INTERNET!!!!

I have great news!  We finally got the internet fixed!!

Not that internet is the best news in the world... but it's nice to have.  You should have heard us last night... "I've given up on the internet." "Yeah, it's good to not be distracted by the internet all the time." 

And what do ya know, we got somebody to fix it today.

So in other news, the weather has been crazy.  Last week was fantastic!!  It was warm, a little sunny, and perfect for walks.  On Saturday it got up into the 70s!  Then Sunday, it rained.  Then today, Monday, it snowed... which of course turned into slush since the warm ground wasn't ready to handle it.  

So remember how I said Saturday was in the 70s?  Well, it also happened to be the day that we took a trip up into the mountains for a chicken shashlik (which is similar to a shishkabob) cookout.  A bunch of our american friends came as well.  We piled in 2 vans and 2 cars to take the 45 minute drive up there.  Upon our glorious arrival, we jumped out, and hurried into a flat open space for an epic game of Ultimate Frisbee.  I've never been so happy to run.  Some of the guys set up a really cool zip line too, which inspired me to finally bring out my GoPro camera.  It was a great day.  But, we had to rush back to the city for an english club spring party.  Jessica got to share part of her life story with the Russians.  I think it went very well.  Then we hurried home to make Mexican burritos for dinner (how many people can say they've eaten Mexican food in Russia?  exactly).  

I've been enjoying spending time with our local friends at english club.  It's been so good and I have a feeling the next three or four weeks are about to get really good.  

Keep us in memory.  

Stand firm and press forward.

I love you all!!  Bye!

Mountains Everywhere!

Wow.  The mountains here are mind-blowing!

Our friend drove us up into the mountains this week.  There was over a foot of fresh snow on the ground.  And what made the day even more beautiful was the sun.  The previous 3 weeks' skies have been gray and slightly ominous.  But this week there was a lot more blue and some much needed sunlight.  Here's some photos... prepare to be mind-blown. (photo and editing credit goes to Jessica)

We also got see the outdoor climbing wall that we will be using soon... since the weather is warming up.  Here's a picture of the awesome walls we'll be scaling:

It's a lot bigger than what it looks like in this picture...

After seeing the climbing wall, we drove down to a popular tourist sight.  It's this really lovely waterfall... which has a name that has sadly escaped my memory.  Anyway, it's so cool because most of the waterfall is frozen on the rocks.  Check it out:

Oh, and we met some ladies selling their handmade socks/mittens/scarves/etc.  I bought some... They're made of goat hair I think.  Pretty cool.

You know what's crazy?  It snowed and got up to 60F all in one week!  So there were a couple really clear, warm days this week that were perfect for taking walks.  Jessica and I took a few walks together to look for pretty views of the mountains and adorable stray dogs.  Haha.  Taking walks seems to be the thing to do around here.  You can ask any local here what they like to do for fun, and taking walks is always on their list.  

Well, I guess that's all I have for you this week.  Keep us in memory!  Continue to press forward and stand firm.  I love and miss you all!  

Food Adventures...

Hey friends and family!!  

The internet is still not fixed, but today I’m at a friend’s house.  

This week has been very good.  We worked out, made a bunch of Nutella cookies (that didn’t bake very well I’m afraid), built our relationship with our friends, learned some more about the culture, and got better at speaking Russian.    

I was going to post a couple short video clips, but they don't seem to be uploading.  

The stray dogs here are everywhere!  Many of them are dirty and probably not sanitary to pet.  But there's so many adorable ones hanging around.  Here’s one of the puppies.  If I lived here, I might have just taken it home...

The other day, Joanna and I took a long refreshing walk around the park.  It was a lovely fog-filled day.  Yeah, we couldn’t see 40ft in front of us.  It gets unbelievably foggy here some days.  Here’s some pictures of the fog...

Have you ever heard of Pelmeni??  It’s my favorite Russian food.  Pelmeni are dumplings, each one filled with meat.  And they taste very good with a little sour cream to dip them in.  And yes, I have a picture of this too:

Story Time:  So Joanna and I were on our way back from a nice foggy walk, when we spotted a shwarma place near our apartment.  We love shwarma, so naturally we bought some and took it back to the apartment to eat it.  For about the first 5 minutes, it tasted fantastic in all it's greasy saltiness.  But halfway through eating it, my stomach started to get nervous.  I took a couple more bites then decided I couldn't eat any more.  Joanna felt the same way.  After our interesting lunch experience, we could only lay on the couch and watch a movie... we are NEVER eating at that shwarma place again.  

Well that's about all I have for you today.  

I'll talk to later!  

P.S.  Hopefully we'll be rock climbing soon.  There's a wall being built at the institute that we help with.  We hope to bring our new friends to the rock wall when it's finished.  Keep that in mind when you're thinking of us.  

I love and miss you all!  Stay strong and press forward.

no internet...

Well... it seems that there is still no working internet at our apartment.  I didn't get a chance to write my weekly post on Sunday, so I'm writing you all now.  But, I'm sorry to say, I don't have much time to write.  I have to go help out at an english class soon.

Last week we got to go bowling with some friends.  IT WAS FANTASTIC.
1.  Bowling here is somehow easier than in the states... so I got an abnormally good score.
2.  We got to have some really good conversations with them. ;)
3.  They want to hang out again sometime!

I feel horrible that I don't even have any new pictures to give you... but I promise that next week I will load my new post with pictures, stories, and maybe even a video.

I love you and miss you all!!

Keep standing firm and pressing forward.

