May in Moscow is amazing. I've come to realize, living in very cold climates my whole life, that spring is so much more appreciated. It is special when you have to wait for it so long. SO long. Spring did not want to come this year. At one point, I felt like I was developing SADD. I was talking to my Russian friends about it and they thought that was a completely crazy idea. (These two friends are "psychologists," mind you.) People who develop a disorder because of the weather?? And then buy silly table lamps to shine on their faces during the coldest and darkest nights of winter?? They thought it was pretty funny. I would never invest in a fake-sun lamp to keep me happy when it's snowing...but I did start taking vitamin D.
At first when winter comes, she's a lovely time of year. She woos everyone with her slowly falling snow. You can hear the bells of Santa's sleigh and the soft singing of "Silent Night." You get to put on your newly bought winter coat and look cute with your matching scarf and mittens. You get excited about drinking hot chocolate by the frosty window as winter blankets the city with snow.
But then...4 months later...winter isn't so cozy anymore. She's a mean and nasty old woman who refuses to leave even when she knows she's not wanted. People have lost all interest in her...and yet she holds on with her cold, dead hands. And just when you think the old hoot is gone for good, she shows her face again...and again you curse at the weather man. You get sick of wearing your winter coat. It's not cute to you anymore. You feel like your scarves are slowly choking you to death. You could still go for some hot chocolate...but only because it's still so cold!
But then...finally...spring shows her beautiful face. You were waiting and waiting and even cursed her for not coming. But she slowly waltzes in as if she was never late at all. And you've forgotten why you were mad as you become mezmerized by the warmth of the sun and the hundreds of tulips.
In Moscow, spring means to long weekends. The first long weekend is Labor Day, May 1st. On Friday of this long weekend, me and a group of friends went to this amazing restaurant. It's called "In the Dark." Here, you are seated, served, and eat in complete darkness. When you get there, you first choose your meal. There is a menu with four choices: Red-sea food, green-vegetarian, blue-meat (without seafood), and white-mystery meal. There were seven people in our group. Then we went downstairs. The hostess told us to put our purses, cellphones, and even watches, in a locker. Then we all stood single-file and held onto the person in front of us. Then our waiter came. Did I tell you that all the waiters and waitresses are blind?? He led us into COMPLETE darkness. I have never been in a place so dark. Literally cannot see anything. At first your eyes play tricks on you and you almost see a fake light where light should be. It's really weird. So...our waiter lead us to our table. One by one he sat us down, showing us our chairs and napkins and silverware. Then he brought us our drinks and then our food. We ended up eating with our hands. It was really delicious. You don't really know what you're eating until you put it in your mouth. While we were eating, we could hear other people around us and we could also hear a band playing. It was a live band too because they were interacting with the people in the restaurant and asking us questions. It was such a fun experience. Definitely worth the steeper bill.
The next day I was able to help out with a youth retreat. It was at a place in Moscow called Pokrovsky Hills. I like to call this "Little America." It is just like a neighborhood in America. Everyone speaks English. There are houses and driveways and yards. There are trampolines and grills. It's so nice to visit when I'm homesick. The youth retreat was so much fun. I led the worship for the sessions. We played games. Then we had a campfire and made s'mores!!
The next day was another day 'o' fun. After church, my Russian pal, Vitaly, invited us to his place outside of Moscow to make shashlik. This is basically Russian kebabs. In America, we have cookouts and barbeques but in Russia they make shashlik. So we walked and walked from Vitaly's apartment until we found just the right place in the woods. Then he started up the little grill and we were shashliking. :) Doing stuff like this makes living so far from home worthwhile. Becoming good friends with people and doing normal things like having a picnic. It makes this place seem a little more like home than just a temporary job.
The next weekend was another three day weekend. May 9th is Victory Day. (Pictures still need to be developed.) This is when Russia celebrates their defeat of Germany in World War II. Germany signed the surrender document late on the 8th of May 1945 which would be May 9th, Moscow time. To celebrate this, every year they flex their military muscles with a massive parade on Red Square. You can watch it
HERE. It's pretty impressive. You have to be officially invited to watch it at Red Square. Us townsfolk can watch a "parade" on Tverskaya street as the tanks and trunks drive through Moscow to get to Red Square. After we watched the tanks roll by, we all went to Starlite Diner. It is a fifties-style American diner that we like to visit a couple times each year. Then we made out way to Victory Park. Here, along with hundreds and hundreds of other people, we walked around the park and watched war veterans receive flowers from strangers. All through out the city, the veterans put on their uniforms and come to local parks. Here people give them flowers and thank them for their service. It is truly a beautiful tradition.
Reversing back one day to the 8th...this was a Lord of the Rings Marathon. It was my roommate, Sarah's idea. It started at 10am. People came and went, but in the end at 11pm, there were three of us that made it through all 3 movies. I didn't really think I could do it. :) Those movies are so amazing. I would encourage you to try it some rainy day.
Well, that's all for now. I can't wait to come back to Minnesota in June. It's been way too long, don't ya know?
Today we talked about our sense of taste. I brought the kids to the lunch room and we all made cookies together. It was really fun and the children enjoyed it. After the children left, I was finishing them and the cooks came out to see them. She asked me, "What are you doing?" I told her that I was making cookies. She said, "Weird cookies." haha. I told her, "American cookies." They don't make cookies like we do in America. They don't make the dough and then make it into balls and put it on a cookie sheet. I was a little worried that they wouldn't turn out. After about 20 minutes, the children came back. The cookies were ready. The cook brought them out and said, "Are they done? I don't know if they should look like that." :) They were done and they were good. 
