More Camp Pictures

Brian and I went on a walk or run almost every morning. They were quite pleasant. We walked through a few very small villages with some old houses and new houses. And old tractors. 

Freshly plowed field. Nice looking in the morning light. 

A few girls and I in their room. 

Russian food. Cutlets (much like a hamburger with rice and gravy. Soup, cucumbers and bread. 

Some very strange berries that were brought to us. They were a little bitter, not the best to eat alone, but good with yogurt. Other than the shape, similar to a blueberry in color and texture.

Brian and a few boys, watching a game of futbol (soccar)

More food. This is a particularly yummy breakfast. Up front there are these doughnut things with some sweetened condensed milk or apricot jam to put on top. On the middle plate, butter and cheese for the bread. And warm chocolate milk. Delicious.

Camp Time-Russian Style

Every morning, (almost), Brian and I would get up and go for a walk or run. Our walk would start going through "the forest". It was a nice walk, a lot of birds and mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were so bad we would usually run through this section!

So many beautiful sunsets!!!

Our group.

Brian and another counselor. 

Morning time exercise!

Another counselor and a massive bug on his nose.

Paulina and I. A very sweet girl!

Some of our group on stage. 

We are back in the city now with Internet and clean showers and a washing machine and a lot less mosquitoes!!! How wonderful. Yesterday we went walking downtown and we actually saw a group from camp. Crazy. So we ended up taking 20 more pictures. Of course. 

Eight more days of Russia. WOW.

Russian Nesting Dolls

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to a smaller city about thirty miles away from Nizhny, a city called Cemyonov.

Once in the city, we went to a factory that makes the nesting dolls and some other cultural pieces. Here is the entrance for the factory complex, a really huge place! 

One of the main buildings where they create a nesting doll, also known as Matryoshka.

The wood before a doll is created. 

After being carved into the main shape of a doll. 

Mostly women painting and working on the dolls after it had been shaped. 

The Discovery Channel just happened to be at the factory the same time we were. They were filming for two days and then the actual showing will be in about three months. I'm excited to watch it!

This gentleman was working on carving some cups to be painting. 

Sochi 2014, this factory is the only factory allowed to make the dolls for the Olympics!

The first Russian nesting doll was carved in 1890.

Watching the women paint was so amazing. They had such steady hands! 

The other popular artwork for sale, called Khokhlama. 

"is the name of a Russian wood painting handicraft style and national ornament, known for its vivid flower patterns, red and gold colors over a black background, and the effect it has when applied to wooden tableware or furniture, making it look heavier and metal-like." (Wikipedia)

Massive chess set! Isaac, my nephew would love this!! Sorry we can't bring it home.

This is the last blog post for a while. Brian and I will be out at camp and I am assuming there will be no internet for our computer!! Anyway, we will update later with fun stories from a Russian camp! Until then!

Teaching is hard...

Two weeks in and I finally found a computer I could have been using this whole time to email people. Haha. Oh well, I guess the "break" from Internet is good sometimes huh? Well, here we are, at a camp called, Romantica. With about 120 kids, ages 9-12. We have 30 in our group who we are attempting to teach. 

We are in the forest next to the Gorky "Sea", part of the Volga River, but man-made. See picture below to get a glimpse of the sea. More pictures of that later. 

Our daily routine (approximately): 

6:30-8:00-wake up, go for walk or run (only time that the kids aren't around)

8:30-loud techno-Russian music starts to wake kids up and all surrounding bugs and animals. Kids come and do silly exercises and a small run around the building. And they play the same 5-10 songs every day!!!

9:00-breakfast. The kids eat super fast. I mean, within one or two minutes some of them are finished. CRAZY.

9:30-group meeting, where we learn about what is happening during the day.

10:00-1st English lesson of day. Brian and I split kids, girls class and guys class. About one hour class.

11:15-Second breakfast. Literally. Did anyone read that with a Hobbit accent?

11:30-1:45games, activities run by camp people, kids also have health related things, like massage, physical therapy, eye doctor exams, sauna, other exercises and such... (I know, a little strange).

2:00-lunch

2:30-nap time, rest period AND an attempt at a second lesson till about 3:15 or so.

4:00 sports game, usually futbol (soccer), sometimes basketball, or Pioneer ball (similar to volleyball).

5:00-second lunch. (I know, seems silly huh?)

6:00- Club/Show time/Theater. Each day is a different theme, from detective work, to newspaper, animals, dance, comedy...

7:40-Supper

8:30-Discoteka, DANCE time. Loud music and a lot of dancing. I usually play cards with some kids that don't want to dance and Brian hangs out with anyone or plays soccer. 

9:40-Second Supper. (you knew it was coming...)

10:30-sleep for the kids.

And then we get up and do it again. Its tough at times. Gets a little tiring for me. Brian is in his element. He loves to be with people 23:59 hours out of the day. I don't. :) But it is just another part of our adventure in Russia and in life. Challenges all make us grow to be better people although sometimes I fight CHANGE. Don't we all? 

Teaching is hard. Teaching English to kids who don't understand what you are saying is hard. Some of the kids are strong English speakers, but 60% aren't very good. So, each day is a challenge. We try to make the lessons active and fun, not so much class and teaching, but reviewing words using pictures and magazines and worksheets. I will forever respect teachers so much more. :) Good job for the work you all do. 

Katie and Rita ready for the daily event. Dressed as a lion and zebra. 

Brian with one of our favorite kids. Vadim. He can't speak any English and he isn't even a part of our group, but he is so fun and awesome. We have a special handshake. :)

Meal time, a few kids from our group, chowing down!

Seven days to go! Okay, now I must go watch the soccer game. It is adults versus kids and Brian will be playing. So I must go support my husband in the mosquito infested field. 

Russian Markets

It is always quite an adventure going to a market here in Russia. We found this huge market a few months ago and enjoy taking foreigners to it. You can find just about anything in the market, light fixtures, clothes, shoes, food, animals, fish tanks, tools and more. Here are a few pictures. Once again, thanks Anita for the pictures!

Pet turtle anyone?

Nuts and dried fruit.

Fresh fruit!

My favorite spot in the market, the honey. Fresh honey, some clear, some creamy and delicious!!!

Dried fish.

Kittens for sale!!

Brooms

Spices galore!!

Garlic anyone?

Garden seeds of many kinds! Many different kinds of cucumbers, tomatoes and dill!

Nizhny and Pies

A few different pictures from around our city. Things are really beautiful right now. 

Inside our Kremlin, hundreds of tulips and other flowers have been planted.

The Russian Pie. My new favorite cafe here in Nizhny. Too bad it took me 8 months to find it. 

They have quite the variety of fillings. Fish, cabbage, cheese, apple, lemon, cherry, red currants and meat. All delicious. Believe me, we have tried them all!

A close up of the lemon pie. One of my favorites.