was rather disgusting, unfortunately
for the record, premyernaya vodka "istok" isn't premier
it takes like five o'clock, possibly worse]
we got to see volgograd at night from the river, too
[which, by the way, is an incredible sight
seeing mamayev kurgan in front of a sunset is gorgeous]
after we got back to shore we hung out in the park for a while
and then we disbanded and went home
yesterday was the banya trip that i didn't go to
though i heard it was quite an experience
almost all of us met up at alleya geroyev around 7 last night
[we met up with my sister, jeff's mom, and a couple of their friends]
and we went to the belaya loschad' one last time
the band was really good [they were called khuliganov nyet]
everyone there had a really good time
it was nice to have a relaxed night with everybody
[as an aside, i've made an interesting discovery,
though it's probly not a shocker to anyone:
my russian is a lot better when i've been drinking
seriously, i was able to carry on conversations much more fluently
i didn't have to stop and go 'uh...' at all
i'll have to bear it in mind for the future]
coming on this trip has realy done a lot for me
it reaffirmed my choice to learn russian [and hopefully get better]
this country is amazing, and the people are...well, unique
it's great to see the world from a different point of view
and it's nice to see more of the world than the u.s.
hopefully i'll make it make it back here in the next couple years
hopefully then i'll speak better, too [which i imagine will happen]
since i leave around one tomorrow afternoon to begin the long trek home
this will be the last entry here in the rossijskaya federatsiya,
i'll be out of contact until i get back to the states
so, i'll end this by posting my route back to the states:
–train leaves volgograd tomorow at 17:00
–we arrive in moscow somewhere around 8 tuesday morning
–we fly to amsterdam in the afternoon, get there about 17:30
–15 hour layover in amsterdam tuesday night
–flight leaves amsterdam at 8:30, arrives in detroit at 11:30 wednesday morning
thus concludes my jaunt here in russia
hope this has been at least mildly interesting
if not, oh well
за россию
volgograd, 8
Labels:
volgograd
tomorrow be our last day of classes here in volgograd
my last class is grammar [which, oddly, i am looking forward to
russian grammar is so much better than english grammar
[maybe because i was taught the latter for 10 straight years]
on friday we have a 'graduation party' with our prepodavatelya
we'll be drinking chaj and singing songs and reciting poems
then, i'll finally be done with classes
after six long, full months of them
friday we're also going on the party boat,
which is guaranteed to be a good time
basically we'll be going on an hour long boat ride on the volga
there'll be all sorts of fun stuff for us to do
chris said it was a lot of fun last year,
so here's hoping it's equally as good this time around
saturday some of us are going to the banya
it's basically a russified turkish bath
there's a steam room [reputed to be 90 degrees celsius]
you sit in there for about 10 minutes or so
then you rush outside and douse yourself with freezing water
then you flog your self with leafy branches [or a switch]
and then you repeat the process three or four times
it's supposed to be a one-of-a-kind experience
i'm not going, but about half the group is
i've been hot enough here already
i have no desire to sit in even hotter temperatures
speaking of the weather
it finally settled into something more endurable
it was a comfortable 27 degrees yesterday
[this is the only time i will ever say 80 F is comfortable
because it is, compared to 94 F]
it's been threatening rain all week,
but it hasn't made good, so it's kinda humid
as some [if not many] of you may know,
i'm not a fan of beer,
but i do enjoy a good dark beer/stout/ale,
my favorite being guinness
i haven't been able to get it out here
since i guess there isn't much of a market for it
however, i have discovered a quality substitute
it's called 'velkopopovický kozel' [it's czech]
the dark ale they make is really, really good
i get it every time i go to the belaya loschad'
[i also found 'murphy's irish stout' at the gurman
it was really good]
if anyone who reads this has been to amsterdam,
i'm currently taking suggestions for what to do there
i have a 12 hour overnight layover there on tuesday
and i know nothing about what's there
so any thoughts/ideas would be welcome
my last class is grammar [which, oddly, i am looking forward to
russian grammar is so much better than english grammar
[maybe because i was taught the latter for 10 straight years]
on friday we have a 'graduation party' with our prepodavatelya
we'll be drinking chaj and singing songs and reciting poems
then, i'll finally be done with classes
after six long, full months of them
friday we're also going on the party boat,
