Gone to the birds...

Though I wouldn't say that we are becoming avid birdwatchers, there are so many different birds in our backyard/on the lake/retention pond (lake sounds better) that we are getting to know some of the species that are flitting and feeding behind our house. Though I know this list isn't complete... here are some of our new friends. Or at least pictures of their friends.

Yellowthroat

Mallards!

Baltimore Oriole - it was gorgeous, almost fluorescent red!


Pine Warbler


Yellow Warbler


American Redstart


Robin


Canada Goose


Clay-colored Sparrow
Looooooon!

I know that I haven't posted pics of the house yet, and will do so soon... but I'm glad that I waited. (Or procrastinated - how about procrastin-waited?) Anyways, since we've been back, the trees have gone from being bare bones-winter trees to wondrous green-leaved trees! It's beautiful! I'm still sweeping up from the winter deadness... but the colours are great. So, pictures are coming soon. We finished banishing ugly wall colours from two rooms, so I'll post those tomorrow as well... that is if my lungs don't collapse and take me with them tomorrow night at basketball. Ummm... other than that, nothing is new really - yard work and painting and green leaves - this is the progress that we've made this week. Yay. And bird identification.

Banished to the Kingdom of Ugly

The orange room - looks like an Orange Creamsicle room in this one...

One of the things I wanted to do today (of many) was take pictures of the house and post them... but EEEP! I didn't. I did, however, take some pictures of the colour that is being banished from these walls... perhaps to arrive in the Kingdom of Ugly. Actually, I'm sure they're already there. Anyways, this first pic is of the only orange room in the house; after I took it I realized that these are the colours of my elementary school, Irwin Park. Steve told me that I could keep the orange if the memories of kindergarten through grade six really meant that much to me (if you think this is love, it's not: it's sarcasm)... but er, I had to pass. Yesterday we primed the Irwin Park room and a purple room downstairs, and today we got to the second room with PAINT! Now that primed room number two has a coat of a nice warm neutral colour on it, neither of us can stand the purple and pink that is still lurking everywhere else - we just want to attack it all! Perhaps the worst combination of colours and materials in the entire house (I know this a matter of taste, no offense if this type of... pink fluff-curtain is found in your home) is the pink fluff-puff curtains in the pink living room. The paint looks a bit peachy next to these curtains... but what wouldn't. They make me think of a Cindarella poof-ball dress... but when I googled ugly pink dress, this is what came up. Quite possibly made from the same material.

(I remember all of the mice putting this number together! I love that part... the cutest mice ever!)

not so cute.

I haven't said anything yet about the number of birds that hang out in our neighborhood... and in our back yard. Last night I finally got myself get out of the house for a workout, and upon my return Steve talked for ... mmmm, 10 minutes? about the number of birds he saw in the back yard while I was gone. There are Canada geese, mallard ducks, red-winged blackbirds, robins and lots more - I checked a birds of Manitoba book out of the library today - so I can learn the names of the many other birds. Eeeeh this makes me feel like a total bird keener - but really, there are just so many, and so many beautiful ones! It's awesome. Steve also saw some kind of unidentifiable creature in the water - Winnipeg's ogopogo? Maybe. Anyways, tomorrow I will make a real effort to take some pictures of the house... but for now, all you get is PAINT!

The weeds left me brain dead!

The last two days have been packed full of yard work - there is so much to do it's mind boggling! But rewarding. At least to me - I've been weeding, sweeping and cleaning out the junk/leaves/garbage/weeds/small trees under our patio... not that anyone LOOKS under there... but it was noticeable. Anyways. Yup. We've also been looking for some patio furniture, a bbq and some dishes to replace the ones that we have - I believe that Steve bought them (or was given them) in his first year of university from someone else who may have inherited them from someone else (at least that's what I want to believe - they are ick) - these mismatched pastel Corel dishes have got to go. I can't believe that we've gone all of these years without buying some half-decent looking dinner plates. Oh well, plates are plates. Excuse my brain dead state - a day of weeding under the patio and shopping in Sears will do that to you SO here are some pics from our time in Vancouver... and some chores that we tackled yesterday.

The new cottage - or home away from home...

Spectacular views

In Whytecliffe park...

Fixing a leaky faucet... with a smile!

Attacking the weeds: not sure where my smile is....

I love home!!

We are back at home in Winnipeg... and it's GREAT! We had an amazing time in Vancouver - seeing friends, family, enjoying sunny (sometimes) weather, playing beach vball and just cruising around... it was awesome. It's funny, whenever we're in Vancouver we both agree that we want to live there - but as soon as we're back here... we're happy to be in Winnipeg. (I know that this may sound crazy - I think it sounds a little crazy sometimes.) We do get a little more bang for our buck here - a beautiful house in a quiet neighborhood (makes me sound/feel old) vs. a shoebox apartment in a very urban area. I know that we'd be happy in almost any city in Canada (as long as it's not too Yaroslavl-esque) and for now that place is Winnipeg. What I miss most about Vancouver is family, friends, the beach and the spectacular scenery. But, like I said, we've got it pretty good here.

