"Теперь"

Нашла крутое место, или точнее говоря, попала туда случайно. Недалеко от театра оперы и балета находится "Теперь: частная лавочка". Надо обязатлельно ходить, если ты в Алматы! Внутри можно покупать уникальные торговы (нетипичные подарки для любимих), встретить креативных, и расслабиться в восточной алтернативной атмосфере.

В принципе этот магазин очень похоже на типичний магазин в Портландии, Беркли или в любом либеральном американском городе, но это не совсем так. Там очень милые кошки, который ходят всюду! Кажется, что вы можете выноз их домой, поскольку эти кошки раньше жили на улице и им нужен заботливый хозяйн.

Одинь из моих любимых хобби

Привет всем!

Сегодня утром встала, позавтракала и потом поехала в ClayHouse, где начинала мастер-класс по керамике в 10 часов. По-моему, керамика отличная форма арт терапии, поскольку не нужно думать о ваших проблемах в жизни и можно сосредоточиться на одном месте.

Мне так нравится быть в ClayHouse, я уже ходила 4 раза! Там все участники и учители очень приветливые и поддерживают друг друга.

Если бы я была чуть чуть богаче, я бы ходила каждую неделю. Ну все рабно, сделала абонемент для этого месяца. Посмотрим, может быть я просто по меньше погуляю в этом семестре, чтобы сэкономить денги и чаще участвовать в мастер-классах.

Рада тебя увидет...Наконец!

Мы с Мадиной познакомилась лет 5 назад по интернету. До сих пор мы не раз не в жизни видели лицом к лицу, потому что мы всегда жили в других странах. К счастью, она решила ездить в Алматы, чтобы встретить ее подругу. А сегодня мы наконец успешно гуляли вместе! Сначало сидели в кафе и балтали. Потом говорили с талентливом музыкантом в парке Панфилов! Такие необычные усы!

Ходим в театр!

Сделали домашнее здание в кафе "Неделька" с другом Ноланом. Потом пошли пешком в театр оперы и балета. Там мы с друзьями посмотрели "Лебединое озеро". После окочания шоуа, некоторые из нас встретились с баллеринами на сцене! По сравнению с стоимостью билета на балет в США, в Казахстане приблизительно 5 раз дешевле и более доступная.

Большое алматинское озеро

Честно говоря, мне было особенно скучно в эту неделю, когда мы походили по музееям с гидом. Самая хорошая экскурсия в жизни - это без гида, так как у нас было маленький перерив от этого. Мы ездили загород, чтобы увидеть этот чудесное озеро. Просто замечательно в природе.

If only the photos could tell you all of it

I'm a bit sick, but at least this gives me the time to blog. Over the weekend, I got a really cool chance to visit Niznii Novogorod with a few friends. We stayed at this very cool artsy hostel called Fabrika on Rozhdenskaya Ulitsa, which roughly translates to Christmas Street.

One of my most memorable experience there was being caught in the rain and running inside a muffin shop called "Holy Collie". The hipster atmosphere was really neat, and the folks were nice enough to help us find a cab to the Museum of Quarks. And need I say? They offer the best breakfast muffin sandwich I've ever had in my my life!

Photos of the town to come. But for now, getting ready for final presentations in Russian. Oh, and also my friends J, Y and I did a really cute photo shoot yesterday! :) I'm not in the photos, but gosh these women look lovely!

Nautilus Pompilius - Breath (Дыхание)

This is my favorite song of the week. We had an awesome lesson on Russian Rock, which covered Victor Tsoi from Kino, Nautilus Pompilius and others. The song really stuck with me, because I was trying to figure out the lyrics. 

At the most literal level, the singer is a man who is stuck in a dark room alone with his sleeping partner. The room is quickly filling up with water. There are whales wagging their tails below the water and them (И что над нами бьют хвостами киты), and it's happening all so fast. He and his girl are the only ones left alive. The man realizes the air is running out. So even if there's only a few last breathes left, he's figuring out how to "unlearn" (разучиться) how to breathe, so his loved one can live even longer. I really admire the selflessness exhibited in this song; it's really sweet.

