Friday...

Okay so the website is:

www.bakerella.blogspot.com

I goofed when typing it. She makes really cute stuff.

I just went through a massively long all day orientation for the History club. Jessica was with me and we both wanted to stick chopsticks in our eyes.

Apparently, I am not only hated but am also a racist. I think its funny. I am neither, but people don't get that we are grownups now. Jessica has offered to start a rumor of my membership in the klan. This, I feel would be hysterical, except for the fact that I am afraid the klan would come after me for pretending to be one of them while hanging out with non-WASP peoples.

Today my friend Louise posted her trip pics finally and it made me want to go back to St. Petersburg. I <3 it there.

I have a really long weekend ahead of me, and all I really want to do is get some rest, chill with Jesus, and in general relax. I am at least doing better than the guy sitting next to me in the lab who keeps falling asleep.

I have to work tomorrow, and then I have a paper to write and an outline to do. After that I have to at some point get a gift ready for the baby shower I have to go to on Sunday in between church gatherings. Tonight I am going to the Bower's Museum to see the clay Chinese dudes. Monday I work for Dr. Talamante and then it is a normal week for me, I hope...

At least being so busy is helping with the sleeping issue although I probably should take some melatonin tonight...

Trip part 3 Helsinki, Talinn and Ferry1

Day 8

Drive to Helsinki

This day was a lot of driving.

First we made a last stop in Russia at Vyborg so that people could spend the rest of their Rubles. And get a snack. I bought some bread, candy, and honey.



Then we went through the border, it was a lot more difficult to get through the border driving than it was at the airport, but it only took us about 90 minutes to get everyone and the bus through customs. Then we had to go and be allowed into Finland but that only took like 20 minutes. After that we stopped right across the border for lunch. You would've thought we hadn't eaten in days by the way we all ran for the food. But I think it was just because we were now in a country where the majority of the citizens speak English and we could order food much easier.



Then we drove until we got to Helsinki. It is very pretty there. The rest of the tour went on a walking tour of the city. I was tired and not feeling so good so I did some laundry and went to bed early.



Day 9

The next day I had to be up by 6 to go on the day trip to Talinn in Estonia. We went on a ferry and had a lot of fun. Louise was demonstrating how she was "gangsta" enough to come to LA and visit me.



In Talinn we went on a tour of the LinnaMuseet which means city museum. Louise, Connie, and I were the only ones to go and that is because Louise's travel guide promised us lots of communist propaganda. The travel guide lied. There wasn't very much and the lady who worked there was really rude to Louise.



After that we did some souvenier shopping. And then we had lunch at an Italian restaurant where they didn't tell us that if you were ordering pizza the wait was an hour. Connie and I had lasagna and ours came out seriously like 45 minutes before everyone else's.After we ate lunch it was almost time to go. So we went looking for a way to get rid of our Estonian Kroner. And I found Dr. Pepper! I was so excited. Ollie, the tour manager told me that if there was any doubt before, my love for Dr. Pepper sealed it, I am TRULY American, even though the Canadians had been trying to convince him otherwise for the whole trip.



After that we went back to Helsinki and on the boat everyone in OzCan except for Connie fell asleep and so she took pictures of all of us as punishment for leaving her sitting there bored for an hour. After we got back we were on our own for dinner, So we went and got stuff for a picnic by the water. I had McDonald's and was very happy with my choice. The boys got some Asian food, and the girls actually went to a grocery store and got their food.



Day 10

We got up early to load the coach and then spent the day wandering around Helsinki.
At 2 we had to be back for one last meeting and then we got on the overnight ferry to Stockholm. On the boat we had dinner, and then I read a book and went to sleep. I slept well with the rocking of the boat.


In the next installment Stockholm, Goodbyes, and Hellos

Trip Post 2 Days 5-7

Day 5 Drive to Novgorod!

On the Way to Novgorod we stopped at the House where Tchaikovsky was born.



Then we stopped and bought groceries and ate McDonald's!



Later we stopped at a truck stop where it was pouring down rain and we had to wait for the driver's break to be over.




Later when we actually got to Novgorod we went on a guided tour of the Kremlin and then we checked into our hotel and had dinner.





Day 6

We drove further North to St. Petersburg and saw a tight church that I especially love because I had already purchased an ornament that looked like it.



