Yaroslavl

The coat of arms of the Yaroslavl region

Yaroslavl is a very old city with a very long history, and though there was settlement here long before 1010, 2010 marks its 1000th birthday! Yikes. The city was founded by the Kiev Prince Yaroslavl the Wise. As legend has it, local inhabitants set loose a bear to chase him away, BUT! much to their chagrin the strong prince wrestled with and killed the bear... and founded the town on the spot. There's some debate as to where this spot is exactly, but I'll have to check it out. I'm not sure why Prince Yaroslavl was considered wise, or what the locals had against him, but in any case, the bear is now the town's symbol. Steve pointed out that this is a bit ironic... didn't Yaroslavl kill the bear? Didn't the people express a sort strong dislike for the Prince by releasing a bear to chase him away? Hmmm... anyways, it's a neat emblem.

The weather is getting warmer here and the ice is melting, leaving super slushy mushy streets during the day, and slick sidewalks at night when the temperature drops again. We went for a walk in the park yesterday and came home with wet feet. At least Steve did, my Sorels are impenetrable. Though neither of us are super into watching tv, with all our free time over here we've started watching The Office. I hated season one - there was way to much obnoxious, sexist, racist humour for my taste and I was SO annoyed with Michael (worlds best boss) that I wanted to somehow transmigrate into the show and quit work... and quit watching. However! We're now on season three and really enjoying it - I'm not sure whether I've gotten used to the humour or whether it's changed... but ??? I love Dwight Schrute. And Pam and Jim.

Last thing for now... Good news ladies - it is acceptable for us to propose marriage today! Apparently, in the English speaking world, it is a tradition that women may only propose marriage on leap years. Hmmm. Interesting. Furthermore, apparently in 1288 there was a law passed by Queen Margaret of Scotland (age five) that a man would have to pay a fine if he refused the proposal! As a result, the tradition was "tightened" because men felt that this placed them at risk... I can only imagine - crazy women on the loose hunting for husbands! I imagine that it would have been a day where the men would have, er, stayed home.

Another good day....

Just inside the walls of the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.

So there were no deep, profound moments today, save for my enjoyment of and appreciation for layered cheesecake. I had a slow morning - I stayed up really late thinking of random things like some of my favourite memories from the places we've lived - I'll have to blog about some of those for sure. Anyways, this morning I went jogging in the snow/rain (got some crazy looks, but earned at least half of my cheesecake), did some reading for a course I'm taking (Urban Geography) and cleaned up a bit around the apartment. Daria and I planned to meet up again and this time... I was on my own with the bus. SO! I get on the bus, there is no lady taking the tickets... and no one makes any sort of move to go to pay the driver, so I'm thinking that maybe you don't have to pay if there is no lady? Whatever. So I met up with Daria downtown, and we went for coffee and cheesecake at a new, very cute cafe.

It's been great meeting her, and I'm learning about what life in Russia is like for Russians, and not just passersby like myself. We get along really well and have talked about everything from politics (a little bit...) to work/jobs/salaries (a little bit more) and... guys! No, not just googly girl talk about guys but about gender relations and relationships... all very interesting. Apparently people get married quite young here, and the divorce rate is mounting, leaving many young mothers with two or three kids. A friend of hers that called during coffee has two kids (three and seven), is newly divorced... and 27 years old. Yikes. As far as work and salaries go, things seem abysmal. Well, costs are fairly relative to salaries... but still - she said that the average health care worker might make between $200 and $400 a month... USD. There's a saying here - "Dollars are for saving, and roubles are for spending" - because of the relative volatility of the currency. (Many jobs pay in USD, and many Russians have USD savings accounts.) Rent is, on average, between $100 and $150 a month, and though salaries are rising (At this point in the conversation I asked, hopefully, "Aren't things improving though??"), so are costs. I also learned that if there isn't a lady taking tickets on the bus, one must pay the driver... or risk a fine of 50 roubles - two dollars.

