"Does everyone in America have white teeth like yours?"

Yesterday, the group went to Selet, a Tatar summer camp for kids (ages 6-17ish). It was very entertaining, a tad overwhelming. .. and a little dirty ( I don't think this camp would pass American cleanliness standards..)

We were welcomed with a huge round of applause and were asked to introduce ourselves and say what state we're from. Of course California and New York got the loudest round of applause... I guess Tatar children aren't too familiar with the Tundra that is Minnesota.. I received some polite clapping at best. They split the kids into 3 groups, and each group had 25 minutes to ask us any question they wanted. (25 minutes is a LONG time to ask questions...)

My favorite questions were:
"Do you eat McDonalds here?"
"Are Russian people really different from American people?" (...Yes)
"Do you love Obama?"
"How do you like our vodka?" (the child that asked this question was no more than 10)
After a discussion of Twilight: "Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?" (congrats Twilight stars, you know you've made it when the children of Camp Selet, Tatarstan, know who you are and love your movies)
And my favorite: "Does everyone in America have white teeth like yours?"

After the each group, several of the kids wanted pictures with us. One even asked for my friend to sign his shirt! We were treated like celebrities... a little weird.

AND I made a new friend. Unfortunately I can't remember his name, but he is 9 years old and loves mermaids. He told me all of Ariel's sister's names by heart, and apparently all of them start with "A". He wants to be an oceanographer and randomly knows how to say "jellyfish" in english. He is fluent in both Russian and Tatar, and his English is better than my Russian... He also recited to me a Pushkin poem (by heart) about mermaids. I wish I could adopt him, but I'm only 21 and I think he has parents....




Some more pictures of my blissful 7 hours at Camp Selet:


Playing with the hose is a camp favorite at your local Camp Selet. ...


The lovely cafeteria...


My new friend!

Pretty fun time overall! Hope all is well in the States!

Not Your Average Bowl of Borsch

These past couple of weekends in Kazan have been really... weird.

First, a couple of weekends ago we were invited to my host dad's parents house for dinner. Excited to get out of the city for a bit, we headed to the "suburbs" of Kazan. Upon entry of their apartment, the grandfather said: "Oh! Foreigners!" and proceeded to kiss my hand. My host sisters, roommate, host mom, and myself crowded into the living room to enjoy some borsch that had some weird beans in it/ odd looking chicken. I tried paying attention to the conversation that was going on but it went back and forth between Russian and Tatar and my poor little brain just couldn't handle it so I resorted to watched some weird Russian game show on tv.

Secondly, this weekend Tatarstan held a festival called Sabantui. Apparently it has been celebrated for centuries... so of course we had to go to experience this celebration where people climb poles, wrestle with pillows, and do egg races...Sounded to me like it was going to be field day in the 5th grade all over again.

Oh but it was sooo much more than that.

But of course to keep the suspense going, we had to make a side trip to a museum of a famous Tatar Poet, Gabdula Tukai. He was supposedly the "Pushkin of Tatarstan." The museum tour wasn't the interesting part... the interesting part was when 2 MEN WITH NO PANTS ON came into the museum to ask our tour guide a question. Just when I thought I had seen it all. I guess I had a look on my face because one of the pantless men looked at me as if to say "what, haven't you seen a pantless man in a museum before?" Well the answer to that pantless man is no, I have not.

Me with Gabdula Tukai:



Finally we arrived to the festival. Immediately I felt as if I was in some wacky 80's music video gone-wrong. Crazy outfits (that far surpassed the Russian "tacky" norm)... weird dancing, men climbing on poles, people throwing pillows at eachother... the list goes on. My friend convinced me to do the egg race--(where you put an egg on a spoon and put the spoon in your mouth and run until the egg drops).. Well the person who was running the game figured out we were American (what gave us away?was it my Scooby-Doo t-shirt? Or my friend's college apparel? Or maybe our sneakers?) Anyway he started shouting "America! America! America! oooh the Americans are going to play our game! America!"