When we got to St. Petersburg, the first thing we did was go to the Siege of Leningrad Museum. I was looking forward to this because I really wanted to see the memorial to those who died during the 900 day seige of Leningrad where the city was cut off from supplies and it was bitterly cold and people were literally dying in the streets. The fact that they kept the city from falling into Nazi hands is a testament to the resiliency of the Russian people.



Then we went to The Summer Palace of Peter the Great. It is beautiful and is probably the moment when I fell in Love with St. Petersburg. It is featured often in the documentary, Russia: Land of the Tsars by the History Channel. I love it and was like I am in Russia: Land of the Tsars! the whole time.




Then we did a mini city tour, met Serge the "legitimate businessman" who sold us some awesome souveniers, and had a Champanski toast on the waterfront.



Then we went to our wonderful hotel of horrificness. It was not the worst place I have stayed in but it was the worst place on the trip and it was pretty bad. Only half the people's plumbing worked and there were rooms that couldn't open or close their doors. This hotel was an adventure to say the least. We had an okay room and then we got dressed and ate dinner.



Then we went to the ballet. On the way to the ballet, I "made friends" with my Australian friend who had had WAY too much to drink. He wanted to be more friendly than I was prepared to be...The ballet was alright, I ended up falling asleep because I couldn't see the stage and was really tired already.





Day 7

A longer City Tour including a visit to St. Peter's and Paul's Fortress and Cathedral. This is where the Romanov family from the time of Peter the Great is buried, including the last of the Tsar's Nicholas II and family so, yes, I went to Anastasia's grave.




Then we went to the Hermitage which I loved. It is a giant art museum of amazingness.



Then we went on a canal cruise where we were served champanski or vodka, and this is when the evening started to go majorly down hill. The boys all bought 5Euro bottles of Vodka and they had way too much to drink.




After the Canal Cruise we went to the Faberge Egg store where their idea of brilliant marketing is to provide unlimted free shots of vodka to tour groups who shop there. The vast majority of people who were sober before entering the shop weren't anymore after the shop. I think that there were 7 people still sober after shopping there. Then we went to dinner at Mumu and had Beef Stroganoff, which was good. Then the group that was in a partying mood went out more after dinner. I went back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head to Finland on day 8!

Trip Post 1 Flight and Moscow

Well here is the first few days of my trip...These posts take a while so I don't know when the next few days will go up!

Day 1 (July 23rd)
Depart for Europe:

I flew from LAX where they told me to be by 3:30 then didn't even open up the desk until almost 5 am to JFK where weather and air traffic patterns delayed my landing. Then by the time we had gotten to the gate and off the plane I had 25 minutes to get to my next gate which was, of sourse, all the way across the airport. By the time I got there they were on final boarding call. Then the lady didn't want to let me on because my visa exit date didn't match my return flight. Both her co-worker and I were trying to get her to realize that I was flying back from another country and that I would be leaving Russia via bus before my visa expired. But this woman was either dense or just enjoying causing stress, so she made me show her my itinerary and all sorts of nonsense. Meanwhile I am stressing thinking that they are gonna fly without me. I shouldn't have stressed about that because we were delayed by two hours waiting for permission to take off. The flight was okay but everytime we hit turbulance I was kind of freaked out. The food on the plane was better than I was expecting, which was a relief because I was starving. Eventually we landed in Moscow on

Day 2 (July 24th)
Arrive Moscow (Yay!)
And go through customs which took about 5 minutes max. I so thought it would be more hardcore. But then the guy who was picking me up scared me and I was freaked out that I was being kidnapped by this man who had grabbed me and my suitcase and threw me into his car and started driving off into the Russian countryside. The hotel was like 45 minutes from the airportand there are trees everywhere in Russia. I was praying the whole time that I not become a statistic. Then he dropped me at the hotel and I went to check in but my Russian isn't so good and the reception ladies knew zero English. I was so tired and stressed at this time I just burst into tears. Then some guy who knew a little Englkish came and helped me to check in to the Hotel, at this point I took a shower and a nap and waited to meet my group. At six we were supposed to meet down in the lobby with the whole tour and have dinner. I went down there and there was no one there. Eventually some lady asked if I wss with COntiki and I said yes and she joined me with about 5 other contikis who were waiting for the larger group to join us. I was so excited to see people who spoke Engkish, it was the first thing I said to them. We all had a good laugh and then sat around until some woman about whom there was no doubt she was Russian came up and said "Contiki I am your guide. Oliver is running Very late. You want to eat dinner. We go NOW!" And this was our first experience with Galena. SO we went and ate dinner. After dinner we sat in the lobby until about 9 when the tour finally got to the hotel. All the contikis went to eat while Ollie and Hans got them checked in. Then he handed out rooms and introduced himself and we got the first night speech.

