I just found this description of Russia, and it is so apt:
"Churchill's 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' remains an apt description of Russia; most outsiders have only a hazy idea of its realities. A composite of the extravagant glories of old Russia and the drab legacies of the Soviet era, it's a country that both befuddles and beguiles.
This is a land of snow and deadly winters, but also of rivers that meander across meadows and a midsummer sun that never sets. Its people, in the words of a Russian proverb, 'love to suffer', yet they also love to party and can be disarmingly generous and hospitable."
It has been a ridiculously long time since last I posted. This is due to many factors: a) I contracted a rather nasty case of Tonsilitis. (My body finally complained about all the nonstop traveling and stress) b: I have been a busy bee with all my new classes and such. I am going to be taking some mainstream classes, ecological tourism and "Management in tourism." This second is not something that I ever had considered as especially interesting, but the professor was so nice to me when I was asking questions that I became interested in spite of myself. Should be fun.
This is from our trip to Rostov. I took this picture at the monastery.
We played dress up. Best 100 rubles I ever spent. :)
We were Boyar royalty
I like how the camera is so obvious in this picture. Sort of brings the two time periods together. Hee hee. Not really.
My friend Sasha and I.This was taken after our rather epic snowball fight, and we are soaking wet in the picture.
On Sunday (tomorrow) Russia is celebrating "Maslenitsa" which is similar to our Shrove Tuesday/ Mardi Gras. There will be bonfires, and LOTS of tasty blini. I am super excited. Then Lent. I am slightly less excited about that. Apparently it is a lot more intense than our version. I may not be that hardcore.
After that, our group is heading to Sochi (southern Russia) for a week. I will make sure to keep you posted.
2 comments:
Oh man. Lots has happened.. and all in a week. Well, it's a long story. I will write you an e-mail because there are some personal things involved that I don't want to spill out all over the place. Still the same e-mail address as before?
I posted a pretty long blog entry right before that one that you commented on that will give you a head start... but I didn't go into a lot of detail there.
Things are better now. I figured it wasn't worth staying mad over and we have moved on. I will explain more in an e-mail
So as I was reading your latest blog entry the Hungarian Dance #5 by Brahms was playing - Russian sounding - and I thought it was very cool to be listening to that while looking at your dress up photos. Looks like you are having fun - but stay healthy!!!
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