Well I am all moved in to the new apartment and everything is great! It's in a great part of town about 10 minutes by foot from where I will be teaching/working. The air is clean and the water comes from the ground water in the forest instead of the Volga so my showers don't smell bad anymore! I'm slowly buying a couple of items every day to add to the apartment, so it is coming together quite well. There is a lovely outdoor/open air (but part of it is covered) market one block away from me that has amazing vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, and anything else I could want to eat! I will put some pictures up of that next time I post which will be more about the surrounding area here. As with the last post, this is predominantly going to be photos since I have yet to teach my first class and have pretty much been bumming around all day exploring and eating and practicing my Russian with people who are patient enough to help me. As a matter of fact, I have already picked out a couple of my favorite vendors at the market. I have learned there are two main types of vendors (almost all are female): there are the older women who have no patience for a foreigner and will pretty much glare at me for the duration of the transaction, and then there are middle-aged women who are very nice and ask me where am I from and what am I doing here and will even throw in some extra fruit for free! The market is fresh foods and very inexpensive, check out this photo:
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| One kilogram (2.25 lbs) of plums, one red bell pepper, two onions, two cucumbers, and yes, that giant brick is all butter! All of this was $6, I also got 10 eggs for about $1.50. These plums are very very delicious. |
Here are the rest of the photos, as usual captions should tell you all you need to know! Enjoy.
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| This is me and Dmitri, he is my "official" host and has been great in helping me to settle in |
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| This is Dmitri's mom and has been equally wonderful in feeding me and worrying about me probably as much as my own mother. I think my mom would like Russia. |
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| There was a music festival downtown on Saturday! I went with a friend from the department. |
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| The Kazan biker gang! they made an appearance at the music festival and apparently biker gangs are somewhat of a novelty there. Everyone got really excited and started to take pictures and I was just thinking, oh god this is going to be loud. |
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| DJ Pavel rocking the house with some techno/electronica. |
OK, so now the pictures that I think a lot of people have been asking for, the new apartment. Mostly what i have to say is this: WOW. This is a really nice apartment, aside from my parent's house in Detroit, this is the nicest place I have lived. One cool thing about Russian apartments is that they come somewhat furnished and with all sorts of useful stuff. Mine came with a bed (and bedding, although i think it is not exactly my style as you will see), a dresser, and a TV - all in the bedroom. The kitchen came with a set of silverware, a set of dishes (4 of each: tea cups and saucers, small plates, large plates, and bowls), two frying pans, two saucepans, and two large pots - all new and of high quality, and one chef's knife that, needless to say, is getting a lot of use being the sole sharp cutting utensil. Also included was a tea kettle, a coffee maker (the plunger kind), an iron and ironing board, a mop with buckets, and a happy landlord. Take a look:
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| Entry way |
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| Hallway, bathroom door on left and to the right of where I am standing is my bedroom door |
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| Shower and sink in bathroom, mop is around to the right. |
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| other side of the bathroom, i'll have to be careful not to confuse these two. |
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| The A-mazing kitchen, oh yea there's a microwave too. |
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| Other side of the kitchen, fridge/freezer and little table where I eat! It's a bit dark because the sun is shining particularly bright today right into my camera. |
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| Bedroom, you can see the lovely floral pattern on the sheets and cover as well as the walls. |
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| Other side of the room |
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| What's this? A door in my bedroom?... |
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| I have a little balcony!! |
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| With a great view of everyone else's little balcony |
Just wanted to let everyone know I'm doing well in my new place and get these pictures up. I start classes this week, first one tomorrow and then some work at a secondary school Thursday and then another class on Saturday (ew, class on Saturday!). So as things progress I will post again and keep you all informed. I am actually looking forward or the weather to turn a bit colder because the sun really warms my apartment up, which will be nice in the winter but when it is already around 25C (~75F) outside it tends to make my apartment quite warm. Until next time, - Geoff.
Geoff, the apartment looks great; you may get me to visit you yet. Now you have to keep it clean; or does your very nice landlord do that for you too?
ReplyDeleteYou also look as if you are fitting right in. We'll look forward to more.
Going back to earlier pictures, though, I'd love to learn more about Kazan's leaning tower, what is it called, its history, etc., and what is the beautiful building next to it? But, I expect you have other things on your mind and hands at present.
Did you and Dmitri coordinate your outfits?
ReplyDeleteA balcony! Apt looks great, neat that they come with all those things, and the landlord asked you what he could get you in advance, is that usual or is that some form of hospitality to the foreigner? Did you find the apt just as a normal apt seeker would or is through the university? And very glad you have a written contract!
I think it'd be interesting to hear more about the assumed gender roles in Russian/Kazan society.. Or how boys and girls are raised, expectations wise.
Great pics!
Bec, no we did not coordinate haha. Most Russian apartments come furnished and with stuff, that's kind of like a leftover staple of the Soviet era when everyone pretty much had the exact same furniture and stuff in their apartments. The university helped me find the apartment but we went through a realtor.
ReplyDelete