(no subject)
Monday October 17, 2005
Today was a good day. I’m not quite sure why. I was semi-late for school, not actually late, but I had to rush to get there, and I hate doing that. After grammar class, I went to a café and used the internet. I actually wasn’t feeling too rushed this time, which is a first in Russia. Downloaded some songs, I need to go use my mom’s friends internet, it was super fast and free (well freer than a two dollar cup of coffee which is the cheapest thing I can buy to abuse ‘free’ wireless).
I realized a few days ago that in two months I’ll be home and that in three months I’ll be at Colgate. I actually miss it, and it will be nice to see everyone after such a long absence. Of course, there will be those people that are gone second semester…
After history class, (by the way, my professor looks like Abe Lincoln. The class is tons funnier when I picture a top hat on the guy.) I went with Jen and Kaitlin to a coffee place because none of us really wanted to go home. We hung out there for an hour or so, and then I went home.
I just want to talk about the awesome food here for a moment. I don’t understand how America, a country that is made up from tons of European nationalities, has such abominable desserts. Let’s take cake. Even the plainest, cheapest cake here is 100 times better than in the states. It has good frosting (yes, I like the frosting!) and is moist and layered with something interesting (fruit, chocolate, something!) as well as being well decorated. The Americans need to get on the ball, but until then, I am going to be a dessert snob.
And let’s talk vegetables and fruit. Here they have produce stands on every corner, and they’re not just selling apples and bananas. They have figs, four types of grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, melons, I could go on. Okay, the vegetables are less exciting, but they still have several types of tomatoes, and several colors of bell peppers, and cauliflower. And everything is amazingly fresh. I could live off of the cucumbers here.
And things have awesome flavors. The juices come in every berry possible, and pomegranate and tons of berries I’ve never even heard of-raspberry juice is awesome. Why don’t they sell things like this in America? Even the from concentrate orange juice is super tasty. And ice cream flavors-Lisa, I found rum raisin, I wish I could bring it to you, as well as currant, plum, mango, crème brule.
I opened my pack of extra green apple gum that I brought with me. The smell/taste reminds me of summer; walking along Main Street countless times with Adrienne, blowing bubbles with Lisa and Emily, and general good times.
Of course when I’m out of the country Bright Eyes decides to tour in our part of the world. Yeah, I’m missing Bright Eyes, David Dondero, and Willy Mason all together in Bloomington. True, I would have been at school when they were playing there, but I would have strongly considered a road trip to the great state of Indiana. Oh well.
Laura, I never told you how the pretzel salad turned out! Guess what they have here that’s fairly awesome for it? Vanilla pretzels! But unfortunately, we couldn’t find any cool whip, so we made this whipped cream stuff from a powder (by adding milk). The salad was rather good (but not Schafer good) the night we made it, but the extra liquid did a number on the pretzels, and they were rather soggy the next day. But everyone liked it, so perhaps it will become a worldwide trend soon.
Tuesday October 18, 2005
Today was an alright day. I didn’t hit snooze at all this morning, and woke up fairly easily, which is always a good start to the day. I finally got to put money on my phone (I had 57 cents this morning) and we got out of lit class for a mini-excursion. The excursion killed our plans to go to some mega stores, but since it was half-way to my sister’s apartment, it gave me the opportunity to go see her and my nephew (woah, that’s weird).
I don’t even think I can call him a he, it’s so tiny it’s not even like a real person. Anyone remember those baby dolls that were filled with water? That’s what this guy reminds me of. True, he’s only 8 days old, but for some reason, I expected him to be a bit bigger. His name is Alexander, and in Russian, it gets shortened to Sasha. It was strange for my sister to refer to him by his name, he doesn’t even really have an identity yet.
Wednesday October 19, 2005
Today was tiring. I finally left home with enough time to make it to school, so I didn’t have to rush and that was nice. Grammar class, then an unsuccessful attempt to turn in my metro card form, then conversation class then history. I have to write a paper about anything in Russian history before 1917, any ideas anyone? Me either.
After class Anna, Jen, and I ventured to ‘Mega’ which is a big mall just outside of Moscow. I definitely wouldn’t have gone if I had known it was going to take so freaking long to get there. There is a free shuttle from the metro station, but due to tons of traffic, it took a super long time to make it there. We wandered around for a bit, bought some chocolate, and went home. And here I am. Got some homework to do, and some sleep to catch.
Indianapolis was in the Moscow Times today. Actually, just the Indianapolis colts, but I could still say that my state capital was mentioned in a newspaper halfway across the globe!
