Tortillas Galore!

The ladies had a tortilla making day for the upcoming taco booth at a fundraising Bazaar. We made 300 tortillas! I've never made tortillas before, so I was learning all the stations. There was quite a system going and all went deliciously. My mouth was watering all day since I haven't eaten a tortilla in a month since we've been here. We got to munch on the ones that got ripped, so I might have pressed too hard on the tortilla press in order to get a bite!

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is an all day ordeal. We have to go to 4 to 5 places to try to get all our groceries. No one store carries everything, but I have learned the ropes over the past few weeks and have gotten the hang of it. There are still a few places I won't go without a friend, but I can get by with visiting those infrequently. My Russian lessons are starting to pay off and I can actually ask some questions and figure out some of the answer. I really miss my Kroger store that was less than a mile from our house back home.
I am very grateful of our drivers. They take us anywhere we want to go and can maneuver the worst Yuzhno traffic.
So far, I've had good results with all the cooking and baking I've attempted. All the items are different, even the sugar, flour and oatmeal. I'm having to make everything from scratch since not any packaged foods available. If you have a favorite homemade recipe, please pass it to me.
I am still in sticker shock. Most of the items are 3 to 4 times more expensive here than back home. Some stuff you have to get, other things we just need to get by without. and some things are not even available to purchase here: brown sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking powder, corn meal. We go to Tokyo in November for vacation and I hope to get some food there.

Russian Roubles

The Russian Roubles are very pretty. There are varying colors and silver fibers woven throughout. We don't use credit or debit cards here, so I am still getting used to carrying so much cash. The exchange rate approximation is divide the Rouble amount by 30 and that will give you the US dollars. Given that the grocery items here are 3 to 4 times the cost in America, I pay several thousand Roubles anytime I shop. The clerk says the amount in Russian and when I look dumbfounded, they turn the computer screen sideways, so I can see the numbers. Luckily the numbers are the same in Russian, unfortunately the alphabet is not. I just learned how to say Russian numbers this week in class, so if they say it slowly next time, I might almost understand.....one day.....

Christmas in September in Yuzhno!

Our AIR shipment arrived!! It was like Christmas getting our boxes. It is so nice having something more than just what we brought in our suitcases. Alyssa is excited to be united with her Build A Bears and to have some toys arrive. The children here in the compound have been so nice sharing their toys with Alyssa.
I am so grateful for our feather pillows and 600 thread count sheets and a few kitchen items! Bryan included some fishing gear and is off salmon flyfishing this morning with a few other men.
Alyssa loves school so far! They start swimming tomorrow. Her class swims on Mondays. She is reading British books with characters by the names of Biff, Kipper and Wilf! She learned that the rubbish bin is the trash can. Our girl is not in Texas anymore! Many children in her class are from Denmark, Holland, Australia and England. What an interesting melting pot!

Alyssa's First Day of School

Alyssa started school today, Monday, September 5th. Russians nor British celebrate Labor Day Holiday! She started Primary 3 which is First Grade in the US. Sakhalin International School is a British Curriculum school started by Shell. The kids from Olympia (our ExxonMobil compound) bus over to Shell's compound (Zima). Her teacher is Mr. Dave and he seems very nice and fun.

Alyssa was so excited to get to go to school and meet even more new friends! She has 3 friends from here that are in her class, plus several more in younger and older classes. I am looking forward to hearing about her day in a few hours.

Russian Orthodox Church

This is the Russian Orthodox Church in Yuzhno. It is beautiful!

There are no benches--the people stand for the whole service. There is a small bookstore in the basement. While we were down there, we could see through the gate and a baby was being baptised in a very ornate ceremony.

The Meat Market *sorry-gross pictures*

Our Russian teacher took our class on a field trip to the Meat Market this week. It was quite interesting and horribly gross. Luckily, Elena was able to do the talking for us, because there is no telling what we might get otherwise. My 3 Russian lessons aren't near enough...... The meat is butchered fresh in the morning and all is sold by the end of the day. I may turn into a vegetarian.....

We also visited the outdoor vegetable market and fish market. There was a better vegetable variety here than in the grocery stores and at lower prices. The produce was plucked out of the ground and placed on the tables, dirt and all. I think they want to show it is fresh.