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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
A hairy experience!
I got to Russia on the 23 of august. On the 25 I arrived in St Petersburg. On the Tuesday the 30th I came back to Moscow. That day I took a shower. That day I shaved my legs. That was the Last day I shaved my legs since I have been in Russia :). It has been almost a month, and Yes I do plan not to shave until I arrive in America again. Don't judge, be grateful I'm just trying to fit in the best I can with the Russians ;)
My religion
Being Mormon
So we were suppose to teach catch up kids at the elementary school. So for about three weeks the kids had a trial period to see if they liked the class and wanted to stay in it or not. During that time there was a parents meeting with our Russian coordinator for ILP. In that meeting, Gulya (the coordinator) told the parents of a website they could go on to learn more about the program. The website is a Russian site about ILP where parents can leave comments and and such about the program. On the website it says that we follow LDS standards. Because of that all of our students dropped on the same day. We went down to teach them last Monday and we waited, and waited, and waited, and when no one showed up we went and asked and we found out that because of us being Mormom they gave the children the choice of going outside to play or going to English class? What? What first grader is going to choose English class?
This is the first time I have ever truly been discriminated against for being LDS. My thoughts? I'm not sure yet. At first I was angry. It's not like we were brain washing their kids or anything like that, we were only teaching them English. I didn't understand. But as time has gone on all I want to do is "love the crap out of the Russians". I love these people and I love this culture. I love being here. I don't think this will be the last time either. So I am glad it happen here.
So yea, I love being LDS! I love the blessings that I get from it, I love my heavenly father and his son, I love the book of mormon, I love the great spirit that I have because I am LDS. So think what you want, discriminate if you must, and judge if you may, but I will always LOVE you and I will always have FAITH!!
So we were suppose to teach catch up kids at the elementary school. So for about three weeks the kids had a trial period to see if they liked the class and wanted to stay in it or not. During that time there was a parents meeting with our Russian coordinator for ILP. In that meeting, Gulya (the coordinator) told the parents of a website they could go on to learn more about the program. The website is a Russian site about ILP where parents can leave comments and and such about the program. On the website it says that we follow LDS standards. Because of that all of our students dropped on the same day. We went down to teach them last Monday and we waited, and waited, and waited, and when no one showed up we went and asked and we found out that because of us being Mormom they gave the children the choice of going outside to play or going to English class? What? What first grader is going to choose English class?
This is the first time I have ever truly been discriminated against for being LDS. My thoughts? I'm not sure yet. At first I was angry. It's not like we were brain washing their kids or anything like that, we were only teaching them English. I didn't understand. But as time has gone on all I want to do is "love the crap out of the Russians". I love these people and I love this culture. I love being here. I don't think this will be the last time either. So I am glad it happen here.
So yea, I love being LDS! I love the blessings that I get from it, I love my heavenly father and his son, I love the book of mormon, I love the great spirit that I have because I am LDS. So think what you want, discriminate if you must, and judge if you may, but I will always LOVE you and I will always have FAITH!!
The good life!
Russia
So even though I am not preachin the gospel to others, this experience has been so much like a mission. My roommates and other teachers are like my companions and my examples. I am reading and studying the scriptures so much every day and I am reading The Miracle Of Forgiveness. I also listen to a lot more church music here to. That's almost all I listen to. But I'm realizing it's because I want to. It's the kind of music I feel like listening to! It's amazing. So I have basically been caught up in religious things and focusing on those thing so much that I haven't really thought about other thing. Which is not a bad thing but I think I need to focus on other things along with the religious things so that I can fully experience that fact that I'm in Russia!!!! Although I will say this, I do believe I am here to grow as much as possible in this gospel so that I can be strong when I do go home!
But also I do need to write about life here in the mother land! About teaching everyday, about the kids that I now love with all my heart. About the guards that we have become friends with. About wondering around Moscow, a city of 10.5 million people (which by the way there are less people in the whole state of Idaho) and not knowing exactly where to go and how its slightly more difficult because all the street signs and the metro signs are in Russian. Also about all the laughs we have been having.
So let's talk about the "reason" why I am here. The chillins'!!!! So we have a total of 24 kids in big kindergarten, which is what I teach (I also sometimes tach advanced reading and little k., more on them later) big k. Is pretty much the best!!! I love all of things kids so much! I have 9 kids in my home room. And yes I am going to talk about each one! Ok maybe not individually but yes. Sofa (Sonya) is my absolute favorite!!! She is so cute! Blond hair blue eyes, super super funny and just so fun! Whenever I have her talk it's like she puts all her effort into it and squints her eyes shut... You kind of have to be there! Yesterday after class she was like "teacher Hailey, play!" and I had a lot to do because we end at 5:45 and we have to be cleaned up and back at the school by six and it's a ten min. Walk. So I got out my iPad and let her play angry birds while I cleaned up. She loves it!! And I love her, I might have to bring her back to America with me!!!
Then there is yana and yulya, they are kind of my trouble makers. But at the same time so cute! And then Valya, who by the way wears Dior and Armani everyday. No big deal, she is only 5. And don't judge me but I wanted to make sure they were real brand names so I may have checked the tags real discreet like, and yeah they are legit!!! She is crazy! And then Maria, she is just a doll. She talks so well and is just adorable! And then I have my two boys, Rodion and Dima. Rodion doesn't always come, and he is kinda of weird, but I love Dima! He is kind of a cry baby, but when he is happy he is super happy! And I like talking to his mom because she speaks English and she is just a great lady!! And then there is Stesha. And she is super cute and sweet she is just super quite.
