5-1-10; 7:22 PM
…. It's May. …. May! …. I've been here 3 months now. Wow. Hard to believe that much time has gone by. Doesn't feel like any time has really passed at all.
But I know for those of you who are missing me at home, I've been gone forever, huh?? =^_~=
Just remember, I've never stopped thinking about you guys!!!
********
So, we were *supposed* to go to Krasnaya Polyana, and, well, most of the group did, in fact, go.
My friend Jess and I got downstairs right as the bus was pulling away. XD
We spent the afternoon in the following manner:
*We started our homework
*Which I soon gave up in favor of my bed
*Which I later gave up to go lay out in the sun with Jess
-- I realized that my sunscreen was only SPF 30 -- and I don't remember the last time I only used 30!!!! --
*We laid out for two some odd hours
-- I'm now back to being the color of a lightly toasted marshmallow!!!! -- Oh, and my Mask o' Freckles is back across my cheeks and nose, like clockwork…. = @_@ = --
*Hit up the boardwalk for a nice long walk -- and ice cream!!!
-- Did you know that some guy here in Russia has been waiting for me to come along for 10 years? Later, when I returned to the boardwalk to go buy some honey I'd tried while out with Jess, I got "meow-ed" at, and subsequently barked at, when I ignored the "meows." Ha ha ha, oh, guys who make comments to girls on the street are funny… --
**********
I think it's going to be another quiet night tonight. I've just been working on yesterday's and today's journal, with my 80s music going (Thinking of you, Cam and Clan Davis! "My Sherona" is playing now!); I'll probably get some dinner after I post this (Yay, Plof!!!!!!!!! I'm finally gonna get me some!!!); then it'll probably be back to the homework again.
Love,
Moscow Kitty; 7:32 PM
=^__^=
PS - Did you know that they have a breakfast cereal here that is basically filled with chocolate, and is one of the most amazing things on the face of the planet I've ever eaten? There's got to be crack in that chocolate, or something -- Heaven knows I'm certainly addicted. But, c'mon, it's *chocolate filled breakfast cereal* !!!!! Aaaaand this is me we're talking about -- the girl who has no teeth but sweet teeth. =^_____^= ''
PPS - Mentioning that, I think Jess put it best this morning:
"I think half of our [Moscow] group got addicted to cigarettes when they came here -- the other half got addicted to chocolate."
(I.e. -- Our consumption of one of the two aforementioned items skyrocketed when we all got to Russia. And I can certainly attest that my chocolate consumption *has* gone up. … I myself blame the Mishki for being so damned delicious. *laughs* And when I bring some back for my friends and family to try, you will see EXACTLY what I am talking about. Muwah ha ha ha!!! You'll all be addicted tooooooo!!!!!!!! )
More Love,
~MK
4-30-10
Oh. My. Dear. Lord. In. Heaven….
You know? Yesterday, we probably hiked a good 6 miles, at the very least.
Today -- I hiked at least 13 miles.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!! Oh, boy!
-- Now, I realize that I type that in what may come across as a plaintive tone -- but don't get me wrong! -- I had a *lovely* time today!!
*****
Today's excursion was to Mount Akhun (Гора Ахун) -- rather, to the little settlement bit/tower at the top of it.
We were given the choice to go up to the top by bus, or on foot. They told us that the incline would be much less, and that it would be around a 2 hour walk (on average). Naturally, being the go-getting, "Yay, exercise!" type, I elected to go up on foot.
For some of us, this actually involved us having a little mini-hike from a drop off point to the place we were going to meet together with the other part of our "on foot" group. Thus, the morning began. Following that, for some of the initial walk, the incline *was* less than yesterday's, but more than the impression I had gotten that it would be.
Also, the *whole* of the nearly 2 hour walk was basically uphill, with little respite -- so, it was quite a work out!!
*****
Eventually, it got to the point where I was far enough behind some of the leading pack, and far enough ahead of the next girl/group of people behind me, that it was as though I was completely alone on my walk up the mountain. Here, I have to say, is where the entire trip, as well as the decision to do it on foot, was justified for me. I had such a wonderful meditative/prayerful session there, as I walked the road up the mountain -- I have no words for the experience. Suffice it to say, it was very peaceful, very calming -- and I don't remember the last time my head has gone from, "moving at a mile a minute," to, "full stop." Yup -- like I said, meditation and prayer -- it could hardly have been better for me!! =^__^=
I was having such a good time being in perfect solitude, that it actually got to the point that I would be annoyed if I could start to hear the people behind me, and I would speed up, in order to put enough distance between us, so that I would be "alone," and in the quiet again. There are some times where it's just better to be alone; this was one of them.