which is guaranteed to be a good time
basically we'll be going on an hour long boat ride on the volga
there'll be all sorts of fun stuff for us to do
chris said it was a lot of fun last year,
so here's hoping it's equally as good this time around
saturday some of us are going to the banya
it's basically a russified turkish bath
there's a steam room [reputed to be 90 degrees celsius]
you sit in there for about 10 minutes or so
then you rush outside and douse yourself with freezing water
then you flog your self with leafy branches [or a switch]
and then you repeat the process three or four times
it's supposed to be a one-of-a-kind experience
i'm not going, but about half the group is
i've been hot enough here already
i have no desire to sit in even hotter temperatures
speaking of the weather
it finally settled into something more endurable
it was a comfortable 27 degrees yesterday
[this is the only time i will ever say 80 F is comfortable
because it is, compared to 94 F]
it's been threatening rain all week,
but it hasn't made good, so it's kinda humid
as some [if not many] of you may know,
i'm not a fan of beer,
but i do enjoy a good dark beer/stout/ale,
my favorite being guinness
i haven't been able to get it out here
since i guess there isn't much of a market for it
however, i have discovered a quality substitute
it's called 'velkopopovický kozel' [it's czech]
the dark ale they make is really, really good
i get it every time i go to the belaya loschad'
[i also found 'murphy's irish stout' at the gurman
it was really good]
if anyone who reads this has been to amsterdam,
i'm currently taking suggestions for what to do there
i have a 12 hour overnight layover there on tuesday
and i know nothing about what's there
so any thoughts/ideas would be welcome
1 comments
6.17.2009
volgograd, 7
Labels:
volgograd
so the pushkin concert was awesome
the first half we listened to was the ariya zaremy, or 'zarema's aria'
i didn't particularly care for it
but the last half was awesome
it was the poem metel' with a 'musical illustration'
so far all of our concerts have been awesome
i really need to go to more when i get back to the states
i don't go to nearly enough
our group has begun our own little weekly ritual
every friday we go to makdonalds for lunch
it's the only one in volgograd
it's just like all the mcdonalds in the us
just a little less expensive, and with a few different choices
it's our little reminder of home
our sunday trip with the nigerians was five different types of awesome
we rented out this little pavilion and a couple beach houses
we cooked shashlik and had salat and some weird juices
we played volleyball on the banks of the volga
[we went to the otherside where there were actual beaches]
we sat out and played cards, and of course went swimming
the volga, by the by, is great lakes cold [upper ones, not the lower ones]
it was surprisingly [but refreshingly] cold
i loved it, and i even got some color on my skin
it was a really fun day, and it got me out of the house for the entire day
it was glorious fun, i should try to get something like that happening back home
maybe in august at some point
classes are still going, though they're beginning to wrap up
apparently we have some combined classes on tuesday
we also have a graduation party next friday after classes
our grammar teacher today recommended a place to eat
she said it had the best kotlyeti po-kiyevski in volgograd
and after having it, i'm slightly inclined to agree
it wasn't loads better, but it was marginally better
also, it was 93 degrees today
it was in the nineties all weekend
it's gonna be in the 90s all next week
the first half we listened to was the ariya zaremy, or 'zarema's aria'
i didn't particularly care for it
but the last half was awesome
it was the poem metel' with a 'musical illustration'
so far all of our concerts have been awesome
i really need to go to more when i get back to the states
i don't go to nearly enough
our group has begun our own little weekly ritual
every friday we go to makdonalds for lunch
it's the only one in volgograd
it's just like all the mcdonalds in the us
just a little less expensive, and with a few different choices
it's our little reminder of home
our sunday trip with the nigerians was five different types of awesome
we rented out this little pavilion and a couple beach houses
we cooked shashlik and had salat and some weird juices
we played volleyball on the banks of the volga
[we went to the otherside where there were actual beaches]
we sat out and played cards, and of course went swimming
the volga, by the by, is great lakes cold [upper ones, not the lower ones]
it was surprisingly [but refreshingly] cold
i loved it, and i even got some color on my skin
it was a really fun day, and it got me out of the house for the entire day