The most important thing that I learned today is that there are SEVERAL sushi restaurants in town! YAY! One of which is in the shape of a plane... interesting! I am SO excited about sushi! What else... Daria's on her way to Italy this weekend, for a week-long snowboarding vacation with her dad - she's graduating from university and starts work the day after she gets back. Fun. Apparently there is a mountain pretty close to Yaroslavl, so who knows, maybe we'll go. It was pretty warm here today though, (two degrees) and I'm secretly hoping for spring, even though skiing in Russia would be a very fun activity. Steve and Freddy won their game tonight (three in a row!) and are on their way back to Yaroslavl... expected arrival time is 4am. blech. Some pics were posted on the teams site so here are a few from their last win against Fokel.

p.s. I'm glad people enjoyed yesterdays blog - I still have a lot to say about that book!

p.p.s Here's a great article and picture of Steve and Putin (and a few others...) at the all star game in Moscow a few weeks ago!

Awesome Day!!!

A map of our route downtown today: the big yellow circle is The Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, and the other circle is the Kazan Church and Cathedral. There are a few X's where the main bus stop is and where we went for coffee.

So yesterday Steve left with the team to go to Ekaterinburg for the clash of the Canadians - tomorrow night they are playing against the only other team in the league with Canadian players... and both teams are fighting to stay in the top division. I woke up this morning with the idea of finally braving the public transit system and take the bus downtown. The morning was lousy - slushy rain/snow, but by around noon the weather had cleared up and I decided to make my move. Down to the bus stop I went... and as luck would have it, the first person I talked to was SUPER friendly and spoke English almost fluently. Daria explained to me how the system worked, what bus to take etc. - she was also on her way downtown, so we took the bus together. The system is a bit different than at home, but really, how different can taking the bus be? It was just the initial language barrier and figuring out how to pay (a woman works on the bus all day, collecting money and issuing tickets... yikes), how much to pay (eight roubles - about 30 cents), where to get off (there's a central bus station and the #5 is on a loop... passes right in front of our house!) and how (it stops at every stop regardless...) SO! It was pretty easy. Anyways, Daria and I talked the whole way downtown, and she invited me to go for coffee with her and her friend. She lived and worked in the United States for a couple of summers through a travel and work abroad program, and has also travelled extensively in Europe - Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. So anyways, we went for a super delish coffee in a very small, very dark cafe.

On the bus I had told her that I was interested in visiting some monasteries, so after we had coffee and she reviewed a project with her friend, we went a'visiting! Most monasteries and churches are only open in the summer when there is a huge influx of tourists... but we were able to see two, one of which was under construction/renovations. (I'll talk about the first one in a second...) The second one we visited is the Spaso-Preobrazensky Monastery (Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour) and has an impressive history. It's surrounded by thick (10 feet!) white walls, and contains several churches; according to our guide book, it dates to the 13th century and was Northern Russia's first school of higher education. Ivan the Terrible apparently took refuge within the walls in 1571, when the Mongols were threatening Moscow. Cool. During the summer there is also a bear that lives within some walls within the walls... the bear is a symbol of the town, as a result of the story of how it was founded - more on that later.
Inside the walls of the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour
After monastery number two (phew) we were both hungry, so hit up the Van Gogh cafe for some delicious food. I had borscht which was SO good... and this sort of pork roll - thin pork stuffed with feta and ham (calorie explosion) and potato croquettes with a white mushroom sauce. It was SO good... yum yum. We then caught the bus back home - she lives very close to us - and we went our separate ways. I'm so glad that I finally made the public transit trip downtown... and that I met Daria... she's awesome.


Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral

Okay, now about our trip to monastery number one - the Kazan Convent Cathedral. It's a small cathedral, but functions throughout the year; it's currently undergoing renovations but a small, very friendly woman (who I assumed to be a nun, even though she was habit-less... or er, wasn't wearing her habit), showed us around and gave Daria all of the details on the church, the grounds, and the famous icon of Our Lady of Kazan. She was very talkative and informative. The ceilings of the church are adorned with beautiful, colourful frescoes... and the main entrance is home to several different icons and statues - while she was telling us about the grounds, several people came in, lit candles and said prayers... and finished by kissing the different icons. She told us that several sets of bones were found beneath a main cross in the courtyard, and are presumed to be the remains of people who were persecuted during the Revolution. She also gave us a brief lesson on the icon of Our Lady of Kazan, who is apparently very popular for all sorts of complaints, needs, requests, and prayers. Apparently, when someone has prayed to the icon and/or Our Lady of Kazan (forgive my ignorance, I don't know how this works exactly) and she has answered their prayers, the person returns to the icon and places a piece of jewellery on it... so we bought candles and went across the courtyard to pay a visit to the icon ourselves. Before we left, the woman said something about how the proof of the power of God was in our having met each other, and in the meeting and unification of Christians everywhere... and blessed us and our lives and families.

