Too Much Sugar in Cincinnati

Last week I mentioned that I went to Cincinnati to visit one of my best friends and her family. It was my first time seeing them since I went to Russia, and it was my first time getting to see Ida. She still had her fat rolls! Haley was awesome in driving me around to all the off beat places I had on my list. It's taking me a while to edit those, so in the mean time here are just some random pictures of her kids and sweets.

The plan was for me to drive down on Saturday, but last minute I changed it and decided to drive down on Friday evening  It gave me a chance to visit another good friend in Columbus and not worry about time. Since I came Friday night it gave me an extra few hours on my trip. We woke up Saturday morning and walked to get donuts at a little place called Wyoming Pastry Shop. We took the donuts to go and ate under a gazebo a few hundred feet away. The donuts were so good and a great way to start my visit.

A mutual friend of ours works for a ministry, and they started an ice cream truck in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati. The name "Green Man Twist" comes from the rock carving of the man you'll see below. I can't remember that *actual* story of him though, but it just makes sense to know where the name came from because I know I thought it was interesting when I put two and two together. I love ice cream, and I hadn't seen my friend, Katy, in years so I was excited to stop and see it. Apparently, Cora really likes their ice cream too. Katy even let Cora and me check out the inside of the trailer. The ice cream hit the spot, but don't worry we ate plenty more ice cream throughout my visit.

A nice, little community park was built where the truck is parked. I had been to this area many times while living in Cincinnati, and I always love seeing how people are improving all of the city's neighborhoods. Cincinnati is constantly changing and I really can't keep up. I hope that energy makes it up to Cleveland. We didn't stay too long, but I was glad we stopped by.

After Green Man Twist we stopped at Mount Storm on our way to the abandoned cemetery (I haven't edited those pictures yet). From the park you can see the University of Cincinnati. Looking at the photo below I can see the university, my old work, and the school where I did my student teaching. It makes me nostalgic, and I can't look at it too long or I'll get really sad. Life is what it is though, and I love my job, so things work out for a reason.

Have you been to Cincinnati? What restaurants do you recommend?

My Second Iftar

Last week Tansulpan invited me to her house for Iftar. If you haven't read it yet I wrote about my first experience here. Spring finally came to Ufa, and I think I'm about to build an ark because the rain won't stop. The only benefit of the rain are the rainbows, which have been plentiful here. When I arrived at Tansulpan's house I saw this beautiful rainbow, and began taking pictures because if you don't take pictures it didn't happen, right? There are actually two rainbows but the second is very faint and you can barely see it in the photos.

We were all laughing so hard about the picture above because Elizabeth looks like the godfather. Below I'm creeping on selfies, obviously.

Tansulpan's mom made so much food. The picture below doesn't even do it justice because it doesn't include the soup, pizza, or food that Fadwa brought as well. As soon as Tansulpan invited me I told her I couldn't eat a lot, and they all made it a joke to tell her mom I wanted seconds. Earlier in the school year I went over Tansulpan's to help her prepare for IELTS and her mom fed me so much food I thought I was going to explode. As soon as we finished they asked me to stay for "tea," and again served me a plate of food. Obviously, I couldn't muster the energy to eat it all.

The rest of the photos are from Tansulpan's cousin, Elvira, which I stole because I'm narcissistic and I feel like this blog needs more photos of me.

Ramadan

If you've been following my blog for any length of time you've probably noticed, by their hijabs, that some of my really good friends here are Muslim. Ramadan started on Saturday, and if you don't know what it is, it is a month of fasting from sunrise to sundown. Here's a good article on non-Muslim etiquette towards Muslims during the month of Ramadan. At night, they join together for the Iftar, the community meal after fasting. My friend invited Elizabeth and I to join them that night for the meal. There was so much food, and I was shocked at how slow my friends were eating. If I had gone all day without food, you best bet I would have smashed on everything. I already did, and I didn't even fast that day. One particular thing I noticed about this meal was that men and women eat separately; we were in the same room, but we ate at different tables. Also, Tansulpan recommended we cover our heads, and I kept worrying about my hair showing.

It's been such an amazing opportunity to have Muslim friends. Tansulpan and I have been friends for a while, but just recently I started asking her and Fadwa more specific questions about their religion. Maybe it's because of all that's happening in the USA, maybe it's because I feel comfortable. Whatever it is I have learned so much. Like, did you know, Muslims also believe Jesus will come back and save them, as well? Also, I think it's important to share that most of my friends chose to wear the hijab. I think many people are under the impression that they are forced to, but Tansulpan told me that it was her choice and her parents were shocked when she chose to do it. Same with my friend, Fadwa. Fadwa is from Tunisia and, according to Tansulpan, the choice to wear a hijab means that you could be denied work. Also, even though we live in a majority Muslim area, they still experience discrimination. Fadwa told me the other day that sometimes at night drunk men will still act aggressively towards her when the see the hijab. This came as a shock to me, partly because this is a Muslim area and partly because I've NEVER had a problem with anyone here, even as a woman walking alone at night. She told me that she understands why people do this. They believe what the media tells them. When she told me this my heart broke because the media should not give anyone the right to act hateful towards another person.

