Flowers - Part 1 (expect many more with time)

My love for flowers is one of the few things I take with me everywhere I go - I am always on the look out for beautiful, wonderful flowers to take pictures of.

Unfortunately in the dead winter of Russia, there are little places where flowers can be found. (I guess -20 degrees C is too cold for them to grow in.) However, though not alive, I still have managed to find some around, which gives me something to hold onto until the spring comes and nature is re-birthed into its most beautiful, blooming state. 

***

The very first glimpse of flower-hope I saw here. 

(What's inside gives me even more hope for a great future - Babushka Galia's borsch. Mmmm)

Dated 2002 - Clearly, my love for flowers blossomed early on in my life and still blooms to this day. (puns very much intended)

Stunning poppy bouquet ceramic plate decoration.

Babushka Lilia's reaction to me taking this picture: "What are you doing? Going to show off the mess in our kitchen?" No, Babushka, I'm just documenting the beautiful platter we use as a splash backboard for cooking oil.

This is hanging in Babushka Lilia's kitchen, which is even more cozy and inviting now that we have hung up some crochet white curtains.

On each of the four sides of this vase is depicted one of Gustav Klimt's many joyful paintings of flowers. Naturally, I couldn't just choose one to display, so here are all four of them. :)

And finally, the most beautiful of all and the closest I have come to real, live flowers - a dried bouquet of roses displayed front and center in Aня's room. 

***

Soon…soon there will be real flowers blooming here, and I will go out and take as many pictures as my heart desires. Soon the jasmine will bloom in the park we live by, the mimosa will brighten the world with its gleaming yellow puff-flowers, and nature will take on its prettiest state displaying rich, diverse colors and fragrant aromas. Soon… :)

Hair and Food (turns out to be a good mix)

Here in Moscow I am living with my cousin, Aня. Besides being an amazing cook, she is also a hairstylist! A few days ago, I visited her salon, where she showed me around and then both trimmed and styled my hair. New year, new you, right? ;)

Here she is - the one and only - Aня! 

Thank you for the wonderful hair cut! :)

 After my hair cut and professional styling, I didn't look like myself!

Her salon is located just a few minutes away from this Metro. 

I always liked the ambiance of this Metro stop, and the torch reminded me of the Olympic torch. (PS I'm so excited for the Olympics!!! Who's watching?)

And to make things even more better, when I came home, I had some of Aня's mushroom soup (she handpicked wild mushrooms), and despite my dislike for mushrooms, I actually LOVED it. Aня must have been a chef one of her past lives. And the best part of the soup - the actual large chunks of mushroom! It's true what they say - natural, fresh, organic (and wild!) food tastes exponentially better than store-bought, mass-produced, under ripened produce. 

The Beauty of Moscow

Maybe it's because I'm in a new place, one that I haven't gotten used to yet, or maybe Moscow is always like this, but the beauty here is one of a kind. It's not all around, nor is it pompous and obvious. Rather, it was the subtlety and purity that captured my attention. 

Flying in, we caught the sunrise, and though it looks small and insignificant in this picture, in reality it was glorious. The deepest red blanketed the horizon, with every color of the rainbow melting into deep, dark blue above head. Now that's the proper way to greet the new day.

I awoke early on the first day in Russia, due to my jet-lag, and was captivated by this view from the balcony. (I sacrificed the warmth of the indoors to get a good picture from behind the glass.)

The first train ride to Moscow! On one side, the station is stands adjacent to 'suburban' houses, and on the other - this glorious strip of forest separates it from the rest of the city.

We took an early train into Moscow, and the sky was tremendously picturesque. 

#nofilter as they would say… These were the colors of this morning's sunrise. (Also taken from behind the glass of the balcony - not fun when it's -20 degrees Celsius or 0 degrees Fahrenheit outside.) This picture doesn't do the clouds justice - they were much more pink in real life.

I'm on the look out for more beauty here in Moscow! Any suggestions where to look? :)

Enough with the food!

The most frequent topic I get asked about is food.

       "Do you have enough food?"

       "Do you need any more food?"

       "Are you still hungry?"

       "That's all you're going to eat?"

       "Do you have enough food at home?"

       "Are you sure you don't want any more food?"

       "How about some more food?"

       "What do you eat at home?"

       "Are you positive you don't need any more food?"

Apparently I seem like the kind of person who can't take care of herself when it comes to food, and I need to be questioned about every aspect. 