Those are my big k kids! Whom I love so much! I have been teaching gym for the past 4 weeks, so basically I play games with my kids all day. And it is awesome. But next week I switch to teaching shop and we will be making some pretty cool stuff!! :)
So we spend a lot of time in the school right? Because all our meals are here, teaching is here, we live here, and to go any where we have at least a 20 min bus ride and then however long on the metro. So basically we have made friends with the people around us. There is this guy that works at the school, he doesn't teach, and we are not sure what he does, but he is pretty cool! He might do like maintenance because he brought us our fridge. And the fridge came in a box right? A big one cuz its a small fridge, but it's a big small fridge. So any way! Funny story about this guy, I got in the box to scare Selina and he saw me get in it because his room is right next to ours. So right as I was about to pop my head out (which Selina saw by the way) he came out and scared the poopy out of me!!! I may have fallen over... In the box... It was pretty funny!!! Not going to lie. Also, he found out that we were Mormon and now we don't see him as much and we think that might be why...
And we are also friends with the guards!!! They are quite fun! We are good friends with Peter because he guards our part of the school, he also speaks the most English out of all of them. So he wants us to teach him english right? So one night we decided to give him a lesson, do an SPE with him just like we do with the kids! So we did! And it was so funny! Because peter is older and we were teaching him just like we teach the 5 year olds! And then we ended up watching YouTube videos with him! Clearly laughter is the same in all languages. Mostly we just laugh with all the guards because we try to communicate with them and we fail miserably at it :).
Also we love the cooks. Two reasons, one they cook food for us, and two they are simply just amazing!! We have had some great laughs with them to! And they love us so much! So so much! They laugh at us when we try to speak Russian, ok it's more laughing with us! :)
So this is a day in the life of being an ILP teacher:
Wake up at 7:30 ish
Get ready for the day
Go to breakfast at 9
Come back up to the rooms, brush our teeth
Head to the supply room and stay there for as long as we need, which is usually about an hour but sometimes we are there till lunch!
When we are only there for an hour we come back and take a nap or read
Lunch is at 1
Then back to the room, brush our teeth
At about 1:45 on the weeks that we teach basic advanced ready we head down to those rooms
Teach reading from 2-3:45
Head over to the kindergarten (a 10 min walk)
Opening for k. Is at 4 and then we have 3 twenty min rotations and then closing and store at 5:30
We come back to the school for dinner at six
On Tuesday's we have training right after dinner
On Monday's we have fhe at 8
On wednesday we have lessons for the next week due at 8
On Thursday's we go to the sports complex and go swimming
And on Friday we usually watch a movie as a goup!
Also, on Wednesday we have culture days where we learn about Russian culture and learn to make Russian food from 10-11:30 in the morning
On Thursday we have Russian language lessons from 10-11:30
And on Monday's we will go to the university and talk with the students taking English classes.
I think that's about it for school! Well and this post is super long! So if more comes up I will def keep you updates!
So even though I am not preachin the gospel to others, this experience has been so much like a mission. My roommates and other teachers are like my companions and my examples. I am reading and studying the scriptures so much every day and I am reading The Miracle Of Forgiveness. I also listen to a lot more church music here to. That's almost all I listen to. But I'm realizing it's because I want to. It's the kind of music I feel like listening to! It's amazing. So I have basically been caught up in religious things and focusing on those thing so much that I haven't really thought about other thing. Which is not a bad thing but I think I need to focus on other things along with the religious things so that I can fully experience that fact that I'm in Russia!!!! Although I will say this, I do believe I am here to grow as much as possible in this gospel so that I can be strong when I do go home!
But also I do need to write about life here in the mother land! About teaching everyday, about the kids that I now love with all my heart. About the guards that we have become friends with. About wondering around Moscow, a city of 10.5 million people (which by the way there are less people in the whole state of Idaho) and not knowing exactly where to go and how its slightly more difficult because all the street signs and the metro signs are in Russian. Also about all the laughs we have been having.
So let's talk about the "reason" why I am here. The chillins'!!!! So we have a total of 24 kids in big kindergarten, which is what I teach (I also sometimes tach advanced reading and little k., more on them later) big k. Is pretty much the best!!! I love all of things kids so much! I have 9 kids in my home room. And yes I am going to talk about each one! Ok maybe not individually but yes. Sofa (Sonya) is my absolute favorite!!! She is so cute! Blond hair blue eyes, super super funny and just so fun! Whenever I have her talk it's like she puts all her effort into it and squints her eyes shut... You kind of have to be there! Yesterday after class she was like "teacher Hailey, play!" and I had a lot to do because we end at 5:45 and we have to be cleaned up and back at the school by six and it's a ten min. Walk. So I got out my iPad and let her play angry birds while I cleaned up. She loves it!! And I love her, I might have to bring her back to America with me!!!
