Paris day 2

Paris day 2

The day started with grey, rainy skies which, we were told, added to the experience of being in Paris. Maybe, but not when you plan on climbing a very tall metal structure higher into those same skies.

Nevertheless, we all hopped on the bus to begin the day's adventures which were free for us to choose. We opted for the Eiffel Tower first. 

It is so strange to actually be underneath this huge, man-made monument after seeing it in movies, on all sorts of merchandise and in other people's photos. Now we could take the cliched photos and be there for ourselves. However, no photo or picture can actually do it justice.

With butterflies in my tummy, we began the ascent of the stairs, choosing to climb as opposed to taking the elevator all the way. The climb was slow and gradual. Partly because I had acquired myself a cough and burning chest as well as the fact that I've managed to inherit (somehow) an extreme fear of heights. 

From the second level of the Eiffel Tower, you have to take the elevator up to the tippy top. While Jo happily snapped away pictures, I focused on not passing out, and eventually we got to the highest point. It was a very misty day, but we were still able to appreciate the spectacular view-from the perspective of a bird, 360 degrees. Amazing.

From there, thanks to Jo's very good navigation skills, we found our next activity which was a river cruise along the San river, bypassing all the beautiful sights and buildings which Paris consists of. Once again, the rain made this difficult but it was worthwhile being able to see everything in 45 minutes.

We then wondered through the streets, past the worlds largest Louis Vuitton store, to have lunch on the champs élysées. Again, I was struck with the feeling of not quite being able to believe that this was real life. The restaurant was so typically French- out on the pavement, with round tables and woven chairs, complete with a flirty French waiter.

After lunch, we walked up the Champs Élysées and up to the Arch de Triumph. The huge traffic circle surrounding the arch is definitely one to behold and demonstrates the business of Paris. The arch is also full of exquisite detail and has to be seen from underneath to fully comprehend.

It was then back on the metro for us in order to visit the beautiful church of Norte Dame. This church is actually situated on one of the islands on the river which adds to its appeal and uniqueness. Our reactions, as well as many other people around us, was mostly just staring at the building wide eyed and mouthed. Walking inside is almost overwhelming as you feel just how sacred and special this church is. All around people are lighting candles, writing prayers of peace and sitting in silence just taking in everything around them. It is extremely humbling.

Our last destination for this busy busy day was dinner and a bar. Ciders and beers were welcomed as people caught up on the day's activities. Then some Aussies and South Africans joined up to continue having a drink, as we do. 

It's so fascinating to hear people's stories of how they came to be here at this point in their lives and adding to this, the experience of seeing all these monumental places and feeling our size again and again. It reminds me that everyone is on some kind of path or journey and we're all just trying to follow some kind of map of life.

Eurotrip 2014: Paris Day 1

The day started as any day in Paris should...with someone saying, "Bonjour!", while serving you a croissant with Nutella. I'm not sure whether it was the 'Paris' effect or if the croissant was really that good, but it was one of the best things I've tasted in a while.

Breakfast was followed by true determination by Jo and I to figure out yet another metro to find the Paris that we've been hoping to see, since the area we're staying in doesn't quite grasp it.
Since I only have Moscow metro to compare to, it has to be said that there are obvious differences. Firstly, the lady selling us tickets was much so helpful and friendly to us which gave us the encouragement to go forth. Armed with our map, the spirit renewed by the lady and our unwavering hearts, we stepped onto the train. One thing that Moscow does better than Paris is how beautiful there metros are but either way, both get you to where you need to be which is always the end goal with metros, I suppose.

Coming out of the underground and being welcomed by the sights of the Louve, is a feeling that is only felt on few occasions. You immediately feel like this is not real life but at the same time are struck with absolute awe and you just have to stand there going, "Flip."

As Jo and I do, we stopped for a couple of selfies and wandered around the exquisite gardens which used to be the private gardens of the palace. As we walked, we spotted the tip of the Eiffel Tower sticking up over the rest of the city, like the loch-ness head might pop up out of the water someday. At least that was my weird immediate thought.

We then walked down the chan se Lise and looked through all the Christmas market stalls, smelling Nutella filled pancakes being prepared and friendly voices saying "Bonjour" and "Merci".
Again, not sure if it's the "Paris-effect", but everything at these stalls seemed extra Christmassy and super interesting.

A sweet lunch was followed by a long sit in the basking sun by the pond overlooking the Paris eye. The angled chairs placed near the pond basically asks you to sit down and relax and so we had no choice but to sun our pale faces and watch Paris go by.

After more photos with the glass pyramid from da Vinci code (there's definitely a more formal name for this, I just cannot remember it right now coz my brain is off), we headed back to the hotel to meet our tour group.

Apparently South Africans like to tour Europe in the winter because we found ourselves making up quite a large portion of the group. We had dinner at a French restaurant where we had the classics of snails and French onion soup where we could bond with the others.

The day ended perfectly with a night tour of the city lights of Paris as well as finally being able to see the full Lochness monster. It's very difficult to not look at the Eiffel Tower when it's in view because it is just so striking...and it even sparkles! We managed to see many beautiful buildings and well-known spots along the way which we are setting out to check out tomorrow. Watch this space.

With my bestie and I sharing bunk beds, a mind full of wonderful new memories and photos and a fulfilled feeling, I can happily close my eyes knowing I'll be waking up again tomorrow in one of the greatest places in the world.

Somewhere in Russia...life goes on

I will openly admit that's it's not only shameful, but rather rude that I've neglected to post a blog in a while and of course, if you're not in constant contact with me, you would understandably question my dedication to this little blog of mine. So if you're not in constant contact with me (which you really should be because I'm rather nice) then I have some serious filling in to get done.

