Anniversary of Yaroslavl

So I realized that I completely forgot to talk about the anniversary celebration. I will be having dinner soon, so I will try and make this quick (I apologize if it is too short!). So, like I mentioned before, the city of Yaroslavl celebrated it's 1000 year anniversary. For the celebration, the city beautified the center of town, repainting and fixing up old buildings, repaving roads, and just generally making everything prettier.
<--The Volga

The Volga embankment pathways has been redone and although I did not see it before, it is beautiful now! Also on
the embankment of the Volga, they built an entirely new pavilion with a large bear topiary type thing as well as three fountains which dance to music and light up at night. They also built a new monument reminiscent of a famous monument in St. Petersburg. Maybe you'll recognize it! I was able to walk around town with some friends on the weekend of the anniversary and it was crazy busy with tourists as well as locals. Also, we ran into a parade of marching bands, and that was cool (although we only caught the tail end of it). And finally there were fireworks right on the Volga, over the new pavilion. It was beautiful.

Anyways. I'm going to put up a bunch of pictures now:

<--The new monument over the pavilion

















The Pavilion:




The marching band:









The fountain at night with the newly rebuilt church silhouetted.


Ploy and I at the fountains...


Completely random picture of our clothes hanging out to dry on the balcony. It's just really pretty (those are my pajamas... ;)

Dacha

Hello!!!

So, we went to my family's dacha in the village to pick apples and mushrooms, and OMG I swear I just about died. (So I'm going to be buying a dacha in like a year or two, just fyi.) If you don't know what that is, by the way, it's like a country home here in Russia. But they aren't like a rich people thing. They're these little houses in the villages (which are tiny--the villages, not the houses. The houses are not that small.) and they often don't have running water or toilets and they apparently cost like a few thousand dollars. So yes, I was actually being really literal when I said a couple of years. I seriously think I need to get one.

But I'm talking out of order here. I'll start from the beginning. As I think you know, we have no car. So to get to the village, we took a taxi to the train station, then a train, then a bus from the train to the village. In the morning, very early, it was so foggy that we actually could barely see out of the windows of the bus! So I did not even see the village until much later. When we got to the dacha, we set up a sort of camp outside, because the house itself is actually falling down. It is about 100 years old and it was badly vandalized a few years ago so it's not actually totally safe in there. But despite all that, it is still beautiful. But anyways, we made a fire and brought a table outside from the house, and then had breakfast. It was so awesome! I found a stick and then put the chicken on it and stuck it in the fire, and then Dinara and I were trading off the stick because we both wanted hot food! Hahaha.
After breakfast, we started to pick apples. It was soo fun! It was pretty cold out, and really really wet from the rain the day before and also the fog was pretty thick late into the morning. So my hands were freezing, but it was still great. XD

Later, we had a bit of lunch, and then my host aunt and grandpa and I went into the forest to get mushrooms!!! We found a ton, and we filled up our baskets. Now at my flat, we have a ton of now jarred mushrooms to go with our boxes and boxes of apples. But it was great, because the forest was beautiful and the mushrooms were soo cool looking (can you believe I've never seen any besides the ones that grow on our lawns and the canned ones??).

Then, later, a lady from the village came to visit with Inna (my host mom) and we got to go into her house. It is this old, traditional style russian house with this giant stone oven in the kitchen which is what heats the entire house! And I'm pretty sure she has not toilet, but I didn't ask about that. Anyways. She has bee house things in her yard where she makes her own honey (we bought some from her, and omg, I'm like a мёд addict (myode=honey)) and she also has chickens and roosters and her own apple trees.

Finally, Dinara and I lounged out front for a little bit, sunbathed while the sun was out, climbed the big yellow tree in front, and then Dinara left with her dad (with our apples in the back of his truck). Inna, Anya (Inna's sister) and I all went back by bus, then train, then bus and when we got home, Dinara made dinner. We were exhausted, but it was so amazing. The next day of school, I swear I almost passed out. But it was more than worth it.

So, I will be buying a dacha and spending my summers in my Russian village from now on.... ;D

School...And stuff.

Okay!! So I've been in Russia like two weeks now (or something) and I'm really loving it. Adjusting has admittedly been rather hard, but I'm feeling better all the time. I think I'm learning quickly, though not because it feels like it to me.... Everyone keeps being shocked by how much I know and my pronunciation. So I think that's good (or they just have low expectations....) ;D

Anyways. So my host family, Inna and Dinara, are so awesome. As it turns out, Inna speaks lots of English and Dinara speaks almost none. We live in a small flat on the 6th floor. With no elevator... (If I don't have amazing thighs at the end of the year....) It's really cute. I'll put up pictures, or a video or something, soon.