I originally was supposed to room with this girl from Santa Monica, but it worked out that she wanted to room with someone else so I got to room with Louise this amazing Australian girl who I had loads of fun with.

Days 3&4
Day 3 We did a tour of the Moscow Metro and got to see some of the prettiest public transportation in the world. It costs 4 kopecks to ride the Metro and that is equal to 0.0016 dollars. So it is an affordable system too. It is very beautiful, but they are in the process of removing all the icons of communism, so we were able to see them befor ethey are all gone.



Me with My Canadian Friend Connie

We went to the Military Museum where we saw random things and were told stories of the horrors of Communism. It was a lot like my last semesters history class rolled into an hour or so, so I was bored, but the stuff was fun to look at.



We went to Statue Park and saw the only remaining statue of Stalin in Moscow (he is missing his nose) There were some other statues there that I liked better.



And then we went to Red Square where we had a picnic outside of the Kremlin (I had Sbarro)It was a very pretty park with a huge fountainy river type thing with a mermaid fountain that I forgot to take a picture of.





and took pictures in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. (The thing that everyone takes a picture in front of and u know they are in Russia!)




Then we went to an optional dinner where we had good Chicken Kiev and cheesy mushroom goodness. And this dinner was the birth of OzCan: A group of crazy friends who are roughly comprised of half Aussies and Half Canadians (as odd-girl out, the Canadians adopted me)




Then we got lost on the metro and ended up treking through Moscow at 9 o clock at night. It was still light out so it wasn't that big of a deal, but I did get horrible blisters from the exceedingly long trek. Then we got back to the hotel where we bought sprite and juice and hung out in the Canadians room until I was practically falling asleep sitting there. We could've hung out in the lobby or bowling alley, but our hotel was pretty dodgy and we were warned about the prostitutes and mafia men so we opted to stay upstairs.

Day 4

We went on city tour. It was a whirlwind of look at this and that.



Stopped for souvenirs, I did not buy this hat although the lady really wanted me too.



Took pictures by a church (it is famous but I forget why)But I could always wiki it I am sure.



Ate another picnic outside the Kremiln (Sbarro again) (The McDonald's line was too long)Bought Souvenirs (including a bag that became essential for the rest of the trip. It is MASH status. the best souvenier places are outside Red Square in Revolution Square.

Went on a tour of the Kremlin and the ArmouryL I got to see stuff out of Russia Land of the TSars and was very Excited. We also got to see Faberge Eggs that Nicholas II gave to Alexandra



Ate dinner at some restaurant. The food was alright, but the decor was better



And went to the Moscow Circus, where I watched the first half and slept through the second. I was really tired at this point... The acrobats were amazing though!






Novgorod and St. Petersburg up next!

Moscow

Here is the first of many pictures... This is me in Moscow at the Military Museum...

Home Sweet Home

I made it I am home!

I had a really good time.

Photos will follow shortly I am sure..

Fighting to swim

I have so many things to tell everyone about my trip, but there is one that I just can't wait to get off my chest.

I had so much stress and anxiety about this trip and had words spoken over me about how this was not just a vacation but that God was going to use me during it. I don't really see how, but part of that is because I kind of went crazy during the first half of the trip, and I feel like I messed things up. One of the things that God has spoken to me when praying about what happened and what is going to happen is that I can't be like Annanias and Sapphira and pretend that it is more than it was. I would love to be able to come home and say that I lived a hardcore sold out life amongst the contikis but in reality I didn't. I lived a mostly normal kind of shy Stacey sort of life with a few missteps along the way. I didn't commit any major sins so don't worry I am not coming home pregnant or anything, but I didn't grab this opportunity to live big for God by the horns and I am feeling some regrets.