Upon entering the sanctuary of the famous icon, I was told to cover my head, and in rough translation the reason given was so that God could visit me through an angel who might rest on my head... I'll look into that for a better or more thorough translation/understanding. Anyways, the icon was covered in small hoop earrings, necklaces, and rings - it was quite, I don't know, impressive (not the right word...) and moving to see that so many prayers had been answered. We lit our candles in front of the icon, stayed for a moment or two... and then made our way outside.

The visit was more interesting and meaningful than it might have otherwise been because I'm currently reading Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion." I have a lot of thoughts, ideas and reactions to the content AND the writing (I've been wanting to blog about it since I started the book a few days ago) but for now I'll stick to what's relevant. Basically, Dawkins is trying to prove that God doesn't exist (he even goes so far as to state that the goal of the book is to make an atheist of the reader), and scientifically disprove religion. While I agree with many points that he makes (and disagree with more), there is something to be said for faith and religion, (and God, whatever God that may be), regardless of whether there is proof or probability of the existence of God. This is a topic that overwhelms me, and in trying to construct an argument to counter Dawkins' many (unorganized) arguments against the probable existence of God and the purpose and point of religion, I have a hard time explaining that there isn't something bigger than us, whether it's God or Brahma or Allah or Zeus or one or all or none of these Gods.

Anyways, it was just very interesting to have had his arguments and thoughts in mind when I visited this church and convent. To hear our host speak with such deep belief and knowledge in her faith, her church, the Lady of Kazan and the power of the icon, I can't help but think that even if the existence of God isn't scientifically probable or "real", the existence, proof and power of faith is.
Our Lady of Kazan: a picture of a small card of the icon.

The Weekend...

So I know that the first thing I should mention is the volleyball game on Saturday night (big win) but I'll save the best for last. Yesterday on tv we saw some more... shall we say, obscure sports. Did anyone know that there is an international governing body for the sport of Tug-of-War? This weekend the world championships were held in Italy and it was televised here in Russia. Yes, really. The commentators talked strategy and lamented the lack of funds for training, and explained the roles of different team members and of the coach, who guided the synchronized tugging. There appear to be different weight classes/categories, and matches are best two out of three. If anyone is interested, there is a TOW federation in Canada - www.catowa.org.

Obscure televised sport number two - table soccer. We saw some table hockey on tv a few weeks ago and thought that was funny... but the soccer table doesn't use any pulleys or handles but relies on the flick, the one-handed flick, to get the ball rolling. Only one hand can be used to flick/motivate the plastic athlete to kick the ball (hopefully to one of his teammates). I'm not sure if this sport will catch on with the ladies - there weren't any female players. This was on one of the Italian channels that we get, and though there isn't currently a league, there are regularily scheduled tournaments. Wow.

OKAY! Volleyball... so the match was huuuge. Well, the win was huge. They weren't expected to beat this team and I am so glad that they did - the other team was super whiney and complained incessantly to the ref... and to each other - definitely not exemplary behaviour with regard to respect, sportsmanship etc. It was a five-setter and it could have gone either way I guess... with both teams up and down like yo-yos. Yaroslavich came through in the end for the win, and everyone was happy. There were some fans that came with a Canadian flag so that was exciting... they were from a neighboring town and had come to watch the hockey game, but rushed over to the volleyball match as soon as it was done.

