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.