it was glorious fun, i should try to get something like that happening back home
maybe in august at some point
classes are still going, though they're beginning to wrap up
apparently we have some combined classes on tuesday
we also have a graduation party next friday after classes
our grammar teacher today recommended a place to eat
she said it had the best kotlyeti po-kiyevski in volgograd
and after having it, i'm slightly inclined to agree
it wasn't loads better, but it was marginally better
also, it was 93 degrees today
it was in the nineties all weekend
it's gonna be in the 90s all next week
1 comments
6.10.2009
volgograd, 6
Labels:
volgograd
i write this, i am sweating my life away
apparently all the mild weather we came with is gone
it was fine until monday,
then it kicked up into the eighties
and we have 90 degree days and higher next week
awesome
in a few short hours, it will be the sixth
most of the western world will be celebrating d-day
as well they should, it was an important day
here in russia, we'll be celebrating something different
[something the russians actually care about]:
aleskandr pushkin's birthday
he'd be 210 this year
the group is going to a concert tomorrow night for him
they'll be reading some of his works aloud
while playing musical settings of them intermittently
i'm hoping for some excerpts from yevgeny onegin
the poem and the opera
classes are going [and going and going]
our movie class started up last week
this week we watched the first half of ruslan i lyudmila
[in honor of pushkin, of course]
we'll finish it next week
our classes got scheduled really badly
this week we have double periods of each class
[every day we have two periods, first and second,
and they're usually two different things
like phonetics then culture, or grammar then phonetics]
so this coming week we'll have three hours of the same class
every single day except wednesday
random story of the week
darrin and i were sitting on prospekt lenina
waiting for the womens to get done with their shopping
and this guy comes up to me asking for directions
i gave them very badly, then he asks me if i speak english
turns out he was a foreigner too [go figure]
his name was felipe, and he was from southern spain [valencia, i think]
he was on his way to novosibirsk from sevastopol'
he had an overnight in volgograd, so he was seeing the sights
it was random, but it didn't surprise me in the least
i guess russia's rubbing off on me
on sunday we're having a barbeque with the nigerian students
they're all awesome people, and really friendly
i guess they're all been studying russian for about four years
they wanted to have a get together while we're all here
so we're gonna grill shashlik on the banks of the volga
should be good times
apparently all the mild weather we came with is gone
it was fine until monday,
then it kicked up into the eighties
and we have 90 degree days and higher next week
awesome
in a few short hours, it will be the sixth
most of the western world will be celebrating d-day
as well they should, it was an important day
here in russia, we'll be celebrating something different
[something the russians actually care about]:
aleskandr pushkin's birthday
he'd be 210 this year
the group is going to a concert tomorrow night for him
they'll be reading some of his works aloud
while playing musical settings of them intermittently
i'm hoping for some excerpts from yevgeny onegin
the poem and the opera
classes are going [and going and going]
our movie class started up last week
this week we watched the first half of ruslan i lyudmila
[in honor of pushkin, of course]
we'll finish it next week
our classes got scheduled really badly
this week we have double periods of each class
[every day we have two periods, first and second,
and they're usually two different things
like phonetics then culture, or grammar then phonetics]
so this coming week we'll have three hours of the same class
every single day except wednesday
random story of the week
darrin and i were sitting on prospekt lenina
waiting for the womens to get done with their shopping
and this guy comes up to me asking for directions
i gave them very badly, then he asks me if i speak english
turns out he was a foreigner too [go figure]
his name was felipe, and he was from southern spain [valencia, i think]
he was on his way to novosibirsk from sevastopol'
he had an overnight in volgograd, so he was seeing the sights
it was random, but it didn't surprise me in the least
i guess russia's rubbing off on me
on sunday we're having a barbeque with the nigerian students
they're all awesome people, and really friendly
i guess they're all been studying russian for about four years
they wanted to have a get together while we're all here
so we're gonna grill shashlik on the banks of the volga
should be good times
2
comments
6.05.2009
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