I am fighting to finish this trip, I have wanted to leave for about a week now, but have stayed. I don't want to get all emo in the hotel lobby and my time is almost up so I will try to explain further later...

I may not be online again until I get home on Monday! (it is Sat. morning here)
two more nights and I come home!

Norway

I am here.

I tried moose last night. I didn't like it.

Can't wait to get home!

Sweden

I am in Stockholm today and I leave for Norway tomorrow. I am excited for Norway because it means I am that much closer to coming home, and because we won't be in huge cities the whole time, which is better because all of the big Scandinavian cities look and feel the same to me... I am kind of over the shopping mall experience. I didn't come all the way to Europe to go to the mall, I could've done that at home. But Norway has some better less mall based things to do....

I have had some adventures of the dodgy sort but I'll save those tales for when I get home...

I gotta go someone wants the internet....

Off to Sweden!

I haven't gotten to see much of Finland because of our schedule, but I have noticed that some of my fav moments from this trip are the unexpected joys.

We had a picnic in a park right outside the Kremlin in Moscow.
Ate McDonald's beside the Baltic Sea.
The weather was rainy and gloomy in St. petersburg which is my favorite weather.
Discovered that the Finnish version of "Mickey Mouse" is a white polar bear/hippo dog thingy called Moomin.
Figured out both Russian and Finnish Computer keyboards.

So, I appreciate the news from home...

I am halfway thtrough my trip which excites me a lot.

Tonight I am going on an overnight cruise which is supposedly really nice.
The nicest hotel I am staying in is in Voss, Norway according to my tour manager.
I haven't eaten any dill in the past 24 hours.
This was a really nice hotel.
They have croissants which makes me happy.

I need to go because it is breakfast time... Yay croissants!

Went to...

Estonia today..

back in Finland

off to Sweden on overnight cruise tomorrow.

there we have one day and then half the tour changes and we lose 32 people and get 36 more...

then 8 days and I come home...

I found Dr. Pepper today I am soooo Happy.

My tour guide Ollie says that I am So American.

I really can't wait to come home though...

getting a bit homesick...

need news from home...

I don't read finnish or estonian or any other language news comes in here...

want my Baruce and a nap in my own bed...

:(

but still having a good time.

in Finland

land of reindeer in a can and decent hotels

this might be the nicest hotel i have ever stayed in except for the one at convention

good news is that my phone was recovered and i haven't been felt up by anyone new...
bad news is that in a few days all of my tight friends are leaving and a new geroup of people come... hopefully theyll be nice.

i'll try to write again in sweden so i have a post in almost every country i've been in.


cheers! And have a great week!

miss you all

Off to Novgorod

Just got back from the Circus, today wasn't quite as fun as yesterday, we leave for Novgorod tommorow, Have blisters the size of Texas on both feet, and want to eat something yummy, althought the ice cream we had tonight was pretty good....

More details when I next get online, or when I get home, whichever is first....

Desperately craving a cheeseburger, a fried balogna sandwich, peanut m&ms and diet dr pepper but not all at once....

If I never eat whatever I had at breakfast again, I could die a happy woman....

Lots of tomatos dill and cucumbers though and those make me happy...

Off to pack so I can get up bright and early and contemplating the importance of the fact that i get to eat at mcdonalds tomorrow....


Oh.. And I am practically living of bottled lipton lemon tea, which is pretty good, and I had Sbarro 2 days in a row for lunch, they are pretty cheap and have food that there wasnt a long line for....

oh well

ttyl

<3, Stacey

Live from Moscow

I am sitting in a bar writing this.

I am having a great time.

I'll write more when I get a chance but we are about to leave on our city tour....

Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

So, I leave tonight for my trip.

I am gonna miss everyone!

I am looking for God to use me in exciting ways on this trip, but will admit that I feel woefully innadequate for that to happen.

After a few weeks of sheer and utter terror at the thought of leaving, I have a total peace right now about this trip.


I will try to keep in contact but it depends on the availability of the internet, so pray for many easiky accesible internet cafes.

rambles

Well, I can't say that I am not excited to be leaving on my trip, because I am.

I have been trying to do a deep blog of emotion and God stuff, but I don't really feel like having my business out there for everyone in cyberspace.

Tonight is day two of prayer, and that is where I shall be tonight. Because it is a good place to be!