So to set everything straight from this moment on: 

       YES, I have enough food (thank you). 

       (and if I don't, I'll go get some and cook it myself, no problem)

For all the skeptics who still won't be satisfied and will keep repeatedly asking me, here's some proof:

Red currants, which looked stunningly delicious, but turned out to be disappointingly sour and not ripe. Pretty though!

Quail eggs, which Lilia says contain less cholesterol than regular eggs...

…and turns out they're also much, much smaller than regular eggs.

Finally, can you believe it? I can cook! Here's my favorite meal, which I prepared myself: 

         Scrambled (quail, this time) eggs with spinach (salad mix with carrot and beet slivers) and buttered toast for satiety. 

So YES - I'm good on food. No more questions, please. :P

(P.S. I am still an evolving writer, so my voice is not quite clear yet. Just to straighten things up - this was a sarcastic/joking post. I appreciate wholeheartedly everyone who cares so much about me and makes me delicious food, and always enjoy everything I am offered.)

The Traditions of Food

Food is an important part of the Russian culture. I've always known this fact - I was probably born with this knowledge engrained in me. But here it's been proven time and time again.

Here are some encounters I have had with food so far.

1. Tea, always:
         My aunt's brother, who lives in Moscow, picked me up from the airport and drove me to my grandmother's house. When we arrived, after many hugs and kisses, we were ushered into the kitchen where a giant plate or sirnikyi and freshly brewed tea were waiting for us. Despite the fact that Misha had to go to work, where he would be having lunch in an hour, and that I had been fed on the plane not even three hours ago, there was no turning back. We had entered the kitchen and now we would eat all together and enjoy every bite. That's the way it is - there's no such thing as 'stopping by' or 'dropping your granddaughter off'. There's always tea.
         I admit, I enjoyed those sirnikyi a lot. (Mama, ask Galia for the recipe...)

2. Grandma's cooking: 
        The greatest joy I can bring Galia is asking her to feed me. I came home today and told her that I was hungry; she repeatedly exclaimed how happy she was about that. She gave me a big bowl of borsch and sat across from me while I ate, smiling from ear to ear, watching me eat.

3. Day Out: 
        Whenever anyone has been out for the day and then returns home, it is assumed that he or she is has not eaten and is famished. The host is very disappointed when it turns out to be otherwise… Basically, eating out is now prohibited.

4. Food Courts:
          For the most part, Russian food courts are the same as American ones - you have your typical fast-food place (Mc Donald's, Texas Roadhouse), 'ethnic' food (sushi, Chinese fast-food), Subway, and hot dog place. Here, however, there are a few more unique places that I prefer. There's a baked potato stand, where you can choose your desired filling; a classic-Russian fast-food place that features borsch, pirogi, blini, and olivie; and a (random) Greek/multi-cultural salad bar / buffet-style eatery, which is my personal favorite non-Russian place to eat because you can taste a little bit of everything for a good price. 
         All in all, unless you have someone waiting to feed you when you return home, food courts aren't a half-bad place to eat.

5. McCafé/McDonalds:
          Totally acceptable, totally delicious. You won't die or have a stomachache after eating there, and it's very well-priced. 
          America: your Grade F beef and inedible 'food' can learn a lot from Russia. 

6. Next course:
         Here, it is engrained in the people that there must be a first, second, and third course. First: soup or salad…..usually soup, always with bread: borsh. Second: a hardy 'main course', something like potatoes and meat. Third: dessert-y dish such as a baked apple. 
         So it gets confusing when after having eaten a (heaping) bowl of borsch, I say that I'm full. Apparently soup and bread aren't enough.


Not quite 'lost in translation', but still getting acclimated to the everyday Russian life and Grandmothers' care. 

That's it for now, I'm being called to come eat. ;)

The Arrival

The Aeroflot plane ride could not have gone smoother. Initially, I was seated next to an elderly couple who turned out to be from Odessa, Ukraine. I told them I might be visiting Kiev during my trip here and the gentleman told me that right now there are political uprisings taking place. I said I wanted to visit anyway. Then, a stewardess cut our conversation short by telling us that unless we were traveling together, we could sit apart from each other since the plane was half empty. How serendipitous to have two entire seats to myself for the long, nine-hour flight. I moved to the window seat, spread out, got comfortable and fell asleep. About an hour later, I was awakened by the stewardess and offered food - baked salmon, pickled red fish with vegetables on the side, and cheesecake for dessert. Oh and tea of course. I finished my meal and spent the next five hours or so watching Sherlock - a BBC series that my friend Masha downloaded for me in Washington D.C. It was so captivating, the time flew by, and it was time for meal number two - pancakes and a side of cold cuts. 