Then there is yana and yulya, they are kind of my trouble makers. But at the same time so cute! And then Valya, who by the way wears Dior and Armani everyday. No big deal, she is only 5. And don't judge me but I wanted to make sure they were real brand names so I may have checked the tags real discreet like, and yeah they are legit!!! She is crazy! And then Maria, she is just a doll. She talks so well and is just adorable! And then I have my two boys, Rodion and Dima. Rodion doesn't always come, and he is kinda of weird, but I love Dima! He is kind of a cry baby, but when he is happy he is super happy! And I like talking to his mom because she speaks English and she is just a great lady!! And then there is Stesha. And she is super cute and sweet she is just super quite.
Those are my big k kids! Whom I love so much! I have been teaching gym for the past 4 weeks, so basically I play games with my kids all day. And it is awesome. But next week I switch to teaching shop and we will be making some pretty cool stuff!! :)
So we spend a lot of time in the school right? Because all our meals are here, teaching is here, we live here, and to go any where we have at least a 20 min bus ride and then however long on the metro. So basically we have made friends with the people around us. There is this guy that works at the school, he doesn't teach, and we are not sure what he does, but he is pretty cool! He might do like maintenance because he brought us our fridge. And the fridge came in a box right? A big one cuz its a small fridge, but it's a big small fridge. So any way! Funny story about this guy, I got in the box to scare Selina and he saw me get in it because his room is right next to ours. So right as I was about to pop my head out (which Selina saw by the way) he came out and scared the poopy out of me!!! I may have fallen over... In the box... It was pretty funny!!! Not going to lie. Also, he found out that we were Mormon and now we don't see him as much and we think that might be why...
And we are also friends with the guards!!! They are quite fun! We are good friends with Peter because he guards our part of the school, he also speaks the most English out of all of them. So he wants us to teach him english right? So one night we decided to give him a lesson, do an SPE with him just like we do with the kids! So we did! And it was so funny! Because peter is older and we were teaching him just like we teach the 5 year olds! And then we ended up watching YouTube videos with him! Clearly laughter is the same in all languages. Mostly we just laugh with all the guards because we try to communicate with them and we fail miserably at it :).
Also we love the cooks. Two reasons, one they cook food for us, and two they are simply just amazing!! We have had some great laughs with them to! And they love us so much! So so much! They laugh at us when we try to speak Russian, ok it's more laughing with us! :)
So this is a day in the life of being an ILP teacher:
Wake up at 7:30 ish
Get ready for the day
Go to breakfast at 9
Come back up to the rooms, brush our teeth
Head to the supply room and stay there for as long as we need, which is usually about an hour but sometimes we are there till lunch!
When we are only there for an hour we come back and take a nap or read
Lunch is at 1
Then back to the room, brush our teeth
At about 1:45 on the weeks that we teach basic advanced ready we head down to those rooms
Teach reading from 2-3:45
Head over to the kindergarten (a 10 min walk)
Opening for k. Is at 4 and then we have 3 twenty min rotations and then closing and store at 5:30
We come back to the school for dinner at six
On Tuesday's we have training right after dinner
On Monday's we have fhe at 8
On wednesday we have lessons for the next week due at 8
On Thursday's we go to the sports complex and go swimming
And on Friday we usually watch a movie as a goup!
Also, on Wednesday we have culture days where we learn about Russian culture and learn to make Russian food from 10-11:30 in the morning
On Thursday we have Russian language lessons from 10-11:30
And on Monday's we will go to the university and talk with the students taking English classes.
I think that's about it for school! Well and this post is super long! So if more comes up I will def keep you updates!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My time in the motherland!
Dear blog,
This is the part of my life that I call change.
First off I need to clear some things up. I have never read the book of Mormon all the way through in my whole life. I haven't been able to take the sacrament for almost two years now. When I was in Logan I basically went inactive because I didn't like my ward all that much. I have always struggled with saying my prayers. And I have also been one of those "some of the smaller sins just don't matter, coffee wont kill me" kind of people. I have had the hardest time deciding weather I wanted to be part of the church or not. It's been a huge battle for me especially the last year. I did not understand so many things. Especially the fact that I got kicked out of byui which was the one place that I felt safe, the one place that It was easy for me to make good decisions. I didn't understand why I couldn't take the sacrament, why I couldn't have that blessing in my life. I have been telling people that getting kicked out was the best thing that ever happened because I was making myself stronger. But I wasn't really. And I absolutely hated it! It wasn't the best thing that ever happened but the worst. I have struggled more in the last year than I ever want to in my whole life again, even though I know that's not completely possible.
Then I came to Russian. And while getting kicked out of byui was the worst thing that ever happened, coming to Russia was the best (not just because it's freaking awesome!) While here I have been surrounded by a bubble that was way smaller than the one I was in at byui. A bubble of 5 girls who are all completely different, but who have been amazing examples to me! I live more with these girls than any one I have ever lived with, including my family. I am with them 24/7 so we basically have to get along, because four months is a long time to have drama. And it has just been "so great!" as Chelsea would say. If I could write all my thoughts about every girl I would, but some of the things we talk about or extremely personal. We didn't really have a choice but to become best friends from day one. But if I was given the choice, I wouldn't want it any other way. Between that and the amount of free time that we have, I have finally been able to become who I wanted to be. We teach from 2-6 everyday, with about an hour of prep time each day, the rest is free time. So, yes, a lot of free time!
