Page 23 of Campo Travel Blog Posts
September 7th 2005
It's the beginning of autumn and it's been about 15 degrees all week. People say it will stay like this until November, which is the start of winter. Judging by how thick my duvet is, and the fact that the thermometer in my room goes down to minus 30, I'm in for a bit of a shock! I wonder if I could wear everything in my suitcase at once? Prospekt Tolbukhina is run down and feels unwelcoming, but my room is comfortable. The three carpets are red, the ceiling is white and the lamp and lights are silver. The colour scheme and patterns feel 20th century Russian. I have a full length mirror by my bed, with a book-shelf hidden behind it, and five pot-plants. There's also a bedside lamp, and a cupboard and desk that ... read more
September 7th 2005
Four blinchiki for breakfast (Tamara Aleksandrovna already knows they're my favourite) then four hours of grammar with Olga and a different Lena. They are both middle aged ladies with brown hair. Russian grammar is hard enough in an English classroom but it is even more of a headache here. Most of us went to an outside biker bar down the road for a drink after class. It is on a street near Nekrasova, with three tables and a menu of microwave mini kolbasa pizzas, sausages or soup. I went to the town centre - ulitsa Kirova - on my own afterwards to find my way around, and walked around the 'rynok' (market) to buy some t-shirts and a jumper. It's busy and colourful, with hundreds of stalls selling cheap products or clothes. An Azeri trader gave ... read more
September 6th 2005
A new day, new people to meet. Viktor gave us a history lesson, which started with us telling him about our first impressions of Yaroslavl ("amazing architecture, feels very different to England, hard to find your way around") and finished with a one hour lecture on how the city was founded, and the history of some of the churches and towers. In 1010 Prince Yaroslav the Wise built a fortress on the spot where he killed a bear, and in the 16th century it was Russia's second city after Moscow. It was interesting to hear about what the place we live in was like 995 years ago, but after two hours of speaking and trying to understand Russian we were all exhausted. Another 'crazy crazy landlady' chat in the break over cups of tea, then two ... read more
September 5th 2005
After a breakfast of blini s medom, or pancakes with honey, I followed the map to Yartek for my first day of lessons. Before they started the class compared notes on our landladies. We can't quite understand why they behave towards us as English grans do with toddlers, but we're here to learn about Russian culture - and for all of us all the attention is very welcome! Chris J got his verbs mixed up last night, and instead of saying he wanted to go to the bathroom for a shave he said he wanted to go to the bathroom "to smash things"! I told them that I had got out of the shower this morning and put my towel on the line to dry, got dressed, and when I turned round Tamara Aleksandrovna had taken ... read more
September 4th 2005
I was allowed a lie-in until 9. Syrniki - cheese pancakes - awaited me in the kitchen for breakfast, and after a day here my Russian felt ever so slightly more confident. Tamara Aleksandrovna is very warm and friendly, but all the same it is very difficult to communicate with someone of such a different age and culture, in a language I have only been speaking for two years. On a scrap piece of paper she drew me a map of how to get to Yartek: walk along ulitsa Tolbukhina for two blocks - cross the road and turn right at the traffic lights - walk six minutes down ulitsa Svobody (Sva-bo'd-y) towards the tower - then across Ploschad' Truda (past the statue of the naked netball players) - across the main road - follow the ... read more
September 3rd 2005
I set my alarm for 7 o'clock, to have a lie-in and relax before the day started. At 7.05 Tamara Aleksandrovna woke me up for breakfast. Still rubbing my eyes and not sure of where I was, I went into our kitchen, which is only just big enough for 2 people, with a table in the corner overlooking the rooftops. She had already put my pancakes with honey on the table, along with coffee made by heating milk in a saucepan. I struggled with my Russian, had a shower under yellow water and got ready to leave for a meeting at 10. Upon leaving the flat my landlady (who I had met precisely nine hours ago) noticed that I had some toothpaste on my lip, took out a handkerchief, licked it and rubbed it off. It ... read more
September 2nd 2005
The flight from London to Moscow was comfortable. At Moscow Domidedovo airport the 15 'RLUS' students met and introduced ourselves. Then we left for Yaroslavl. It appears to be just a short distance from Moscow on a map, but in reality it is a 6 hour coach trip along the same wide, connifer lined road. While it was light I got to know three of the people I had met at the airport, Chris, Jamie and another Chris. We stopped at a roadside café about half way and each bought a bottle of water - in Russian of course - which at the time seemed like the hardest thing in the world to do. After that I slept until we arrived. At the language school we were taken upstairs into a room of 15 women, all ... read more
Introduction.
Published: February 1st 2006Europe » United Kingdom » England » West Sussex » Hurstpierpoint
August 29th 2005
As I write this it is seventy three days until I will arrive in Russia. My adventures will take me to Yaroslavl in september for the first semester, then after a quick trip home I'll start in Tver next spring. Both cities have a population of about 600,000, and are situated roughly a six hour train journey north of Moscow. At the moment the idea of going to Russia is really exciting. As most of you already know I tend to act first and think later - I'm not the type to get nervous about things! There might be a last minute panic, but the move should go well if I do everything that I need to on time. I haven't applied for a visa yet, or found out about tuition fees. My Russian isn't great ... read more
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