Cats, and Moscow

Hey, I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything, I honestly have been so busy that when I get home I go to bed. Okay so a couple of funny stories. To preface this first one ill tell you that Russians are obsessed with cats, seriously they are everywhere. Shea'la and I had been talking about Russians and their cats this certain day:

Okay so since tristan has gotten here I have been almost working half the hours I was working. I went from 30 hours to 18, seriously amazing. Don't get me wrong I love the kids, but it is a lot of work. So on my day off Shea'la and I headed out for a little cruise around the town. We walked to the right bank of Voronezh walked around and saw some cool stuff.

Like this monument for WW2, I guess 90 percent of Voronezh was burnt down by the germans so they gave this this monument with a fire that will supposedly never  go out. (I hope the bill for the gas goes to germany too).

Pretty sweet huh? K so then we walked down to the center of the city ish and went to the large shopping mall that was there. So we get on the bus to get home bus 90, this bus is one of the few that cross the river and go to our stop and it is usually crazy packed. But this particular night it was INSANE. People were shoving their way onto the bus, to add on to this madness there was a traffic jam for a good 30 minutes were we were completely stopped. We stand there huddled together as this Russian man un zips his bag, sticks his hand in and makes a shushing sound. We look down and all of a sudden this cat jumps out of his duffel bag and around his neck, Shea'la and I loose it, we could not stop laughing, then the girls next to us start laughing which causes this train of laughter. The guy tries to put the cat back in as we held the bag open for him. It was hilarious, and crazy to see the Russians not so serious.

This is my host sister Jane, She is crazy smart and way nice. We went ice skating with her dad and Artiom that next day it was awesome mostly cause I didn't fall. She told me that I couldn't go to Russia and not ice skate:) They all own their own skates, and the rinks are free if you have your own skates.

Jane and me again:)

this is a church in Voronezh it is gorgeous!

A beautiful view of a street thanks bri:)

Love these two girls, Shea'la, and Bri and me:)

You could say me and Bri see a lot of each other:)

This is Paulina, She is quite the shy little rockstar!:) She is very sad when she doesn't sit in the front row.

HAHA seriously this picture is priceless. K the girl is named Lira, she is very cute but gets angry very easily when something is not the way she thinks it should be done. And this boy is Yaraslav he is the class clown, he is so silly and adorable and he drives Lira crazy!

This is a little hike we went on when we went to Moscow. It is maybe 5 minutes and then it brings you up to this clearing and shows you a panoramic of Moscow. It was so cool at night.

 One of the days we were here we were at St. Basils and a man who spoke English approached us and asked to have us take his picture. His name is Jesse, he is traveling around with a tour group from Australia of some sort and ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the day. Totally cool guy, but crazy he told us his next stop was Siberia

 This is the one and only St. Basils Cathedral which was the one thing I needed a picture by in Moscow because it's ICONIC! So we took lots!

We went to the ballet finally, and it was interesting, and frankly kinda boring:) But when in Russia:)

Okay so my host family told me there was this Beline (pancake) festival in a near by city that we should go to, it would cost money and I would have to find time off of work but it was a big tradition so of course I went. But what it ended up being was a class feild trip, that Jane and I crashed. We went to a very cold and almost deserted place and did random games like this. It was so fun to see but I felt sooooooo silly.

 Last but not least this is Kolya who is a crack up. He loves attention, and will do anything if I say I am going to put it on YouTube.

Being in Russia during all this craziness with Ukraine has be a very eye opening experience. I have loved exploring and attempting to learn the language. It's crazy I only have 9 weeks till I head home, but I am very excited to be back in the states, and to have a WALMART again. Seriously if I have found to appreciate anything it's walmart you can get it all in one place!:) 

Thanks for the love! I miss you all so much! Being here has made me a little bit more proud in my country (as if I needed any more encouragement).

Marissa

This week I also had a friend from work/highschool pass away, it has been incredible to see the mark he made, and the people he affected. I hope that when I die I will have left such a happy memory in peoples lives as he did.  My facebook feed has been nothing but love and support for him and his family. It is amazing that I was blessed with the knowledge of a god and his plan for us. God must have needed him in heaven because Edson was nothing but sunshine all the time. My prayers are with the Martinez family. 

