How Moscow Does Snow Removal

This is how Moscow does snow removal. Shovel all the snow, pile it up in a dumpster, and then dump it somewhere else! They only do this for walkways and roads, parking lots still have traditional mountains of snow that children turn into slides! I'll take some pictures of how high some of the snowpiles are and post them within the next couple of days. 

Now the real question is, where do they take all of that snow?

Maslenitsa

giant lady Maslenitsa in front of Red Square

Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week as it's often referred to, is a Russian holiday that dates back to pagan times. It's meant to celebrate the end of winter and to welcome the upcoming spring. It's also tied in to Orthodox Easter, as it's celebrated the week before Lent. However, since holidays are observed based on the Julian calendar - this year Maslenitsa fell on February 8 to 14 - and we're certainly not at the end of winter yet! I found it rather amusing that it was snowing for the past two days - the biggest days of the festival! Traditionally, on the last day, a big straw Maslenitsa doll (see picture below of the smaller ones they sell at the festivals) is set on fire, to burn away the last of winter. They used to do this at the festival on Red Square, but due to safety reasons they've stopped. Since I didn't stay until the end of the festival tonight, I'm not sure what they did instead... so it will have to remain a mystery! It was cold, and I didn't feel like staying out so late :) 

Maslenitsa celebrations are held in all of the big parks in Moscow. The festivities include singing and dancing performances from folk groups, carnival style games, drinking medovukha (honey mead), and of course eating lots and lots of pancakes (blini, as they're called here)!

Maslenitsa dolls. These dolls were being sold as all of the Maslenitsa celebrations around the city. They're made from straw, and are meant to symbolize the sun.

A blini stand in Red Square. In honor of Maslenitsa, I made sure to eat at least 1 blini per day :) I figured that was a good excuse to eat lots of them!!! I also tried sample as many as I possibly could at all of the fesitivals! I tried them with many different kinds of jam and honey. They were all delicious 

Maslenitsa ice sculpture. Russians seems to love their flashing lights, and this was no exception. She alternated between glowing blue and purple, and the red heart in the middle appeared to be beating.

January/February update

To answer the question I proposed in my last blog entry - how hard is it going to be returning to work after nearly one month off? - the answer is it's HARD! I've never had a vacation that long in my life, nor do I want another one for quite a while. It's one thing when you're changing jobs, because then you have a new adventure to look forward to, and the time doesn't seem so long. It's another when you're simply not working for a month and then you have to go back to the usual daily grind... or in my case, a lessened daily grind due to lack of work.
I'm the strange type of person who absolutely despises having nothing to do. Now don't get me wrong - I certainly enjoy it every now and again - but not on a regular basis. Right now, my workload is extremely light, and I'm bored. I have lots and lots of free time, and nothing to do with it. I can't just sit around and read or study, or do something that doesn't require any activity. I blame it on the fact that I was a competitive ice skater for most of my life - I certainly never sat around when I was skating! Top that off with the fact that I used to teach ice skating as well, which is not a job where you sit around. In short, I've never had to just sit around until now. I'm not good at it :)
I know that in a few weeks everything will go back to normal, but that thought isn't really making this time period any easier. It's hard adjusting from life in the US to life in Russia. Even though I was only back in America for two weeks, I hadn't been in Russia long enough to not miss and long for some of my American comforts. This too will pass in a few weeks - but I'm just not enjoying the readjustment period. Stupid visa laws, this is all your fault!

For some good news - it's snowing today. We're certainly not getting snow like everyone was getting back in America - Snowmaggedon, as it was dubbed - but it's still snow nonetheless. It's starting to coat the layer of snow we've had since December, which was starting to get a bit shabby from the dirt and pollution. I must admit, I am very jealous off all the snow my parents and friends got this weekend. The year I'm not in America, it finally snows! Being in Russia, I shouldn't be envying the amount of snow back in America, but there's been more snow there than here!I would certainly enjoy a good snowstorm here.