the motherland

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so i have been here practically a month and am finally getting used to the swing of things. i know the system, ok well kind of. haha. this i\past weekend was a lot of fun. kevin and i went to this beautiful oark called izmailovsky. it was like a forrest. it was amazing. i couldnt beleive i was in moscow. there were trees everywhere and nature. waht was amazing was that the park was filled with people. so many people enjoy the good weather. i think they are all outside now becuase soon, im assuming sometime in september it will be freezing and no one will go outside until spring
anaywayz after that park we went to another one called vicotry park/park pobedi. it was more of a memorial park. there is a hi\uge monument there to commemorate ww2. russians here really revere ww2. i cant imagine what moscow was like during that time. to an outsider, it seems odd that brides and grooms put flowers at ww2 monuments when they get married, but here that is normal. thats just one more thing ive noticed about russians.
also, they love flowers, ppl are always giving and getting flowers here. they are not that expensive and are beautiful. i want someone to give me flowers lol 😊 shot shot.
anyways, on sunday my hozyaka (host) took me to church and then we went on this walk around our neighborhood. natalia borisovna is uber sweet to me and feeds me all the time 😊 i think she takes offense if i DONT eat something. but at least im being fed healthy meals. in the dorms we were all cheap and would ham and bread. now i get healthy food.
i really liked going to church cuz since i live in the outer part of moscow, i feel like this is what real Russians look like, and how they live. just like real san franciscans dont shop downtown all the time, real muscovites dont shop at the center either. she took me to a farmers market where we bought a melon for 15 rubles! thats less than a dollar. she couldnt pass up the price, but she made me eat the entire melon. well we shared it, but still, it was a lot of melon. if mama is reading this i know she is happy cuz im eating fruits 😊
anyways, class is going well. i find it a little boring sometimes but that is ok. i do feel like my russian is getting better and also im becoming a stronger person here. here everyone looks out for themselves and now i need to too.
this weekend we are going to st. petersburg. i am really excited and hope it is a lot of fun. i miss everyone and wish they were here to see russia. it really is an AMAZING place. i cant believe im going to be LIVING here for the next 3 months. it should be exciting. tootles
love, alia

shot shot 😊

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Comments

[Liza]

that's right
If you don't eat your fruits, you are coming home, missy. THIS INSTANT! haha. good times. How are you doing? I'm so jealous of you. I hope that everything is going well and that you are loving it and not too cold. Miss you! xoxo.