School! So, I go to School no. 80 (школа но. 80) which is an English specialty school. That means that a lot of the students speak lots of English. Which is cool, but bad since I'm not supposed to speak English (tehe). Luckily, they mostly prefer Russian, and I get to talk with them alot. I mostly hang out with 11th form-ers and they're cool, although apparrently I'm going to start taking lots of classes with primary school-ers (great...) which should be very very good for my language learning because while they are learning English, they must speak lots of Russian and so it should be very helpful to me (did that make any sense...?)

Also. I had my first individual Russian class and OMG, it was amazing!!! My teacher, David (pronounced like Dah-veed) is really cool. We had a small conversation (I'm getting better at understanding little sentences by picking out words I know, tehe) and looked at places on the map we had been. Then we did some exercises in my exercise book, and that was cool. I'm getting better at reading, and he says my accent is very good (which is really cool, cuz I didn't think so..) but I want to get better anyways. I want to have no accent someday! (I don't actually know if that's possible.... but hey, humour me) Anyways. And then we were talking about what I do after school (which currently is very very little...) and he suggested I participate in like a sport or something. He mentioned how he does lots of martial arts at some place and told me about this girls Aikido class, which sounds cool and I think I might do it (maybe with another AFSer from Thailand, a girl named Ploy (she pronounces it like Proy though)). Also, I mentioned that I like swimming and he suggested I do that too. I know that in the US the swim season is in the spring, but I wonder if it is here too? Also, I don't even know if they have like school swim teams or what. But anyways, I digress.

Oh, I have to make a presentation (like a ppt) for some event thing, on America and where I live. Any suggestions? That'd be helpful, thanks. ;D

Yaroslavl will be celebrating it's 1000 year anniversary next weekend, so we will have school off on Saturday (did I mention I go to school six days a week?) and there will be a big celebration all over town. I can't wait!! Inna, my host mom, told me that people will buy fireworks and that they will prolly big going off in the sky everywhere (heck, someone did that just yesterday, it was so cool). And yeah, buying and shooting off fireworks is totally legal and normal here. And we're talking full fledged fireworks too. It's kinda cool (and a little worrisome... haha).

So yeah. Things are pretty cool. I will put up like a zillion pics, asap. My camera died and I don't have a converter yet, but I promise I will have one before next week! (I hope...) If I don't, well then there will be lots of videos instead of pictures. Tehe.

Okay, I'm going to go.

Lots of love, all.

беттина

In Yaroslavl

Hello from lovely ярославль!! (That's actually a pic out the window at our camp near Moscow, not Yaroslavl, just FYI) haven't been on in soo long, but I'm trying to make this fast since I don't want to be on the computer too long. Ok, so I flew from LA to NY on... Monday night. And I got there on Tuesday soo early. At the airport, a volunteer picked me up, along with another girl named Jeanne who was going to China. The volunteer dropped us with some other volunteers at the hotel, and we were the first ones there. We both felt so gross, so we showered and then ate and then slept. Also, we watched some Doctor Who (Yes, I am that big a dork). Anyways. The orientation started at 2:00 and others that were going to Russia and China with NSLI-Y. On the first day, everyone was soo tired, but we all got into groups and played games and talked. It was soo fun!! I made soo many friends. Everyone was soo cool, and we all had so much in common. I'll put up pics asap. Anyways. So after the orientation, we all had to leave and it was so sad saying goodbye. Even though it was only two days, we all became so close. I can't wait to here about everyone's experiences!
Also, on the second day, more AFSers came (not NSLI-Yers) and one of them, Thomas, was going to Russia. Before the flight, none of us got any sleep (I got like three hours... ;P ) because most of us were sharing rooms with China people who all had to leave earlier than us. It was soo sad, because we had had to say goodbye the night before. But then we saw them at the airport!! XDD We all dorked out and were talking about languages and culture and how cool all that was. It was so cool, because usually us language lovers are kind of the weirdos, but all together we were soo normal. Hahaha.

Anyways. So, finally we said goodbye again. And that was even sadder!! Our flight was like... an hour later and that flight was short (just from NY to DC). I just listened to music. At Dulles, we hung out for like ever. I called Katie and my dad and everyone kept complaining "Jeez, you talk so much!!" and "get off the phone!" .... When I finally did, I played cards with Thomas and some others for a while. Then we saw a bunch of students going to the US from Germany! They were soo fun to talk to, cuz they all spoke English.... but with awesome accents. Oh yaa...
Finally, we got on our plane and we settled into the seats we wanted (we switched a bunch). I sat naxt to this lady, Olga, from Москва (Moscow) who was an actress visiting her stepfather in the US. But there was something wrong with our navigation system, so we had to get off and change planes. FINALLY, we got on our 10 hour flight and started toward Russia. I traded places with Zach and sat right next to Thomas. Who kept me up the entire flight. Thomas, if you're reading this.... Grr...
<-- That's Megan and Thomas.