So I have lots to say about our time in Vancouver but also lots to say about what's going on around here - busy craziness! I can't post any pictures - our computer went to sleep and never woke up (computer suicide?). However, thanks to my friend Kim, we have a laptop that works... but doesn't have the modern memory card slot built in. So, until I find a cord to connect the camera to el computer, we are without photos. We took some nice pics of Thetis (though none of the wedding venue, oops) and ... actually, I think the only other pictures we took in Vancouver were from an afternoon trip to Whytecliffe Park. Eep. Anyways! There are some good ones. We were supposed to head back here last Wednesday, but when we heard that the weather was taking a turn for the better, we decided to stay for a few more days. It did have something to do with the fact that we hadn't found the time to do everything/see everyone that we wanted... but the promise of 30 degree weather? Hook, line and sinker - and Saturday was gorgeous. Some friends and I got together and played vball in the morning, and then enjoyed Strongbows on the beach in the afternoon - while soaking up the sun. It was great.. Yum Strongbow... I am a new fan of this delicious cidery drink. What else what else... I guess I am not too good at backtracking - there's so much to say about our trip but ?? It escapes me. So, Winnipeg. It is great to be back at our house - we bought a house here in December, and are seeing Spring here for the first time. There is a TON of work to do - the regular spring cleaning inside the house - though I'm not sure if the dirt and dust is a regular spring cleaning dirt or if it is a built up neglected-cleaning dirt. There's a lot. And there's a ton of yard work to do too - yesterday we bought our first lawn mower! Plus, we have plans to paint... the pink and purple (and orange and yellow) walls are ... gross. There are lots of ideas and changes that we have in mind, but we are prioritizing; painting and (maybe) doing a bathroom are our initial summer goals for the house. I'm going to look for that camera cord so I can post some pics of the colours on the walls... gross gross gross. Anyways! It's a gorgeous day today and there is lots of yard work to do so I'm going to get outside and make myself useful.

Off the blogwagon

I am off the blogwagon. This obviously needs no explanation but I feel as though I can provide a few excuses.... our time here in Vancouver has been crazy and jam-packed and even though the weather hasn't been great (leaving me with ample inside, on-the-computer time) we have been OUTSIDE and away from the computer. Our lives here are completely the .. er... opposite? from our lives in Russia. We have friends! There is busy-ness! Okay, I'll get over it, we're not in Russia anymore. 

SO! We've had a great time here and, like I said, have been super busy. Sisters have been in and out of town, we've been up to Thetis to check out a wedding venue and see the new Osberg home away from home, we've visited friends and family, had lots (LOTS) of yummy meals... and last night, I went to the CAKE concert! It was AWESOME! So so so so much fun. Yay. We were scheduled to make our way back to Winnipeg this morning but changed our flights - in part because we want some more time here with family and friends and in part because we heard that the weather is supposed to be incredible this weekend.... close to 30! Yippee! What else... There's so much more to write-blog about but with so much to do, being on the computer isn't a priority - I'll do it later. We're really looking forward to getting home to our place in Winnipeg too, but for now we're enjoying our time in Vancouver!!

the wealth-o-meter

Being back in Canada is just the best thing ever. The climate in Russia (people and weather) was so gloomy that the colour, vibrancy and friendliness here is still kind of overwhelming in a completely wonderful way. Another thing that is not so much overwhelming but ... glaringly obvious, is the wealth and prosperity that we are so fortunate to experience, have and have around us. I was telling my parents that one of the most memorable things about our time in Russia was the polarity between rich and poor (there is no such thing as a middle-class), and how this was reflected in the size of Margaret's apartment. As a teacher and an engineer, Margaret and her husband are a couple that are both working jobs that, in Canada, would enable them to own a fairly modest home. (Okay, maybe not in Vancouver... but almost everywhere else.) Their place in Russia was very small and their salaries were too limited to improve living conditions in terms of dwelling size/space (their living room was also the office and their bedroom). Plus, there were no yards, no lawns, no garages, no large lots - only massive apartment blocks that probably housed over 100 families. So, my senses are still in candy-land here with the houses, gardens, green lawns, happy people (someone said hi to me yesterday and I wasn't ready for it - it was lovely), customer service (non-existent in Russia) and the produce! The food! Russia and Canada are on opposite ends of the wealth-o-meter, that's for sure.

So it's great to be back in Vancouver - I love it here... and I wish that houses/apartments/shoeboxes weren't so ridiculously expensive. It's great to see my parents and my friends! And just be back in such a beautiful place. Also, I just have to say that yesterday was one of the best days EVER. I met some friends down at Spanish West to play beach volleyball - it was sunny, warm, calm and it was SO good to see my friends... I have the best friends in the universe. Yay.