The plane landed in Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow and everyone clapped for the successful journey and to show the pilots and stewards their gratitude for a job well done. I love that about Russians. For some reason, having taken so many flights to Russia throughout my life, this custom has become engrained in me so much that I clap at every landing (whether others clap or not - I have to) and at the end of every movie (guess it translated to that somehow). 

However what I don't love about Russians is that when people are doing their jobs, they take everything way too seriously. I understand that customs is nearly military-level and obviously it's important to not mess up and let a fugitive or terrorist or someone wrong in, but lighten up! I walked up to the scary lady at the customs window and handed her my entrance visa. (Though I am a dual citizen, my external Russian passport had expired and I got an entrance visa from the Russian Consulate to allow me to enter Russia in order to renew my passport.) Instead of a hello, I was greeted with a scowl and immediate barking - asking what this piece of paper was, where my real passport was, how I was traveling without a legitimate passport, why I hadn't had my passport renewed on time… Long story short, I was rudely told to wait until everything - my passport, visa, identity, legitimacy - was checked. Forty minutes later (did I forget to mention that my aunt Tania's brother graciously agreed to pick me up from the airport and was waiting for me this whole time? ...on top of a twenty minute flight delay…) an man in a suit walked out from a secret side door, sat down next to me, and began asking me questions - when I left the country, what university I was attending, where I was living… Fast-forward another twenty minutes and after successfully explaining to him that I have lived in the US my whole life, was just now visiting my grandmothers here, and I am going to renew my passport as soon as possible. He was finally satisfied and I was let though. Sorry, Misha, that you had to wait so long. Thank you for your patience. No thanks to you, scowling/mean/not-friendly-what-so-ever customs workers. 

Anywho…we successfully arrived at my grandmother Galia's apartment in about an hour due to a severe traffic jam. The drive was great because Misha has a really fun radio that is connected to the same wavelength as other drivers on the road (especially truck drivers) that can be used to communicate with them! Maybe I'm not high-tech enough, but I have never heard of such a device and found it very amusing.

When we got to Krasnogorsk, where Galia lives, she welcomed us arms wide open and with a giant plate of 'sirnyiki' - a perfect welcome to Russia. 

Then I slept all day…I need to begin adjusting to the 9 hour time difference with Washington D.C.    

Washington, D.C.

My second and final stop before heading to Russia is Washington D.C. Here, I am staying with my aunt Tania and uncle Vadim and their beautiful baby boy Lucas Anthony. Lucas Anthony is so smart and playful - I even taught him to give "Hi-Fives"! However, he seems to always get sick when I'm around. His teeth are growing in and they're causing him severe pain as well as a fever for some bizarre reason...(but I think that he actually gets sick because of me). He is wonderful, though, and so smart for his age - 1 year, 1 month. 

During my two-day stay here in DC, I'm am visiting a few universities to see if I would be interested in applying and possibly transferring to them in the fall. So on my first full day, Saturday, Vadim and I take off and visit all three. 

First is George Mason University. Located on the suburban outskirts of Washington DC, the campus is vast and new. Certainly a car would be needed to commute since the campus is so large and isn't situated near a metro stop. The student center, the only open building on the weekend, is very modern, inviting, and diverse in the sense that it houses a lot - various eateries, offices, and even the library. We talk to the two girls working at the front desk of the admissions office and ask for information about the Psychology Department. Though they don't know much, they give me a number I can call; but I have already done my research and I know that of the three universities that I am visiting, this one has the most appropriate program for me based on what I'm looking for - psychology tightly intertwined with education. 

Our next stop is American University, just outside downtown Washington D.C. but still in quite an urban area with the metro stop just about a block away and several bus stops directly on campus. As soon as we walk onto campus, I get a whiff of the wealth and prestige this university enjoys - the buildings are beautiful, professional landscaping is evident, and everything is clean and sophisticated. This is the class of universities that I always envisioned attending. The campus itself, I happily notice, is a unitary closed campus, which gives it the necessary feel of a true university. As for the education aspect, the psychology major is very much suited for my needs and many education-related minors are offered to enrich the program of the major alone. This university, from what we gathered, is wonderful and fairly fitting to what I am looking for in a higher-level education setting. The one thing, I wonder, is what the students here are like.