As soon as I put the spoon in my mouth I knew it was a bad idea. It was...slimy. Ick. But I came in third and won a fan:

Totally worth it...

I was happy to make it out of that place alive... our 3 hours spent there was 2 hours and 50 minutes too many. But I'm glad I got to experience it.

On another note: My host mom went on a 10-minute tirade about how I don't eat enough food. Just as I was putting my dirty plate in the sink she grabbed another plate out of the cabinet and put more food on it. ТЫ ПЛОХО КУШАЕШЬ МАША!! (YOU EAT BADLY MASHA!) I had to finish the food before I was allowed to leave.

... I don't know how many more overly-buttered potatoes I can eat. I guess I'll have to start doing the flush-it-down-the-toilet-when-she's-not-looking routine again.

Hope all is well in the States and that you're staying out of the heat!

Kazan!

You haven't gotten rid of me just yet! After a blissful 7 days at home, I have returned to the Motherland- this time to Kazan, which is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan and home to the Tatar people.

Before coming to Russia, I had no idea that Tatarstan existed (shame on me, I know).. but now that I'm here I've learned that it is the 3rd capital of Russia, and home to many different cultures and religions. Like I said, it is a republic, and thus has its own flag, and not one, but 2 official languages: Tatar and Russian. From the time of 500-700 AD, Volga Bulgaria (not to be confused with the Eastern European country Bulgaria) had an influx of Turkish people, which explains the appearance of the Tatar people. Tatarstan used to be Volga Bulgaria until the Mongol invasion of 1230, where the inhabitants accepted the name of Tatarstan. And lastly in the 1500s Kazan was conquered by Ivan the Terrible, making Tatarstan become part of Russia.

Another interesting fact... since the Tatar people are descendant of Turkish people, many Tatars are Muslim (Sunni)... 54% of Tatarstan is Muslim, the rest Christian (mostly). The two religions exist peacefully and as I'm told there are never really any problems between the two.

Whew! I'm living with a host family once again- a Muslim family of a mother, father, and 2 daughters. They are very welcoming and are already teaching me several phrases in Tatar! Besides the air mattress and sometimes overly exotic food, everything is quite comfortable.

Enough of my rambling, here are some pics:


Qolsharif Mosque


The Kremlin


My Host Family!

First thing my new host mom said to me: (literally, as I was walking through the door for the first time) "My, you have big feet!"

MOSCOW for Victory Day (День Победы)

According to good ol' Wikipedia, Victory day is: The Soviet Victory Day[1] or May 9 marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War (also known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states). It was first inaugurated in the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the surrender document late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (9 May by Moscow Time).

Victory is probably the biggest holiday here next to New Year's. You've probably seen the HUGE parade that occurs on Red Square every year that basically showcases Russia's military power.... in an absolutely over -the -top fashion.

Obviously a couple friends and myself wanted to head to Moscow to experience this crazy day first hand.

A little summary of events:

-Our eight hour train ride to Moscow from Petersburg was great. Train was clean, bathroom had toilet paper AND hand-towels ( I know, insane), and besides the unidentifiable red stain I found on the sheets that were given to me , everything went smoothly.
-We arrived in Moscow around 630am, which was great... we were able to figure out the insane Moscow Metro when it wasn't so crowded. Although later it looked like this:



-After visiting Tolstoy's Moscow estate (which had all of his old things almost exactly as they were left), we visited the famous Novodevichy Cemetery, where people such as Yeltsin, Krushchev, Bulgokov, Gogol, Checkov, etc were buried. For a cemetery, it was pretty lively.

-Went to STARBUCKS on Старый Арбат, where I payed for an overly-priced chai tea latte. The 190 rubles was worth it to feel like I was in America for 20 minutes.


My Starbucks cup says "Masha"



- Aaaand after this we decided to check into our hostel to take a little nap... no I'm just kidding. The hostel didn't "receive" our reservation. Uhhh.. Even after we showed the hostel lady our confirmation number that was sent to us through Hostel International she said :" Well, even though you have a number, we don't use Hostel International here. And anyway, theres no space"..Yay! But no fear, we found another hostel next to Старый Арбат so all ended well. The new hostel had a naked baby running around and some Russian teenage boy kept hanging out in our room while we were trying to nap... BUT the place had real beds so I was happy.