A few days ago after I changed my blog name I had to laugh at myself - on my way home I started thinking about what home really means... and thought about writing a blog about it... when suddenly, I LOVE LAMP lamped into my head. If you haven't seen Anchorman (quality) then you won't know what I'm talking about BUT my deep thoughts were quickly replaced Brick Tamland (played by Steve Carell), a man bestowed with an almost negative IQ. In the movie he totters around the office sputtering insensible incomprehensible gibberish like I LOVE LAMP and I LOVE DESK. Random. Anyways, so deep thoughts about home and I LOVE HOME were replaced by low IQ Anchorman thoughts (I love home is something he would say) and it just made me laugh.

back in winnipeg...

Man oh MAN my eyes are bugging out. Too much time on the computer. In Russia I was really thankful for this geography course that I'm taking - it was the one thing that I had to do while I was there, and it gave me some focus and blah blah blah. However, since we've returned to Canada I've completely forgotten about it (admittedly somewhat on purpose) and so today I find myself scrambling to write a paper that I've been thinking about (a little bit) but not actually writing. Our trusty computer decided not to turn on this morning (computers do NOT need days off) so I have been at the Univeristy of Manitoba trying to get this thing done. It was a beautiful day before I came into this computer lab, and I hope that it still is... I'm on my way out. Winnipeg is the one place that, whenever I come back here, I feel as though I never left. Or that I just left last week. Strange... maybe it's a prairie spell. Our house is more or less in good condition (though lots of yard work and cleaning to do), and I'm really looking forward to sitting on the patio with a cup of coffee this afternoon. Or a beer. Or some vodka. We had a New Years party chez nous and our liquor cabinet (makeshift) is stocked, though most (or all) of the bottles only have one drink left in them... that's enough for me. SO! I'm here for the weekend and then heading to Vancouver! YAY! I'm super excited to see family and friends and am still LOVING being back in Canada... I'm also really looking forward to settling down and (hopefully) staying in one place for more than three months. We'll see. Okay, I have lots more that I could say/write about but my eyes are going to fall out of my head if I stay on this computer for another minute. So I'm out of here!

ps I changed the blog name on impulse without thinking about it... we're not in Russia anymore and I love home! SOoooooo ??? it will work for now!

It's MAY!

Shopping is exhausting. Yes, I'm aware that this statement makes me sound old BUT I am going to blame the jet-lag. On Tuesday the four of us (me, Steve, Bob and Marg) made a trip to Ikea to pick up odds and ends (and heavy oak countertops), and it tired all of us right out. Ikea is amazing, I love it, but when you have to walk through the showrooms to get to stuff and then get lost and then decide to go looking again to kill time... well, you need a nap in the car. Yesterday we hit up Yorkdale - both of us were super eager to shop and find some nice new clothes (our time in Russia made us realize that the jeans and sweatshirt look might need some updating) but instead of fulfilling the movie-shopping-spree image of skipping out of the mall with umpteen bags, we left with only two bags - both of which fit in my purse. Steve bought a shirt and two magazines, and I didn't buy a thing. Whenever I plan a shopping trip and get excited about it, I never find anything. Anyways, we needed coffee to get through the mega-mall experience - we were out of mall-shape... and again, I'll blame the jet-lag.

Since we've been back in Canada, we've also started BRAIN AGE TRAINING. And testing. Steve's parents have a small Nintendo DS that has a program that tests your brain age... and then gives you training exercises to do when you realize that your brain age should match your actual age. The first time I did the test I think my brain age was around 60? Pathetic, I know. But I'm down to the thirties. Last night I was 37, and that's after two beers! Amazing. Not amazing. Anyways, it's fun. AGH! I just realized that it's May 1st. Time flies. I just looked up May 1st on Wikipedia, and maaaaaan oh man there are a lot of special events tied to today's date. There's May Day/Labour Day; it's National Love Day in the Czech Republic, AND... just in case you ever wondered when Worldwide National Outdoor Intercourse Day is... it's today. Er, right.

still soooo happy to be home!!

So, the past few days have been busy around here... well, relatively busy – not busy busy but we certainly have more going on here than we ever did in Yaroslavl. Steve’s parents are redoing the kitchen – we arrived just in time for the kitchen cabinet/cupboard assembly phase (Ikea), and Steve’s efforts were only slightly dampened when the newly installed all-powerful stove fan sucked him up and almost cut off his thumb. After waiting for almost two hours in an empty waiting room at the local hospital, he got four stitches (it took five minutes). It wasn’t too long ago that we’d watched Michael Moore’s Sicko, and all I could think of while we were waiting there in what seemed to be a completely empty hospital, was the part where he interviews cheery, satisfied patients who only had to wait five or ten minutes to see a doctor who immediately remedied their problems and left them smiling. I do like his movies but they are so disgustingly one-sided and subjective that every ounce of information that he feeds the viewer must be taken with a grain of salt. I think that someone made a movie about his movie-making style, and he refused to speak to them about this one-sided, subjective, pretend-to-reveal-the-truth routine. Anyways, Steve’s thumb - they didn’t have to amputate and all parts still remain – it will be thumbs-up all week.


