Autumn Lately

Moscow never fails to surprise me. Most of these surprises happen in the metro or when we go out but the biggest surprises are those with the changing of the seasons.
When we arrived, it was hard not to be taken aback by the eerie beauty of the piles and piles of white, crystal snow.
Spring come around and it was surprising to just see a flower surviving in Russia.
Summer caught us completely off-guard by being so hot that people could suntan in the parks.
But autumn...I have to say that this is, for me, possibly the best so far. The colour of the leaves just makes life feel like I'm living in a postcard.

We've had some fun activities lately which are worth reporting on. The last two weekends were spent with a collection of people from various countries supporting rugby at an Irish Bar called Katie O Sheas. We sported our green, took up an entire area of the bar and generally made a lot of noise and drove our waitress crazy. That was fun. It's truly incredible meeting so many different people, not necessarily South Africans, who have somehow in their lives ended up here in Moscow. These are the stories I love most.

Dean Kriel comes with adventures and so I was lucky enough to be invited to join him to watch one of the Cirque de Solei productions which was Cirque Eloize ID. It was hip-hop dancing meets the circus and it was possibly the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen in my little life. People that look like they are made of rubber doing things that are near impossible to believe are real and yet, it's there in front of your eyes. Here's a small taste of what I saw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMu7kVwq_H4

Saturday night was spent watching a spectacular lights show that was projected onto the Bolshoi Theatre. The amount of work and attention to detail that went into the whole thing was so impressive. The hundreds of people that stood in the streets and watched these displays must have been extremely rewarding for the people who created the images and the months of work that must have gone into it must have finally paid off.

 To round up a really awesome weekend I got to spend the day with my other big brother. He and Geoff used to have hours of fun spying on me while I played dress up with my dolls and today Dan became my dress up doll when we went shopping for his winter clothes. I was once again completely surprised at my brothers lack of protest at my suggestion of outfits and then when I found myself at the hairdresser watching my brothers hair getting blow dried, I could not stifle my giggles. Brownie points to the very nice hairdresser who cut my brothers hair in the most meticulous way I have ever seen hair being cut but unfortunately there was no running away for him once she pulled out that hairdryer. Shopping, Hair do and lunch together. It was probably the girliest day I've had in a while and it was spent with my big brother.

Every now and then we need reminders in life of how lucky we are- to be where we are, to have the friends and the family we do, to have the opportunities we have, to be who we are...these last few have definitely done that for me

A summer, a few Moscowversaries and a brother later

September has probably been the busiest month of my life.
In this month we have all arrived back in Moscow after various summer activities, we've got new jobs, moved into a new apartment, had my brother and his two friends arrive, been broke, been exhausted, met so many new people, laughed til we've cried and generally tried to find some sense of normalcy.

A summary! These always work well when there is waaaay too much information to absorb.

1)   I had the incredible opportunity of going away to a place called Gelenzhick with one of the families I work for. It was another world and, no offence Russia, difficult to believe this place was in Russia.

2)   Maree left the two-thirds of us behind and moved to Italy to a place called Forte di Marme where she worked extremely hard for 8 whole weeks.

3)   Jackie got a new job at an amazing school where the staff have a uniform and a special scarf they wear to occasions.

4)   Many sunny and awesome days were spent wondering the parks of Moscow.

5)   Many sunny and awesome days were also spent watching movies and indulging in junk food in our little flat.

6)   My special friend from my childhood, Erin Pote, came to stay for the weekend on her journey on the Trans-Siberian train. She’s ignited a fire within me which wants to live the life she does. Working and travelling and generally just living life the way I think it was always meant to be lived: being blissfully happy and doing exactly what your inner instincts want you to do, especially because it’s not the conventional thing.

7)   I exchanged my London trip for one back home with the onset of homesickness...

8)   Jackie booked flights home due to changing her visa with her new school.

9)   Maree spent many sunny days on the beach looking after the children and eating yummy Italian ice-cream.

10)               Our friend Freddie moved into our flat due to his apartment being sold.

11)               Jackie and I flew on separate airlines to separate layovers even though we left on the exact same day at the exact same time.

12)               I spent a wonderful week with my parents, catching up and walking on the beautiful beaches of Jeffrey’s Bay.

13)               Jackie was in Cape Town visiting her cousins and sorting her visa.

14)               I then went on to Grahamstown where I could see some old, familiar faces who I’ve missed seeing very much.

15)               After Grahamstown, it was off to my hometown Queenstown which always stays the same and it’s the best that way.

16)               From Queenstown it was back to Jeffrey’s Bay and then off to Cape Town with my folks to see more of my beloved family.

17)               I spent a weekend with my brothers, parents and in laws exploring the Fish Hoek area and kicking ass in 30 Seconds.

18)               I said a bitter-sweet goodbye to my parents and biggest brother and got to spend a few special days with my aunt and uncle.

19)               Arrived back in Moscow with work straight away with Jackie and Maree due back soon.

20)               Watched a few seasons of Breaking Bad with Freddie while eating treats brought back from South Africa.

21)               Jackie arrived back and started at her new job.

22)               Maree arrived back from Italy exhausted, brown and looking great! We were finally reunited.

23)               We looked for a new flat, found it on Thursday and moved in on Saturday.

24)               I started a kindergarten job on Monday.

25)               My other big brother and his two good friends arrived on Tuesday.

There are photos on Facebook to match this whirlwind month to catch everyone up on the happenings in Moscow...but I aim to be a lot more active on my blog since things are starting to feel as normal as they can be with five South Africans living in one apartment in Moscow :)