Maybe we'll be back... who knows!
Saturday 29 December 2007
Going home
It was a hard decision to make. Things haven't quite worked out as we would have liked but we had still intended to stay. Then I got sick, again. I've never really settled healthwise here. I've had a lot of problems with not getting my timetable fixed quickly and not being able to get into a routine. I've also had a lot of problems with food. I've been very tired and had a lot of headaches, dizziness and nausea. I've had a stomach bug a couple of times but last week it was really horrible and I had to go to the doctor. After a lot of soul-searching we decided that my health was getting worse and was too important to ignore any more so we made the decision to leave.
We've done some amazing things here and several dreams have come true. Our trip to Hohlovka with Alex was wonderful. (Thank you Alex!) I am also fascinated by ice sculptures we've seen recently and think they are wonderful. The ballet was fabulous and we enjoyed the opera too. After 15 years I've finally started to study Russian again - granted I haven't improved much in 4 months but it's a start, something I hope to continue with wherever we end up. I have all 7 Harry Potter books to read and the five films I can watch in Russian, so that should help!!
I've also remembered just how much I love snow though I've still not been skiing or ice-skating. One of these days!
I've still got the Russia travel bug, though I'm not sure how much Rafa has. We didn't see much of Russia but were able to see a lot here in Perm - especially churches and statues plus wonderful buildings. There is still so much I want to do here and we will have to come back in the future - maybe it would be better for a holiday than for work! Or we could come back so I can learn Russian!! Rafa would still like to go to Moscow and I want to go to Tomsk and Vladivostok as well as St. Petersburg.
We've made some good friends, especially Alex, and I hope that our friendship will continue even though we are no longer here. The internet really does make this a smaller world.
And, of course, I've got some good photos - many winter ones I never would have taken elsewhere. So, I'm happy.
I hope we made a difference, if small, here. Coming to Russia has made a difference to us too - even if it's only to confirm that I have a love of Russian language and culture and need to continue with my studies. It's also made me realise that I'm not so young any longer and maybe need to settle down a bit better and get sorted. I suppose it could happen!
We've done some amazing things here and several dreams have come true. Our trip to Hohlovka with Alex was wonderful. (Thank you Alex!) I am also fascinated by ice sculptures we've seen recently and think they are wonderful. The ballet was fabulous and we enjoyed the opera too. After 15 years I've finally started to study Russian again - granted I haven't improved much in 4 months but it's a start, something I hope to continue with wherever we end up. I have all 7 Harry Potter books to read and the five films I can watch in Russian, so that should help!!
I've also remembered just how much I love snow though I've still not been skiing or ice-skating. One of these days!
I've still got the Russia travel bug, though I'm not sure how much Rafa has. We didn't see much of Russia but were able to see a lot here in Perm - especially churches and statues plus wonderful buildings. There is still so much I want to do here and we will have to come back in the future - maybe it would be better for a holiday than for work! Or we could come back so I can learn Russian!! Rafa would still like to go to Moscow and I want to go to Tomsk and Vladivostok as well as St. Petersburg.
We've made some good friends, especially Alex, and I hope that our friendship will continue even though we are no longer here. The internet really does make this a smaller world.
And, of course, I've got some good photos - many winter ones I never would have taken elsewhere. So, I'm happy.
I hope we made a difference, if small, here. Coming to Russia has made a difference to us too - even if it's only to confirm that I have a love of Russian language and culture and need to continue with my studies. It's also made me realise that I'm not so young any longer and maybe need to settle down a bit better and get sorted. I suppose it could happen!
ice sculptures fox detail
I really do love ice sculptures, and this fox is my favourite.
Bye bye Perm. We're sorry we have to go and have had a great time.
Bye bye Perm. We're sorry we have to go and have had a great time.
Monday 17 December 2007
The Nutcracker Clara wakes
Yes, it is really Christmas now – we went to see Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”. It was fabulous! We both loved it, though, I have to say the highlight of the evening wasn’t the fabulous dancing or the wonderful music; it was a little girl sitting next to us. She must have been about three years old and, near the end of the performance, she stood up and started to jump and pirouette. She was adorable!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
Saturday 1 December 2007
icicle obsession 004
This is something I was expecting! I'd not really thought about icicles but I love them! They are fabulous growing creatures. This is my favourite photo so far. Keep an eye out for more.
