Strange meetings and amazing food

So in general, Russia is a pretty crazy place. 

I have already experienced some of the Russians' offerings in terms of food: chips with dill on, pizza with dill on, dill and cucumber crisps (yes, there is a lot of dill!) but also some really amazing foods: tonight I had голубцы- cabbage rolls filled with rice and mushrooms and served with a beetroot vinaigrette which was super yummy. It was followed by a strange wafer thing filled with what appeared to be condensed milk, and was really tasty too. Yesterday I also had грибы в сметане- the classic mushrooms and sour cream dish which was soooo fantastic- and the грибы в сметане crisps were almost just as great! I also bought a blini filled with mushrooms and mash(odd I know) for 52 rubles- just over a pound! Luckily I love mushrooms, as they seem to feature a lot in a russian vegetarian diet! I definitely never expected the food to be this great. What's more, they even sell Cathedral City cheddar here!

More interesting events (for those who don't care about intricate details of what I eat)- we were walking by the lake today in a group, chatting in English and a girl came up to us, obviously British too and asked whether we were English! Her name is Emily, and she's studying here in her gap year in a private school, and she seems lovely. That, and brave, as she hasn't even studied Russian before!!! 

After we met Emily, we continued to walk around the lake, and we were sat on a stone wall when a seemingly drunk man asked us for the time. We awkwardly tried to tell/ show him, but he seemed to be more interested in the fact that we were obviously foreign. He introduced himself as Evgeny, and Maddy (who does post-A Level Russian) managed to pick up on the fact that he called Robin gay because he was sitting with 4 girls?! It was a strange conversation, and then he proceeded to root in his pockets for something, and eventually came out with a strange coin, one side saying да and the other нет. It turns out, he wanted Robin to bet a pound on which side it would land. Obviously, he refused, and the man started to leave, but then whispered in Emily's ear 'f**k you'. He eventually left but it was a very strange experience. 

I've also had some interesting situations with the 8 year old, Vanya, who lives with me teasing me a bit- him and his friend seem to find it hilarious to mess with the foreign girl- so shouting my name, repeatedly ringing the intercom, somehow tripping the electricity... and every time I ask them what they were doing they speak really fast Russian and giggle. I think I might just have to pretend they're not doing anything... 

Either way, I'm really happy with my host, Galina, who has let me stick loads of photos on my walls so it looks homely, and cooks me wonderful food! Also, the road we walk to school on is being repaired extremely fast- considering it was basically a dirt track when we arrived it's crazy how efficient they've been- it's almost completely tarmacked now. 
And this weekend, I've been invited to go mushroom-picking with my host family! I'M SO EXCITED!

I'll put up some photos soon, but so far, Russia, so good!