Take a walk, of course!
We have "cabin (apartment) fever". The past several days have been cold, dreary and yes...miserable. The adjustment of coming to Russia from the Sunshine state is wearing alittle. We decided we had to get out of the apartment today so we planned a walk to one of Ufa's many parks by the river. We ran into someone we know early on (who speaks very little English/combined with our very little Russian) and off we went. We walked through rain & sleet (thank goodness, no snow today)! We walked, and walked and walked. After 4 hours of walking, we finally begged off and now have returned to our warm apartment with a better attitude.
Adding to our isolation here is our constant language barrier. We invited my translators over for dinner this weekend with their girlfriends/boyfriends. It was the first time we had entertained or even had anyone over for a meal at our place. We make due daily with the basics but this added to our challenge for entertaining. In preparation for my dinner party, I realized we had 6 of everything except forks. John said "just tell them to bring their own forks (BYOF)". Luckily, I had spotted some blue plastic forks at the market so all was well. I used the jar from the tomato sauce as a vase for flowers on the table...yes, I know we must sound like rednecks to you!
Not much room in our small refrigerator, but our porch is a great back-up. No oven...but the two burners on our stove allowed me to whip up a mean spaghetti bolognese. We had a lovely evening :)
Mr. John (that is what they call him :) begins teaching this week. He has been approached by the International Studies program to lecture in some of the English speaking courses. He has been assigned topics like "meals", "housing", "sports & leisure", "Halloween", "animals". What a gig, I don't think that this is going to require much in the area of preparation on his part, lol. He is looking forward to it.
Until next time...I am off to put my aching feet up.
We have "cabin (apartment) fever". The past several days have been cold, dreary and yes...miserable. The adjustment of coming to Russia from the Sunshine state is wearing alittle. We decided we had to get out of the apartment today so we planned a walk to one of Ufa's many parks by the river. We ran into someone we know early on (who speaks very little English/combined with our very little Russian) and off we went. We walked through rain & sleet (thank goodness, no snow today)! We walked, and walked and walked. After 4 hours of walking, we finally begged off and now have returned to our warm apartment with a better attitude.
Mr. John (that is what they call him :) begins teaching this week. He has been approached by the International Studies program to lecture in some of the English speaking courses. He has been assigned topics like "meals", "housing", "sports & leisure", "Halloween", "animals". What a gig, I don't think that this is going to require much in the area of preparation on his part, lol. He is looking forward to it.
Until next time...I am off to put my aching feet up.
Wish we could be flies on the wall while John lectures on Halloween, etc.---maybe he should consider a costume for that one!
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