Today was a good day. I’m not quite sure why. I was semi-late for school, not actually late, but I had to rush to get there, and I hate doing that. After grammar class, I went to a café and used the internet. I actually wasn’t feeling too rushed this time, which is a first in Russia. Downloaded some songs, I need to go use my mom’s friends internet, it was super fast and free (well freer than a two dollar cup of coffee which is the cheapest thing I can buy to abuse ‘free’ wireless).
I realized a few days ago that in two months I’ll be home and that in three months I’ll be at Colgate. I actually miss it, and it will be nice to see everyone after such a long absence. Of course, there will be those people that are gone second semester…
After history class, (by the way, my professor looks like Abe Lincoln. The class is tons funnier when I picture a top hat on the guy.) I went with Jen and Kaitlin to a coffee place because none of us really wanted to go home. We hung out there for an hour or so, and then I went home.
I just want to talk about the awesome food here for a moment. I don’t understand how America, a country that is made up from tons of European nationalities, has such abominable desserts. Let’s take cake. Even the plainest, cheapest cake here is 100 times better than in the states. It has good frosting (yes, I like the frosting!) and is moist and layered with something interesting (fruit, chocolate, something!) as well as being well decorated. The Americans need to get on the ball, but until then, I am going to be a dessert snob.
And let’s talk vegetables and fruit. Here they have produce stands on every corner, and they’re not just selling apples and bananas. They have figs, four types of grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, melons, I could go on. Okay, the vegetables are less exciting, but they still have several types of tomatoes, and several colors of bell peppers, and cauliflower. And everything is amazingly fresh. I could live off of the cucumbers here.
And things have awesome flavors. The juices come in every berry possible, and pomegranate and tons of berries I’ve never even heard of-raspberry juice is awesome. Why don’t they sell things like this in America? Even the from concentrate orange juice is super tasty. And ice cream flavors-Lisa, I found rum raisin, I wish I could bring it to you, as well as currant, plum, mango, crème brule.
I opened my pack of extra green apple gum that I brought with me. The smell/taste reminds me of summer; walking along Main Street countless times with Adrienne, blowing bubbles with Lisa and Emily, and general good times.
Of course when I’m out of the country Bright Eyes decides to tour in our part of the world. Yeah, I’m missing Bright Eyes, David Dondero, and Willy Mason all together in Bloomington. True, I would have been at school when they were playing there, but I would have strongly considered a road trip to the great state of Indiana. Oh well.
Laura, I never told you how the pretzel salad turned out! Guess what they have here that’s fairly awesome for it? Vanilla pretzels! But unfortunately, we couldn’t find any cool whip, so we made this whipped cream stuff from a powder (by adding milk). The salad was rather good (but not Schafer good) the night we made it, but the extra liquid did a number on the pretzels, and they were rather soggy the next day. But everyone liked it, so perhaps it will become a worldwide trend soon.
Tuesday October 18, 2005
Today was an alright day. I didn’t hit snooze at all this morning, and woke up fairly easily, which is always a good start to the day. I finally got to put money on my phone (I had 57 cents this morning) and we got out of lit class for a mini-excursion. The excursion killed our plans to go to some mega stores, but since it was half-way to my sister’s apartment, it gave me the opportunity to go see her and my nephew (woah, that’s weird).
I don’t even think I can call him a he, it’s so tiny it’s not even like a real person. Anyone remember those baby dolls that were filled with water? That’s what this guy reminds me of. True, he’s only 8 days old, but for some reason, I expected him to be a bit bigger. His name is Alexander, and in Russian, it gets shortened to Sasha. It was strange for my sister to refer to him by his name, he doesn’t even really have an identity yet.
Wednesday October 19, 2005
Today was tiring. I finally left home with enough time to make it to school, so I didn’t have to rush and that was nice. Grammar class, then an unsuccessful attempt to turn in my metro card form, then conversation class then history. I have to write a paper about anything in Russian history before 1917, any ideas anyone? Me either.
After class Anna, Jen, and I ventured to ‘Mega’ which is a big mall just outside of Moscow. I definitely wouldn’t have gone if I had known it was going to take so freaking long to get there. There is a free shuttle from the metro station, but due to tons of traffic, it took a super long time to make it there. We wandered around for a bit, bought some chocolate, and went home. And here I am. Got some homework to do, and some sleep to catch.
Indianapolis was in the Moscow Times today. Actually, just the Indianapolis colts, but I could still say that my state capital was mentioned in a newspaper halfway across the globe!