I forgot one last thing! We picked up Tristan, It has been so fun having her here. It is so easy because I don't have to try at all cause she has known me my whole life. We went to a market type place in Moscow and I helped her bargin down a fur hat, and I got a 10$ fur scarf from a guy who was definitely under the influence.:) this is another picture of us and these girls at the ballet:)

Fourth week in Voronezh:)

I can't believe i am staring my fourth week in Russia! I have been having a blast. I have definitely decided I am a city girl, I love the busyness of it. 

On Sunday we went to city grad which is a mall that has an ammusment park in it! Totally cool, until the next day when I was incredibley dizzy from this ride for the whole next day:(. 

We also went to Barack O' mamas 

this cafe type place and hung out with all the teachers and some of our russian friends. I ordered a mojito, and fell in love with it. 

I am loving teaching the older kids, it's more structured classroom and the kids are just as cute! I sure do miss a couple of my kindergardeners, like this cutie named Anya she seriously melts my heart!!! 

She always wears this bunny sweater so I ended up getting one this weekend hopefully she will wear it and we can match:) 

I also converted this hottie to red lipstick, and I haven't seen her without it on this whole week!:) I love making girls embrace their femininity! 

Artiom and I found this awesome cotton candy place in the park next to out house:) 

Okay so a sweet story about him, I was sitting in my room when he comes in, super upset and shows me this porcelain fridge magnet from Egypt that he broke.

 I took it from him and asked if he had any super glue and we could fix it no problem. He looked in some drawers then was very upset when he couldn't find anything. I told him that we could just run to the store, only problem is he has to tell his mom before he leaves the house because she is at work. He calls his mom and I wait as he speaks to her, then I asked what he told her. He said "I told her we would go to the store for some sugar( meaning candy)" I said oh okay sure, you can't lie to your mom though so when she gets home you can tell her about the plate. He then was really sad but kinda agreed. We headed to the store where we actually found some I was amazed! We went home fixed it and he was very worried about his mom coming home to see this broken magnet. I told him the story of when I broke my moms candle, and she for gave me. He then explained that his mom is not like my mom and that she will yell. 

I got home late that night

Because I had gone to the City Grad and played Billiards! It was a blast! 

But I was welcome home by sweet artiom telling me about how his mother said it was okay he hugged me and told me that maybe our moms were the same! 

I had a pretty good week besides being sick on Monday! Church was fun, it always is. I love being part of the russian ward, it makes me feel like I am actually living here. 

Thanks for the love and support:) 

Ps I also was told this week that my family has booked their flights to come see me!! Yay! I am so beyond excited! 

Riss 

Teacher bonding time

So this week I got moved from kinder garden to levels. I was really excited to

Move up to the older kids, but the first day I did it I was so sad cause I missed my kinder garden class! Seriously how can you not miss this!! 

This little boy is dripping with sweat cause he constantly runs around during our two hour class! One of my favorites for sure

On tuesday night we went to FHE with the ward, which was very fun. When we got to the door to call up, the missionary I played one-on-one volleyball with answered and told me " say elder Naylor is better at volleyball". I replied with a " I will not say such blasphemy". Fortunately he was nice enough to still buzz us in:)

On Thursday night I hung out with a couple of the girls and we made these Russian pancake like cheese dessert things. We got some delicious pistachio ice cream! Oh I try to block this part out but we also tried pickled fish... 

Friday night we planned a "girls weekend" type thing. We go stuff to make home made pizzas, nail polish for painting, and tickets to a ballet on Saturday night! 

Friday comes and I am stoked! Lindsay, Ashley, sheala and I were all done earlier so we sat in shealas apartment and laughed and laughed about silly jokes. We blasted beyonce and drake and it was a blast! We made pizzas, then watched vines for about 2 hours. I decided we were going to make grapefruit mojitos, and found some stuff to make a makeshift one.

these were pretty good, but not as good as the ones my mom and I make. Everyone loved them, and I wished I had bought more stuff to make more! yay! 

I mentioned to the branch president that we wanted to learn some Russian, so he called someone to be our Russian teacher, so on sat morning we met at the church to learn some Russian!

This is me and my girl Brie! Seriously this girl is my other half! I love her! 

This is Brie, and Madi sleeping on our long bus ride to go shopping yesterday.

As we were shopping we saw this girl, seriously look at her coat, it's magnificent!

