Shopping!

We have done a lot of shopping since we got here. Poor Brian, he has had to come everywhere with me when we shop. I am not quite comfortable going to the stores alone yet, so he gets to come along. Anyway, moving into a new flat (apartment) means many things. One of those is to buy new stuff, or used if second hand stores are popular.
Our flat has basic necessities. But, as a female, I like to have things "homey". Which means I need to buy little things like candles, a plant, a few pillows for the couch...
We also had to spend some money on food! I enjoy cooking and baking quite a bit, and we had to start from scratch!

We are close to two different supermarkets for food. And they have almost everything I need. Lacking: chocolate chips, brown sugar, baking powder, many spices I can't find, peanut butter and a few others. 

I was a little surprised at the size of the stores, very similar to Walmart or Fred Meyer. They have a ton of cheese, summer sausages, hotdogs and alcohol. The fruit and vegie section isn't bad either. Although there aren't a ton of different types of lettuce to choose from. See below for my typical salad. 

What a clever way to sell lettuce though! Leave it growing in a little pot!! This little thing costs me about $1. 25.

Recently we have bought a medium sized water melon for $1.50 and the peaches are a steal also, I can get 4 for $1. 

Other things are more expensive, like butter and milk. 

Here was our first run to the market, spent about $50 I think on all of this. Brian has to tell me what a lot of things say. and it is quite challenging for him also as many of the words are new. 

Another interesting observation about the stores, is the customer service...or lack of. The first time we went in with our landlady, she had to ask 3 different employees the same question because the first two just blew her question off and walked away. 

The checkout lines can be so incredibly long we will wait 30 min to purchase our items. And most checkers are sitting down and aren't always polite. 

Like our new living room? Haha, just kidding, we went to IKEA! A store I recognize!! It is a bit of a trip. We take one bus south out of the city, get off at a certain bus stop and wait for the FREE Ikea bus. Once it arrives, people pile in, and I mean, this bus was full to go to Ikea and the mall it is in. Then it is a 15 min bus ride out of the city. 

Many things were much cheaper here than even the supermarket so I was quite satisfied with my purchases and only spent $38. I do want to go back and buy a few more things, but I'm waiting to see if I really NEED them or not. :)

And at the end of the day, we can eat dinner. Pasta and salad. 

The New Pad

Welcome to our home! We would love to invite you all over for tea or coffee (although as many of you know, I-Wendy don't like either). and I don't plan on liking any coffee anytime soon (Marjorie!).

Here is the entry room/hallway. All rooms lead from this entry way. Straight ahead is the kitchen, directly to the left is bedroom, next on the left is living room. and on the right is the bathroom and toilet room. Yes, those rooms are separate. 

 Our bedroom, I even got to pick out the duvet cover, I might even want to bring it home, I like it so much! there is a large wardrobe/closet to the left in the picture.

 Our living room, not the most comfortable of furniture...but when living in an already furnished home, one can't be too picky. We do get television, but sadly, there are no English channels. At least in the hotel we had BBC News, not anymore. I'm sure I won't know what happens in the world for the next year.

And here we have one of my favorite rooms of the flat. Mostly because I like to cook. This is not the best of kitchens, I have yet to bake anything in the oven and I can't even tell what the temperature will be!!

Through the glass doors is our little "porch". Most people in Russia have these. We have our clean, wet clothes hanging there right now since we also lack a dryer. 

I figured my back would get nice and healthy since I'm not bending over a patient or pulling patients up in bed...Well, think again since our tiny little counter and sink are a little lower than I would like. Here I am practicing my squats, Billy Blanks would be proud. 

Lastly, on of the views we have. Not too thrilling. It shows the many different apartment complexes in the distance. 

So, all in all, it is a good apartment. We will continue to make it our own. I will try not to buy too many items for it since we won't be able to take them all home. 

Old vs New

Good day everyone! Добрый День Все! We will randomly put in pictures of signs that stand out to us. This one in particular...Can anyone guess what is happening at this location? But at least it is in English, since I (Wendy) can't read the Russian letters. 

On to our blog post of the day, the buildings we observe around the city. 

The following picture is an older building, wood and very run down and old. Many of these buildings are  in such bad state they are not in use, other than homeless people. 

