and then i did some more stuff

russian YSA dance

so awkward. since i've been to russia and adult activities, i've realized that church activities (and dances in particular) are the same everywhere... awkward! it did become fun after awhile tho. mostly because we got russians to do the chicken dance to a random techno song, do the cotton-eyed joe dance to a random techno song, and do the dance that i taught my 5 year old children to waka waka. they're not doing their best in this video, but they do alright. 

yeah we're dancin the night away!

gummy art

me and heather are artists. gummy artists. i know my mom tried to teach me not to play with my food, but i'm not so sure the message made it all the way through. exhibit a:

 KGB. in russia.

 that's neville slaying the basilisk

 reppin MT!

vampire butterfly.

boy meets world. it's become an obsession.

boy meets world was the best thing that ever happened to the '90s. real tv that teaches about life, love, and how to be a good person. if you want to watch one of the best things that ever happened to tv, you can watch it here:

the best thing ever

 

the bronze horseman and nevsky lights

one night, me and heather randomly decided to go out and do something. and it was a good time!

 alcoholic starbursts! only in russia

 i love the lights!

 the tree isn't lit up yet in this picture, but it sure is pretty when it is!

fountain of lights!

 i love that russia puts up christmas trees EVERYWHERE! it's so wonderful!

 the bronze horseman with st. isaacs in the background

and there's me all nice and dark!

chamber of curiosities.... AKA anthropology museum!

the first museum in not only st. petersburg, but all of russia! apparently peter the great took weird things pretty seriously and held them in high esteem because he felt it necessary to open this awesome museum that actually made me happy. which, is a weird combination for me and a museum. because i'm not generally a big fan.

 this day was a beautiful day- a rarity in st. petersburg

 an eskimo!

 chinese toy

 japan

 india

apparently this is what african toothbrushes look like...sticks!

after 4 months, we finally went inside

church on spilled blood. remember that guy?

 well, our last day with sveta was our 2nd to last saturday and we made pelmeni in the morning and then went inside the church of the savior on spilled blood.

i love her! she's so wonderful!

 all these "pictures"? yeah, they're mosaics. the entire interior of this huge building is covered in mosaics. crazy!!!

 it wouldn't be russia if they didn't have an awesome floor

 these 2 are my favorites

 sorry about the dark, for some reason the pictures aren't coming on edited. oh! and this is the place where alexander II's blood was actually on the street

during WWII a bomb fell into the building. it crashed through the ceiling and landed on the floor... without exploding. during a very hard time in russia, that one incident brought many people back to faith and hope that there was a higher power watching over them.

i was on a russian tv show!

so after going to spilled blood i met up with one of my russian friends and we made blini together and it was fan-tastic! but she had to go after a little while because she had a concert to go to....  but not long after she left, she called me and said they had an extra ticket and asked if i wanted to go. russian concert? heck yes!!!

 i'd say it was a decent sized crowd

 complete with multiple crazy outfits...

 and occasional stage dancers...

and wonderful russian friends! natasha, me, and ella!

and videos of course...

this girl doesn't have any ropes on her at all! i literally thought i was going to record her death on camera! luckily though, i did not, and she did not die. but the story of the woman singing the song is really cool but very sad. apparently her husband used to sing her songs, but he was killed and they still don't know who did it, and now she sings them. 

this is all i can do for now. more to come soon. also! deep thoughts and reflections on my time in russia. that should be interesting....