I made an awesome lesson plan for my class. It was centered around vocabulary of animals and we played a game that was a mixture of pictionary and charades. I love doing this.
Then I ate lunch on a bench where a russian man asked to sit next to me and I of course said yes. He began talking and I nervously said that I don't understand russian, but he kept at it, trying to communicate with me sometimes talking loudly, sometimes talking slowly. So as I was eating my banana and peanut butter sandwhich, I was trying to decipher what he was saying. But when the other person only has four teeth in their head and isn't a clear speaker and you only know a little of a language this can prove to be very very difficult. He told me that I spoke Russian well, but my understanding was terrible. But nonetheless I managed and it was fun. Then I left to meet up with my group and visit a dacha.
We arrived and holy balls it was amazing! They built the house themselves and had about every fruit and vegie you could possibly want. Strawberries, sour cherries, gooseberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, everything. And to top it off they had the most delicious well water.
Before you walk into the dacha, this is what you're greeted with.
The Bam! You are like in a magical place. It's bright. It's beautiful. There are flowers all around. And the gardens help to create this unreal place because they are filled with fake animals and gnomes and flamingos and other great things.
The owners built this dacha themselves.
The owners are amazing. They basically let us treat their place as if it was our own, letting us roam free throughout their gardens and house. This is Daniel.
For those who don't know what dachas are--- they are basically get away homes where now a days people can go to relax and get away from the city, but back in the day they were a means to grow your own food so that you could survive through the harsh winters. Hence all the food you are about to be bombarded with.
These are fresh amazing raspberries.
Most delicious strawberry I've ever tasted.
I couldn't stop eating the gooseberries.
Sour cherries!
Carrots! Interesting fact- Russia doesn't have baby carrots.
The amazing woman who raised everything that went into my stomach that day.
After we explored the garden we went inside to enjoy some fresh blini(I don't know how to spell in English) with sides of sour cream and honey.
Then she taught us how to make these dumpling things and we all participated in folding them. Here she is with the uncooked finish products.
While we were waiting for them to finish cooking, we continued to eat the blini and talk and bond and go on a tour of the house (they have a sauna in their place- straight up jealous). She then showed us some old communist USSR army gear that she had.
This place was paradise.
Then we left. As soon as I returned home, my host family whisked me away to an opening of a photography exhibit that their friend put together, apparently it was exclusive (I feel so cool). The exhibit was of photos taken from a mans journey from China all the way to Paris, it was pretty neat.
Даниелла! Я ревную тебя - ты в России! Мне нравится читать твой «блог». Я сейчась хочу дачу!
ReplyDeleteЗнаешь ли ты, что Жанна скажет, если бы она знала, что ты боишься говорить по-русски? ...Я тоже не знаю... что-нивудь по-русски хаха.