Pancakes & New Friends

This week we did so much!  We visited a couple english classes and got to know some of the students. It's helpful for them because they can practice their english with us.  The same thing goes for the english club that happens a few times a week.  We've made several new friends.  One of them even invited us to go bowling this week!  Hopefully we will become good friends with her (as well as exchange some english for russian).  

Something else we've been doing every week is going to a gym... which looks more like a really big garage with workout equipment in it.  We go a couple times a week.  The first couple times we joined our friend's Zumba classes.  Fun stuff.  But, we decided to come up with some of our own (more intense) workouts.  We gotta get in shape for rock-climbing some how.  And YES! we will be starting rockclimbing soon hopefully.  A rockwall is being built at one of the university campuses.  And once it's warm enough, we can start climbing outside!  

Story time... 

I decided to try making some buckwheat pancakes on Saturday.  Turns out, buckwheat is not like flour.   So to make the batter more fluid, I added cream... and more cream... and more cream.  The batter dried up way too fast and looked more like biscuit batter when I plopped a scoop of it on the pan.  In conclusion, they ended up looking like this:  

It tasted very rich and creamy, I must say.

I want to write a bunch of stories about this week, but I don't have much time.  The internet at our apartment has been down since Wednesday.  I'm at a friend's house right now.  

Next week I'll put up some pictures of the mountains!  They're beautiful.

Some things to Remember for us:

- we will soon be spending more time with our new local friends.  I'm so excited!  Hopefully we will have some good conversations. 

- I know I'm not very bold.  Boldness is something I need to work on.  When given the opportunities to spend time or talk with our new friends, I need to make the most of those opportunities.

That's all for now!

Thanks for remembering us!

Love you all!

Drinking Nutella...

Here's a picture of me and Joanna for your enjoyment...  drinking chocolate (what we call Nutella) doesn't really work apparently.  But we tried.

Haha, so I almost forgot to write a post today...  I'm a little sick, and so are the other girls.  It's just being passed around town I guess.

Anyway, it's been a slow yet relaxing week.  We visited the university that we'll be helping at (english class).  We visited the market which has pretty much anything and everything, from clothing and electronics to fresh meat and candy.  We visited the nearby mall, which is still decorated with New Years decor, weirdly enough.  

We also were invited to each of our friends' apartments this week.  So we got to play games (Settlers of Katan is a new favorite of mine), hang out, and I think I've successfully befriended all the little kids they have.  I've played doll house, pillow fight, and princesses, in three different homes.  It's funny how I've gone straight to playing with the kids at each house we've visited.  Maybe it's because I miss playing with my younger siblings...  good times.

You'll be pleased to know our group of four has been getting along quite well.  Joanna and I like to take walks together.  Jessica and I like to point out all the cute dogs and cats (which are both flea-infested, probably).  And, Hannah and I enjoy playing with all the awesome little american kids.  Also, we've had a few movie nights together and some really good late night talks.  I'm excited to get to know my friends even better as the time goes by.

STORY TIME.  So a few days ago, our neighbor, who lives right above us, came to our door.  She greeted us with a plate of freshly made pastries and some candy.  So we ate the pasties (while they were hot... oh yes) and decided we should make her something as well.  So Saturday, I managed to bake a loaf of banana bread (I'm working on my cooking/baking skills... it's coming along) which came out quite tasty.  Except, our oven is kind of stupid and like to change temperatures or something.  So some of the crust was burnt.  BUT, we saved it by sneakily shaving off the burnt parts and slicing it up all pretty on a platter.  Then Joanna and I brought it up to the neighbor.  She gladly received it and invited us in for coffee.  We did our best to comunicate with the little Russian we knew.  After an interesting attempt at a conversation, we decided that the only logical thing to do was to meet again later and exchange some english for russian.  So, this story is at a cliffhanger for now, but there are sure to be exciting developments ahead!  a.k.a. friendships... :)

That's all the news I have for now...  I'm off to get a good night's rest and hopefully rid myself of a headache.  Thanks for remembering us!  

I remember and love all of you... and the great Hope we share.

Have a fantastic week!

The Ice Sled

Yeah, I bet you saw the title of this post and thought, "I HAVE to read this one."

Our last day in Moscow, we stopped by a couple ice sleds.  I guess someone pours water down a hill and it just turns into ice, creating a fun slide for the kids... and us, apparently.  So here's a little video for ya... I hope it works.

Anyway, it was good way to end our two weeks in Moscow.  But, now we have traveled down south to a small city where we will be staying for the rest of our time.  

We've been here fore only a weekend and I LOVE it.  No, it's not perfect.  People here tend to use the ground as their trash can, and it's not ideal for us ladies to be walking out at night.  But, it's warmer here, and you should see the mountains!!  I'll show you a picture or two next week hopefully.  I want to wait till the overcast sky clears up.

I'm so excited for what's ahead.  We will be able to do some rock climbing soon, to teach some english, and to spend time with some of the american friends we've met here.  Also, I love having our own apartment.  It's got plenty of kitchen space, four beds, a comfy couch and TV with DVD player.  It's much nicer than our space in Moscow... a pull out couch for a bed, a TV with a VHS player, and a very small kitchen.  Haha.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  

Dad has provided everything we need and so much more.  

Thanks for remembering us!  I love you all and think of you often.

Here's some extra pictures from Moscow:

This isn't my hat... but I had to try it on.

This is an average Moscow sidewalk... and my boots.

We found a boba place.  If you don't know what boba is... go find some and try it in a smoothie.

In Russia, I live on tea.