What the motherland has taught me...

Having been home for nearly a week (sorry for not updating sooner!) I've had time to think about my time in Russia, and realised that I've learnt a lot since September, so I thought I'd share with you all some valuable lessons that I learnt in my time there;

1. Vodka has so many more uses than you could possibly imagine. Used to treat about any illness (by rubbing it all over your body or adding it to tea), to keep you warm, and of course, to clean your jewellery.
2. Saying you ride a матрёшка (matryoshka = Russian doll) instead of a маршрутка (marshrutka = taxi/bus) to class everyday will not get you anywhere.
3. Learning how to open corked wine bottles - no screw tops there!
4. That it is very possible to cross the road without looking - in fact it's usually better to.
5. You don't pay when you get on a bus. Instead you do one of three things; pass your money forward when you find a seat, hand it to a conductor (only some buses), or pay when you get off.
6. That -5 can actually feel quite toasty.
7. That Russian men are just different, and their pick-up techniques are proof of that. Case and point; "Do you have a boyfriend? Yes. Does he live in Russia? No. Cool we can go out then?" Which is then followed by him showing you a picture of his young child. Interesting to say the least.
8. Russian is a very complex language, but they do have a few great shortcuts to balance it out. For example, the English language needs a word like 'можно'. The basic translation of можно is 'possible?' - a question word that can be used in practically any situation.
9. How to traverse a 3 metre wide (and deep!) hole with the help of only a wooden plank.
10. Just not to get upset when people just ignore you, are rude or shout- reminding yourself that the notion of customer services does not exist there.
11. Look, learn and follow. Classic examples being putting any shopping bags you have into a locker every time you enter a new store, or learning to cross the road.

So that's is! However, do not fret, I have a few more Russia related posts to put up before my adventure to Madrid begins!

Until next time,

Isobel

xx

Winter wonderland...

It's been snowing a lot recently, so it's been really cloudy, but when I woke up on Saturday I looked out the window and the skies were bright blue, but due to the sub-zero temperatures, a lot of the snow was still intact. I decided to take a little stroll with my camera and capture the beautiful weather whilst I had the chance. Here are a couple of the photos I took whilst out and about...

Until next time,

Isobel

xx

The last hurrah!

Group shot at BARak O'Mama - 

Incase you didn't notice, you can still smoke inside in Russia.

With less than a week left in our beloved Russia, we decided we should all go out for a 'last hurrah' on Friday night before we all go our separate ways next semester. We met at about 9pm, and after about an hour of hovering by tables, glacial service and separate tables, we managed to get two larger tables next to each other, and the cocktails began to flow. Unexpectedly, there was a great live band that performed some great Russian, Spanish, English and even Italian hits - causing different sections of the bar to break into spontaneous singing! More drinks were poured, cocktails turned into shots and before we knew it we were leaving BARak O'Mama to head to a dance club that plays latin/salsa music on a Friday night. With Sam, Grace and Kiara being the only passable salsa dancers of the group, the rest of us just bopped along and had a genuinely good time. Before I knew it, I was heading home in a semi-blizzard, into my bed and off to sleep in no time! It was a really lovely evening but somewhat bittersweet - our time here together in Russia is nearly over. This time next week I will be back home - most likely in a food coma (have I mentioned how much I miss food??) - and my wonderful Russian journey will be over. Not only will I be leaving Russian, but also leaving behind new found friends, amazing teachers and leaving friends from Bath, many of whom I will not see until September 2014. However, all good things must come to an end, and before I know it I'll be back on a plane, heading towards my new life in Madrid, with many exciting adventures ahead of me. Do not fret however, this definitely won't be my last Russian post - I have a few planned before I leave!

Until next time,

Isobel

xx

Numb fingers and love locks.

