Sorry I have been terrible at updating my blog. I have been a bit under the weather as per usual. I have been sick probably 3/4 of my time here. It's astounding. Alright, back to business. I realized I failed to mention Thanksgiving in my last post. So let me talk about that for a moment.
This will be a Thanksgiving to remember. Even though I wasn't with my family, I was with a group of amazing teachers. We were each other's family this year. Everyone helped make something for our exquisite feast. Our vegetarian feast that is. I guess that's what happens when your head teacher is a vegetarian. I don't eat meat, NO ONE eats meat!! Haha I actually wouldn't have cared....to each his own! It was so odd making my dishes for dinner. I felt so grown up. I had just a tiny taste of what my mom must go through. Just a bit though. Her work was mine times a thousand. In the morning I made my favorite frozen fruit salad dish (Thank you Angeline!). However, I needed some ingredients. So, just like my mom, I went to the grocery store Thanksgiving morning in a frazzled state. It was cool though. I was at the store, in Russia, it was Thanksgiving, they were playing Christmas music (all be it a dance party remix of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Russians love their remixes), it was snowing outside, it just felt like the holidays. Nothing picks up your spirit than the holidays! The whole day was fairly chaotic. Everyone trying to squeeze into our small kitchen to make their dish. Our kitchen was a clown car. I don't know how we managed to have all of us cooking in there. A Thanksgiving miracle perhaps. I thought our meal turned out quite nice. No where near our mothers' standards but we made do. We all said what we were grateful for. I spoke about ILP. I really am grateful for ILP and what it had done for me. It changed my life. The greatest thing that happened to me was the day I stumbled on a chance to go to Thailand to teach English. That got the ball rolling and look at me now! ILP is such a great program and provides an opportunity of a lifetime. I am lucky to have found it. So Happy Late Thanksgiving to you all!
Now it's time to talk about the children. I always have to throw in my stories. The other day I walked into the Level 5 classroom. These are the 11 to 14 year olds. I was greeted by Victor who graciously (mind you, he is 11) picked me right up. Nothing boosts your self esteem than being picked up by an 11 year old. Then Bogdon had to top it. He came over, picked me up and twirled me around. All I could say was, "weeee." Best greeting ever.
I haven't talked about Ludmilla much....she is the Vice Principal at the Old Kindergarten. She is very nice to us, but sometimes she can be a bit scary. And by a bit scary I mean she strikes fear into the children's eyes. I never know what she is saying when she is yelling at the kids but I like to think it's something like "Shut your little pie holes! If you keep up this behavior I will cut off each and everyone of your fingers! I will make them into a stew and force it down your throats!" And then the next second she smiles and waves at us. She IS Dr. Jackyl and Mr. Hide. I always see her as this angry, frustrated woman but then she surprised me at times, like when she mimes dancing and singing or stops on her way out from the school to pet a cat and whisper "Dosvidaniya" (goodbye in Russian). When I saw her petting that cat, I saw myself in 40 years....that is my future. Better than the old woman being swarmed by pigeons. They were her minions I am sure of it. Swirling all around her. I was waiting for them to take her up in to the sky and make them her queen. Yup. I will take being the cat lady over Queen of the Pigeons.
