Not much happened today. Well, I went to a hipster cafe, but I’ll have to save that story for later. So I’m going to write about food.
My mom is Tatar, but we live in Russia, so I get to taste both foods. For breakfast, I never have anything sweet. Porridge, meat, eggs, and bread are what I’ve had so far. Lunch is in the cafeteria, so it’s not very good (school food). Dinner is always delicious though. A lot of meat and potatoes (literally). Meat and potatoes plain, in a soup, over pasta. Today I had pelmini, which are my favourite Russian food. They’re like a cross between dumplings and ravioli, and they’re usually cooked in some sort of broth. You eat them warm, with sour cream, and they are incredibly delicious. I also had some blini, or Russian pancakes (sort of like crepes). I also had some sort of Tatar dish that was meat and potatoes cooked together inside this giant pastry-pie. Yum!
Russian ice cream is also really good, and really cheap. You can buy it anywhere on the street or in a продукты, a little Russian super market.
Tea is a really big thing over here. I mean, REALLY big. My host parents usually drink about one cup per meal, but my friends talk about how their host families just keep feeding them tea. I, of course, can’t drink regular tea, but I bought some herbal tea and I drink that. It’s not my favorite, but I’m getting used to it.
A sure sign of traditional Russian hospitality is that they feed you a lot. For example, yesterday I had two dinners – one when I got home and another after my parents got home. Even after dinner is done we sit around and drink tea, snack on cookies, cakes, candies, and fresh fruit. I usually end up going out later to get ice cream with my sisters too. It’s all delicious, but a little overwhelming.
My favorite part is the fresh fruit. My host family has a дача (dacha), or summer-house out in the country. Most Russian families do. My family built theirs themselves, and they have cherry trees out there, so yesterday they brought home a giant bag of fresh cherries. Today my host mom’s mom (host grandma?) came to visit and brought fresh raspberries and eggs. I haven’t tried the eggs yet, but the raspberries were delicious! Fresh and juicy and so sweet. Eating those and the pelmini really made my day.
That’s Russian food (so far). I haven’t been to any restaurants yet, but I’m going to try to go on my next free day. Tomorrow is a scavenger hunt to help us get oriented in the city. I’ll try to write about our excursions or the hipster cafe next time, if I can get pictures to work. poka!
Culture Shock 