Russian original text:

© Подбор песни: Антон Гавзов (http://Muzland.ru)

муз. Бутусов В. / сл. Кормильцев И.

Вступление: Hm | A | Hm | G  } 2 раза

D           A             Hm
Я просыпаюсь в холодном поту,
           F#               G
Я просыпаюсь в кошмарном бреду,
                 D         Em
Как будто дом наш залило водой
                       Hm
И что в живых остались только мы с тобой.

D             A            Hm
И что над нами километры воды,
             F#                G
И что над нами бьют хвостами киты,
           D                    Em
И кислорода не хватит на двоих.
              Hm
Я лежу в темноте.

Припев:
                   A
     Слушая наше дыхание,
       Hm            G
     Я слушаю наше дыхание.
       Hm                       A
     Я раньше и не думал, что у нас
           Hm                     G
     На двоих с тобой одно лишь дыхание.
       Hm
     Дыхание.

Проигрыш = Вступление

Я пытаюсь разучиться дышать,
Чтоб тебе хоть на минуту отдать
Того газа, что не умели ценить.
Но ты спишь и не знаешь...

Что над нами километры воды
И что над нами бьют хвостами киты,
И кислорода не хватит на двоих.
Я лежу в темноте.

Припев 4 раза

Weekend trip to Suzdal

Suzdal is gorgeous, historical, cozy little town is located about 35km away from Vladimir. It's about a half hour drive depending on what part of town you're coming from. I thought Vladimir had lots of churches and places of worships, but Suzdal has definitely outnumbered Vladimir in this aspect. I would recommend taking a visit, if you're visiting Russia and find yourself close to Moscow or Vladimir.

The town reminds me of a historical theme park, because it's presented to cleanly and welcoming. There are souvenir shops on every corner it seems. My friend got a good deal of six souvenir shot glasses for 180 rubles, which would mean 20 rubles each glass. That's less than 50 cents per glass. Plus, they make great presents. In addition, Suzdal offers a lot more. The town is famous for its tasty pickles and honey drinks.

We went on an excursion, from which I learned that older village churches are often built in pairs: "cold" and "warm. During the summer, people visit the "cold" church, while during the winter, people can worship in the "warm" church. What a nice concept! Our guide was explaining how moss was incorporated in the building of the warm churches to regulate the temperature. During that time, I was wondering what it was like for people who had allergies back then, but I'm guessing people didn't really deal with this problem back in the day, haha.

Anyhow, I keep wanting to apologize for the lack of details. There's just so much I want to cover, but I can't do it justice without seeing y'all in person! :) Here are just some of the photos from the beginning of the trip; my camera died in the first hour, so the rest are sitting in my phone now. Will upload later!

Thanks for reading. And hope to see y'all soon enough. :)

Happy Day of Family, Love and Belief!

Today is the Peter and Fevronia's Day, or also known as the Day of Family, Love and Belief (День семьи, любви и верности). One might mistake it for a Russian Valentine's Day, but I believe that the holiday commemorates family relationships in addition to romantic ones. In addition, other countries like the UK, Germany and Bulgaria celebrate this day.

The daisy (rubashka) symbolizes this day.

Not so far from Vladimir there's a national concert for the holiday. More precisely, the song and dance performances are in Murmon. I am watching it on Channel One right now, and am really enjoying the diverse music genres here. From rock, opera to children's songs, the music selection and the artists are really simply amazing. You can probably watch some of the program here: http://www.1tv.ru/news/social/287490

Speaking of songs and Murmon, I would also recommend the song  "On the Muromskoi Road/на муромской дорожке". It's from a romantic melodrama film, which honestly made me cry. The film focuses on two men and their stories about a lost love from long-long ago.

Less Materialism, More Fun Please

I've been a bit homesick. I love my time here, and am super blessed to be here, but I also miss my friends and family at home like crazy. And to add on to it,  I've been rather reckless with my belongings lately. I'm not sure what's with this behavior, but I know it's got to change.

First of all, I forgot my phone charger at home when I spent time in Moscow for the Fourth of July. This meant that my cellphone died and it made it rather difficult to communicate with our friends over the weekend.