It's not a week in Russia if I don't have some kind of wild adventure. This one pertains to Private 1....again. I have had a crazy story on getting to this school before. And I am here to tell you yet another riveting tale of venturing to Private 1. Last week me and Jess set out early in the morning to Private 1. You know it's going to be a good day when you turn on your water first thing in the morning and it's brown. Not just a brown hue. It was poo brown. Like straight up sewage water was coming out of the faucet. Today was going to be a greeeaat day. We were teaching for Syd and Ty. Now last time one of my issues was I got on the wrong bus so this time I made sure it was the right number. Check. Before I continue, know this...this was a frigid morning. This morning made the news because the weather was so bad. Locals talked about this morning the following Monday. It set some records. That's how cold this morning was. Remember that. Because of the weather I just mentioned and because it was still dark outside I could not see out the windows of the bus, ergo, I couldn't tell when to get off. But it was okay because I just had to listen for someone to call out the name of our stop. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And the bus started to turn around. One thing led to another....yadda yadda yadda, and me and Jess wondered around in the storm for an hour. THE storm. The one everyone talked about it. We have to brave that mofo. It. Was. Freezing. The wind was making my eyes water and my tears starting freezing to my face. Me and Jess were laughing the whole time. We had no idea where we were. But alas after many trial and error, we found the school. It was a glorious moment. The chorus of angels sang from the heavens in jubilation. I was raised above the ground by their immortal powers and floated to the door. Or my legs were just numb....no one can be sure. It actually was a fun day. Me and Jess are still laughing about it. And it was worth the trouble because those kids are so stinkin cute. We blew bubbles for my lesson (it's my ace in the hole). I sanitized the straws we were using with hand sanitizer. Liza (she's about 5) put a straw in her mouth, looked at me and said "Vodka." There you have it kids. Hand sanitizer tastes like Vodka. How this 5 year old knows this.....I shall never know.
And to top it all off!! I finally got my package! My dear mother sent it a month ago. I had lost all hope. I was sure that some Russian had jacked all my goods. Chowin down on Poptarts. Enjoying the festive decorations. Putting my thermals on their sweaty, putrid skin, and frolicking around with any other surprises my mom had for me. But Alla took me to the post office to see if she could help me figure out what was going on. First of all, it must be in the job description of a postal worker that you must have the "I hate the world" face on at all times. "You must forget all happiness and merriment. Your life is now a dismal void of tragedy and regret. If someone smiles at you, whatever you do, DO NOT smile back. This is a ruse. All humans are retched miscreants that must pay for their utter existence!" Turns out they sent my slip to the wrong address....so don't give me the poop face. You guys are the ones trying to give my package to Vlaud, the 84 year old retired war veteran who hears voices and thinks televisions are witchcraft. But the important part is I got my package :) Oh sweet sweet victory.
And let me tell you, I am rockin those thermals
There you have it! Apologies for the lack of pictures....hope my story was enough to suffice. Until next time, Peace and Love :)
This will be a Thanksgiving to remember. Even though I wasn't with my family, I was with a group of amazing teachers. We were each other's family this year. Everyone helped make something for our exquisite feast. Our vegetarian feast that is. I guess that's what happens when your head teacher is a vegetarian. I don't eat meat, NO ONE eats meat!! Haha I actually wouldn't have cared....to each his own! It was so odd making my dishes for dinner. I felt so grown up. I had just a tiny taste of what my mom must go through. Just a bit though. Her work was mine times a thousand. In the morning I made my favorite frozen fruit salad dish (Thank you Angeline!). However, I needed some ingredients. So, just like my mom, I went to the grocery store Thanksgiving morning in a frazzled state. It was cool though. I was at the store, in Russia, it was Thanksgiving, they were playing Christmas music (all be it a dance party remix of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Russians love their remixes), it was snowing outside, it just felt like the holidays. Nothing picks up your spirit than the holidays! The whole day was fairly chaotic. Everyone trying to squeeze into our small kitchen to make their dish. Our kitchen was a clown car. I don't know how we managed to have all of us cooking in there. A Thanksgiving miracle perhaps. I thought our meal turned out quite nice. No where near our mothers' standards but we made do. We all said what we were grateful for. I spoke about ILP. I really am grateful for ILP and what it had done for me. It changed my life. The greatest thing that happened to me was the day I stumbled on a chance to go to Thailand to teach English. That got the ball rolling and look at me now! ILP is such a great program and provides an opportunity of a lifetime. I am lucky to have found it. So Happy Late Thanksgiving to you all!
Now it's time to talk about the children. I always have to throw in my stories. The other day I walked into the Level 5 classroom. These are the 11 to 14 year olds. I was greeted by Victor who graciously (mind you, he is 11) picked me right up. Nothing boosts your self esteem than being picked up by an 11 year old. Then Bogdon had to top it. He came over, picked me up and twirled me around. All I could say was, "weeee." Best greeting ever.
