In the weekend I was on a “trip” to one of the villages around Cheboksary (I can’t remember the name..). I was invited by one of the workers from the kindergarten (that I visit sometimes). The house is a family house, which is now owned by her husband’s farther. They are renovating the house, so her husband and his two brothers are helping. I was told that it is normal to have these villages and that it’s family owned, so when the parents die, then the kids will take care of it and use it. Many of the houses in these kinds of villages look the same, or are made of the same materials. We don’t have the same types of villages in Denmark. But we do have smaller towns/villages, but these are often build in stone/bricks, and aren’t as colourful as the ones in Russia. These houses are very often as “luxurious” as the houses in the bigger cities (with heating, water, electricity and indoor bathroom). Living in the countryside isn’t always equal to growing your own vegetables and having animals in Denmark. Of course, there are people living mostly of their own food, but it is not normal.

In the weekend, I got to know more about the Russian people, and saw a new side of the Chuvash region. I got introduced to Russian barbeque and local wine. Everybody was so nice and welcome even though some of them couldn’t speak English. Sunday, I tried to go on a “mushroom hunt” for the first time, which was really interesting. Before going I got a scarf, that I needed to put on my head like many Russian girls have (Before I came to Russia, I believed that only grandmas wore it). But I took it on, as I was told. When we were in the forest I realised how handy it was. It was a really dense forest, and we needed to avoid the branches. Because I wore the scarp, no branches got stuck in my hair and that was so nice. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any eatable mushrooms, but we did find some. Still it was a good experience :).

After the weekend, on our way home to Cheboksary, we saw a lot of geese on the road (Maybe 20 or something like that). I was the first time I have seen geese just walking freely on the road. In Denmark, they normally appear on a farm, but in enclosure and not freely. So that was a really nice sight. I had a great weekend with new experiences and new friends. I experienced the Russian hospitality and the village that are normal here in Russia.