**********
For the most part, the walk up, as I said, was very peaceful. There was only one point, maybe about midway through the walk up, where things were a little nerve-wracking.
At that time, I had started to pull ahead of one girl (from another of the city groups), but we weren't too far separated -- maybe by 30 seconds to a minute, at most.
Neways, I had passed a (stray?) dog on the road who was standing on the road's edge, looking over the little village below that outcrop. I looked at him, but said nothing, and he looked at me, but did nothing. We seemed to pass in mutual understanding of our simply being two creatures on the mountain-side at the same time.
A short time later, however, I heard the sound of this dog barking -- I thought, "The other girl must be passing him," -- but the barking didn't stop. There's a certain "switch" that I think all of our instincts can pick up on -- when something has gone on longer than it should have, and the idea that there is a problem begins to present itself -- this is what happened with me and the length of the dog's barking. I knew that the other girl was also alone, and that I was probably closer than any other people behind her -- so I turned on my heel and headed back down the road. '
On this part of the road, I had rounded a corner, so I could see nothing -- I only heard the barking continuing, and not in a good pitch -- so I hurried my step, and hit the corner almost at the same time the other girl came around it -- with the dog herding her into the wall, getting closer, and closer the whole time. He was right on her, looking as if he was about to start snapping at her when I finally reached her -- I locked eyes with him as I kept moving towards the girl, and all of the sudden, he fell silent, and retreated away from us.
I made sure that the girl was okay, and that the dog hadn't bitten her at all; and in that time, the people behind this girl (some of her friends), came up and joined us (without incident).
As the girl related the story to them:
"I was walking up, and I saw the dog -- he came up to me, like he wanted to be pet. I didn't touch him, but I just said, "Hey doggie," -- and he started barking and getting closer to me."
She nodded her head in my direction and continued, "She must speak Dog, or something, because she came up and just glared at it, and it moved off!"
*****
Personally, I don't have much explanation for why it didn't bother me, but went after her, or for why it gave way to me. I can only figure on one of two things:
1. I was carrying myself in a more dominant manner, in the eyes of the dog.
2. By that point, I was already well into starting to meditate and pray -- so perchance there was a certain calm or power beyond my own that the picked up on, and gave way to.
I think the truth lies somewhere in between the two of them -- dogs and animals are pretty good about picking up the Spirit's presence, I think -- and I know I was certainly walking with It.
Really, I'm just happy the other girl was ok, and that for whatever reason it was, that the dog did submit to me.
*****
I looked for the same dog on the way down, as I was a bit wary of running into him again, but I didn't see him. On the other hand, I had to pass right in between two dogs (one on each side of the road) -- and one of them did get up and start to follow me. No worried though -- there was no incident. -- That was reserved for the big dog whom I didn't even see, which suddenly appeared, barking with a fair amount of menace, on the other side of a fence I was passing. I am not ashamed to say that I am almost entirely sure my heart skipped a beat. I did save the ego in not screaming, however. = O_o =
**********
Now, at the top of the mountain, there is a bit of a touristy place: there is a tower that people can climb, and on a good day see down into Abkhazia (formerly, Georgia); a café, and various little kiosks with souvenirs.
In a bit of a sad turn -- so much the more after having been meditating and praying the whole way up the mountain -- there was a group of men that had some exotic animals, à la the business of people paying to take pictures with them.
Now, I'm used to seeing this happen with Macaws (Parotts) in the US -- so that the men had a few of those wasn't surprising; but they also had monkeys -- which is par for the course here in Russia; a male peacock -- which *was* a bit of a surprise; but the worst of all… Was that they had a lion cub -- maybe 6 months to a year old. I don't know how, or from where they got their hands on it -- but all I could think was, "That cannot *possibly* be legal…" It broke my heart to see.
One of the girls in our group was completely enamored, and she went up to pet the cub (who was big enough to cause some damage if she'd wanted to), with no fear, and was dragging other people over to see her.
I went up to her -- but I did not try to pet her. Not out of fear -- but I couldn't bring myself to support her situation… I took a close look at her face -- she had some open sores above her eyes, on her forehead -- as though she'd rubbed her skin raw on part of a cage, or something.