I don't want to jinx it so i might wait to post this but, I have been reading the book of Mormon. I read 3rd nephi in about a week. I'm reading like a beast! For several reasons. One I'm making the time to do it. It something I have wanted to do for a really really really long time now. I do not feel like I can really accept my religion and say I am apart of my religion if I do not read the book of Mormon. It's something I need to do for myself to feel complete. Just in the time I have been reading it, I have gotten so many answers to prayers. I know I need that testimony of the book for myself so that I can be stronger when I go back to America, and have to be in the "real" world again.
In the short time that I have been reading I have seen so many blessings come into my life. I have been able to accomplish a lot more. I have been able to understand love a lot more. I have been able to understand my savior a lot more. There are so many good things that have come from it.
Yes, while here in Russian, not only am I here for a great experience, I have decided to take a spiritual journey. And I know the end result will be truly amazing.
I love the book of Mormon. I love my family, and am so grateful for them. I know that my lord and savior Jesus Christ did atone for my sins and because of him I can repent and be forgiven of my sins. I am so grateful for the small testimony that has started growing inside of me and I pray that it will continue to grow and that one day I will be strong enough to enter the house of the lord again. I would like to say these things in the name of my lord and savior Jesus christ, amen.
This is the part of my life that I call change.
First off I need to clear some things up. I have never read the book of Mormon all the way through in my whole life. I haven't been able to take the sacrament for almost two years now. When I was in Logan I basically went inactive because I didn't like my ward all that much. I have always struggled with saying my prayers. And I have also been one of those "some of the smaller sins just don't matter, coffee wont kill me" kind of people. I have had the hardest time deciding weather I wanted to be part of the church or not. It's been a huge battle for me especially the last year. I did not understand so many things. Especially the fact that I got kicked out of byui which was the one place that I felt safe, the one place that It was easy for me to make good decisions. I didn't understand why I couldn't take the sacrament, why I couldn't have that blessing in my life. I have been telling people that getting kicked out was the best thing that ever happened because I was making myself stronger. But I wasn't really. And I absolutely hated it! It wasn't the best thing that ever happened but the worst. I have struggled more in the last year than I ever want to in my whole life again, even though I know that's not completely possible.
Then I came to Russian. And while getting kicked out of byui was the worst thing that ever happened, coming to Russia was the best (not just because it's freaking awesome!) While here I have been surrounded by a bubble that was way smaller than the one I was in at byui. A bubble of 5 girls who are all completely different, but who have been amazing examples to me! I live more with these girls than any one I have ever lived with, including my family. I am with them 24/7 so we basically have to get along, because four months is a long time to have drama. And it has just been "so great!" as Chelsea would say. If I could write all my thoughts about every girl I would, but some of the things we talk about or extremely personal. We didn't really have a choice but to become best friends from day one. But if I was given the choice, I wouldn't want it any other way. Between that and the amount of free time that we have, I have finally been able to become who I wanted to be. We teach from 2-6 everyday, with about an hour of prep time each day, the rest is free time. So, yes, a lot of free time!
I don't want to jinx it so i might wait to post this but, I have been reading the book of Mormon. I read 3rd nephi in about a week. I'm reading like a beast! For several reasons. One I'm making the time to do it. It something I have wanted to do for a really really really long time now. I do not feel like I can really accept my religion and say I am apart of my religion if I do not read the book of Mormon. It's something I need to do for myself to feel complete. Just in the time I have been reading it, I have gotten so many answers to prayers. I know I need that testimony of the book for myself so that I can be stronger when I go back to America, and have to be in the "real" world again.
In the short time that I have been reading I have seen so many blessings come into my life. I have been able to accomplish a lot more. I have been able to understand love a lot more. I have been able to understand my savior a lot more. There are so many good things that have come from it.
Yes, while here in Russian, not only am I here for a great experience, I have decided to take a spiritual journey. And I know the end result will be truly amazing.
I love the book of Mormon. I love my family, and am so grateful for them. I know that my lord and savior Jesus Christ did atone for my sins and because of him I can repent and be forgiven of my sins. I am so grateful for the small testimony that has started growing inside of me and I pray that it will continue to grow and that one day I will be strong enough to enter the house of the lord again. I would like to say these things in the name of my lord and savior Jesus christ, amen.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Par ruskee!
Email 8/31/11
I just wanted to write a few random facts!
So there are about 29 ru. To the dollar. Which may seem like a lot but really it just makes it difficult to do math. But it breaks down to about 1000 ru=34 dollars... And 3000 ru= 100 dollars. In st petes to ride the bus it was 21 ru. In Moscow it's 50.... So thats not much fun... But we have to take a bus anywhere we go because we live forever away from the city.
It takes us two hours to get to church and two hours to get back home :) but seriously.... Church today was amazing! More on that later!
So there is very very little food that i have been served that I haven't liked! The first day, the first meal, we were served what we think was liver...... Ummm I gagged.... It was gross! I could only eat a bite.... Which was ok because sveta... The girl that lives and works at the school that we teach at... Anyway, she only ate like two bites cuz she is skinny as can be, so I felt ok about not eating it :) other than that as of right now, I can't tell you much about the rest of the food, besides the face that it is so good! And also so greasy! They make everything with butter! It's almost sickening! But we don't get the names because we go to the cafeteria and there is food on the tables for us... It's like magic.... We rarely see the cooks and when we do it doesn't matter because they don't speak any English :) so we can't ask them what we Are eating! But we have had these huge sausages. We have porage almost every morning, which is alright because it's so good! And when i say so good, i mean i will miss it more than anything else i think! and tomatoes with lunch and dinner :) also, the juice that they serve us is amazing! I love it! Mostly it has been cranberry and grape... Which normally I'm not a huge fan, but it's tasty here! Today we had this cranberry cider that was absolutely delish!