Monday 12 November 2007
Bridge over the Kama River
It's a little bit cold! Yesterday, when I took this photo it was 6 degrees below zero - today it's more like 10!!
Monday 29 October 2007
Swan Lake
Why Russia? Well, the music, the ballet, the books, the arts in general!
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
Monday 22 October 2007
Hohlovka 116 transfiguration church
And, of course, the buildings were amazing - this chruch was my favourite.
Hohlovka fishing
Though this fabulous view is not the main reason for visitin Hohlovka, it was certainly beautiful.
Hohlovka 065 little man
Yesterday we went to an open-air museum called Hohlovka. As you can see it’s made up of traditional wooden buildings which have been taken from various parts of the Perm Region and reconstructed on site. It’s set in beautiful forest next to the Kama River. was absolutely beautiful and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as did Alex. We were also lucky with the weather as it was about 8 degrees and didn’t rain. Hohlovka is about 40km from Perm.
I fell in love with this little guy and wanted to bring him home! There was no gift shop or anything so I couldn't even buy one. Not to worry - he'd be too big to put in my suitcase!
I fell in love with this little guy and wanted to bring him home! There was no gift shop or anything so I couldn't even buy one. Not to worry - he'd be too big to put in my suitcase!
Saturday 20 October 2007
good luck 11th Oct
This little guy lives in our flat and is for good luck (and money - that's a thousand rouble note you can see - about 500 pesos or about 12 pounds.)
blue and white
Another fabulous building - this one is on 25th October Street, near the Opera House.
Saturday walk fancy a drink 035
Yes, it's about time I explained this photo.
So, why have I taken a photo of two strangers walking along the side of the River Kama with bottles of half-drunk beer in their hands? Just because of that! It's so common to see people here in the street drinking beer - just about any time of day and any age, male or female. It came as a bit of a shock, given that it's illegal in Mexico and not that common in the UK. I've seen people here with their bottle of beer at 10am. Cultural differences. :-)
So, why have I taken a photo of two strangers walking along the side of the River Kama with bottles of half-drunk beer in their hands? Just because of that! It's so common to see people here in the street drinking beer - just about any time of day and any age, male or female. It came as a bit of a shock, given that it's illegal in Mexico and not that common in the UK. I've seen people here with their bottle of beer at 10am. Cultural differences. :-)
Friday 12 October 2007
First Russian Lesson
I had my first Russian lesson today with Alex. It was excellent and just what I needed - 45 minutes of speaking Russian. I was exhausted!! I actually thought I was going to have to cancel it as it looked like I was going to have to teach but that course doesn't start until Monday. Phew. Lesson 2 on Monday from 10.30 to 12 (and then I really am going to be tired!! but it's so worth it.) Rafa has his first class this afternoon. Fingers crossed it goes well. (He should have had it on Wed but it was cancelled.)
(Also blogged on my weekly blog.)
(Also blogged on my weekly blog.)
church
I think you might have gathered that I love Russian architecture! Isn't this just fabulous? To me this could be out of a Russian fairy-tale.
Monday 8 October 2007
blue
Yet another beautiful building! The architecture really is one of the things I love about Russia!
opera house
Isn't this a magnificent building? It's the ballet / opera house and I have to walk past it to get to work at both branches. I love it and the little park in front (with the statue of Lenin.)
Gorky and Lenin chat
There are still so many reminders of the Soviet era. No-one really talks about what went on nor all the changes. Modern Russia is looking very prosperous but we're finding it also rather expensive, if you really want to live like the prosperous! In fact, in many ways it's more expensive than Mexico but we're earning a lot less. Not to worry - it's an interesting experience!
Tuesday 2 October 2007
late autumn walk
The last day of the month has been cooler, verging on cold - just about 8°C. The wind was chilly too. Even so, we had a brief walk out this afternoon to get the blood circulating, though we didn't go very far as we were both feeling a little lazy and the wind was chilly! October started even colder than September ended and it's been a little below freezing over night and only about 5°C in the day. It's quite pleasant though. In the flat it's rather hot as the central heating has been turned on (for the whole building.) We've had the windows open to try to keep it cool rather than warm. Rafa and I seem to like the inside of our buildings a few degrees cooler than the Russians.
Sunday 30 September 2007
birthday images shi
What a great day I had for my birthday! I had lunch at Zhivago's - a theme restaurant based on Pasternak's book - one of my all-time favourites. Actually, we had lunch in the cafe as the restaurant was closed for a private function! The food was fabulous and we had a great time.