So that's about it... we had a mellow night on Saturday and last night I made a yummy dinner - beer battered fish and chips (I had no idea what fish I was buying.. luckily it tasted good) and brownie pudding for dessert. This recipe was SO easy... and so fast. And so yummy: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Pudding-Cake-II/Detail.aspx

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Defenders of the Fatherland Day

Today, February 23rd, is the Defenders of the Fatherland Day (previously known as Soviet Army and Navy Day) and is apparently similiar to our Father's Day. Our guide book clarifies by stating that even though not every man ends up in the army, the holiday honours all men, even though not all men have served in the military. (Quick question - do women defend the Fatherland?) Anyways, there have been ceremonies honouring the military across the country over the past week, and today in the park there was a bit of a dual celebration - there's a local election sometime soon and it seems as though the politicians might have sponsored a barbeque in honour of ... the Defenders of the Fatherland. So there was meat and coffee and music, and lots of different events/attractions for kids like tug-of-war, potato sack races and face painting. So it was a fun little wander around the park with lots going on in the slushy snow.


So there isn't a Defenders of the Fatherland Day for females that have served in the Soviet and/or Russian forces(or a Defenders of the Motherland Day for that matter), but women have served in Russian and Soviet military since World War I. Apparently, a certain Maria Bochkareva petitioned a Soviet leader to allow the formation of the first women's battalion in 1917. Reasons that the government agreed include:

- female soldiers would have significant propaganda value
- their example would revitalize the weary, demoralized men of the Russian army
- the presence of women would serve to "shame" hesitant male soldiers into resuming their combat duties

Interesting. So the first female combat group was the Women's Battalion of Death (lovely name), and close to 2,000 women between the ages of 13 and 25 were recruited to fight in the June offensive in 1917 against the Germans. Crazy. Participation is apparently quite low now, and perhaps it's because, as Wikipedia informs me, "attitudes towards their contribution [were] occasionally paternalistic and reluctant." Really? Anyways, random information, all gleaned from Wikipedia. Happy Russian Father's Day! And Happy Defenders of the Fatherland Day to the Soviet and Russian women that have served also. ")

Is fashion a duty?

Is fashion a duty? Apparently in Russia it is. We saw a short program on an English language Russian news channel (probably the best channel we have) on fashion and why Russian women are always dressed so well (ALWAYs... even in the grocery store). A fur-clad, high-heeled woman was interviewed and said something like this: "women have a duty to themselves and to others to be glamorous and it is an obligation to society to look your best..." If that is the case I am failing miserably. I wonder if that is the translation of the strange looks I receive on a regular basis: you are failing your DUTY... to yourself and to ME! EEK! There was no mention of whether or not men have any duty with regard to fashion; so Steve is in the clear and I, uh, must self-glamorize if I am ever to fit in here.

On another note, this is the first country that we've lived in that doesn't have any recycling services. In Greece we had to walk a few blocks to find the recycling containers, that were often half full of garbage anyways (recycling receptacle means garbage bin if it's closer to your apartment than the dumpster)... but at least there was an option. Here, everything is fed to the garbage chute including all glass, paper and plastics. As in most European countries, water isn't potable, and we go through a five litre jug of water every few days, producing at least three or four of these plastic containers a week... and we can't recycle any of it. I don't really get the impression that people here are overly concerned about it recycling let alone keeping garbage off the ground - littering is quite common. We've seen a few Greenpeace commercials letting us know that garbage goes in the garbage can and NOT on the ground. Unfortunately, people seem more concerned with looking good themselves.

Downtown!

So we made our way downtown yesterday and I finally got to explore a little bit. Steve had some volleball business to attend to, so I was on my own. Well, I was accompanied by a snowstorm. At least there weren't many people about, and the views were gorgeous, with everything blanketed in white. The downtown area is relatively small, but there's lots to see. A girlfriend of one of Steve's teammates was telling us that there are lots of beautiful buildings and churches etc... but that they aren't well maintained and not quite as nice as they could be. She was right - most buildings don't seem to be kept up - but I thought that it really added to their appeal - nothing was in ruins or completely decrepit, you could just see the effects of time in the buildings... something rarely found at home, where everything is new or remodelled, touched up or painted... and if not, then torn down.

Our Moscow and St. Petersburg guide book has a two page deal on Yaroslavl, and notes that the city is knows for its impressive church architecture... and I note that the city may be known for the number of churches in the downtown area... there were so many! And there were some interesting names, like the superfluous Church of St. Demetrius of Salonica and of the Praise of the Blessed Virgin, or the foreboding Church of Nikola the Chopped (eek... what was chopped?).