With only two weeks left in the motherland, I decided that it was time to be proactive and get onto doing the things I want to do before I leave. So yesterday, Kiara, Maria, Charlotte and I strolled down to the very same square by the river where the fireworks were held for День Города on our second weekend here - how very fitting it was. Grace had told us that people had been putting love locks (like the ones in Paris) on the railings by the river bank and we decided that it would be a nice way to commemorate our time here. So with padlock and permanent marker in hand, we braced the icy wind and headed to Адмиралтейская площадь (Admiralty Square). On the lock, we decided to write all of our names in Russian - Изобель (Isobel), Кьяра (Kiara), Шарлотта (Charlotte) and Мария (Maria), along with the date (30/11/13) and Voronezh. Due to the harsh weather conditions in Russia, I thought it would be a good idea to (very carefully) coat the writing on the lock in clear nail varnish to protect it, but my plan unfortunately backfired! No matter how carefully I dabbed the polish on, within a minute the colour from the pen would start to run. By the end, 'Maria', 'Kiara' and 'Isobel' were only just readable, but poor Charlotte's name was nothing but an inky smudge. Luckily we had taken photos of the names before hand so instead of getting upset, we decided that it was the thought that counted and went to go and attach it to the railings. There we met our second challenge. It turns out that Russian padlocks are just as inconvenient and annoying to use as everything else here. After about 10 minutes of struggling with numb red fingers, I finally got the lock attached and we all let out a sigh of relief. Then, we divided up the three keys and threw them into the river. By the time this was done, we were so cold (-4 plus wind!) that we decided that it was time to head back into town to enjoy an nice hot cup of coffee. I've been talking about doing this for a while so I'm glad that we finally got around to doing it. However, I'm slightly annoyed at myself for forgetting to take some pictures of other people's locks, but here is Grace's post about it so you can see some there. I did however get some other good photos, so here are some of the best from the day...

Walking down to the river

The church by the river

Адмиралтейская площадь / Admiralty Square

Maria writing her name

Изобель и Кьяра / Isobel & Kiara

Nail polish fail!

Воронеж, our names and 30/11/13 on our lock - if not slightly smudged!

The Voronezh River (a tributary of the Don)

Me, Kiara, Maria & Charlotte

Throwing the keys into the river

Throwing the keys into the river

Throwing the keys into the river

Group photo!

Until next time,

Isobel

xx

Russian winter is coming...

Today when I arrived home, I casually said "Как холодно сегодня!" (It's cold today!) to the guard at the door. Whilst still trying to warm up from the snow flurry and subzero temperatures (-4!) outside, I got a scary, yet familiar answer - "Да девушка, русская зима приближается!" (Yes girl, Russian winter is coming!") - the key word there being coming. It hasn't gotten above -1 today, it's been snowing for about 5 hours straight and even with gloves on I could hardly feel my hands by the time I got home, but winter is still coming - it's apparently still autumn! Granted, there hasn't been much snow and it hasn't really got down below -5 in the day, but the dryness of the cold is what kills. The wind is so sharp and icy - leaving any exposed skin burning within minutes. It's actually quite strange - it's so dry that you don't get frost here, and when it snows, the snow isn't all slushy and wet, it's powdery and almost looks fake, which means you don't get wet when it snows! Basically, cold here feels so much colder than at home - so I'm intrigued to see what -10 here will be like! Well, I've rambled enough for now, so I thought I'd treat you to some snaps taken during the last few days - enjoy!

Beautiful winter morning

Frozen puddles

Tyla and I in all our clothes!

Идёт снег! It's snowing!

Until next time,

Isobel

x

Chilly mornings and doll making...

Здравствуйте! How is everyone? The temperatures have started to drop again in Voronezh, but to be honest, I still feel like we've been a bit cheated. The lowest we've had so far is -5 degrees, which is definitely cold, but it isn't exactly Russia-cold. I really think that I would be ashamed to go back to England and only be able to boast a low of -5. Hopefully, by the looks of the forecast, we should be getting some snow next week and may even dip into minus double-digits! You may think that I'm crazy for wishing for such low temperatures - but what's the point of coming to Russia if you can't boast about surviving -18 degrees? Below are some pictures from the last week; bright winter mornings, me in my winter get-up and dark mornings (9.20am to be exact!)

On Friday, instead of out normal culture lesson, we got to go to a museum. We all met on Площадь Ленина - shivering and unsure of what laid ahead. After months in Russia, when we were lead a dodgy looking back street and then into a block of Soviet-looking flats, we were't in the slightest big fazed despite not knowing exactly where we were going. Once we reached the top of the staircase, we all (about 20 of us) were ushered into an apartment. Little did we know that we were entering the formet flat of famous singer Мария Николаевна Мордасова which has been preserved and is now also known as the Музей-квартира им. М.Н. Мордасовой (Museum-apartment of Maria Nikolaevna Mordasova). From 1943 to 1972, Maria was a soloist in the Voronezh Russian Folk Choir, then later she was part of the Voronezh Oblast Philharmonic. She was also famous for performing Russian folk music and wearing dresses like the ones below.

