Russia- My year long study abroad

A lot of people ask me how my year abroad in Russia was and, quite frankly, I'm not sure where to begin. As a result, I have decided to dedicate this blog to my travels and hopefully entertain and possibly enlighten some about that unfamiliar territory with cold weather and furry hats. Some of the posts might be excerpts from my journal and/or thoughts. What better way to begin than with my first day in Russia and the days leading up to it.

I had finally made it to the hotel D.C. and through a slightly terrifying series of briefings on what to expect once we arrived. Tales of gypsies and thieves in the metro had my mind racing a million miles per hour. "This is an experience you'll never forget." I bet. At the conference there were three groups for each of the cities; Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Vladimir. I dutifully sat next to the six other students I'd be spending the next few months with and waved to my friends Brad and Jason, who were on their way to Petersburg. The only familiar face at my table was Lucas, a 31 year old undercover police officer from New Mexico. We had previously met in D.C. at our scholarship convention. Nervously smiling, we all rolled our eyes at the vodka jokes and pretended to be bored as each new lecturer came in to tell us about the "joys" of studying abroad. in Russia. In reality- we were terrified. Strapped down to the railroad tracks and saying our last prayer.
What HAD I gotten myself into? Not only would we be leaving for a year, but to a place that no one really knows about. How many other people do you know that have been to Russia? I didn't know any! And while we were supposed to be learning what to expect, they were saying, "There's nothing that will prepare you for this." "Russia is unlike any other place" "Take advantage of every opportunity." "Don't forget that you're not in the US- Russia is very different." OKAY. I'd love to be in charge at one of these shindigs and smugly smile at these people who have no idea what to expect. And they were right. Nothing could prepare us.

After a very long flight and some frantic last minute studying we arrived. Two of our teachers; Nadezhda Ivanovna and Tatiana Michaelovna met us at the airport and ushered us onto a small bus where they smiled, whispered, and nodded knowingly. Because of the bad traffic coming out of Moscow it took us until midnight to reach Vladimir. Ironically enough we stopped at a McDonalds for a bathroom break. It was strange to see the sign in cyrillic and to note the obvious influence of the West. I spent the time on the bus trying to read all the signs until it got dark. When we pulled into the city, our host parents had already been waiting a while. My palms were sweaty as I carefully scanned the small huddle. I saw a small blonde woman and knew. Sofia and Igor were happy and polite. Looking back, My face still feels warm as I think about how embarrassed I was! I had taken two years of Russian and had no idea what to say! My bags laid in the pockmarked street until our taxi came.

Sitting in the taxi it hit me that I was in Russia. Some very bad Russian pop was playing on the radio and the car swayed back and forth on the uneven streets. I felt so very alone and overwhelmed. I crossed my fingers that my parents were wealthy and as we neard our building my hopes dropped. An ugly gray building with no personality greeted me. Then we headed inside- all the while Igor refusing to let me touch my two hundred pound bags and him struggling up the stairs. Once we entered the door and then another and then another, I walked into their home. Small and clean, even the air smelled different. He showed me my room and I was pleasantly surprised that I had my own room and it was fairly bigger than I expected. There was a bed and man was I tired. And anything to keep me from having to talk to my parents, with whom I was avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment. I did meet my fluffy, orange cat that night. Sofia introduced us and proudly told me his name was "Fox" (they knew a small amount of English it turns out). Fox, my friends, looks like he ran face first into a wall. We got along immediately.

What happened when I woke up?
To be continued.....