Church of Elijah the Prophet

Church of Nikola the Chopped !

The mid 17th century Church of Elijah the Prophet was gorgeous - huge, and situated on extensive grounds in the middle of a huge pedestrian square (devoid of pedestrians, full of snow). Apparently it's closed to tourists for the winter, which is unfortunate because it is supposed to have some beautiful frescoes. I'll have to check back... maybe on a Sunday.

There was also a beautiful walkway along the Volga, and lots of parks - it must be bustling and busy in the summer, very nice. I also walked up the banks of the Kotorosl river, and it was neat to think that that these rivers were ancient trade routes... and relatively modern ones too. The Moscow-Volga canal was created in 1937, and now most traffic goes straight to the capital; but prior to that Yaroslavl was an important and busy commercial centre. I stopped by the Museum of City History to see if there was anything in English... but it was closed, and looked closed for the winter.

Walkway along the Volga
At the very right of this picture is the Kotorosl River, and at the very left the Volga... (in the middle a park, with fountains... only in the summer!)

And I found a jacket! yay. And a huge market with clothes, hats, shoes, underwear, beauty products... and a fruit and veggie market! So that was a find... but it's not exactly close to where we live. By the time that Steve was done with his business, he had to get to practise and I was ready to get home... I was cold and covered in snow... it was a great day though and downtown is pretty nice... there's a lot more to see.. hopefully on a clear day! ")

Libraries, warm socks and sushi...

Among some of of the things I always miss over here are dryers, sushi and libraries. I'm not running out of books quite yet but oooooh how I miss the library. I think I might even take a library over warm dry socks and a nice plate of sushi (YUM).... I was just cruising Michael Pollan's website which is fantastic, and I have the urge to read everything he's written. A few summers ago I read The Omnivore's Dilemma, after both of my parents raved about it. In a recent article published in the New York Times and posted on his website (www.michaelpollan.com), he notes that at least 70% of the antibiotics used in the United States are fed to animals living in massive factory farms. Disgusting. And that statistic doesn't even address the drugs that animals are fed in the forms of growth hormones and who knows what else... it's enough to make me turn vegetarian once and for all. I wonder if there is even such a thing as an organic food store here... there must be, but in Yaroslavl? I might be pushing my luck. Enjoy the library... and warms socks and sushi. ")

out on the TOWN...

So we finally made it downtown and saw some of the city by the light of day.... from the cab on our way back from a Russian all-nighter. This is how it went...

Steve's team had a big game on Saturday night, against Russia's (and arguably Europe's) top team, Moscow Dinamo. They'd recently lost a European Cup game in Germany and only had a few days to get back home, train, and make their way to Yaroslavl... poor guys. So the home team won in four sets, with Steve capping them off for game point with a huge block.. yeaaaaaah. It was their first win since October, and Freddy and Steve gave the crowd some awesome entertainment with a game winning monster chest bump. It was weird though, as soon as the game was over, as in maybe 30 seconds after the last point, most of the fans were out of there. There were some pictures taken and autographs signed, congratulations etc., with one fan telling Steve, "you were for sure the second best player on your team, very very good..." - and I suppose it's true - their opposite served eight balls in a row in the fourth set, tallying three aces in that run alone. ANIMAL!

The gym.. it's pretty small, but packed tight...

Game on tv...

Canadian teammate Freddy going back to serve...

So the guys were happy... and I was too. We made our way home, had dinner and began the celebrations.... Russian style. (When in uh, er... Yaroslavl, right?) So after sampling some local vodka, we met up with some teammates around 12:30, and soon after made our way to a disco. I would have NEVER known there was a disco inside this building - no signs, noise, people.... but it was a'happening inside, and it happened until around 7am. It was dark, smoky, and there was techno ALL night long, which is normal over here (save for the rumoured Wednesday R&B night), but what was NOT normal (at least not normal to me, being Canadian and female) were the next to naked dancers that made their way onto a small bridge on the upper level of the bar. They started dancing in poofy, frilly, feathery dresses, with poofy, frilly, feathery fans... and then all of a sudden POOF goes the poof, they were in their very skimpy, barely there underwear, and stayed for around an hour. I guess this is normal.