Delicious Russian vegetable soup - Shi - with a touch of sour cream. It was fabulous.
Delicious Russian vegetable soup - Shi - with a touch of sour cream. It was fabulous.
Saturday 22 September 2007
old wooden house
I love how these old houses (cabins) look but they are all being torn down as they are ancient. There's no indoor plumbing, for example! There's actually a town in Siberia (Tomsk?) where all the buildings are made of wood. I hope to go there.
building on Pushkin Street
Yet another wonderful building. Domes seem to be all the rage and very much part of Russian architecture - at least here anyway. This beautiful building is on the corner of Pushkin and Siberia Streets - just opposite Britannia's Pushkin street office. (It could do with a lick of paint though!)
pretty building
Isn't this a fabulous old building that's been done up? As I mentioned, I love the architecture here.
statue of Lenin and the opera house
And here's another statue and beautiful view!
It was a lovely day yesterday - the sun was shining and the temperature was about 15.C. On my way to work at the Lenin branch today I stopped off to take some photos of the statue of Lenin, in front of the opera house. I was surprised to see so many references to communism in Perm. Alex said that people don't really care about them and no-one can be bothered to take them down.
It was a lovely day yesterday - the sun was shining and the temperature was about 15.C. On my way to work at the Lenin branch today I stopped off to take some photos of the statue of Lenin, in front of the opera house. I was surprised to see so many references to communism in Perm. Alex said that people don't really care about them and no-one can be bothered to take them down.
nice statue
Why Russia? One of the things I love about Perm is the amount of statues and little parks. This is a statue of Pushkin (and the park is on Sibiria Street but just before you get to Pushkin Street.)
modern building
There's a huge amount of construction going on in Perm so modern buildings like this are also part of the skyline and the cityscape.
green and white mosque
Why Russia? The architecture is amazing! This beautiful mosque is about 5 mins. walk from our house. I actually thought it was a church but found out it's a mosque.
Rafa in our flat day 1
The end of the journey! We finally got to Perm about 5pm local time - 12 hours after we had intended to arrive. Alex picked us up at the airport and took us to our flat. Having had the tour, we then walked down to the local supermarket to buy essentials (water, coffee, etc.) We said goodbye to Alex and were able to relax. Finally. The sofa is very comfortable! BTW our timezone is now London +5, NYC +10, Mexico City +11, etc.
I'll now be doing a mix of blogging on my main site "My weekly blog"
http://karensaragaches.blogspot.com/
and on this one.
I'll now be doing a mix of blogging on my main site "My weekly blog"
http://karensaragaches.blogspot.com/
and on this one.
Thursday 23 August 2007
Russian invitations
The invitations finally arrived! Yeah! Rafa and I are going to work at a language school in Perm Russia for 9 months. However, to get a Russian visa you need an invitation and we had been waiting for ages! First the paperwork took forever and then the Russian Express Postal service took even longer. But they finally arrived and we took them to Mexico City yesterday. We'll have our visas on 4th Sep and then it's Russia here we come!
Project 365 photo number 049/365, 21st August 2007
Project 365 photo number 049/365, 21st August 2007
Saturday 16 June 2007
Thursday 19 April 2007
Hacemos memoria
No - wrong language! Let me try to think back to what I used to love about Russia and things Russian. Please excuse the spelling - it's hard to transliterate (which is a great excuse!)
- Russian literature - where do I start? Dr. Zhivago, of course!! I actually bought this in Russian and it is still one of my (very long-term) goals in life to read it. Then there's Dostoyevski - I especially love Crime and Punishment. I also enjoyed reading Solzhenitsyn's "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich".
- Russian music, such as 19th century nationalism (which helped me get a "B" for my music A-level,) and 20th century. Favourites include Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on the Bare Mountain), Tchaikovsky (of course!), Prokofiev and Stravinsky.
- Russian history, both tsarist and communist. (I guess I should be careful what I say here!)
- Architecture, especially the churches.
- The language - though it's a challenge to try to think like a Russian. (That said, I'm sure it's easier than Japanese!)
winter_icecream
In a time when it was still hard to buy basic food products, unless you had hard currency (we didn't like to use it!) the best food we could find was the icecream that was sold in Riga's main station. The bad news was there was only one flavour - vanilla with a slight taste of bubble gum. The great news was it tasted amazing and we had to go past the station to get from where we were staying to anywhere we wanted to go!
