Free Time

So, I've explained to you what I am officially doing here. Besides bringing HIV prevention into the lives of Samara's youth, I do have a life. Though I must admit, Riet and I have brought HIV prevention into our lives and it isn't a separate entity. We are ALWAYS doing prevention work, even if our friends are sick of hearing about it, but we genuinely realize the importance of it. Also, our friends quickly learn that we don't believe in taboos.

I've learned how to crochet. On YouTube. Really. If people can learn to deliver babies and ride motorcycles from youtube videos, you can learn how to crochet. And I did. I needed a hat. I was feeling creative because I was helping Oksana sew costumes. It also helped that Riet was knitting at the time. When I was younger, I asked my momma to teach me the crafts of knitting and crochet. I failed because I didn't have the patience/didn't pay attention to her. And so, I am a crochet-er. I've made hats, earwarmer/headband things, a cell phone case, and I'm currently making half gloves (similar to what homeless people wear).

This is my first project--my crocheted hat. I gave it to Sofie because it looks better on her. Since then, I've made another one that suits me better.

In December, I was working for my friend Oksana and helping her sew costumes for a New Years Show (think: flashy like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular). We didn't make these penguin costumes, but I thought they were adorable. Children in masses are cute when they are dancing on stage and when they are quiet. That's it.

Riet and I have domesticated. We are constantly doing handicrafts while sipping a hot cup of tea (or other strong alternative).

I'm exercising. I've been eating a lot because I need the calories and energy to keep me warm in this rough winter. I bought a yoga mat that I've actually been using quite religiously (only within the past few weeks...). I also have my resistance bands to build up these guns. I'm leaving Russia with weapons of mass destruction, friends.

And now my free time is being sucked away because I'm teaching English...I'll elaborate on this later.

This is not a metaphor

HIV prevention work is going well. However, I stupidly and irresponsibly left my computer without an anti-virus program for two weeks. Within these two weeks, I've allowed countless flash/USB sticks onto my computer and I've downloaded programs from the Internet. As a result, I've contracted the nasty WIN32 virus. And it won't go away, regardless of how many times I run the scanners. This is a lesson learned. Always be protected.

Carol of the Bells

I had the pleasure of visiting the Samara Philharmonic to watch a choire from Moscow perform. It's not very far from where I live, but I just never went until last week. First of all, have a look at how beautiful the interior is. And there's a giant organ (hehe).

Not much to say about this visit because this is the kind of thing you have to experience on your own. If you don't like classical music, fine. But you need to experience it live before you can make judgments. It's one thing to hear classical music as a recording, but a completely new experience when you're there.

The view from the orchestra seats to the terrace.

The big organ.
The choir that took my breath away and made my stomach do flips. Oh, the romance!! (This is more or less a joke).

Oh, and the last three songs were modern Christmas songs in English. They knew I was going to be there. Because I am a star. The American star.

A Grand Delay

I'm sorry! I've been neglecting this blog for over a month. I have a more or less valid excuse. It's cold. It's so cold that I don't want to write. Some days are so cold outside that I can't bear to go glove-less for a few minutes, which explains why there won't be a lot of photos for the next few months. It's so cold that my cell phone stops working outside. I'm scared to find out what may happen to my camera. Also, the streets have centimeters of ice, so I'm afraid to carry fragile items (I have a story about eggs).

December was the first time I felt the weather drop down to -30 degrees Celsius. That's thefirst time I learned that cold can HURT- that it could cause PHYSICAL PAIN. A friend said, "When it's this cold, you start to feel what it's like to die from the cold." I couldn't agree more.

Luckily, I bought a jacket from the States that is rated to keep me "warm" in -30 degree weather. If you've never felt that kind of cold before, pay attention. You know when it's -15 or -20 when your nostrils freeze (you can feel it when you inhale). Bare skin hurts within minutes in -30 degree weather. I wear medium-weight thermals under jeans, leg warmers, woolen ski socks, heavyweight snow boots, and suede mittens. Once, I walked outside for 20 minutes (only out of necessity) and my thighs became numb after the pain. The wind made my eyes water (n.b. tears don't freeze because of the salt and oil content, but you can feel the cold on your face). And my face turned red. This should mean something because my face NEVER turns colors.

I know I sound overdramatic, but I'm just describing this in a way to help you understand better. It's also an honest description.

The snow on the pedestrian street (Leningradskaya). I was trying to capture parents transporting their kid on a sled. Sleds are used as modes of transportation here as well as for fun.

On December 15th, the Theatre organized a street action to hand out information and red ribbon to people on the street. This was a super-cold day. And this is a picture of Piotr on the outdoor ice skating rink in Kubishev Square.

Said street action. I'm carrying the flag of my sponsoring university.

Misha. The big boss. Haha. He's cold.

Just to show you how I dress in this cold weather.

Welcome to Samara

Yeah I realize that it's a little late, but better late than never! Here are a few postcard-like photos from the city. Some are my photos, but most are from my flatmates. Also, see the video that Riet made for Mikko's goodbye. Mikko was living in Samara for 9 months and she collected a lot of blackmail. Here's the compilation.


Volga River looking towards the city of Samara. In the distance, you can see the statue of a man holding airplane wings. He stands in the Square of Glory.




Drama and Opera theatre.

Revolution Square. Also where I can catch many marchutkas. Hooray.


A hotel/restaurant not too far from one my language institutes.


The bridge over Samara River.

Happy World AIDS Awareness Day!!!

Posters from a school in Togliatti. They are representations of how HIV cannot be transmitted (e.g. toilet seat, bug bites, sharing food utensils, etc.).


December 1st is the international date to "celebrate" HIV/AIDS awareness. For this day, Theatre LIGHT (the organization I'm working with) and other local organizations organized a rock concert to promote awareness of the disease. The original concept of the concert was to be an acoustic concert with a cozy atmosphere. That concept was thrown out when a local university said, "We'll give you $$$$, but we want a rock concert." Okay. They had the money, they won. All in all, it was a successful concert and about 200 people showed up.

During the day, Aerospace University had an event to promote awareness amongst the student body.

- Samara ranks third in the Russian Federation for having a high rate of HIV infection and prevalence.
- Unofficially, 1 out of 35 people in Samara Region is infected with HIV (most are unaware or haven't been tested).

Check out the video that Riet and I created. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6TiZQ7vSjI
The theme is that every 7 seconds in the world, a person in infected with HIV.

Get tested. It's possible that you don't see signs or symptoms for YEARS. It's responsible and it's a very selfless action. Know your status.

Secret Garden

I went to the botanical gardens one day. It is still fall here, but the leaves seem to have fallen off the trees already. We call that "winter" where I am from. Everyone brags about the garden in Samara, so I decided to have a look myself. Here are my findings:

The flowers smell lovely. (PS I LOST MY EARMUFFS and i am really sad now). There's snow on the ground in fall, too.

An interesting tree. There are various types of trees, but no sign to show me which one it is. Therefore, this is the "interesting" tree.

It seems like a nice place to stand and ponder while overlooking the reeds.

We took many reed photos because it is Riet's (from Belgium) namesake.

Conclusion: It was really cold and there wasn't much to see. However, there's much potential for this garden to be really nice when things are alive! I'll let you know once spring arrives.

PS Happy World AIDS Day! Think twice before you take an action and before you make judgments towards others.