And here we have the conclusion of my three part series detailing my housing issues here in Irkutsk. Luckily it's a nice, happy sort of ending involving kind babushkas and my return to living like a normal person again.
Anyway, it's been nearly a week since I moved out of Phillip's apartment and life is great. As much as I enjoyed my two weeks in Studgorodok (студгородок--the area of town where Phillip lives) it was definitely time for me to move on. By that I mean, had I stayed any longer, I would have been in grave danger of being force fed vegetables by my favorite resident director who decided that because I turned down brussel sprouts one time that I must be categorically opposed to eating anything green and healthful. Horror!
Life with my new host is AWESOME. The all-caps is totally necessary. Ludmila Danilovna, my new host, is by far one of the nicest people I've ever met, in Russia or anywhere else. She's also an awesome cook and has made it her mission to get me to eat hobbit sized portions at every meal. I've gained about two pounds in the span of a week. Seriously, anyone who says that they don't like Russian food should come here for dinner. Your mind will be blown. I'm trying to learn some recipes while I'm here. Today I helped make piroshki with cabbage and mushrooms--mmmmmmm.
An example of breakfast--this doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg. It took me a day or so to realize that I was supposed to eat everything on the table myself. Everything is really tasty but I sort of feel like the kid from Matilda who has to eat the entire chocolate cake at every meal. #firstworldproblems
Besides Ludmila Danilovna, her grandson, Vanya, also lives here. He's around my age and is studying to become a pediatrician. In the meantime, he's working as a nurse at the local children's hospital in Irkutsk, so between that and school, he's very busy so we don't see much of him. We've chatted a couple times and he seems like a nice guy so I'm looking forward to getting to know him better over the next couple months.
Life here is very different than in my former host family. I spend a lot of time with Ludmila Danilovna, either helping out in the kitchen or hanging out and watching Russian talk shows and soap operas. Ludmila has a great sense of humor so it's always interesting chatting with her. On the weekends we usually go out to do something around Akademgorodok (the new part of town I live in). Ludmila has lived in Irkutsk her entire life so she's a great guide and shows me all of the local places to shop where you can be sure to find a good deal. She took me out yesterday to buy унты (unti--I think people also call them mukluks. They're the traditional fur boots that the native people of Siberia wear and are insanely warm and the only thing that has been able to keep my feet warm when I'm outside in -30 F weather. I'll go more into detail later.). I was initially just going to go where some of my friends had bought theirs but Ludmila took me to an open air market where Mongolian traders set up shop a couple bus stops from where we live and got me an insanely good deal. I ended up paying less than half of what my friends had for the same quality of унты, plus got a pair of rabbit fur gloves, boot warmers, and a bag thrown in for free. She's pretty much a badass and I love her. I'm really glad that I gave living in a host family here another shot! We're going to go to another market next weekend where they sell vodka and cognac for cheap so I can pick up a couple things to bring home with me for Christmas (drink on the plane).
In short, life is good! Here are some pictures of my new digs.
The beautiful wall-rug hanging by my bed, a staple in any Russian household. It makes for a great and confusing skype backdrop.
A shot of my room. It's super cozy and adorable.
