Arkhangelskoe and Beyond!

So I have been trying to explore Moscow more and I went to Arkhangelskoe with my friends Nikita, Losha, and Lindsay. Arkhangelskoe is a beautiful estate and it was a great way to welcome Spring. I am so excited that the weather is finally becoming nice and sunny. In Russia, it seems that the Autumn is constantly wet, the Winter is snowy, and Spring and Summer are sunny:) I am so inspired by the sunshine that I want to be outside all the time and it is getting harder to teach. So exploring the estates of Arkhangelskoe was a good first step. I really enjoy looking at all the architecture. It makes me sad in Russia that they don't have a government program to preserve there historical sites. It is common now to bulldoze over a site to make room for a new complex. They are trying to be progressive and get rid of all the old to make room for the new and it is a shame because if you don't keep in touch with your history then you can't know where you will go.


Losha and I:)

My sweet duck photo.....I think National Geographic will be calling soon.

All of us together.

A little boy on his bicycle:)

Arkhangelskoe Estate


Last weekend, I went to Nikita's dacha again. There was no electricity so it was a fun adventure. Now that it is Spring, everyone will be at their dacha every weekend. I enjoy going there because it is remote and you are free and separate from the world. After enjoying the dacha, I went with my other Russian friends, Yulia and Rita, to Moscow. On Sunday it was bubbly day and there was a flash mob on Arbat street to celebrate. Flash mobs are quite popular in Russia, it is when many people show up to the same place and do something crazy at once.......so we all blew bubbles for bubble day:) It was great to hang out with them. They think that I am a baby and that I can't do anything by myself, which I think is funny. I told them that I am not a baby and that I know the public transportation system of Zelenograd better than them, which is true, but they said that they just care too much and worry. In the Winter, if I didn't look like an Eskimo they would chastise me until I put on more winter gear.....they are very funny.


I really like the colors of this.....it is so Moscow.

I don't know what i am doing here, but check out my sweet leather!

Yulia and I.

Beautiful sunset.



On Saturday they went with to buy a bicycle! I was so excited to buy a bicycle because I have been meaning to do it for a while and now I finally had the money so yay! My first journey on the bicycle got me lost in the forest. There is a huge forest in the middle of Zelenograd....that is why they call it the Green City. It was kind of a wet day so when i was lost I was sinking in mud and covered in it. I just wanted to escape and see buildings and civilization again....hahaha. Eventually I did escape and it was a great adventure. So now if I feel bored and it is a nice day I can't wait to jump on my bike, listen to my iPod, and go!

After my bike adventure I met with my friends and we all went to a concert in a club in Moscow. I don't remember the Russian singer that sang but he was really funny and did renditions of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"......pretty funny with a Russian accent. It was great and each weekend, Nikita and I plan a new adventure for the gang to do. This weekend we are planning to shashlik. Shashlik is a special way of preparing meat.....but basically it is a shishkebab.....and then you go to the forest or your dacha and build a fire and cook out. It is a great Russian tradition and I haven't done it yet. If we go to the dacha, I am hoping to ride my bicycle.....it is in the next town over so I think that would be fun:) Well that is pretty much it for now! I miss you all:)