Ok you all need to know about sveta and the generation of Russians that were born After communism fell. (she is the babe in talked about in my last post) Because it is so obvious! Sveta is 22 which if you were to see her you would not believe it! She is very good looking! And defiantly looks older! And she dresses super fancy all the time. And she tells us how she loves to go clubbing and drinking! And she wears high heels all over then city! Along with all the other girls who were raised after communism. It's like they truly became free. All of the older people are much more conservative! Another note about the people of Russia, I went to macdonalds in st. Petersburg... Please don't judge, we were desperate. But while there I noticed that the people working there (the managers any way, the kids had to be in uniform) but they all wore super nice cloths. One girl was in tights, a skirt, an a button up white shirt. It's like even thought it's the worst job in the world it's still a job....
The other day went to sergeev posad, which is a little town about 44 miles out of Moscow. It was so pretty! We went because they have this awesome monastery that is really old... It started out as a log cabin basically and is now this huge monastery with a spring of holy water, three churches and a bunch of other building. It was way cool to see the Russians practicing their religion! The churches smelled like incense. One of the churches was where sergeev posad, who was a monk, is buried. Which was amazing because outside of that church people line up for ever so that they can kiss his grave and light a candle because they believe that it brings them blessings. The line was so long and our coordinator said it was always that long and sometimes longer! One of the other churches was still in it's original state and it was just absolutely beautiful! It was just amazing to go in and see the paintings and the icons on the wall. And to see people lighting candles. Also there were so many monks and nuns walking around the whole monastery! It was so interesting to see! I loved it!
Also in that town they had an amazing market! It was so funs to bargain and to see all the different Russian trinkets! I may have spent too much money... Shhh!
Well today was the third day of teaching. I have come down with a small cold so I didn't have a lot of energy. So it wasn't the best day, but we are learning all the kids names and faces and we love it! I am getting to attached to some of them! Some of them I could live without, but for the most part they are sooo dang cute! The lessons are fun to! I guess you could say that all in all I'm having a good experience! Much love!
Love,
Hailey Dawn
I just wanted to write a few random facts!
So there are about 29 ru. To the dollar. Which may seem like a lot but really it just makes it difficult to do math. But it breaks down to about 1000 ru=34 dollars... And 3000 ru= 100 dollars. In st petes to ride the bus it was 21 ru. In Moscow it's 50.... So thats not much fun... But we have to take a bus anywhere we go because we live forever away from the city.
It takes us two hours to get to church and two hours to get back home :) but seriously.... Church today was amazing! More on that later!
So there is very very little food that i have been served that I haven't liked! The first day, the first meal, we were served what we think was liver...... Ummm I gagged.... It was gross! I could only eat a bite.... Which was ok because sveta... The girl that lives and works at the school that we teach at... Anyway, she only ate like two bites cuz she is skinny as can be, so I felt ok about not eating it :) other than that as of right now, I can't tell you much about the rest of the food, besides the face that it is so good! And also so greasy! They make everything with butter! It's almost sickening! But we don't get the names because we go to the cafeteria and there is food on the tables for us... It's like magic.... We rarely see the cooks and when we do it doesn't matter because they don't speak any English :) so we can't ask them what we Are eating! But we have had these huge sausages. We have porage almost every morning, which is alright because it's so good! And when i say so good, i mean i will miss it more than anything else i think! and tomatoes with lunch and dinner :) also, the juice that they serve us is amazing! I love it! Mostly it has been cranberry and grape... Which normally I'm not a huge fan, but it's tasty here! Today we had this cranberry cider that was absolutely delish!
Ok you all need to know about sveta and the generation of Russians that were born After communism fell. (she is the babe in talked about in my last post) Because it is so obvious! Sveta is 22 which if you were to see her you would not believe it! She is very good looking! And defiantly looks older! And she dresses super fancy all the time. And she tells us how she loves to go clubbing and drinking! And she wears high heels all over then city! Along with all the other girls who were raised after communism. It's like they truly became free. All of the older people are much more conservative! Another note about the people of Russia, I went to macdonalds in st. Petersburg... Please don't judge, we were desperate. But while there I noticed that the people working there (the managers any way, the kids had to be in uniform) but they all wore super nice cloths. One girl was in tights, a skirt, an a button up white shirt. It's like even thought it's the worst job in the world it's still a job....
The other day went to sergeev posad, which is a little town about 44 miles out of Moscow. It was so pretty! We went because they have this awesome monastery that is really old... It started out as a log cabin basically and is now this huge monastery with a spring of holy water, three churches and a bunch of other building. It was way cool to see the Russians practicing their religion! The churches smelled like incense. One of the churches was where sergeev posad, who was a monk, is buried. Which was amazing because outside of that church people line up for ever so that they can kiss his grave and light a candle because they believe that it brings them blessings. The line was so long and our coordinator said it was always that long and sometimes longer! One of the other churches was still in it's original state and it was just absolutely beautiful! It was just amazing to go in and see the paintings and the icons on the wall. And to see people lighting candles. Also there were so many monks and nuns walking around the whole monastery! It was so interesting to see! I loved it!
