World traveler!

9/29
So this weekend is our first vacation from school. We don't teach on Friday so I'm dang excited! We are going to this city that is a 3 hour bus ride away from moscow. It is one of the ring cities and it's known as the pearl of the ring cities. I'm way excited! It's just me and Lara that are going.

10/1

So yesterday we went for our bus ride. Which was awesome because we were on a double decker bus and Chanea Pancaheri (from Moscow 1) and I sat in the very front on the top deck! It was so cool! We were super tired because it was like 6:30 so we may have slept for a while but, it was still way fun! Also the night before Lara and I went to the store and we found nutti, which is an off brand of netulla, its sooo good! So when we finally woke up on the bus we ate some bread and nutti! Mmmmm! 

So we arrived in владимир (vladmer), ate some lunch we got these palinie things which are like pot stickers, but so so much better! Then we caught a bus to Суздаль (suzdal). It was about a forty min bus ride so not to bad! It was kind if funny because our coordinator told us that when we get on the bus to act like we are asleep because the old people will buy tickets but will not by seats, so they would expect you to give up your seat, but if you are asleep they wont bother you! when we got there we went and dropped our stuff off at the monastery we were staying at. Um yes you read that right we stayed at a monastery... Complete with monks. It was so cool! It was 450 r. For the night so about 13 dollars. And yes, as we were sitting in our room we had the door open and a monk just walked by... Hmm... So we settle in and Then we went to this outdoor museum  which was awesome! It was like a remake of Russia 250 years ago... So like the late eighteenth century! It was so cool! There were windmills, and teeter totters and these really old swings! It was all made of wood, and they didn't use any nails. The windmills had supports, which is not a shock cause they are kind of old! Also the church that was there had been redone, but the roof was original so it was very very old! It was way cool to see how the people lived back then! They used every part of their house! They even made beds behind the stove for the elderly or the young. They are a very Christ oriented people and had Icons all over their house. After that we went to the kremlin, but to get there we had to cross a bridge and on the bridge they are these chains with locks on them, and I guess that it another tradition for when you get married! You get a giant heart shaped red lock, write or carve your names into it and love it on a chain on a bridge!! Super cool! I can't lie, but the kremlin wasn't that cool because I thought we were going to go back to it the next day so i didn't pay a lot of attention to it, and we actually didn't go in the actual fortress. Which was ok because it was still cool!
So then we went to dinner at this super nice place, that was actully super cheap! But it was so tasty! I love it! 
We went back to the monastery and got ready for bed..... With the monks... And then went to bed! 

The next day we got some breakfast just at the little магизин (small store) that was right by the monastery. They had such tasty bread! After that we caught a bus back to Владимир, and we were suppose to spend the day there.... Butttttttt all that is there is pretty much monasteries, which are cool and all..... But there are a lot of monasteries in Russia. So we decided to just catch a bus back to Moscow. 

We got back to Moscow at about three and Lara, Chanea and I decided to go the the market in Moscow!!! Soooooo cool!! It was so much fun! I just love bargaining with the Vendors and talking with them! Mostly they know pretty good English, and those that only know a little well they are just funny! Funny story about this. In Russia everyone wears these tracksuits that say Russia on the back of them and every time I see them I think that I want one really bad! So at the market they had one and I decided to get one! So we were at this shop and I was looking at them and the vender was trying so hard to get me to buy one. He out the jacket on for me and was just so funny about it. I wanted to get pants to but I didn't really want to try them on, but the guy was just like "over your jeans" and I decided I didn't really want to get pants that were to small, cause that would just make me upset, so I decided to do it. And the guy decided to help me, yes help me put e pants on... Can I get an awkward? Oh but don't worry, it get better. As he is helping me put them on he whispers in my ear "sex good". A little scary yes, but more funny! I couldn't help but laugh. So we were like "no sex bad!" also he waned 4000 rubles for the full suit (about 120 dollars) and I said "2500 rubles" and he said "bulshiya problem" (big problem) and I said "universitet, studyenka! Rubels bulshiya problem". And we kept going at this for a while. We finally talked him down to 2700 rubels for two pairs of track suits! It was pretty legit! And so we finally got away from them and continued on our way. On our way back we decided to go the other way so we wouldn't have to see those guys again. We stopped to look at some shoes and those same guys worked that shop too!!! We were like oh crap! Don't worry, we got away. So that was that weekend... It was amazing!

Ps this blog is super long and I don't feel like proof reading it.... So there might be a few mistakes! :)