-The next day I woke up with a wicked cold but I'm a champion so we left the hostel around 8 to try and see the parade. Everything was closed but we did see the flyover:




-After a lot of walking around we went to see if Red Square was opened (it had been closed for the parade). It finally was! We had to go through 4 security check points- which, sorry Russia, weren't very effective-- glancing into a bag for 3 secs isn't really... "security".

It was a lot smaller than I expected, and full of people waving Soviet Flags...

Anyway here's a pic of me in front of the gorgeous St. Basil's Cathedral:


All in all it was a great trip and I definitely want to go back!


For further enjoyment:

Nastya beat me over the head with an umbrella today. She stopped right before her mom came by the room and gave her mom a big grin. The mom walked away smiling at the fact that the two of us were "getting along".

Sochi! "Открой Новые Возможности"

Finally after a few months of cold St. Pete, the study abroad group headed south for some much needed sun. Sochi, for those of you who don't know, is going to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics. While my time in Sochi was a blast, the collective 98 odd hours I spent on the train there and back were even more interesting. I'll explain:

The train, as you can see, has coupees on one side, and regular beds-that-turn-into-tables on the other. Each bed thingy is a bunk so there's another bed on top. (I'm finding this hard to explain for some reason...hope the picture helps). I've never seen anything quite like it. It was a 2 day train ride there, and 2 days back. The first night we boarded around 8pm, and all was well until lights out. Around 3am, when the train stopped in Moscow, more people boarded. I was unwilling taken out of my REM cycle when an obnoxious молодой человек started to put random things on my bed. I sat up in my half-asleep stupor and said:

Me: "Ну..это ваш пакет?" Well is this your bag?
"Нет, девушка, это ваш пакет"No, girl, this is your bag.
"Нет, это не мой пакет" No, this isn't my bag.

He sighed and grumpily put it somewhere else. Then he dropped his train ticket on my face.

After that I figured since I was awake I might as well go to the bathroom. On my way there my face hit about a dozen dangling feet... (the beds are not long enough for the average person) and поэтому I woke a bunch of people up. And then my face smelt like foot.

If that wasn't enough, the next day, I'm sitting on my little bed-table-thingy, minding my own business, when out of NO WHERE a FISH falls on my face!! An entire fish. Tail, eyes and all. I screamed and caught the attention of pretty much the entire train, and realized it was my obnoxious bunkmate's lunch. I threw it back on his bed while he was napping. Then he knocked his cookies down on my bed. Then his passport fell. This is when I found out he's apart of the Moscow Circus. Figures.

After the 47 hours finally ended, we arrived in Sochi. In case you were wondering, this is what I look like after a 2 day train ride:


Gross.



ANYWAY now for the point of the blog: Sochi.

Excursion one: Visited a tea plantation. One of the first in Russia (If I heard correctly) Got to sample some awesome tea and other nummy treats:


Excursion two: A hike up a beautiful mountain. Became one with nature and saw a waterfall:


Excursion 3: Another hike. I believe the top was called Axyn. You could see Abxazia from the top:

Before the climb (Notice teeeny building):


After the climb (view from said teeeny building) :

I'd say the view was worth it. Even if I couldn't feel my legs.

Excursion 4: Krasnaya Polyana!! This is where the olympics will be held. Went on an hour ski lift ride to the top of a mountain:

Was chilly at the top but the view was incredible!

Last excursion: Went to a trout farm. Was so underwhelming I'm not even going to write about it.

All in all it was a great trip! They have a lot of work to do for the Olympics but I think they'll pull it off. It's a beautiful place!

Next trip: Moscow! Stay tuned!