I share these stories because I hope they will open your eyes and bust some of the stereotypes you have. I will leave you with my favorite story. I hope I tell this right, but if not the gist is there. A few weeks ago they told me a story about how they were at Rahat cafe having a good time. If you meet them you will notice right away how much they joke and laugh. Apparently, a Muslim man from another country told them that women should not behave the way they were, meaning they shouldn't be so loud. In turn, they responded by quoting the Quran about how men should not look at women the way he was looking and so on. I wish I had been there to see them do that.

This old woman literally took all the leftovers from dinner and put them in bags to take home with her. It was amazing! Also, don't ask what I'm doing. I don't think I knew I was in the picture.

Theater Square

The other day I met my friends in one of my favorite places in the city. Actually I only like this spot in the summer because there are plenty of benches and green everywhere. The main fountain in the square is called "Seven Girls" and is based on the famous Bashkir legend and dance. They were seven beautiful sisters who were kidnapped by another nationality and taken into slavery. They did not like slavery, and decided to escape because anything was better than the life they were living. One night they jumped from the mountain into the river where they ended up drowning. A happy ending to that story.

Tansulpan was nice enough to buy me cotton candy, which I didn't need, but happily ate and didn't even mind when it turned my mouth blue. I did offer it to the others; I'm not that selfish. We then ended up at Tansulpan's favorite place, Rahat. I've eaten there many times and if you want cheap, quick Halal food, it's the place to go. I actually had their plof for the first time and IT WAS AMAZING. I think it was the best plof I had in Russia. They also have the best tea candy that you get for free when you order a pot of tea. We finished the night by going to a Japanese restaurant where I left them at 9:30 to go home. It was still light out when I left, and that's why I love Russia in the summer!

Mail Time

Last week was a good week for me. Two friends of mine sent me packages! I love mail. It's probably one of my favorite things in the world. I got my first pen pal when I was around 10 or 12 from a J-14 magazine, which I embarrassingly filled out hoping I'd be paired with Aaron Carter. When I went to Florida in 5th grade I seriously think I sent about 20 postcards to friends because I couldn't leave anyone out. A few years ago my friend, Mackenzie, and I sent watercolor paintings to each other for fun, which we need to do again when I return. Finally, Remember this post from all the way back in 2012? Yeah, I go a little overboard with sending packages. I'm surprised how much of this I've documented.

The first package (pictured above) came from my friend, Katherine, at 8 Months in Ukraine. I don't really know how it came about, but I think I saw one of her posts where she received letters from friends and I thought, I should send her stuff from Russia, since she lived in Ukraine, has been to Russia, and studies Russian. She messaged me back saying we should be pen pals and a new friendship blossomed. She sent me such a cute assortment of stuff and, most importantly, Sour Patch Kids. I had intentions of saving a few for A to try, but that didn't happen.

The next package came from my friend, Ariana, who is currently living in South Korea, and blogging about her experiences at ArianaImnida. Ariana and I actually met in our TESOL courses at Cleveland State. She has the coolest style, and when I met her I thought, "I have to be friends with this girl!" but she seemed too cool for me. :) Since our CSU days we've stayed in touch, and I'm so glad she started a blog. A while back she wrote a post about her Korean beauty haul which inspired this post. I think after she saw that post she sent me a message saying she wanted to send me Korean beauty products. I realized that it was a great idea and that I should send her a package from Russia, minus beauty supplies because I would have no idea what to get. Plus, are there any Russian brands? Please comment below if you know of any.

A went with me to pick up the package since it was delivered to a different post office. I think he was more excited for it to come than I was. We weren't even a foot out the door when he made me stop to take pictures of the box. Then he kept begging me to open it while we were walking. We stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to try to open the darn thing, and I think Ariana knew that would happen because she had everything in the adorable bag below. I was able to leave the box in a garbage can and easily carry everything else.

I can't wait to try everything, especially the Clio Conceal-dation because I need a good concealer. My skin is absolutely terrible and nothing I've tried covers the imperfections well enough. Remember when my biggest problem was hating my freckles? Oh, I'd take back the days when I didn't break out like I'm 13. Maybe I'll do a post later on what products I like and didn't like. Not that it would really matter since I don't live in Korea, but maybe it'll be something when I lack inspiration for new posts.

I wish I had money to send everyone packages, but, unfortunately I don't. Do you like sending and receiving mail?