Πρόβιντενς: Ταξιδιωτικός οδηγός, τιμές και δωρεάν διαμονή · 2026

KBKira Bormotovalira.bormotova · 1 Φεβ 2015Διάβασμα

Probably everyone who has visited America remembers their first day. Not the long flight, no, but that moment when you stepped off the plane, went through all the checks, and walked out of the airport. You realize you are in America, with taxi drivers shouting in English, Russian, Spanish, and God knows what other languages. You don't really understand anything—just questions: where to go? how to pay for the subway? what does this say? what is he talking about?—and a multitude of other constantly arising questions. Now I would like to dwell in more detail on five vivid moments of my America, although, of course, in almost four months there were many more. So, #1. Skydiving. Well, here there are only emotions. We jumped in the town of Newport—we specifically went there so the jump would be on the coast (the view is more beautiful). Everything turned out to be more than American: fast, precise, without unnecessary details and conventions. We arrived, watched a 5-minute training video, put on the gear, got on the plane, and flew. No extra explanations, changing clothes, or preparations—an hour later we were already free. The jump lasted about 5 minutes, no more, but what five minutes those were! At first, I was acting brave and saying I wasn't scared, but when we got on the plane and the door closed, I realized I was brave for nothing. Now, when I try to remember the moment of jumping out of the plane, I can't do it. Initially, there was free fall, then the instructor opened the parachute, and from about that moment, I started to realize something and admire the view. And there was really something to admire there; we didn't go to the coast for nothing. #2. Six Flags amusement park. The emotions here were no less than from skydiving. The whole park can be divided into two parts: water slides (roughly speaking, a water park), which are open until 6 PM, and "dry" coasters. While it was day and warm, we tried to ride as many water slides as possible. Despite it being a weekday, there were still lines for the slides. The scariest one to me seemed to be the slide where you have to stand in a glass cabin and wait for the floor to drop from under your feet, and you fly down. That was quite nerve-wracking. All the other water slides were just cool: high, enclosed, twisting, smooth—for every taste. But the "dry" coasters made everyone scream, shriek, and experience that pleasantly ticklish feeling of fear. Upside down, from a height, and through tunnels—and all this at high speed and always unexpectedly. An incredible place! #3. Car rental. The beauty of America is the ability to rent various cars. All you need is a bank card with $400 in the account and a driver's license (Russian ones worked too). Over the summer, I managed to drive about 5-6 different cars. Cool cars, cool roads, fast highways—what else do you need for happiness? Taking another car with a friend one weekend, we went to Providence for shopping, then to the beach in Newport. That day we had to spend quite a lot of nerves. The failures started from the moment we couldn't remember where the parking ticket went—because of which we couldn't leave the store parking lot. Behind us were "unhappy" cars, we couldn't find the ticket, we tried to call support, and finally, (oh, miracle!) the ticket was found. Thank God, we paid and left. Further—worse. We got into a traffic jam, we needed to get out of the city back onto the highway, and the navigator showed some incomprehensible interchanges. Having lost a lot of time and done a couple of circles, we finally got on the road to Newport. We arrived there, probably around 4 o'clock. We found the beach, parked, ran to swim, then went for a walk around the city. We decided to leave the car in the beach parking lot. Newport turned out to be a very cute and beautiful coastal town. Various restaurants on the street, beautiful views of the ocean, yachts, shops with all sorts of trinkets. After walking around, we realized it was time to go

