So...much... to say

I think the title explains a little, but I'll start by saying SORRY!! I have been amazingly busy (and out of town). But now I'm back and I will try to type more often, prolly shorter blogs. Anyways, I'll brush through my trip and put in a lot of pictures instead ;D

So I think everyone knows (maybe not) that I went to Krasnadar and Sochi in the south of Russia. I sent out lots of cards and I hope they reach everyone well. It was nice to be in the warm of the south and I saw the Black Sea, vacation spot of the Tsars (as well as many other Russians throughout history). So that was great.

But I am amazingly glad to be back in Yaroslavl again, just in time for the start of the snowy season! It has been snowing an almost constantly for a week (Although we had a bit of a melt yesterday, so yay-lots of ice....) but it is sooo beautiful!!! I will take more pics, prolly put up a vid about it on Youtube too.

The Black Sea!! The first one is just me (obviously...) and the second is of the sunset over the sea. It was so beautiful, I was almost shocked. It reminded me a lot of home, but there was also a different feel to it. It was great! XDD













Krasnodar! The left one is a bell thing for Catherine the Great, and the right one is our group. We were just walking in this amazingly autumnal park and... well, you can see. ;D












The picture here on the right is me and Ploy when we were playing in the snow!!! Our friend taught us a really cool trick that a lot of Russians do. We basically rubbed a frozen puddle to unfreeze a little part, stuck coins in, and then let them freeze over again. Voila! Art, beneath the ice! ;D It was so fun, and Ploy was super confused about the fact that we were just going to leave the money there! Hahaha, she is so cute.


Finally, this last picture (and actually another picture up a little bit of Dinara and her boyfriend Kostya). These are from Thanksgiving!!! We had our own Thanksgiving here, Russian style. We had a sort of cheesecake-y pear cake thing, the dark meat from the turkey (because it's really hard to find a full turkey here that's not so big it doesnt fit in our oven) and then pear slices and juice. XDD Oh, and tea--but that's a given. Pretty much can't do anything without a cup of tea here. Seriously, it just about gave Inna a heartattack for the longest time when I would run out of time and not be able to drink tea. She would yell as I went out the door "Don't forget to get some tea at school!"

Anyways. That's all for now. Again soon I hope, and Happy Holidays!

Bettina


And that's a heart, by the way (in case you can't tell) that I made in the snow