before the injury... and after

The weather has been great too – though it’s taken a turn for the worse today. Yesterday we made our way downtown and up the CN Tower, where we were the tallest people in Toronto! We went all the way up to the Sky Pod (447m) where the ceiling height was just a bit shorter than Steve – he had to duck and crouch a little but claimed the honour of the highest person in the world! Okay, the tallest person on a man-made structure in the world! Or at least in Canada. We emerged to find a massive Sikh parade crawling down Lakeshore Blvd in honour of Vaisakhi, a celebration of the birth of Khalsa ("the collective body of baptized Sikhs") and the beginning of harvest season. According to the Toronto Star, there were 70,000 dancers and musicians, sword-fighters, walkers, and floats and cars of people that made their way along Lakeshore from Exhibition Place to Nathan Phillips Square in honour of this special day. There was also free food and drink and I had one of the most delicious samosas ever! It was so good. We also walked around the Harbourfront area and enjoyed the sunshine before heading back to our spiffy rental car to brave the traffic back and make our way home. The traffic was ridiculous – the parade and the TTY transit strike meant that ridiculous volumes of people (on SUNDAY!) were fighting for a way out. Blech. We’re still getting over the jet lag, but are managing to stay up late and get up early, on a normal-ish schedule. We were treated to pancakes with maple syrup yesterday morning (YUM!) and burgers with barbeque sauce last night – YUM again! And I ate all of the fresh spinach in the fridge (oops)... I love all of our food options!

I missed a few days of importance – World Book and Copyright Day (how did I miss a book day!?), World Malaria Day (!?), World Intellectual Property Day (!?) and, perhaps most importantly, Orthodox Easter! So happy belated Orthodox Easter. However, one day that I’m not missing is tomorrow’s National Dance Day... I like dancing! Yay. I still need a new blog name and am just being lazy. Will change soon. I should go and help with kitchen cabinet assembly.

the parade...


our rental wheels for the week

it was chills up there - but an awesome view!

Russia Wrap-up

The apartment block next door... it was huge

The park the day we left - signs of Spring and Winter

And just like that, it’s over. The place we called home for three months is a thing of the past... and likely always will be. The chances that we’d ever go back to Yaroslavl are slim, though both Steve and I would go back to Russia (we’d prefer Moscow), and if the opportunity to play in a smaller town presented itself again? There would have to be a very large monetary incentive. We enjoyed our time in Russia, but it wasn’t our favourite place. The good and the bad come with everything, and life there wasn’t all bad... but I wouldn’t say that it was good either – it was just different. The drab gloominess of both the place and the people was really hard to get used to; in general people were rude and treated our differences with wariness, caution and rudeness instead of the more friendly, congenial, light-hearted approach that we have (for the most part) experienced in other countries. But, like I said, there are so many differences between Russia and Western Europe that it’s almost unfair to compare. Politics, social programs, natural resources, the economy – none of these things seem to work in favour of the common Russian citizen. The government and the political and economic systems are rife with corruption, and though the rich are getting richer, the majority of Russian people are still struggling to create a better life with low, stagnant salaries and rising costs. So I guess I understand, or see why people aren’t humming around with smiles and a positive outlook on life. But again, the rudeness and unfriendliness is a generalization; I met some great people there – Dasha, Daria and Margaret were so friendly and fun and kind and helpful... I am so glad to have met them.

I said this previously, but the most common questions I was asked when we were in Russia were: What are salaries like in Canada? Is there a lot of corruption there? What is unusual about Yaroslavl/Russia for you? And finally, What is your favourite thing about Russia? The first two questions highlight some of the huge challenges that Russia and Russians are facing: low salaries and an incredibly high degree of corruption. The last two questions.... well, here are my answers. The most unusual thing about Yaroslavl and Russia was the everyday dress code that most women adhered to: high heels and fancy dress at all times. I was a complete anomaly: running/tennis shoes, non-skin-tight jeans and a hoodie with a down jacket? SLOB! The unusualness of this unspoken dress code is compounded by the fact that most of these women probably don’t have the money to dress so well – where do they get the money to buy this fancy stuff? Even if it’s cheap fancy stuff... it’s still relatively expensive compared to salaries. This, I never understood. (Some people told me that women dress so well because the competition for men is so rigorous: there is apparently a shortage of available (and/or married) men in Russia.)Other unusual things were the number of people that drank beer in public (including time of day - any time of day, age of drinker - age is just a number, and number of beers - more is better), people’s indifference to clean public areas, and the dating/married/infidelity thing. Daria told me that she often didn’t know if a guy she met/dated was married or not, because he didn’t say so (and that doesn’t mean that he is married... or isn’t). I know that these things don’t paint a very pretty picture of Russia... but these are my impressions. I had to think about what my favourite thing about Russia was... and I have to say that it was Moscow. It’s a beautiful city and I loved the Red Square and the Kremlin. My favourite things about Yaroslavl are my friends (all three of them), the pool and the park. Without these things I may have gone insane.

