Summer in Vladimir

It really feels like summer has set in, so I have actually made it through a full cycle of seasons in Russia. I even got a little burned sitting out before my class the other day. Unfortunately, the weather has been terrible every day that I have a full afternoon free, but I'm determined to make it to the lake this week. One downside of the weather, though, is that I want to put LESS footwear on my feet and Russians find this absurd. Even at airports they hand out the weird blue plastic foot covers that show up everywhere, because Russian people honestly would not walk 20 feel through security in their socks.

Summer also brings the Loss of Hot Water in Vladimir. Every year, the city digs up pipes and every apartment in town, including the million dollar ones, lose hot water for two weeks. Does it seem to anyone else like a full on renovation of the water system might just be more efficient overall?

Adam and I have been sitting in on each other's Russian lessons, which means we have 4-5 lessons a week. It has been going really well, but I'm definitely ready for the ballet break next Wednesday. We are going into Moscow for that, and might stop by and see some English teaching schools too. (Our interviews last week seemed to go well, but unfortunately there aren't any positions in Sochi...)

Last time we were in Moscow, we found this book by Vladimir Lyubarov. He is a contemporary Russian artist who paints solid, gray, somewhat fantastical pictures of Russian Soviet life. He also writes hilarious reflections to go with them with photographs from his life. Some of my current favorites are "Why I paint fat women." (because he is from the country and all the women there are young, very beautiful, and fat, and also the center of anything that actually gets done) and "How I didn't become a football player." His paintings are all very clever, too, with lots of irony about Soviet life. For example, one is called "Fish Thursdays" from the old Soviet law that on Thursdays, all restaurants had to serve fish. Why? Because fish is healthy. Never mind that people were traveling 3-4 hours to Moscow to buy groceries... Anyway, I'm really excited to go see some of his pieces in Moscow with my grandma this summer.

I can't wait to see everyone this summer! I made copies of a hand-drawn family tree for my class the other day and it almost made me tear up...

Sochi, spring, and the summer semester!

So it has been a while since anything noteworthy happened. But THEN I went to Sochi for spring break and things got awesome. Think Russia, then take Russia and put it on a beach resort next to the Black Sea with mountains and tropical plants and nice people and the 2014 winter Olympics. That's right, it was killer. Unbelievably pretty, great weather, cute little house to stay in. In general, there are no gray concrete buildings in Sochi. No apartment buildings at all, really. And no centuries-old churches. Those of you who have been to Russia are now asking yourself, was she really in Russia? Yeah! I was! We found the Russian city where houses are shabby but adorable, painted bright colors with weird additions and balconies and bright blue roofs spread out all over the mountains.

The traffic is awful, I'll give you that, but somehow it isn't as bad being stuck in a traffic jam while gazing out over cliffs and palm trees and sparkling blue water. The city is the longest city in Europe, and nature is incorporated everywhere; there are flowers and trees and bushes everywhere, and big parks and nature reserves everywhere. People sell shish-kababs and Georgian food on all the streets. There is also cool shopping, an amusement park in the middle of town, an indoor water park up on a mountain, the list goes on... I tell you, even the gloomy Russian national character couldn't hold up against the luxury of living on the water. People are nice! Average salaries are also much higher than they are in Vladimir and rooms are not much more expensive. The current plan is to back and live/work there the year of the winter Olympics. Right now a lot of construction is being done, so hopefully the traffic situation will even be better by then.

Some notes about traveling in Russia: you need your ticket to LEAVE the bus or train station after you get off the train. Yeah. Right? How weird is that? My question is, what if you had already thrown the ticket away?

Also, people burst into applause after the pilot lands a plane. Let me tell you, that didn't make me feel good the first time I heard it. I don't want a safe landing to be hailed as an unexpected achievement...

So now it is just 6 weeks until I am done working here and (after 2 weeks of traveling) heading home! And I can't wait!