Life in Russia, So Far
Hello Fellow Americans,
How are things back home? Today, I met my new host family. They are so sweet! I love them already. I am sleeping in the little girl, Liza’s room. My family bought me a couch bed, but it isn’t here yet. Until it arrives, I will be sleeping in Liza’s bed, and she will be sleeping with her mom. Their apartment is rather large, by American and Russian standards. They have two pianos and a keyboard…they also have massive flat screens in the kitchen and bedrooms. Liza’s room is bigger than my room at home- and she’s 10 years old, so there’s that.
Monday and Tuesday was spent preparing the classrooms and our lessons. On Tuesday, we went to one of the schools to eat lunch, and I wanted to vomit. Two words for you: fish soup. I pray that you never eat it. I saw a pot of soup that looked like a potato soup. I thought, hey why not? I scooped a bowl full of soup…that is when I saw the chunks. Fish chunks to be exact. Imagine 2×2 inch chunks of fish thrown into a chicken broth with some potato strips in it. It was too late for me to take it back. I had to try the fish soup. The soup tasted like slimy pond water and smelled like my hands after a long day of fishing. Soup should not taste that way. Ever.
Later that night, my host mom pulled out a whole fish that she bought at the market. It was cold and mildly cooked. She put it on a plate and ate it just like that. She then told me to eat it. Here’s the deal, I am not opposed to fish. I like some fish. Give me a plate of salmon, and I’m a happy camper. This was not salmon though. This was a fish from a pond…and it was staring at me. I stuck the fish in my mouth, struggling to keep it down. Gag reflex flaring up. Chew, chew, crunch. Bones. So many bones! I struggled to pull the sharp little fish bones out of my teeth. I swallowed (probably with a mouthful of bones), and forced a half-smile. I do NOT like Russian fish. This fish also is probably covered in radiation from Chernobyl. I really hope the radiation poisoning gives me cool superpowers and not cancer. Telepathy would be nice…okay, I better stop before I geek out too much on this post. Moving on…
First Day of Teaching
Wednesday was my first day of teaching, and it was a mess. My students are CRAZY! There are a few kids who genuinely want to be there and learn the language. The rest of the kids hate English, hate me and hate school. One of my kids broke a desk; if that says anything about the caliber of children I’m working with here. I hate that student. Maybe that sounds harsh, but right now, I hate him. My lesson went well for a little while, but then the kids got bored with learning. Honestly, I don’t blame the poor kids. They are at school from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. I would be in a crappy mood too, if I was stuck in a classroom for that long!
Today was much easier! I taught some little kiddos today. They are very smart and want to learn more. My lesson went pretty smoothly. It’s funny that the class I was most worried about was the easy one, and the one I was excited about turned out pretty rough. I know that things will get better as time goes on, but for now, I am stressed.
Oh, fun fact: Thursday at the school is fish day. Yes, I had to eat fish again. Today it looked like it had been thrown into a meat grinder, eaten, digested, and crapped back out. It smelled that way too. Actually, all the meat at the schools is like that. The fish just has an extra pungent scent! I’ve decided that I am eating out or packing a lunch on Thursdays. I will not eat that disgusting fish anymore.
The first weekend in September is Moscow City Day in Russia. It is celebrated everywhere in Russia. Our local coordinator, Gulya said it is sunny every year on that day. She explained that the Russians take airplanes out, and spray heaven knows what into the atmosphere to get rid of the clouds and make it sunny. Gulya said, “It’s bad for the environment, but why wouldn’t you do it? I think it rains somewhere else after they do it.” Evidently, the Russian people see nothing wrong with spraying some crazy stuff across the nation. Once again, if that spray alters my DNA, I want superpowers instead of some negative health stuff. I will keep you updated on how this weekend goes. There is going to be stuff going on all over Russia!
Oh, my host mom is in Spain until Monday night, because why not? I think she has a work thing, but it’s funny to me that she just up and leaves for random countries all the time.
The Russian people seem to have a serious misconception that Americans need 10 pounds of food at every meal. I am going to explode! Everyone keeps trying to make me eat more and more food. I tell them that I’m full, and it doesn’t stop them. “Eat more. Eat more.” The food is great…usually, but I just can’t eat that much. I like to eat small amounts throughout the day, not big portions at one shot. It’s going to take some getting used to.
Oh, everyone here has the plague, I think. A few people on my trip are sick, and tons of little kids are sick. Not just a little cough or cold, we are talking about people throwing up all over the place. Hand sanitizer has been my BFF. I use it all day long…especially since the bathrooms rarely have soap. I refuse to get sick. I will not! *knock on wood*
On a side note, I am dying from mosquito bites! My host fam keeps the windows (with no screens) open at night. That means that all of the evil little bloodsuckers buzz around my room at night. I will be lying in bed and hear them buzzing around. I have seven mosquito bites on my face. They look like zits. I am not happy about that. My arms are torn up from those little demons! I did not expect mosquitos in the fall, especially in Russia! I’m almost looking forward to it getting colder, just so the little monsters hibernate and I won’t be itchy!
Well, I think that about sums it up! Things are going pretty well, overall. I still love it here.
Love you all!
Until next time,
Madison
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