Also in that town they had an amazing market! It was so funs to bargain and to see all the different Russian trinkets! I may have spent too much money... Shhh!
Well today was the third day of teaching. I have come down with a small cold so I didn't have a lot of energy. So it wasn't the best day, but we are learning all the kids names and faces and we love it! I am getting to attached to some of them! Some of them I could live without, but for the most part they are sooo dang cute! The lessons are fun to! I guess you could say that all in all I'm having a good experience! Much love!
Love,
Hailey Dawn
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The beginning and st petes!
Email 08/30/2011
So at 5:00 am on Tuesday august 23 my mom and I headed to the airport so I could board a plane to Russia! My plane left at 7:30... And after checking luggage and going through security I was on my way! I went to the gate and the other ilp girls were there. It was pretty fun because I got to meet my head teacher and a bunch of other girls! We got on the plane and we were off to DC. Five ish hours later we were there.... But the captain circled around in the air for like 15 min! We were all pretty much sick by the time we landed! But come to find out we were basically in the air when the earthquake that hit that area hit! So that is why we were just flying around! Which I'm quit alright with! So we landed and had like an hour and a half wait... Which went by pretty fast! Then it was time to go to Russia! When we boarded I was suppose to sit by this Russian kid, but his mom came up to me and asked me to switch her seats... How could I resist! So instead I got to sit next to this guy who works for the government, but he is from india.... I still have mixed feelings about him because he was so nice but slightly creepy at the same time. He told me a lot about his "mormon" girlfriend, although he never gave her a name. So yes interesting! 9 hours later we got to Moscow! 10:35 local time! And i thought we would have to wait and wait for customs... But we basically breezed right on through! Then we got our luggage and went to find our person that would be taking us to were we are living. Which by the way.... She is a hott! Russian! Like super model hot! We basically call her the babe! Dont worry... I took pics! Then we got on the bus.... we were only suppose to have an hour bus ride to the school.... But it turned into a six hour bus ride.... Which was just so much fun! :) Laura, one of the other teachers actually got sick. And we were all so tired and dirty and nasty and yeah... It was just not a Fun bus ride!
So six hours later we got to the school. Had lunch in the bowling alley.... Yes our school has a sweet bowling alley, also a gym and a pool with two water slides :) be jealous! The school I teach in is two years old so pretty much new... Every wall is a different color... And we leave in dorm rooms which are actually pretty nice... And we have hot water.... Most of the time... And the mall that is like five min away has prada, dolce and gobbana?, ferrari, mazzarati.... And many others that I can't even spell :) super ritzy. Which actually has down sides... We aren't really appreciated by the school. More on that later! But yes we live in a super high class part of Russia! The guard to the school was telling us that Audie's are the low end cars in the community.... What! In our dorms there are three girls per room and each room has there own bathroom! We also have lots of space! :)
So during that day we pretty much just walked around the school and then unpacked, had dinner, and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up... Went to red square.... Which was not as cool becaue they were setting up Moscow day so everything was pretty much blocked off. But we did get tickets to go see the nutcracker in the kremlin... So that's exciting. We didn't go in the kremlin though... Don't worry we are going back and I will write a longer post about that when it happens cause its actually a really cool place!
So after red we went back home.... Packed and headed to the train station to go to st. Petersburg! My Mom always told me to ride first class in a sleeper and now I understand why.... Russians that are sleeping don't smell so pretty... Also the mattresses are super sketchy! But I am grateful I was about to go! So we got to st petes at 4:30 in the morning. Super early right?
We then took the metro to the place where we were staying and walked around for a while before we found it because none of us had ever been there :). Then we dropped stuff off took a metro to the city and walked around for about an hour and a half looking for food... We finally found some and our group of 17 split up into groups of just the schools you were teaching at. So there we were... Six girls in the middle of st petes not knowing where anything was or how to get there.... So we saw a cathedral in the distance and walked towards it... Which it turned out to be really cool because we could go to the top of the bell tower and then we saw the whole city... The cathedral was actually also a convent it is called "smolny sobor" or just the smolny cathedral. It has an amazing history involving Catherine the Great... But I don't have all day ;) so we will leave that one at that. But it was absolutely amazing! Out side the convent there was an information desk, so we spent some time in there learning about all these places we could go and see! Also while we were taking some pics of the convent we ran into this lady from Moscow who new a little bit of English and had been to st. Petes like every year and she told us to go on a canal boat ride.... Which we ended up doing because we wanted to save other things for other days and we were all super tired and just wanted to sit down, so it was absolutely fabulous!
That was basically all we did that day, and by the end of the day we were so exhausted! So were staying at the st petes ilp school.... Which was just an interesting experience! We were sleeping on these awesome mattresses that smelled of urine and were to small.... But we were so grateful to have a place to sleep :) but we were basically hobos.... There was one shower that all 17 of us could use only at night. Also the school wanted us out of there by 7:30-8 every morning and we couldn't come back till about 9 every night... So we didn't shower a lot cause it got late, but that's all part of the experience right!