Secondly, I dropped my IPhone. Normally, this would be no big deal. Unfortunately, I broke the glass on the hard cobblestone of Park Pobedi (Victory Park) in Moscow. It's still functioning, but the front camera can't take photos as well, and it's a rather aesthetically ugly item now.

Is it worth it to fix you, or should I say bye for good?

Lastly, since bad things come in threes, I also lost my monthly bus pass today. It was nice to flash that card instead of scourging for change on public transport. But now that's gone. Back to being a normal civilian.

But I jest. Looking back, these lost things mean nothing. Sure, I definitely need to be more mindful with things in my hand. However, I classify this as first-world problems. My troubles are small trifles, because these objects can be recharged, fixed and found (bought once more). I've got to get over that materialist mindset. Instead, I should spend more time just enjoying people and the settings. This is what I'm promising myself for the next five remaining weeks.

Vorovei Gori, or Sparrow Mountains Sports Complex

Free time? What Free Time?

I found myself with less and less time to blog than I would like. So I'm sacrificing details to keep things short. Hopefully, we can talk more in person. I've been posting a lot of photos of independent exploration, but I have to admit, I spend more of the day at school. As you might know, I go to class from 10am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we stay later until 4:30pm for cultural, song/dance and cooking lessons. On Saturdays, we normally have our weekly excursions, which means that most of our time is well-planned out in this program.

Our excursion for last Saturday was moved to this Monday, since the weather was quite rainy that day. Fortunately, this day was gorgeous. Here are some photos of Bogolyubovo and the wonderful nature which surrounds it.

A daring cat leaning outside the window.

Church of the Intercession, which sometimes becomes a island in the rainy season.

What a Naughty Dog!

We've all heard of the story of a dog eating a student's homework. How about a dog eating a student's shoes? At home, I usually wear tapochki, or house-shoes, as Russians call them. They're usually a bit too big. Plus, Gira the puppy usually pulls on my slippers, so I decided to wear my Californian flip-flops instead.

I was speaking with my host mother over dinner, while Gira was licking my toes. I was telling her about learning passive construction in Russian, and my plans of exercising through Zumba classes this summer. At the end of dinner, we both get up. My host mother was getting ready to take Gira out on a walk. Then I look at my feet. Low and behold, Gira bites off the straps of my flip-flops. What a cute but naughty dog, haha!

Rocking out, and Great Food

On Sunday, a couple of classmates and I tried the Georgian restaurant in town. The food was amazing and affordable. It was my first time trying a dish called Hangali, which is like a pelmini or dumpling with meat and soup inside. It's delicious, and hope we have this back in the States.

Xangali, Yummy dumplings

Shashlik, BBQ basically

Later on, I met up with other buddies near the Drama theater downtown. Apparently, about 10 mins away of walking, there's a beautiful park and hotel in town. There, some local university students hosted a rock concert! There was a nice combination of songs in Russian and English. Then the rainstorm hit. And I never want to forget how lucky I am to have such fun classmates!

Encounters with the Police

I've been warned not to talk to police officers in Russia. My friends who have been to the country told me that policemen often stop foreigners and ask for their documents. Some of the native Russians have scared me with a story about a corrupt official here and there. However, there are other folks who tell me that policemen are friendly, so I have nothing to be scared of. I have been scared in the past, because the past name of the police was "militsia", which sounds a lot like military. I have never been stopped by the police in the past two years.

However, that changed today. Luckily, my encounter was of a friendly sort. I was headed home after being drenched by a rainstorm. The umbrella I was walking under hardly helped. Little did I notice, but a group of officers in training were going my way. One of the young men walked very close to my side, and was under my umbrella for a good minute before I noticed.

I was shocked, but found it funny. The officer in training asked me where I was headed. I told him that I was going home. He jokingly replied that he would call me later tomorrow for a date. For whatever reason, he seemed friendly and didn't creep me out like some strangers on the street.

For that...I have another story to tell for another time. 

I Love Rain

We were supposed to have an excursion to a historical church today, but I think the weather got in the way. Bummer. It’s been raining quite a bit in Vladimir, and I love it. The summer rains are never too cold nor windy, although I have to admit that the weather leaves dirty puddles and watery potholes on the streets. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the heat, it would feel more like spring than summer. The plants are so green and beautiful. I haven’t seen these sort of greenery outside the East Coast. I usually joke around that California desperately needs this rain more than Russia does, since we are in a drought after all.

