Recap

I guess my first two weeks here without adequate rest caught up with me and I ended up with a pretty bad head cold. It drained most of my energy last week, but I am back to normal now, and ready to share the details of my life for the past two weeks.

Basically, life is good. I am almost completely settled in, I am really enjoying classes, making friends, cooking a lot, and everyday I understand a bit more Russian (I still have a ways to go)!

The week before last I think I discovered just how much I like teaching. I knew I would enjoy it, but I have found most of the students to be great, and I feel completely at ease teaching. I am sure I have a lot to learn still, and I have had a few lessons that certainly could have gone better, but I am absolutely loving it. After not feeling so hot all week, both groups from my Thursday lessons told me I was a "cool" teacher, and that they enjoyed the lesson very much. Friday, one of the teachers sat in on my first lesson and told me it was "great" and that the students really enjoyed it. I was so happy to receive such big compliments, and it definitely boosted my confidence that I was doing something right. I hope my future lessons continue to have the same response.

Zhenya and I had made plans to go dancing on Friday, but that fell through once a friend's daughter became sick, and Igor, her boyfriend unexpectedly left town. I was looking forward to my first real night out, but thankful to be able to get some rest especially because Fridays are my busiest days. I teach 3 classes on Friday, and last week Svetlana pulled me into her office and said "these students would like to show you the town!" I was to meet Artyom and Mischa early in the evening to walk locally, and Sunday Nadya and Olga wanted to take me on a historical tour. Svetlana has been amazingly busy, but has gone out of her way to make me feel welcomed and comfortable, and her efforts have really made my first month a really enjoyable one.

Friday afternoon Mischa and Artyom, two 4th year translators, showed me the "neighborhood" - just some places around our university. I haven't ventured too far from my hostel (dorm/apartment) because I am STILL without a city map (Svetlana told me she doesn't even think one exists...), and I have an absolutely horrendous sense of direction. The boys brought me to an actual grocery store, which I hadn't quite found in my mini excursions, told me about their band, and directed me to where I could find what they said was the best pelmeni in all of Tyumen.

Last Saturday was absolutely gorgeous weather. It had been getting a bit "chilly" here (50 degrees), but it warmed up to 70. Determined to make the most of the day, I set out for one of the big shopping centers to make my next big purchase: a microwave. I found one and carried it from the store to the bus to my apartment, and my arms were tired after, but I made it! I also stocked up on groceries (still can't find lettuce!), including way too many microwaveable products to celebrate my new purchase, and a couple books and a movie for almost nothing.

After I returned from my shopping trip, and just as I was heating up some blini (Russian pancakes), Zhenya called and invited me to go hang out with her friends, Dima and Marina. I was very excited for my first night out in Russia! Zhenya...and Sasha, apparently Zhenya's personal taxi driver and a Russian policeman who insisted on showing me his police gear, picked me up and then he dropped us off at her friends' place. We had a nice time and Dima and Marina even invited me to their wedding in a few weeks, though Zhenya tells me I might not be able to sit with her for a large portion of the night...ah. So after hanging out for a little Marina, Zhenya and I decided we wanted to dance, so Sasha picked us up and brought us to a disco. I was absolutely horrified when we first got there. Some man was lying on his back with a pool of blood under his head, and no one seemed to be in a panic or really doing anything. I had to step over him to get inside, and I was speechless. Zhenya and Marina could only respond with..."well...it's Russia". Everything was fine once we got inside and we ended up having a great time. I even saw my first Russian breakdance crew.

Sunday it was cold and rainy so Nadya, Olga, and I postponed our walking tour and opted to go to a cafe instead. We had coffee and pastries and chatted for a few hours. The students are really eager to practice their English and invited me to meet with them again, which I am looking forward to. We are going to see a performance next Thursday at the theater and they are going to give me a tour of a local museum. I probably won't understand half of what is going on in the performance, but the theatre is one of the prettiest buildings in all of Tyumen and I am eager to do something fun and cultural.

Later that evening, Zhenya and I set out to find me a "fall" coat. We went to one of the malls in Tyumen and began day 1 of our 5 consecutive day shopping mission to find a coat. Zhenya was determined to find me something out of fear that I would get sick.

So this past week was pretty chilly in Tyumen...chilly for me that is...and the hot water hasn't been working all week, which was kind of a downer, but the week did go by pretty quickly. I was very busy between my shopping trips and lesson plans and a surprise invitation, but I got to see even more of Tyumen, and I found a map of the transportation system (still no street map...)!

On Tuesday, while I was shopping for my new guilty pleasure: blini, Becca from the Fulbright office in Moscow called me and asked if she could pass along my contact information to a professor at another local university, because he wanted to invite me to a "youth forum". I met with Pavel for tea on Wednesday and he told me a little about the forum. Thursday I had to check with Svetlana to make sure it was ok to attend, but she gave me the OK. Today after my 1 and 1/2 classes I spent approximately 10 hours at the youth forum, but more on that in my next post!