I wonder how much icecream we ate that winter?
(We were in Riga from September to December 1990.)
I wonder how much icecream we ate that winter?
(We were in Riga from September to December 1990.)
riga_cafe
This is the perfect example of spending the afternoon in a cafe eating icecream (and balsams.)
More icecream to follow.
More icecream to follow.
Russian soup - the recipe
I thought that I should include the recipe, just in case someone other than me is reading this blog. (Thank you - but don't you have anything better to do?)
Ingredients: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, butter, salt and pepper, water
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan.
3. Add vegetables and small amount of water with salt.
4. Boil gently (covered.)
5. When almost cooked add pepper and hot water, gently simmer to finish off.
6. Add more salt and pepper to taste as necessary.
Enjoy!
I feel a little like Tita in "Como Agua Para Chocolate", telling the story alongside the recipes for the year. I think Laura Esquivel's wonderful novel is called "Like Water For Chocolate" in English and is well worth a read. It's one of my favourite books. The film's pretty good too, amazingly. (Films of novels are so often poor imitations but this one isn't.) Can't remember if it's in English or Spanish. Sorry.
16th August 2004
Ingredients: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, butter, salt and pepper, water
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan.
3. Add vegetables and small amount of water with salt.
4. Boil gently (covered.)
5. When almost cooked add pepper and hot water, gently simmer to finish off.
6. Add more salt and pepper to taste as necessary.
Enjoy!
I feel a little like Tita in "Como Agua Para Chocolate", telling the story alongside the recipes for the year. I think Laura Esquivel's wonderful novel is called "Like Water For Chocolate" in English and is well worth a read. It's one of my favourite books. The film's pretty good too, amazingly. (Films of novels are so often poor imitations but this one isn't.) Can't remember if it's in English or Spanish. Sorry.
16th August 2004
I'm cooking Russian soup - "shi"
First posted elsewhere on 16th August 2004.
I'm cooking Russian soup - "shi"
Or maybe it's Latvian soup as that's where I learnt how to cook it. But the old lady who taught me was Russian, so I guess it's Russian soup. Taisia was her name - a wonderful old Russian lady who let Renée and I live in her house while we were studying Russian in Latvia, in Riga, in 1990. Seems such a long time ago now, and I guess it was.
I didn't learn too much on my Latvian placement. I mean, we were supposed to be learning Russian but were in Latvia, just as the Soviet Union was breaking up. And the person I ended up spending most of my time with was Latvian and learning English so I spoke more English than Russian! It was a very interesting time, in fact, but not the best environment for learning Russian. Looking back on it, I think it was a wonderful experience, just not for learning Russian. If I had really wanted to learn Russian then I think I shouldn't have been so stubborn and should have done what I had been offered and gone somewhere else. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The year abroad for my language degree was to be taken in two parts - one placement in Mexico to study Spanish and one in the Soviet Union to study Russian. Makes sense as I was studying Spanish and Russian. The only thing that had to be sorted out was which country to go to first and which centre to study at. Easy - or at least it looked that way to begin with. I wanted to go to the USSR first and then on to Mexico as friends of mine were planning to go to San Francisco on holiday either over Christmas 1990 or sometime during 1991. The theory was that if I was in Mexico I could join them. Logical. And I really wanted to. I had spent the summer of 89 in San Francisco and really loved it and way dying to go back to see the friends I'd made and relive the wonderful experiences, but that would have to be in another blog entry some time. So, when I was planning my year abroad, in the summer term of 1990 it all made sense: USSR, then Mexico.
Everything seemed to be going to plan to begin with. I had 3 or 4 placement choices for Mexico starting in January 91 so that was good. For the Soviet Union, for the last couple of years there had been an intensive Russian language course for foreign students in the Ukraine, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk. (I think that's how you spell it!) This course ran from September to December - so that was fine too. So far so good. Then the Russian course was cancelled. No course available on September. Oh dear. But I really wanted to go in September because of my US plans so I kept pestering Pierre, the head of Russian, to sort something out for September and, in the end, the Riga placement came up. I was very happy that I could finally do what I wanted to - Riga from September to December, and then Mexico from January to June - and also fit in my holiday in the US, whenever my friends decided to go. But, guess what? Plans change and my friends ended up going to San Francisco in SEPTEMBER! so I couldn't go with them anyway! I was so annoyed, but they'd got the chance to stay with one of their friends so that was that.