It’s always an experience living in a new and different country, and both Steve and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to do these things. We also feel so lucky to be Canadian (and so thankful!), and to be able to come home to family and friends (and English! And good roads! And salad!) in a safe and stable country. I’m still thinking of a new blog name... any ideas? Here are some pics from the few days we spent in Moscow before coming home. Eeeeeeeeeeeh! Home!

St. Basil's by night - so pretty!!

At the entrance to the Kremlin the next day - just after we viewed Lenin... a little eery but so cool!

One of several churches inside the Kremlin

Ivan the Terrible's Bell Tower - and at it's base, the largest bell in the world (weighs over 200 tonnes and has never been rung.... doh!)

The gardens were gorgeous, and so well-maintained...

Our last shot in Russia - we spent our last rubles on this litre of beer! When in... Russia?

new blog name new blog name

I have to change the name of the blog! Because we are BACK IN CANADA! YAY! We are so excited. I am so excited. I was so excited to fly Business Class that I didn't sleep... and after close to 20 hours of travel (that includes a five hour layover, spent in the Business Lounge - so posh!) we are here! We're spending a week or two in Bowmanville (Steve's home town - near Oshawa) and then making our way to Vancouver for a week or two! So exciting. But what should I name this blog? I am definitely too tired to think of anything fun or witty or remotely intelligent at the moment... so for the time being, it stays. I feel like I have so much to write about but I am going to stop myself... I need sleep. We are so happy to be home!!

we're out of here!

This is it! Today is our last day in Yaroslavl. YAY! We're heading to Moscow this afternoon for our last two days in the motherland, to see some sights and avoid a middle-of-the-night five hour crazy drive from this city to an airport on the other side of Mosow (our flight is at 7am on Thursday). We've been busy packing and saying goodbye to people - there hasn't been too much time - our departure really crept up on us. Margaret and I went for a swim yesterday, and Freddie, Steve, Dallas and I met up with Daria for dinner last night at a restaurant on the Volga. So, like that I've said farewell to my Russian friends. It snowed like crazy here yesterday - it was actually really nice (minus the wind whipping snow chunks into my face) - but today we are back to spring sunshine, albeit chilly spring sunshine. Other than the fact that today is Earth Day, (yay Earth Motherland!), I feel like I don't have too much to say... except that I should finish packing. Will write again before we ditch Russia for good!

billions

Moscow is now home to more than one hundred billionaires.... one hundred!! Russia Today ran a story on a recent article published in the Russian edition of Forbes: in the past year the number of billies has almost doubled from 60 to 110, and the country's richest 100 people "saw their combined holdings gain 54 per cent over the year" - mind boggling. I can't even comprehend how much money that is... and especially here. A governor, Roman Abramovich, comes in third place with $US 24.3 billion, owner of the steel giant company Severstal, Aleksey Mordashov, comes in second with $US26.96 billion, and Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Board of an investment company, comes in first place with a whopping $US28.6 billion dollars. How long do you think it would take if someone gave you a dollar every second, to accumulate one billion dollars? It would take over 30 years. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeediculous. The world's top top TOP billionaire, as of February 11, 2008 is Warren Buffet - worth $US62 billion. The top top TOP female billionaire is Liliane Bettencourt (who comes 17th on the list of world billionaires), of L'Oreal who is worth $US22.9 billion. I'm sick of the word billion already - blech. Here are a few shots of Steve's team - Yaroslavl Yaroslavich... lookin' good...

the beating

Oooooooooooooh I have so much to talk about! First of all... we're coming home! Our flights are booked!! We leave for Toronto on Thursday, yay. We would have liked to have left earlier but the club asked Freddie and Steve to stay around for two reasons: first, because a Canadian guy who is likely signing a contract for next season (Dallas) is coming here for a few days and the club wants us to be around while he's here; and secondly, because the president wants Freddie and Steve to visit one of the main sponsor's jewellery factories (er, okay) on Tuesday. Sure, whatever. So yay! Yay to the coming home part. We are both ready.

