Bloom where you are planted. M&M: Our new adventure: Day 56, 57, 58: I'm On A Boat!

Day 56, 57, 58: I'm On A Boat!

Word(s) of the Day(s):
извините [izvinite]: Sorry
лодка [lodka]: Boat

Day 56 was Friday, the 7th of June. We are seven days into our last month in Moscow. Bitter sweet moment...

I am going to miss this place. But I am excited for Spain and Paris. I mean, who wouldn't be?! I am also excited to be back in the states with the de Benito clan! And I get to visit my family and friends back home in Chicago at the end of July, which will be pretty awesome! :)

Today was an interesting day to say the least. We hadn't had our apartment cleaned in a little while (we have a cleaning lady which is something new to us, but I am definitely not complaining) and we were beginning to have a few issues. We had a leak in the kitchen, our bathroom had a clogged sink and shower, and things were in need of a deep clean. So, we called Olga, the apartment manager, to send a cleaning lady to our apartment. She came a few hours after lunch along with Olga (which wasn't expected). I am okay with someone else that I don't know seeing our filth, but when someone we have to associate with often sees it, it is embarrassing. So, I just continued to do my homework as they deep cleaned the apartment together. It was the cleaning lady's first job so Olga was showing her what to do. As they were cleaning I typed in Google translate to explain to Olga that our shower was clogged and this was her response...

Very straightforward response. This is how Russians talk though. They don't sugar coat things, they just tell you how it is haha I laughed a little bit to myself and continued to work and do my thing as they did their thing. About fifteen minutes later, as I was sitting in my chair doing my homework, I heard a man's voice. I turned around and saw this guy with a tool kit. I was later told that he was the water master. Not plumber. Water master. haha I continued to try and focus on my homework, but let me tell you, it was really hard not to laugh. People were all around me, vacuuming, scrubbing, and funniest of all, plunging our shower. They even took a few smoking breaks. All of these noises were just humorous to me, I don't know why. I felt like I needed to help out, but they told me to not worry. I continued to sit there and Max finally came home to witness the craziness. Olga told Max that we could call any time if we had any problems and she could send the cleaning lady any time. Like I said, we are not used to having a cleaning lady, so it was good to know that she would come anytime. However, I doubted she would be back. I thought she would quit after this intense first job hahaha After they left, we got ready and headed to go on a boat tour! On our way there, we saw these awesome native american's performing some music.

This drunk guy really liked the music haha

We got to the metro stop where the boat tour started and decided to get something to eat before we left. So, we went to the food court in a mall really close by. Max tried one of these weird hot dogs they have here called Stardogs. It is a hot dog with mashed potatoes, fried onions, mustard, hot sauce, and probably more stuff we didn't realize all wrapped in a tortilla. There were so many different flavors on that hot dog it was overwhelming. We weren't really sure what to think about it. It is a popular item to eat here though...

When we finished eating, we went to the area where the boat tour started and got on! Here are all of the pictures we took. Warning: There are A LOT of pictures, but it was such a fun experience. The weather was perfect, it wasn't too hot or too cold, the sky was beautiful, and hardly anyone was on the boat. Check out the beautiful city of Moscow...

I'm on a boat! We had the boat pretty much to ourselves!

Okay, so pay close attention to these next photos. They tell a pretty funny story!

That was a wave from our boat! So funny to watch because we saw it coming!

Two kids waving at us! (Sorry for the blurriness)

Smoking is a hobby here.

Max smiled at them and the girl made this really funny face back at him.

Along the Moscow river at Gorky Park there were a bunch of people dancing.

Peter the Great. Apparently everyone thinks this statue is ugly, but I liked it a lot!

Double headed eagle watching over the east and west side of Russia

Love is in the air....everywhere!

Model shoot on the boat

The model shoot continued

Moscow University

Black balloon

Where we used to live! They have made a lot of progress on that boat restaurant.

Where we used to live

Day 57 was Saturday, the 8th of June. We went to the Izmaylovskaya Market again. This time we got a lot of goodies. We got a Ukrainian hand made blanket, another pair of parachute pants, some movies and music, a Nazi SS spoon, and some souvenirs. It is such a fun market. While we were there at least five ladies asked me why I wasn't pregnant. They were shocked! haha They are very traditional here though. They get married and then have babies. After we left the market, we went to this little mall to go and eat at the food court.

I was sporting my Naik (Just do it) bag.

The market has ALL types of matryoshka doll's! They even had one with BYU football players!

My new parachute pants!

We also got some candies at the mall right by the food court.

After we left the little mall, we headed back home. Before we got home, we went to the grocery store to buy a few things. When we got into the grocery store, a babushka (old lady) cornered me with a hand full of coins. She started speaking to me in Russian and I didn't understand. I thought she wanted money. I looked at Max and he said that she thought I was an artist and wanted me to count her money for her or something. Max explained to her that I wasn't who she thought I was and that I didn't speak Russian. She looked at me again and then walked away. Very interesting experience to say the least. We quickly grabbed our groceries and left to go home. That was our day :)

Day 58 was Sunday, the 9th of June. We went to the Russian ward. Max translated for me so I could understand. It was fast and testimony meeting and I could just see the light in everyone's faces. It was such a great feeling. I bore my testimony. I began in Russian with Здравствуйте, меня зовут Michelle and then switched over to English. Max translated for me as I spoke in English. I got a little emotional because I just love Russia so much and the people here. There is something special about them. It is cool to see the church in other places of the world. After the meeting, we talked with this couple behind us. They were from Alpine, Utah and were visiting Russia on business. We exchanged information and decided to plan to meet up for lunch early the next week. It is fun meeting people from the states in Russia and hear their story. It is like being with a little piece of home.

Notice the paper hats hahaha

After we went to the two other meetings, we went home and got ready for Oksana, Marcus, ZoeJane, and Viera (Oksana's Mom) to come over for dinner. We cooked some pelmeni, broccoli with cheese, and some bread. It was SO good! Best. Meal. Ever. It was fun having them over. We ate, talked, and played with their little one. She is such a cutie. After some time, she discovered Max's little camera and took a few pictures :)