That was on the way in. On our way back out, they had one of the subspecies of Golden Eagle (what we have in the US). I was taken aback to see it -- once again on the, "That *can't* be legal!" thought -- but smiled to myself for at least the fact that I had been around them, legally, in the US, and had no need to pay for such a photo.
It was a heartbreaking thing to see… I certainly prayed for those animals; but I also felt, not without pain in my heart, that it was not enough to truly help them in their situation….
**********
We ate lunch at the top of the mountain (We finally had some Shashlik!!!! -- Aka, shish-kebab. This almost made up for my missing having shashlik with my Hustle friends.) -- and then we were back to being on our own.
We were told that the bus would be leaving in an hour, and that spots were first come, first serve. I debated taking the bus; but then my ego kicked in, as well as my ever present opinion, "My legs aren't broken, and my body was made to work," -- so I elected to walk back down the mountain as well. I know I left before anyone else -- in part, because if I wasn't waiting for the bus, there was no other reason ton wait, and also because I wanted to be alone on the way down, just as I had been on the way up!!
It was a lovely time, although I was not nearly as calm or at peace as I was while on the way up. That was unfortunate; the way up was really something else.
Thankfully, I did have one last adventure waiting for me on the mountain, to bring a little more cheer to my way down!!
*****
As I was walking, I came up behind an older man, carrying a bag and a bough of flowers (From what is probably my favorite tree here in Sochi -- it is *beautiful!!*).
I was going to pass him, and he turned to look at who was going around him. He started slightly, at seeing my face -- Perchance he thought I was pretty? *laughs* -- then he smiled, and exclaimed, "Спортсменка!" (Sportsmenka -- Literally: Sports Woman, i.e. an active, sporty girl.)
We had a lovely little chat together -- during which, he appeared to be impressed with my Russian to some degree, as he kept repeating that I conversed very well in Russian, despite my objections! He was surprised, I think, to think of a foreigner (maybe more, an American) studying Russian, let alone coming to Russia to study it; while on the other hand, as he told me, he didn't understand English at all. ("Я совсем не понимаю английский язык.")
He told me that he believed English to be a very difficult language to learn, and I asked if he really thought so; countering with the fact that many Americans believe Russian to be a difficult language to learn -- and yet, it is possible! He asked me if I found Russian to be difficult, and I told him yes and no.
I said, "It is hard to study Russian, or any foreign language, in the US, because we are without many opportunities to use/to practice foreign languages," but I also told him that any language is easier if you go to the country of origin to study it. What followed afterwards, with a shared laugh, was the sentiment: 'Of course, that requires traveling. And traveling requires money.'
We split ways after maybe about 10 or 15 minutes -- and of course, I made sure to ask his name before we split up!! =^_~=
His name was Nikolai.
-- Very nice gentleman. But I have to say -- he put me through my paces a little bit, because he spoke with a bit of either a lisp, or some kind of obstruction of his speech, so not everything he said was entirely clear. -- And yet, we carried on a real, flowing conversation together! Where there is a will to communicate, there will always be a way. And out of everyone in the world, if it's about communication, you can be sure I'll be the one to find that way!! Ha ha ha!
**********
I made it home just before 5, and sat down get online and check my mail. Much to my surprise, I caught one of my best friends, Yitian, online!! I was sooooo excited!!! It was really great to get to chat with her again.
Sometime after that, we all had one more, little, "lecture" to go attend, as well as another dance lesson with Irina (our dance teacher from the Moscow program).
Of course, I forgot that it's a REALLY bad idea to sit down for a period of time, after hiking 13-ish miles, half of them uphill, and then to try to get up and walk like it's nothing!!!!!!!!!!
I about fell clean over! It HURT!! *shakes a fist at the lactic acid*
Either way, it was all good. I was happier that I didn't actually wind up having to teach anything, like they'd said I might have to yesterday.
After the lesson, I walked over to Club Plotforma -- because they should have been open, and we wanted to go out -- but it seems that they haven't opened for the season yet!!!!!! We were all really bummed out, because we wanted to go out! I'm double bummed, because now I'll have to tell Nastëna, "Well, yes, I *found* the club -- but I haven't the slightest what it's like, because they weren't yet open for us to go inside!!!"
**********
Beyond that, there's not much to tell. Calling it an early night, because our departure time for tomorrow's excursion has been moved up a half an hour. We'll be going to Krasnaya Polyana -- which is both Vladimir Putin's favorite ski resort, as well as the future site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Love,
Moscow Kitty
=^__^=