ASAnastasia Sakharovawww.belka-vl · 31 Ιαν 2015Διάβασμα

Everything is happening very fast for us. Time is the same, but it doesn't want to reckon with anyone. We only managed to count to three: one-July, two-August, three-September... It's like opening a cherished door, not having time to see what's behind it, and slamming it shut immediately. Our vessel of life is bubbling, exploding, spraying juice, and overflowing. Inside, everything is turning over, being remade, twisting, and flying apart. But on the outside, it seems like nothing, a calm. This is only for us, what is happening inside. Because no one else can understand it. Having visited different corners of the globe, unfortunately, I won't be able to write a single line about many of them because I won't remember anything. Sooner or later, one has to say goodbye to memories. I write only because I don't want to get lost or confused later. Not to photograph or not to write down means to lose the connection with the past. I cling to my memories with claws, tightly, dead-set, so that they don't give me peace later. Circumstances were such that initially we were supposed to go to a more northern city, Providence, near Boston. We dreamed about it all year, made plans, looked for places, scheduled evenings and weekends. We truly fell in love with it. But three days before departure, we were redirected to Durham. It was inferior to Boston and Providence in everything - there were no large famous cities, skyscrapers, national parks, or amusement parks nearby, and besides, it is much smaller and more boring. We were going there without knowing what to expect, but there was no choice anymore. So, having spent half of June, July, and August here, we thought all this time that we were living in the most boring and unknown city in the world. No one would dare argue with the fact that it is boring. But then, sitting one evening in front of the TV in Sarasota, we were extremely lucky in finding a movie - painfully familiar landscapes of the Lucky Strike tobacco factory and the Durham baseball field flashed on the screen. Once upon a time, our city's baseball team secured victory so often that this story was taken as the script for a movie starring Susan Sarandon. It was considered the best sports film adaptation. Then, seeing this movie, we almost choked - living here for three months and not even knowing that Durham is so famous. But in general, it would hardly have changed anything. I am often asked a question (quite reasonable, though not accurate), what I like or dislike most about America. Like a big and good book, you can't say that you just like it or dislike it; that's not enough. America is a glorious country, with its own flaws and vices. In my stories, I can boldly speak out about Russia or America without mincing words. And what is the point of dodging and avoiding what everyone already knows? I can imagine the sincere shock of an American who was not lucky enough to come to Russia without preparatory courses or at least stories about the Russian mentality. What do they even know about Russians? Associations are roughly like this - "vodka", "cold". That's what the average American thinks, as shown by the frequent surprise of our foreign friends when we told them about Russia. It's funny and brings to mind thoughts of ignorance. We don't live behind such an iron curtain. Russians know everything about the American way of life; they read articles about them, create communities, don't miss a single American movie, buy notebooks, pads, keychains, and posters with the Statue of Liberty and skyscrapers, t-shirts with the American flag, and borrow more and more words from English, while Americans don't even know that they are a role model, and the only thing they remember about Russia is still that it's cold there. And they only borrowed "babushka" and "sputnik". You'll be lucky if you talk to an American and they don't ask you if you still live in the USSR. In this country, everyone is for themselves. People make friends more easily

KBKira Bormotovalira.bormotova · 1 Φεβ 2015Διάβασμα

Probably everyone who has been to America remembers their first day. Not the long flight, no, but that moment when you get off the plane, go through all the checks, and walk out of the airport. You realize you are in America, taxi drivers are shouting all around in English, Russian, Spanish, and God knows what other languages. You don't really understand anything — just questions: where to go? how to pay for the subway? what is written here? what is he saying? — and a multitude of other constantly arising questions. Now I would like to dwell in more detail on five bright moments of my America, although, of course, in almost four months there were many more. So, #1. Skydiving. Well, here there are only emotions. We jumped in the town of Newport — we specifically went there so that the jump would be on the coast (the view is more beautiful). Everything turned out to be more than American: fast, clear, without unnecessary details and conventions. We arrived, watched a 5-minute training video, put on the equipment, got on the plane, and flew. No extra explanations, changing clothes, or preparations — an hour later we were already free. The jump lasted about 5 minutes, no more, but what five minutes those were! At first, I was brave and said that I wasn't scared, but when we got on the plane and the door closed, I realized that my bravery was in vain. Now, when I try to remember the moment of jumping out of the plane, I can't do it. Initially, there was free fall, then the instructor opened the parachute, and from about that moment, I began to realize something and admire the view. And there was really something to admire there; we didn't go to the coast for nothing. #2. Six Flags amusement park. The emotions here were no less than from skydiving. The entire park can be conditionally divided into two parts: water slides (roughly speaking, a water park), which are open until 6 pm, and "dry" slides. While it was daytime and warm, we tried to ride as many water slides as possible. Despite the fact that it was a weekday, there were still queues for the slides. The scariest one seemed to me to be the slide where you have to stand in a glass cabin and wait for the floor to disappear from under your feet and you fly down. It was quite nerve-wracking. All the other water slides were just cool: high, closed, winding, smooth — for every taste. But the "dry" slides made almost everyone scream, shriek, and experience that pleasantly ticklish feeling of fear. Upside down, from a height, and through tunnels — and all this at high speed and always unexpectedly. An incredible place! #3. Car rental. The beauty of America is the ability to rent various cars. All you need is a bank card with $400 in the account and a driver's license (Russian ones also worked). Over the summer, I managed to drive about 5-6 different cars. Cool cars, cool roads, fast highways — what else do you need for happiness. Having taken another car with a friend on one of the weekends, we went to Providence for shopping, then to the beach in Newport. That day we had to spend quite a lot of nerves. The failures started from the moment we couldn't remember where the parking ticket had gone — because of which we couldn't leave the store parking lot. Behind us were "dissatisfied" cars, we couldn't find the ticket, we were trying to call support, finally, (oh, miracle!) the ticket was found. Thank God, we paid and left. Further — worse. We got into a traffic jam, we needed to get out of the city back onto the highway, and the navigator was showing some incomprehensible interchanges. Having lost a lot of time and driven a couple of circles, we finally got onto the road to Newport. We arrived there probably at 4 o'clock. We found the beach, parked, ran to swim, then walked around the city. We decided to leave the car in the beach parking lot. Newport turned out to be a very cute and beautiful coastal town. Various restaurants on the street, beautiful views of the ocean, yachts, shops