The next couple of days were interesting... We didn't know our way around and so we kinda just went random places... We went to peters fortress which is where Anastasia's family is buried.... It has a beach and there was a sand statue contest going on so that was cool! While we were there we saw a place to dress up in the old cloths... Like Catharine the Great clothes! So a few of us did that and it was just awesome!
After that we went to the hermitage.... Which is also the winter palace, little did we know. They are not separate buildings as we may have thought :)Also it was AWESOME!!!! Back ground on the Hermitage. It is Catherine the Greats collection. And while collecting it she didn't get just one painting, but whole collections of paintings! We saw paintings from all the famous artist!!! Da Vince, Rafael, Michelangelo, Giovanni, Picasso, Rembrandt! And also there are 3 million items on display in the hermitage (not just painting but like Egyptian artifacts and such) but the crazy part is that there is 20 times that much in the vaults of the museum... Can I get a CARAZY! We read this in a book so I'm pretty sure it's pretty accurate! It was basically the coolest experience ever! We were there for three hours and there was so much that we didn't see! We didn't even make it to Monet or the Japanese art! It was just truly amazing and I have such a greater appreciation for fine art! I'm becoming more and more like Neal Caffrey every day! Haha kidding! So thus ends the second day.
The third day, which was sunday, we decided to go to the cathedrals. Ok side note on sunday, while we were at peters fortress we actually didn't know at the time that that was were the Romanov family was burried! So we didn't go in that cathedral! So of course on Sunday we had to go back! So that we could see where Anastasia was burried! Also I'm not sure if it was Saturday or Sunday but while walking back from peters fortress we saw a live bear... Like a real live one!!! Just a baby... It was even drinking from a bottle! And monkeys!! I got Pics an will post don't worry!!!
We then went to the cathedral of spilled blood which was sooooo awesome! The walls are all mosaic! All! It is sooo beautiful! That is now the background of my iPad! And in took the photo! It is just such a miraculous place! Butnyou know... Little side note here! Even though the cathedrals an the mosques are absolutely amazing... I just didnt feel the spirit as strong as I do when I go to the temple or even to church. So it was a great testimony builder that our church is the true church! :)
We also went to the Romanov summer palace which was amazing! We didn't go inside we just walked around the grounds but it was so awesome! But the grounds are huge! And it's right on the gulf of Finland so we could even see Finland! But it was so fun! And absolutely amazing!
In Russia, when they get married, they have a small wedding and then go around and take pictures at all the famous places.... So we saw sooooooo Many brides every where we went...especially on Saturday because that is the most popular day to get married! And I mean a ton!
When we got back from st petes we were all so beat that we didn't really want to do anything but take a good shower and sleep in a good bed! So basically that's what we did.... Well an we did some training an went and organized the supply room... After all we are here to teach!
So that was st. Petes... I still need to write about being back in Moscow, the first day of school, and the first day of teaching! So more soon!
Love love,
Hailey Dawn
I'm typing on iPad and so it's a little more complicated so I might have a few mistakes
So at 5:00 am on Tuesday august 23 my mom and I headed to the airport so I could board a plane to Russia! My plane left at 7:30... And after checking luggage and going through security I was on my way! I went to the gate and the other ilp girls were there. It was pretty fun because I got to meet my head teacher and a bunch of other girls! We got on the plane and we were off to DC. Five ish hours later we were there.... But the captain circled around in the air for like 15 min! We were all pretty much sick by the time we landed! But come to find out we were basically in the air when the earthquake that hit that area hit! So that is why we were just flying around! Which I'm quit alright with! So we landed and had like an hour and a half wait... Which went by pretty fast! Then it was time to go to Russia! When we boarded I was suppose to sit by this Russian kid, but his mom came up to me and asked me to switch her seats... How could I resist! So instead I got to sit next to this guy who works for the government, but he is from india.... I still have mixed feelings about him because he was so nice but slightly creepy at the same time. He told me a lot about his "mormon" girlfriend, although he never gave her a name. So yes interesting! 9 hours later we got to Moscow! 10:35 local time! And i thought we would have to wait and wait for customs... But we basically breezed right on through! Then we got our luggage and went to find our person that would be taking us to were we are living. Which by the way.... She is a hott! Russian! Like super model hot! We basically call her the babe! Dont worry... I took pics! Then we got on the bus.... we were only suppose to have an hour bus ride to the school.... But it turned into a six hour bus ride.... Which was just so much fun! :) Laura, one of the other teachers actually got sick. And we were all so tired and dirty and nasty and yeah... It was just not a Fun bus ride!
So six hours later we got to the school. Had lunch in the bowling alley.... Yes our school has a sweet bowling alley, also a gym and a pool with two water slides :) be jealous! The school I teach in is two years old so pretty much new... Every wall is a different color... And we leave in dorm rooms which are actually pretty nice... And we have hot water.... Most of the time... And the mall that is like five min away has prada, dolce and gobbana?, ferrari, mazzarati.... And many others that I can't even spell :) super ritzy. Which actually has down sides... We aren't really appreciated by the school. More on that later! But yes we live in a super high class part of Russia! The guard to the school was telling us that Audie's are the low end cars in the community.... What! In our dorms there are three girls per room and each room has there own bathroom! We also have lots of space! :)
So during that day we pretty much just walked around the school and then unpacked, had dinner, and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up... Went to red square.... Which was not as cool becaue they were setting up Moscow day so everything was pretty much blocked off. But we did get tickets to go see the nutcracker in the kremlin... So that's exciting. We didn't go in the kremlin though... Don't worry we are going back and I will write a longer post about that when it happens cause its actually a really cool place!