Anyways, despite the smoke, it was really fun. We stayed until around 7 and waited for the McDonalds to open to have breakfast. Really. Then cabbed home and we were in bed by around 8:30.. spending most of the day recovering from lack of sleep and the several packs of cigarettes we'd second hand smoked. Gross. It was a super fun Saturday night though.... I think they should try to win more often. ")

COLD!

Well, not cold by Winnipeg standards, but it was cold here today (-14 without the windchill) and I was afraid to go outside. The wind was rattling the windows and sweeping snow off the roof and Steve came home from practise this morning shivering. But I figured for the sake of my sanity and my apartment bound self, I had to get out and do some exercise... so, call me crazy! I went for a run. My nose was freezing and so were my toes but it felt good. (I wore several layers of fleece and polypropylene - I felt like I was running in a snowsuit...)

Pics of the Apartment, finalement!

So, Steve has been acting a little strange lately, and I'm not sure if it's because he's been drinking lots of vodka or if it's because he's been buying five litre jugs of beer... ! They don't even bottle Coke in five litre bottles, only water and beer. After we took this picture we were majorly eyeballed by the grocery police, who even inspected the beer jug... very suspicious. What I want to know is where the jugs of red wine are!


Here are some pics of our apartment... finally!

The front door... apartment #54

The kitchen... we don't have a very good selection of pots and pans and kitchen gear... but we can deal with it for three months...

An absolutely looovely shade of mustard yellow for the wraparound couch - hands down the best couch we've ever had!

The office ")
The laundry room - this is how Steve does laundry... ;)

These candy floss pink sheets are what we dub tablecloth sheets.... the quality ain't so good. Steve's caption for this picture on facebook is "Good night my dear" - where the hell do I sleep?

ps. Happy Flag day! Today is the day that the Canadian flag as we know it was first raised in 1965... both on Parliament Hill and across the country. I love our flag!

Happy Valentines Day!!

It was one of the most beautiful days here today... the sun was out in semi-full force and there was blue sky for most of the day! yay. There was a bit of snowstorm/flurry this morning even with the blue sky, so that was a first for me, running in heavy flurries. Funny though, with big snowflakes landing on my nose and in my eyes - battling the elements!! We had a super yummy french toast breakfast this morning, with homemade blueberry syrup - no maple syrup available... :( Steve got me some loooovely flowers and I gave him some yummy chocolates and made breakfast, yum. We went for a walk this afternoon - great weather but very chilly. Happy Valentines day everyone! xox

There are always kids playing hockey in the middle of the open area of our complex of apartments - Steve wants to play too....

My Wednesday...

So I made it to another mall again today, via some super icy sidewalks... and didn't have any luck finding a jacket or a bathing suit, doh. There are huge sales though, with Columbia jackets for about $80 Canadian which I think is a good deal?? Anyways, because we only have one set of keys, Steve and I both assumed that he'd be done with practice before I made it back from the mall (not because I was shopping my brains out, but because it's a 30 minute walk)... but since it went longer than expected, I waited at the same cafe where I had a coffee yesterday in the mini shopping complex beside the grocery store outside our place, and read my book. Instead of having coffee, I decided to do as the Russians do and hit the booze early. I passed on the vodka (the man in front of me in line, with his wife and maybe 6 year old girl, had a cup of warm vodka and a cup of warm apple juice... ew.)and went for the Russian corona which was good. I also had a donut/bun thing that was filled with ricotta cheese and onions, that was yum. After two beers and some snacks, I felt better about the fact that once again, all I'd bought was groceries.


The Mayonnaise Aisle!! (the ENTIRE aisle is mayonnaise)
Some other observations - Russians LOVE love love love mayonnaise. There is an entire aisle devoted to mayonnaise... kind of gross but apparently mayo is their sauce and substitute for everything - salad dressing, sandwich spread, meat sauce, fish sauce, you name it. There seem to be a gazillion different flavours - I covertly took a pic in the store yesterday; yes I was careful to avoid the glares and stares of the grocery police. I've been tempted to take pictures of other parts of the grocery store (like the bins of dried, flaked and shredded fish or the vodka aisle) but I'm not sure if they encourage people take pictures of the food, and prefer to avoid the attention of the grocery police!


my snack at the cafe... yum.



weird sign - I don't get the glasses - put them on??