Other news - yesterday I was beaten by birch branches. In the sauna. It was interesting. Margaret and I were joined by her friend Tanya who routinely subjects herself to this traditional Russian sauna ritual - it was Margaret's first time doing this and, of course, mine too. So, this is what went down. This time the sauna was about halfway full - there were maybe eight of us in total? And everyone just hangs out in there naked - in the main room bathing and scrubbing, in the sauna sitting or lying or... being beaten by a bundle of hot leaves and twigs. Yup. As soon as we got in there, Tanya soaked the birch in a tub of hot water... and off we went for round one of sauna, shower and tea. Round two - the abuse begins. Into the sauna we go, and I was first; we were under full instructions from Tanya (she instructed me to go first.) I lay down on the top bench of the sauna where it was soooooo hot, so so so hot. She shook the branches over the rocks to heat them up a bit and then, she whacked me with them, all over - everywhere except (thank goodness) the face. And it was hard. Not so hard that I was in pain, but it was definitely uncomfortable - both the heat and the branch-whacks. Roll-over. Yes ma'am. More whacking. Burning legs. Leaves everywhere. I wasn't sure who was supposed to say stop/enough! - if she would tell me when she was done or if I called an end to the beating... but that's what I had to do, because I couldn't take the heat anymore. I was instructed to immediately take a cold shower. I had leaves all over me and I was red as beat beets... but no welts. So that was it. After the beating, one takes a cold shower, has a rest, maybe some tea, and then does the whole thing over again. That's the traditional way - no soap is used, and the branches are hot-hot-hot... and one is to endure the beating and the heat until he/she can take it no more... and then the cold shower offers the much needed relief. Margaret and I both went through the ringer once and once only - it was enough for both of us. And what exactly is this beating supposed to achieve? It exfoliates the skin, cleans and clears the pores and, if done correctly, will "leave you as clean as a baby," according to Tanya. I did feel clean, but soap does the trick too... I'll stick with the soap and not with the sticks.

Banya equipment - birch branch bundle, bucket, scrubber mit and felt hat - some older women were wearing these (to protect the hair and scalp from the heat - and to sweat more?)

So after that interesting experience, the three of us made our way over to Margaret's place for lunch. I thought that our apartment building was well-secured... but hers was like Fort Knox. There were no less than four doors to unlock before we found ourselves in her apartment - the number of doors increased in the 80s with the increase in crime which increased as a result of decreasing salaries. There you go. Her apartment was small, but very functional. We had a yummy lime-honey vodka drink, which is apparently good for after the sauna (I thought water maybe? But the vodka was yummy), and then a delicious little meal - vegetable soup, salad (non-lettuce), and traditional Russian pancakes... it was so good! Her husband came home after we had finished eating... but the drinking had only just begun. The after-work vodka drinking tradition here is much like the after-work wine drinking routine at home - Yuri sat down at the table, poured himself a healthy shot of vodka (a double at least) and down it goes. It's a little different... but same idea. And since he needed someone to drink with - I sort of volunteered. By not refusing to volunteer. I was invited to stick to the sipping of the lime-honey stuff which tasted good. If it had been warm vodka... I'm not too sure how I would have fared. Well, yes - I would have gotten drunk and felt sick. My time in Russia has not helped me develop an appreciation for warm vodka. Yuri asked me a few questions about life in Canada: What are salaries like? and, How much corruption is there? These are the two most common questions I've been asked here. He talked about corruption ("one of Russia's biggest problems") and politics... and then the vodka was put away and it was time to go. It was a great afternoon. This is one of my favourite things about living in a new country - getting to know a family and getting an idea of what life for the average person is like. It's clear that even if Russia's economy is getting stronger, the benefits are slow to trickle down to the people, and even if living standards are improving, there is still a long way to go.

magic bells

Yesterday afternoon Margaret, Irina (one of her students) and I visited Yaroslavl's private Museum of Music and Time; Margaret was genuinely interested, Irina laughed the whole time and I was sort of stuck in the middle, feigning interest and holding back the giggles. The small tour consisted of a young woman showing us different instruments, talking about them and then playing loud, ostentatious music on each and every musical contraption in the place... it was a bit much. I'm sure if I had a more thorough understanding of historical musical instruments (or any understanding) it would have been more interesting... but ??? There were gramophones, portable wind-up record players, clocks (musical and non-musical), irons (non-musical) and bells - lots and LOTs of bells. Margaret translated for me - Irina tried but couldn't hide the giggles... so stayed as silent as possible - as did a man who was super eager to speak French - he talked and talked and talked... and I retained none of what he said. Oops. Afterwards Margaret had a meeting to go to so Irina and I walked along the Volga and talked our way to our respective bus stops.

She asked me lots of questions about Canada and where I've travelled, and talked about her dreams - to travel to America and England. She said that most of her friends are happy living here in Russia, and see no other future for themselves other than the one offered in Yaroslavl, but she wants more. The sad thing is that she'll probably never be able to afford such a trip... and she knows it. She asked about salaries in Canada and what people are like and how much plane tickets cost - I said maybe around a thousand dollars? And she shook her head, rolled her eyes and laughed. Too expensive. Her family isn't poor but isn't rich, and she doesn't work; it would take a looooong time for her, and/or her family, to save that kind of money. My encouragement was to study and improve her language skills as much as possible - and who knows, maybe one day an opportunity might present itself. She hopes so... and so do I. There was only one crazy 16 year-old thing about her: she asked me if I knew who Tom Felton was - no idea. He's in the Harry Potter movies and plays the role of Draco Malfoy - I haven't seen any of the movies (gasp I know - haven't read the books either) and she is IN LOVE with him. I made a bit of a joke when she gave me her address (pen-pal... anyone?); I asked her if she wanted me to give it to Tom Felton. We laughed and she said Yes! Yes! But understood of course that it was a joke. ANYWAYS, we said goodbye at the bus stop and a few minutes later she came running back to me and asked me if there was any possible way, to actually really give Tom Felton her address and email. She was blushing, but all smiles, and, well I didn't really know what to say other than... I don't think it's possible! I don't know him! "Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked. I couldn't say yes so I said no. She said thanks and ran off. CUTE! A little crazy but 16 year-old crazy. A normal kind of crazy.
Magic Bells! Apparently if you make a wish and then ring these bells three times your wish will come true; Irina looked SO focused while making her wish! It just might have something to do with traveling.... and maybe Tom Felton ")