But anyways. When we got to Russia, we were all soo tired. Especially those of us who DIDN'T SLEEP!! The bus ride to our "camp" (orientation) took like five hours and I slept a bit, but also hung out with Thomas, and then everyone else when they woke. The camp in Russia was also fun. We met so many other students, from Finland, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, Austria, Venezuela, Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, Japan.... And maybe other places, but I can't remember. Mostly, everyone spoke English, but the girl who was from Mexico only spoke a little so I got to talk en espanol con ella. Which was awesome..... ;D

Yeah. Everyone was soo cool. Axel, from Sweden, and Maria from Finland wwere cool. We hung out in the kitchen and the kitchen ladies brought us tea (чай) and coffee (кофе) and sweet bread (булочка). They were soo nice!! They were listening to Russian pop music, all kind of techno, and Axel was soo cute. He kept dancing with it and saying "I love it!! It is so 90s!"

<-- Lauren, Zach, Alejandra, and Isabel, at camp/orientation thing

So that was awesome. Finally we had to say goodbye again and I was so depressed. Too many goodbyes! When we drove to Ярославль, there were fewer of us, and again we had to say good bye, and hello to our families. I met Inna, my host mom there. She is soo cute! She is short and adorable. We went straight home, to a small apartment with one bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. It's very warm and homey. Dinara is not here yet, but I met her friend Alicya who is staying over to help me since Inna has to work crazy hours. She speaks alot of English, but I already feel like I am learning Russian. I wonder if she's getting annoyed because I always ask, "How do you say...?" and "что это?"

So, yesterday, we went to a concert at the church, celebrating ярославль's history and culture and such. Do you know they make movies here?? I also met Alicya's friend Mattew there. He's nice. He does not speak English, but I will do my best to learn Russian asap and then talk to him like that! When we got back, I found out that Alicya lives downstairs. She stayed over and she and Inna shared a bed. (I feel bad that I have a bed all to myself... Idk what to do though...;.; )

Today, we woke up really late and made breakfast (eggs) which was so yummy. Then we went shopping, though we did not buy anything. At the mall, we saw two of Alicya's friends, Nastya and Yulia. Nastya did not stay long, but we hung out with Yulia who is small, blonde and so adorable. She also did not speak much English, but I know we will be good friends, and I will learn Russian and talk to her!! Alicya showed me our school, which is nice. And then we went home and had dinner (pasta).

So, this has been so great so far! I feel like I'm already learning, though I want to speak Russian already!!!! Grrrr!


Okay. Until later, this is blackout. Ttyl!!

беттина

Yaroslavl

I finally got my host family today! They are Inna and Dinara, a mother and daughter (who is twenty--I don't know if she lives at home or not). They have a cat (koshka) and they are Russian Orthodox. Beyond that, I know just about nothing. I don't know what their email is, or even if they have emails, so I'm super nervous! I think I'm going to have to call them, which is nerve-wracking since I speak next to zero Russian!!! Gahh!

Anyways. I'm soo excited, because Yaroslavl looks like a beautiful city. It is about 155 miles (249kilometers) from Moscow (Moskva) and it is right on the Volga River. It was established in 1010 and it is rather famous for being a historical city. (I just found out about it today...)

Oh, and I realize that I have not written in a long time, so now I will mention my travel plans. I am leaving LA on the 16th of August, getting to New York on the 17th and then leaving for Russia on the 19th. I will fly from LAX to La Guardia, then the Orientation. Then I will fly from JFK to Dulles to Moskva!!! I'm not sure how I am then getting to my new home... Or is there another orientation then...? Haha. I don't really know the specifics. Right now, I have a list of things I need to do and I'll stick to those: 1) Learn as much Russian as possible, 2) figure out what I should pack in my 44 lbs limited bag and my 22 lbs limited carry on, 3) call my host family (Oh jeez), 4) get them gifts (Any ideas??) and 5) see everyone I haven't already seen and enjoy the rest of my summer!

Wish me luck!

So. I will write again when I know more!

Bye!

Hello for the First Time!

Well, this is my first blog (ever) and since I haven't even told anyone about it yet, I guess it's kind of like I'k talking to myself, haha.

So, while I receive notification from AFS Russia that my application was accepted and that I got the NSLI-Y scholarship a few weeks ago, this is the first time I've actually written about it! I've been soo busy, that it's kind of crazzy to even think that I actually got either of those things--let alone both!

This did not completely occur to me until after I had received both, but I guess I was super lucky to have gotten accepted by AFS Russia, AND NSLI-Y... both for Russia, yearlong! I am soo excited!! I have had so little time to even think about it, that it's still a bit of a shock to think about it. I'm going to Russia. Next year. The whole year. Wow.

Of course, it is super nerve-wracking to know that I speak zero Russian at this moment. But I am confident that I will learn quickly if I work hard (which I will). XD

Anyways, that's about all I have time for right now, so I shall say good bye! (For now)