Finally, we drive just about five minutes into the heart of downtown Washington D.C. and arrive at George Washington University. This extremely urban campus consists of 4 by 4 blocks of the city with cars driving though it at all times. Though the university buildings do differ slightly from those of the non-academic buildings, this campus is very well integrated into the city and there is a metro stop right on campus. We stop off for a cup of Starbucks coffee (Katya - I need your partner number to get discounts!!) and then continue on to the Admissions Building, which turns out to be a massive multi-story building with a regal façade and elegant interior. Nearly all of it is closed since it is a weekend, but the information desk is open so I ask the girl working there for any information she may have. Turns out she, too, is a transfer student who just transferred this year and is currently a Junior studying Political Science. The university itself has a high inclination to political science, international relations, economics...that sort of thing, she explains. Makes sense - being in the heart of the US's major political city, there are infinite opportunities to work along side politicians and participate within the government. Though this is not at all what I am interested in, it would be an intriguing supplement to my education - one that I highly need because I am not knowledgable in the realm of politics or government whatsoever. My major, however, is not that much better than it is at my own university right now. The only perceived improvement is that it is a BA program, focusing less on the science-y in-lab aspect of the BS program and focusing more on the human-relation in-field aspect of it. I'm sure living in the heart of the city would open many doors for me to intern in the field.

Once our college touring was over (I thought mine would be over my Junior/Senior year of high school...), we headed over to Wagman's - the most amazing supermarket I have ever visited. Similar to Whole Foods, but cheaper and with more variety. They really need to make more of those. There, we purchased some food, wine, and balloons for our dinner with the Zhukovs' that evening. Celebrating Masha's 20th birthday, catching up with one another, and Skyping home created a fantastic evening. (And Masha got me addicted to BBC's Sherlock. SO GOOD. Two words: British Accent.)

On my last day in Washington DC, Vadim drove me around and showed me more of the area. I finally got to see the White House in person - so disappointing and much smaller than I thought it was. But then we visited downtown Alexandria, which was remarkable! Water-front, reminiscent of a mixture of downtown Los Gatos/Palo Alto/Santa Cruz, the cute small shops and historic architecture took my breath away. If we had any more time (and it wasn't too cold), I would have loved to spend the whole evening walking around, admiring the area, and dining at a seafood restaurant. Next time! Instead, we drove back home to spend time with Tania and Lucas Anthony. Vadim made a mouth-watering dinner and I watched my first 3D movie on their high-tech new tv. Tania also gifted me a warm and super fuzzy jacket as well as a Kipling backpack - now I am certainly set for Russia!

Finally, the next morning time came to depart for Russia - a nine and a half hour nonstop flight from IAD. I had a wonderful time in D.C. and as of right now, I would really love to transfer to a school here and live either with or nearby Tania and Vadim. Guess I should start applying....

But for now, off to my final destination (for now): Moscow, Russia.

First Stop: Chicago

All of Katya's belongings, packed nice and neat :)

Before heading to my final destination of Moscow, Russia, I have a few stops to make along the way. First and foremost: Chicago, Illinois. Specifically, De Paul University.

Here in Chicago, the difference from California is felt immediately. Sixteen-degree weather feels more like four degrees with the wind chill and the long, puffy parka my mom and I purchased a few days ago will certainly come in handy.

I am staying in Katya's dorm at De Paul University with the mission of packing up all of her belongings and moving them to a nearby storage facility. Upon my arrival in the afternoon on Thursday, January 16th, Katya's roommate Maggie meets me outside of the residence hall and helps me up to the room. Maggie is such a sweetheart - to friendly, caring, helpful, and talkative - that we hit it off right away, which makes my stay here that much more pleasant and easy. (Maggie is so great - no wonder Katya says Maggie reminds her of me......hahaha jk)

As not to waste time, I begin evaluating all heaps of clothes and other things Katya has managed to fit into her dorm room. Turns out, it's not too much and I manage to fit all of it in four boxes, two duffel bags, one soccer bag, and a bin. 

I have talked to the storage facility workers and they graciously lent me a dolly to use to transport all of the boxes to the storage unit, which is conveniently located not even a half-block away from the campus. 