Once we'd been told about her life and treated (I say this loosely!) to a performance of a few of her songs, we were told that we going to be taught how to make a Russian doll with an outfit like one of Maria's with just the material provided - no scissors! The pictures below show the transition from material to a fully formed doll - I am actually quite proud of mine as I am absolutely useless at anything crafty or practical! You may be wondering why they don't have face, well there is a reason behind that but lord knows that I can't remember it!!

Meet Anastasia (Анастасия)! 

So that's a basic roundup of this week - well of everything interesting that's happened anyway! Yesterday was the 3 week mark until we go home - I'm quite excited! We realistically have only 2 weekends left so hopefully we'll find something somewhat cultural to do :)

Until next time,

Isobel

xx

Moskva Photo Diary

Hello! Like I mentioned in my last post, I was preparing to pop to Moscow for a long week with my Mum. I've put together a quick summary of out trip with a few photos of what we saw. If you're friends with me on Facebook, I have all of my photos up on there so feel free to take a look! Right, onto the photo diary...

DAY 1:

Day 1 was pretty jam-packed as we wanted to make the most of out limited time in Moscow. By 10.30 we were up and out, on our way to Красная Площадь (Red Square), which was conveniently about 5 minutes from our hotel. Luckily the weather was absolutely gorgeous (although a bit nippy!) so I got some great photos. We wandered around Red Square then I went into Lenin's Mausoleum which was surreal as you can see his embalmed body in state. I have always wanted to see him, but it was pretty scary as it felt as though he was just about to open his eyes! We then got some good photos of St. Basil's Cathedral and headed back towards the hotel as that is where we hopped onto one of those hop-on/off tour busses. In my opinion, they are the best way to see a city (especially one as large as Moscow!) as you can get your bearings and get on and off as you please for about £2-3 for 24 hours. From the bus I got some great photos and managed to see pretty much everything I wanted to.

В аэропорте Домодедово / At Domodedovo Airport (Moscow)

Большой Театр / The Bolshoi Theatre

Полиция в Москве / Police in Moscow

Музей Отечественной Войны 1812 Года / The Patriotic War of 1812 Museum

Государственный Исторический Музей / The State History Museum

Красная Площадь / Red Square

Красная Площадь / Red Square

Красная Площадь / Red Square

Собор Василия Блаженного / St. Basil's Catherdral

ГУМ / GUM Shopping Centre

Могила Неизвестного Солдата / The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Государственный Исторический Музей / The State History Museum

Государственная Дума / The State Duma (parliament)

На Красной Площади / On Red Square

Москва Река / The Moscow River

Кремль / The Kremlin

Храм Христа Спасителя / Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

DAY 2:
We weren't as lucky with the weather on day two, but luckily is was marginally warmer so my fingers didn't threaten to fall off! After a lot of confusion the day before (Moscow is NOT user friendly, even with some Russian under your belt), we were determined to visit the Kremlin. It was not immediately obvious where to enter from but after a bit of wandering (and luck) we managed to find the entrance and purchase the tickets. It was a lot different that I thought it would be inside the Kremlin - there are a few very Soviet-looking buildings, but the majority were gorgeous gold-tipped churches. I wasn't able to take any photos inside said churches, but the insides were covered with paintings and murals, and one of them (The Cathedral of the Archangel) was filled with many famous tombs including the tomb of Иван Грозный (Ivan the Terrible), his son and his grandson. They are very strict about where you walk within the grounds of the Kremlin (despite not having many signs) and we got whistled at a number of times (as did others, I may add)! We then strolled along the river and made our way back to Red Square and popped into ГУМ, a grand shopping centre (often compared to Harrods). All of the christmas decorations were up and it was quite magical. Of course we didn't buy anything other than a drink because everything was so expensive! To top off a busy weekend, we headed back to the hotel and were treated to a lovely spa treatment before having a last delicious dinner overlooking the Bolshoi Theatre and the Kremlin!

В Кремле / In the Kremlin

В Кремле / In the Kremlin

В Кремле / In the Kremlin

В Кремле / In the Kremlin

ГУМ / GUM Shopping Centre

ГУМ / GUM Shopping Centre

Вид из гостиницы / View from the hotel

Вид из гостиницы / View from the hotel

So that's it! The next morning I was back in the car back to the airport at 10am. Moscow was really great to see - even though I think I may prefer St. Petersburg. However, having learnt a lot of Soviet history and politics, it was really exciting so see all of these places that I've read about. Overall it was a lovely trip and I'm glad that I finally got to go!

Until next time,

Isobel

xx