Soviet Fun House

....More officially known as the Museum of Political history, where my friends and I spent our Saturday afternoon. Appropriately decorated in several shades of red, this museum further educated me on the Soviet Union (and other parts of history, but mostly the USSR). I already know a fair amount about it, but seeing all of the historical items right in front of me made it that much more real and disturbing.


The thing I found most interesting was the propaganda used during that time to make all the citizens of the USSR submissive:

Check out this tidbit of info:

"The Communist Structure is the best friend of the children"


"Тhere are two parties in Russia. The communists and their enemies"


Roughly: "Joyful, colorful childhood-a happy strong family!" (Notice baby waving Soviet Flag)

Well, you get the drift. I felt like I was being brainwashed the whole time I was in there. Here's my best Soviet citizen Impression:

Funny.

Anyway, the next day my babushka asked me what I had done yesterday. I told her I went to the Museum of Political History. Conversation is as follows (mind you, this is in Russian):

Babu: "And what did you learn, Masha?"
Me:" A lot about the Soviet Union."
Babu: "What about it?"
Me: "Oh a lot of bad things. Stuff Stalin did. I don't know how to say it in Russian."
Babu: "Well, Stalin did a lot of things correctly."
Me: "Um. He also did a lot of things incorrectly." (Trying to contain my sarcasm, which thankfully doesn't translate into Russian)
Semi-mean stare from Babu. The conversation ended there.

I find it amazing that so many people here still revere Stalin. Example: For victory day coming up in a couple weeks, Stalin's mug will grace all of the buses that thousands of people ride everyday. Awesome! (Here is where my sarcasm definitely translates)

In other, more uplifting news, our long trip is coming up! This sunday all of the ACTR kids, including the Moscow and Vladimir groups, are going to SOCHI. (Place of the 2014 winter olympics!) If we all don't kill each other on the 47-hour train ride, it should be a great trip. 2 days to get there, 5 days there, and 2 days back. Please pray that I don't go crazy on the train.

Trip Down Memory Lane- Russian Edition

This week I felt like I was 5 years old again. It was like taking a twisted, Russian-style trip down memory lane.

First at bat was the trip to the open-market my teacher took us to. Yes, the same teacher that threw us out into the street to practice asking for directions, except this time she wanted us to practice buying food. (Like I haven't figured that out by now). I thought it would be cake, until she stopped us in front of the market and said: "Ok children, most of these vendors are from southern Russia and are pretty aggressive". Uh...


So my classmates and I walked inside and it was then I realized I wanted to stay by my teacher's side at all costs- just like a child who doesn't want to get lost in the grocery store. Overly-enthusiastic food vendors were getting right in my face asking me if I wanted to buy some fresh-something-or-other, and when I didn't respond they figured I MUST be foreign and started shouting things like "Mademoiselle! food, very good..its a very good!" "Senorita! try good very food!"

Needless to say I scouted out all the old women to buy whatever vegetable I was told to buy. Things started to calm down until I saw a DEAD PIG in a case next to the fish tank full of nasty fish that were waiting for their turn to die. It was then that I lost my teacher and was surrounded by fish, dead pigs, and aggressive food vendors. I had a minor panic attack until I found the chocolate section. NOM NOM NOM.

Next at bat- went to the coolest toy museum EVER with the same teacher for my culture class. Walking around the museum looking all googly- eyed at the hand crafted toys definitely made me feel like a kid. And Auntie Pam, I got you the coolest present ever from the toy museum!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least.. I finally went to the CIRCUS! It was probably the best 2 hours of my life- replete with elephants, leopards, bears on bikes, chair-climbing men, tight-rope walkers, more elephants, and goat-men.

I don't remember what the American-circus is like, and if this is just a general circus-trait, but this circus was a tad sexual! Girl-on-girl making out, lots of groping, little to no clothing, etc. Little odd considering the place was full of children.

Sexual overtones aside, it was one of the coolest things I've seen in Peter! And eating overly sweet marshmallow things while watching a circus definitely made me feel like I was 5 years old again.

PICS.







I kind of felt bad for this bear. WHERE IS P.E.T.A!??!

Hope all is well!