Зарядки or “morning exercises” were a part of every good Soviet's morning routine. It's a tradition that continues to live on in most Russians' ideal schedule, particularly when traveling or vacationing in a new place. Hotels, camps, resorts all offer their vacationers morning exercise before breakfast each day. I decided that this would be a fun “optional” activity for our summer project, and apparently so did several other Summer Project participants - I was shocked when nearly 15 people showed up on our first morning! Every morning at 7:30, the brave fitness gurus and I would run together to the rocky shores of the sea for a 30 minute exercise routine I'd planned out the night before. We did just about every exercise I could think of, including, but not limited to the following: stretching, running, skipping, jumping, lunging, balancing, squating, push-ups, tricep raises, calf raises, holding a plank, leg extensions, wall sits, obstacle courses, and just about anything we could think of with the materials we had at hand! It must have been quite a sight to behold for passer-byes. What a great way to begin each morning, testing the limits of my personal creative prowess and my participants' physical abilities! We had a great time, even though behind those smiles, I knew they all were thinking, “what does this crazy American want me to do now?” Here are some clips of our morning зарядки.
It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to check in... While in the midst of several conferences both on our old and new sides of the ocean, as well as settling in with a Russian family with whom we'll be living for the next 6 weeks, we've been quite busy! We've enjoyed getting acquainted with our new family: Slava (the Dad,) Sveta (the Mom,) and their kids Yan (11 year old boy,) and Dasha (9 year old girl.) But we've certainly missed access to more consistent connection with many of you back home. We are a bit unreachable at present, with no internet access at home, but hope to check in weekly with short updates about our adventures and misadventures settling in. First, I thought you might like to see our new place. It's a two room apartment in the north-east corner of the city, about a 15 minute walk to the closest metro. It's located in a very nice area, with a park and beautiful Orthodox church just across the street, and lots of tre
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jessica darling
--Courtney