Just like I was teaching today, imagine my life has been like a plot structure of a novel:

The exposition was my life, just you know, living in Moscow with my friends and having my cool brother around. Starting work at 4pm most days, building Lego, writing sentences like "The fat cat sits on the mat" and drinking way too much coffee.

Then, suddenly, there was the turning point which led to some serious rising action. Not like the gradual rising action depicted in this lovely diagram. It was a lot steeper and shorter. With the assistance of Maree, who recently started an assistant teaching job (see what I did there) at the International school, I landed an interview at this prestigious school. Within a day, I was expected to teach a trial lesson in front of three rather intimidating people and within a week, I was a full time member of staff with four of my very own classes.

Cue the climax of the story.

With a lump in my throat, I had to say goodbye to my beloved students I tutor and began the difficult task of starting a brand new teaching job in the middle of the term.  Its tough, I'm tired and stressed out every single day, not a day passes where I can say that I achieved everything I was supposed to but it's my dream teaching job and I could honestly not ask to be given a better opportunity. I am an extremely lucky person.

I don't quite feel like I'm in the resolution part of my story, mostly due to the fact that that's not quite how life works, does it? Partly due to the fact that my very best friend will be arriving in Moscow on Monday so that we can set out on our Winter Eurotrip the following week. There's no room for resolutions when Jo's around.

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 :)

Anywhere but Moscow

Now, that title had a unintentional negative connotation...but what it really means is that all three of us (will) find ourselves in different places in the next few days that aren't Moscow. Yes, we love this place and seeing St Basil's on a casual everyday errand will never get old but it's also rather refreshing to escape the sweaty metro and angry babushka every now and then.

Separation anxiety has kicked in already with me having left earlier this morning to a seaside spot called Gelendzhik. Jackie is on her way out to the country side for the weekend and Ree is jetting off to live in Italy for 2 months. The life we're living hey.

Since I can pretty much only speak for my one third of this trio, I will share some news with the black sea lying just outside my window. A wonderful family that I work for invited me down here to spend a couple of days so I was able to see a different part of Russia.
This place is definitely a different part of Moscow...so much so that I feel like I might have even left the world. I cannot describe how beautiful it is. It is a mixture of a people beach, steep cliffs and mountains, forest, valleys, a holiday beach town that you see in movies and then a clear and flat ocean with no waves at all. People are Kenton-on-Sea chilled out and everyone is brown, happy and relaxed. There are boats and jetskis out on the water, people tanning under thatch umbrellas, playing all sorts of games and sports...it's all activities and summer.
The place where I am staying is comfortable and lush with a tennis court, playground and infinity pool that are screaming my name. Yes, the playground too...my student and I have the best time coming up.
The airport here is an interesting one. Its basically all outside as the waiting area is outside and the luggage can be collected off the back of a trailer which parks under a shed...and then its a grab and run situation. But don't people steal each others bags, you might ask...Noooo, because a) this is Russia and b) everyone's so happy to be here they dont care about stealing someone else's stuff.
"Putin's Palace" is rumoured to be here too but it's a bit of a Nkandla situation so he denies that it is actually his. Needless to say, he doesn't have to wait in any luggage sheds with his helicopter waiting to jet him off to his palace as he lands. Also, "palace" being in the name kind of says it all. We flew past it...and basically if something's big enough to be seen from up there, it pretty much has to be a palace.
Anyway, we're going to check it out for ourselves sometime so I will try use my South African background to help add some light on it.
For now, I'm happy that I'm here, and not anywhere else.

The Catch-up on crazy!

Family and friends...we are still alive and kicking in Moscow, I've just been caught up in the end of the academic year lessons and life which is the reason for the lack of blogging. I even missed our 5th Moscowversary which was last week Saturday! Some days it's really difficult to believe that we've been here for five months already and other days it feels like we've been here for years.

This week, we have all been on holiday which has been fantastic! We managed to get some sleep, do some shopping, relaxing, bonding and generally being able to do things that we don't usually get to do when we're metro-ing between clients and playing outside with the kiddies.
The other night, we sat around our kitchen table, drank wine and reflected on the last couple of months.
The three girls that stepped off that plane, slipped in the snow and shivered into Moscow have been replaced with woman who glide and layer up (or down, in the heat we've been experiencing lately). We spoke about things that each one of us has had to overcome, learn, accept and change within ourselves and our life here. It is one thing when other people notice the difference in you and a completely different one when you recognise it to be true...and then later learn to be proud of it. I think that it is near impossible to not become a more refined person when living abroad, but most importantly when you grow up. I refused to believe I would one day stop loving 2 minute noodles and that I would like being able to pay my own rent. It's safe to say that we've definitely grown up.

What contributed to all these realisations probably had a lot to do with Rose going back home. She's spent her time here with us and is now moving on to her greener pastures and studying her Masters degree in Holland from September. Casually.
When Rose arrived, we were all apprehensive, learning things and getting things wrong time after time. When we bid her farewell, we did so knowing that she walked away being someone that can as opposed to someone who maybe could of.
As our friend quite literally ran away from us last Sunday, we stood there with a rather surreal feeling remembering how anxious and scared we first felt when we first entered that very station that freezing night.
So Rosie's chapter in Moscow has come to an end. It was filled with many laughs (mostly at her expense), fun adventures,  discussions about books/series, practice at her being a psychologist person and priceless lessons.

We still have a couple of chapters left, but if all that can happen in one, imagine what can happen in the rest.