Next up: The common square brick building. Apartments. Complexes of big brick buildings. 

And now we have a modern building, and this one was right next to the above brick building. 

Now, can anyone guess what the next building is? It is a lovely building, but not exactly what you would think. 

Below is another lovely wooden home, and as we were taking the picture an old man walked by and told us the building would be destroyed soon. I think it is a terrible shame to destroy some of these old wooden buildings. I think they are all very old and have much historical value. 

This house in particular had a lot of fancy wood work on it, here is a close up. 

We are moving into our apartment tomorrow. We will then have to use the bus system to get to work everyday. We will be about 4.5 miles from the school. Should be a fun day for me! I finally get to unpack  our bags! And go grocery shopping! 

1st Day in Нижний Новгород!!!

Today is the day, we have made it to our new destination. This morning we were supposed to catch a taxi at 5:45 a.m to catch our train at 6:45. Wendy and I both woke up at about 4 a.m. (due to the crazy time difference) and said to each other "He must have said the taxi is coming at 4:45. So we went out onto the street and waited... and waited... and waited. Finally at around 5:15 we decided the taxi wasn't coming to we walked to Tverskaya ulitsa and got our own. He knew I was a foreigner and wouldn't know what price to agree on so he charged me 700 rubles (about $25 ) for a ride worth about 300 rubles (ten bucks) but I had no idea uuuggghhhh darn sneaky Russians.

When we got to Nizhnyю. Wendy and I met all of our co-workers and saw the school which is under renovation. Then I had to go to the store to buy a cell phone. If you ever want to test yourself with your language skills you can go and try to buy a cell phone. It was like she was talking Chinese at me about which "plan" I should go with. I went with the cheapest plan possible and got out the door with a crummy but working cell phone for 990 rubles ($33). 

 A NICE FACTORY IN THE SUNRISE

WENDY DOING A SNEAK ATTACK PICTURE WHILE I WASN'T LOOKING. HOW RUDE.

Then we went to check out an apartment. We thought our apartment was going to be really cheap. As it turns out our school is in the center of the city and if we would like to walk to work it is going to cost a lot more.

WE WILL BE SENDING YOU BIZARRE FINDINGS FROM RUSSIA AS WE GO. OUR FIRST FIND OF THE TRIP IS THIS LITTLE DOOZY. I WOULD LIKE PEOPLE TO GUESS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE... PLEASE GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT.

New York City

Brian's one wish on our way over to Russia, was to spend a day or two in New York City. I agreed, so a few months ago we made our plans. Two nights in NYC, and one full day wandering the city. AND man did we wander...I might not have warn the most comfortable of shoes (women tend to do that for fashion) and so my feet hurt after our first three hours of walking. But we had a great time...here are some pics.

On the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island

The Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Island

This is Brian in the main hall where hundreds of immigrants would stand and sit waiting to get into America.

TIMES SQUARE!!

First, during the day time...

Okay, at this point we have probably walked for 4-5 hours total. My FEET hurt a ton!! So, walking through Central Park was wonderful, well let me rephrase that. Relaxing in this field was wonderful!

Just a few more pics from Central Park. Which is huge by the way. 843 acres, 2.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. Plus the trails weave in and out so you easily walk much more than that. 

Here is The Reservoir.  A massive body of water that has a running/walking track around it. 

And, our last stop: Times Square at night. 

We had to go into the Hershey store. YUM. But we didn't buy anything. 

11 Days

Brian and I head to Russia in 11 days.  The car is sold.  The motorcycle is gone. (totaled out since someone pulled in front of Brian)  Our furniture and possessions are either sold or in my mother's attic. I finished my job last Saturday and just received my last check as a nurse in the mail.

Many have asked if I am working as a nurse while in Russia. The answer is no. I will be taking a break from nursing for about a year unless I can find something nursing related to do while there. Hopefully I can see how nursing is done in Russia though. I think that would be very interesting.

So, lastly we are waiting for our visas to arrive nicely glued in our passports.  Hoping they will come next week sometime.   And then the packing begins...

Just a little update on what we are doing right now. We finished all our July weddings and are enjoying a few days with the Ewing crew. Then camping for a few more and soaking up the sunshine and Oregon.

More to come later...