First of all, I'd like to announce that my next adventure will be to Wichita Falls, Texas with my (soon to be) hubby B! I've been accepted into the Military Extension Internship Program Fall 2014. I'll be working with the Air Forces Child Development Center. I'm excited for this opportunity and me and B feel so blessed that we were accepted!
Now, onto current occurrences!
Me and A went to a pizza place for the first time. We had a four cheese pizza (A is vegetarian). I liked a ll the cheeses except the blue cheese. I ate around that. Otherwise it was delicious.
We went to this beautiful church to see part of a traditional Russian Orthodox service. It was beautiful. J told me and A that we really pulled off the scarfed head look. But, sadly I haven't gotten a picture of that.
We also had a lecture on Russian Orthodoxy for one of my classes at the University. It was fascinating. The LDS religion and Russian Orthodox have many very similar beliefs and it was fascinating to see the comparisons. For example, Russian Orthodoxy believes in the deification of man. The LDS church doesn't CALL it that but, we also believe that man can one day become Gods. We also learned that kissing and bowing to the traditional icons that grace Russian Orthodox churches is symbolic of that deification. We learned some about the how the pictures are set up as well. They are purposefully painted unrealistically in an effort to make it non-idol worship. The icons are meant to remind you of the meaning behind the pictures. They are also painted in a reverse-perspective way to make it seem like you are part of the picture. The focal point becomes outside of the picture and into the viewer. It was a fascinating lecture.
We saw this beautiful view of the Volga.
This car was parked by our school. I think someone is a little obsessed.
We also when to the beautiful Fantastika Mall. I got a new black shirt for 99 rubles. About $3. I'm wearing it in the next picture of me.
On Friday, we went to the ballet at Pushkin Theatre. We saw Esmeralda. It didn't follow the traditional Esmeralda ballet story. Instead, it followed the Hunchback of Notre Dame storyline. Here's A with Pushkin.
Me with Pushkin (in my new shirt!)
Inside the theatre. Isn't it beautiful?
That is Prof. B's daughter in the background Little K. I translated the story from dance to words for her. She complimented my mad skills. I was proud.
Another student, Redheaded S, joined A, little K, and Prof. B at the ballet. We felt very posh.
On to Saturday!!! We went to a Russian life museum today as a class. It was beautiful but, in a little disrepair. Apparently they don't get any funding from the government. While we were there the tour guide commented that "We love our country but, not our government." I think that is fascinating. I bet that is how a lot of people feel. No government is perfect.
It was beautiful but windy outside. I was freezing.
Inside a traditional peasants cabin. The hanging baby cradle is on a long stick that is attached to the ceiling and pivots so that the mom can move the cradle anywhere in the one room. I thought it was a really cool tool.
That's the stove.
In olden times, the Russians were a lot shorter. Russian men would have been about 6 inches to a foot shorter than me. I'm squatting under a beam that they would've easily walked under.
The outside of the peasants home. The windows were traditionally smaller than that so that they could keep the elements out before glass was used commonly. But modern people's eye site isn't as good as those back int he day so they have to have bigger windows for visitors to be able to see inside.
A beautiful little pond.
Me and A in front of a traditional church. I love the Russian domes. They are so beautiful. Sadly, it was closed so we didn't get to go inside.
Our tour guide played some traditional Russian games with us. I'll explain my favorite game. Everyone gets in a circle and one girl is in the middle and one guy is on the outside. Then everyone circles around the girl holding hands and holding their hands up. The boy tries to get in the circle and everyone tries to keep him out. He can't break people holding hands, he can only go under the arms. The people in the circle are allowed to move their arms to keep him out. If he gets in though the girl tries to get out and get away from him before he can tag her. If he tags her she has to kiss him (we did on the cheek) three times. It was really fun. I never played in the center. I preferred to try and keep the guy out. I think it was really fun though. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves.
We played right in front of this stage that I am on. :)
We found this old drying house of the Yamni people that has fell into disrepair (probably because of lack of funds. It is beautiful in its own right though.
There was also a swing. A really big swing. I asked them not to push me because I'm afraid of heights. Of course, being boys, they ignored me. Until I cried. Then they stopped. Boys are so predictable. I was looking to A for help. She didn't help.
We went to a Ukrainian restaurant for lunch :) I got Borsch and it was delicious. I do prefer Russian Borsch to Ukrainian Borsch. The Russian kind is more beet based. The Ukrainian kind is more tomato based.
It's been a fun week. On Tuesday I'll have been here for three weeks! I'll be halfway done and home to my honey before I know it. (If you can't tell I'm terribly homesick for him).
So long and thanks for all the fish! (Read Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy if you don't understand this)
-K