I love Hi-Chews Especially the Apple Kind!

It is Here...

My visa came this morning...

There went my last hope of staying home...

I know I'll enjoy my trip, but still it is stressful....

Less than 2 weeks

and I am slowly becoming overwhelmed with all of the stuff I have to do.

But first, I really need my passport/visa to come back so I can, in fact, go on my trip. If it isn't here by tomorrow I will have to call and find out about it.

I did however get a suitcase, some sunglasses, and a better neck pillow while I was at my aunt's house this weekend. I also got a funky 5 dollar man watch that I am going to disassemble and try to make cuter. I don't use watches while in America, so I just need it for the trip.

I need to sew up the two cute sundresses that I bought to be sewn and get all of my travel toiletries organized, and seriously do all of my laundry so I can contemplate what exactly I am taking with me!

And I need to leave for work in about 20 minutes, but my back is bothering me and I don't really want to go to work, but today is my craft program, so I must go.

I am having one of those "I wish I was irresponsible/ didn't have certain responsibilities" type of days. Oh how grand that would be.

I have read a couple of interesting books lately and will have a mini book report soon.

The ticker has changed...

My little doohickey thing that countsdown the days to my trip has entered into Days mode... My preparation for the trip is all done except for buying a few things and packing... (Yes, I finally sent my visa application off last Friday...)

So, a list... (because I love them so...)

Things to procure...

A wristwatch
A travel alarm clock
Bug Spray
Luggage (maybe)
A day bag
Euros (lots)
Another memory card and possibly a spare battery for my camera
travel medicines
sun block
a hat
a scarf (light weight)


I think I have enough of the right kind of clothes. I need to sew a few things and organize the clothes, but I am kind of waiting until I pick out the right luggage. I have a travel journal but I ned a few pens and such. I have hygeine products like shampo and conditioner, and I should pull another swimsuit and some more shorts out of storage. I am one of those people who always chronically overpack, and I just can't do that this time...


Well, I have stuff to do before work, so off I go...

Russia, Decisions, Star Trek and Altars

Well, A couple things come to mind.

1) Last Night Church was A-mazing! Beyond all reason. Seriously. All during the message I was fighting off the most obsurd desire to close my eyes, I was not really tired and as soon as service was over, this ceased to be a problem. Other than being really irritated, and slightly afraid of falling asleep, I was kind of excited, because usually when you have to fight to pay attention, it means that something amazing is going to happen. Well, I was right... At the end she opened up the altars for prayer, and I didn't even really know why but I knew I was supposed to go up and pray. She hadn't done one of those "If you need prayer for ______________, come up and pray" things. She was like "I think we need to open up the altars for prayer." And then I went up and was like "okay God, I am here but don't really know why." Well, three different people prayed for me and they each prayed over me, things that I needed. Things that I hadn't shared with anyone, and in one case, something I didn't even realize, until it was prayed over me. So...yeah... God is amazing! The Holy Spirit was there is a hardcore way, and I thoroughly recommend altar time...

2) I leave on my trip in a month. It says so on the little countdown thingy I have on my blog. As the trip gets closer and closer, my feeling that this is going to be a life-changing trip grows, as does my apprehension that I may not be comfortable with the changes that this trip brings. I am still really excited. I don't think it is going to be life changing in a bad way at all, I don't fear for my safety, I just "know" that post-Russia Stacey is going to be different from the person who is sitting here and typing this blog. I love how this is my trip to Russia, although I am also going to five other countries. I know that I am most excited about Russia...

3) I have a request... Can you guys remember to lift me up in prayer? I need prayer for direction and guidance, as I am going to be making some MAJOR decisions later this summer, and I could use all the prayers I can get.

4) Star Trek again last night. It was the last of the films featuring the original cast... I was kind of sad while watching it, not because it is the last movie, but because it represented so many "lasts" that make me sad. With life changing so much over the summer, I just know that life will be different come September. Not a bad different but different. I know that God can and will move in these strange circumstances of different-ness, and that in many cases he will move in light of the different circumstances... but as much as I want to see a mighty move of God, I am selfish and would like my basically pretty happy life to stay the same. I am afraid of change and all of its implications. But I don't want to be so afraid of change that I sabotage the whole thing...much like what happened in the Star Trek we watched last night...