So after red we went back home.... Packed and headed to the train station to go to st. Petersburg! My Mom always told me to ride first class in a sleeper and now I understand why.... Russians that are sleeping don't smell so pretty... Also the mattresses are super sketchy! But I am grateful I was about to go! So we got to st petes at 4:30 in the morning. Super early right?
We then took the metro to the place where we were staying and walked around for a while before we found it because none of us had ever been there :). Then we dropped stuff off took a metro to the city and walked around for about an hour and a half looking for food... We finally found some and our group of 17 split up into groups of just the schools you were teaching at. So there we were... Six girls in the middle of st petes not knowing where anything was or how to get there.... So we saw a cathedral in the distance and walked towards it... Which it turned out to be really cool because we could go to the top of the bell tower and then we saw the whole city... The cathedral was actually also a convent it is called "smolny sobor" or just the smolny cathedral. It has an amazing history involving Catherine the Great... But I don't have all day ;) so we will leave that one at that. But it was absolutely amazing! Out side the convent there was an information desk, so we spent some time in there learning about all these places we could go and see! Also while we were taking some pics of the convent we ran into this lady from Moscow who new a little bit of English and had been to st. Petes like every year and she told us to go on a canal boat ride.... Which we ended up doing because we wanted to save other things for other days and we were all super tired and just wanted to sit down, so it was absolutely fabulous!
That was basically all we did that day, and by the end of the day we were so exhausted! So were staying at the st petes ilp school.... Which was just an interesting experience! We were sleeping on these awesome mattresses that smelled of urine and were to small.... But we were so grateful to have a place to sleep :) but we were basically hobos.... There was one shower that all 17 of us could use only at night. Also the school wanted us out of there by 7:30-8 every morning and we couldn't come back till about 9 every night... So we didn't shower a lot cause it got late, but that's all part of the experience right!
The next couple of days were interesting... We didn't know our way around and so we kinda just went random places... We went to peters fortress which is where Anastasia's family is buried.... It has a beach and there was a sand statue contest going on so that was cool! While we were there we saw a place to dress up in the old cloths... Like Catharine the Great clothes! So a few of us did that and it was just awesome!
After that we went to the hermitage.... Which is also the winter palace, little did we know. They are not separate buildings as we may have thought :)Also it was AWESOME!!!! Back ground on the Hermitage. It is Catherine the Greats collection. And while collecting it she didn't get just one painting, but whole collections of paintings! We saw paintings from all the famous artist!!! Da Vince, Rafael, Michelangelo, Giovanni, Picasso, Rembrandt! And also there are 3 million items on display in the hermitage (not just painting but like Egyptian artifacts and such) but the crazy part is that there is 20 times that much in the vaults of the museum... Can I get a CARAZY! We read this in a book so I'm pretty sure it's pretty accurate! It was basically the coolest experience ever! We were there for three hours and there was so much that we didn't see! We didn't even make it to Monet or the Japanese art! It was just truly amazing and I have such a greater appreciation for fine art! I'm becoming more and more like Neal Caffrey every day! Haha kidding! So thus ends the second day.
The third day, which was sunday, we decided to go to the cathedrals. Ok side note on sunday, while we were at peters fortress we actually didn't know at the time that that was were the Romanov family was burried! So we didn't go in that cathedral! So of course on Sunday we had to go back! So that we could see where Anastasia was burried! Also I'm not sure if it was Saturday or Sunday but while walking back from peters fortress we saw a live bear... Like a real live one!!! Just a baby... It was even drinking from a bottle! And monkeys!! I got Pics an will post don't worry!!!
We then went to the cathedral of spilled blood which was sooooo awesome! The walls are all mosaic! All! It is sooo beautiful! That is now the background of my iPad! And in took the photo! It is just such a miraculous place! Butnyou know... Little side note here! Even though the cathedrals an the mosques are absolutely amazing... I just didnt feel the spirit as strong as I do when I go to the temple or even to church. So it was a great testimony builder that our church is the true church! :)
We also went to the Romanov summer palace which was amazing! We didn't go inside we just walked around the grounds but it was so awesome! But the grounds are huge! And it's right on the gulf of Finland so we could even see Finland! But it was so fun! And absolutely amazing!
In Russia, when they get married, they have a small wedding and then go around and take pictures at all the famous places.... So we saw sooooooo Many brides every where we went...especially on Saturday because that is the most popular day to get married! And I mean a ton!
When we got back from st petes we were all so beat that we didn't really want to do anything but take a good shower and sleep in a good bed! So basically that's what we did.... Well an we did some training an went and organized the supply room... After all we are here to teach!
So that was st. Petes... I still need to write about being back in Moscow, the first day of school, and the first day of teaching! So more soon!
Love love,
Hailey Dawn
I'm typing on iPad and so it's a little more complicated so I might have a few mistakes
:) 12 years later!
So I realize it's been like 12 years sense I updated this thing. And I know y'all are waiting to see what have been up to in Russia! So I do apologize for the inconvenience! So here I am just for my fans! :) ok also I'm a horrible friend and I think I'm just going to copy past my emails to my fam and just put those in here.... But dont worry I plan on adding more!
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