Простите мне...

Простите мне...Forgive me blog readers. If there are still any of you out there. I have utterly neglected this blog for a while now. Seems like all my posts start that way. :)

There is so much to write home about! Let's start with Christmas. So, I decided to stay in Moscow this year instead of making the day long journey home to the other side of the world. I thought it would be a good experience to see what Christmas in Russia is all about. And plus the plane ticket costs WAY to much this year. I do regret not seeing my little brother like normal. I have never missed a Christmas at home in my life so it was a little strange.

Christmas started with Christmas eve. That day we...I actually can't remember. Those days were a blur of food eating, fun-having, and friends. Well, I do remember the evening. Those of us left in Moscow met at Starbucks that evening before heading to a Christmas Eve service which started at 11pm I think. It was an Anglican service so it was pretty traditional. It was actually kind of refreshing. We got there just as it started so we couldn't all sit together. I ended up sitting alone. It was peaceful sitting there, holding my candle, listening to the liturgy and songs. Eventually my candle burned my fingers though. :) Also during the service, the massive amount of inscence set off the smoke alarm. It went off for at least 10 minutes before they finally got it turned off. That part wasn't as peaceful. But it was over at midnight and then it was Christmas!! 9 hours ahead of my normal Christmas.

The next day started with breakfast at my apartment with a few friends. Then we headed to the apartment of the loveliest British family I will ever know. They invited all of us over to their place for present opening and a huge Christmas dinner. We were all given our own homemade stockings filled with small gifts and candy. It was...it was...(insert appropriate adjective here). I can't even think of a good word for it besides nice. It was so nice. That's just not the best word for it. But it was a great way to spend Christmas. We had a huge feast. We had traditional (British) Christmas pudding. Complete with flames. Then we had (American) egg nog which I had never tried. Then we ate (Faroese) rice pudding made by my friend, Oli who is from the Faroe Islands. If you don't know where the Faroe Islands are, it's ok. I didn't either. They are northwest of Ireland. With 18 different islands and a population of 50,ooo. Known for whaling. :) I think that's all correct. I learned a lot about it from Oli. Hopefully we will be able to visit him there in the future. (Actually we are visiting him in Copenhagen in a few weeks for spring break. Can't wait to get out of this freezing city.) Anways back to Christmas. Oli made rice pudding. It was really good. Inside the pudding is hidden an almond. Whoever is served the almond wins a small gift. A fun tradition to add to Christmas, I think. A lot like the pickle ornament game (which I never win. I was hoping to win the almond gift, but no such luck...) After the feast, we sat around and played some games. It was a very relaxing and festive Christmas. One that I will remember forever.
The next day started, again, with a big breakfast. I went to Amber's apartment and she made us french toast. We sat around all day watching youtube videos and listening to music and drinking tea. Another relaxing day. Discovery of that day: A hilarious video from Conan O'Brien about old-time baseball. I'm pretty sure this is real. You should check it out-> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x51o16_lnwcob-1864-baseball_shortfilms
That day was also Oli's last. He went back to the Faroes and is not coming back to Moscow. We had to say our first goodbye of the year. There will be more goodbyes coming. But let's not think about that until June...
The following week we (being Sarah and I) tried to see something around Moscow each day. One day we found a sculpture park. This had old statues of Stalin and Lenin. Might be the only place with Stalin statues? I think. That was a cool find. Another day we went to the Mikhail Bulgakov musuem. It was his old apartment from the Soviet Union days. It was pretty cool. I haven't read "The Master and the Margarita" yet but I am inspired to do so now. But...we did some other stuff. Obviously it didn't make that big of an impression on me because I can't really remember. :)
Then came New Year's Eve!.....It started with dinner at a Veitnamese restaurant. I kept thinking about what we were about to get ourselves into. Sarah and I decided a while back to ring in the new year in Red Square. Almost every Muskovite will tell you that it is too dangerous. People told me about all the people there and all the police. I was warned not to do it, but I knew I had to. Spend New Years in Moscow (the biggest holiday in Russia), and not go to Red Square? Not an option. So, Sarah and I made it to the center of Moscow around 10pm. Most of the streets surrounding Red Square were closed. When we exited the metro, we were able to walk down the center of the main street, right to Red Square. When we got there, we were greeted by hundreds of police. We went through two different security checkpoints but finally made it. The next two hours consisted of bitter cold. It was SO freezing. We walked around a little, but ended up playing 20 Questions to pass the time. A Russian guy with four gold front teeth decided to join us. I ended up having a conversation in Russian with him. He ended up telling me that he lost his friends and then asked us for our phone numbers. I said in Russian, "Why?? I don't speak Russian and you don't speak English?" Crazy guy. He eventually left us alone and when continued our game. On Red Square there is no counting down to the New Year like at Times Square. Instead, at 12:00, everyone counts the chimes of the big Kremlin clock. Once at 12..."HOORAH!!" "Snovim Godom!!" Happy New Year! And then the fire works started. We were right by St. Basils.
The fire works were ok. I was a little disappointed. I heard a rumor that they weren't going to be as good this year because of riots that occurred not too long before Christmas. True or not, the fireworks at Canal Park on July 4th were better. :)
The next week, Sarah and I spent 8 days at an English camp outside of Moscow. But I will save that story for the next blog. Now it's time to go teach. (Yes, I am doing this at school.)

P.s. sorry there are no pictures. they are all on facebook if you would like to see them!

Yours truly,

Kristinochka