In the morning, after two trips using the dolly and the third trip rolling the duffel bags, I have successfully braved the cold and secured everything in the storage unit. (see picture above)

Now, it is time to repack my own belongings and get to the airport to fly to my next destination: Washington, D.C.

Since I have two heavy suitcases (for my 4 month stay in Russia - not my day and a half stay in Chicago!!), I decide to take a taxi. But in order to do so, Maggie tells me that I need to stand on the correct side of the road, the side that leads towards the highway, and hail a taxi myself. Now, you would think that this wouldn't be a problem, but I've only hailed a taxi once before - in New York City, where they surround pedestrians like fruit flies. Here, on a street where they come by only once a minute, the situation is a bit different. After standing and waving (not enthusiastically, apparently), about seven taxis have passed by in ten minutes and only two of them waved back apologetically because they were already driving people. Then, I hear honking from behind me and when I turn, I see that it's one of the taxi drivers that had waved earlier. I run towards him, dragging my suitcases behind me, and he gets out of the taxi to help me. 

"How long were you waiting there? I saw you earlier?" he asks - very jovial and warm in his demeanor.

"Yes, thank you so much for coming back for me! I was waiting for about ten minutes," I reply.

"Wow - and no one stopped for you? Wow."

He puts my suitcases into the trunk of the car, asks if I can pay in cash, and we leave for the airport.

Half way through the ride (he had been talking on the phone to his friends, making plans for the evening) he starts talking to me - asking where I was from, saying he was jealous I was from California where it currently is 70 degrees during the winter, asking where I was headed, and then, most interestingly, telling me how I need to be more aggressive when hailing a taxi. I need to stand away from the building, he says, closer to the edge of the sidewalk and wave vigorously, aggressively, authoritatively. Make eye contact, and be aggressive. Or else no one will know that you are looking for a taxi and no one will stop for you. Aggressive.

With a big smile, as though he has unlocked the secret to life for me, he tells me to take this as a very important lesson - it'll help me later in life - and chuckles. 

So I thought I'd write this down to never forget: the day I learned to properly hail a taxi. 

We arrive at the O'Hare Airport in high spirits. I say a mental goodbye to Chicago and head for the check in line. Now, I'm off to Washington, D.C. - my second stop. 

Goodbye, home! Let the adventure begin!

The Dish - Bay Area - Home

As the New Year begins to slowly unravel, I am thrilled to be embarking on a unique adventure abroad. Rather than going back to school for the 2014 academic spring semester, I am going to Russia!

This plan arose quite quickly when I made the final decision of transferring to another university for Fall 2014. Thanks to my AP Scores (only now do I realize the importance of them), I calculated that I had enough credits to qualify as a Junior-level transfer student; so taking another semester of classes, I decided, would be a waste of effort, money, and time that could be spent learning in other less conventional ways. Also, due to my love for cities, I have always dreamt of living an extended period of time in one - not just visiting as a tourist. This, along with the more legitimate (and true!) reason of helping out my elderly grandmothers and evolving my Russian, brought me to the conclusion that Moscow would be a perfect alternative for the academic spring semester. 

What would I do there? Where would I live? Do bears really live there? Would I be able to survive the Russian cold winter?  Will I have to drink Vodka to stay warm?

So many questions....

Though I don't have the answers to all of those questions, I have some, and the rest will be figured out day by day. I'll keep you updated.

For right now, I know that I'm welcome to live in either of my two grandmothers' homes (both are in Krasnogorsk) or in my grandmother Lilia's apartment in Moscow with my cousin Ana who already lives there. I think I'd prefer to live in Moscow just because it's more urban and I'll have more freedom in the sense that I'd be living with someone close to my age who won't be trying to take care of me the whole time (I hope) - more independence that way. But I'll certainly be visiting my grandmothers often and helping them as much as they need me to.

As for what I'll be doing, that's still up in the air. To make some extra money, it would be nice to tutor English - I would probably stand out from most other tutors seeing as I am a native speaker. So hopefully I will be able to find interested students. 

Otherwise, all I know is that I can't live without soccer, so something needs to be done that. Maybe there will be some indoor leagues or some of Mom's soccer friends have resources I can use. We'll see. Fingers crossed!

That's it for now. I'm excited to embark on this adventure and experience all that is to come. 

Love Always,

Sasha