Madi and Brie bought Russian hockey jerseys, they were totally cool! I now wish I would have gotten one, but they were about $70 bucks. 

we got all dressed up for the ballet, and we had left the tickets in the school, which we don't have a key for. We called the owner of the school, and he drove all the way over but then his key wouldn't work. Then he went over to the cleaning lady's house, and her key wouldn't work either. Russians have lots of superstitions, and bad things happening in 3's is a bad sign. So we decided since we were all dressed up we needed to do something. We ended up going to this cafe type place, called Barrack O'Mamas. 

Barrack's was jammed pack full and was so fun to be there because the Russia vs. Usa hockey game was playing. It was so loud, I couldn't talk to brie without yelling. It was so awesome when we won, we wanted to yell so loud but figured we valued our own lives a little more.

We went to another resturant to eat, Bri and I got a Calzone, It was pretty good!

I finally came back to my host families house, and they had eaten all the See's Chocolate without me, you could say I was slightly sad, but then i realized I did give it to them as a present. It was a really fun week, I am so excited to go to church, it is one of the funnest things I get to do all week!

love riss

Exploring Voronezh

Hello all!

This week has been really great! On Monday I decided I would attend Family Home evening even though I would be at least 30 minutes late because I teach until 7pm. One of the other girls has been struggling with teaching, she feels as though she is not qualified to teach, as an attempt to brighten her spirits I brought her along. After a long bus ride we made it to the house of the couple missionaries where FHE was being held. We walk in and find 20+ adults, yes! I love ADULTS! I met many people, most of which I needed one of the missionaries there to translate for me. I talked to one of the recent converts who said he would show me the other parts of the city I have not seen, so being my fathers daughter of course I agreed. 

The next night this girl was having a rough time again so I invited her along with me and John (the guy from FHE). We walked though what is in the center of my city "Lennon square" It was too dark to get a picture with the statue, but not far from there was this fountain which he said has actual water during the spring not just lights. 

It was really fun to get to know someone who was a native, well kinda he's from Congo, but has been here for three years. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all kinda blend together. The overall feeling from this week has been really great! I finally feel like I know how to teach the kids. It has been so crazy cause we are missing some teachers, but my cousin Tristan will soon join me! YAY! 

this is us by some dog statue, that is in the middle of this random quart yard, yeah so obviously we had to take a picture of it:) 

I am growing to love being in a new city, and trying to figure out where I am. Friday  was really fun I went and saw the college that is here, and met all these foreign kids from khakastain, japan, China, Ukraine, even Moldova. I watched as they played soccer against each other it was really fun to watch, and to see non russians:).  Saturday I went and helped clean the church then got some food at this really common sidewalk store. The hamburgers are really delicious! We then went into town and walked through a market that we are defiantly going back to cause it had amazing clothes. We also went to the church after this and played volleyball with the member's, and I found someone who is just as competitive as me.

This is some random girl. I am slightly obsessed with the style of all the girls here, they all (for the most part) always wear black heel boots (my mother would fit it great), and fitted coats. This girls coat has a belt on it, which many of them wear around their coats. As you can see there is a lot of snow, go Russian woman!

this is that dog, really don't remember why he is important, but yes, there is a dog in the courtyard. 

this is such a creepy picture, but I had to put this on, I am in LOVE with the fur coats here, they are so beautiful! Every time we go into a store with them I can't not touch them! I am hoping to get some type of fur, like maybe a scarf, but seriously they are incredible!

 this is my school! Yay! 

Lindsay Ashley and I were walking one day and stumbled upon this cafe, it was so great cause these little pizza things were just like the pizza roll things you just zap in the microwave, I was in love! I am still on the hunt for some good french fries, I am in desperate need of some real crispy curly fries, but I will settle for some good regular fries. :)

this magical place is right across the street from my school. It is ran by this little old lady who will fill up my water for only 6 rubles, yeah  you could say I am in love considering, It is quite the event to try to explain that I don't want carbonated water. I may say the right words, but it is crazy that someone who not want carbonated water, so I get asked questions I don't know:)

This i don't know if you can tell, but it's my socks, and gloves that are sitting on the heater, it's pretty much as crucial as brushing my teeth.

These kids are so crazy, but I am already in love with them, these two are trouble!

this seriously describes this class perfectly, one kid under the table, the chairs falling over. 

okay seriously this wasn't planned, we saw another random dog and had to get a picture with it!

It's been a really great week, I am so excited to have Trist here. I am also very excited to go to church tomorrow Linds, Ashley and I convinced these boys from Congo to come to church tomorrow, I am almost positive it was because we were american girls but thats okay:)

Miss you all lots, and love you!

Rissa