Our team went to the woods today to have a picnic and we had beautiful weather. I don't know why everyone else is wearing jackets. Me and hudson were hot without them:) It got up to 21C I believe. Anyway, a few russians came by to ask why soooo many Americans were here together. We had to tell them that out of the whole bunch there was actually only a few americans. Some are from Australia, Ireland, Canada:), Pharoah Islands, New Zealand and Australia and I can't remember the other one. Anyway we had a great time throwing around the frisbee, eating yummy food and talking and talking. We missed david but had a great time. And David returns tomorrow!!!!! Yay!!!! 

Emma with her Irish/Faroese? friend Karina. The kids had sooo much fun playing at the park together. 

another thing I am noticing these days

Something that russians notice about westerners is that we try to make things easier so that they are more enjoyable. This is something they both admire about us but at the same time they pride themselves on just enduring and not making things so easy. We westerners live to enjoy, they live to endure. This is seen in the churches as well. We never did write much about our visit to the Russian Orthodox Church. WEll. The structural difference is this... there is no where to sit. They stand for the whole 2 hour service. It is not for enjoyment that they go to church. I won't get into why they do go but it really shows us how enjoyment focused we are. We have to have comfy seats and good temperatures and modern music and toys for the kids and coffee and banana bread. It's not wrong and perhaps it will catch on in russia but it shows how we have a different way of doing things indeed. This goes into the shoes. I wear shoes that are as comfy as I can get. A russian women will walk around town all day going up and down stairs, on rocky paths and standing on the bus (nevermind carrying her groceries home) in her very high heeled pointy shoes without complaining. This is something I notice in every area of life here from the foods they buy, the apartments they live in to the bags they carry. Endure hardship. Or get rid of the hardship. hmmm.

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Some babushka's having their daily discussion meetup on the bench outside thier apartment... 

A younger russian woman in her casual outfit. Yes those are casual shoes! 

More re. russian women

here is a site that explains a bit about the shoes russian women wear. It is written by a western woman like myself but from what I've observed it pretty true even this year. It is written russian style though...

Russian Women

I've been doing a lot of research on russian women. Every time I read about them, watch them, or listen to them I have a renewed excitement to get this language.
Here is a little of what I've learned. Russian women say it like it is. They don't waste time with hello small talk how are you doing. They say what is on their mind. I like that. I long for the day that I can join in and say it like it is. I think about this when i am writing out my verbs and when I am carrying home my groceries wondering if my fingers are going to fall off because they have turned blue from the heavy plastic bags. Some day i will be able to talk like they do. Right now I can small talk. They don't do that. That is a western thing. I want to get beyond this. They also have a very high tolerance level. What i mean is that when we usually break down and cry about how hard things are is at about 15%. They can reach 100% without any complaining or self pity. I am getting better at this the longer I live here. Sometimes:)
My russian friend Viola came over yesterday and couldn't believe that I had moved all the huge wardrobes and emma's bunk bed etc. around in her room by myself. She felt my arms and said "You have russian woman arms" That was the best comment I've heard in a long time:) She also said "well your grandpa is ukrainian too" so there must be hard workers there too:)
4 days left till david comes home.... starting to miss him more and more....

More re. reindeer herding in Tuva

Ok I found another site that has excellent info on it. It is all about Tuva, the dictionary, grammar, herding, throat singing, people etc. It will answer many of the questions you've asked me. It thrills me to think we could live there with the tuvans. Maybe david has met some of the people that put the page together, if they are still there. Did I tell you that David met the guy who is putting together the Tuvinian Translation? He was on the plane with him so they exchanged contact information. Here is the site

Here is a picture of two fine english gentlemen. Yesterday was the day that grandad Eric William went to Heaven. We are glad that we got to go to England last year for David to see his grandad again and for the rest of us to meet him. I'm not sure how old he was. (someone who know's can leave a comment)  

Here is the 4 generations picture with Eric, Andy, David and Josiah. What a special picture to have.:) 

Here is emma and sierra with Great Grandpa Eric. Emma remembers this day in England last year and we are so glad we have a picture of her with her English Great Grandpa :) 

Here is someone in the winter looking for some good stuff.... 

Garbage Picking in Moscow

Here it isn't just the homeless who look through the garbage. Babushka's are really good at it but just your average joe is a frequent looker too. The little garbage bins by the bus stops are looked in by I'd estimate every 5th pedestrian. Yesterday something caught my eye though. A 40-50 year old man, who looked of average wealth was looking through a big dumpster. He looked very excited all of a sudden and pulled out a nice leather purse. he dumped out the stuff in it and checked it out and decided to keep it for himself. Yes, men do use purses here. But i thought some poor person probably got their purse stolen, money taken out and now here is the purse being used by someone else. Hopefully the original owner doesn't see this guy using their purse and think he was the one who stole it:) Most people are looking for magazines, clothes, furniture (in the big ones) but there are many who eat out of it. There are many who live at the dump and fight for first dibs as the truck is dumping it out. This is something that doesn't happen at home.

Genghis Blues- a real movie from Tuva. We need to get this for sure. I think it is about throat singing and stuff. It is expensive at the site I was at but I'll search for a used or cheaper one...  

David could be hiking here as we speak..It sure is pretty.... 

This is the hotel that David is staying at. I found a picture of it online. Not 4 star or anything I'm sure but much better than staying in a tent. Well maybe david wouldn't think so. 