Steve comes home today! And hopefully we can get organized and figure out when we're coming home toute de suite.... yay!!

back in the classroom...

Here are some really nice shots of our neighborhood that I did not take. Two of Freddy's friends visited a few weeks ago and all of the credit goes to Michael Scutt - the photos make me wish I had a nice, fancy camera and some photography skills to boot...

I went to Margaret's class today to talk about Canada, and made one of her students feel like a complete idiot before I even made it into the classroom... for real. The trip there involved taking the trolley bus and a tram across town - the tram got stuck for some reason, and I was fifteen minutes late. She called to make sure I was on my way (and that everything was alright), and I didn't hear anything about a student meeting me at the tram stop. So, when a weird-ish looking dude started talking to me in Russian I gave him a go-away-stop-talking-to-me look, assuming he was some strange Russian man (he looked like a strange Russian man) and high tailed it to the school. His classmates laughed at him and I apologized but still, he didn't talk or take his eyes off his cell phone for most of the class. Oops.

The class was made up of approximately 15 grade niners, most of whom had some pretty decent English skills. I talked a bit about Canada first (population, geography, weather, food, hobbies, work, school, economy etc.) and then they asked some questions (What do teenagers do for pocket money? What sports do people play? What do you like about Russia? etc. etc.) After about 20 or 25 minutes of talking, and questions and answers from all (and to all - I had questions too - such as, why don't any girls play soccer? I was answered with giggles - maybe the question, "Is cheerleading popular in Canada?" provides some illumination. One of the girls really asked me that), the real show began.

Because I was their "honoured guest" (so sweet), they had prepared something of a show for me. It began with a home-made video of their school... during which a small troupe of four maybe sixth or seventh graders made their way into the classroom. Next up was a dance routine to none other than Jingle Bells. I am not even kidding. One of these sixth or seventh grade girls got up in front of the class and did a cheerleading routine, full of hip swivels, wrist flicks, leg kicks, jumps and bendies (don't pretend like you don't know any of these moves) to a super annoying version of Jingle Bells. It went on for way too long, and sitting behind all of the other students, I looked around to see if anyone else thought that this routine was totally weird... but none of the other students seemed to be fighting the same impulses that I was (like laughter, strange looks, the desire to get up and make her stop.) Next up came her brother, who sang a song about how school is boring. In Russian. In English class. The final show was by far the best - one of the students brought her cello in and played very well - it was normal and it was nice. Not that abnormal isn't nice but the other acts were just plain WEIRD. Especially the Jingle Bells one. Afterwards, the students all gave me their addresses and Margaret told me that they hoped that I might find them some pen pals in Canada ... sure! Why not. So... anyone? Anyone looking for a 15 year-old pen pal? I'm thinking I'll drop them off at a school in Winnipeg when we get home.

Margaret had called me on Tuesday and asked if I was interested in visiting the city's most prestigious pottery operation after the morning's English class... and I said sure, why not. So, after class we had a bite to eat in the school's small, empty cafeteria (a watery pickley potato soup, mashed potatoes and cabbage salad - I passed on the fish and hot-dog-sausage), and then a woman from the pottery place showed up to accompany me back to the pottery barn for a tour and visit. Natasha was very nice, and even though her English skills were so-so, we made it work. The walk from the school to the small production place was interesting - we saw a drunk man in the middle of something (and having some trouble) in some plants with his pants around his ankles (thankfully I didn't see anything that I didn't want to see), and a group of maybe 10 men drinking in a small hut-like thing, saying bad words to us - that's all Natasha gave me. She sort of shook her head and said, "Here, women work and men drink." The drinking looked like hard work to me - warm vodka. Yuck. The pottery place was pretty comme-ci comme-ca - they seem to produce a lot of trinkets, some tacky stuff, some nice stuff... but dust collector stuff. There were a couple of Christmas ornaments that appealed to me but they weren't for sale. We took a quick tour of the place and then had tea amidst a group of women painting these miniscule clay cats and people and trees, which was sort of amusing - all of these women working away and me and Natasha sipping tea and eating cookies.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Margaret again - she wants to take me to her favourite museum in town, the Museum of Music and Time - and one of her keener students is coming along. (Am I mean?) She's actually really sweet, and told me that she wants more English practise - she wants to be an interpreter. So sure, why not. Other news? Steve's train ride to Kazan last night only took 11 hours... and he gets to do it again tomorrow night. And his ipod isn't working. But! This is it... it's almost over and we're coming home soon! YAY!