Not sure what I will do with the rest of the day, but I'll leave you a few photos of sunnier days.

When the rain clears up, the skies are heavenly.

One of the best Museums in the World apparently, need to visit.

Academic Theater of Drama

Down the Rabbit Hole we go!

There’s two cool hangouts in Downtown Vladimir that I should revisit over the next seven weeks: the comic books store and the anti-cafe “Rabbit Hole”. 

The former probably needs no explaining; the store is cozy, but filled with American, Japanese and Russian comics. I absolutely love it, because they also sell posters, figurines, key chains and other knick knacks there. Plus, the prices are nice since the US dollar is pretty strong compared to the ruble now. (Hope I haven’t offended anyone with the last sentence.)

Голодные игры - Anyone? Watched the first movie in Russia years ago.

The latter is a bit more nuanced. I know anti-cafes exist in Los Angeles and bigger cities in America, but my experience has only been limited to Russia. At the anti-cafe, customers enjoy unlimited drinks, snacks and game. You can also play instruments, board games or video games with your friends there. Instead of paying for the food and beverage, like at a traditional cafe, you pay per hour or minute which you spend at the location.

At the Rabbit Hole, we noticed there were plenty of laptops, free wifi, Guitar Hero and loads of board games. We spent a good hour trying to explain the instructions of Settlers of Catan in Russian and playing the game. When we ended, I was in last place, but I don’t mind so much, since it was only my second time playing. Jenga and Cards Against Humanity are closer to my strength, so I’ll look if they have these games later.

Green with Envy over the Greenery here

Jessica and I tried to buy tickets for the Academic Theater of Drama, but the place was closed for the summer. We explored the city center and dog-eared places to check out in the future. This would include a billiards place and Georgian restaurant down the street. We also walked to a huge sports stadium where folks run and play soccer.

Pigeons like to hang out near the theater too. They're not scared of people like in the States.

Georgian restaurant. Gotta check this out, the food looks delicious!

If I was better at sports, I would go here more. It feels like a great background photo for a Japanese dating sim game.

Then, we stumbled into the Patriarch’s Garden in Old Vladimir. Although the place is partially under renovation, we caught some gorgeous sights of plants and of the cityscape. The entry fee was a mere 50 rubles, or a little less than a US dollar. I’m used to free access to gardens, but the small price was completely worth it in this case! I hope others get the chance to go too. :)

The garden is much bigger than expected, since Jessica and I spent about an hour and a half walking around. I’m sure children will also enjoy it, because they have a sandbox playground there. For an additional fee, you can even see the small animal conservatory they house in the back of the garden.

As for academics, things are going well. I'm learning a lot of new vocabulary, and they are pushing us at a fair pace to strengthen our knowledge on verbs of motion. Our teachers are super supportive, fun and lovely people. We get quite a bit of homework, which cuts into time for going out and/or catching up with friends online. However, I think it will pay off in the long run. 

Film recommendation: English Vinglish

For anyone who's going abroad to specifically study a language, I would recommend watching the 2012 film "English Vinglish". It's a light comedy that touches upon some moments that foreign exchange students can often relate to, such as missing loved ones, finding confidence in oneself despite language barriers, and discovering new and exciting places. The main character is a young Indian housewife who is finding herself while spending time away from her husband/kids, preparing for her sister's wedding and attending English classes in New York. Not to give much away, but it's got a subtle Bollywood vibe without being over the top. Although both the plot and character development is considered pretty shallow, I do think it's a fun movie with upbeat music.

Here is the trailer:

Downtown Vladimir & Uspenskii Sobor

Sometimes photos do more than words, so here are some photos we took during our excursion. This Saturday we're visiting a nearby town in the historical Golden Circle, which should be super exciting. Got invited to spend time in Rostov with the host family, but I don't want to miss out on this other excursion. Was a super hard choice to make, honestly would go to both if I could. I really love my host mother, have I stressed that enough? :)