Journal 103

4-28-10; 10:30 PM, Sochi

Whew!! I'm finally all caught up with all of my journals again!! Hooray!! I really can't explain how thrilled I am to know that. And, as I have some time to keep sitting and writing, I can do *this* journal all fleshed-out as well, and then hopefully I can put three more (including this one) up online, bringing the grand total of posted journals to 6 today!!!

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We were up at 7 some-odd AM, intending to be early to breakfast -- and we were -- so I suppose that worked out. We have a buffet breakfast here -- but did you know that they call it a, "Swedish Table?" -- I think it has to do with the Swedish word, "smorgasbord," or something in relation to that.

Once breakfast was over, the lot of us were off for our excursion to the Tea Plantation!!

Now, I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting this trip to be, or how much tea I was expecting to see -- but the long and the short of it is this:

1. We got a 20 minute or so lecture on Tea -- the different kinds, its history (in general / in Russia / in Europe), methods of preparation, etc.

2. We learned that the main plantation is someplace else in Russia (I think)

3. We did get to see some tea plants, however!

4. I was gifted with the presence of some REALLY pretty flowers and plants on that mountain! (Yes, for those of you who are familiar with my penchant for taking flower pictures -- I would not have disappointed!! Be proud -- they helped me conquer some of my bee-fear!! (I got some pretty pictures of some bees on some of the pretty flowers. =^__^= )

5. We then walked to another house, where we could buy tea, etc. -- and were ushered upstairs into a room where they basically had a feast set up for us, of tea, two different kinds of breads (one with strawberry jam in the middle, the other with poppy seeds through the center), nuts, and orange slices.

6. I fell head-over-heels in love with the strawberry bread!!!!!!!!!!! So much so, that Irina (our dance teacher, who is here on the trip with us) promised to give me a recipe for it when we get back to Moscow. =^____^=

7. There was a band providing entertainment with traditional Russian songs/music.

A. The man played the accordion -- and it was wonderful!!!

B. He went through a series of playing successively smaller accordions -- I have this on video, too!

8. Once the shindig was over, the Russians, and some of us girls, made short work of making off with everything we could, that was left-over from the tables.

-- I myself made off with the equivalent of almost two full loaves of the amazing Strawberry bread! Muwah ha ha ha!!!

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The whole time at the Tea Plantation only took 4 hours, including our commute time, so we basically had all the time from 12:30 ish PM until dinner (at 6 PM) to do whatever we wanted to do.

Since I promised Tatyana and Jess yesterday that I would go swimming today, I kept my word to them, and we headed down to the pool not too long after getting back to the hotel. Please keep in mind that in order to do that, I both got into my little, black bikini, although I'm starkly pale, AND braved the sixty-degree weather, which was accompanied by a rather chilly wind.

I did make sure to put on some sunscreen before I left, because I saw how badly burnt many of the kids in our group got yesterday, even after such a short time in the sun yesterday!

In the end, I did get burned on my back some, and a little ring around my hips is burnt -- but I don't think anything is too awful, so that's good. … Oh, and my "freckle mask" is back, in FORCE, after just a few hours in the sun!!!!! That, I'm not happy about -- but it's really not a huge problem… It's just like a raccoon mask. *laughs*

*****

After dinner, I walked back to the hotel, and detoured a little bit -- I saw some pretty roses, what can I say?? =^////^= ''

Regardless, I made my way back just fine, and then went in search of the hall in the hotel that Irina had told me about, to see if there really was a place I could practice or not. I did find it -- but the ballet shoes I brought here don't have enough support in them for me to use them for ballroom [without hurting myself].

On the bright side, I did finally figure out the counts for one of my exercises, and I about nailed it -- so hopefully when I get back to good conditions, and the proper shoes, that will actually work out.

*****

The rest of my night has been exactly what you have been reading -- I've been working on my journal here since about 9:30 or so. It's been worth it!

Time to go get this online, read more out of, "The Three Musketeers," get ready for bed, and get to sleep!!

Tomorrow, we have a nice, long hike/walk to a mountain waterfall to keep us busy -- then, maybe a dance class (which I might be teaching?) in the evening.

Much love,

Moscow Kitty; 11:00 PM

=^__^=