PS! check out www.etsy.com - neat site with cute crafty things for sale... yum again.

Procrastinating..

Yes, I'm procrastinating. I thought I'd write something to postpone my run in the icy park for another 20 minutes (will it be too dark by then to even go? probably)... I walked to a new shopping complex today (new to me and new to Yaroslavl), and only came back with groceries, very exciting! But the place is so new that most stores aren't open and the ones that are shouldn't be - no stock. Other than that I don't think I've ever mentioned that the town we are living in, Yaroslavl, is one of the oldest cities in Russia, and in 2010 will be celebrating its 1000th birthday! now THAT is crazy.

Canada's oldest city by European standards is either St. John's (the oldest English founded settlement in North-America according to Wikipedia... "discovered in" 1497 and founded as England's first overseas colony in 1583) or Quebec City (founded 1608)- much too short of a search really but my point is that we have to wait a looong time to be able to say that any of our Canadian cities are turning 1000 years of age. So.... I must get downtown and see if I can find a tourist information booth - fingers crossed! okay, time to go for a run... These are pictures of the view from our living room window (usually it's not quite so bleak... I swear!)

The Grocery Store, Putin and some Lettuce!!!

So I've just come back from one of my daily activities - going to the grocery store... so exciting! And I've noticed something that I've failed to mention to Steve or anyone at the risk of sounding totally paranoid. I cannot emphasize enough how different I look here, from other women: when I go to the grocery store I do not wear fancy high heeled boots (don't have any anyways), but Sorels; I do not wear tight pants but jeans; and I don't wear a fancy 3/4 length jacket with fur trim (don't have one of those either) but a kind of ugly maroon down jacket... point being that going to the grocery store is NOT a fashion statement for me. This, however, is not what I've noticed (it was obvious from day one). The grocery store just downstairs has security guards, or store monitor people That patrol the aisles making sure good order is kept and that no one pilfers anything - grocery store police... and I feel that they are always watching me! Do I look that suspicious? Like I said, maybe I'm paranoid BUT... I notice them watching me, wherever I am in the store. It is just so weird!! Oh well. Whatever.

So we made a trip to the mall this weekend, where I looked for boots (no success) and a bathing suit (no success either). I'm surprised I couldn't find a bathing suit that fit me, because people here are taller than most other places we've been. I NEED to find a bathing suit though, because swimming is one of my only workout options; there is a community centre type place across the street where Steve's team trains and plays, but other than the weightroom with one measly bike (the height is non adjustable so I feel like I'm riding a tricycle - it does not work) and running in the snowy park, swimming is my only other option... fingers crossed that I find a bathing suit!!

The mall also had a huge grocery superstore, like Carrefour or Auchan, but the RUssian name is Real. The real deal. And we found lettuce there! There is still a ball of dirt dangling from the roots, and I'm wondering if we can plant it... ??? it is super hot in our apartment, though not a lot of light so who knows what could grow in here. We learned that the only way of turning down the heat in our apartment is by turning on the air conditioning (what the Russian team manager suggested) or opening a window (more logical). For, if we turn the radiators off in our apartment, everyone above us will also lose their heat. We know this because it happened to one of Steve's teammates. For real! So here is our prized lettuce that we are having for dinner! YUM!

Also, Steve and the team had a game... did not go well... so their next three matches are big time important. They are in a position where if they don't win any of these games they might go down to the second division... bad news. Will look for pictures of this past match too.... And here is the picture of Steve shaking Putin's hand... or Putin shaking Steve's hand!!!

Game Time...

So, Russians love their sports, so far we've seen the following on tv: volleyball, basketball, diving, tennis, snow go-carting, handball, hockey, field hockey on ice (it's weird), and table hockey. Yes, table hockey. I thought it was a joke, but no, there is a table hockey league in Russia. These crazies love their hockey! I've yet to see table volleyball... not so sure how that would work. So here are some pictures from Steve's last home game AND some table hockey. I just had to take a video of this...