And this is how Ren and I ended up in Riga, Latvia, trying to learn Russian. We were in a Russian-speaking household with Taisia and did have Russian lessons at the university, though they were often even too easy or too hard, never really at the right level. On top of that, it was just the two of us so we didn't interact that much in Russian. We were able to use Russian when we were out and about, which was good and we did have a few Russian speaking friends, but I really don't think I made enough effort while I was there. Of course, I met Aris and so spent most of my time with him, chatting in English and eating ice-cream with Balsams - a Latvian spirit which is added to vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips and honey to make the most wonderful desert, but anyway.
So I spent my time with him. That's another major factor in the story really and probably deserves a second part of the blog later on, as the soup is ready to eat now.
I'm cooking Russian soup - "shi"
Or maybe it's Latvian soup as that's where I learnt how to cook it. But the old lady who taught me was Russian, so I guess it's Russian soup. Taisia was her name - a wonderful old Russian lady who let Renée and I live in her house while we were studying Russian in Latvia, in Riga, in 1990. Seems such a long time ago now, and I guess it was.
I didn't learn too much on my Latvian placement. I mean, we were supposed to be learning Russian but were in Latvia, just as the Soviet Union was breaking up. And the person I ended up spending most of my time with was Latvian and learning English so I spoke more English than Russian! It was a very interesting time, in fact, but not the best environment for learning Russian. Looking back on it, I think it was a wonderful experience, just not for learning Russian. If I had really wanted to learn Russian then I think I shouldn't have been so stubborn and should have done what I had been offered and gone somewhere else. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The year abroad for my language degree was to be taken in two parts - one placement in Mexico to study Spanish and one in the Soviet Union to study Russian. Makes sense as I was studying Spanish and Russian. The only thing that had to be sorted out was which country to go to first and which centre to study at. Easy - or at least it looked that way to begin with. I wanted to go to the USSR first and then on to Mexico as friends of mine were planning to go to San Francisco on holiday either over Christmas 1990 or sometime during 1991. The theory was that if I was in Mexico I could join them. Logical. And I really wanted to. I had spent the summer of 89 in San Francisco and really loved it and way dying to go back to see the friends I'd made and relive the wonderful experiences, but that would have to be in another blog entry some time. So, when I was planning my year abroad, in the summer term of 1990 it all made sense: USSR, then Mexico.
Everything seemed to be going to plan to begin with. I had 3 or 4 placement choices for Mexico starting in January 91 so that was good. For the Soviet Union, for the last couple of years there had been an intensive Russian language course for foreign students in the Ukraine, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk. (I think that's how you spell it!) This course ran from September to December - so that was fine too. So far so good. Then the Russian course was cancelled. No course available on September. Oh dear. But I really wanted to go in September because of my US plans so I kept pestering Pierre, the head of Russian, to sort something out for September and, in the end, the Riga placement came up. I was very happy that I could finally do what I wanted to - Riga from September to December, and then Mexico from January to June - and also fit in my holiday in the US, whenever my friends decided to go. But, guess what? Plans change and my friends ended up going to San Francisco in SEPTEMBER! so I couldn't go with them anyway! I was so annoyed, but they'd got the chance to stay with one of their friends so that was that.
And this is how Ren and I ended up in Riga, Latvia, trying to learn Russian. We were in a Russian-speaking household with Taisia and did have Russian lessons at the university, though they were often even too easy or too hard, never really at the right level. On top of that, it was just the two of us so we didn't interact that much in Russian. We were able to use Russian when we were out and about, which was good and we did have a few Russian speaking friends, but I really don't think I made enough effort while I was there. Of course, I met Aris and so spent most of my time with him, chatting in English and eating ice-cream with Balsams - a Latvian spirit which is added to vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips and honey to make the most wonderful desert, but anyway.
So I spent my time with him. That's another major factor in the story really and probably deserves a second part of the blog later on, as the soup is ready to eat now.
Why Russia?
Well, once upon a time I was in love with all things Russian, wasn't I? It's been a while but that love has never really died - it's just been dormant while I've explored other things. But now I'm going back and this time it's really to real Russia (rather than what used to be the USSR.) So, in preparation for our time in Russia, I'm starting this blog. First with a couple of old blogs and photos and then with new ideas as I remember what I loved and what I want to find out about.
K
K
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