After all of the game people left on Monday, the big clean-up operation began. We have been set the task of washing and ironing all of the sheets, which we have worked out will take us about 12 days, as we can only wash one load per day as there is only a tiny amount of hanging space! We also cleaned the rooms. It was odd on Monday evening to have the house completely to ourselves; even Galia had gone away for the night!
Yay for washing!
On Tuesday we had the Sunday that we missed while playing the game, so it was a rest day, which we really didn’t need, since while we’d been ill all we’d done was rest! We had dinner at Masha’s house, which was really nice, we got to try some of her ‘day and night’ cake (the ‘day’ layers were plain sponge, and the ‘night’ layers were chocolate). Then, after most people had left the table, Masha’s older brother turned up with some home-brewed vodka in a mineral water bottle labelled ‘The Source of Life’ – love the irony! He offered us some, and at first we declined, but Lena, our Russian teacher, decided that it was part of our Russian cultural education and insisted we try some! But actually, it wasn’t that bad! It was much better than the vodka I’ve had in the UK anyway. We drank out of shot glasses, but Masha’s brother took a tea-cup full each time. We were then taught the rules of each shot, which included the fact that you aren’t supposed to leave much time between the first and second shot, so we had to drink again! And then, after some chatting, we were talked into yet another shot… Having not drunk much alcohol since being here, I wasn’t sure how I would react, but I seemed to be okay! But the fourth offered shot was definitely a step too far and so we declined the ‘walking stick for the road’, as it’s known here. We were also offered tea etc etc, but we managed to get away in the end after an enjoyable evening.
As this week was half term for us teachers too, we’ve had no classes, so we’ve been doing a lot of ironing, and filling in time by attempting to complete the 500 piece puzzles that lie in a pile in the school supply cupboard. I say attempt, because they are often missing pieces – we tried to complete one of a Japanese castle the other day, but it was ridiculously difficult as there was so much blossom, so we had to call in extra help from Max, Katya and Sergei, and discovered that there were sixteen pieces missing!
Yesterday was possibly my favourite day here. After washing the dishes, we helped Max do the 500 piece tiger puzzle, only he kept telling us off for laughing too loudly! He often does this, so he’s now earned the title of the ‘Fun Police’, making sure that when you have fun, you aren’t having too much fun, and in a quiet manner…
After I polished some furniture and Lois cleaned out the fridge in Katya’s house, we watched a film about some of the wonders of the world, which was interesting, especially as we’d been to one of them, Tsarskoye Selo, when we were in St Petersburg last year. We had my favourite tea (Redbush tea), and coconut biscuits, which are always good.
In the afternoon, we requested to have a sort of craft club thing with the kids, and Masha told us we could have it at 4. However, at 3.30, little Katya came round to see where we were, and to inform us that everyone was waiting! I don’t understand what happened there, but we quickly threw some things in a bag and headed to the school. Lois had the great idea of using the felt I’d brought to create hairclips (she’d brought some plain ones), which went down well. We also took thread, so that the kids could make friendship bracelets, the magic painting things, which Katya loves (and Vanya painted one too), and Vanya and I made Olympic torches out of gold card and flame coloured tissue paper. It was a really fun way to spend 2 hours, especially as we hadn’t seen much of the kids, since we’d been ill, and also because there were no classes. We also had a really good turn out, seeing as Vika, Zhenya, Roma and Anton are away for half term, and a lot of other kids are ill.
The results of craft club!
To further add to this great day, we had a barbecue for dinner (even though it’s November), which included chicken with cheese and mushrooms, which was really good, and even had Pepsi, which seemed like a novelty! They were obviously expecting a lot more people to show up for dinner, but so many people are ill! We met Max’s ‘Godparent’ Steve, who is nice and also English!
After dinner, we were caught by Max, who wanted us to come to his house and play Game of Thrones with him and Steve, so we went, and had a really good time attempting to explain the ridiculously confusing rules to Steve, who speaks Russian, but phrases such as ‘mustering armies’ are obviously things you wouldn’t expect to need…! He also gave us some wine which was nice. Of course, the only rule you really need to know is the Max always wins.
Once we’d finished the game, which of course Max won, we went back to our room. After sitting for a while at a loose end, I had the idea of making brooches with the millions of safety pins I’d brought (the kit list said I’d need them… I didn’t). So now I have a blue flower hairclip and a cute owl brooch which Lois made me. I made her an I <3 1D broach, because she clearly does love them..!
Today is Sunday, so another rest day, and the end of the holiday. At the Community Meeting, we were told that this week is health week, so I think they’ll be keeping a closer eye on what everyone eats, and making sure everyone wears warm clothes etc – which means I have to start wearing a hat…
And that’s all for now!
Slightly big news – I have officially dropped Chinese, so I am now doing Single Honours Russian, which means that I won’t be going to China next year, and will be going to somewhere in Russia instead – although I have literally no idea where yet…!
Thanks for reading!
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