I haven't talked about Ludmilla much....she is the Vice Principal at the Old Kindergarten. She is very nice to us, but sometimes she can be a bit scary. And by a bit scary I mean she strikes fear into the children's eyes. I never know what she is saying when she is yelling at the kids but I like to think it's something like "Shut your little pie holes! If you keep up this behavior I will cut off each and everyone of your fingers! I will make them into a stew and force it down your throats!" And then the next second she smiles and waves at us. She IS Dr. Jackyl and Mr. Hide. I always see her as this angry, frustrated woman but then she surprised me at times, like when she mimes dancing and singing or stops on her way out from the school to pet a cat and whisper "Dosvidaniya" (goodbye in Russian). When I saw her petting that cat, I saw myself in 40 years....that is my future. Better than the old woman being swarmed by pigeons. They were her minions I am sure of it. Swirling all around her. I was waiting for them to take her up in to the sky and make them her queen. Yup. I will take being the cat lady over Queen of the Pigeons.
It's not a week in Russia if I don't have some kind of wild adventure. This one pertains to Private 1....again. I have had a crazy story on getting to this school before. And I am here to tell you yet another riveting tale of venturing to Private 1. Last week me and Jess set out early in the morning to Private 1. You know it's going to be a good day when you turn on your water first thing in the morning and it's brown. Not just a brown hue. It was poo brown. Like straight up sewage water was coming out of the faucet. Today was going to be a greeeaat day. We were teaching for Syd and Ty. Now last time one of my issues was I got on the wrong bus so this time I made sure it was the right number. Check. Before I continue, know this...this was a frigid morning. This morning made the news because the weather was so bad. Locals talked about this morning the following Monday. It set some records. That's how cold this morning was. Remember that. Because of the weather I just mentioned and because it was still dark outside I could not see out the windows of the bus, ergo, I couldn't tell when to get off. But it was okay because I just had to listen for someone to call out the name of our stop. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And the bus started to turn around. One thing led to another....yadda yadda yadda, and me and Jess wondered around in the storm for an hour. THE storm. The one everyone talked about it. We have to brave that mofo. It. Was. Freezing. The wind was making my eyes water and my tears starting freezing to my face. Me and Jess were laughing the whole time. We had no idea where we were. But alas after many trial and error, we found the school. It was a glorious moment. The chorus of angels sang from the heavens in jubilation. I was raised above the ground by their immortal powers and floated to the door. Or my legs were just numb....no one can be sure. It actually was a fun day. Me and Jess are still laughing about it. And it was worth the trouble because those kids are so stinkin cute. We blew bubbles for my lesson (it's my ace in the hole). I sanitized the straws we were using with hand sanitizer. Liza (she's about 5) put a straw in her mouth, looked at me and said "Vodka." There you have it kids. Hand sanitizer tastes like Vodka. How this 5 year old knows this.....I shall never know.
And to top it all off!! I finally got my package! My dear mother sent it a month ago. I had lost all hope. I was sure that some Russian had jacked all my goods. Chowin down on Poptarts. Enjoying the festive decorations. Putting my thermals on their sweaty, putrid skin, and frolicking around with any other surprises my mom had for me. But Alla took me to the post office to see if she could help me figure out what was going on. First of all, it must be in the job description of a postal worker that you must have the "I hate the world" face on at all times. "You must forget all happiness and merriment. Your life is now a dismal void of tragedy and regret. If someone smiles at you, whatever you do, DO NOT smile back. This is a ruse. All humans are retched miscreants that must pay for their utter existence!" Turns out they sent my slip to the wrong address....so don't give me the poop face. You guys are the ones trying to give my package to Vlaud, the 84 year old retired war veteran who hears voices and thinks televisions are witchcraft. But the important part is I got my package :) Oh sweet sweet victory.
And let me tell you, I am rockin those thermals
There you have it! Apologies for the lack of pictures....hope my story was enough to suffice. Until next time, Peace and Love :)
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