Catch Up

These posts should have gone up a long time ago, but I haven't had a chance to put them up yet... so here are some catch up stories that should be told.....

3-14-11

Philip was too sick to teach today, so I had to go to school by myself. This made me nervous because I just don’t always feel so comfortable here in Russia, especially when I can’t talk to most anyone. So I had to make the 45 minute commute to school by myself. Well, as I was walking through the mud (the snow has finally decided to start melting and leaves pools of water and piles of mud everywhere) on my way I passed some workers working on something (not sure what). But no one else was on the street with me and so I was just hoping they wouldn’t try to talk to me… but of course they did. Since I was alone I really didn’t want them to know that I was a foreigner that didn’t speak Russian… So after they talked to me I just did like a signal around my mouth without saying anything (to say like, oh I can’t talk) and they did like an Oh face and waved it off. Do I feel good about impersonating some one who can’t talk, of course not, but I do feel good that after that they ignored me. It was slightly amusing to say the least. =)

From Russia With Love,

Jenepher & Philip

3-18-11

People in Russia do not believe in lines. Let me explain. Philip, Linsey, and I were at McDonalds and had finished eating our meals and Philip was leaving to go pick up our visa photos. Well, after he left I decided that I wanted an ice cream cone. So I got my money and hesitantly approached the throngs of people surrounding the cashier’s desk. I was standing there in what appeared to be somewhat of a line, but the line never moved. Then I noticed people coming in and walking around people and just ordering. This was frustrating for a couple of reasons. First, McDonalds is not fast in Russia like it is in America, it is actually rather slow, so 1 person cutting in front of you is at least 2 or 3 minutes of time. Second, people were kind of pushing to get to the front, and I really didn’t want to push and squeeze through people to get to the front. All I wanted was an ice cream cone. Shouldn’t be that hard or take that long to get. Well after waiting to get to the cashier for 5 minutes and not getting any closer, I just gave up. Never before have I so wished that I could say, “Heck no! I’m next in line. You can wait your turn!” Oh well.

From Russia With Love,

Jenepher & Philip