Sara goes to Siberia

As I exited the plane I felt a really cool breeze blowing. Actually at that time it felt COLD to me:) I walked into the airport and I was looking for Anastasia. At that moment I was overwhelmed with emotions. I saw Anastasia and we hugged and were both CRYING. It was so cool to actually be in her city and country after she had experienced mine. After we stopped crying we went to get my luggage. Her friend Julia drove her to the airport...she left work to drive and pick me up. It was so nice of her. Anastasia and I talked the whole way to Deevnogorsk which is a town outside of Krasnoarysk where she lives. We stayed with Julia and her daughter, Dasha. We ate and then walked around some. Later we went to see the hydropower station on the Yenesei River. They had one of the gates open draining the water which was like a HUGE waterfall :) It was so beautiful and the water was very loud. We also went to a lake above the Yenesei and took some pictures. On that same day, I had my first experience at a banya. This banya had a sauna and a pool and then a table to eat. This was a birthday party for Julia's friend. We enjoyed meeting several of her friends there and relaxing in the sauna and then jumping in the pool. We even had wet eucylyptus leaves and hit ourselves with those in the sauna. Very refreshing! That night I slept so good. I slept until about 10 the next morning which may be a first in my life ;) While we were in Deevnogorsk...I was able to meet so many nice people. I met a family who had two wonderful boys. They were very talented. One played the piano very well. He practices around 3 hours a day (maybe more). The other boy did karate/martial arts and so we watched videos of his performances. The family all spoke English and so they practice there English with me. The food was wonderful there. We had tea and many things to munch on...cherries, pastries, sausage, cheese, apricots...etc. Yummy! Another family I met was Vanya's family. He is a friend of Anastasia's who teaches guitar and English so kids in their town. His father made shashleek on and outdoor grill. We had homemade pumpkin juice and tea, tomatoes, cucumbers, torte, homemade mushroom soup (from mushrooms they had gathered). His mother was so kind and hospitable. His neices were there and one of them sang to us. His wife came later in the evening. It was a nice time. We walked around the city again and listened to music. At the end of the night, Anastasia went into the store and I said I would like to buy some sunflower seeds. Vanya's dad (who had been offering us ice cream the whole night) bought me 3 HUGE things of sunflower seeds. It was wonderful and the seeds lasted us on the train and then I even brought one bag back to the States with me :) Another day some girls and guys gave a concert "for" me. Actually they play every week but I was invited. They were so talented. They sang, some played the guitar and one played the piano. It was such a special time. I even sang along to one English song they were playing. They were so focused and you could tell practiced very hard and long hours. Dasha, the girl we stayed with was one of these who gave the concert. She plays the guitar and is an artist too! She is such a talented person. I really enjoyed getting to know her. Another day Anastasia and I went to Krasnoarysk on a bus. We walked around and asked people in English to take our picture. It was our experiment. Everyone we asked did take our picture but no one asked any questions very few said anything at all. They took our picture and walked away. Until we got to one couple, they were from Germany (I think). They tried to talk to us and ask questions and tell us about themselves. It was so funny and another guy standing nearby said...I speak English...my name is ...but he was kind of strange so we walked away from him. One night we went to the ballet. It was Swan Lake which was written by Tchaikovsky. It was unbelievable to actually be in Russia watching a ballet written by such a famous musician was truly PREMIUM. That night we were under dressed...we had spent the whole day trying to register me with the passport people. It seriously too the whole day. We wore capris, sandles and t-shirts. Most of the other people had really nice dresses and heels. There was even a little kid (maybe 4 or 5) behind us who had a bow tie. He was also very horrible through the whole ballet. He shook my chair and talked the whole time and eventually was cussed out by a lady sitting next to him. After the ballet we went to meet a friend of Anastasia's. She lived in a wonderful apartment. She had just remodeled everything it was awesome and the view was so cool of the river. She took us to a view overlooking the city...I don't remember the name of the place but we watched the sunset around 10:30 pm. She also surprised us by making Starbucks and bringing it in a thermos. She also took us to the train station on the day we left on the transiberian train. Another day we went to the zoo with Julia. It was drizzling rain that day but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. The zoo had so many varieties of animals. That day we went to see where Anastasia went to school too. We also went to a cool restaurant overlooking the river and so other sites with beautiful views and photo opportunities. I saw fireworks while in Deevnogorsk. I was so blessed to meet so many people who are now my friends. They took me into their homes and showed me their lives and for that I am truly greatful to have had such an opportunity. I was able to truly experience Siberia and ALL its BEAUTY! On the last day I was in Krasnoarysk, I was able to meet a special person...Anastasia's mom. It was truly a surreal experience because she had the chance to meet all my family while in America and I was getting that chance too. Once again I was crying and her mom was crying. Her mom and sister prepared a wonderful meal for us with beautiful decorations...candles and flowers. The food was yummy. Anastasia and I teased saying it was Thanksgiving in Russia because we had turkey. Her mom made something similar to fried zucchini which is one of my favorites. We had tomatoes and cucumbers and tea and blinis. Her sister was so kind and helpful. Vita, her sister has such a caring and compassionate spirit. I love them both very much. Her mom has done a wonderful job raising two beautiful and talented girls. It was a shame we only had a few hours together but we felt we already knew each other through lots of stories. Anastasia and I were off to the train station to leave on our BIG adventure on the transiberian railroad...we left at 6:00 on Sunday evening and arrived in Moscow on Wednesday.

I will tell about this another day...