Alberta? no this is in Tuva. Matt- how about this one- 3970m high. It is part of a climbing tour that one can take from Moscow. Most of it within tuva i think. We'll see what kind of pics david brings back for us... 

So far so good...

I have now survived day 2 of my week alone with the kids and so far it has been quite enjoyable. We have been exploring all the nearby parks. I have had a few good conversations with some russian ladies. And that doesn't mean deep meaningful conversations but it means that I was able to introduce myself and my kids with our ages and where we are from. I can also talk a bit about where we live here, that we are learning russian, that we are from canada and a bit about what food we like etc. I like being able to small talk. One lady today who was very beautiful and smart ( i think, well she looked smart) was blown away by my three kids. She is at that stage of deciding whether or not they will have a 2nd child or stop with just the one. Her daughter is 5 which seems to be when another one is considered here. She could not believe that I had 3 all younger than her daughter. I think she was saying that one child is enough work for her but she really liked my little boys.... I hope to see her again sometime. I liked her. Her daughter has just begun english electives at school but was too shy to speak in english like emma is too shy to use her russian most of the time. Anyway. All is going great. The kids are in bed and almost asleep. Day 2 done! But 6 more left... Andy, and everyone else wondering, David returns on Sat.afternoon.

more re. cell phones

The really cool thing about cell phones here is that you only buy the cell phone. There are no plans or contracts or commitment to one company or anything. You buy phone cards (which are incredibly cheap too 3 cents/minute to canada, yes i should call more often:) You load the card onto your phone and you use it when you want. If you don't use it for a year or two you pay nothing. If you use it a lot it is cheap. If a better phone card comes along you can take part. So simple. nice eh...It is the same with dialup internet. We just load on a card everyonce in a while when our time is low. Kinda like the electricity in England:) You can't use more than you have the money for either:)

Russia and Cell Phones:)

If you want to look russian you definetely need a cell phone. Hung around your neck if your a woman, otherwise on your belt. David got me a present in honour of him going away I guess. Erin has a cell phone! It is a really nifty little one with a pale green New Zealand sheepskin case and strap (to hang it around my neck:) It is a Samsung SGH-E300 and though it is reasonably inexpensive has a bunch of nifty tools. It takes pictures and video (with sound) and has handsfree things and Photo caller Id, all kinds of stuff. Anyway, I just learned how to do text messaging from my russian teacher and I am glad and relieved to be able to contact David and others whenever I need to. My friends here think that Westerners are so behind the times due to my lack of cell phone knowledge. But we just may be.

Ok, one more of Hudson. See I need to put lots of pics on now cause next week David will steal the camera from me so he can take pictures of Tuva... So I'm getting my fix of pictures. Hudson is at that learning to make funny wet sounds with his lips stage. It is great to see him so delighted when he gets enough spit on his chin that it drips. How cute:) 

Josiah and Hudson  

Hudson and Jo....

Hudson at 7 months. Thought this one matched best, They sure have the same hair and ears and mouth and nose but yes, the eyes are very different. ... hey laura, how did the cookies turn out???...mmmmm 

Here is Josiah at 8 months ( i think though it could be 9 months...) 

Josiah enjoying two canadian classics- kraft dinner (thanks to Paula) and heinz ketchup! 

Thank You Paula!!! Emma went with daddy today on an excursion to go pick up our package. It took them a long time but it was sure worth the wait! Emma was soooooo excited about all the stickers and mummy loves the beef jerky and Lady Grey Tea! David loved his too and you should have seen him reading People magazine informing us that Brittany Spears is having a baby soon and that Madonna had a broken arm. Hudson really liked the kraft dinner boxes and the shreddies and Josiah took so long eating his first licorice. Thank you for blessing us with all the treats:) Emma said "they must really love me to send all these stickers".... "I can't believe it".... we know emma's love language. SHe tells us who gave her what/when and that they really love her never forgetting who everything is from.  

Josiah 20 months Hudson 7 monthsI didn't even have to arrange this one. the boys were just sitting like this in the living room looking at some blocks. Can't believe there is a whole year between them by their size. Jo's biceps are longer though:)  

Some throat singers in training! I don't even know what it sounds like, I'll have to explore some of the links more...  

More tuvinian girls. It looks like all is a go with david's trip to Tuva. He will leave next Saturday! Yay! I'm excited about hearing all about it already. And I'm excited too cause I won't have class either! 

Here is a picture of two Tuvinian girls. The outfits are typical of what you would see here too. More interesting for sure.  

"Hey, I'm trying to read!" As hudson gets older I'm sure there will be plenty of encounters between the boys... Hudson likes to have what Josiah has. oh boy! Josiah is pretty good with the "little" baby though. He will at least try to find him some other toy. 

Emma enjoying a blini filled with jam and cream cheese. She loves her sleeping beauty dress Charlotte and Amanda, actually she calls it sweet and beauty dress (even though she knows what it really is now:). She always wants to wear it when we have people over for dinner etc.  

Our Russian friend Viola who teaches David every morning and teaches me every second day came to our house to teach today. We had class as normal but at lunch she taught us how to make Blini (russian pancakes) pretty yummy. pretty much the exact same as finnish pancakes but the fillings are different. You roll them up with sour cream and caviar, or cream cheese and jam or ???? the kids were thrilled to have her here all day. And then we had company for supper too and for the evening so we had a fun social day.