Still Honeymooning...

Hello everyone. Well, I am still enjoying my 'honeymoon' stage of moving to Russia. I expect that any day now, I'll enter bona-fide, cold, hard culture shock. But, until then, I am taking advantage of every blissful day!

So I thought I'd share with you a few interesting things. These are random bits of info, so bear with the unorganized train of thought that I have.

The other day, I was thinking that it will be nice to understand what people are saying to me when they start speaking to me in Russian. I entered the metro and a lady who worked at the booth started griping at me for not turning my card right when I swiped it. So, maybe it won't be nice to understand EVERYTHING!

Volodya and Mila came over for dinner the other day. They go to the church at Shabolovskya. We met them on our survey trip about 18 months ago and have kept in contact with them through e-mail and blogs. They are a super sweet couple who have a 13 year old son. They all speak English. Volodya is Dougle's tutor for Russian. He's been trained in the same institute I am at, but to teach Russian to foreigners. Mila works with Autistic children in schools. Anyway, they decided to just speak Russian with Canaan (for the most part). So, Mila has been trying to teach Canaan how to say 'up' and 'down' in Russian. They are longer words, but he'll get them soon. These are some pictures of them as she is working with him on getting up and down from the chair. Canaan just loves them both. They are great with him, and he recognizes them now. As you can tell, they were having lots of fun together!

Fact: we've found a bookstore near our apartment. This is fun because I like to buy books- I stick to buying Canaan books since they are all in Russian. (But I read his books too- to learn some words!) It is also nice because you can buy school supplies- pencils, pens, tape, scissors, crayons, notebooks, cards, paper-clips... you get the idea... at these stores. I have been in need of tape and finally remembered the last time I was out. I searched and could only find the roll of tape, without the dispenser. I was fortunate enough to run into another store that just carried these types of office/school supplies, but they too only sold the tape (without dispenser). Ummm. Our grocery stores nearby don't have them either. I am not sure where to buy them. I am going to have to ask. For now (remember-I am still honeymooning) I think it is funny and an adventure when I can't find exactly what I need. I still have lots of patience. It will run out, but for now, figuring out life here is just an exciting mystery waiting to unfold before me!

Change of topic- In my class, we were learning the words for the seasons and months. We were looking at the pictures in the book and I was surprised to find the Russian version of the seasons. No, seasons don't look the same in all the pictures around the world. If you click on the picture- I think it will enlarge for you, so you can get a better look. Look at numbers 2 and 4. They both have snow in them! Apparently, there is still snow on the ground in March and April. Though it is often gone by May, it sometimes snows in May. Now you know. The little pictures we have to distinguish the seasons are not the same worldwide! No buds on the trees in the Spring pictures here: the snow has not yet melted completely! However, we've been informed that the weather we've had (the high on most days hovers right below freezing) is very ABNORMAL! They say that the temperatures we are experiencing are those of March and April. So, now we all know!

Another thing about the language: Russian is just full of INCREDIBLY LONG, DIFFICULT TO PRONOUNCE WORDS! Yes. It takes several times of hearing and repeating before I can get some right. And then the next day when I go to class, I am already pronouncing it wrong again. However, I learned that after 3-4 days of hearing and practicing the same, long word, the pronunciation will finally stick. (For Example: здрабстбуите- hello- or познакомимця-a word you say when you are politely introducing yourself.) When I get it down, this new word joins the other random vocabulary words that I have learned, but not quite got down the meaning to. They are all floating around in my head, popping up at strange times. Every-once-in-a-while, I will suddenly think of one of these words and have NO IDEA what it means! So, I then ask Dougle. Most of the time he knows. Sometimes, I have to look it up in our handy Russian-English dictionary. How does that Russian alphabet go? A, B, V, G... oh, yeah. That is hard too. Many of the letters are not in the English order. So, looking up words can be difficult too. But, it gets easier everyday. I am finally learning that what looks like 'C' is actually an 'S' and you find it toward the end of the alphabet- not at the beginning!

Okay, that is all for now. Hope you enjoyed my random thoughts for the day. We love you all!