Granny in Goal

I am ashamed to say that apart from the five minute trip to the grocery store early (ish) this morning, I didn't leave the apartment until almost five o'clock. Lazy. Majorly lazy. I was semi-productive but still... was starting to feel blah and bored so I went for a walk. The past few days have been colder and windy, and today I had to don my winter coat and toque to stay warm in this spring tempest that is hopefully just passing through. Anyways, there are always kids playing hockey out in the atrium area between four or five massive apartment blocks, and today... somebody's Grandma was playing too. I'd say she was at least in her mid-seventies... and had obviously played in goal before. I slowed down to watch, and wished that I had the camera to catch Granny in goal on film.

So the guys lost their game on Saturday - it wasn't their best show. I'm pretty sure that a lot of them/most of them/all of them don't really care that much anymore - they acheived the goal of staying in the first division, and at this point in the season everyone just wants it to be over. Sooooo, after the game we picked up some pizza, played some drinking games - okay only one drinking game - kopecks (we pronounce it incorrectly - "kopeeks"), that involves bouncing a 10 kopeck coin off of the table and into a bottle cap and then passing it to the next person (the bottlecap - you keep your kopeck), and trying to catch someone with all of the bottle caps piled up in front of them. It's our own Russian invention... very fun. I'd say try it at home but you might not have any kopecks, ha! Just kidding. It was pretty late by the time we made our way to the Summit Club where there was a SPACE SHOW in honour of Yuri and Cosmonaut's Day/Yuri's Night. There were people (that worked for the club) dressed in elaborate cosmonaut suits walking around and these massive, probably eight-foot tall aluminum-ish aliens with long aluminum-tube arms flailing and huge shiny heads with feelers and bulgy eyes up on stage... it was a little scary and VERY impressive. At one point, two guys dressed in red military outfits, all decked out with medals and colours, came out and started breaking it down with the aliens and cosmonauts - I figured that they must be Yuris in plainclothes... or sans cosmo-suits, in regular military garb. It was quite the show. As usual, the smoke and the non-stop techno beats got old before the place shut down, and Steve and I caught a cab home at around 5:30... late. Or early. Too early. Yesterday was a bit of a write off. Neither of us drank enough to warrant a hangover, and we both wondered how much of the gross, blech feeling was related to the smoke... Not that the vodka or the lack of sleep helped but ... ???


Anyways, the team left today for their last game on their last road trip. Neither Steve nor Freddy were excited about making the brutal trip that involves a four hour bus ride to Moscow and then an overnight train (ancient, rickety overnight train apparently) to Kazan, to play a game that won't change their place in the standings - it means nothing.


The flag of Kazan - the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan

So! This means that we can start to think about planning our trip home... yay! It's been great being here and learning about Russia and everything (I'll probably elaborate later) but we're both really excited to get back home to Canada. I'm really looking forward to seeing family and friends, being busy and productive and.... eating SALAD! This makes me laugh but it's true. Yum, salad. (We went a'looking yesterday and couldn't find any lettuce - not even at the el grande supermarket, grrr...) However, even though we know that the team is finished and that Steve is free to go after the last game on the Wednesday, we have to wait around to hear about financial matters. Unfortunately, professional volleyball isn't one of those jobs that guarantees an on-time, regular paycheck... and the athlete is always fed a plateful of rhetoric (usually excuses) about sponsors being late and new sponsors signing (next week... it's always next week here) and blah blah blah. So... we have to sift through that and hope for an answer that will allow us to bump our flights up. I'll have to come up with a new title for the blog... because I'll keep writing but need something that I won't have to change every few weeks or months depending on where I find myself. If I lose myself. Ha. To finish.... here's a historical headline that has nothing to do with anything that I've written about today.


Today's Canadian Headline...

1912

TITANIC RADIOS FOR HELP

Cape Race, Newfoundland -Two young wireless radio operators, Robert Hunston and James Goodwin, hear the first distress call from the luxury liner RMS Titanic, en route to New York south of the Grand Banks. An iceberg has grazed the ship's side, popping iron rivets and shearing off a fatal number of hull plates below the waterline.


10:25 pm: According to Hunston's first entry in the log, Goodwin "hears the Titanic calling C.Q.D. [Come Quickly, Danger - the precursor to S.O.S.], giving position."
10:35 pm: Titanic calls that they have moved five or six miles and "Have struck iceberg."
10:40 pm: They hear Titanic call the nearest ship, the Carpathia, saying "We require immediate assistance."
10:58 pm: They hear the terrible news: "Have struck iceberg and sinking."
11:36 pm: They hear another ship, the Olympic, asking the Titanic where it is steering; Titanic replies "We are putting women off in boats."